##VIDEO ID:7waPP3J1q2o## good evening I'd like to call this meeting to order it uh it's call 7:01 because that's what it is and ask the city clerk to read the statement of compliance with the public meetings act to the record or the deputy cler sorry this meeting is being held in the plan the open public meetings act with the meeting schedule advertised in the January 10th 2024 edition of the Tron times the meeting agenda was posted on the bulletin board at City Hall in City's website and meeting notice was sent to the members on the which serve the department heads and the city engineer on Monday November 5th 2024 meeting agenda offers planned action items known at the time of publication and is subject to change meeting of being reported and stream live using the zoom meeting platform have a roll call please Council kinsky here Council L here counc here council president Lambert here may no here right will please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance will remain standing for a moment of silence in the hopes of less Division and more understanding flag uned States America thank you st again good evening everyone inv to the public participation session of the meeting um as we obviously we ask unless you got mobility issues step up to the podium state name address and three minutes of uninterrupted time for any comments or questions Jeff TI 33 Wilson Street um I've been going through some different legislation and different things and programs I've been involved with and you know I keep thinking about up on the hill and the High School site and the landfill and the fact that it's been sitting fallow under one property owner for over 30 years with nothing being done and I cannot seem to find on the DP website any uh filings on on the lsrp program for that site I know he supposedly has one there I saw some from the distance you can see some drilling but I don't see any activity we have two sites up there one is a landfill that has never wasn't lined it's never been closed properly it was used as a landfill for a long time other is a school that was used as a had a we have no idea what's going on there and the reason I'm saying all that is that under the New Jersey cyber mediation Reform Act that I hope right about 30 years ago um the failure to remediate a site um and the failure of the property owner to take proactive steps to remediate that site gives the Department of Environmental Protection the right to take that site over and I think that under the um both this the the Cyber mediation Reform Act and Under The Spill act they have that Authority and under spill act they can actually charge the property owner uh cost and triple damages if they clean it up under the site Reform Act they're allowed to enter into an administrative consent agreement where the property owner puts money in an escrow account in the DP then uses it we don't know what's up there but yet and this is why I think we should go down that Ro is that because property owner has a contract for sale with hannanian and hannanian as an innocent purchaser will not be liable for the cleano under New Jersey Law unless in the contract which it doesn't they take over that liability which they said they would not do so my biggest concern is that we could end up getting a project up there on a site that's un remediated waiting for the property owner to remediate and he never will and meanwhile since we have no idea what's up there housing could be built on contaminated sites because we have no idea how big that landfill is where the extent of it is what was dumped there we also have other issues where there was an apple work up there in Ballfield where arsenic was us you could have arsenic contaminated soil but there's been we have no idea because there's no testing and I think that you know given the fact that we have the P contamination in the wells in the area which is probably getting worse I may come from that side or may not but we know we have a landfill that's been there for a long time nothing's been done for over 30 years with this owner and I think it's time for the town to ask the dup to take charge of that site anyway thank you that went quick tonight sorry for the delay uh bve bird 25 five runik Avenue following up on the favorite subject of Connor H uh I did a little bit of research in case you don't already know this but uh Jeff has talked about the uh the apple orchard up at the old high school I have been able to communicate with an older resident of the uh of the city uh who remembers going into the apple orchard next door all right to the ball field all right it was a apple orchard owned by the bonds and uh so there absolutely was you know and something we can get documented today there was an apple orchard there and uh I've did a little research online and the approved uh you know insecticide at the time okay was arsenic all right so uh most likely that's up there also so just I figured I do a little research uh I won't send the bill so you're you got good information thank you very much John Ellis 21w revenues um last May I think it was maybe June um there at a c uh council meeting um uh nonprofit that I'm uh involved in and have a leadership rle in asked about the potential of renting the cabin at Clon Farm um and uh we were told that it was going to be sold by the end of the year the intention was to sell it by the end of the year and um so now here we are uh about a year and a half more more than a year and a half later and um I haven't heard anything about that sale and I'm just kind of wondering where that's at and um if it's not going to happen what the next plans are uh for the site the part that's not going to become open um space and I think um I would like you know if there's if there are no plans for it I would like to Advocate that it is a really great place to put affordable housing because the city controls it we can use the existing footprint of the existing structures there's no you know we don't have to change anything about the Aesthetics even and um there's a lot of people who would be excited to be involved with that and help um and uh not just residents but nonprofits who have expressed interest so uh if we truly have an affordable housing crisis which I believe we do I think everybody here has uh acknowledged that um I want to know why there are vacant buildings on that property that our tax money is going to maintain and uh yet we're saying we have no place to put people who you know need to live somewhere you know and so um uh I'd love to hear more about that um I don't have anything to say about that at the moment uh there were some conversations about the Log Cabin um uh potentially as a purchase um from someone and that did not happen um and that's all I have to say about it at the moment so how long does it go on before we don't have we don't have back and forth um there anyone else in the room well I would just add that if we we're moving forward with the affordable housing committee I think that would certainly be a site that we should look at um you know when we look at in compliance with our existing obligation uh the immediate need that we have is we have to find five uh sites to replace for what we did with um the uh police station and so you know this could be one of those spots somewhere I think that when you go up a look at it it's not as big as I had originally thought to put but could we certainly repurpose that I think you know we got to talk to the professionals and um you know as you indicated nonprofits that might be agreeable uh we also have money in the portable Housing Trust Fund might be able to be used to do some of this too so that's I think all stuff that uh we should talk about in the affordable housing committee anyone else in the room anyone online no how many people do we have online one second nobody's okay motion close the public comment perod please second all in favor please say I I I thank you motion carries we just have one resolution this evening it's resolution number 1592 d224 the resolution authorizing the city of Lambertville to accept a subgrant award of the federal fiscal year 2024 Emergency Management performance Grant and Emergency Management assist agency assistance this is the grant that we did every year um and pretty straightforward we use it for PR Emergency Management um any questions from the Council on this may have a motion to approve resolution 15924 the motion was made by councilman statement and uh second second was made by counc Li all in favor pleas say I I I I motion carries um just a somewhat of a discussion really just be should be fairly brief uh discussion points or uh uh updates really so uh I am councilman livea and I are working on putting together affordable housing advisory committee certainly that will be up and running uh in January the current plan is to meet twice a month for at least the first six months until uh We've passed some key deadlines uh as we move into the fourth round um and uh just to to review for everybody that uh the committee will be composed of uh councilman lied myself uh someone from the planning board someone from the zoning board our for CA attorney uh someone from Clark Jon hence our Municipal housing liaison to at least two members of the public and potentially two two additional members of the public um so we're still kind of construct and thinking about how we want this uh to operate outside of the you know twice a month um I I will note that a couple of things we did put on the city website of fourth round Community Information guide uh today that was uh drafted and completed and uh added to the affordable housing web page so if anybody has any specific questions going into the fourth round uh about what our obligations are and uh kind of what the process is you'll find some information there that was very good to to read that today yeah good yeah I think the language was pretty straightforward obviously if uh residents have questions uh certainly email them to me and I'll get them answered for you um and just I think it's helpful just to review a little bit the timeline for next year um as we as we uh we go into the fourth round so by January 31st of 2025 we will we will be required to adopt a binding resolution stipulating to a fourth round obligation um the their any interested party must challenge the obligations by February 28th challenges must be resolved by March any challenges must be resolved by March 31st and then by June 30th 2025 Municipal planning or land use board must adopt fourth round housing element and fair share plan and provide to to the program within 48 Hours of adoption um couple of other you know deadlines here December 31st the municipality must address any issues arising out of challenges to its housing uh and fair share planning that the program deems valid uh and then all implementing ordinances and resolutions must be adopted by March 31st 2026 so uh we're going to hit the ground running on this in January certainly uh councilman live and and I've already had a number of uh conversations with uh the city planner and the city co- attorney um and we're starting to compile uh kind of strategies and I don't know there anything you want to to say about that um just point out about the fourth round numbers you know with those deadlines that we have that's if we don't agree with the state's number and their methodology then we would have to show our own methodology as to why we think that number is different so uh yeah you know I I I'd like to suggest that we um um not necessarily throw that in the committee's hands but do a subgroup perhaps here we have to shift around because I you know I do think looking at that number that there's all you know this is like new ground and um I think that it's a good time to take a look at whether or not it's adequate or not and and some different things that we could do I know sometimes you know we take a conservative approach but we can take a little bit more uh you know no harm no fou and and an aggressive uh approach um and just while I'm talk as as I'll get out of the way is that um I was uh talking to to the council who's about to leave over at the Department of Community Affairs and become the governor's chief Council but we were talking about the money that's available through their trust fund money they just gave $10 million to Ocean City and K May to do scattered site brenal housing so um through you know they've been working with their Community Development Corporation which was the basis of nonprofit or so my suggestion is is that you know we can go in with them but if we to if there's something that we're going to do right away you know and we could pursue that aspect of it because you know it's it's small sight stuff that they're doing and with this money and that we kind of get on it right now while we're in this Administration to kind of feel out what's available and what's possible um so so you know it's a sizable amount of money and and uh for an interesting program a smaller you know scattered site so I think there are some opportunities we may have here in the city too about maybe you know I know um Senor clerk has done some research on some of the properties where some of their tax uh you know uh not rebates but uh you know the period of time that they're required to be uh you know I think it's 50 years or how many years with Cindy well uh some they range from 30 to 50 years and program sunset soon so that might be an opportunity that uh We've brought up with our um portal housing people too so yeah I think it's good to note uh that uh Clark Kon Hinton kind of their own independent kind of process came up with the exact same number that the DCA did um and uh you know we're comfortable uh and we accept that obligation that number will be you know adhering to the um to to to to what the DCA says and and will not open us up to any kind of lawsuit from theide party that might challenge that member so anyway I would encourage everybody to take a look at this it's uh it's it's I think quite helpful um you know the only thing that's remaining in in my mind um in terms of how the committee will will function will be um uh you know how it operates so so we're talking about probably 10 people here um and I'm my current thinking I'm certainly more than uh I'd love to hear what the council has to say about this or thinks about about this but the current thinking is that we would potentially do this as a as an online meeting structure um at which potentially the the uh the public could attend you know using the webinar feature um it would be you know one of the questions which is open for discussion is you know would we consider public comment during the meetings um or you know knowing that we've got professionals at these meetings and trying to run an efficient meeting if we would rather withhold public comment questions and have public the public sort of write to a designated person on the committee with questions kind of following the meeting um so so there a couple of sort of logistical things that I wanted to just to begin to consider we have a little bit more time to think about them um but you know I think that given uh we have professionals and volunteers trying to schedule two meetings a month at least for the first six months and doing that in an evening for example when our professionals so far away is kind of Impractical so my guess is that most people um are going to be able to meet during the day um and that will probably be you know we'll probably settle on some kind of weekday meeting time so you know I'm open to any thoughts that the council have initially I haven't really had a chance to talk with any of you about that idea or kind of that element of it so uh but but I just wanted to kind of throw that out there I think online makes a lot of sense especially with scheduling um you know we want obviously have the meetings and so make it easier like that I think that certainly makes sense and with regard to the questions I think it's good for public to be able to um attend and you know listen to the meetings and you know however we make sure their questions are answered that's the important thing if it's you know either during the meeting or if they submit questions in advance as long as we answer I that's you know the important part well and I would also say that uh one the meetings will be recorded and two I think that there will be at least two or three opportunities before some of these key Milestones when we can schedule a public meeting right um You know here in the Justice Center with some of some of the key people involved and specifically to address any questions or thoughts or or uh concerns that the public have so uh we do want you to be very engaged in this process but I also want to make sure that we're making the best use of our professionals and uh and and volunteers so um you know I'm committed you know I think we're all on this day is committed to uh public input uh often and uh and frequently so we'll be sure to make sure that that there is there there are some meis for the public to engage on this process um there anything else from the Council on this um I agree I think I think it makes sense to do this uh virtually for all the reasons mentioned um I think it would be easier to have um a more cohesive and focused meeting if it's virtual you know people get in the room they start chitchatting you get sidetracked so I think that's probably a good use of the technology for this format um I also think that if you have people submitting questions you know there could be redundant questions and then you could just kind of answer them all in one place and you could do that a little bit offline um and and just post the responses for people to see yeah and we'll post them on the website as well right so we can keep kind of a running document of questions that people ask uh and uh detailed minutes of the meeting yeah the um the system allows people to ask questions to a moderator so to speak whoever it is and they can go through the questions and then bring them to the the moderator whoever it is and bring those questions out after they get up together so it's it's it's not like someone raising a hand and then asking question it's like questions that you know the system is set up we can do that or you can type in questions and okay um anything else on this all right stay tuned I am uh having conversations with members of the community board uh members and public uh members of the public um and uh I'll have an update at our next meeting uh one uh one thing that I had intended to put on the agenda this evening and uh it was going to be on the agenda and I forgot to put it on the agenda and then the attorney forgot to write the memo so two strikes there uh was we were going to have a brief conversation about the historic preservation ordinance um so I've already asked Cindy to put that on on the on the the meeting agenda for the first meeting in December and I've already spoken to the attorney it's moved it to the top of the list so um so so we'll we'll talk about that next month um and then really I just had a few thoughts about the budget I wanted to you know last year um uh councilwoman Kaminsky uh you know brought a good point about having some general conversations about the budget and we and again I didn't really talk to anybody kind of about you know any specific questions that you have but you know we can get the ball rolling here we can talk a little bit more about priorities or goals that each of you have or or questions that each of you have in the December meeting so that I I think we've already put that on the agenda we haven't discussion of the budget um so that you know we're we're we're heading into 2025 with a little bit more understanding of what some of the initial budget uh questions are going to be or not questions but one of the some of the initial factors that are going to uh impact the budget in 2025 and I just wanted to highlight a couple of those tonight and if there are any questions from the council you know we can certainly we can certainly address them uh tonight and we'll we'll continue to talk about this so um you know one of the things that we'll see next year as a state Healthcare benefit uh package is going up 17 and a half% again um so that's going to be a pretty steep increase in uh in costs uh minimum wage which only affects a couple of uh people here finally got went off finally but it's going for $15.49 and um you know we're beginning to see some of our retirements uh and uh this coming year we have an anticipated retirement in the police force that's going to um uh bring in it's going to cost an additional $52,000 in comp and accumulated leave absence time and we talked we talked about this uh every year my mayorship um these accumulated leaves uh amounts are significant um uh in in in the police department and we've been trying to budget a little bit every year at $330,000 to sort of put you know put some put some money aside because I don't remember what the total number is but we'll talk about it uh I can get that for you next time but it's a significant number and you know $50,000 $55,000 impact you know in our operating budget is a it's a significant number so so uh we'll continue to talk about that that's a you know these kinds of things uh do have an impact on the budget just a couple of other things that I wanted to mention um this coming year we will have a separate um uh line item uh and Department in the line that in the budget for storm water management um so I'm going to pull that into its own department so we know exactly how much we're spending every year in storm water management and infrastructure so this will include salaries and training and any infrastructure that we have we'll do a recap of what we spent in 2024 early in 2025 probably most of you know we bonded a considerable amount of money this year for storm water management the tier ms4 tier a everything from the $300,000 to the the street sweeper to $100,000 for cleaning up the Healey Creek to 70 uh 130,000 100 I forget it 130,000 for the um the video camera uh it's it's going to be in that range we haven't purchased it yet it's about 137 was one of the quotes okay so um you know as we all talk about storm water uh I want to make sure that everybody understands what it's going to be costing us and when we talk about Capital next year I'm hoping that that next year my goal is to spend less in Capital next year than we have in the last couple of years uh we only have one small Road Project next year that's lined up um and we will have some uh some some capital projects uh and we can talk about those kind of early in the year we will by 2027 have to retrofit all of our um our storm inlets uh rates and um and curb structures uh there will be some upgrades uh as well so we'll be talking about these things as uh as the year rolls on um and that's really I just kind of wanted to get get the conversation started a little bit about the budget um does anybody have any questions or I may not be able to answer them but thoughts about priorities next year or um well I think it would be helpful when we get further into it that we um take a good look at what is contractually going on yes and then see what's left before we start before we start making plans that we can't keep because funds are too tight so yeah I mean we know we'll have increases in uh in salary and police department um those are all contractual uh at the end of 2025 we will be renegotiating the next contract um with the PBA and uh so that might not been C later in the year so this year we'll have you know labor attorney and I mean there'll be some there'll be some additional things that kind of come up um certainly having uh you know the co- attorney and Clark hence sort of attending meetings every other week is going to kind of add to the bottom line of uh of those expenses so um unfortunately things never get less expensive but we'll do our best to keep an eye on all of all of the lines and I would encourage everybody who is interested in the budget to either attend or listen to the budget hearings that are taking place next Thursday here from 9:00 a.m. until they finish kind of in the afternoon um and uh you can understand really from the department heads exactly what each of those departments needs to run its operational budget and what their uh what their Capital requests are so um the ready to take a listen to that I think the other thing too even though stuff is going to cost more money um hopefully with the Cannabis uh Revenue we're going to be getting with the news place it's going to be open up I me that could double the amount of tax benefits we're getting from that Revenue so let stay open yeah let's let's hope it that'd be great um yeah so and we're going to add I think we're we're we found uh Lieutenant Brown and his wonderful salute thing has found I think five new places for meters so um you laugh but that's extra, with joy not laughing that it's because it's uh stupid yeah no just me we've been talking about it for a while and and uh he was good enough to really just send me the list today so little things uh can add up to big things and uh I appreciate that work and uh you know every every last dollar we can bring in we will and to to that end I think we should um double look at how we maintain the meetings we currently have because you know I don't use um Park Mobile when I come with the town because it's not that frequent that I park in a meter but you come up to me you can't even see them you can't even look through the lens yeah you don't know if they failed well I'm not sure if it I'm I've talked to Michael drulis uh budget consultant about this a little bit we we started talking about it back in 2022 and for a variety of what seemed to me all along sensible reasons we haven't really taken a hard look at what it would be to shift make a shift either away from meters or into a different way of kind of about running our parking program so you know that's something I'm open to hearing about from the council Michael's got some good ideas about it um and I do think it's about time that we that we look at how we you know whether we continue with meters you know people are definitely moving away from coins you look at the percentage every month of kind of what we take in in coins um and it's it's certainly less than the park mobile and uh it's also a hassle right to somebody to go around and collect all those coins and then put them the machines and then take them to the bank and everything else so I do want to look at it I think it's it's a be next year or so something something worth while to take up mean like going to like a kiosk like like those folks that we flow birds that some folks Go Mobile has system to theber one in TR in a new ho Friday know but what there's a bunch of them out there but yeah it's like the kiosk versus the meter right there you know there everybody's got their I think people their phone and they just go yeah yeah I'm like a park mobile like regular I sh my own and you know I mean as part of a larger conversation about parking you know New Hope Has zones right so if you park right in the central business district you pay more uh the further you know convenience paring yeah convenience parking right so these are all things that I think um would have value in terms of discussion and uh as as goals yeah yeah yeah very true yeah okay uh anything else on the budget for now no okay um we are ring down the year um everybody's pretty much stopped spending money which is good we'll be doing budget transfers right sir are you already doing budget transfers uh I believe it'll be on the next agenda oh that's right yeah we have to approve those I forgot so um yeah so be looking for the for the transfers and um uh it's a lot of work to close out the budget and it's a lot of uh but but it's good I like this I'm into I'm in the cycle now so uh all right that's all I have on the budget anybody El say anything few announcements V's Day November 11th city offices will be closed the streets weer will not run um the uh the annual event the the legion is held at be there 11: I think it starts at 11 that's right yes um so I hope hope everybody will attend I budget hearings on November 14th already noted uh the resilience action plan Workshop here is here November 14th at 7 p.m I encourage everybody to come I've have a lot of RSVPs for that but uh more than marrier and and uh it's important it's important work um Lester Myers I've got some great news who's been selected as the American public works Association Public Works leader of the year so yes uh Lester and I will be going to a wonderful luncheon on December 4th and uh he gets to write the sweeper but we talked about writing the sweeper and the garbage truck if we wore the if we took the garbage truck we would have to wear tuxedos I suggested we go in a limo and s's like no take the garbage truck but the sweeper would be good too question about this I can see it maybe we on the holidays with Santa in the the uh since we we do have them in sweeper right yeah and living up on the hill I don't see it as much as I would like to and I was just wondering if we could relook at that on a permanent rather than a temporary basis yes um because there are a lot of storm drains and that's where if the drains are and swept and you know bu a resident which is something that I think we all do a more up on the Hills is that it it you know just to get the water into the drainage system I think we have to talk about maintaining the I absolutely agree so a couple thoughts on the street sweeper so it turns out that I love having two street sweepers um and they love it as well and and uh it's been very helpful the sheer volume of leaves makes it hard even for a new street sweeper to get them all one past so it's it's been a nice it's been a nice couple of weeks because uh Paul runs the sweeper and Lester follows with the other sweeper and we're really being very efficient in terms of uh how quickly we're able to get the streets clean from this really this tremendous volume of leaves um so you know I'm not sure what we don't we originally thought we were going to sell the sweeper maybe we will I don't know hav't one yeah it's still it's still in decent condition kept it up um you know my concern with was that we were going to we were going to end up having to wait two years for one you know and I felt like it was a lesson learned with the trash truck um you know Co and all that um so yes I I do think so one of the things that I'm going to Advocate next year is um in one of the public works for one of the Public Works positions to be um the street sweeper is part of the ms4 TR requirements right so that's 20 hours a week um I'm going to ask for a dedicated 16h hour a week position for storm water management um in the Department of Public Works we can easily someone can easily spend 16 hours a week either checking drains or writing reports or doing a sweeper work and I do think that I I would absolutely consider expanding the sweeper program to the hills um you know now that we have the boom mower we can get up there and uh you know trim the trim the vegetation which makes a big difference with the storm grains on conet hill and all the way up at South Franklin Street and music mountains so yeah I think that we should talk about that um and what that looks like um um it it would be um I think helpful to councilman stegman's point on stford street right now the new storm drain the cutout one that was put is completely blocked I know I saw that Lieutenant did I send you a picture of that no I meant to and I was like I got to talk to the about this yeah um yeah that yeah yeah yeah let's take this offline because say something I'll reg we'll fix it okay we'll have fix it to your thank you I actually have a photograph of it in my phone because I went up there and yeah never mind yes um I I do know about it so and one of the other things that we're going to do among the the kind of the resilience things that we're looking at doing next year is um an adoptive storm drain program so talked to the environmental commission about that um they're willing to take it on we've been to a couple of webinars about what an adopted stor braing program looks like um so we're going to give that a go next year right so and we're going to try and engage the school and just had conversations with the environmental the teacher up at the South who who uh who oversees the environmental Club so there may be all kinds of things and you know these are not necessarily things that are going to be you know monumentally improve our Effectiveness in managing storm water but you know they're educational they raise awareness they they they they give people ownership right so um so there are a couple of things well yeah well that's a good idea I mean I I know you've been around cleaning them up and I took on a couple turns last earlier in the year but there's a lot of stuff out there I know there's a lot to get to get it so that's why I brought up once again yeah and you know maybe maybe uh did we did we at one time have a vacuum truck a vacuum we did that's years ago many years ago yeah yeah you were young no comment but a long time yeah it's Museum now it's actually buried under the brush of the Y no are they I don't think people use them anymore I mean I think it doesn't hope still use theirs right I it wasn't very efficient no you couldn't use it in town and then constantly plugged and yeah well none of it's efficient I mean we all love the trees until I walk out in the mornings and see 400 round paper bags around town packed with leaves um but we do what we can [Music] sis all right can Center hours are noted here in the agenda um November 16th from 9: to noon November 20th from 3: to 5: Saturday December 7th and 21st from 9 to noon and Wednesday December 18th from 3 to 5 um second public comment period um same rules as before policies if anybody would like to speak please step up to the microphone so you can name an address minutes thank we have two people online and they don't have their hands rais so okay all right then I'll ask for motion to close the public comment period some second all in favor please say I I hi to thank everybody for coming this evening and uh on that note I would ask for a motion to adjourn don't move favor please say I 7:42 thank you GL of water [Music] like I say the police off also