I don't think so. I'll give you an Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. No, before that I said I said we're open. How's your time going? Well, both of them. Long story short,
Bruce. Bruce couldn't make it. I'm sorry. And close to you. Right. Right. It's just No, it's I have two children Congratulations. Yeah, right.
Or whatever. Good to see you all. Nice to see you on a fine spring evening. Thanks for thanks for coming after the meeting. Um we'll begin as we do every meeting. We are back in the concession. We've been close for a little while. We're back in the concession and we'll begin um with the
pledge of allegiance and then we'll remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of the beginning of the mental health awareness month. Aliance to the flag of America. who's here who's our budget consultant
and we have Christy Erit our CFO who's joining us online also Councilman W is joining us online so um um this evening we're going to start with the second reading of the cap bank ordinance
Um this is uh learnings that we need to do when uh we limit any increase instead of budget up to 2.5% unless it's authorized by organ to increase over 3 and a half% of the previous year's final appropriations. So um uh what I'm going
to do is I'm going to open up the public hearing for this ordinance 09-2025 and ask if there's any public comment about this. uh for people who are making public comment unless you have mobility issues we do ask you step in the left turn and address. So hearing questions about the
cut ordinance. How about online? No, nobody online. Nobody online tonight. Oh no, nobody. We have nine people online but nobody raising my hands. Well, welcome to all of those who are online this evening. Um I'll make a motion to close the public comment hearing uh for this
ordinance. I205. You have a second, please. All in favor of posting the public comment period, please do say I. I. I. Okay. Motion carries. And there any questions from the council on this ask
for a motion to adopt ordinance 09 2025. The second reading grant final approval. So move. Second. All those in favor, please say I. I. Thank you. Motion carries. Uh now we are going to move on to the public hearing and adoption of
the 2025 budget. The first thing to do will be to open that public hearing for 06 2025. So if anybody has any questions or make any comments about the budget, this is the time to do it. Okay.
Motion to close the public comment period for this ordinance. So move. I'll second it. All in favor, please say I. I. Okay. Um and now we need to uh move on to an
amendment to the introduced 2025 budget. I'm going to ask Christie, our CFO, to come explain the amendment. Uh I will note a couple of things about this that the state has already approved the proposed amendments to the budget and the budget as Uh, and these amendments do not change
the uh the tax rate that was established or that was set when we introduced the budget. So, Christy, can you just walk us through uh why we need to make this amendment and then I'll ask Cindy to read the resolution in full as it required by the statewide.
Sure. Good evening everybody. Um, so when the budget was sent up to the state, the state had recommended a couple um changes. Uh, basically we're just moving things from one category to to the other. Uh, the encode
enforcement, which is what we pay for the uh through to the county. When the budget was document was prepared, it was put in uh construction. So, it just had to move $9,300 out of construction into code of forcement. It was just a clerical error
when the a budget document was prepared. And um there was another adjustment for the group health insurance. Some of it goes outside a cap. There was an adjustment pro um that was recommended, I'm sorry, required by the state to just
move the difference from in cap to out of cap. Again, no change, exact same exact amount. And the Frenchtown interlocal service agreement. Um, we needed to put 5,000 for the zoning officer salary. Again, it was all
included in the construction salary and wages for Frenchtown. So, that was $5,000 and it was just moved from one line item to the other. And um again on the revenue side, there was the uniform fire safety revenue that was put in the original budget. That service has been
moved to the fire department and again that was $12,000 that was removed and we just moved it into one of the pilots. So um again, it was just kind of moving things from one category to another. It had no change on anything monetarily.
Everything is still the same. It's the same tax increase and um that was what we introduced the budget. So bottom line stayed the same. It was just moving some things from categor from from one category to another.
Thank you for that explanation Christie. Um does council have any questions for Christie? Um so now Cindy the fun part. does is required to read this entire uh proposed resolution into the record. So everybody sit back. Yes. So relax.
Resolution number 87 2025 a resolution to amend the 2025 budget of the city of Lambertville County of Hunter in state of New Jersey. Whereas the local municipal municipal budget for 2025 was approved on the 9th day of April 2025.
And whereas the public hearing on said budget has been held as advertised and whereas it is desired to amend the said approved budget which was which did not require advertisement. Now therefore be it resolved by the mayor and council of the city of Lambertville County of Hunteran
that the following amendments to the approved budget for 2025 be made. In general revenues, we are moving uh from miscellaneous revenues section A colon local revenues from and the first category is interest on inter
investments and deposits and on sheet number four $15,000 to $3,900. Total section A local revenue 937,000 to925,900 three miscellaneous revenues section G special items of re general
revenue anticipated with prior consent of the director of local government services other special items uniform fire safety act on sheet 10 from $12,000 to zero pilot econ development company
sheet 10 $40,700 to $63,800. Total section G. Special items of general general revenue anticipated with prior written consent of the director of local government service
services other special items from $97,120 to $918,220. Number three, miscellaneous revenues. Total section A colon local revenues sheet 11 937,000 to
$925,900. Total section G colon special items of general revenue anticipated with prior written consent of director of local government services. Other special items sheet 11 from $97,120 to $918,220.
General Appropriations A Operations Within CAPS Inspection and Code Enforcement OE sheet 15A from 0 to 9,300 group insurance plan for employees sheet 15C
$760,451 to $774,291. Construction official OE sheet 16 $18,850 to $9,550. Total operation items 8 A within caps sheet 17A
$4,395,219 to $4,49,59. total operations including contingent within caps from $4,395,219 to4 million $49,59 other expenses including contingent on 17N from 2 million
30 2 million 30,154 to243,994 H1 total general appropriation ations for new support purposes within caps sheet 195,85,237 to5,99,977 general
appropriations a operations excluded from caps group insurance plan for insured in for employees on sheet number 20 from $89,549 to $75,79 total other operations excluded
from caps sheet 20A $575,419 to $561,579 shared service agreements it's sheet 22 burrow Frenchtown interlocal agreement construction code officials SW sheet 22 from 53,000 to 48,000 zonings
SW sheet 22 0,000 to 5,000 total operations excluded from cap sheet 25 755,92.98 to $742,62.98. Other expenses H2 total general appropriations for municipal purposes. Oh, I'm sorry. Wait a minute.
Other expenses $651,52.98 to $637,662.98. And then the next category is H--2 total general appropriation for municipal purposes excluded from caps. And that's on sheet 28 2,735,94.85 to
2,721,254.85. O general appropriations excluded from caps on sheet 292,735,94.85 85 to2,721,25485. Summary of appropriations on sheet 30 H1 total appropriations for
municipal purposes with encaps operations excluded from caps. So I think I just misread it should be H1 total appropriation for municipal purposes within caps 5,85,237 to
$5,99,77. The next line is a operations excluded from caps other operations from $575,419 to $561,579. Total operations excluded from caps from $755,92.98 to
$742,62.98. Be it further resolved that a certified copy of this resolution shall be forth with in the office of the director of local government services for certification of the local municipal bud budget so amended. It is hereby certified that this is a true copy of
the resolution amending the budget adopted by the city council on the first day of May 2025. Thank you. Um that I would ask for a motion to adopt resolution 87-2025.
So second all in favor please say I. I motion carries unanimously. No, I would ask for a motion to approve the 2025 budget as amended. I'll make that motion and a second, please.
Second roll call. Councilwoman Kaminsky. Yes. Councilman L. Yes. Councilman Stegman. Yes. Council President Lambert. Yes. Mayor No. Yes. Thank you. Um, it's a lot of numbers.
It's a lot of work. I always have to thank the finance team. It's really a It's a year-long process to get everything lined up. And, uh, Cindy Iggy and Christy and Sue Acorn and Michael uh, and Ron and I all work very hard and
council president, excuse me, forgetting that for a second. um we'll work very hard throughout the year to uh present a budget which is um a sound budget and uh we're pleased to do so. So, thank you for everybody uh everybody's work and also for the council for their input
uh introduced. Um and on that note, I'm going to excuse uh Mr. um and uh Christie, will you stay on for just a couple minutes until we get through the salary and wage uh resolution just in case there are any questions?
Sure. I'm sorry. Uh, you know, Michael, actually, this is not a bad idea. Why don't you stay for just the public? There's no reason we should be taking Michael's arrows. I I don't think the ever sounds so good.
Um, I will now open the meeting up for the first of two public participation constituent uh concern sessions. Uh, unless you have mobility issues, we ask you to step up to the lecture and you have three minutes of an inter time for comments uh and or questions. Lindsay
will give you the 30 second warning. And um we go Jeff Tiddle 33 Wilson Street. I just real quickly want to thank everybody in town for a great shadfest, especially the mun employees and the police who
kept everybody moving forward. Um 200 And 48 years ago, Tom Payne said these words that these are the times that try men's souls. He said it coming through New Jersey um at the time. And
these are those times again for especially for Lambertville because we are at a crossroads of our future as we speak right now. We are in the middle of a battle between maintaining the historic
character of our town and moving into something else like Aspen um or the Hamptons. There's a battle between mom and pop businesses and big hospitality corporations. There's a battle between having quiet neighborhoods and mega national builders
coming in. There's a battle for clean water and safe drinking water. There's a battle to protect us from flooding. There's a battle to protect us from traffic and overdevelopment. But
unfortunately, we are not meeting those challenges. We have contaminated drinking water in one section of town and now other sections. We have a park that's closed because it's contaminated. uh we have major developments coming in
that could change the complete way this town is whether it's development on the hill or the development at Benles we are at that point in time where we have to act and we have to act on the side of the people this body
hired an attorney to deal with PIOS and a consultant but he's there to protect the interests of the of the city government not the people on the hill that are drinking contaminated order. He's there to protect the interests of the city without looking at why the hill
is an inappropriate place for affordable housing and has to be taken off the list because of the food boss. We have to get D in here to make that area an area of immediate environmental concern and get a spill act directive. And if we don't, the people up there are going to keep
suffering. But yet on the agenda, there's talking about water on Cottage Hill, but we haven't talked about water for um Conville. This is something that is wrong in this community right now as we sit here today thinking
about what the future is going to bring and what this town is going to look like. And if we don't act now to protect our community, we will lose our community. Pinkles was was part of that soul of that comm of our community. that
area could turn into some kind of theme park of luxury hotels and everything else. We're going from a place where people would stand online, no matter who they were, to go get help to now having a luxury hotel and all the other
amenities that go with it. Um, 250 years ago, the people in this neighborhood, in this community fought a hard scrapple grassroots battle against the British and the other invaders. Today those invaders are the land speculators and the big development corporations and the
hospitality corporations. Thank you. Gently ask the audience or the members of the public not to clap these meetings. I would appreciate that. Paul Stevens 394. Uh recently we were successful in getting the speed limit
changed on 29 to 25 miles an hour. Um nobody's paying any attention to it. Um and I know this from well I shouldn't say nobody because I've been on that road twice and slowed down to 25 and gotten people zooming past me and passing me on the right and everything.
Um, I'm just wondering, do is there a plan to help educate people first before maybe putting in a hard enforcement there? Uh, maybe we could get one of the radar signs that, you know, with the 25 mph on it, let people know to draw their
attention to it. U, the signs, they're there, but I I must admit, you need to know they're there to really know that something's changed. So maybe we want to think about doing something to proactively let people know it's changed. Thanks. Bye.
Thanks, Paul. Uh I don't see any reason why we can't put the speed sign back up. It was there uh at the corner of Swan and 165 for a period of time. Uh certainly we could put it back up just to highlight have that sort of visual
flashing uh reminder that people are exceeding the speed limit. Uh certainly the signage is It feels I myself have felt that the slow down to 25 is feels significant and you're going slower than you're you're certainly used to and it's a longer stretch, right? So, um and I
would also just say that I talk to Lieutenant Brown that area between one Swan Street and the Bridge Street light is notoriously difficult to to to enforce, right? It's a it's a very crowded alleyway and there's no there's no space to kind of pull off. So the
police have been, you know, mindful of that. They've been working, I think, a little farther south on on 29 and being present visual presence there as as we sort of settle in. But we'll talk Lieutenant Brown and we'll see if we get the best sign for you tonight. Thank you. Anyone else in the room would like
to comment and from court and one of the things I wanted to say is I I agree about the traffic thing. I think it would be really helpful um just to make that more overt and more visible somehow because cars are crazy. I mean, I I
can't believe how few cars really follow the speed limits. Um, the other thing I wanted to say is, um, I I moved to Lambertville when I was 22. Um, turning 67 this year. So, I am a Lambertian, especially having just grown up in Hook.
So, I didn't fall, you know, go far. But I moved here because I love the Lambertville. I moved here on purpose because of the kind of community it is and the fact that um it was just such a a wonderful place and it still is. I still love Lambertville. I think there's
really very few places like it. I'm so concerned about the direction that Lambertville is going in. I'm not anti progress. I'm not anti- smart growth. Um I am, you know, really vehemently
opposed to the development on the hill. I think it's not only the wrong place for Lambertville in terms of excess hazards that traffic hazards, um, pedestrian hazards, flooding hazards.
Um, I also think it's absolutely the wrong place for affordable housing to to segregate people up on that hill. People who might not have the means to have a car, people who might be walking, people who might be on bikes. I just think that it's it's wrong to segregate people and
and take them farther away from maybe the support systems that they would need. I think it's much better to have try to have people be in town and and be One of the things about Lambertville was always very lots of different kinds of people in every different neighborhood,
different economic uh categories, um oldtownies as opposed to new newbies. I mean, it was so eclectic and I I'm just really worried that it's first of all becoming unaffordable. Second of all, overdevelopment. I'm scared to death of
a hotel and a especially a wedding vin on down by the canal. My god, those streets are narrow. We have our canal right there. I mean, just the whole thing is I just thought that we had more control here over what got built. I'm
really shocked by um how difficult it seems to be to be able to stop things that we don't feel are Thank you. that we don't feel are right for the town and that um I don't know I don't know the answers. I'm just here I'm I'm very distressed about it and I I just wanted
I'm just really hoping that things can still be done about this. So, thank you very much for for listening. Sure. Uh I would encourage you to come to the uh the meeting on May 8th. um which is being offered by the developer of uh I
want to I should make sure that everybody understands this is not a city meeting. It will be held in this hall. Uh Lindsay will help get them set up with a uh um with whatever they need for um for a slideshow. Um the members of the council boards may be present. Uh
it's not a city meeting and I just want to make sure that everybody understands that. It's just designed to be kind of an informal conversation, an introduction to that to that. Yeah, we definitely going to try to make that. I think that's important to see what Okay. Thank you. Sure. What time does that mean? Uh, it's been noticed. I think
it's at 7:00 and it's Thursday the 8th. Is that right? Yes. May 8th. Um, Judy Gleason, 86 North Union Street. Um, I I want to just add to some of the points that were made by Jeff Till a
little bit earlier. And I I want to start by noting that there's enough people in this room who may not feel comfortable getting up and speaking in public, but there's enough people in this room who indicated some interest and agreement with the concerns that were raised. They didn't indicate it by
coming up, but they indicated by by clapping and showing support for the points that were made. The difficulty seems to continue to be though that comments at these meetings are frequently put out there and we really
actually don't know. We really don't know what's next. I know we have an affordable housing group. I know we're trying to do stuff. I know we're engaged in litigation. I know all that stuff is going on. But what I don't know is where where we are, how we got here after
asking for something to be done for a year and now here we are until we get sued and we still aren't saying that there's an willingness of this group to say we don't want to build on that hill. We recognize the problems. I know you
have closed sessions. I know you talk about stuff that we can't hear. I know that there's a lot of stuff we'll never know, but it's becoming very difficult for people in town to know what what can they do. Many letters were written to the to
the court. Many people are struggling against this whole issue. There's a lot of good points that are being made by the citizens and some I think probably in your closed sessions members of council but this is tough and I mean
Susan just raised some other issues about the next development thing. We really it really feels like we're getting further apart from council instead of closer together to to be on the same page. And if we're not on the same page, tell us what we need to do to
help get on the same page with the people who make the decisions because it's getting it's getting tough and it's getting harder and harder and we're running we've been saying this for over a year again. We're running out of time and and we don't know what what has to be done to stop the clock or to do
something different. And I understand affordable housing and I understand the whole issue of what we have to do, what what the towns have to do, but we have a persuasive case that none of us are seeing being made. Maybe it's being made
in in close sessions, but we're not see it being made in a way that lets the court know how strongly this town feels about having affordable housing, but not on the hill. So, we really would appreciate some team effort with with
council, not two different. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, J. Uh, this is just a probably a good place for me to remind uh everyone during public comments that uh you know, because we're a part of that litigation
uh and we received over 25 notices of to claim uh you know that in terms of contamination on certain private wells because our city council has advised that we shouldn't comment on these matters um due to ongoing current litigation which the city party. So, you
know, we do have conversations in close session and uh there a lot of things that we can't tell you right now. Um and you know, we talked about this before um that there's uh everybody on this day is concerned
and everybody on this day wants what's best for the city and we need to be mindful of all of our constituents. Uh, and that's a challenge and it's a fine line that we have to walk and it's not an easy one and we sympathize and empathize with a lot of the problems
that are happening in the city and all I can tell you is that the council hears you and that we are working diligently on many fronts uh to to to make the city a better place uh for for people who are coming in moving in businesses who are
opening and so forth. Um so uh we just wanted to say that before we move on to the next person. Um mayor, one thing though I think that we can um talk a little bit about some time frames and some certainty about some of
these matters because that's important too. Um in terms of um we are asking the department of environmental protection for not only a report from them about their POS uh
progress to date but a timeline of where this is going. So we understand when there you know okay once we collect all this data we look at it for x number of months and then we make x determination and then we go to the next step to be
able to give a kind of something a little bit more definitive about this process because right now it seems like you know it's well testing it's confusing so we've asked the department for that they've committed to coming back with that so we can share that and
kind of put something around it that makes some sense um in terms of May 8th that I think we should recirculate the notice that we had for the meeting because it got buried in Lambertville matters and it's a really important
topic for people to be coming out for I may not be our meeting but there is a lot of concern in the community that we are a community you know we're not a restaurant hub and and and want to and a lot of people want to come and be heard
on that. So, I encourage people to come and I think we should let people know about it far and wide to come. Um and um perhaps in terms of the the affordable housing case, that will provide an
update on that and an update on when we are going to actually be able to air this round for a housing element. You know that how it will be heard and rolled out. I don't want to steal your thunder, but if if you know, we can't
speak substantively about it because I could go on forever and and you could clap, but um about it, but that the time frames and the timing and some certainty I think is is a big help and I know it helps me. So, I think it would help
everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for uh for reminding me that. I did want to note that I'd spoken to the uh D commissioner's office this week and I had a conversation with them about the kind of information they're providing and I expect something to be sent to the
city early next week and I've got a follow conversation that I'll be having with the D uh tomorrow or Monday at the latest uh on this matter and we'll continue to do our best to just update you on terms of the information right but there's a lot of things that in terms of things that are you know
relevant to potential litigation to talk about and I will have an update on affordable housing uh during the meeting. Um we've got some exciting news, I think, uh to share this evening. So, I hope that you'll uh you'll all kind of hang in there until until we get to that. Um next, please.
Good evening, everyone. Uh my name is Michelle Harris. Uh I live at 26 Church Street. Um I'm also the owner of 46 York, which is relevant to the points I'm going to make tonight. Um, I brought this matter to the uh attention of the
city construction office last Friday and have continued in dialogue with them through this morning. Um, council members, the mayor have also been included in this traffic and I want to bring it up tonight so that it becomes part of the public record. Uh, and that so the general public is aware of what's happening. Um, until now the
Lambertville Academy has been a play area has been a wood chip over dirt with no fixed uh permanent uh equipment. It's been open only during limited weekday day daytime hours only to academy attendees and always with multiple
monitors present. Beginning in March of this year, the academy began preparation for installation of a concrete foundation slab and multiple large permanent pieces of playground equipment. If you've driven down York Street, you can see that those were assembled this week. Um the academy will
host a ribbon cutting um and open its facility to the public as of this Saturday, May 3rd. Um, open hours will be weekdays after 6 pm and undefined hours on weekends. Um, as early as August 2024, messaging around this
project began to uh via email from the academy to its patrons. Um, there have been multiple announcements regarding the plan public access on Facebook. Volunteers were solicited and advertisements were made u regarding the um the opening. Um and
yet neither the academy fisherman's mark St. Andrew's Episcopal Church nor the where and angel's clay foundation which are all parties responsible for various aspects of the project submitted any permit applications for this contra for this construction and significant expansion of use to city construction
officials to the zoning board to the planning board or to the DNR DNR canal commission. Um, since no documentation was submitted, it's unknown what measures might be needed to address um this uh this opportunity on a residential street, event requirements,
proper slope and drain installation, lighting, sound containment, security equipment, and other matters that are routinely uh uh reviewed by construction officials, the planning board, the zoning board, or some combination thereof. Um, so the nature and scope of this construction plus the lack of any
proactive attempt to actually file permits is is enormously troubling and is a different standard than the rest of us are held to. Um, I did bring this to the attention of the um Thank you, Cindy. I did bring this to the attention of the construction office. It was promptly responded to and I do
appreciate that. Um unfortunately I I did ask for a temporary stop work order so that the city could give it proper consideration for safety and other reasons and was told that that um there is no applicable vehicle for stopping construction. Although we are all aware
of smaller projects that have been stopped for lesser issues in the past temporarily to give time for consideration. though I wanted to bring this to the public's attention. Um retroact retroactive applications I I
have been told that retro applications will be required for zoning for imperous surfaces, construction slab and the DNR but um that's going to be allowed retroactively and as far as I'm aware the playground will open um without
permits or inspections this Saturday. Thank you. Um the only thing I'll say about that is that it is a an issue that's being worked through by the construction code official has been copied on all of the emails. Uh and the construction code official does have
legal jurisdiction to make these decisions. Um I've reviewed everything. I don't offer any input. It's not my place to ignore this in the place of the governing body or really anybody. um the construction code official has the the authority to make these uh make these
decisions based on uh all the local zoning and construction ordinances. So if anybody's interested uh certainly the the information can all be uh available through anybody has any questions
please. Good evening John Towns Hancock Street. Um just want to touch base real quick. Was anyone in the city able to contact county regarding the undocumented apparently uh dump up
on Cory Ellen Brand? Uh second question, uh the developer for the Pinkle site, what type of money are they going to be required to put into the
low-inccome housing fund because they're not building housing? We're building a commercial venue that does not apply to that. I don't know if our current setup is
collecting cash like that should be in my opinion. Um again still I know you can't say anything disappointed that 90 people 91 people
how many people turn in letters 91 people residents on the hill had to be the ones to deliver letters to the court that the city didn't address with the court
because I'm fairly certain If Kayha had been aware, they would have beef feet or at least dialed back. Um, so those are my questions or points to ponder. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, so again, you know, we're not going to make any kind of comment on anything
that's happening with um or contamination on the hill at this time. Um, in regards to the question about development on Cory Lel Street, uh, it's true if it's a commercial development, they will not be required
to pay into the affordable housing trust fund. That's just your residential development. Um that's the way the code is set up. Is there anyone else who would like to speak? Good evening everyone. I'm Denise Granty. I live at 59 Douglas
Street on Cottage Hill. And I am here tonight because I certainly have a lot of respect for what's unfortunately happening on Final Hill, but I'm concerned that we are sitting on a ticking time bomb on cottage. A number
of our residents have tested positive for PAS. We have heard that there's going to be testing of 20 homes on our hill, but we don't know how how do you get on that list. Um, we don't know what the answers are, but obviously it's
something that we're all concerned about. Um, living in a home that was built in 1874 with a very shallow well. Um, we had our water tested last year, but we weren't aware of PAS, so we know we have a lot of mineral content, but we don't
know what else is in there yet. We know it's expensive to have it done. Um, there are a lot of questions with regard to the biolia. And um I just wanted to make everyone aware that we too are concerned. Um seems that um bill is the
victim of our own successes and we don't want to get lost in the shuffle. We want to know what's best for ourselves and uh people who may one day buy our homes. Um how do we get in the loop?
Any else? Okay. Um thank you. Um, as I explained, I think at a previous meeting, maybe a couple of meetings, uh, that the D has, um, identified 20, uh, 20 properties on Cottage Hill that they will be testing, um, and
letters. I will find out I'll ask again tomorrow when those letters going out. my understanding a few weeks ago that the letters were imminently going out so that people on Cottage Hill who were uh chosen to have well testing should be notified. Um if they haven't been
notified already, they should be notified very soon. Um so there is testing that the D is going to be doing and as I said at the last uh also at the last meeting uh anybody who has well results that they want to share would be greatly appreciated. We've been sending
all of the results uh both positive and negative to both the county and the D uh as part of the database that they will use to to help uh identify the source of uh contamination. They haven't committed to a source investigation on cottage
hill. We we haven't seen the same level of contamination exceedences on cottage chill and that may be just because uh people have tested yet. I don't know. So, uh, we will have a conversation tonight. We'll begin to have a conversation that started, I think, in
2020 about the possibility of public water. So, we'll get to that in a little bit. Next, please tell from Rock Creek Woods. I saw I have something a little bit more
mundane. Sorry. But, um, on Cory Street on the Well, if you're going down street on the left hand side, all the tree trunks. Are they going to be cleaned up? I came just trying to come home the other day and one had fallen into the roadway and luckily a couple of nice
gentlemen, you know, removed it. But so I don't know what the procedure is. Put in a work order, call public works, but you could just claim that. Yeah, absolutely. And in fact, another resident talked to me last week about that and I haven't gotten over to Corey Street with uh to take a look at it.
Cory's that that section of Cory Street with it. where you have a very steep uh rock facing has always been problematic. Um we did buy uh at auction last year a a boom mower. So we'll be able to keep that area cleaner generally. Um but uh I
need to take a look at it and make an assessment to see whether it's something that our group can do or something that we need to farm out to uh arborists. You know can be a dangerous slope on which to work. I mean it's not really even a slope. I mean it's it's very very steep. So, you know, our past practice there
has been a little bit to kind of kind of clear away what we can as it comes down. Um, but proactively, you know, there there are concerns with kind of proactively removing trees uh that look like that or that may even be dead. Uh, you know, to some degree they are still
holding uh the ground in place even if they are dead. So, you know, they're often advised by the engineer that in certain circumstances it's better to leave a tree in place because it's actually maintaining some erosion control. So, it's just a question of sort of me getting up there and having a
conversation with the director of department of public works and if I can commit to doing that on Monday. So, I'll get up there and take a look at it. But I know it's concerning and I've talked to people in Rock Creek Woods who always are mindful of pulling up Rock Creek
Woods and having that concern. So, thanks for bringing it up because my to-do list was like writing it down. Anyone else in the room? Anyone online? We have a motion to close the
public comment period. Second. All in favor? Say I. I. Michael, I hope you learned something about uh stuff that wasn't budgetary. It was nice to be here. Thank you. Thank you for coming. I appreciate it. is uh
resolution number 800-2025. This is a resolution to establish the 2025 salary and wages for employee officials and employees of the city of Benryville. So this we do every year. Um and just a just a couple of
points uh that may interest the community. Um, this includes everybody who was an is an active employee at the start of the year. So, we've had several employees leave, but they're still on the resolution because uh they were active employees as of January the 1st.
And uh and there are several categories here where um part part of someone's salary doesn't come out of the general operating budget. For example, the housing liaison, we have two housing liaison. Um, good part of their salary, there's the stipend for that comes out
of the affordable housing trust. And, uh, I'll just also explain that our stormwater coordinator uh, her salary is coming out of the stormwater grant that we received um, a couple of years ago for our work in getting the sports tier
a permit uh, underway. So um um that's just a couple of things about the SAR is here. Is there any questions from the council on resolution? Okay. None. I'll make a motion to adopt
resolution 8820. Is there a second? Second. Okay. All those in favor please say I. I. I. Thank you. Motion carries the C. Christie, thank you for hanging in there. appreciate it and enjoy your evening and we'll see you soon.
Um, so the first couple of things I'm going to leave the the public water connection on show for last. The the other discussion items are uh really almost announcements and we'll just take me a few minutes to to work through. Um, in terms of our affordable housing
update, uh, the city council as well as the affordable housing advisory committee continues to work toward our housing element and fair share plan which is due uh, at the end of June. Um, the planning board will hear um the plan
uh, the plan on the first meeting in in June. The city council will offer its approval at the second city council meeting in June. Um and we hope that uh we plan on if and sort of introducing it generally at the next council meeting for people who may be interested in um
in some of those components and those components uh primarily um we are required to have 39 units of unmet need in our fourth round. We'll keep this very simple and short. Um at the moment we're only responsible for accounting
for 25% of those in terms of our plan. So, in order to get that number, which is 10, we have a couple of units that we're carrying over three units that we're carrying that we're allowed to carry over from the heritage um apartment building. We have now de restricted the library apartment. So,
that will be number four. And we are currently working um on an overlay um ordinance overlay on a particular property that will give us the remaining six. So, we'll have some more information on that uh coming up at the next meeting. Um but there's a lot of
work happening uh to meet these deadlines and to make sure that we're meeting our obligation for the fourth round. Um couple of other things in regards to housing affordable housing. Um we are also actively working through a memorand the draft memorand
understanding of habitat for humanity. The council discussed that memorandum this evening in close session. Um we hope to be able to bring this into the public um for adoption um at the May 15th meeting that will allow us to move
forward with Habitat for Humanity to provide six uh owner being simple houses on on park. So stay tuned. I think that uh we're excited about that work and um we should have more
information about that and hopefully resolution at the next meeting. And um last announcement about the village those apartments. I've been in contact over the last few weeks with um the owner of the village apartments and his representative as well as the
proposed developer for that site. Um I learned last week that contract has been signed with the developer and also contract has been signed with the builder. Um the city expects to receive two plans uh sometime next week from the
developer. Um and those we will consider um the city will consider them under the redevelopment laws. The council will consider them in closed session in part because uh they will probably they're going to be asking for a payment of taxes. So that's uh that will come
directly to to the council. Um and we'll keep you advised of our progress on that. Um they're I think fairly eager to move forward and uh you know the delay I won't call a delay but the reason why uh you know we really at a stand still felt like it was at a standstill since the
summer was there was a previous developer in contract and that that contract is now uh has now expired. The relation has changed and there's a new competition new developer with a contract uh and has been given the green light to go ahead and submit two plans
to the city. So, I uh I hope that those will be coming next week. Um so, uh we're going to keep everybody of that progress. So, some some movement here, which is good. We're all pleased uh to to see this happen. Um
I wanted to talk just uh about the capital bond ordinance. Uh so, every year we put forward capital bond ordinance to pay for things that we simply don't have the money to pay for. applying um things
like uh uh this year. I'm just going to go through the list quickly. There's one or two questions I just want to have with the with the council and get their get their feeling on before moving forward with previous or including them in the body ordinance. But just to give you an idea of what we're talking about,
um we're talking about some improvements to the police station that are the requirements by the direct department of corrections used to be about $12,000. uh include surveillance cameras, cameras monitoring, prisoners, panic alarms, um and some changes to the
side door processing. Um we're also going to look at painting of the the police station this year. Last time was painting was I think I mentioned in land matters about 15 years ago by Brown's father. Um there's a little bit of exterior
lighting needs to be done there. Um we also need to pay for body body worn cameras. That'll be a $60,000 um um cost to the to the city. Um we will need to purchase a new pickup truck for the DPW this year. Uh we do need to buy
a new recycling truck which is estimated at about $350,000. The current recycling truck is from 2009 and uh which was uh the same age as the the trash truck that we replaced it last year. So these trucks are um taking a hard beating in the city
and now it's definitely on Lakes. Um, also we're budgeting $75,000 for um improvements to the justice center to meet all the ADA requirements for audio and video and visual visual. So um that's obviously something that we've talked about with many residents uh over
the last year and he's gotten some estimates about for that and we'll look forward to moving that um moving that forward. Um couple of other things uh we are going to be required to do mapping of our stormwater system. So, uh as
everybody knows, I did complete mapping of all the inlets uh and outfalls. We actually have to map all the pipes. So, this is a very labor intensive process that BPW will undertake. But we do need help with um with um translating all
that uh data to a uh program GIS mapping that will be probably um submitted by our engineers. So there will be a capital project to to do all mapping which is required by the state to be completed by the end of this year. Also
required by the state MS4 um permit is uh retrofitting all of our storm drains. Um we have about 200 276 individual storm drains seem to be retrofitted. Um this cost could be anywhere between$500 to $1,000 each. Um,
so we're looking at significant uh investment in in that as well. Um, I will have all the numbers. I just wanted to come throw this out here. I'll have all the numbers um uh probably in the next week or two. I'm still getting some some things from different places uh that I that I need to to move forward.
The last two things I um wanted to just talk about three no three things um is uh the historic preservation commission is looking for $10,000 to create a large format architectural book of some of the most significant um architectural sites
and components in Lambertville. Um they'll have a copy of kind of a book for for us to look at prototype um probably in the next week or so. I'd like the council to see that. Um but I think it looks like the idea is here that they would print a bunch and they would sell saw one version of it several years
ago. It's quite beautiful. So um unless the council concerns they can move forward with that. Um and then other thing I would like to the council to consider is uh some of my probably about $40,000 to replace trees throughout the central business
district. There's a lot of stumps in central business district. I like to grind them all out and plant trees. Um, and estimate that would be about $40,000. Um, so those are those are kind of the things that we're looking at, including uh this year in our capital
budget. Um, I I met with Lieutenant Brown and also Lester Meyers. We don't foresee doing any road projects in the next year or two. We've been pretty heavy on road projects in the last four years. The streets are in pretty good condition overall. with maybe an assessment and feel like we can skip a
year, maybe even two at maybe where we were. We do have some funds left in various uh street bond ordinances. So, we may be able to do some smaller projects uh around town to uh to improve some of the streets are curving in some places. So, uh we are mindful that uh
you know, we've had a lot of capital expenses in the last couple years. Certainly, the library uh is top top of mind. Also, uh equipment at the Department of Public Works. So, we're keeping an eye on it and this would be probably the last year in which we have this certainly this level of bonding. I
don't anticipate this kind of bonding in the next couple of years. Um, we've made a lot of progress in terms of terms of doing what we need to do in terms of our capital needs. So, does the council have any questions or concerns about either the architectural book or the tree
planting um amount? I have a just a quick question about the village apartments. Um, when do you foresee u the public uh getting this information to
the public for review? Is there a time frame or is it just we're going to wait for those the two plans that you mentioned and then take some type of action with the developer about and our
professionals how you know how it's going to proceed but at one at what point do you think uh and I won't hold you to it but what point to because I'm not going to give you a date no dates uh now now that we've the
public about that project moving forward. At what point will the will it be presented uh do you think uh to the public for comment? Well, uh so we talked a little bit about the the plans that we think are going to be submitted. Uh, and we're
not going to share the details for those since it's not appropriate at this moment. But, um, I think depending on how quickly the council is able to sort of look at the plans and decide, you know, if there's one over the other that they prefer that we prefer um, you know, we could hopefully turn it around, I
think, very quickly. Yeah. I mean, I don't Yeah, I hesitate. you know, we've got a couple of busy months and I'm not trying to set the bar here for expectations, but then there's a summer range of one meeting in summer. So, um, you know, is it possible that we
could be talking about this, uh, as early as the June meeting? Possibly. Um, but I think it's probably more likely the July meeting, but we'll see. So, it's in the next few months. Yeah, it's certainly not going to take this process is certainly not going to unfold um in any way that it's going to have an
impact on our fourth round fair share housing element fair share plan. But it's it's good news to be able to go back to uh to to to the court. um perhaps would be a good time to report in on the case management conference
from the court because uh we would be you know they they set up a they that they will set up a briefing schedule. Yeah. So I don't know if you want to share that because that you know because the schedule that is that gets laid out is
then how some of these things fold in um to our reports and the case that we present back in the um in the matter. Absolutely. We'll keep both the city attorney and Kelly Grant the housing
attorney. Yeah. Yeah. So, I guess what I'm looking for is to tell the public that to if you want to describe to the public what happened in the court this week since everyone is aware that there was a case management conference and that um that um basically kind of the
outline that we got was that the judge there there were no dates set out for briefing but that he was going to be setting up a schedule for for oral arguments. of it was a case management conference, not a you know no case was
presented and but we are still kind of waiting for the the this schedule to evolve. So yeah, I have no issue reading uh the attorney's very short email just a matter of information. Mayor, we had a
conference we had a conference with Judge Ballard yesterday regarding the balance of naming this motion. You'll recall that the motion to intervene was granted, but Judge Mannon deferred decision on whether the city should be stripped of the community. Judge Ballard indicated that he will be scheduling oral arguments on that issue in the
coming weeks since it remains outstanding. I will let you know when we have a date for the hearing. Any questions, please reach out to me. So, thank you. Um, so getting back to the question of the capital, uh, were there any concerns with, uh, adding in those two
figures, the 10,000 or the 40,000? They are to some degree discretionary I think as opposed to everything else which is really necessary. Councilman L, do you have any thoughts on that that you want to share? Uh I I think I'm in favor of it.
Yeah, I just um it's great that we have the is it is it the commission the historic commission has this these uh resources. So, I would uh hope that I would really ask them to if they could call out the pictures of Corell Street and
the Strand and and some this area to share with us in the community. Um especially since we're going to be there we're going to have a presentation in May about you know u someone who's bought a lot of those properties and
some things that you know they think they'd like to do with it but we are also concerned about the historic integrity of the area and it um just these resources are just you know really going to be useful and will be useful to the commission because the commission
will also be taking a look at all this. So, we really want to see, you know, because that, you know, the strand looks there's a great picture on this historic society website of the of the Strand, the little Charlie Chaplain cut out in
front of it and, you know, a Mary Pigford poster. But what this movie theater looked like when it was operating, you know, is the street was very different. And I know Cassman found this terrific picture of it was Spinkles before it was Spinkles of the the
Coalard there. Um, and I could see my neighbor's um coach there, Chris. And but great looking important stuff so for us to all know and kind of savor as we go into this, you know, next evaluation. Sure. So I will ask uh Lisa Eastston
chair if she has any photographs that she can share. Um certainly there are photographs in city hall part of the DNR canal commission survey uh of those buildings there like maybe over black and white you know paper but uh they're
nice resources and um you know there may be some information at the county house as well so I've got a note of that. Okay it sounds like we're okay with the capital bond ordinance. I'll more information about that coming up.
And then just I think this will probably be a fairly short conversation as well. Um the council has had a chance to look at the proposed improvements in the c the CBD. Um I would note that that the uh of the two projects which are very similar. We're talking about some
improvements into the to the parking lot area on Union Street. taking those planters which are very badly cracked and broken and just doing some work there to make uh that more inviting space uh with some seating and planters and flowers and that kind of thing. Um
the difference between the two plans uh really was one of uh there was one that had a bike rack and the other one uh had more of a small flower garden. So one of the small flower garden was less expensive and falls within what we still
have left in the body ordinance. So it's At the end of the day, it's unless we bonded more and waited, it's really probably a fairly straightforward decision. But I just wanted to see if the council had any concerns about that. There was there
something for the um area by the bank that or it's only the Martinez lot only Martinez lot. The one thing um people always ask me about so I just don't know about anybody else is you
know the condition of the tree at the bank and the the tree is not our tree and so so which is why it it is in that weird lollipop thing that
Yeah. But that is not our area. Yeah. I I I I want to cut down that tree instead. I'm going to direct Lester to cut it down and I would like another tree planted there and we need to check in with Bill about whether we can do that, but the tree in its current form. I'm happy to go out on a big political
limb there and say, uh, we're cutting down that dead tree, but we are going to cut that down. So, thank you for that. Well, you go take a look at Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, as did that thing though, we've got to get our like
our holiday act together there. It was together until, you know, they like manhandled that tree and now we're kind of like, yeah, you know. So, this year I commit to, right, we'll commit. Well, you know, I don't know. I don't want to
say that, but you know, to having our act together. Well, at least we'll have a new tree planted. But, yeah, it's like we do have we do have something of an easement. And I don't know what that allows us to do, right? To talk about the attorney, but we're coming down the tree regardless. Right. Well, and and
just to be honest, I mean, Wells Fargo or Kobia Bank, who actually owns it, has not been very community friendly. Yeah. Which is why the holiday tree lighting was what it was and probably will continue to be. They don't want us to use their parking.
Yeah. Which is we kind of expanded out anyway. Okay. We used to be thanks for mentioning that because I I wouldn't like to say but yeah so that's the answer. So the answer is the trees getting cut out.
Um and I will see Charlie. All right. So I think we're all squared away on that. I'm going to move forward with putting that out to bid. Um so coordinate that with Cindy possibly or Michael Burns. um coming. Well, it's just the tree that's
coming down. We don't have No, no, I'm talking about the the CBD improvements that Yeah. Um All right. So, let's u move on to a conversation about public water connection on Cottage Hill. So, um I'm going to allow a little bit of
informality here. So, the residents on Cod Show want a minute or two to talk at some point, that's I think that's welcome. Um and I may ask Cindy for to just make sure that I got the history right here. So, Certainly we've heard from I've heard from residents um on
cottage hill over the years about issues with water quantity water quality and depth of wells and concerns and certainly there was concern expressed uh some years ago when the subdivision was done in Highland Boozer and water was brought down for that that's all on
record and that was a good decision I think um and so I think it was in 2020 sometime in COVID days or right before co for um that that the city began to have a conversation with some residents and I know that Denise was instrumental
Brown is instrumental in kind of talking to some of the neighbors and um and bringing that question forward. So I circulated and if anybody wants this I'm happy to I'm also happy just to put it up online but I circulated it to anybody who who asked for it. you know, the the
um documents that were generated back then were to um by then Sue as um breaking uh Conill into into quadrants um and providing some estimates about what it would cost to bring in water
mains to the various quadrants in uh that were designated for you know whatever reason in terms of efficiency of getting the water and and some corresponding costs were uh were estimated. Um in my recent conversation
with Violia about this, you know, they said that they're certainly still happy to have the conversation. Uh they anticipate that u you know these estimates are um probably should would need to be increased by 30 to 35%
um per household. And and the way this worked was that um you know the streets were identified, the the water main link was identified um and then the cost per home was identified. The cost per home was identified depending on how many
homes actually you know wanted to participate. So if 100% of the homes in a given quad a quadrant uh participated the cost would be lower. Um so you know for example uh what we say Lincoln Street uh Lincoln Avenue excuse me
they're 39 homes. The water main length was identified as 2425 ft. Uh everybody participated in the cost in 2020 would have been about 20 just under $22,000. Um 75% participated it would be
about 29,000 for a household. So the fewer households the greater the cost. These costs that were estimated at the time did not include um capping the responsibility for capping individual wells or paying for service lines which the property owners were also having to
do. This was just for way uh doing the water the water means. So um you know there's been some interest obviously um and uh I'm happy to have a general conversation about this. I don't know how quickly this can go anywhere or where it goes and I'm going to need some
help um from residents and from council members and from professionals if we want to move this conversation forward. I think uh in terms of first steps, it would be really important for the city to understand how many residents uh on
College Hill are interested in um you know looking at this seriously and um and that would give us a better sense of kind of how to proceed and what what cost we might be able. So,
um is the water is Bola going to update these figures for the city? They will. Yeah, sure. Certainly they will. I mean, we just I just through the I mean this is a fairly recent thing and we just we just pulled these out uh as an example. I'm sure that they could certainly uh
update the numbers and the numbers also depend on how the how the water makes it lane, right? So, as everybody knows, we just repaved all most of the streets up there since uh 2021. Um, so which were in terrible condition. So, you know, the watering is going to be laid in the
right way alongside the streets or we can dig up the streets and obviously all that plays into the the cost of the water. So, um I have no experience with this kind of thing obviously and uh it's a complicated
complicated question and it's a complicated process. uh and really think that it would be helpful to have an understanding from from the residents. And so maybe this is a little bit of a thing. Give me just a second, Denise, where we get two or three residents on Con Hill who are willing to, you know,
drop off letters and sort of, you know, set up a meeting, you know, see how many people we get in the room who want to have a broader conversation about this. So I think that would be really the first step. I'm happy informally if anybody has a question from college hill or or wants to share something please uh
just stand up and say you don't have to come all the way up just say your name and uh Tom Egan Douglas Street on Kottil. Um yeah I I'll volunteer myself right now to help participate. Um I think there's I think it's I think I
think it goes well beyond just you know who's interested in how we divide up a number. Um, I think because there's any number of variables here in terms of who's interested now, whether that what happens if they're interested later, right? There's a ton of different questions we have to answer and I I really think we owe it to the residents
uh the entire city to to, you know, get to the the end state of what the different options are, especially given the context of everything with uh themselves. So, I'm happy to volunteer to pitch in. That's great. Uh, thank
you. Uh and you know the irony here is not lost on me that we've got one neighborhood where we've had this conversation uh you know several years ago um and there's no infrastructure whatsoever anywhere close to in terms of bringing public water. So you know in a
perfect world everybody would be on public water here. Um, but you know, these are huge questions and I think for myself, I'm willing to engage and and ask these questions in the long term because, you know, we're we're not just concerned about today, but we're
concerned about that somebody set our property values in the future and who's going to live here and all of that, right? So, you know, a modest house, you know, is going to be any house is going to be worth more if it's got reliable water, right? of uh infrastructure. So I
don't want to you know not address uh you know the other areas of the city but we're just going to start here because we already have a little bit of information uh and we already know where so people who you know are interested in this and we already to some degree the
infrastructure nearby. So, it's a it's a it's a question that I think is lends itself in kind of more media conversation. Denise had comment. Well, I just did want to note that when Karen and I can
our neighborhood, um there were about two dozen responses that yes, people wanted to learn more about it and that we did not talk to all the residents. We and we didn't use the mailboxes. we slip the notice under the format or when we
had the opportunity to talk to someone. We certainly did. So there's um I and I can't tell you how many homes there are about 90 homes on the hill, but uh you know I think about a quarter of the people at this point are interested in
certainly learning about uh the again the water testing and everything that's involved. So I would be happy to the work on that. Great. Um, when you did the when we talked about this back in 2020, was there a letter that was the
city? Yes. So, it started in 2020. We were hot and heavy and ready right when Ida hit and that's when it kind of stalemated and then we had another meeting scheduled and I can't remember why but it had it had to be cancelled. But I I think that that the strength
that we have is to have a meeting that's also you know using Zoom so that people who have children can participate as well. Um but with this this would be with with uh Via right? Yes. Okay. So um the the young lady who is handling this
portion of it I think is due back this next week. She was on vacation. So, uh, I did reach out to her and I'd be happy to work with Lindsay to and the neighbors to try and schedule something. Yeah, I think let's, um, let's get a
letter written and, um, um, and probably best just to schedule something. Um, give people six weeks notice or whatever and whoever shows up shows up. Um, and ideally would be before people started going on vacation for the summer late
June possibly. And this is with the I I did call Gileia and make sure that they are willing to engage. Yeah. Yeah. They were I spoke to Ivon and she directed me to this person, but she was
she quick question. when when the gas company decided to run lines up on the hill. Uh he and then made made them well they're still doing it and and uh connected people as an alternate fuel
than electric or or propane. It was my understanding that that the Elizabeth Town Gas put the trunk lines in at no cost to the resident but you
what you would pay for from the street into your house and they also made it at that time they also offered no interest loans to homeowners who wanted to do this. So, but my question is is is
whether the utility is is is set up in a way where they would be required to or uh to put the trunk lines in at no cost to the public and then the public would pay from the street into their house.
Yeah. So, I I don't know who regulates that for the state. Is it is it the BPU? Yeah, it is the BPU. And I I'm not going to remember this since any will this out a little bit, but you know there's a formula that the water company has to
you know through this infrastructure constru you know um installation you know there's same thing with the gas company because we've been trying to get gas on music mountain for years but they can't get enough people interested if they don't meet their
quota then they don't do it. Yeah. So then if you want it, let's say I I was building a house and I wanted it, I would have to pay to run that because I would be the single house. Yeah. But doesn't deal with it. The water
company's the same way. Right. If they get enough people participating, it decreases the amount that you pay. Right. Right. But I I'm I'm confused because I thought you said mayor that there would be costs
associated with running the means. These are the costs associated with running means and then addition pays for that. No, the res. Yeah, the residence is different than what correct. But there's a formula and I can
get I can get some information on this. I thought I would bring up question. Yeah, there's there's a formula that something to be considered to think about, talk about and there's also additional costs when you have water than when you're doing gas because you
have to tap your well. There's a lot you have to do. Um you have to do that that putting in a system for the water to you know come to your house and in some instances if the water is downstream of your house or too low you
have to pump it up. I mean there's there's a lot that goes into water that doesn't go into gas. Yeah. I miss I had always heard and this was there's a line quite a few years quite a few decades ago that we didn't we were up too high and too close to the
reservoir because it was gravity but obviously they solve that issue with crust. Yeah. All right. So the Yes, please. I was just curious if the city is looking at all into Um there is still fund uh still
funding funding from the spill fund that is available to municipalities. Um I don't know greater details around all of that but if enough um I don't know if you are required to have an area of concern established by neighborhood or if the city is looking
at any other alternate funding to pay for the main lines so the residents aren'ted with extraordinary bill. We haven't looked at any fun running mechanisms yet for any public water in any part of the city. Um to your question about spill fund, we have had
some conversations I'm not going to get into at the council level about the spill fund and potential relationship with the city. So, but it's premature for me to talk about that, but it's a good question and uh I appreciate hearing that because um this is something that has recently come
up. So, yeah. there any other comments from anybody on college shell? So, it sounds like um we're going to work on drafting a letter that a couple of two or three volunteers will
deliver to houses on College Hill. um in regards to a meeting that we'll set up let's say sometime in June um probably late June um we'll look at the calendar our best to make sure that it's got enough advanced notice and that uh
there's a mechanism for people who can't come for whatever reason that they are able to show their interest in being a part of the conversation so we don't want anybody to miss out just because they can't make a meeting so we'll put some kind of
This is there as well. Okay. Announcements here. The mobile NPC unit will be at the justice center on Friday, May 23rd for real IDs. Appointment slots open on May 9th at 9:00 a.m. If you're interested in getting the real ID, you should probably be uh um looking at the appointment
slots on May 9th at 9:00 a.m. They're built very quickly. um and service. So, hope people will take advantage of it as they did last time. Sparkle week is now going on. Um zones three and four, your sparkle pickup will be next Thursday and
Friday. Zones one and two, your pickup will be May 13th and 14th. Pride parade is Saturday, May 17th. Um kicks off at 11:00, right? Let's see. 10:30.
Oh, we have to meet at 10:30. Yeah. So anyway, hopefully you'll show up for that Memorial Day parade uh steps off at 9:00 a.m. on Memorial Day, one of our cherry suits. We're going to open the meeting up to the second public participation uh
period. So same rules before, if you'd like to step up to the lantern, please do so. See your name and address. You have three minutes of uninterrupted time. Jeff 33 Wilson Street. I I want to make sure I didn't misunderstand, but we don't have a a fund for commercial to
pay into the affordable housing. We didn't set up that that program. I I believe that's Is that correct? Smile. I think it's is it just residential or non we have a non-residential fem not just resial res something you should think about. Yeah,
I didn't know that. I just always assume we do. Y thank you. Um the other thing um I just want to mention is that my understanding of New Jersey utility law that there's a a water utility whether it's private or public. It's a water line down the street that there's
mandatory hook up. So you should look at that because I think it's my understanding it's mandatory. I mean some people you don't have to hook up but you still have a day um because it's it's done to advertise greatest you know base for the for the utility whether
it's public or private and then just one little personal note someone who's lived in town for at least five years Matt Arco I know for a long time since he was a public reporter passed away sort of a shop on a slan and Franklin who was a
reporter for um New Jersey politicker and the star for all years and see a lot of his by lines and he's did all his writing the last three three four years since co was 39 and wonderful person
always also active with the same squad thank you one of two uh unexpected and um distressing deaths in the city this week um Judy Le 86 North
Just returning for a moment to where we are in terms of the scheduling and we don't have a briefing schedule yet but we will have and everything. I just like to have a standing request that I think I'm not the only one who thinks this but if any information is received about
this stuff could it just go up online on the on the site because I think there's a lot of people interested in knowing what the court says or what we hear or what the schedule is or who's on first or whatever. So it could just be sort of a standard. Nobody'd have to remember to
ask. Nobody'd have to It seems like that would just be great to not have to rely on any social media or anything. So just I'm making that request on behalf of I'm sure I can get a few people to agree with me on that. Please just post anything when you get it. I don't think
it'll be secret. If there's something that's secret, obviously you can, but schedule I think you can. That would be great. Thank you. Sure. Uh we could take a look at sort of setting up some kind of I don't know billboard on the city. What do you say? I don't know. Uh the
the email from the the portable housing attorney came in this afternoon about 4:30. So uh you know do my best to make sure that everything's that that is we have kind of a running page already that includes updates as they come. So we're
we're trying we're on the same page. Thank you. Um, so we'll make sure that things get posted there, but probably it makes sense. And I'm guilty I haven't looked, but you know, whatever we can do to make it a prominent um feature from the homepage so that people don't spend
a lot of time drilling if it's not already that way. Yes, it's pretty good. Great. Um, anybody online wish to comment? Have a motion of commenting period, please. Move.
Second. All in favor, please say I. I. Okay. Thank you. And once again, express gratitude for everyone coming out tonight. Appreciate it. It's always good to hear everybody and to see everybody. So, may have a motion to so moved.
Second. All right. All please. I