All right, welcome. It's nice to see so many smiling faces here this evening. It's always pleasure to have people with us on usually a Monday night, but today it is a Tuesday night. Uh All right, I'm going to read I'm going to read our statement of compliance with
sunshine laws. This meeting is being held in accordance with the open public's public meeting act and adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required by law. Specifically, the annual notice was emailed to the West Sussex Tribune and Star Ledger on January 3, 2025. The agenda and resolutions for this meeting are
available at www.lsonj.org. Certain portions of this meeting may be closed to the public for the purpose of personnel and or other matters as outlined in the sunshine law. Decisions made and or discussed in closed sessions will be made known to the public at a later time. Notice to members of the governing body and township staff any
use of electronic devices during this meeting shall be used solely for the purpose of township business and communications are subject to the open public record act. To the extent possible, this evening's township of Livingston Council may be livereamed via Facebook at www.fas.com facebook.com
Livingston Township NJ questions or comments will be accepted by emailing live comments livingstonj.org by 4 pm on the day of the meeting and share with the Livingston Town Council before the meeting. Each speaker should follow the rules of order in Livingston Code
2-15.3. Roll call, please. Council members Anthony here. Upani here. Vieira, present. Deputy Mayor Klein here. Mayor Minhardt here. Uh we're going to rise uh for a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. Uh
we keep in our hearts and our thoughts all the folks who have perished by innocent acts of violence and we also take a special moment to uh think about uh the young gentleman from Tennifly New Jersey who came home as a hostage um came home out of Gaza and came home. So
we're very pleased about that as well. So we keep him in our thoughts and his family as well in our thoughts and prayers. United States God indivisible with liberty andice for all. All
right. Um, before we get to the proclamations and presentations, do we see uh Eileen Fisherman anywhere in the house from Essex County? That being said, no. All right. So, the first one is um May, which is the uh older
American uh month. Uh we have a whole bunch of folks here in the house. We have our staff in the back as well. We have a proclamation as well. So maybe what we should do is um uh Jen and Karin and your staff, why don't you all come
up for a few minutes? All right. You know, let's Oh, Ron. Ron. Wait a second. Whatever. I don't care. All right. So, this is this are the
folks behind the scenes who make everything happen. Uh Ron, you get special mention because you don't want to come up, but you also are part of this. You are also a part of this for our programs. All right. Um we have a proclamation. So, I think um we're going to read we're going to read the
proclamation uh first and then we will um come actually you know, let's come down and we'll read it together. How's that? And we'll read it together. Let's go walk down and since I have it here, we'll share it as we go. Michael Sean Ken
calling audible Michael. Yeah, I got Michael. So, the proclamation reads, "Whereas we honor and celebrate the older residents of Livingston for their enduring commitment to the Livingston community, and whereas this month should serve as a
time to recognize their achievements, promote their continued well-being, and reaffirm the township's dedication to ensuring they remain valued and active members of our society. And this is a big one. Whereas we
recognize Karine Judge, round of applause, and her dedicated staff for their unwavering commitment, compassion, and creativity in providing exceptional programs and services for Livingston's
senior residents and I needed the glasses where in honor of the night where Yes, I'm p. Whereas through the efforts of Karen and her team, they have enriched the lives of countless older adults by
providing connection, purpose, joy, and fulfillment. And someone's got to do the cleanup. Uh whereas the efforts reflect true spirit of community exemplifies public service at its best. Therefore, I Ed
Minhardt, the mayor of the township of Livingston, announce my deep appreciation and respect for the township's older rec older residents, recognizing their contributions to the Livingston community, and by acknowledging Karen and her staff for their dedication to improving the
well-being and vitality of these special individuals that are an intricral part of our society. And therefore I now proclaim May 2025 as older Americans Month in the township of Livingston. Karen, this is for you. And
we also have Hold on a second. We also have a great bouquet of flowers for Karen and her. All right. So Karen, thank you so much for everything that you and your entire staff do. Now, now we're going to give the mic to
Karen because she always likes to say a few words. This one I couldn't do on the fly. So, I have a little cheat sheet. So, I'm often asked why I love working with older adults. And the answer is very simple. It is incredibly rewarding
and truly inspiring. Every day I get to connect with people, all of you, who have lived through decades of changes, challen challenges, and achievements. Their stories are filled with wis wisdom, humor, and prospect. There's something powerful about sitting with somebody who has seen the world evolve
and still find joys in the little things. Older adults remind me to take time to slow down, listen deeply, and appreciate the present. They teach resilience, kindness, and the value of human connections. Working with all of you isn't just a job, it's a privilege.
It's about giving back to a generation that has given so much and in return gaining a deeper understanding of life. So, thank you to all of you. So, I will say it one more time without the plaque, but for my own words and from my own heart, Karen and your whole staff, thank you all because you give
back to this community and I know how much you are all very well appreciated. We come to so many of the events and we see the smiles on everyone's faces and we know all the hard work that goes behind the scenes producing it. to you are true backbone of the operation. So, thank you all very much for everything
you do picture. All right, somebody have the plaque as well. All right, great. Thank you very much. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. No. No.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you so much. You guys are great. You guys are great, Jen. Thanks. Great. Thank you. Thank you. That was great. Sorry pronouncing these
words. All right, we're going to uh skip around. We'll go to three and four while the rest of the group comes in from outside. So, uh May is also uh ALS Lou Garri's disease a Lou L Garri disease awareness
month and so we have a um proclamation uh to read as well. Um Michael you going to read the first read one through three. Whereas amotropic lateral sclerosis also commonly known as lugarri disease is progressive fatal
neurodeenerate disease in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles slowly reducing a person's ability to walk, talk, eat and eventually breathe. And whereas thousands of new amotropic lateral scerosis ALS cases are reported every
year and estimates and estimates show that every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed with ALS and someone passes away from AL ALS. And whereas on the average patients diagnosed with ALS survive only two to five years from the
time the diagnosis. And whereas the exact causes of ALS are unknown and there is no known cure for ALS. And whereas people who have served in the military are more likely to develop ALS and die from the disease than those with no history of military service. And
whereas securing access to new therapies, durable medical equipment, and communication techniques is of vital importance to people living with ALS. And whereas clinical trials play a pivotal role in evaluating new treatments, enhancing quality of life,
and fostering assistive technologies for those living with ALS. And whereas the ALS association is the largest philanthropic funer of ALS research globally and has committed more than 154 million dollars to support more than 550
projects across the United States and 18 other countries. hand. Whereas the ALS association is committed to accelerating the pace of discovery fueled by the hope that one day ALS will be a livable disease for everyone
everywhere until a cure can be found. And whereas the amiotropic lateral sclerosis awareness month provides for an opportunity to increase public awareness of the dire circumstances of people living with ALS. acknowledge the terrible impact this disease has on
those individuals and their families and support research to eradicate this disease. Now therefore, I I Mayor Minhardt of the Township of Livingston, County of Essex, State of New Jersey, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 as ALS awareness
month. I call upon all Americans to join us in supporting ALS research to advocating for increased funding and standing in solidarity with those affected by this relentless disease. Um I'm just going to say on a personal note um I lost a dear friend a few years ago,
a Livingston resident in his mid-50s, Bradsh um of ALS and um whatever we can do to help the research and fund this these this terrible disease is obviously is great. So and I second that mayor. He was he was my neighbor. He lived right
right across my home and been knowing him for years, decades. What a wonderful human being and certainly lost. So, a great family. So, we we think about Brad during this at this as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. We're going to go on. We have uh lupus awareness month as
well. We have a proclamation for that. Michael, you want to start us off? Whereas lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects all nationalities, races, ethnicities, genders, and ages. It is considered a serious global health problem. It is estimated that 5 million
people worldwide suffer from some form of lupus. The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that 1.5 million Americans are living with lupus and approximately 1 in 250 people may end up developing lupus. And whereas lupus is a
health condition that affects the immune system. It causes the body's defense system to attack healthy cells and tissues instead of viruses and bacteria. This can damage many parts of the body such as the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, brain,
eyes. It's not listed, but should be. And hold on, give me one second. I'm sorry, Jean. You have to keep the door open. It's a It's a public meeting act. You have to door Door has to stay open. It's a rule. It's a rule. One door has to stay open. state rules. Whereas lupus currently has no cure and
is one of the most difficult diseases to diagnose as its symptoms come and go and can mimic those of other diseases. These uh there currently exists no single test that can authoritatively identify the disease.
And whereas the outlook has vastly improved for those who have lupus, patients are living longer, more normal lives because of increased awareness of the disease, improved diagnostic methods, and more effective therapy. As a result of advances of biomedical
research and positive findings, treatment methods have progressed significantly. And whereas biomedical scientist Judith Mills founded nonprofit organization Butterfly Walkers, Inc. to increase public and professional awareness and help create an educated
population. The organization advocates for people with the disease, works to inform patients and their families about treatment options, and raises funds for research to find a cure. Active with both the research lupus alliance and lupus foundation of America New Jersey
chapter, Judith Mills has also formed support groups to help people with autoimmune diseases to thrive. And whereas to take advantage of the knowledge already gained through public awareness of symptoms and treatment of lupus, the need for scientific research remains essential in the Monontlair
community. Butterfly Walkers, Inc., The Lupus Foundation of America and Lupus Research Alliance assist in various fundraising events such as the Walk to End Lupus now. And therefore, be it now. Therefore, I, Mayor Minhard, the Township of Livingston, County of Essex,
State of New Jersey, to hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 as Lupus Awareness Month and urge the Livingston community to seek out resources and educate themselves about lupus to better support all all those affected. mayor not
reading that twice. All right. So, thank you guys. I am uh we are now have the arts council. Uh anybody from the arts? Could I just interrupt real briefly? Um anyone who rode here on the senior bus and needs to senior bus to get home. It's
going to be leaving momentarily. Was asked to make that announcement. There you go. public speaking. Thank you for coming. Thank you for Thank you all for coming. You can come in if you want. Hey, you.
I'm on your side. I've I've come before council. Hi, I'm Hugh Mahan, member of the arts council. Barbara Sachs, president of Arts Council. Nice nice seeing everybody. Nice seeing you both. Uh nice seeing everybody because uh we really need to thank everybody because it it did take
all of your efforts. Uh, you know, I've come here a lot with hat in hand and uh, basically I'm and I'm at the point right now is is I don't know what happens when the dog catches the car. Okay. So, I'm I'm I'm thanking you.
I'm thanking you for letting us use the Lucari property, the home on the Lucari grounds, for the gallery that we so sorely need it. Um, Bill Sarn, the gentleman whose work is outside. Uh, he found us about seven years ago when we
were over in Town Center and he's still with us and he's glad to be with us. His work, one of his pieces is going to be on the benches, which is what the show is right now. And uh, I don't know if everybody's looked at that, but he did a good deal of those paintings with his
finger. So, it's just the more you the more you know, the more you know. Um, again, we have plans. It's taken a while for us to ramp up with those plans. It's a lot of moving parts. When
we were at Town Center, we knew where we were going to park. We knew, you know, how many people could be there. We knew all kinds of things. And we've had to kind of fit into our space. And now that we're there, I think this show comes
down on the 18th. We're going to be installing a show by um Arthur Morannis who is one of Livingston's own um Madison Avenue Mad Men and u his work is exquisite and that'll be the next show
in we're hoping to open on June 1st. So, you're all invited certainly to the opening and anytime you want to come, you can give me a ring and I will make a a trip over and open up the farm. The farm is
absolutely beautiful. People should come there just to see the farm. It's magnificent. It's 240 East Northfield Avenue. It's the old Lucari Mini Horse Farm just up from Benet Abraham.
The the property is beautiful. Property is beautiful. It's a Green Acres property. Um it's just a wonderful place. It's got a used to be horses. There used to be horses there. Cub Brook runs through the property and there's nothing nicer than
to sit and to listen to the brook go by. People pay money for the tapes that sound like that. So again, thank you for all your efforts, individual and group, for valuing the arts in Livingston. We really appreciate it. We certainly do.
Thank you. Thank you. When is it going to be open? Well, on the 18th of the show is coming down and we're going to be putting pieces on the benches. I don't know if you've noticed this is the third year. On Northfield.
Um this uh Friday night it's open. Saturday during the day it's going to be open. on Sunday. That show is coming. Uh 1 to 4 on Saturday and 3 to 7 on Friday nights. The address is 240.
East Northfield. Yeah, it's the Evergreen Farm. It says ACL Art Gallery and is enough. Yes, the the driveway is a little daunting, but uh and thank you for letting me do this commercial. Mayor, thank you. Thank
It's always nice to see both of you and thank you. Thank you for for brightening up and adding to the town in many ways. Certainly with the art as well and outside as well. I know deputy mayor has something and then probably council. Yeah, I just want to say I I think it was um you guys have I want to congratulate you uh on you know that the
house that was down there was not being put to good use uh for a while after the horse farm had left. Um and it is now being used beautifully to walk around in those rooms like the care that you've taken to create that space. Um, it feels like an art gallery, you know, it feels
like and and and and and as you said, in that beautiful setting when you open that window and you just hear the brook going by and getting to look at all the artwork, I just I think you guys uh knocked it out of the park. It's just beautiful there. And we'll be doing outdoor activities, too. So, it's not just the house. I I I think there are some challenges with it in terms of the
parking like you were saying, and we'll have to be creative about how we address that. But in terms of the actual physical space, it couldn't be better. It it like I said, it takes a lot of a lot of help and it takes a village. Uh Trinity Church has allowed us to park people there. Uh the Jitney supplied uh
from the county helped immensely and it we're we're going to be talking to Benet Abraham about possible parking there as well. Um again, the more help we get in that area, the better. We're uh we're hoping for big things. It's a big
beautiful space and uh art's a really nice thing. People need more of it. Yeah. Thank you very much, Mayor. I just want to say it's an honor to be the liaison to the arts council. It's actually one of my even though I'm a transportation person and I'm also have the transportation committee. I believe
the arts council is probably one of my favorite uh groups that I am the liaison to and you guys did a marvelous job over there. We also have to thank um Adam. Adam was a great big help. Uh he's a believer in the arts. Uh but what you guys did over there, you you took a house and uh that had nothing on it and
nothing in it and and you turned it into a gallery which is just beautiful. And listen, we know that it's hopefully temporary. It could be temporary for 10 years or whatever because I know my dream is to someday have a uh performing arts center with an art gallery in this town because Livingston does deserve it.
But what you guys have done with the Lucari horse farm is wonderful. So congratulations to all of you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Also, thank you guys. Thank you very much. All right, moving on to the business. Uh the definitely not the exciting part or sometimes the exciting
part. Uh can I have a motion for the approval of minutes pending corrections on the April 28, 2025 regular and conference? So moved. Meeting. Hold on. Hold on. An April 28th close session meetings. So moved. Moved. Second. All those in favor? I. All right. Motion to open the public comment on agenda items
only. Motion. Second. All those in favor? I. The meeting is now open to public comment on agenda items only. Motion to close public comment. Second. All those in favor of closing public comment? I. All right. We now have a few
um second readings. Uh so I will Carolyn, will you please read ordinance 16-2025? Thank you, mayor. Ordinance 16-2025 amending section 170-87D of the township code relating to hab habitable floor area and habitable
floor area ratio. Okay. Have a motion to open the uh public I'll make a motion to open a public uh hearing. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? I. Okay. Meeting is now open for public hearing on 16205. Motion to make a motion to close. I'll
second it. All those in favor? Hi. All right. Uh, any want to call the question? Call the ordinance. Excuse me. May I have a motion to move? I'll move um the ordinance. Second. Okay. Um, is there a comment first or roll call? I always
forgot this one. Have a comment. You can ask if comment first. Comment first. All right. I'm Anybody have a comment? Michael. All right. So, I'm just going to make a quick comment that this is something that came out of uh the zoning uh board. Uh we'd like to thank our chair Ed Beer for bringing this uh and
also the planning board chair Rudy Fernandez for bringing this ordinance together and working with township manager Lewis. Um this is something I know it's important that they've asked for a while and I'm glad they were able to bring this up for a vote. So thank you very much. Council member Anthony. Yes. Baptani.
Yes. Viera. Yes. Deputy Mayor Klene. Yes. Mayor Reinhardt. Yes. Uh please read ordinance 17-2025. Ordinance 17-2025 authorizing the issuance of 4 million bonds or notes for general improvements. Motion make a motion open
public hearing. Second. All those in favor? I. Okay. The meeting is now open for the public uh public portion on ordinance 17-2025. Any comments? I make a motion to close the public hearing. Second. All those in favor? I
All right. You want to uh move it? I'll move it. Second. Okay. Any public comment? I mean, comments from the I'm sorry. Comment from the Davis. Okay. No. Roll call, please. Council member Anthony, yes. Banani, yes. Vier, yes. Deputy Mayor Klein, yes. Mayor Minhart,
yes. Thank you. Ordinance 18-2025. Ordinance 18-2025 authorizing the execution of a discharge of mortgage for that certain property known as block 101, Law 27. I'll make a motion open to public
hearing. I'll second. All those in favor? I. Okay. The meeting is now open for the public portion of ordinance 18-2025. I'll make a motion to close the public hearing. Second. All those in favor? I I I All right. Motion to move. Second.
Okay. Any discussion from the Dis? Roll call, please. I'll move it. I'll move it. We moved it. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah, we moved it already. And we seconded it already and we had discussions. Sorry about that. I'm one step ahead of everybody. I'm sorry. We're one step behind every one step behind either one. Roll call, please.
Council member Anthony, yes. Banani, yes. Vieira, yes. Deputy Mayor Klein, yes. Mayor Minhart, yes. Ordinance 19-2025. Ordinance 19-2025 authorizing the issuance of 3,50,000 bonds or notes for improvements to water utility
system. Motion open public comments. I'll second it. All those in favor? I. All right. Uh, the meeting is now open for public comment on ordinance 19-2025. Seeing none, motion to close. Second.
All those in favor? I I I'll move it. I'll second it. Okay. Any discussion uh from the deis? Now, please read the uh please read the role. Council member Anthony, yes. Banani, yes. Vieiera, yes. Deputy Mayor Klene, yes. Mayor Minhardt, yes.
Ordinance 20-2025. Ordinance 20-2025 authorizing the issuance of 3,565,000 bonds or notes for improvements to sewer utility system. I'll open for public comment. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. All right. Meeting is now open for public
comment on ordinance 20-2025. Seeing none, I'll motion to close public comment. Second. All those in favor? I I I'll move it. Second. Okay. Any discussion from the DES? Okay, please read the role. Council
member Anthony, yes. Yes. Viera, yes. Deputy Mayor Klene, yes. Mayor Minhardt, yes. Ordinance 21-2025. Ordinance 21-2025 providing an appropriation of 11,280,000 for various improvements and
authorizing the issuance of 6,73,774 bonds or notes. I'll make a motion to open a public hearing. Second. All those in favor? I Okay. Any comments on? Yes. Hey, Jean.
I know that uh you want to keep these sheets uh brief, but it really would be nice if you could put a little extra sentence to tell us what the various things are. We can see some of them, but many of them we have no idea what
they're about. How could we comment? Okay, thank you. You want to describe Sorry, Ann, you want to describe 21-2025? I can actually hardly hear her, but that's for the um general uh um
improvements that we do every year. And the good news about this is that it includes $3 million in grants. So, we didn't have to authorize we have to authorize the expenditure, but it's not only funded from regular taxpayer money
or bonds. We have grants to offset it. So, it's only 6,700,000, but we do have to authorize the full amount of the of the bond. That includes um the field turf um improvements that we're making for $3
million. So, that's in that ordinance as well. Any more comments uh on 21-2025? I'll make a motion to close public comment. Public hearing. Second. All those in favor? Yes. Okay.
I'll move it. Second. Any discussion from the deis? Seeing none, will you read the role, please? Council member Anthony, yes. Banani, yes. Vieiraa, yes. Deputy Mayor Klene, yes. Mayor Minhartt, yes. All right, we have three for introduction. Will you please read
Ordinance 22-2025? Ordinance 22-2025 amending chapter 29 to add a new section 29-52.1 reserved school staff permit parking. I'll make a motion to approve the
ordinance for introduction. A second. All those in favor? I. A roll call. I'm sorry. Roll call, please. Council member Anthony. Yes. Pupani. Yes. Verier. Yes. Deputy Mayor Klein. Yes. Mayor Minhardt. Yes. And the public hearing is scheduled for our next meeting. Uh not not the
next meeting, the one after that, the first one in June, Wednesday, June 4th, 2025. Uh the mayor is recused on ordinance 23-2025. Um does anyone want to um make a motion for initial reading? Can you
read it, please? Did we make a motion? He wants you to read the read. Ordinance 23-2025 amending chapter 170 land use article 12 district regulations. Does anyone want to move it? I'll move it. I'll second it. Okay. And just so everybody's aware,
this is not only to uh move and set a hearing date, but it would also be referred to the planning board for master plan consistency. Thank you. Any comments? Roll call, please. Council member Anthony, yes. Vani, yes. Viera, yes.
Deputy Mayor Klein. Yes. And Deputy Mayor, this is also set for a hearing date of Wednesday, June 4th. Thank you as well. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor. Uh, will you please read 24-2025? Caroline. Ordinance 24-2025, Hometown
Heroes Banner Program, and setting fees. I'll make a motion to approve the ordinance for introduction. Second. Okay. Uh, any discussion? Uh, yeah. I just want to call out this, uh, mayor. This is um something that really was uh close to
my heart and I spoke to many of the veterans when we met them. Uh this is about our hometown heroes and the um and and the war veterans that uh their banners can be on our light poles.
Um this ordinance passes that creates a a framework for allowing that and it will be immensely a pride proud moment for I think I can speak on behalf of everybody on the day here for myself to
see those wonderful faces the heroes um you know on the on the street polls and and everywhere. So this is with um with huge honor. Yeah this is wonderful. I would go for this. Thank you. Any other comments? You
please read the role. Council member Anthony, yes. Banani, yes. Viera, yes. Deb Klein, yes. Mayor Reinhardt, yes. All right, we are down to the consent agenda. All matters listed with an asterric are considered to be routine and non-controversial by council with all approved by one motion.
There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the governing body so requests, in which case the items will be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence. on the agenda as part of the general orders. Uh we are um
going to read separately uh 25-187. Um council baton, did you want to read 25191 separately as well? Uh that is correct. Okay. So we're going to read 25187 and 191. Any other ordinances? Any other council members
would like to read separately? Okay. That being said, then will you please read everything Carolyn but 2587 and 191? Yes. 25 resolution 25-182 determining the form and other details as it relates to the
construction financing loan program of the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, also known as IBank, permitting the sale and issuance of up to 4 million notes for phase C1 of the well remediation project. Resolution 25-183 appointing Amanda Jones to
Livingston Committee for Divers Diversity and Inclusion. Resolution 25-184 authorizing the award of a contract to NV5, Inc. Resolution 25-185 authorizing a 2-year extension of existing contract with FSC Leak
Detection. Resolution 25-186 authorizing disposition of surplus property. Resolution 25-188 authorizing the award of a contract to Rio Supply Inc. Resolution 25-189 authorizing the award of a
contract to Civic Plus LLC. Resolution 25-190 authorizing a contract with JCT Solutions and resolution 25-192 tax collector to prepare and mail estimated tax
bills. Have a motion to move those. I'll move them. I'll second. Okay. Any discussion? If not, please read the role. Council member Anthony, yes. Pupani, yes. Vieiraa, yes. Deputy Mayor Klein, yes. Mayor Minhard, yes. Please read 25-187.
Resolution 25-187 authorizing the award of a contract to Fairview Insurance Agency Associates, Inc. A motion to move. I'll make a motion to approve the resolution. Second. Second.
Okay. Um point of point of information. Yeah. Uh yeah, just um for the public's benefit, Councilman Klein will be recusing himself on this. It's a contract for our risk manager. Uh it was advertised as a fair and open contract, fully competitive process. Uh under that
process with the statute, those uh entering bids are permitted to make uh legally permissible campaign contributions up to a certain threshold. Um, so Fairview had made a contribution to Councilman Klein's which is why he's recusing. Um, although he is
not legally obligated to do so. He thinks uh just to avoid the appearance of any issue he's recusing. But it was a fully competitive, fair and open process, fully compliant with the statutes. Okay. Council, anything else to say or add or No, I have nothing. M Mr. Lewis
stated properly. I mean, um, Councilman Klein is under no obligation to accuse himself. Again, he's doing it to avoid any any appearance. Um it's a full, fair, and open process. Anyone could bid on it. Um and as part of the bidding process, they disclose campaign contributions. There's a $5,500
threshold um which Fairview is under. So, they're eligible for the contract. Thank you. Please um read the role then. Council member Anthony, yes. Upani, yes. Viera, yes. Deputy Mayor Klein is recused. And Mayor Minhardt, yes. Okay.
Resolution 25-191. Please read, Carolyn. Resolution 25-191 declaring the policy of the township council with respect to redevelopment projects and revenues received pursuant to long-term tax exemption law. Is there a motion?
Motion. Second. Okay. Any discussion? Uh Barry, can we have an introduction of this? Maybe a background of this first before we start? Yes. So um as as the township has started engaging in more and more redevelopment under the local redevelopment and housing law, one of
the uh tools that are available to the municipality to facilitate redevelopment of blighted properties, non-performing underperforming properties is to provide uh relief under what's called the long-term tax exemption law. Uh it is a mechanism whereby in lie of paying
taxes, the whoever's proposing to the project pays a percentage of their annual gross revenues. Um, it allows them to have the certainty of knowing what they're going to be committed to. Uh, at the same time, it it facilitates the redevelopment of a blighted property, ultimately generating more
money to the municipality than would be under that statute. Um, the county automatically receives 5% of any uh payment in le of taxation under the LTTE. The board of ed does not. Um the board of ed has expressed concern about
the potential lost revenues although they would continue to collect their share of the land value taxes. Um there is no tax and improvements and instead it's it's through that pilot payment. Um, the mayor and council, I think, have heard the board's concerns and are uh
receptive to that concern and are here by committing uh to to adopt a policy that we recognize that they're under the uh LTTE, the board of ed is not entitled to a percentage of the payment, but the council and the the township is entitled
to make a portion of that payment to the board of ed. On the flip side, there are also a number of statutory schemes whereby the township bears the burden and the uh board of education does not. Um, by way of example, the township, it bears all the cost of assessing
properties, defending tax appeals, um, paying for the billing, collection, etc. Those are all borne by the township and township's budget. In addition, when there are tax appeals that are filed, uh the township is obligated to pay both the board of ed and the county their
100% of their tax levy and the township alone bears the risk of a non-payment or delinquent taxes. So, um if anyone who doesn't pay their taxes, the town still has to pay the board of ed and the county their share of the taxes. Uh similarly, when there are tax appeals,
if someone is successful in a tax appeal and is entitled to a refund of the tax taxes they previously paid, the township alone is responsible to make that payment and has no ability to reach back to the board of ed or the county to get back their share of the monies that they already received that we're having to
refund. So I think what the town is committing to is looking at all those circumstances as new to redevelopment projects come on board um to the extent projects would generate an impact on a school um a residential project that may
generate additional school children. Uh factoring in all those factors I just described, the town is committed to uh a fair and equitable assessment of that and and potentially make an appropriation to the board of ed to offset. Thank you Vy. That was that was an important introduction. I think I'll
I'll summarize with couple of examples. Uh one correction as well. Um the board of education obviously has expressed interest but this council myself included we had have been having the conversations of how do we ensure that
overall our residents when they get the tax bill they see the whole as a text bill. Right? when these pilots come in, it's not required to have anybody um have the part of these taxes. But what
we wanted from this day is is that to ensure that we have appropriate framework in place where we support the prize schools and the board of education. Um although we do not have any oversight on their budget or or
their budgetary processes, it is important that they do not end up in the loss when it comes to these properties going in under pilot. But at at the same time when these properties get improved, there is additional tax revenues. How do we ensure that if a particular property
bringing in school age kids, how do we create that framework? So when somebody reads this, there is a lot of good framework language here so that all of us as well as people anybody following us have a framework to continue doing
this. If tomorrow there is an additional pilot that gets approved, we have a framework to follow and our board of education also get our schools also get the money out of this particular channel. So that's the intent behind this. We wanted to make sure it is
properly framed and it has uh the boundaries designed and somebody to follow on on through that. Um what the couple of points that Barry made a lot of money that the town goes uh gives back when let's say when there is a
refund request where there is a a tax challenge or tax bill challenge all of that money goes out of town's budget uh and does does not go out of anybody else's budget. All of that is is an expense on the town budget. So these are these are some of the challenges that
get addressed by this. Uh but this is primarily on the pilots and uh and how we create framework to assign the the dollars to our schools. Mayor, if I can just make a comment. Um, you know, as someone who uh graduated from Bernardet
Hill and from Heritage and from Livingston High School, I can just say I'm certainly speaking for myself, but I I think I'm also speaking for the entire council. We're we are uh not here to short change the schools. We want to make sure the schools are taken care of. We care about the schools. We understand that Livingston High School is the most
important institution in this town. uh and we're going to make sure that uh we take care of those schools as even though we're not the board of ed, we're going to make sure that the schools are in good shape. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor. Sure. So, so Barry, this is a very good
um um resolution to start with because uh as we were going through pilots in the last couple years, that's the first question people ask, why are you short changing the school systems? And we're really not because we do give them a whole lot of money uh from our taxes. Um, however, what we need to do I is
teach people, well, I don't know how we're going to do it, but we need to start teaching people what pilots really are and how good they are for a town. You know, the worst thing about pilots is the name payment in le of taxes. That's not true. They pay taxes and they pay enough taxes that actually most
times they lower your tax rates um on your homes. So, we as a a council and as a town, we actually need to put programs together because just because people come up to this microphone and they say, "Oh, pilots are bad." And they have marbles in a box and say this and this and this and people believe it, okay,
it's not true. Just because somebody says says something at that microphone doesn't necessarily make it true. But we sit here and we take it and we don't respond to them. We need to start responding and really pilots are good for a town. Thank you. Uh just uh Sean had mentioned yeah you
went through the whole system and as a dad of four of kids who've gone through the system uh we feel and I think I speak for everyone uh it's incumbent upon us if we're looking at these uh long-term uh tax exemptions to um
advocate just as much for the council as for the board of ed and for our great school systems. And I want to thank Kayton and and Barry and everyone else as part of a negotiating team on this last pilot. Uh I had every interest in the world of uh representing our board
of ed along with us when we were um negotiating with the developer. So I think that with that mindset and a lot of people moving to our towns the town because of the great schools and all that, we want to make sure as um Sean said uh to make sure that schools get
their fair share. So I'm going to vote yes on this. Well, since everybody else talked, I'll just uh I agree with everybody else. I just want to thank Councilman Anthony who didn't thank himself because he also helped on the negotiation side as well with the last pilot. Um and I think everybody said it very correctly. This is uh it's important for the schools, important for
the towns. Um and this is how we look forward to u keeping the school systems uh as they are and keeping the town as well as they are. So, thank you all for your help. Well said, Mayor. Uh would you please read the role?
Council member Anthony, yes. Baptani, yes. Vieiraa, yes. Deputy Mayor Klein, yes. Mayor Minhardt, yes. All right, we are now uh on to the public portion. Got a motion to open up the meeting to public portion on any subjects. I'll make a motion. Second. All in favor? I
Okay, the meeting is now open to anything you'd like to talk about for three minutes. Still off 18 North Drive. I thought I was Jean stole off 18 North Drive. I didn't realize that this was on the agenda
tonight. Uh I would have spoken before. Uh pilots when they originally were proposed were for blighted areas on for nonprofit groups. I don't know how they evolved to I'm not talking about whether
the money goes to the board of ed or to the town or anywhere else. They shouldn't be allowed because what they you wouldn't have the problem if the tax revenue um uh were collected and I it's hard for
me to imagine that an area in Livingston would need a pilot for redevelopment. They call me every time I turn around. They want to buy my house. They're very anxious to get property in Livingston. So, I think you make a big mistake when
you grant pilots. And I think you ought to think carefully about doing it and possibly cut back on granting pilots. Do you want to comment? Yeah, I can tell you this, Jean. We um
we do not take it lightly. Um I would say the fact that when you talk about blighted, everybody immediately thinks of some sort of slum or totally rundown place, which you don't think is Livingston, but that is not always the case. There are certainly and and not in the case of single family homes. We know
what the market's done here. People buy pay obscene amounts of money to tear houses down and build new houses. Um this is a different situation where we look at you have a commercial property. Um it's been a very challenging uh environment for retail for office space
but you have an existing building that has a certain value and to try and incentivize someone to come in pay what they would have to pay to buy that building. The most recent example we did was the old bottle king in the Walgreens which I think most would agree is is not
what we want. Uh it's it's run down. It's it was empty for many many years. But the acquisition cost plus the in in in many instances environmental cleanup costs or maybe asbestos. There may be other reasons plus the development costs. When they
look at what that overall cost would be versus the revenue that they would anticipate bringing in it, it is not a wise economic investment and they're better served by putting that same $50 million into corporate bonds or into some other opportunity. So unless you can provide an incentive for them to
make that investment to again we're not talking about vacant properties. You can't give pilots on vacant properties. These are existing properties that they're going to have to pay the value to take it down. Um the by by doing so you facilitate a
redevelopment and and I would add that we take this very seriously. We negotiate very high. The most recent one we did, we heard from multiple people that it was the highest pilot they'd ever seen anyone pay. Um, and and so frequently as generally as a policy,
there's no pilot would ever be given that isn't significantly more than the property taxes currently being paid. So, right off the bat, it's more money coming into the township than the status quo. And if you accept the fact that it's not going to get redeveloped or improved without the pilot, then your choices either sit there with the same
dilapidated rundown thing underperforming or provide the pilot. There's a couple additional factors. So the pilot is based on a percentage of annual gross revenues. So the more successful the project is, the higher the pilot is. And there they'll pay more taxes. Well, their pilot, it's not
taxes, but the payment they will make under the financial agreement increases as their gross revenues increase. So, our percentage gets and coupled with that, they have to be an urban renewal entity and they are statutoily capped at the profits they can make. So,
independent of not only our percentage of annual gross revenue goes up, but if their profit margin exceeds its statutory limit, they have to remit to the township the excess profits. So the more successful the project is, the more the town gets. Um ultimately and a final
point is um as you progress during the term of the pilot u there are thresholds where if the otherwise applicable taxes meaning if you did assess it and they paid full tax it would be this. There are certain statutory thresholds where uh if that's a higher amount then they have to pay that higher amount in the
pilot and that does ramp up from 20 to 40 to 60 to 80% over the period of the pilot. So um there are not only a number of benefits uh to the town, there are benefits to the developer because they more than anything they have the certainty of knowing what their financial picture is. It allows them to
finance the project. It warrants them investing in the project and getting an adequate return. Uh because otherwise maybe nobody's going to invest in it and we'll be sitting there looking at Bottle King for another 10 years. uh instead the pilot that we just approved is nearly it's four almost five times what
they're currently paying in taxes. Um so we we do I understand your point and we take it very seriously and I think that particularly as it relates to the potential impact on the school. That's the purpose of this resolution is for the mayor and council to recognize and publicly acknowledge we understand that
the way the structure is we could just keep all the money ourselves but we want to do that. We want to look at projects and if it's going to have an impact on the school, we want to be fair and equitable and share some of this extra money that's going to come in versus the status quo. So I I I can promise you nobody is here is giving away pilots
lightly. There are statutory requirements and showings that have to be made that the project is not economically feasible without a pilot. Do you have the authority if you find along the way that the pilot is uh was
not exactly producing what you thought or what they thought to alter it or is it written in stone? Well, it I mean it's it's it is an agreement and it's a binding agreement. Um but again the percentages it it rise or falls. So obviously if if the market goes south
and they don't do as well then but that's similarly if the market goes south and people file tax appeals and they lower their tax assessment and we get less tax revenue as well. What about but on the upside that's what I talked about is we not only as their annual gross revenues increase our percentage
of that we get more dollars because our it's a fixed percentage of a higher amount and if they have excess profits that they're obligated we get all the excess profits over the statutory threshold. The one other thing is I know in the paper it used to be that um the board of
ed would put the price the additional price you're paying in taxes for a certain price home but now I notice that you folks are doing it too and I don't think that's really cricket. We know that costs go up, but we hope that you're doing things like, for instance,
when somebody retires uh with computers and with systems now, are you looking at town hall to see how you can reduce your expenses uh so that the taxes won't necessarily go up? Listen, we do everything that we
can uh to mitigate the budget. I'm very proud to say in my seven plus years here joined with our CFO has been here the same period of time uh our average annual tax increase is significantly lower than the average cost of living increase and the rate of inflation. Um but our bills go up too. Our when your
electric bill goes up our electric bill goes up when we have to pay more for gasoline. You have you have on the ceiling don't you? Solar panels may I think our time I think our time. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks. Any other comments for public portion?
Hello. Hi. Um, we're seniors from Livingston High School and we have a club called the Education Alliance and we would like the oval on June 1st and we sent in sent in a request and we originally wanted to do it on May 18th but that's the AAPI picnic so like the
oval wasn't available at that time but um we were wondering like when we would get an official approval for the June 1st request and um like how soon it would be because we need to start doing the signups. Did we Did we get did Did we not get any
Did you send it in through the SY LS? Did you? Yeah. And you didn't hear back from us at all? No, we also did this last year and um we had a lot of good turnout like at the Oval last year as well. Yeah. I'm just surprised you haven't heard. I know we have a couple of things already on the first so I don't want to say yes or no. So why
don't Carolyn maybe take down Yeah. But why don't you maybe you can facilitate um the name or address or email so we can get back to you tomorrow. So we'll get back here. We we usually comes through us through electronic transmissions. Okay. Through Ron Barbella. It did not get to Ron
which did not get to us. So I'm not sure exactly what happened but we certainly will try our best to do that on that. Was it was it filed somebody was saying it was filed with Ron. Is that what it is or Yeah, I think Ahina reached out to Ron and I think that's the email address it's under. Okay. So maybe that's that
probably. All right. Well, I'll look into it tomorrow. Do you want to just forward your uh event request to me? Yeah. At town clerk livingstonj.org and I'll get it over to Ron and see what happened. Okay. And I'll let you know since it is there is another meeting between now and June 1st. But I think if
you guys are going to plan um if it's good if it's good enough for Ron, we'll figure if it if if it works out with Ron, we will figure out a way to to just discuss it real quick among us and we'll make sure to get back to you right away so you don't have to wait till the next meeting because there only be four days before that in the next meeting. Do they have do they have a rain date? Because
June 1st is is something very large going on right is a bright big night. What is your time on the first? I think I think we it's last year was in the afternoon like 4 to 6 or we could do it later as well. We could do another
day. But we could I think we could have if May 31st works better that we could do that as well because that's a weekend as well. Conversation with All right. Why don't we why don't we Yeah, I think none of us really have the answers off here. I think Ron Barbell is a gentleman who has all the answers. So why don't we um forward the request please to
Caroline and let her she'll facilitate it tomorrow. Hold on a second. I have something. Is it called Day of Games? No. No. Oh, that's Education Alliance. Yes. I uh somebody put that in my calendar. Uh uh that might have been Caroline from your office. I believe that might have been passed. Maybe I
have I have it at noon to I have 700 p.m. for noon to 7 p.m. I have no to 8:00 p.m. also. Yeah. Okay. But is that the same thing, Dave? Why don't we Why don't we Why don't we try to figure this out tomorrow? We did it for Holy. Yeah. No, I think this is
different. It's education alliance, but it's different. Yeah. Okay. So, why don't we figure this out tomorrow? Will you please Okay, you'll forward the request to the clerk. Let Let her check out with the dates and then we'll So, we all get this thing correct. So, I do I do know one thing though. Last year, you guys had fun. So, that was that was
good. Yeah, we had like I think 200 kids and we're expecting more this year. That's great. So, we're excited. That's great. So, I'm glad you guys came to the meeting to let us know because sometimes things slip through the crack. Obviously, this one did. So, we thank you very much for taking the time and coming out. No problem. Thank you very much. Email it to the town clerk livingston.org.
Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. It's on the town website as well, the email address. All right. Any other um comments on public portion? Motion to close public uh portion. Second. All those in favor of closing public portion? I. All right. Uh reports
of township council uh and township officials. Uh an Thank you, Mayor. I have some good news. Um, we finally received the, uh, DP money for the open space for Lari, uh,
1.2 million. We've been waiting a long, long time for that. We just got it yesterday. So, I'm really thrilled about that. And I don't think I should tell you how much the board of ed taxes went up at this point. It's almost 400,000 a
month. So, um, we'll be collecting that on the next go around. So, just thought I'd let you know, Adam, no updates at this time. I'm sorry. No updates at this time. Okay. Um, Barry, um, we're going to go back
into conference like old business. Yes. So, I'll address Yeah. So, I'm good for out here. Okay. Got a couple updates in there. Uh, nothing tonight, mayor. Thank you. Okay. Counselor. Uh, thank you, mayor. I have affordable housing update.
Um, sorry, excuse me. On May 12th, uh, the court entered, um, Livingston's third round compliance and propose order, finding Livingston, uh, fully compliant with its third round affordable housing obligations. Um, I just want to again commend this governing body and Mr. Lewis um, for
fighting really hard to amend our agreement. Um, we were up against we were up against Fair Housing Corporation. They were insisting on a lot of things. This council really pushed back hard. uh we wound up getting a very good amended settlement agreement and what's notable and it's in our order
is we have 124 surplus credits moving forward from the third round that we can apply to our fourth round obligation uh that's not seen I don't think in any other municipal settlement agreement it gives us a big head start on the uh fourth round um and additionally as to
our fourth round update um we're required to adopt our affordable housing fair share housing element uh by June 30th. Um we met with our township planner and closed uh this evening. Um we believe that that element of fair share plan will be uh open to
the public in by June 2nd for inspection and it should be before the planning board um on June 12th. Um that's subject to change, but that's our current plan. Uh so we're hopeful to get that out to the public so it can be reviewed. If if nobody has any questions, this is my report. Mayor, thank you very much and
thank you for all your help as well. uh getting a third round uh done. Uh we did a great job. I'm very proud of this council and thank you for the work of getting it signed, sealed, and delivered by the judge and uh look forward to our our fourth round report coming out soon. So, thank you, Carolyn. Nothing for me
tonight. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Uh I think it's Councilman Anony's turn to read the uh the announcements for today. Shy as he is, I'll read uh all the notes that have been passed to me, seeing none. Um, okay.
So, okay. So, um, in the last, uh, couple weeks since our last council meeting, uh, we had a, uh, a beautiful Livingston celebrates Israel, uh, event on May 1st. There was fun. There was games. Uh, we, uh, raised the flag uh,
for the 77th uh, Independence Day. And I'd like to be on behalf of the council thank everyone who was involved uh, with such a great day. Uh we had two ribbon cutings uh since the last time we were here. We had Diana's Nails and Spa and we had Love Letters, which was a
reopening under new ownership. And that was uh really nice. Uh it's nice and Ed, you had some nice words there that when um when a business stays uh it's it's as nice or even nicer than maybe sometimes a new business, but it it's right up there when it changes hands and stays in
town. Uh so that that was a great event. Um, we actually had a third uh ribbon cutting. We had the Riker Hill mural um that an artist uh did this beautiful mural at Riker Hill and there was a ribbon cutting there. It was in the hallways um of this uh a bunch of u
really like a animal nature scene. Uh we had the journal uh journey for the living the annual kickoff. Uh we had the walk uh which celebrates uh Mark Shonweter and his survival of the Holocaust and uh raises money uh for
Holocaust education which sadly um some of our young adults don't know enough about the Holocaust. Um so this is a great organization that raises money for Holocaust education and that was a walk around the Oval uh within the last two weeks. We also had the LHS uh athletes
uh put on a great Rising Lancers uh membership program. Uh this time it was the uh they had one I believe uh with the basketball team where they teach younger uh kids in the elementary school um you know exposure to sports and kind of showed them the ropes. And on this
one, it was a softball uh players, a bunch of LHS softball players uh teaching some younger uh kids out there um on the Oval how to play softball and what's involved with softball. So, that was a a really nice event. Um we as a
council thank everyone involved there. Um we have let's see, we have coming up we have uh the Kowanas uh carnival at its usual uh spot. uh is uh tonight is the first night and it goes through
Saturday. Um and uh thank you to Kuanas who does a great job running that. Always fun. Um over there I have down we have the ice cream with the cop uh on the 15th I believe at 5:30. That's uh traditionally held back here uh near the
police station. We have the AAPI picnic uh run by the LCDI um and and others um at the gazebo. That is this Sunday, the 18th, 5:00 to 8:00. We had one last year and it was a huge
hit. I think it was done on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend and still huge crowds even if people were going away. This one's a little bit earlier on on Sunday. Thank you. at uh 5 to 8 uh over here on the oval. Uh we have the Memorial Day parade which is on Memorial
Day uh that Monday. I believe it starts at 9:30 with the ceremony and then we uh we march uh up south to Livingston A as is our tradition and we thank all uh that gave the ultimate sacrifice for Memorial Day and happy Memorial Day uh
to everyone uh here and on uh uh in uh whatever it's called on Facebook and TV world. I always call it TV. They they kid me. Uh TV World. So um or TV land. I I think that's it unless there was uh anything else from the floor up here.
I'm just going to make two quick announcements if it's okay. Um it was announced at the board of ed meetings, so I'll announce it here as well. Uh the five on five between the board of education and the town council will take place on June 11th at 700 p.m. Place to be determined. Um, and this past week,
um, township manager Lewis and I hosted the Mount Pleasant Elementary kindergarten class who were here, uh, to learn a little bit about town hall. They went to the police department after spending some time with us. They went over to the library after that. Um, and
we got, at least we received, I'll pass them out, some lovely thank you notes uh, from all the kids as well. Um, some really lovely stuff thanking us for their day uh, here as well. So, those are my those are my two join us. Oh, Caroline, I apologize.
Caroline did join us as well and uh was very instrumental in uh arranging that. So, thank you very much. I think yes. So, I think if that's it, we are going to go back into open session uh in the conference room after this. So, thank you all very much for
being no further formal action be taken by this council. Thank you. Thank you.