the school already. Yeah, exactly. It's not on there, but Maybe she was working well tonight. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible. Liberty and justice
for all. We have uh no minutes for approval. So, welcome all and I hope all the mothers out there had a great Mother's Day. It certainly was a beautiful day and so I hope you were all properly pampered. Two special mothers shout outs. One to my
daughter-in-law Jenny who just celebrated her first Mother's Day yesterday. So, very special. And um a reminder, I did visit my mother's grave. Uh and so this is the 48th Mother's Day since she lost her battle with cancer.
And I'm I'm here because of her influence so many years ago. She certainly would be proud and probably a little shocked to see me here. After all, I was 21 at the time, but uh she is with me every day. So, thank you to all the mothers out there. And I want to uh take a moment to wish a
happy 95th birthday to former Madison Mayor Jack Dunn who celebrated the milestone this past week. And while we're speaking of mayors, I want to welcome Mayor Gary Ruckles House, part of the historical society. Hear about that shortly. And a few other things going on
in the last few weeks. Um on May 1st, I served as one of the judges for the annual Kings Road School fourth grade talent show. And as in previous years, the talent was incredible from the opening act of that was a boy band playing the Ramones, which that right
right off the bat won my vote. They were amazing. Uh but then we were blown away by a winner who flawlessly sang a Broadway tune without lyrics in front of her. Her voice and stage present uh just won over all three judges. And she's she's going places. And as I mentioned
in previous years, that being judge for a talent show is the toughest thing you can do as a mayor. Um, on Sunday, May 4th, the uh Grove Youth Council annual service recognition uh invited me to speak. The Grove is a Madison based
organization that connects uh youth to lifelong passion of community service. The participants in the year-long program were exposed to various volunteer opportunities such as packing meals for the country, planning and running a dance for youth with special needs. So, it was an honor to speak at
the event and very moving to hear about the work they've done in the past year and realizing the past passion for community service will be forever part of their DNA now. Thanks for that great program and um I'm going to come down
for the next part of comments and then I have a few um actually let me take care of one couple other things and then we'll get to the proclamations of the comments. The employee of the month uh is for May, Sergeant James from the police department well
represented tonight. Uh while Sergeant Caveza was on routine residential patrol one morning, he heard a loud hissing sound as he appro approached Barnesdale Road. He exited his vehicle to further investigate and found a broken gas meter
at a residence. Madison Fire Department and EMS were dispatched as were additional police officers. The residents who were sleep at the time were safely evacuated. The gas was turned off and the house ventilated. Uh, Sergeant Cavez's attentiveness and quick action prevented potentially devastating
outcome. Very scary and certainly the appreciations were shared by the residents. I'm going to call Council President Rachel Erlick up here for a moment. I didn't tell you about this. Sorry, it's slipped my uh
pre premeating notes, but uh Madison was just recognized this past week or week ago. I had gone up to Skenctity, New York along with Peter Free to accept the award for EV city of the year from the electric vehicle association which is a nationwide
organization. A few things of note for Madison receiving receiving this award. One, we are the smallest city and we're not even a city to win the award and we had two different groups that actually sent in nominations and neither one of them was from Madison. So this shows the
reputation we have and the example we're setting for others. We are recognized for our commitment to making our municipal fleet greener with EVs for several departments and hybrid police vehicles. Also mentioned was the fact that we're one of the first New Jersey
towns to be recognized as destination electric town. Uh so while they charge their cars, they can eat, shop, and uh visit Madison. And also of note was the fact that we provide rebates through our electric utility for residents who
purchase EVs and want to install a home charger or someone like me who's too cheap to even do that with a rebate can just drive two blocks and charge their car. So this would not have been possible without the uh guidance and push from our environment commission,
sustainable Madison advisory committee, climate action committees, and in particular council president Rachel Erlick for leading the charge, pun intended. And uh also want to mention uh Karsten Witrip who uh got us on the path pursuing the pursuing the pays the
plug-in grants. our business development director, Lisa Ellis, who managed the grand process, the installation of charging stations, and of course, we can't forget Peter Freed, who went up to Skenctity with me. And uh his passion is
amazing, doing the research, pursuing our next possible EV purchases, whether it might be a senior bus or a fully electric police vehicle, and not to mention the annual EV Expo, which is part of our green and clean day. So, on behalf of the bureau, let me just here
this is what uh we got and if you'd like to say a few words, Rachel. Thank you so much, Mayor. I'm I'm really honored to accept this award. Um but really, it's I represent such a passionate group of volunteers.
Um, I've often spoken about the virtuous cycle of volunteerism in Madison because when you step forward here with a great idea or a passion to get something done, you will find people joining you, uh, other volunteers, burough administration, a supportive governing
body, department heads, and then we get good stuff done. And the more we do, the more volunteers step forward because they see we do great work in the burrow. And so, um, I I feel like, you know, in
my mind, I'm surrounded by a huge group of people who, uh, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder getting great work done. So, I I certainly, um, while I'm honored to represent that group. It is not a solo effort by any means. And
especially for the EVs, I have to say Peter Freed has led the charge on this for many years and really deserves all the kudos. I'm so glad he was there in person. accept the award. Thank you, Mayor. Can I have John Taylor please come forward? This is to recognize quite a bit of
perseverance, a long range process. And um sometimes what happens if you uh come to completion in the middle of a um pandemic, you might not get the recognition you deserve. We never did a ribbon cutting. So, uh long overdue, but
we want to recognize John Taylor for his um work. And you're about to find out all about it. Whereas in 2013, the Madison Dog Park Committee was formed under the opaces of the Madison Parks Advisory Committee. And whereas John Taylor and other committee volunteers
were tasked with designing, creating, and supporting the dog public dog park to benefit the burrow. And whereas with the guidance from the public parks advisory committee, the dog park committee garnered community support at multiple Bottle Hill Day tables,
analyzed sever several open space locations throughout the burough. And whereas the shaded flat picnic area of Memorial Park was eventually chosen as the appropriate location, a momentum came to a halt when it was learned that wetland mapping needed to be renewed for
that area. And whereas although the mapping process took several years, John did not give up the idea of making a dog park a reality. And whereas in 2018 he made a presentation to the burough council outlining the benefits of the park which included keeping dogs and
owners safe and enclosed area. And whereas the burough council agreed that this would be a good addition to Madison and in 2019 they approved the grant from the open space recreation historic preservation trust fund to establish the dog park. John then took the lead to raise matching funds needed for the
project. Whereas the park opened during COVID pandemic, which is especially helpful because it allowed residents to socialize safely. Now, therefore, I, Robert H. Connley, the mayor of Burough Madison, on behalf of the government body, hereby recognize and appreciate John Taylor's determination and effort
in making Madison's dog park a reality. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh, I will say I am far from the only person doing this. We had a great group of people in the dog park committee who were instrumental in getting this done. And it would be
selfish of me to think only, but thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks, J. I think we have just a few members of the Madison Historical Society here. For those that uh want to come forward, please step up here. And others, I
guess, will stay in the audience and take pictures and cheer. But uh you're all welcome to join us. Come on. Come on up. and the library. Yes. Thank you for Yeah. Let's balance it. There we go. Whereas in 1985, historian Dr. Frank
Espazito's book, The Madison Heritage Trail, Intimate History of a Community in Transition, was published. And whereas this book told the story of how Madison changed from an indigenous lenip people's home to a mid700s pioneer
settlement to a modern sub suburb, its narrative ended with the events of the 1960s. And whereas in 2016, the Madison Historical Society past president Susan Simon and former Madison Public Li library director Nancy Damchek proposed
that the Madison Historical Society and the Madison Public Library jointly sponsor a major update to the book. And whereas the Madison history committee representing the two sponsoring organizations chaired by Dr. Linda Connors was formed to oversee the
project and was able to recruit Dr. Espazito to work with the committee on the creation of a new book. And whereas other members of the committee including former mayor Gary Ruckles House, former Madison Eagle editor Louise
Eastston, longtime Madison volunteers Dave Lubber and her Herm Huber and Maria Slabau. Maria's not here. And whereas the first Madison Historical Society member Stuart Shippy embarked on the
task of scanning each page of the original book and converting to digital text so it could be utilized on the basis for a new book. And whereas the committee members soon realized in addition to overseeing the project, they would also need to research and write portions of the book, particularly three
new chapters which cover the events from 1970s through the mid 2020s. And whereas editing by Celeste Chin, layout by resident Chris Feifer and indexing by Molly Hall were final steps which completed the early
were completed earlier this year. And whereas the epilogue of the new book, Portrait of the Rose City, a history of Madison, New Jersey. Dr. Espazito notes that Madison's long history is an admirable model to look for what works best in creating and maintaining a well
functioning communities. Now therefore, I Robert H. County the mayor of Burough Madison on behalf of the governing body hereby celebrate the publishing of the portrait of the rose city and thank Dr. Espazilo and all the dedicated volunteers who worked on this project for almost a decade. The book was a
passionate project which will serve as a valuable resource for the history of our community. Thank you very much. On behalf of the Madison history committee, we present the borrow of Madison with a copy of Portrait of the
Rose City signed by members of the committee. I'd like to thank the sponsoring organizations, the historical society, the Madison Public Library. Um, I'd especially like to thank the
Madison History Committee. In my professional life and as a volunteer, I have served on many committees. I have chaired my fair share of those committees. This is an exceptional
committee. And we talk in the book about how Madison is an exceptional community. Here's the truth. I've never ch part of a committee who has been so dedicated. There it is. Now for the rest
of you, the book is available for sale at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts at the Nature of Reading bookshop, which is across Green Village Road from the museum. And there will be copies at the
Madison pharmacy. Go buy a copy. Thank Thank you so much for your work. This is amazing. And uh this book will forever be in the mayor's office so future mayors can learn from the past
mayors on uh the importance you have you have now in leading this amazing community. So thank you very much. All right, we have a few police officers here. Please come forward. Chief This is a proclamation for National
Police Week. And in our employee of the month, you just heard another example of why we are so proud of our police officers in Madison. In previous meetings, you've heard the impact of the arrive program with our police officers
working in unison with mental health professionals in intervention. And when they're not there with the mental health professional, they've learned skills to deescalate. They truly are community police making our
town and our history even greater. So whereas in 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which it falls National Police Week. And whereas National Police Week is dedicated to
honoring America's law enforcement community and gives special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others. And whereas there are approximately 900,000 law enforcement officers serving communities across the
United States, including dedicated members of the Madison Police Department. And whereas it is important that all citizens know and understand the problems and duties and responsibilities of the police department and that members of the Madison Police Department recognize their duty to serve the people by
safeguarding life and property, by protecting against violence or disorder, and by protecting the innocent against deception and the weak against oppression or intimidation. And whereas the Madison Police Department is a modern professional law enforcement agent which unceasingly
provides vital public service. Now therefore I Robert H. Connley the mayor of Burough Madison on behalf of the governing body hereby proclaim May 11th through May 17th National Police Week in the Burough of Madison and publicly salute the service of law enforcement officers in our community and
communities across the nation. And we had a good reminder of the fact that officers across our country give their lives in the line of duty when this Friday when we had the unity tour go through downtown. And uh thank you for your work, Chief.
Thank you, mayor. Uh on behalf of the officers at the Madison Police Department, officers next to me, I'm very honored to uh receive this proclamation. Uh we appreciate your support, the governing body, our administration, our our residents here
in Madison, and uh this week during police week and and every day. So, you guys make our job very easy. Uh we have a great group of officers that I'm proud to uh be able to be their chief in in my hometown. So thank
you. Oh, look at this. There's another another proclamation got snuck in here. Municipal clerk's Week. Normally we do this at the last meeting of April, but Liz was figuring that out. So, we figured we'd surprise her by
doing it a week late. So, come on down. Come on down. Whereas the office of municipal clerk, a timehonored and vital part of local government, exists throughout the world. And whereas the office of municipal clerk is the oldest among
public servants. And whereas the office of municipal clerk provides professional link between the citizens, local governing bodies, and the agencies of government at other levels. And whereas a municipal clerks have pledged to be ever mindful of the neutrality, impartiality, and rendering equal
service to all. And whereas municipal clerk serves as the information center regarding functions of local government and community. And whereas municipal clerks continually strive to improve the administration of the affairs of the office of municipal clerk through participation education programs,
seminars, workshops, and annual meetings of our state, county, and international professional organizations. And whereas it is most appropriate we recognize the accomplishments of the office of municipal clerk, notably Elizabeth Osborne and Helen Corlet. Now therefore,
Robert H. Paling the mayor of Burough Matters on behalf of the governor body hereby recognize the week of May 4th through May 10th and extend it through the end of this week so you have more time to thank them for everything they do as a municipal clerk's week and further extend the appreciation to our
municipal clerk Liz Osborne and to all municipal clerks for the vital services they perform and their exemplary dedication to communities they represent. Thank you Liz. I just want to thank you all. It is an honor to be the clerk in this wonderful
community because of the people here and this is a wonderful night to get this recognition. Thank you. All right. Now we'll move on to uh reports from committees finance and clerk council
president mayor. The finance department reports that the audit has been completed. It can be found in the finance department section of ronet. The document has also been submitted to the division of local government services in Trenton. The audit committee recently met with our
team from Missokia Zachia to discuss the financial report. The consent agenda tonight includes voting on resolution 166-2025 which pertains to the council
accepting the 2024 audit. The resolution is required by state statute and it certifies that each of the elected officials has received the audit. State also requires that the CFO prepare a corrective action plan after the audit is completed. The plan is in response to
recommendations that are made in the audit and tonight there'll be a short discussion on the plan. There was one small comment which is a repeating one on the segreg segregation of duties. Resolution R1 167 acknowledges receipt of the corrective action
plan. It is important to be transparent and take time to discuss the audit and the corrective action plan as part of our public discussion. Fortunately, the bureau does not have any significant audit issues. Many thanks to the members of the audit committee for their support and help with this process. Uh and on a
separate note, I'll give an update on an activity I participated in last week. I was invited to speak at the New Jersey Sustainability Summit last Friday to present two Madison case studies highlighting the East Wing of Heartley Dodge Memorial where we plan to do a renovation and the Heler Center,
formerly the Masonic Lodge, where the burrow is implementing plans to install new high efficiency heat pump building heating systems in our municipal buildings. I was asked to present these case studies because Madison is recognized for setting the example statewide for
the energy retrofit of historic buildings which will provide comfortable, healthy spaces for our residents and burough staff while supporting New Jersey's transition from carbon power to clean power. The panel was well attended. It was a great event and I was really pleased to represent Madison and try to help other
municipalities, school districts, and facilities managers across the state uh follow in Madison's footsteps to make good choices for energy and um extend the life of their municipal buildings. Thank you, mayor. Very much public safety, Mr. Landerman.
Thank you, Mayor. Okay. From the police department, on May 22nd, members of the Madison Police Department community policing unit are spotlighted in a speaker a presentation for the Rotary Club in the Madison at the Madison YMCA. Police officers will be speaking on
current issues on in policing, the current challenges they faced and let the members know what lies ahead in the year to come. On May 9th, Sergeant Morales and patrolman Dandro began cycling to Washington DC as part of the
police unity tour. Captain Longo is assisting as a support team member. This ride is in memory of officers who have died in the line of duty. The ride is 300 miles long and takes approximately four days to complete. There has been a Madison police officer in this ride
every year since began in 1997. On Wednesday, May 7th, Madison police officers from around Morris County joined officers from around Morris County to participate in criminal justice day at the Morris County at the
county college of Mars. This event open to the public and offered a look into the world of criminal justice including law enforcement and public safety with exhibits, equipment demonstrations and insights from various agencies. Our officers get got to give insight to the
operations of the Madison Police Department. And finally, the the police department will be conducting their quarterly firearms qualification refreshers the week of May 19th at the firearms rage on on John Avenue.
residents do not need to be alarmed. Okay. And they they also provided me with some statistics just for this year. Year to date, the Madison Police Department had 2,227 motor vehicle stops. They've issued over a thousand
summones, 397 parking tickets, and 38 arrests. Compared to the same period in 2024, this is an increase of 837 stops. 184 summons and 12 parking tickets and
14 arrests. And in regards to the motor vehicle stops, I will say from personal experience, people are driving a lot crazier these days. Um, I don't understand why, but ever since CO uh courtesy on the road is becoming much less, and I can appreciate
what the police are doing. Okay. from the fire department. For the month of April, the fire department responded to 194 emergency calls. 107 of these calls were for EMS with 80 people being transported to the hospital. On May 2nd,
the department responded to Canterbury Road for a reported house fire. Firefighters arrived on scene and quickly extinguished the fire, which is started which had started on the outside of the home. The fire prevention bureau conducted 42
fire inspections in the burrow. There were 19 home sales, smoke and carbon monoxide inspections uh performed. The fire prevention bureau has also issued three fire permits. The schools have been notified
about a new viral trend called the Chromebook challenge. Students are purposely shorting out their schoolisssued computers causing them to catch fire or produce a large amount of smoke. There have been several incidents in the county already, including one
today. That's crazy. I don't get that with all. On May 7th at FD at the FDU mansion, the fire department once again attended and supported the community sales of North Jersey. The ceremony recognizes over 80 high school seniors
while in the armed services after graduation. And then finally from the joint municipal court when compared to case load Madison case load increased by approximately 42% in April of 25 compared to the same period last year.
Unfortunately there was a slight decrease in the case load compared to the previous month. The Madison joint municipal court including all four towns and police departments had an increase in case load during April 25 compared to last
year. The case load of the joint court increased by approximately 15% compared to last year. Revenue for the April 25 uh for April 25 will be discussed during next council meeting. Thank you mayor. Thank you very much. Public works and
engineering Mr. Range. Thank you mayor. uh from the Department of Public Works tonight. The parks department continues to uh prepare and work on fields for many of the spring sports activities and all sprinkler systems have been turned on. Um and any issues with those
irrigation systems have been addressed. uh DPW uh personnel assisted with green and clean day events uh a couple weekends ago and the roads department is still in the process of planting street trees throughout the burrow for the
spring plantings. Just a couple of reminders uh around garbage and yard waste. Uh remember that uh twice a week garbage pickup started last Monday, May 5th uh and will continue uh throughout the summer. And as a reminder, yard
waste uh does need to be bagged um or sticks tied in to bundles or placed into containers for pickup uh by the yard base the yard waste vendor. um that yard waste cannot just be rad to the to the
curb. And one uh upcoming event note from the uh MEC uh next Monday at 7 PM at the community arts center. uh the MEC and the nature of reading bookshop will
host a community brainstorm and discussion on how can I help saving nature with your yard which is a book by Doug Talamy. Uh light refreshments will be served and registration is required
so you can visit the natureofreading.com and click on events for more information. That's all from those groups tonight. Mayor, thank you. Thank you. Utilities, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Thank you, Mayor Conley. Thanks
everybody for joining us. Not many people turn out. So, from the Madison Water Department, some basic services were performed over the last two weeks. water service line with flow low flow was reported at 78 Greenwood after the
customer had extensive landscaping and sprinkler system installed. The cause was located an old curb stop that was buried over by the Greenwood bridge extension and it was repaired. A cracked water man was repaired at 31. The water department assisted to
shut the main water at stop and shop Jerger lumber complex for the repair of an 8 inch water main break. The system was inspected, repaired, and the area was flushed. The valve turning contractor started last week with a bang or a
break. One of the valves he exercised broke and need to be repaired. The outside water fountains have been turned on as well as the fieldouses are open. Water is uh open in the field houses at all the parks. Curb curb box repairs
continue as needed and meter appointments are trying to be scheduled with customers so that we can finish our water replacement. The valve turning continues and the department is scheduling the installation of three new hydrants in
the lower Danforth area from the electric utility. Not much going on fortunately. May 3rd, standby was called to Myrtle Avenue on multiple reports of residents hearing a loud bang and then losing
power and the cause was due to a bird, unfortunately. And then on May 4th, the standby was called out for another power outage in the area of Britain Street. The cause of this outage was a squirrel. I don't know what other animal I should be talking about, so luckily
that was it last week. Uh, let me see. department has been doing work at the MRC to get ready for the solar carport tie in if any residents uh want to take a look at what's happening over there. All the pilings are in cement footings
are in and the uh electric utility is trying to get all the lines ready to bring to the inverters. Uh the electric department continues to respond to calls completing markouts, street light repairs, and daily substation inspections and readings. That's all.
Thank you very much. Community affairs, Miss Hanahan. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, the next DDC meeting is May 22nd at 7:15 in Hartley Dodge. The Madison Farm and Artisan Market will begin on May 24th, and is still accepting vendors. Uh, the
Chamber of Commerce has rescheduled ladies night to this Thursday, May 15th, pending weather. and their fire extinguisher uh program will be on June 10th, 11 to 4 on Central A. And at the Madison
Community Arts Center May 14th through 21st, uh the Madison High School Honors Art Gallery is happening. So, everyone's welcome. Thank you, Mayor. You and health, Mr. Forte. Thank you, Mayor. For the month of April, the health department completed 29 retail food
inspections, uh, two immunization audits, and investigated two communicable diseases, as well as one outbreak of influenza at one of the schools. The health department recently passed an ordinance that requires retail food inspection rating placards to be hung in the window
of each establishment in town. Possible ratings are as follows. Satisfactory, which is a white placard with a black border. The issuance of a satisfactory posting reflects overall compliance with sanitary regulations and the existence of only minor violations needing to be
addressed by the next annual inspection. Conditionally satisfactory rating which is a yellow placard uh which is a posting given when an establishment contains violations of a nature not deemed to be an immediate threat to health but that still need to be corrected. The establishment is given a
maximum period of 30 days to address the violations and is subject to a reinspection to determine if compliance has been met. And then unsatisfactory rating, which would be a red placard. The issuance of an unsatisfactory rating denotes violations deemed to be an immediate threat to public health. The
establishment is requested to voluntarily close to immediately address the violations. And if the establishment refuses to comply, immediate court action is initiated to close the establishment until all violations have been corrected. Thank you, mayor. Now, move on to communications
petitions. Now, we're uh this is our first two opportunities for public comment. This one is limited to our agenda items and the resolutions. If you want to comment on anything else, uh second comment period will come up later. These are the
items you may comment on the parks master plan design followup. We have a presentation from Tom Salaki and our corrective action update as was noted in the uh
report by uh council president and these are the or resolutions you may comment on. Uh resolution 159 is calling for the restoration of the energy taxes to municipalities. Very quick background on that.
Um for the that run through our towns owned by other um utilities such as gas lines under our streets. If we were a different town, we would also be power lines running our right away. Uh New Jersey towns used to collect taxes on
that. The state stepped in and said, "I tell you what, we'll we'll do a better job. We'll collect the money for you so it can be done uniformly across the state and then we'll distribute it back to the municipalities." Well, now they are using that to close a budget hole. They've been doing that. um since
uh at least a decade at this point I believe and um for example we should have received in 2024 across the state $350 million which would have been used at the local level to stabilize property
taxes. So we are calling for the state to restore that make sure it's distributed and for those uh in the audience and watching at home I encourage you to reach out to rep state representives to remind them that money belongs at the local level. Resolution
160 is appointing Pax Ardans as part-time per DM uh EMT at $30 an hour. Resolution 161 is appointing William as a part-time perdm EMT at the same salary rate. Resolution 162 is
naming Miss Bobby Magdala as volunteer ice monitor at the Rosedale skating rink. We can do that too soon. You never know when the weather may turn. Uh resolution 163 is um certification and compliance with the United States Equal
Opportunity uh opportunity commission's enforcement guidance and consideration of arrest and conviction records employment decisions under title seven civil rights act. So just a routine resolution. Resolution 164 is appointing
Daniela Pakola as a part-time EMT at the $30 rate. Resolution 165 is authorizing submission of Mars County supplemental funding application regarding Madison Alliance against substance abuse and this is a um for $2,000 with a 50% match
of $1,000 from the burrow. Resolution um 166 is accepting the 2024 audit as mentioned in the report. Resolution 167 is approving the 2024 corrective action plan which you'll hear about
shortly. Resolution 168 is ratifying the appointment of intern cult as an intern for the Burrow of Madison unpaid intern. Resolution uh 169 is awarding contract to Weeds
Inc. for control and removal of invasive species at the Madison Recreation Complex. Resolution 170 is um approving renewal of delivery license um Madison limousine service. Resolution
171 is authorizing the provisional of uh financial incentives paid from the affordable housing trust fund to affordable for sale units in exchange for extensions affordable controls. This is part of uh our affordable housing um plan. If you want to comment on any of
those resolutions or the two agenda items, you may step forward, state your name and address and the resolution or the agenda item you're commenting on. Again, if you want to comment on something else, that'll come up shortly. Wanted to comment, you step forward. Seeing none, I close this part
of the meeting. And we now go on to our agenda discussions. Tom Good evening, mayor and council. I'm here again to talk about parks. Um it'll be even briefer than last time. Last time I kept it within 15, I think maybe 20. Um because this is kind of like a
synopsis of the process being complete now. So we and I think I just sent you an email today. I think Rachel saying I'd like to get together with the original steering committee members and kind of walk them through this document in more detail. um we can invite council members um maybe treat it like a parks
committee kind of meeting um so that everyone can understand what the purpose of this document is to do this right. So um actually you go back one sorry so you can see the table of contents is pretty simple and we made this simple on
purpose um because we want it to be approachable by everyone in this town. We want it to be usable by you as council members. We want it to be usable um by future parks committee members. We want it to be usable by a resident who wants to know like what's going on in Simmer Hill Park. What are we going to I
I want to start a fundraiser to raise money for something, you know? So, it's it's it's a usable guide. Um so, the document itself is broken up. Um you know, we talk about the scope because five years from now if someone picks this up, they're going to say, "Well, why' they only do four parks?" So, we
talk about that. We talk about the reasons behind this document, why we looked at the four parks. We talk about the phases that were in the RFP because no one's going to go back and look at the RFP. Um, keep going and then we talk about how to use the document. So, super important page. It kind of breaks it down. We got the part concept designs,
project cost estimates, maintenance recommendations, funding resources, next steps, design, development, construction, and bid documents. So, we break it down how to use the document. Then we also kind of distill down like what um what the concept for each park is, what each park is like right now,
what we learn from the design process, from you know um from our information from the public outreach and then you know what are the kind of guiding keyword principles that we use to create the concepts for each part. Okay. Um and then we dive into the parks. So this is an example for central green. you know,
we break it down very si very diagrammatically again because the the the master plan is at this concept level this this high level but detailed enough that's in reality right we're not saying we should put like you know glass bubble domes hanging from trees right um it's grounded in the reality of what the
residents were asking for and so you can go it goes through proposed park elements we talk about in a verbal description of things we've shown we've presented in the past but now it's in writing because I might not be here 10 years from now so I can't So now it's here in writing some sketches. The next
one and then what you will see and this is what happens when we have delays and like trying to get together. I sit on things like we should redo these renderings. So we're going to have new renderings put in. This isn't the rendering we were going to show. This is the sketch I sent to our render be like this is what I want for this part. So we
we're redoing some of them and we're going through some copy edit stuff and then I'll send the final one to Michael to post online so everyone can have access to it. But as you saw the document tonight that was distributed um earlier like you'll see on this page you know because part of it is we had to
include renderings renderings that you can then use to go after grant funding. So each of the parks has kind of a generalized rendering and that's why we kind of redid them because some of them were a little too sight specific. So I wanted to be a little bit more um broad stroke and like hey we want to make an improvement to central grains access. So
um that's what that sketch right now represents. So um as you go through you know then we talk about basic you know cost low range high range for interventions yearly maintenance estimates um again this is kind of high level thinking so you can say like is this a $20,000 project or a million
dollar project right um and then it can help you guide what projects you want to take on and then we give maintenance recommendations and this isn't like guidelines for DPW saying you're doing it wrong this is how you should do it these are our recommendations based on what we saw on site if improvements are made how those should be maintained and
it's broken down as you go through very clearly easy to see you know um this should be done once a month this should be once a year this should be done every five years um and again simple enough that anyone can look at it um and it can help guide them and maybe it can help guide you know DPW to come up with their
own set of standards for maintaining parks right so again it's this guidance like I can't emphasize that enough this is a guide for future work um and then so actually if you flip through them Michael So again, this is kind of the examples of each of the parks, you know, different sketches we're doing. Um, if
we go, we got Livy and then towards the end after Summer Hill. Summer Hill is a little bit more in depth because we did include, we left in, I know we talked about last time, you know, the two options for, you know, entrance drive. We're not saying it has to be A or B, but we want as we
look at this in the future. Um, because again, the phase after this is what's called design development. Depends on the project. Sometimes it's schematic design, sometimes it's design development, but it takes it to that next level where it really flushes it out so you have a really clear understanding of exactly what we want to do. And that goes to bid documentation
and construction. So we left both these in here because again, if this isn't addressed in another 10 years, it at least gives the people who are are in charge at the time they can they can think outside the box. The point is to give them two options to think outside the box of what's there now. So we left that in here as that guidance. It
describes why we have those interventions going on. It's not just we think this is going to be pretty and we and we think this just flows nicely. It's you know safety is taking into consideration grading and things like that. Um and then so the very final section goes through this funding
opportunities which we started listing um various funding resources. Um, and not only, you know, and and we kind of show like what's the maximum grant amount grant amount, what's the minimum, um, what are some suitable projects, what are some suitable parks that this could be applied to in the links. You
know, obviously in the future those links may change. And this this particular page is kind of a living document because there are new grants that come out every year. There's ones that go away, but again, it's it's a guide and a framework to say like there's money out there. We can get that. And a lot of these are from resources that of individuals we've
spoken with in town already that have provided this. Um and that is the summary. That was quick, right? That was that was pretty good. Um but again, so this is is a document to be used, right? But it's not
a document to go let's go get a price to do this, right? So, as an example, we're already working with public with um the engineering department um to go after another trails grant for Summer Hill, but we're going after the design trails grant, not the implementation. So, the
design trails grant is we apply for money to flesh out and design the trails that we then want to build, right? And so, we've been working with them on that already. Um and that's kind of the step we should take with all projects of parks in town. Um, it's just making sure we take our time because this process
can be applied to one part at a time if you wanted to. It doesn't need to be the whole park system. Um, but it's this idea of getting public input, distilling it down using our or a professional's information, right? To take that information and put it into a big picture, right? And then we take that
big picture and we refine it. We make it in something that we can make real, we can get hard numbers on, and then we create documentation that we can get prices for that are accurate and are meant to last, right? So, um this process can be applied over and over and over again to every open space we have
in town. Like when Drew Forest becomes a Madison Park, you know, we're going to need to design it. So, you know, um so in conclusion, it's been great working on this. Um look forward to working with Arcs Committee when it gets reborn once
more uh from the fires of the Phoenix um ashes. um because I think there's a lot to work with here and similarly so if there's any council member may who wants to get together and kind of like flip through this in more detail um our
office is right there we're very very available so we have no problem either having you there or us coming here thank you very much this is going to be very helpful as you said could be helpful for this council or future councils because it is a forward looking
master Rachel, Tom, the um the RFP for this um master plan concept was very ambitious. It it was like seeking to do
a lot with a fairly narrow scope or or budget. And I just want to say how impressed I am that you have more than realized the vision for the services that the burough was hoping to um to
the for the the product that that you are sharing with us here is um just such a um outstanding work product in terms of both the design vision and then creating it setting it up as a tool uh for the bureau to use. So I just want to
say thank you for um understanding what the the the parks master plan committee was trying to achieve with this and for providing this excellent road map for the bureau to use. It's a it's a wonderful service that you've provided to us and um and the work is really
beautiful. So, thank you for your hard work. No, I'll tell you something. I mean, I've sat on boards and I've seen presentations with foreign documents. This one blows me away. Um from the very beginning, I saw how you included the
public, which is key because you need that. And this end product, it is so well put together. that somebody could just walk up to it or open it up and say, "This is what we have to do or what could be done and this is what it could potentially cost.
And by the way, this is how we could get the money. This is a great job and I just want to commend you on that. Comments are Thank you very much, Tom. Thank you very much. Now we'll move on to the corrective action plan from our CFO. I'll do it
from here, mayor, if that's okay. Um, just uh so the public is aware as Councilwoman President Rachel Erlick mentioned the audit is out. It's available. It's available on Rose. It's a very clean audit and uh part of that requires us to go to the very back page
which to look at we have any recommendations and we just have that one sentence there. is very very uh small because it was such a clean audit and it's the uh repeating one that we have which is is there an aggregate segregation of duties being maintained with respect to recording and treasury functions. As you know this is something
that probably 70% of municipalities um get from their auditors this particular uh comment because most municipalities don't have a single window where all payments are collected. We don't have someone go to the the
construction department and the construction department says you owe $150, go downstairs, make a payment, and then come back with the receipt and have that one clearing payment window. We can't do it because we have the police department and other departments functioning um outside of Hartley Dodge
would just be too preclusive um financially for us to do this. So um we acknowledge that with the corrective action plan saying that um we're not going to take action with this that the only solution would be to install this central cashier which management has determined the increased costs and
related inconvenience associated with the resolving is finding are not reasonable. So with that I'll take any questions regarding the corrective action plan or the audit. Any questions? And like any managing risk
you look at the cost or put processes in place and so we have processes in place to make sure payments are collected in each each department and handled properly. More and more payments are coming in our credit card to mayor which is a better process for us to be able to
track direct deposit into the bank account very much. I just want to say congrats Jim. This is uh kind of like the the I don't know I would call it the last step in in our annual budget process and thank you for the great work to get us
such a clean audit. It's it's just a testament to your and your department's great work. Shout shout out to the staff when we're talking to the auditors. I said, you know, I think our purchasing department's the top 5% and they jumped all over me. It's the top 1%. You can go into the admin system, which is our
management budgeting management system. If you need to pull up the resolution that authorized something, if you need to pull up the signed voucher, if you need to pull up the the the quote, it's all in there. That's a testament to work of Kevin and there's so many other people that that help make this happen.
So, I want to thank all of them question. So, I was just tapping to glance at a couple of the pages and one page talks about that we possibly still have some funding that we didn't use from CO. So, we've appropriated it but
not spent it. So, we're going to be doing that later on this year. We have to. We have to. Absolutely. Was significant amount of money because that's what it's um not No, we used the vast majority of it on the um radio system for the police department. So, um there's a small amount left that we're
going to be appropriating um with the community um and business development for some Lisa Alice on some signage downtown. Thank you. Any questions? Well done. Now move on to ordinance for hearing. Will the clerk please read the
state? The ordinances scheduled for hearing were introduced by title and passed on the first reading at the regular meeting of the council held April the 28th, 2025. They were posted and filed according to law and copies were made available to the general public requesting same. I call up
ordinances for second reading. He ask the clerk to read said ordinance by title. Ordinance 17-2025. Ordinance of the bureau of Madison amending chapter 190 of the Madison Burough code entitled water to authorize the revision of the bureau of Madison's water service connection requirements.
I open hearing. Anyone wishing to comment on this ordinance, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 172025. Second. Council discussion. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Eric, yes.
And yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harus, yes. Yes. Yes. I declare ordinance 17-2025 adopt pass and ask the clerk to publish notice there of newspaper and file the accordance with the law. Ordinance 18-
25 ordinance of the bureau of Madison amending chapter 94 appendex A of the burough code entitled electric department rules and regulations regarding time of use rates. I open the hearing on ordinance 18. Anyone wishing to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the
hearing. May I move ordinance 18 2025? Second. Any council discussion? Is this the last time Jim changing? This is official now. How many people signed up?
Roll call vote, please. Miss, yes. Mr. Lander, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Cruis, yes. Mr. Haring, yes. Mr. Yes. I declare ordinance 18-2025 adopted and finally passed. Ask the clerk to publish notice their newspaper and following
ordinance accordance with the law. Ordinance 19-2025. of the bureau of Madison amending and supplementing chapter 185 of the Madison burrow code entitled vehicles and traffic. I open the hearing on ordinance 19. Anyone wishing to comment, please
step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 19-2025. Second. Council discussion. I saw on the uh ordinance that it
discusses streets that there should not be any stoppage of traffic. Is that right? This from the safe streets. This is the area and center also also I think and
I read the wrong there was Yeah, it's just there were no changes to Yeah, it's just part It was part of the same chapter. So, it just says no. Okay. It was just um prohibiting parking parking on one side of the street where there's like a
T intersection. So, you're not supposed to park there anyways. But, my my comment is that's where school drop off is or was it in a different spot? Grand. It wasn't on Glenwell. It's on
North. So East Street. So it's only the north part of town. Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Yes. Mr. Lander. Yes. Mr. Range. Yes. Mr. Harland. Yes,
yes. Yes. I declare ordinance 19-2025 adopted and finally pass and ask the clerk to publish notice their newspaper and follow the ordinance in accordance with the law. And now we go on to our second for invitation for public comment. This is when you may comment on any topic. Uh please step up to lectern.
State your name and address. Write the same on the clipboard. Try to keep your comments to three minutes but we do give you the one minute grace period and have you stop at four and wish to comment. Please step forward. Kirsten Wallenstein for Westerly Avenue Madison.
Hi, Mayor and Council. Um I just wanted to talk about a couple of volunteer events that happened um during the green and clean week. Um we had two student volunteer groups who took action to
restore our two very cool deer enclosed um forests. So, it was uh at the Drew Forest, Newark Academy sent some eighth graders who quickly removed all kinds of invasive weeds, English ivy, and other
ground covers to make space for new native plants to emerge. Um, and they did it with a lot of zeal and had bags and bags of it. Um, and then I worked with the Drew swim team who showed up on a rainy green and clean. Uh, I know they
rescheduled a bunch of groups, but they said, "No, we're ready. We're swimmers. We can do it in any weather." I said, "Exactly." And they tackled um dense barberries. They dug up calorie uh pear
trees and made way for new trees to replace these invasive um species. And um you know it was great because these students weren't just volunteering but they were learning and connecting
um and becoming stewards for our open space. And um you know they said to me, the Drew students, "Wow, this was really fun." and I'd come back. So, that's great news for all of us. Um, and there's more to come. We have an Eagle
Scout coming to work on a boardwalk. We've got MHS students um interested in things. Uh, so it's so great to have students and have all generations come out and volunteer. And I appreciate so much what the burrow and the council and
really our community has done to preserve these amazing outdoor classrooms. They're really irreplaceable. Um they do so much for us and it was just so inspiring to see these students um do so much and to realize I got to get out to the gym so I
can keep up. So thank you. Thank you very much. Great to hear that all that work done. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting and we move on to uh introduction ordinances. Will the clerk
please read the statement? I call up ordinance 2025 for first reading. Ask bor clerk to reads my title. I move ordinance 20-2025. Second. Council discussion.
This is to support the uh capital part of the uh joint meeting or matt Madison share the capital part of the joint meetings 2025 capital projects. Could have said that much easier but it's too late for me to do that.
Any other comments? Roll call vote please. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Consent agenda resolutions. Will the clerk please read statement? Consent agenda resolutions will be enacted with a single motion. Any resolution requiring expenditure is supported by a certification of availability of funds. Any resolution
requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda. All resolutions will be reflected in full in the minutes. Mayor, I move resolutions R 159-2025 through R 171 2025. Second
council discussion call vote, please. Mick, yes. Mr. Lander, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland, yes. Mahan, yes. Mr. Yes. There's no unfinished business. The approval of vouchers. Will the clerk
please read the voucher to From the current fund, $819,64387. From the general capital fund, $50,392.71. From the electric operating fund, $210,4575 from the electric capital fund, $14,328.
from the water operating fund $45,000 $45,220 and from the trust 2 million 96,251.15 the total is 3,236,74.98 I move approval of the vouchers second discussion roll call vote please Mr. Early yes Mr. Landan yes Mr.
Yes, Mr. Harold. Yes, sahan. Yes, Mr. Forte. Yes, there is no new business.