Okay, sorry. convened with all members present. Councilwoman Range is absent, excused. Those that are able, please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Okay, we begin with minutes for approval. May I have a motion for the executive minutes of February 10th,
2025? Second. So, these were already discussed. Executive. All in favor? I I And may I have a motion for the regular minutes of February 10th, 2025? I'll move it.
Second. Any discussion or corrections for the regular minutes? Okay. All in favor? I I may I have a motion for the executive minutes of February 26, 2025. So moved. Second. These were also discussed in executive.
So all in favor? I. And lastly, may I have a motion for the regular minutes of February 265? So moved. Second. Any discussion or corrections? Okay. All in favor? I. Okay. Welcome
all. I'm honored to serve as the acting mayor and chair of the public meeting in place of Mayor Connley, who's enjoying some time away in a hopefully cooler place. We do have one agenda discussion tonight that the mayor wishes to participate in even while he's on vacation. So, he will be joining the
meeting briefly by Zoom for a presentation on our affordable housing plan to be made by uh our burough professional planner. So, it's been a scorchingly hot week as we know. The burrow has opened cooling centers, closed athletic fields for
safety, and took the step of notifying residents of peak electricity demand days, including tips for easing demand on the grid and lowering our $3 million peak charges from JCPNL, which is for energy demand on the hottest days of the year.
Kudos to our Madison electric utility crews who have remained on call at the water and light building to quickly dispatch for localized outages and have significantly reduced downtime for our residents as a result of uh their their vigilance. I think we'll hear more about
that later during the utility report. On June 10th, Mayor Connley presented Janette Bolio Rate with a proclamation on the occasion of her 100 100th birthday. He reported that she walked right into the party, celebrated with friends and with the mayor, and cut the cake herself. So, congratulations and
best wishes for continued health and happiness to Mrs. Ree. I also want to congratulate the Madison students who are moving up to new grades and on to new schools, who celebrated their last day of school on Friday, June 13th. Special congratulations to our Madison
High School class of 2025. You've made Madison proud and we are excited to see what you accomplish as you take the next step and make your way into the wide world. So, as I say this, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that the wide world seems fraught right now as we face
uncertainty abroad and at home. On June 14th, we learned of the assassination of one elected official and the attempted assassination of another in Minnesota just 11 days ago. This was by an attacker posing as a police officer.
We are now in an atmosphere of fear of political violence combined with a dangerous trend of impersonating law enforcement. Meanwhile, all around the country and here in New Jersey, we have witnessed fear and mistrust as federal homeland security agents who conceal their
identities as they conduct immigration enforcement actions have made it unclear to to detainees whose custody they are in or under what authority. So with federal government agents concealing their identity and their missions with masks and plain clothes
and a fear of asalants impersonating law enforcement, this atmosphere of generalized mistrust is hanging heavy on us. So I reached out to Chief Misha for some context and guidance from the Madison Police Department. The MPD under Chief Misha's leadership
has worked hard to build trust within the community and embodied the department's values of trust, honor, and transparency. Chief Misha advised that there is no purpose for the Madison Police Department to wear masks. Officers are not issued masks and don't wear them. He
noted that our Madison police are well established in the public and have worked to be ingrained in the fabric of our community. And he further said, "If a Madison police officer comes to your residence or your business for any reason, they would be in full uniform or at a minimum provide identification in any
extraordinary circumstance." I want to thank the chief and the members of the Madison Police Department for their continued commitment to building trust within our community. Okay, we now move on to reports from committees. I'll begin with a finance and burough clerk report. This is
actually a rerun from the last meeting, but this um is important enough that uh the CFO suggested I remind residents uh about our upcoming tax bill. The tax bills are expected to be mailed in mid mid July with the third quarter taxes
due August 1st. Due to the normal tax billing schedule, which is halfway through the year, the third and fourth quarter amounts are always a bit higher than the first and second quarters of the following year. And there will be a bigger increase this year due to the school referendum that was adopted. A letter was sent out to
all taxpayers and at the end of April explaining this increase and copies are available in the tax office. Please note that if you have a mortgage lender paying your taxes, they might assume that future quarters will all be equivalent to the larger third and fourth quarters this year, which may result in your lender miscalculating
your monthly escrow amount and overcharging you. We therefore recommend that you monitor your escrow account through the beginning of next year for any changes. You're welcome to please contact the tax collector's office if you have any questions. We now move on to public safety.
Councilman Landrean. Thank you from the Madison Police Department. The Madison Police Department has begun its annual bike helmet awards program which aims on at promoting bike riding bike riding safety. Further, Madison Police officers
are instructed to concentrate on electric bike safety. The Madison Police Department will be stopping riders on ebikes who have passengers on the back, who are not wearing helmets, and who are driving carelessly on sidewalks. We aim to educate riders on safety for
themselves and others. Further for further questions, call the Madison Community Policing at 973-5933034. Last week on June 10th, Madison the Madison Police Department swore in their newest officer, Michael Langren Langrenavis.
Pro the probationary patrolman will begin his police academy training beginning on the week of July 10th on beginning the in July until December 12th. We wish him the best of luck in his training and welcome him to the
Madison Police family. The Madison Police Department Command staff, Chief Captain, Chief Captain, and Lieutenants attended the JA Montgomery risk management training on June 16th. This training provides updates on case laws and is crucial for preventing and
mitigating potential liabilities, ensuring safety and well-being of its personnel. The Madison Police held its annual DARE pool party at the Madison Community Pool on June 13th. It was well attended by fifth graders, students, and teachers.
DJ DJ Chuck Feruso played great music and Madison police officers Mandril flipping hamburgers. We always enjoy getting to spend time with our Madison youth and hope they will remember what they learned during their drug abuse resistance education training.
from the Madison uh fire department. Members of the career three members of the career division completed advanced confined space rescue training at the Mars County Public Safety Academy. This training focus on rescuing a trapped person in a confined space such as a
manhole, electrical vault, or any type of vessel. The fire department is notified almost daily of confined space entry by workers working in confined spaces in Madison, Chadam, and Berkeley Heights. Elise, a 10-month-old German Shepherd
and future seeing eye dog, spent the last pa spent the past week hanging out at the fire department day by day and heading home with the fire chief at night. She had a blast making new friends, soaking up all the action and getting used to the sights and sounds of
a busy fire department. Alise even tagged along on meetings and visits the Hartley Dodge Memorial. Clearly a pup on a mission. We are going to miss her wagging her tail and curious nose, but we are cheering her on as she heads off to the next big step in her guide on
being a training dog. On July 12th, Engine 1 was dispatched to a working structure fire in Floren Park. Upon arrival, Madison firefighters assisted Floren Park units with fire suppression, conducted a primary search, and performed ventilation operations. Their
coordinated efforts helped bring the fire under control quickly and prevented further extension within the structure. Thank you. Thank you. Public works and engineering. Councilwoman Hanahan. Thank you, acting mayor. Uh from the public works and
engineering department. The parks department continues to prepare fields for the spring sports activities and cuts grass at all burrow fields and parks. Residents are asked to check if their sump pumps are being discharged into the burrow sewer system. They
should not be uh discharged into the sewer system because it causes the burrow to be charged for rainwater groundwater to be processed as sewage. The Department of Public Works patched potholes. The sewer department is cleaning storm drains. The DPW assisted
water utility with water a water main break on Madison Avenue and repaired the road. Mechanics checked and repaired bicycles at the Central Avenue School Bike Rodeo. From the Madison Environmental Commission, there will be
a house and garden tour coming on Saturday, July 12th from 1 to 4. Architect Chris Kellogg and artist Helen Carr open house um open their home and will also share their new native plant
garden. It is a $20 per person if you'd like to join the tour and it's a fundraiser for habitat restoration in Madison. On July 20th at 7 p.m. Nature of Reading and the MEC will be hosting a community discussion of Night Magic by
Leanne Henyan. This is a book inviting us to leave our illuminated homes, to step outside and to embrace nature of the dark. Steve Maraconda from Dark Sky International will also discuss impacts of lighting on
health. This will be held at the Madison Community Arts Center. Please sign up at the nature of reading website. Thank you. Thank you. Public Works and Engineering Council, sorry, public utilities Councilman Harland Pis. Okay. Thank you, acting
Mayor Erlick, and welcome members of the community. Uh was an interesting week with the heat. The burrow managed it very well. Uh from the water department, we uh we were able to schedule and operate a 90% shutdown at the North
Street main, which facilitated repairs at Seawwell for testing and operations. We dug and repaired six curb boxes, shut off valves that enabled meter changes and shut off shut offs for demo. With the increased heat, the department's
pumping more than 2.6 million gallons of water per day, but the department is acknowledging that that's not as much as it could be. The residents are thanked for their efforts to voluntarily reduce water usage. Uh the department replaced a broken iron
water service at 123 Park Avenue. New 3/4 inch copper was installed. They responded to an 8 inch water mane break at Madison Avenue at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 15th, Father's Day. They excavated and removed concrete base roadway to gain
access to the main where further obstructions existed as the new PSEG main installed about nine years ago is almost directly above there and 7 ft deep. So, they needed to do some work there. and the water department continues to change curb boxes, valve
repairs, hydrogen replacements, and well upgrades from the electric utility. Uh the first note that we would like to mention to the community is there was a a an array of power outages this week, Monday and
Tuesday, uh affected about 230 residents. The majority of the power outages were anywhere from a half an hour to two hours. So, our electric utility staff was on call, very responsive, and knew exactly what to do
to keep everybody powered up as returned to power as quickly as possible. So, of course, as usual, kudos to the whole department. Uh, some of the other work that they performed, uh, some standby, uh, 47 Wayne Boulevard. report. The house didn't have
power. The connections on the house were replaced. Um, what else? There was a standby was called for emergency markouts for the water main break. The electric utility responded. The electric department responded to numerous outages on Monday. Again, that's I already said
that. Uh, all repairs have been made to our two bucket trucks, which are now both back in service, and we are able to return our bucket truck rental to Butler. And I would like to give a little report please uh acting mayor Erlick on the car
solar carport at the MRC. The solar carport project at the MRC is nearing completion. Structural designs have been updated to support the solar panel sizes which required extensions of the pland which are the beams that hold the
panels. This has now been completed. Solar panel installation is complete on array one which is near the auxiliary parking lot on the north side while array three and four by the fieldhouse are about 90% complete. Array 2 located
in the center lot is approximately 80% complete. We anticipate panel installation to be complete by the beginning of next week. Gutter installation began today across all the arrays with the inverter installation and array electrical connections coming
after the panels have been mounted. The Madison Electric Utility has completed wiring from the rear transformer of the MRC to the front bolt located in front of the fieldhouse. The Madison Electric Utility will finish the job by digging a trench and hard wiring this fieldhouse
disconnect switch to the utility hopefully by next week. Newly signed and sealed structural drawings and calculations are expected to be provided to the burough this week to prepare for the final walkthrough and inspection. The projected completion timeline
includes final panel installation by early next week, electrical and gutle work by mid to late next week, and final site cleanup and walkthroughs during the week of July 7th. The system is targeted to be operational by July 14th and in conjunction the parking lot will be
opened again for parking at the MRC fields. So the project's really moving ahead now and uh hopefully it will be a great contribution to the burough's power generation when it's completed. That's all. Thank you. That's exciting news. Uh and for community affairs, back
to Councilwoman Han. Thank you. Uh the downtown development commission will hold hold its next meeting on July 17th at 7:15 in Hartley Dodge Memorial. As a reminder, the Madison Farm and Artisan Market is being held every Saturday. The
Bottle Hill Day 50th uh anniversary will be on October 4th. The Chamber of Commerce is selling Madison loyalty reward cards for purchase. Those are $10 each uh and can be purchased at the
Madison Pharmacy, the METC, and it is sponsored by the Morris Animal Inn. The Madison Community Arts Center continues to have a full schedule. Uh every second Wednesday, there is an open mic night and Friday, July 18th from 6:00 to 8 is
a free outdoor summer concert. Thank you. Thank you. And health Councilman Forte. Thank you. Uh during this uh heat wave this week, the health department would like to remind residents that uh during the extreme heat, they should stay inside in
air conditioned spaces as much as possible, particularly those who are in vulnerable populations. Uh a full list of local cooling centers are available on the Westfield Regional Health Department Facebook and Instagram page. Again, we partner with Westfield. That's why uh we're directing you to Westfield.
Residents should stay hydrated, wear loose fitting clothing, uh lightweight clothing, and activities outside of peaks on hours if possible. The health department recommends checking on vulnerable individuals and reminds residents never to leave children or pets inside parked cars. The Mars County
Mosquito Commission has already identified some mosquito pools in the county that are positive for West Nile virus. Residents should eliminate any standing water on their properties, ensure gutters are clean, and be sure to wear an EPA registered insect repellent when spending time outdoors, especially
during dusk. Would also like to endorsed the mosquito bucket of doom which we learned about in one of the previous council meetings uh thanks to one of our residents. Uh I looked that up when when I went home and it's it's it's very interesting and it it does work. It's
it's a proven method. Thank you. Thank you. We now move on to communications and petitions. None received. Okay. So next is our first of two invitations for public comment. The second public comment period will follow
our ordinances for hearing, but at this time you're limited to commenting on our discussion agenda and our resolutions. So these are the items you may comment on. Our agenda discussion will be a presentation on third and fourth round housing element and fair share plan
which demonstrates compliance with the state process for planning our municipal share of New Jerseys affordable housing needs. We'll have a presentation on this topic following this comment period. And additionally, these are the resolutions you may comment on.
Uh resolution 191 approving raffles uh a raffle license application submitted by the auxiliary of Madison Volunteer Ambulance Corp. Resolution 192 is to renew liquor licenses in the Burough Madison for the 202526 license term.
Resolution 193 is to create and implement a long range plan to address drainage issues. This is for storm water management. Resolution 194 requests the director of local government services to approve the insertion of an item of revenue in the
budget for this year. So, this is a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust Fund. Uh, this resolution is to receive a $488,000 grant that was previously awarded for repairs at the Heler Center. R1 195 is also uh for the insertion of
an item of revenue in the budget for this year. This is for the recycling tonnage grant. This is to accept a grant uh for $13,688 that we receive annually from the state. Um I understand we use this to purchase new trash and recycling bins downtown
and other improvements related to waste management. Uh resolution 196 is another insertion of item of revenue. This is a grant awarded by Sustainable Jersey in the amount of $10,000 for new electric
landscaping equipment for our public works department. Resolution 197 is the resolution of the Burough of Madison supporting the Madison Housing Authority application to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs affordable housing trust fund
program. So, this indicates the bureau's support for our housing authorities's application for state aid uh for the construction of four affordable rental units at 34 Belmont A. Resolution 198, resolution of the Burough of Madison authorizing submission of a grant application and
executing a grant contract with the New Jersey DOT for the Spring Garden Drive, Ashlin Road, and Toothplace Roadway improvement project. Resolution 199 is a resolution of the Bur of Madison authorizing the use of the community pool public parking lot by the Madison
Steam Academy for a bus pickup and drop off for their day camp program this summer. Resolution 200 is a resolution of the Bur of Madison authorizing execution of a settlement and release agreement with CSC TRK LLC which is a subsidiary of Altis. This is regarding
fees for the use of our burrowowned utility poles for telecom service wiring. Resolution 2011 is a resolution of the Bureau of Madison authorizing the purchase of computer equipment and peripherals through the New Jersey Cooperative Purchasing Alliance. This is
in the amount of $44,000 for the purchase of updated computer software licenses. So back to my notes here, those are the items you may comment on. Uh those resolutions will also be part of the
consent agenda. So, anyone wishing to comment on any of those items, please step forward, state your name and address. Please try to keep your comments to three minutes, but we will give you a one minute grace. I'll make a note that during this period, we'll capture all the comments and questions and at the end of the comment period uh
regarding the agenda discussion, the planners will be uh our planner will be giving a presentation, answer those questions, and any uh address any comments and questions that were raised during this comment period. So, now anyone wishing to comment, please step forward.
Good evening. Uh Sam Demarzo. Um I'm here to discuss uh an empty property of mine. Mr. Demarzo, could you give your address, please? Sure. 28 Hoy Street and I'm discussing uh joining properly on Westerly Avenue, 16 Westerly. Um uh this
afternoon my phone started blowing up with uh a lot of calls and text messages about information that was uh published in the public domain regarding um affordable housing and this location
which is uh mine. And what was uh communicated to me was that there was an overlay zoning that was going to be occurring. And first I'd like to thank um Mr. Cody and Mr. Bernett for uh taking the time to speak with me and to
uh go over the facts of the situation. First, let me state uh very clearly I am opposed to this if that ever comes to the table. I was assured that that is not the case uh that there was some misinformation put into the public
domain uh through a variety of sources. Um, but I do want to make it known that um I am opposed to any zoning changes on Westerly Avenue and adjoining uh neighborhoods. Um, the affordable
housing locations um that are going to be discussed tonight. Um, they do have an immense effect on not just the property owners, but specifically the property owners, but also the entire neighborhood and community. And this needs to be
considered in any actions because these actions are all going to have uh an effect on everyone whether it's on a personal level or a financial level. Everything that's discussed tonight in regards to this will have effects on the
community and that's both property owners and residents um combined. Um, I would also like to ask that the governing body moving forward uh make an effort to communicate with
specific neighborhoods that are going to undergo changes. Um, I understand there are notification requirements. Um, there are bare minimums that are required and I suggest the bureau go beyond those uh in these affected neighborhoods. Um,
minimums should be exceeded for changes that are permanent and for the community. Um lastly, I will uh listen to the presentation and if need be, I will comment further. Thank you. Thank you,
Mr. Mar Mr. Dear. So, our planner will address those comments and questions as part of the presentation and if uh we need to circle back and and raise questions that are unresolved, we'll we'll do so. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to step forward?
Claire Witcom, 12 Fairwood Road. Um, I wanted to briefly comment on um resolution 196 2025, which is um the sustainable Jersey grant. And I wanted to call out the hard work of Peter
Freed, um Kathy Kakavali, Bridget Dailyaly, this is and Bob Duffy and his team at the DPW. This is um they did a calculation on what kind of how best to to fund electric um
landscaping equipment, including the amount of lawn uh blower leaf blowers that would be required to comply with a summer moratorum. should that get passed. But it will help make Madison healthier, help make summer quieter, and
it puts our DPW in a excellent leadership position. It's my understanding that um Sustainable Jersey is is um really advocating for electric landscaping equipment and five towns applied for
grants and three were awarded um their grants. And a $10,000 grant is especially $20,000 last year is a testament to uh the team here. Thank you, Claire. Appreciate the
recognition for that team. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I'll close this part of the meeting. We're now going to move on to our agenda discussion. I believe the mayor has joined us by Zoom. Is that
correct? Look at that. There he is. I I am here and I want to chair this portion of the meeting as we move on to the affordable housing discussion. So, mayor, the the floor is yours. All right. Thank you very much and thank you for chairing the meeting as I am uh
coming in remotely. Makes it uh much easier to have someone in the room to run the meeting and it's in I know it's in great hands and it also is a um as as you mentioned at the beginning, I'm on vacation so it gives me a little more family time. Um, so what we are
tasked with tonight is endorsing the revised third round and fourth round housing element and fair share plan as adopted by the planning board Monday night. Um, and and also as council president Erlick mentioned, I am coming on board now because the importance of
this work and the steps we're following. So, as uh you will see this plan reflects extensive work by a professional team, the uh planning board and the burough council and the burough staff and it also meets our legal obligations as it relates to delivering
quality affordable housing. Um our planner Susan Favati will present the plans as the same presentation that was given to the planning board Monday evening and also as mentioned uh by council president Erlick. Uh she'll cover any um questions that just came
up. So with that I'd like to hand it off to our planner for presentation and we will follow up with uh council discussion and the approval of the two resolutions or the Great. Thank you, mayor.
So, just just to reiterate, um the planning board did adopt the amended third round housing plan element and fair fair share plan as well as the the new fourth round housing element and fair share plan on Monday night. Those are elements of the master plan. So, it is under the planning board's
jurisdiction to adopt those items and then you are asked to endorse them. Um, so I'm going to start uh out with the third round plan. Just as way introduction, I'm the regular burough planner. U Graham Pedto is the special affordable housing planner brought on for these two documents. Um, he was not
able to join tonight, so I get to do the whole thing. Um, but Graham and I have been working very closely together on both of these documents. So just to start out with the third round, um, this is a bit unusual. Madison is is a bit of an unusual case here and that um many of you know that all the communities around
us have been doing their fourth round plan as have you um which is required by June 30th but this is a bit of a different case and that Madison also had to go back and revised the third round plan and some of the background of that is that um the third round plan has been
in place. It was adopted uh on May 26th of 2021. Uh and then on August 16th of 2021, uh the court did uh enter an order of fairness and conditional judgment of compliance which gave the burough 10 years of immunity from builder's remedy. So the third round plan was in place. Uh
and then in June of 2022, Jur University uh filed to vacate that court order uh and to to facilitate portions of its campus to be considered in the vacant land adjustment and real estate development potential of the third round plan. um to basically allow for an
inclusionary project with an affordable housing set aside. So because of that um action and various other you know court actions and including a trial um there was an order um by the court in February of this year um that essentially
concluded that uh that the 48.322 acres of the Drew campus um are potentially developable, not environmentally constrained and therefore must be considered in the third round vacant land adjustment. Um and then the court further um identified the number of of
affordable units that must be considered um and it's 77 units which is based on um the density that is established by the court uh eight units per acre and then a 20% set aside. So the judge ordered the bureau to revisit the third round plan um revise the VA the vacant
land adjustment um and then account for those 77 required affordable units um in any way the bureau deems appropriate which may include Drew's land but may not. We bolded that for emphasis because it's important. The order did give the burough flexibility um in identifying
appropriate sites for those 77 units. It didn't mandate where they had to be, just that they had to be um you know found and they had to be compliant with all the rules in place for the third round plan. And then the only other um important element I wanted to point out on this slide is that um the judge's
order only affected the third round. So he did acknowledge that the fourth round was already underway, the planning for that. Um there were numbers imposed on the bureau for the fourth round which we'll hear about but this was really specific to the third round. Um he also acknowledged that the the bureau had an
unmet need requirement uh for affordable housing in the third round which was previously satisfied. So this really was just 77 new units that needed to be found. Um and that's why we're here tonight and why the plan was revised. So on the next slide um you will see the the ways that we get there um how we
have sort of found those 77 units and it's really mix of um of already existing units that the burough is taking credit for um other units that are already underway under construction um that again we're getting credit for and then a couple of projects that um that are underway or otherwise being
proposed. So the first one is at three Geralda. This is the former quest diagnostics building which has been vacant for several years um and the bro has started a redevelopment process. Um an area needed designation study has been um completed and will be heard by
the planning board next month. So that is a process that has sort of already started. Um the proposal there by the the developer uh is a a town home community, a for sale town home community that would include 28 affordable town homes. So that would get
us 28 credits. Um and then at one Geralda um this was also a redevelopment plan that was done last year amended earlier this year. There are two components to this property. There there is a multif family um inclusionary development um And then there's a second part which is a supportive housing, a
special needs housing component. Those are two separate applications that are currently before um or working their way through to the planning board. They they've been submitted. So the multif family piece which is being part of the third round um would be seven affordable units and then we get a one for one
bonus credit. Um in the third round you were able to take a bonus credit for any rental units. So that nets us 14 units for that property. Um Pineacres is the existing uh nursing home. um which has been in place for quite a while in Madison. Um there are state statutes
that require facilities like Pineacres that have undergone certain amounts of improvements to set aside 10% of their beds for Medicaid patients. Um that's an existing requirement and um it's also in place for Sunrise. Um the bureau did take credit for the Sunrise beds in the
third round plan previously, but not for Pineacres. So we're essentially taking credit now and getting those 10 beds or 10 units. Um and then 28 Walnut Street Community Place. This is um an nearly complete 100% affordable burrow
sponsored project. The community place portion um has uh has opened. Uh the Walnut Street portion is very close. So what happened with this project is that as part of the development um this was already counted in the third round plan, but as part of the development process um the burough ended up actually getting
three additional affordable units that were not expected and not previously credited. So, we are taking those credits now. Um, and that gets us three units plus the three bonuses, so six total credits. And then a similar situation at the Madison Mall building, which is currently under construction on
um Main Street. Um, as part of the developer negotiations in that project, the bro got a higher uh set aside for affordable housing. Um, and so you netted two additional affordable units that we're now counting plus the two bonus credits of four total. Um, the
next couple um already existing pro affordable housing projects on Belmont Avenue. This is a longtime affordable housing um development. Um but last year the zoning board approved a subdivision of that property to allow for construction of an additional building, a small building at that site, which
would result in an additional four affordable units. So again, four units, four bonus credits, total of eight. Um and then a similar situation at 30 central, again an existing uh affordable housing development. Um there was a a zoning board approval last to allow for
uh you know lot lot line adjustments um and then another amendment this year but basically to facilitate um a redevelopment of that property um again for affordable housing but with an additional two units beyond what currently exists. So we'll be counting those and getting the two bonus credits
as well. And then the last project um is an existing group home on Britain Street um that is considered supportive housing and it is counted by a bedroom or bed um and so that is three units of existing supportive housing for which we are taking credit. So collectively these
projects um many of which already exist um but several of which are already were already on the books already under construction um that gets us to the 77 units um and we do feel that these are all because some so many of them already do exist or are in process um they're very istic opportunities for affordable
housing. So, that's the third round plan. It's just an amendment to the existing plan, a little bit more straightforward. Um, and now I'll get into the the fourth round plan, which is a little bit more involved. This is what everyone around you has been working on as well. Um, and and just the point of this slide is to show you these are the
deadlines, the statutory timeline that every community has dealt with. Um, you all got your perspective need obligation, the number from the state late last year. and basically had until the end of January to accept or not accept that number. Um there was a required deadline in February for filing
of an um you know a challenge to that number and then um if there was a challenge there was a challenge period in March through April the beginning of April. What we're here tonight about is the deadline for June 30th to adopt the actual plan. Um after June 30th the
fourth round will start and there will be a period a challenge period where objectors to this plan um could could file a challenge to this plan. Um it's a fairly short challenge period through the end of a August. Um if there are challenges filed, there will be a mediation period through the end of this
year. Uh pretty compressed timeline. Um but really the intent is that by March 15th of next year, that is the deadline to adopt not only the plan but all the implementing measures. And so I'll talk a little bit about what all of those are. Um the next slide just shows how Madison met all these timelines. Um
basically in January you accepted the number of 206 which is again from the state and we'll talk about the next steps that arose from that. Um you filed the required declaratory judgement action. There were no challenges filed. Um and so then the bureau proceeded to
prepare the fourth round plan which was completed and released to the public on June 13th. Um Monday night the planning board did adopt that plan and then we here at the final step which is the burough council endorsing the plan by resolution.
So couple of the key key contents I'm going to go through is um that that 206 number how that number has been adjusted and then um that drives really the creation of the plan itself. What are the components of the housing element and fair share plan and then there's a series of additional requirements that
we'll touch on. So this is just the state's definition. I'm not going to necessarily read it, but it it is what is the perspective need for affordable housing and and this is how the state defines it. Um and and again, all of this is by state statute
and the number was determined by the uh Department of Community Affairs. So that it was given to the bureau and then the bureau needs to address that. So the vacant land adjustment um is a really important part of the affordable housing plan for Madison. um you have the number of 206, the 206 units, which is what the
state determined is your prospective need, but then communities such as Madison that that are very welldeveloped, um have the opportunity to adjust that number downward if they can prove that there is a limited amount of vacant land to actually accommodate that number. And that's called a vacant land adjustment. And it is an exercise
that um that every community who does a VA goes through. Um there are other affordable housing advocates who are probably doing the same exercise as well. They're your vacant land. And so this is uh an exercise that we have also done as part of this effort. And I'll talk a little bit about the details of
that. But the outcome of the vacant land adjustment is what's called the realistic development potential. It's it's the number that can reasonably be expected to develop from the vacant land that you actually have. And it's as you'll see a much lower number than 206. Now the difference between the 206 and
the real real estate development potential doesn't go away. You still are meant to to address that obligation. And so one of the requirements for this fourth round is that you have to show um affirmatively that you're you're addressing 25% of that difference um in
the in the next 10 year period. I think there's an expectation that most communities will never reach the full obligation. Um but you're meant to to really show that you're addressing that 25%. And so the combination of those two things, the real estate development potential and that 25% of the remainder
um is what's called your adjusted fourth round obligation. On the next slide, um we'll talk a little bit about how how we actually meet that adjusted obligation and and there's a lot of different ways to get there. Um you could carry forward surplus credits from the third round.
Unfortunately, we don't have those. As you just saw, we really maxed out um a lot of the credits that we have uh for the third round, so we don't anticipate additional ones carrying forward. Um you can look at applications that are pending or expected and may be anticipated to be approved after June
30th. Um there are zoning approaches and redevelopment planning approaches. Um there's municipally sponsored projects and then there are bonus credits. Um and so we are limited to 25% of our prospective need. Can we satisfy with bonus credits but those are available to
us. And the next slide talks about what those bonuses are. They're different in every round. Um and that was one of the challenges is in the third round there were there was a set of bonus credits and then in the fourth round they're very different. So for this round, the fourth round, um you can get a one for one bonus credit for special needs
housing, for conversion of market rate housing to affordable um and for a municipally municipal concentration contribution, excuse me, to an affordable housing development. And then you get a half bonus credit for a series of of other uh types of housing, you know, partnerships with nonprofits,
transit oriented development, that's an important one, and that's not just the train station, but also bus stops. So that really does capture a lot of Madison. restricted housing, um redevelopment of commercial, you know, non-residential property to residential, that gets you a half half credit, any
extension of existing affordability controls, and if you provide more than more than the amount required for very low income units uh and three-bedroom units. So, a host of bonus credits are available, but again, they're capped at that 25% of the total prospective need.
So, looking at the housing element and fair share plan itself, there are two components. There is the housing element um which is a series of demographic uh analysis and and details all of which are required by the state. Um interesting information but we're not going to cover it tonight um because really the meat of the plan is the fair
share plan. It's essentially how are you going to meet your obligation um with the specific strategies. In addition to those two components, there's a number of requirements that are generally in the appendix. Um you do have to have draft form of of ordinances. So some of
the strategies that you'll that we'll talk about will require some zoning changes. This adoption of the master plan element of the of the housing element fair share plan does not change the zoning. It is not zoning but that is something that the burough council essentially would have until next March to do. Um but you are required to show
show the draft form basically. Um so that has been provided in the appendix. Um and then there's the affirmative marketing plan, uh marketing plan, spending plan, you know, municipal housing liaison and administrative agent. All that documentation which exists from the third round will be
updated um by next March as needed for the fourth round. It's all kind of um standard documentation. So all that's in the appendix, but this is really the meat of it and why we're all here tonight. So the compliance strategy, how are we going to
meet that 206 uh total obligation as adjusted? And so the first step of that is the vacant land adjustment, the vacant land analysis. Um this is an analysis that um topology Graham basically led um and so it is a standard analysis where it's mostly mapping and
you take the um the vacant land as identified by the assessor data and you basically plug it into mapping software. you take out environmental constraints and you're really only looking at vacant land of a certain size because it needs to be of a sufficient size to allow for
at least one affordable housing unit. What that generally means if you assume a 20% set aside is it needs to be able to accommodate five units. So we're talking about vacant land over a certain size. You can see throughout I'm not going to dwell on this but scattered there are scattered vacant sites
throughout Madison but most of them um do not accommodate at least five units. which would get you that one affordable unit. So really the outcome of this project process the analysis is on the next slide and it it found that there are a total of five vacant properties in
Madison that could support development according to those criteria. Um it's vacant it's not constrained could could get you at least five units based on certain densities that are that are already established in the burrow. And so the important thing here is that this is purely for analysis. Um I I heard the
concerns um expressed earlier by Mr. Demarzo and we spoke before the meeting. Um, so I I reiterated this to him and but it's important to put it on the record that that these are not proposed for development or reasonzoning. The purpose of these sites is purely to get you to this vacant land analysis which
the outcome of which tells you your adjusted number essentially. And so that's it. There's no zoning proposed here. There's no development proposed here. I think there was some confusion in some of the reporting perhaps um but there was no overlay specifically no overlay zoning proposed on on um the
Westerly Avenue property. Um it really is just you look at the decimal places it's generating a number and the number that it generates is six units. So that really is the realistic development potential burrowwide that can be expected from existing vacant land. Um there's not a requirement to develop on
those vacant properties. It's just to get you that number. Um and so when you add um take that number from 206 you get 200 right um and then you are required to meet 25% of that remainder um you know through this fourth round plan so
that's 50 right 25% of 200 so that really is the combination of those two things it's your adjusted u adjusted number which is on the next slide kind of kind of drills it down so um there is a present need obligation which is just like re rehabilitation that also comes
from the state they determine that you have zero present obligation that's just purely based on census data. Um so really the perspective need the total is again 206. What we found based on that vacant land analysis is that there is only six units of redevelopment
realistic development potential. Um the 25% of the remainder gets you at 50. So you are combined at a total of 56 units of adjusted fourth round obligation. That is the number that we need to address in this fourth round. And then at the bottom just for information is it
shows you the maximum amount of credits that we can take. So it's again 25% of that 206 the total obligation. It's just good to have in our minds that 51.5 bonus credits is our max. So we can't go over that. So on the next slide um when
you are looking at potential sites for inclusion in the affordable housing plan there are a set of established criteria by the state. Um there are these four components. Um is it approvable? Is it readily approvable by land use agencies. Is it available? Is it encumbered in any way? Um, is it reasonably developable
from an infrastructure standpoint, water and sewer? And lastly, is it suitable for development? Um, does it meet the environmental policies that are that are set out by the state? And an important note here, um, that when the state talks about infrastructure and suitability,
they're really only talking about water and sewer infrastructure. Those are the the permitted, um, you know, permitted constraints that we're allowed to look at. It doesn't talk about schools or traffic. And I know that's difficult for residents because those are obviously very important um and they're important for impacts, but the state only requires
you to look at and really only permits you to look at water and sewer availability. So, we did look at all of um the sites through the lens of these criteria. Um and that really got us to the bottom line which you see um there two the two components here in red is the real estate development potential.
Again, the six units. So, the two red items are how And then the items in blue are how we're meeting the 25% of the rest. So the six units will be satisfied through two projects. Um one is an already existing affordable housing development at 27 Elm
Street and it's built occupied exists but um its affordability controls will be expiring during this round. So the bureau will be working to extend those controls and has already adopted uh proposed some legislation to to you know financially support the extension of
those controls. So we do we do get credit for that and we do have the ability to get bonuses for that for the extension of controls. So there are three affordable units there that will be extended and then we get bonuses of 1.5. So that nets us a total of 4.5 credits from that existing property. The
other project here for um RDP is the one to supportive housing. I talked about the multif family component of that project in the third round. Here we are using in the fourth round the supportive housing the special needs housing. um component of that project. It is already again an application that's been
submitted um to the burough. It's for a 52 bed supportive housing building um one building at one Galdo Farms. Um we are taking just two credits of those 52 um for the the RDP portion. Um we do get a one for one bonus credit. So that
those two units meet net us four credits total. Um so that's the RDP portion. For the remainder again that 25% um is likely to redevelop. Um we're taking some additional credits from one draw to supportive housing again um up to 16.
We're taking 16 credits and then getting bonuses to get to 32 total credits. And then there are three proposed overlay zones um that are part of the strategy. There is a a row of five homes on or five lots I should say on Brun Street um
at right at its near its intersection with Maine. Um these are all under common ownership um and include the the parking lot of brothers, the former Keller Brothers um nursery um which by the way is already in an affordable housing overlay from the third round. So this would just add some additional lots
to uh to an overlay district. There are two office buildings on Shunpike um which are existing would be pulled into a new overlay district. Um and then there are two lots on Kings Road. There's a vacant lot which actually was in the vacant land adjustment um and then there's an adjacent gas station.
And collectively those two lots would be part of an overlay as well. Um so the the combined for all three of those would be a total of um 15 actual units and then plus bonus credits really um you see nets us part of our total which is um bottom line 36 affordable units
and 27 bonus credits to get to a total of 63 total credits which is in excess of the the 56 that we need. Um I just want to speak a little bit about overlay zones. Um that's not a new strategy. Madison used them in the third round. There are a number of overlays that have been play in in place since the third
round was adopted. Um several on Main Street, for example, already in place. And what an overlay does is it doesn't change the underlying zoning of the property. Um that underlining zone underlying zoning remains in place. It just basically provides some additional development options for the owner if
they so choose. So for example, on Shunpike, those are two office buildings where residential currently would not be permitted. Um the overlay zoning would just allow the owners of those properties to consider uh building residential development with a 20% affordable housing set aside if they so
chose. Um they are also free to continue to have the office buildings in place and to upgrade those office buildings if needed. So it really it doesn't require the the owners of those properties to take any action. It really is just the bureau doing um its due diligence and its good faith effort to support
affordable housing by providing those options. So again, it's not changing anything underlying in terms of the zoning. So that was the basic uh um basic compliance strategy. The final slide here is just what happens next. Um as I
mentioned earlier, the planning board did adopt this uh on Monday night. And so really what is before you tonight is the endorsement of both the amended third round plan and separately the fourth round plan. Um and you do have that deadline of of next week to do that. So that's why we're here tonight.
Um and then once that occurs um there will we will be entering a challenge period uh through the end of August and then we'll proceed from there. If there are challenges there'll be mediation period. Um but really the idea is that everything will be implemented in terms of any any required new zoning and other
implementing documentation by March of next year. Happy to answer any questions uh from council or public. the questions would be from uh council as a hearing was done at the planning board meeting. There may be comments
later. Um thank you Susan. Thank you so much for your presentation uh especially doing it twice in uh three days and your work with Graham Pedto on uh on putting this plan together. It is uh
excellent product and you have outlined it not only what Madison's obligation is but how uh the law back the background on the law and the deadlines we have to meet. Uh I just want to emphasize two things before we uh I ask for any
comments from the uh or questions from the council. one again which you you covered is the the calculation for on the vacant land adjustment and the lots that were put in there. So for example um one of the lots talked about eight
units per acre in a calculation that is not permitted in in that zone. So the only thing permitted on that lot is what exists today zoning wise. There is no proposal. It's just that we had to do that in our calculation and if we didn't
have it in our calculation, those that looked at our plan would have put it in the calculation. So, I appreciate the the thorough work of taking the um our um tax assessment uh mapping and uh looking at where improvements are and
where these lot larger lots exist and how it calculate. And the other to rein reinforce what you just said is overlays permissive but not required. So it it gives a um for example the Shunpike
properties just as you did say it gives the owners more flexibility but they could keep it exactly in today's usage. Right. So with that with that any comments from the add to that really quickly. Thank you mayor. um that the
the bureau is also not required to make sure that something happens in the overlays. Your only requirement is to you know enact the zoning that allows for that possibility. It may be that the particular property owner decides not to build um you know affordable housing or any kind of residential development
within this next 10-year time frame or ever. Um but you have met your obligation by including it in this plan and providing for the zoning that allows that to happen. And and to reinforce one other thing just as you uh it came my mind as you were speaking there and was
brought up on Monday's planning board meeting is even with the uh overlays in place there's a site plan process that goes through the land use boards and that's when uh traffic generation other things are analyzed and to make sure that the
final design is done in the proper way that that meets the needs of Madison. Absolutely. All right. Uh, and since I don't have a great view of the, uh, council, I'll ask uh, Council President uh, Erlick to uh, recognize any of the council members
that wish to comment before we move on to uh, approval of the endorsement resolutions. Thanks, Mayor. I'll start. Thank you, Susan, for that presentation. You covered a lot of information in a brisk and concise way, but now that I hear you've done it three times, I guess
you're pretty polished at this point with this deck. Thank you. And thank you to Graham Pedo for the great analysis. Um I'm I'm pleased that this both the third round adjustment and the fourth round plan meet our obligations and I do support the resolutions that we're going
to be taking a vote on shortly. Just want to circle back to some of the comments that uh were raised during the comment period. As the mayor said, we we discussed the properties that uh were part of the vacant land adjustment. Um but there was another comment or
suggestion that we discuss the communication requirements for zoning changes. You did point out during your presentation that there is no zoning change in this um portion of the master plan, but can you talk a little bit about communication requirements for
zoning changes and how that works? Yeah, sure. Um so there there would be required zoning changes to implement these some of these strategies through the creation of overlays. So when that is ultimately done by you the governing body. Um there is a normal procedure that happens with zoning changes as well
as site plans where there's required notification of people within a certain radius at least 200 feet um of a zone proposed zoning change. So that they would certainly be notified. Um the bureau may choose to as the commenter said go above and beyond that. Um it's really up to the bureau but but there
would most assuredly be the minimum notice requirements when those um actual zoning changes are you know are being proposed in this plan. It's just it's an element of your master plan. So there is no um there's no action actually proposed and that is very typical for any kind of element of the master plan.
There are many recommendations that typically come out of master plans and they may or may not result in um in ordinance changes or zone changes. So um similarly here while there are recommendations for the zoning changes that is really a future phase um that is required to be done by March of next
year but we're not there yet. So when that actually happens, um people will be formally notified if they are within that that distance. And and you did a nice job highlighting those properties that were proposed for zoning overlays which are separate than the properties that contribute to the vacant land.
Correct. Because there's no action proposed on on those vacant land properties. It was purely for analysis purposes. There was no notice requirement um now or or in the future because there's nothing proposed in the future. Thanks for clarifying that. Mr. Andrew, you have a comment?
We hear a lot about highest and best use for a property. And when you talk about when you think about those two office buildings on was it Shanghai? If the owner decides to keep them vacant office buildings, that's his choice. But the highest and best use of that may be
to put residential there with affordables. And the same with let's say a big piece of property with a small little house on it. Well, the best use of that may be to really utilize that land. The land is worth more than the house.
That's the owner's choice. Yeah. And I I'm assuming that if we didn't do this, the state would do the same thing themselves. Yes. So by us doing this, we're ahead of not ahead of the state, but if the state would have come back to us, we could say, "Guys, we already did this and this is our findings as well."
Yeah. You can say that you've taken a thorough look and I would argue even a conservative look to see what's possible and you've account for that in the plan and and I'm glad that you reminded me of the highest and best use component because that that is also something that we looked at when we were looking at strategies and sites to meet the
obligation is um the land to the land to building ratio. So properties where the land is actually worth more than the building. Um and that is the case for those two properties on Shumpike and a couple of the other properties as well. Um that generally indicates that it's not at its highest and best use um that
the property may be ripe for redevelopment. Um there may be a lot of need for building upgrades, etc. that make it a little bit more likely to redevelop. And so that's why we focused on some of those properties. But again, it doesn't force them to redevelop anything. Um, to your point, they could choose to continue to operate what he
wants to do. Yeah. So, so everybody's clear on this and I'm clear on it too. The next 10 years, our real obligation after we use our bonus credits is to
develop 56.5 or our real total obligation is 56. We can use bonus credits to meet part of that obligation to be part of the 200. Yes. Which which goes to the 56. We have 10 years to correct 56 and use those
bonus credits. Correct. and and the vacant land adjustment properties. What would trigger something where we would go and say maybe we do have to I don't see anything legally triggering
you. Um if anybody in who owns one of those properties was interested in doing something, um they could probably come to the burrow and propose something, but that would be a separate process. It's not part of this this plan. It's not accounted for. Um if any of those properties wanted to ask for a zoning
change or ask for a redevelopment plan, they're they're free to do that. Um any any units generated from those vacant land properties or any other property in the bureau would just sort of be above and beyond what you've already committed to doing. So you don't you don't need them to meet your obligation. Um there
is still that sort of unmet need, right? The remainder. So it is a good aspirational number to try to reach. Um, so if opportunities do arise, the bureau can look at those, but there is no legal requirement, okay, that I'm aware of for for you to consider those vacant land properties. Okay. So, we have 56. Have
your 56. You found them on on the sites that we identified in the areas that we've identified. Oh, that's great. Thanks, Susan. I think it's important to clarify though that there isn't going to be a tally at the end of 10 years where we have to produce 56 units. We just have to show that we've created
opportunity for the market to drive the development of those units if the demand is there. It's a very good point. There's no crystal ball and we we don't know exactly what's going to happen in 10 years, but you've made your good faith effort and the and and with the RDP that that we have to deliver on the
RDP, which we have a plan already in place. You're expected to do the RDP. You're expected to meet that and for those to be real units, those six units and and they are right. and they are in there and the 206 is not that was just a starting point that you showed how we we
calculate calculated that down to basically the 50. Yes, I mean there are communities that had perspective need of eight or 900 units. So yeah, be glad that you're not an enormous community that has that number. Um but that 206 is is out there,
but it's really just, you know, something to try to meet at some point. It's not a legal requirement. and round three and we just came up with 77. Do we have to build anything that um it's the same requirement as I
understand it's you're you're you're meant to find No, not the 25%. That's a new fourth round requirement. It's 77 units of realistic development um that you have to find. So that you did it and that was different than the fourth round or even the third round plan that was
really resulting from that court order. So very specific moment in time. Thanks. Any other comments? Can I just record please? Just so that the marzos can sleep well tonight, I'd like to put on the public record. So for
16 westerly, our planner has confirmed that we're not proposing any reasonzoning of the property. There's no proposed development of the property. The burrow is not utilizing or suggesting eminent domain or any type of condemnation action. There's no overlay zone for that property. or now or
proposed and that you the use that's currently in place can continue and that you control 100% of the future of the property under your direction and that of your family. So, we just want to put that on the record so that and we appreciate that you came in and raised these concerns in in such a professional
way the way you presented the issues this evening. Thank you. And ju just to uh add to that very quickly is the only reason that popped up is the the analysis that was not not necessarily done by AI. It was done by real people, but it uh took lots
of certain sizes, looked at improvements and spit out an answer, and that's what we had to accommodate in in the calculation. Okay. All right. If there are no other comments from the council, I will ask for a motion for resolution 189 2025,
the resolution of the Burough of Madison endorsing the revised third round housing element and fair share plan. Uh, so moved. Second. Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Early, yes.
Mr. Lander, yes. Mr. Harland, yes. Mahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. And I will now entertain a motion for resolution 190-2025, resolution of the Burough of Madison endorsing in the fourth round housing element and fair share plan.
I move resolution uh 190-2025. Second. Any further council discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Early, yes. Mr. Landeran, yes. Miss Hon, yes. Mr.
Harland Pis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. All right. And I want to thank everyone for your again for all your work and u tolerating me just showing up on screen. And I now hand it back to the able uh control of our council president, Rachel Eric. and thank you for covering. Thank
you, Mayor. Okay, so we're now going to move on to ordinances for hearing. Will the clerk please read the statement? The ordinances scheduled for hearing were introduced by title and passed on the first reading at the regular meetings of the council, held on May the
28th and June the 9th, 2025. All posted and filed according to law, and copies were made available to the general public requesting se. I call up the ordinances for second reading and ask the clerk to read said ordinance by tile title. Ordinance 21-2025.
Ordinance of the bureau of Madison appropriating $18,24 from the municipal open space recreation and historic preservation trust fund for construction plans and cost estimates at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts. I now open the hearing for ordinance
21-2025. Is there anyone wishing to comment? Seeing none, I close the hearing. I'll move ordinance 21-2025. Second. Any council discussion? This again is for repair of the steps
and entrance at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts. Okay. Roll call vote, please. Mwick. Yes. Mr. Landrian. Yes. Mr. Haram. Yes. Hon. Yes. Mr. Ford. Yes. I declare
ordinance 21-2025 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof in the newspaper and file the ordinance in accordance with the law. Ordinance 22-2025. Ordinance of the bureau of Madison appropriating $233,755 from the affordable housing trust fund
for the construction of four affordable rental units at 24 Belmont Avenue. I now open the hearing for ordinance 22-2025. Anyone wishing to comment? Seeing none, I close the hearing. I move ordinance 22-2025.
Second. So, as previously discussed, this is a contribution from the bureau's affordable trust fund uh to support our housing authorities application. Uh this is a a small percentage of the construction cost that the bureau puts forth in order for our housing authority
to qualify for a much larger grant from the state affordable housing trust fund. Any other discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Ewick, yes. Mr. Land, yes. Mr. Harland, yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. I declare
ordinance 22-2025 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof in the newspaper and file the ordinance in accordance with the law. Ordinance 23-2025. of the bureau of Madison appropriating $2556
from the general capital improvement fund to purchase batteries for the Madison Police Department portable radios. I now open the hearing for ordinance 23-2025. Anyone wishing to comment may step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor,
I move ordinance 23-2025. Second discussion. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Yes. Mr. Landed, yes. Mr. Harudis, yes. Miss Hon, yes. Mr. Yes.
I declare ordinance 23-2025 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof in the newspaper and file the ordinance in accordance with the law. Ordinance 24-2025. Ordinance of the Bur of Madison amending chapter 195 of the burrow code to
correct an error in section 195-5C regarding the partial repeal of ordinance 2- 2023. I now open the hearing for ordinance 24-2025. Anyone wishing to comment? Seeing none, I close the hearing. I move
ordinance 24-2025. Second discussion. Roll call vote, please. Sir, yes. Mr. Landry, yes. Mr. Harold, yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. I declare
ordinance 24-2025 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof in the newspaper and file the ordinance in accordance with the law. And ordinance 25-2025, ordinance of the bure of Madison appropriating $410,000
from the general capital improvement fund to fund a portion of the downtown signage program. I now open the hearing for ordinance 25-2025. There's no one wishing to comment. I will close the hearing. I move ordinance 25-2025.
Second. Any discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Yes. Mr. Land. Yes. Mr. Harold. Yes. Mahan. Yes. Yes. I declare ordinance 25-2025 adopted and finally passed and ask the
clerk to publish notice thereof in the newspaper and file the ordinance accord. We now move on to the second period for public comment. We invite the public to comment on any topic. Again, the same rules apply. Anyone wishing to comment on any topic, please step forward, state
your name and address, and just try to keep your comments to three minutes, but we'll give you a minute period. Comment. Hi there, Joe Bzraelian, Chattam Township, and a member of the board of friends of the True Forest. First, thank
you for all you do for Madison, our neighbors in Chattam Township, and for the broader community. Uh, I wanted to come in tonight uh because it's hot. And not just to enjoy this very beautiful air conditioning uh in this building and not just because as you heard many many
times that a forest helps keep a community much cooler than pavement which is part of why you're working to preserve open space but also uh because did you know that the 18 acre deer exlosure fence in the Drew forest also
keeps uh the area even cooler? Um And that is because the extreme overabundant deer herds that we have across New Jersey um eat everything within reach um from the ground up. So that forests
which suffer from these overabundant herds don't have all that plant matter um to to which helps cool um that forest. Those forests that are eaten by overabundant herds are four to 14
degrees hotter um on average than forests that are healthy that don't face over butter. So not only so we have that added benefit of the drew forest in our community. Now I've gotten to spend a lot the last six months learning about this because now I'm independent
contractor and my client has caused me to do a lot of work on deer. So in having a healthy without overabundant herds also gives us uh 600 to 800 additional species of plants and animals
um which is incredible biodiversity. Uh a healthy forest without overabundant herds gives us even more water purification more plants of more variety gives us better water purification into aquifers more carbon storage in those plants and out of the atmosphere and
many other benefits. So, I've also learned in the last six months that uh deer herds in New Jersey are about 10 times what uh forests have evolved to handle. About 100 deer per square mile in New Jersey versus historically 10.
It's partly because um we've eliminated uh apex predators, but also because every time we uh build out into suburban sprawl and develop into forested areas, we create the edge habitat uh that they love. and yearround landscaping. So when
we build outward, it actually creates uh even breeds more deer. Um I also learned that in New Jersey there are 25,000 plus uh annual confirmed and reported vehicle collisions. That's one out of every 360 people every year hits a deer
on average. 20% of farmers have abandoned parcels of land because they do so much damage. That means less food and higher prices. Lyme disease and other tick born illnesses and also there are a million food insecure uh people in
New Jersey. So actually deer harvesting one deer on average provides very healthy nutrition for 120 people on average. So I just wanted to uh come in in praise of the Drew forest for its dear fence and dear exposure to the example to the community and to the
wider world that it gives of what a healthy forest can really do. Thank you again for uh foring your time. Thank you for your comments. Uh thank you to the Drew friends of the Drew Forest who have committed over many years to have comments at every meeting.
I admire your steadfast commitment to attendance. Thank you. Brought my glasses so I could sign it. My name is Mary Jane L. Um I 38 years a resident in Madison at 10
High View Terrace. Um, you've seen me here before singing for the Drew Forest and doing other things. I'm here to be very quick tonight, but to support the uh efforts of the uh the plan that was approved by the uh planning board Monday
night to uh for third and fourth rounds. I'm not sure exactly what the title is, but I support it personally and the board and the friends of the Drew Forest also support the efforts of the burough. I promised you, Tom,
I'm done. Thank you very much. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. I'm so I'm so sorry. I already signed uh Sand Marzo up here again. I just wanted to once again thank Mr. Cody and
Mr. Reette for their time and their efforts in explanation and uh for stating that for the public record. Um I do appreciate that. Um I will be paying closer attention than I have been lately. Obviously I I should be. Um some
things that weren't clear are u hypothetically if none of the private property owners choose to pursue any of these units that were proposed, how does that affect us down the road? Does that put us in a weaker position for the next round? And then u if it
does, do any of these identified properties um are they in a a weaker position for future rounds of negotiation? Um, so I guess I'm still trying to understand the process here of how this will work going forward because I know this is not
the final round. And if none of these private property owners choose, even with this overlay zoning, to take advantage of that, where does that make us in negotiations for the next round? Um, does that put us in a position where
we did not operate in good faith for this round or is that part for the course for this. Um I guess as a property owner, resident, local business owner, uh I would just
like to know more about that. Um because obviously this isn't um the final round. Wish it were, but um it seems like this is going to be a reoccurring problem. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Demarzo.
Uh we can respond to comments at the end of the period. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Okay, seeing none, I close this portion of the hearing. Um, Mr. Cody, would you mind addressing Mr.'s question? I I think you did acting
mayor a fine job earlier when you indicated our obligation statutoily and constitutionally is to provide a mechanism um to facilitate a reasonable uh probability of development and by adopting these overlay zones and the
other uh compliance mechanisms that we've laid out that's our obligation. So we would be satisfied. It's not a carryover penalty that if these projects don't happen, for example, in the third round, we had overlay zones along Main Street that was alluded to earlier. Those projects have not happened. That
that doesn't carry over as an obligation into this round, which is the fourth round. The state has a a process of a round is a 10-year cycle. So, the third round ends June 30th and then the the fourth round starts July 1st and runs until June 30th of 2035.
I don't think I'll be here for the next round. or alive. But uh so that there's gonna be a ser this is a perpetual obligation every 10 years that 564 towns will continue to go through forever. It's the full employment plan
or act we call it. No, just thank you Ray. Okay, we now move on to the introduction of ordinances. Will the clerk please read the statement? Ordinance is scheduled for first reading. Have a hearing date set for July the 28th,
2025. Will be published in the Madison Eagle, posted on the bulletin board, and made available to members of the public requesting copies. I call up ordinances for first reading and ask the burough clerk to read said ordinances by title. Ordinance 26-2025. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison
appropriating $14,548.26 from the general capital improvement fund to purchase full Respiratory mask replacements. I move ordinance 26-2025. Second. Any council discussion?
Roll call vote, please. Sir, yes. Mr. Landeran. Yes. Mr. Harland Pis. Yes. M. Hon. Yes. Mr. Foron. Yes. John, did you want to make a comment? Yeah. Sorry. Just one comment on 193. I I would hope that um as part of this So, John, let me
clarify. ordinances. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I know you're eager to get to the consent agenda. We'll get to it. Okay, we're going to move on to ordinance 27-2025, please. Ordinance of the Burough of Madison appropriating $40,000 from the
general capital improvement fund for access controls, camera, and other security enhancements and improvements. Do I have a motion? Oh, my turn. I make a motion to uh move ordinance 27205.
Second. Any council discussion? I'll just clarify that this is to uh create uh card access and secure access control at the Madison Volunteer Ambulance Corps building uh for future security enhancements. Roll call vote,
please. Mr. Eric, yes. Mr. Lander, yes. Mr. Harland Hudis. Yes. Mahan. Yes. Mr. Forte. Yes. Ordinance 28-2025. Ordinance of the Burough Madison appropriating $200,000 from the general capital improvement fund for funding of
a new electric vehicle senior shuttle van. Move ordinance 28-2025. Second. Any council discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Eric. Yes. Mr. Lander. Yes. Mr. Carolyn. Yes. Mrs.
Hanahan. Yes. Mr. Forte. Yes. Now we move. We'll move on to consent agenda resolutions. The clerk, please read the 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. I'll move ordinance. Agenda resolution 191205 through 2012025.
I have a second. Second. Any discussion of these or any that need to be pulled for a separate vote? Just on 193. I I just hope that as we're looking at these uh drainage issues, we're looking at uh West Lane because I
I know that there are some issues there that the neighbors have brought to our attention. Hope that that's prioritized. Thank you, Councilman Forte. The idea here is to uh as as uh Mr. Bernett has explained to me, create a plan for
addressing these in a systematic way. And so this acknowledges the bureau's obl to balance the needs for drainage planning against other commitments that the bureau has for capital improvements. Tom, uh, resolution 200 2025.
Uh, maybe Mr. Cody or Mr. Bernett could just or you may elaborate a little bit as to what that is regarding the fees for the burough utility poles and telecom service wiring. Uh 200 200 right agreement without
yes unlike most towns the burrow of Madison owns the majority of the utility bowls in um in Madison we own 254 and Altis which is the subsidiary of uh Optimum which is the the market name uh
has attached equipment to our poles but historically has previously paid attachment fees to Verizon who we felt inappropriately collected the fees on our behalf and then retained them. So we negotiated a separate agreement with Altis that will be retroactive to
October 13th of 2023. uh and uh they will be paying us $80,000 for that period of time and then perspectively approximately $50,000 a year for the next uh 10 years with a 3% escalator each year for the right to attach and keep their equipment on our
poles. with Greg's help and his associates at Matt's office, we're currently negotiating uh with Verizon uh for a similar arrangement and their figure uh for attachment will be significantly higher than LTS because we want to recover the funds that they
inappropriately retained over the years and they should pay a higher fee to make us whole and so that's going to be a little bit of a rub trying to get them to sign on the dotted line. Okay, thanks Rick. Sorry. Okay. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Yes.
Yes. Mr. Haris. Yes. But I'm going to abstain from resolution 192 2025. Yes. Yes. There is no unfinished business. So, let's move on to the approval of vouchers. Will the clerk please read the
voucher totals? Yes. From the current fund, 4,388,534.73. From the general capital fund, $3,84760. From the electric operating fund, $584,989.15 from the electric capital fund, $11,375.
From the water operating fund, $40,54364 from the water capital fund, $2,9304. From the trust, $38,217.51. The total is 5,7,43847. Is there a second? Second. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Early, wait. Is there
any discussion of the vouchers? Roll call vote, please. Miss Early? Yes. Mr. Landry? Yes. Mr. Harold Pis? Yes. Miss Harahan? Yes. Mr. Ford? Yes. Uh, there is no new business other than a reminder that our next meeting will be
Monday, July 28th. We will have only one meeting in July as previously announced. And with that, we can adjourn. I move to. All in favor?