We have reconvened with all members present. Councilwoman Conahan is absent excused. For those who are able, please rise for pledge of allegiance. I ask you to remain standing after the pledge. I alsyy for all
and please remain standing as we remember members of our burough family and longtime Madison residents who we lost over the last few weeks. Susan Mer passed away on September 14th at age of 80. Born in 1944 in East Orange, she grew up
in Bloomfield before her family moved to Short Hill. She later later settled in Madison. Many years she worked as secretary of guidance department Summit High School. She survived by her son Ronald, her daughter who is our tax collector Christine and her sister, longtime Madison
resident Joan Valky's. We also remember Nicholas Palmary who passed away after long illness on September 11th at the age of 85. Born in 1940, lifelong resident of Madison, attending St. Vincent Martyr School and B Elder High
School, graduating in 1958. After high school, Nick enlisted in the Navy and after basic training became aviation electronic technicians stationed in Texas, Rhode Island, and Lakeurst, New Jersey. He began dating Janet Taratio in 1960, and they were
married in 1963, shortly after his discharge from the Navy. They stayed in Madison where they raised their three children. Nick then joined his father Sam in the plumbing business helping them grow the business to make it successful. 1968 Nick joined the Madison Police Department as an auxiliary
policeman. Served our town for 24 years before stepping down in the as a role as sergeant in 1992. In addition to his wife Janet, he survived by three children, Donna, Jean, and Nicholas Jr. and also survived by
three grandchildren. And we remember Sandillo Sandy Fico who passed away on September 9th in his home in Madison where he was born 96 years ago. Sandy is survived by his beloved wife of
76 years Gloria, two daughters, Nancy and Gloria, one son Dominic, and six grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. He was the youngest of seven children and he grew up on Central Avenue. It was here he developed a strong work ethic beginning his journey in the rose green houses as of Madison
as a teenager. Professionally, Sandy was a talented mason who dedication to his craft was unmatched. He began his career with Mark Antonio Brothers where he helped play a pivotal role in moving and renovating a
family home in Madison. A late later he worked over 30 years for the Mars County Road Department. And we remember Laura Anne Toranni, longtime Madison resident, passed away on August 29, ages 74. Survived by her husband John, her son John Peter, and
daughter Danielle and four grandchildren. She was born in Springfield, Mass. Uh raised in Chattam, where she had a great childhood with her brother and sister after the family relocated when she was six years old. She was a proud graduate of Chattam High School. At that time, there's probably
two, so I'm assuming Chattam Burough High School. In 1972, she married her beloved husband, John, and together they built a beautiful life here in Madison. Laura was an integral part of her husband's business, Madison Auto Body, where she served as office manager. And
before her children were grown, she also worked as administrative assistant at Warner Lambert, Marstown Medical Center, and later enjoyed serving as a waitress at Rockco's restaurant during lunch hours, where her friendly demeanor brightened the days of many patrons. And those who knew Laura, she had a great
smile. And we remember Eileen McKenna Reeve, age 68, passed away on September 2nd. She was born in Marstown in 1956, grew up in Madison, and was a classmate of
mine, class of 1974. She returned to Madison when it was time to raise her family. She was a daughter of the late Deputy Chief Paul McKenna, and she married her husband Bradford in 1980. She survived by her husband, her children, Aaron, Daniel, Casey, and
Connor, three grandchildren. Her life res revolved around her four children, the order of greatest joy. She taught Christian formation. She was a class mother, Girl Scout leader, Cub Scout committee person, sport team volunteer, helped various groups
benefiting her children over the years. And her second passion yet for her children was working as a teaching assistant to ECLC for 25 years. Lastly, we remember or not last week, we also remember Henry George and many who made ambulance calls few
years ago would remember him showing up. Passed away in August 27th, age of 91. Born in Buffalo, lived in Madison for 35 years. Received his undergraduate degree from Lehigh University. Graduated from Menselier Poly Tech in New York with a
PhD in chemical engineering. worked for Selines until his retirement in 1985. He was a volunteer for the Madison Ambulance Corps for 20 years answering those calls. He survived by his daughter Elizabeth, his son Jeffrey, and four grandchildren.
And lastly, we remember Evelyn Nash died the age of 90 on August 1st. I think it was later than August 1st. She uh grew up in Newark where she met her husband Ernie. We all know Ernie very well. Married in 1957, settled in
Madison in the late 1960s. She was a mother and housewife who lovingly took care of the family and loving grandmother to to six grandchildren, including in those six grandchildren is police officer uh Austin Nash.
She was also involved in her husband's business, Honor Tree Service. She's survived by her daughter Sandy and her son Chris and the six grandchildren. So let us take a moment to remember Susan Mer, Nicholas Palary, Sandy Fico,
Laura Tranni, Eileen Reev, Henry George, and Evelyn Nash. And let us pass our thoughts on to the families and friends that they all leave behind. Thank you. Let me have a motion for the regular. minutes of March 24th, 2025.
Some moved. Second. Any corrections or changes. All in favor? I I welcome all a rare standing room only. We are meeting here on a Wednesday so
families could celebrate Rashashana. And for those who are celebrated for creating Rana Tova said that right there. And I want to thank uh council president Rachel Erlick for running the last
meeting uh for me as I was out of town. Uh today I attended the groundbreaking ceremony at HQM. It was latest affordable housing project at 30 uh Central Avenue. Uh the demolition of the previous building has already happened and we were it was easy to do a
groundbreaking in a pile of loose dirt. Um the project will replace that rundown building that was there and will provide six uh units of uh very lowincome housing for uh future Madison residents. I was honored to be there
and let let me share uh a statement related to the Madison community pool. There's certainly been a lot of uh comments on Facebook and uh coverage on this and I just want to give you an update. Um and and some background. The burrow
has supported the independent Madison community pool since it first leased its land for a dollar a year to pool organizers in 1968 and we remain fully committed to maintaining the vibrant community pool 57 years later.
Although the bureau is not directly involved in running the pool and has no legal obligations to pay their bills, we have a moral obligation to see that the hardworking staff who watched over children this summer are paid in full. To that end, we have a resolution on
tonight's agenda authorizing uh the advancing of funds to pay all staff early next week. So, uh families that are out there wondering, we expect this to be wrapped up by the end of next week. We want to all the employees and their parents for their patience as we
have worked with the pool board directors to resolve this issue and we will be continuing to these discussions to address the operational and government's issues with the goal of reopening the pool for its amazing 58th
year in May of 2026. I also want to take a few minutes to explain why the decision was made not to lower the flags in Madison last week. So clearly before Charlie Kirk was a political act activist, he was a son, a
husband, and a father. He was doing what every American has a right to do, sharing his opinions, engaging in debate. Regardless of how you feel about his views, this should have never happened. The assassin assassination of Charlie
Kirk was a tragedy, a death that we should all mourn. This was another senseless death from the epidemic of gun violence in our country. This came on the heels of the senseless shooting of two children at morning mass in Minneapolis. And in
June, the assassination of Minnesota House Speaker who was daughter, a wife, and mother, Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark, a son and a father. Sadly, I could go on with this list, including a shooting in Dallas earlier
today, but I could not even cover the sons and daughters who have succumbed to gun violence just this week. We should never become numb to these deaths and we must respect each life equally.
President's Trump's order to lower frag flags directly over all federal buildings and property and was covered all federal buildings and property and many other jurisdictions elected to follow. Madison along with others did
not. What we have seen so far from President Trump is an inconsistency on how these tragedies are treated. A death of any public figure to violence, an accident, or illness is tragic and should be
recognized through a system that is consistent. I have a difficult time reconciling the fact that Minnesota State Senator Hortman and her husband did not get the same treatment as Charlie Kirk. The comments that were made around each
tragedy indicate there may be a different standard based on political beliefs. I realize there could be another senseless death that does not get the same recognition and I would get requests to lower the flags. It is for that reason I made a decision not to be
the finally final orbiter for lowering or not lowering flags for national tragedies. We will follow the state flag status except for times that we honor significant Madison residents who have passed. Let me just add that the proliferation
of guns and the resulting violence in our nation must be addressed. The thoughts and prayers and symbolism of lowering flags may help temporarily, but until we accept the challenge, we will be continuing with our thoughts,
prayers, and lowering the flags for more sense of deaths. innocent men, women, and children dying by assault rifles is not the price we should be paying for our Second Amendment rights. Now, let us take a moment to remember
Charlie Kirk, Fletcher Merkel, Harper Moy, the two children at the Church of the Annunciation, and remember Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who lives lives are cut short by gunfire. Let us keep in
mind the families who they left behind with empty chairs at a table facing the loss of their loved ones. Thank you. [Applause] I now have a couple of proclamations and recognitions.
I would like to call up state senator Anthony Buco and any members of the DDC that would like to join us up here. We have a special uh so we know that a week from this Saturday is not just Bottle Hill Day but the 50th annual Bottle Hill
Day. And I think that uh Mayor Elizabeth Bum Bumgartner, Betty Bumgardner, who was a good friend of mine, would be very amazed at uh where the whole day is. And I uh in typical of her style that uh
Lisa would be behind the camera, but for certainly I don't know how many years now, the force behind such a successful bottle of the whole day is Lisa. Um, when I became mayor, we divvied up the responsibilities that uh she was responsible for getting all the people
there. I was responsible for the weather. I goofed and I I goofed up a couple of times. What can I say? But uh let me just uh hand this off to my good friend, Senator Bug. Thank you, Mayor. It is certainly an
honor uh to for me to be here tonight. It's always a pleasure to be in Madison, especially in your downtown downtown area. You know, when um when Madison was redistricted uh into the 25th legislative district, uh my wife and I
came and spent some time here and fell in love quite frankly. And we've been back many times for dinner, for for different events, for Santa Land uh thank to thanks to the Toto family uh and to the Toto's uh famous uh wine
seller over there. In fact, this arm is just a little bit bigger than this one from. But um we had my my daughter's baby shower and just to prove mayor how much we think of Madison. Uh the baby was
born three months ago and it's her name is Madison. Now I got we change our name from model hill. Yeah. So so uh that's just how much uh the Buo family thinks about uh this
community. But um Bottle Hill Day is a special event and uh the 50th anniversary deserves recognition because uh community is what it's all about, right? bringing the community out to
celebrate to get together to walk to walk the downtown area, to fight the crowds nowadays that you have is amazing. But um and to sample the food and visit your establishments
uh you know my I bring my wife and my wallet is always empty when I go home. But um but but that's what it's about. That's what this country was was born on. The sense of community, the community spirit that brings people
together. You know, we talk about tonight the civility and bringing people together and getting people to work together and it's events like Bottle Hill Day that champion that. you know, people from both sides of the
aisle out there together in the streets, and your community benefits from that. Your economy benefits from that. And um and that's what makes Madison so special. So tonight, I'm honored to present you with the Senate and Assembly
Resolution uh honoring the 50th anniversary. And uh I hope that uh we're back here to do the 75th and the 100th. May or we not may not be here this season, but um but I hope that I hope that the tradition
continues and that the and that the foundation that the mayor laid years ago uh continues to get built on. So, thank you everyone. Thank you to the commission. Thank you to the chamber. Good luck and God bless you.
[Applause] [Music] [Applause] So our next proclamation I've asked asked our state senator to stay up here
because he already talked about making wine with his family and so it is very appropriate that we call up the Toto family for a special very special recognition. So, please come on up. [Applause]
as we just talked about or state senator just talked about traditions and Madison is certainly founded on so many traditions and it's tough to beat a tradition of a business that has been around for 90 years.
So this is a proclamation in recognition of the 90th anniversary of S Toto and Sons. Whereas Carmen Toto Senior was born in Italy and learned the painting trade while working at a monastery. And whereas Carmen Senior arrived in the
United States in 1932 and in 1935 he started Se Toto and Sons with his three sons. Whereas over time the family added custom mill work, carpentry and total interior and exterior renovations to their business but valuing customer
relationships with C totone suns trademark from the very beginning in their work in Madison. Whereas Setoone Suns is also known around Mars County for their historic renovations which include the Twambi mansion at Fairley Dickinson, the train car at the Madison
Hotel, the Marstown Presbyterian Church and many other churches. Whereas the family did restoration on Santa illustrator Tom Thomas Nast House in Marstown and that could explain the love of Christmas. They were they were
blessed at that moment and for four decades C Toto and Sons and the Toto family brought Christmas to Madison through Santa's Village and the annual parade which attracts people from all over the state and some state senators too. And whereas Carmen Senior, Carmen Jr.,
Carmen the third have all been active members of the Madison area Chamber of Commerce which supports local businesses and whereas through volunteerism and establishment of a scholarship in Karman Jr's honor C Toto and Sons continues to give back to community to make it a
better place now therefore I Robert H. Connley, the mayor of Burough of Madison, on behalf of the Gomery Body, hereby recognize and celebrate the 90th anniversary of C Toto and Suns and extend best wishes for continued success. And we will not be here for the
180th. But uh yeah, [Applause] I certainly echo the mayor's comments
and can tell you that Um very rarely do you come across a family as generous as yours and uh three generations you set example uh for your children, your grandchildren, your great
grandchildren to follow and um and that's what makes the difference. So congratulations. I apologize. This was a surprise to me. So you were shocked. So was I. But um I'll make it I promise cuz
I want a bottle of wine, you know. I want to say thank you to uh Mayor Bob and council for recognizing our family. Um hard work that we've uh accomplished. I live in my grandparents house. I renovated my grandparents house. I walk
next door to my parents house, mom's house, and I go into dad's office. A lot of hats. So, we know we've learned a lot of different hats. I came across today a bumper sticker that I know some of us have all seen that says, "I love Madison."
And I said, "What a great sticker. Haven't seen it in a while, but it needs to be out there." How much everyone loves Madison? And we do love Madison so much. And I can't our longtime customers and I can't thank my longtime volunteers
that have helped us continue uh the Santa Village and other things. Uh there is one person here that has only worked for three is mom. She's worked for grandpa. She's worked for dad and for me. So
that's a little extra. But thank you. Thank you again. I really appreciate recognition. [Applause] And if I could have Sergeant Julian Morales please come forward. We have a um proclamation recognizing
Hispanic Heritage Month September 15 through October 15, 2025. We also had a firefighter that wanted to join us today, Byum Castano, but he's actually in Colombia visiting his with his family right now. So whereas in 1968, Hispanic Heritage Week was first
celebrated in 19 and in 1988 expanded to cover a 30-day period from September 15th ending October 15th. Whereas Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to honor the traditions and countless artistic, scientific, political, and cultural contributions of
Madison residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Spanish-sp speakaking nations of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Whereas the US Census Bureau estimates that Hispanic Americans comprise 20% of the United States
population, 22% of New Jerseys population, and more than 10% of Madison's population. And whereas Hispanic Americans embody the American values of devotion to faith, hard work, and patriotism through their count
countless contributions as leaders and entrepreneurs and members of our armed forces. And whereas Hispanic Americans have fought in every war since the Revolutionary War. and 60 Hispanic Americans have received a Congressional Medal of Honor, our nation's highest
military award for valor in action against an enemy force. And whereas a national theme for 2025, honoring the past, inspiring the future, honors the rich heritage of resilience and future contributions of Hispanic and Latino
communities in the United States. And whereas local Hispanic and Latino residents enrich the civic, economic, and cultural life of Madison throughout their contributions and contribute to shape the shared future of the burrow. Now therefore, I, Robert H. Connley, the
mayor of Burough Madison, on behalf of the governing body, hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15, 2025 Hispanic Heritage Month. We appreciate and honor the countless achievements for our Hispanic neighbors and continue efforts to ensure that Madison is a
welcoming and inclusive community. Before I hand this off to uh Sergeant, I invite any those of Hispanic heritage come join us up front here. If you want, you want to come and join come and join us.
[Applause] So, thank you for accepting this
proclamation all here throughout our community and throughout the state. Would you like to say a few words? on behalf of the uh police department and obviously police background. Thank you. And I'm sure that
[Applause] Right. For the next 45 minutes, I'm going to give my voice a rest. All right. We will now move on to reports from committees.
Finance and burough clerk, Council President Erlic. Thank you, Mayor. Madison Tax Collector's Office reminds us that uh the deadline to submit your application for senior freeze, which is property tax relief from the state of
New Jersey, as well as other tax relief programs, is Friday, October 31st. Any seniors who have not done so should bring their forms to the finance office. Please contact the tax collector's office if you have any questions about this program. Also, the tax collector was scheduled to
have the tax sale earlier this month. However, we are pleased to report that uh they were able to collect all 2024 delinquencies that uh pertain to property taxes and utility bills. As such, there was no tax sale this year. Special thanks to Chrissy and Hattie from the tax department for all their
help with the collections. The finance department reports that on Monday, September 15th, the bureau wired 4,42,396.35 cents to the board of education. This is the monthly amount that is required to cover their operations and debt. Madison collects taxes of course on behalf of
the board of oper board of education. Okay, I'm taking a deep breath because budget season is here. It's hard to believe that it's arrived, but this week uh the administration has been meeting with various department heads to review their operating budgets. This is an important first step in building the
budget. Department heads have been asked to keep their budgets flat for 2026. In addition to the operating budget, administration is working with the department heads on the five-year capital plan. Administration has sent over draft five-year capital plans to each department head and these documents
will be discussed in the coming weeks. We hope to have a year capital plan presentation before the end of the year. Lastly, a new topic, the reevaluation contract and funding. Tonight, we have two resolutions on the consent agenda to
highlight. The first is a resolution awarding a contract to do a tax revaluation. The bureau was ordered by the Morris County Tax Board to perform a revaluation of all properties in the bureau. The work will be done in 2027 and the reval will be effective starting
in 2028. There's also a resolution on tonight's agenda to fund the cost of the reval contract. State statute allows the bureau to take the monies out of fund balance reserve and then spread the cost of this contract out over five years. So
starting in 2026, there will be a $240,000 budget line for the next five years to pay off the contract for this service. In essence, we are paying back our fund balance reserve. The state understands that it would be very difficult for the
bureau to include a one-time charge in the budget of 1.2 million for this contract. So, spreading the cost of the contract over five years is much easier and as such, almost every municipality in the state funds the revaluation contracts this way. Thank you, mayor. That's all.
Thank you very much. Public safety, Mr. Landrean. Thank you, mayor. From the police department, Madison's police Madison Police Department's School resource officer David Rickle has begun his new ad assignment this week at St. Vincent Martyr School. He is fitting in well and
St. Vincent's administration is glad to have him. Officer Rickle will be on duty while school is in session. Chief Misha attended the First Baptist Church of Madison's 130th anniversary this past Sunday. This past Saturday, September
20th, the Madison First Baptist Church, Reverend Dunn and are great friends and partners to the Madison Police Department and its officers. The chief was very honored to have him as part of the celebration. Madison Police Community the Madison
Police Department's community policing unit hosted two visits at the at the headquarters of the ECLC school this past week at headquarters and were provided with a tour of the headquarters. Community policing officer
Stephen Stephanie Aino also took part in reading week at Kings Road School where she read books to various classrooms. On September 23rd, the Madison Police Department personnel took part in their mandatory active training session at Madison High School while school is not
in session. The training is mandated by the Police Training Commission on a yearly basis. from the fire department. During the past two weeks, the fire prevention bureau conducted 31 fire inspections in the burrow. Fire prevention bureau has
also issued seven fire permits. We are currently scheduling school visits as fire prevention month is approaching. New Jersey Department of Health has renewed the fire department's medical license. This license allows the fire department to continue to provide emergency medical
services with its two state licensed ambulances. Each day this week, three firefighters have been attending joint training with the Marstown and Mars and Cedar Nolles fire departments and confined space rescue training. The department also has
two major training events scheduled in the coming weeks. All firefighters will be training in live operations with the Chattam Burough Fire Department at the Morris County Public S public safety training academy. The firefighters will be going through several fire live fire
evolutions. The department will also be hosting a trench rescue drill over the two-day period with Marstown and Cedar Fire Department. Thank you, Mayor. Very much public works and engineering, Mr. Range. Thank you, Mayor. from DPW tonight. Uh the Department of Public Works has been
assisting the police department by installing new pedestrian crossing signs in various locations uh throughout the burrow as well as repairing curbing and patching potholes. Recently, the mechanics repaired the clock on Waverly Place after receiving the necessary
parts. DPW has also been working to clear and m maintain a number of storm drains and water outfalls. DPW is part of the preparations for um the 50th anniversary Bottle Hill Day uh
which as we know are coming up in a couple of weekends. Uh curbside leaf pickup uh by DBW staff will start on or about October 14th. So, please do not put loose leaves uh to the
curb just yet. And when you do, remember not to put uh rocks, sticks, stumps, dirt, or other debris in those leaf piles at the curb as they will not be picked up and could cause damage to the equipment. Regular yard waste collection
by uh the burough contractor will continue through December 3rd. Yard waste bags are available at the DPW garage or at the clerk's office here in Hartley Dodge Memorial. contractor will pick up yard waste in cans and bags or
tied in bundles but no longer than four feet and no heavier than 40 pounds. Uh also want to thank uh DPW for their uh action after meeting a couple of weeks ago. Um Mr. Cody uh Captain Longo and I
met with residents and representatives from state DOT uh concerning the intersection at uh Kings and Samson. After that meeting, DPW was able to coordinate additional tree trimming uh to improve sight lines to both the intersection and uh the traffic light
coming particularly coming down the hill on Samson, evaluating additional signage. Uh and we have a contractor looking at that traffic light and possible timing changes that might be possible. The electric department has also recently installed additional
street lighting at that intersection to improve nighttime visibility. And from uh the environmental commission this evening, the environmental commission will be partnering with the Madison Beekeepers Club at BAL day. The beekeepers will be bringing a
demonstration hive and selling local honey. The MEC will be talking about the importance of planting native species to support support bees and other pollinators, especially native bees. Uh the honeybee is actually an imported
species that can potentially crowd out uh native bees. Brochures will explain uh how mosquito spray mosquito spraying can kill all bees and other beneficial insects as well as a uh as well as other
e ecosystem problems. The primary ingredient in most mosquito spree sprays is a synthetic nerve toxin loosely related to critics moms and uh misleading uh misleadingly promoted as
natural. The EPA uh has called synthetic uh this synthetic acutely toxic to bees and other insects. And that's all from the environmental commission tonight, Mayor. That's all for me. Thank you very much. And utilities.
Thank you, Mayor Council. Welcome members of the community. It's nice to see you all here. Hopefully, you get some good information out of us. My report's not as exciting as some of the other reports, but I'll go ahead and see what we can tell you about. So, from the water department, uh, a few things that
they have done around town. They're always very busy. They've isolated and capped off a 4-inch line on East Street that had previously fed the homes on East Street and second private line on Howard Street. Two new hydrants were installed, one on Rose Avenue and Pine
Avenue, Midway valves for better system control and some improvements as well as additional fire protections. There was a hydrant hit by a truck off of Main Street which was repaired the same day. The Dwells continue and we're updating
the chlorine sensors. A curve box and valve repairs continue and a new is going to be installed with the Midway valve on Beach Avenue next week. Uh in anticipation of rainy weather that's coming, the burough staff will be clearing basins and storm drains to
reduce flooding conditions, residents are reminded not to put leaves at the curb and to keep the drains near their homes clear of debris. The DPW will not start leaf collection until October 2nd range 14. October 14th, sorry. Thank
you, sir. Uh lastly, uh Dubberry Associates is completing their work modeling the burough's utility infrastructure. This work product will be invaluable to evaluate proposed future residential and commercial projects throughout the town. From the
electric utility, um they're always out and about. Tremendous asset to the burrow. On September 6th, there was a standby call to 57 Samson for low hanging wires across the street. September 13th, standby was called to
Maple Avenue and Hillside Avenue for a power outage. Uh the 14th, standby was called to 74 Glenn for half power to a residence. Uh standby went out on 918 to remove a large hornets nest hanging on some low
wires on Walnut Street by the school. Standby was called out to 61 Sherwood Avenue for partial power loss. The electric department continues to respond to calls. We're completing more markouts for new construction street light repairs. We have a new bucket truck that
uh entered into the electric utilities use uh last month and the old bucket truck has been repurposed and turned over to the DPW at the MRC. For those of you who have not visited there, I encourage you to go take a look at the solar carport that we
have installed which is now up running and generating. Uh the carport is uh has been fully constructed and is currently producing 75 to 90 kilowatts per hour. Energy of which is now being distributed
back into the electric grid. Production began on 94. There was a few additional maintenance uh projects that were required to optimize and balance the system. The Madison Electric Utility played an integral part in the carport installation as they took on the
responsibility of running wires from the transformers in the back corner of the MRC to the disconnect switch at the fieldhouse. Along with providing key insights to our consultants, the utility helped reduce the total cost of the project by doing some of the groundwork
in house. Some outstanding items that the team is currently addressing to close out the project is cloud-based network setup to get real-time data from the solar panels which will help with monitoring the burrow's energy production from the carport as well as troubleshooting faults monitoring and
troubleshooting the reconfigured stringing arrangements to the inverters by the cloud to ensure optimal performance and make sure that we have turtle friendly lighting troubleshooting maintenance. So in conclusion the MRC has been a success and has even helped
in the reduction of the heat island effect by providing shade to the area underneath it for a sign significantly cooler feel for the parkers there. The energy produced from the carport will be an asset to the burough for years to come. Thank you, mayor.
Very much. And with community affairs and health, Mr. Forte. Uh thank you, mayor. uh from the health department. Uh Amy Lewis, health educator, was awarded counselor of the year by the Lindseay Meyer Teen Institute. The board of health is working uh to develop a health and all
policies approach to municipal planning. And September is National Suicide Prevention Month. This year's theme is start the conversation, be the difference. Suicide is one of the country's leading causes of preventable death. 988 Lifeline has counselors
available 247 via text, call or chat. 988 is the number. The health department continues to approve food vendors who will be participating in bottle hill day. That's all I have. Mayor very much. Mayor, I didn't Do you want me to say
the DDC report or um we can part of your report? We'll go back. Yes. Sorry about that. I was just waiting my turn. Uh from the DDC, the next meeting of the downtown development commission will be held on October 16th at 7:15
p.m. in the second floor committee room. the public is encouraged and invited to attend. Uh please, for those of you residents who don't know, we have a Madison Farm and Artisan Market every Saturday. We'll be running through December 13th between 9:00 a.m. and 2
p.m. in the Ambulance Corps uh Train Station parking lot. Please shop there. There's great selection of products. Live music is featured every week. And there's still room for some vendors. If they have any interest, they should contact the DDC at rosnet.org.
Uh we already heard about Bottle Hill Day being celebrated on October 4th. Is it going to be a Madison car show? It will be celebrating its 30th year held in conjunction with Bottle Hill Day. Uh the Chamber of Commerce invites you to
comedy night featuring Doug Karf, Monty Mason, and Matt Dolan. Friday, October 10th. It's open to all. It's a BYOB and BYO food tickets on. Sorry, we don't know where to go get food if anybody wants to go around the corner. The
tavern business will decorate scarecrows. Businesses will be decorating scarecrows which will be on display on Waverly Place between October 16th and 31st for the Halloween season. The Halloween parade and magic show will be held Saturday, October 25th. Saturday,
November 1st, the Madison A Area Chamber and Madison DDC will host the second annual Rose City Dog Day and Parade. Please visit madison newwe jerseyber.org for more information. Last thing is on Friday, September 26th,
which is this week, 7:30 p.m. the film society of summit rifen stall is a discussion that will follow the documentary film at the Madison Community Arts Center. Thank you, mayor, very much. All right. Now, we'll move on to communications and petitions.
Yes, mayor. Mayor and council received several emails regarding the um burrow's daily flag status policy. Emails were received from resident Kathy
Daly, Lorie Mosen, Jenny and Nick Mangle, Alan and Allison Spatola, Michelle Goodwin, uh Claudine Herowat, Thomas Hahan, Dana Barry Lloyd, Judy
Honan, uh David Stey, Chris Shore, Dany Henraan, Stuart Seiden Stricker, Scott Forest, Donna Connley, Denise Katz, Joseph Diorino, and Mary T.
Herald. Much this is our first of two invitations for public comment. This one is limited to our agenda discussion, which is the climate action committee report and our resolutions, which will be part of the uh consent agenda. If you wish to
comment on any other topic, there will be another uh comment period later in the meeting. So again, um we have the climate action committee report you may comment on and these are the resolutions that you may comment on. Resolution 260 is funding agreement with the county of
Mars for shared course costs on the Green Village Road Woodland Road traffic signal, which I understand is the oldest one that um in use right now in town that has not been replaced. Resolution 261 is authorizing
um competitive contracting for retaining a vendor to perform annual control uh animal control services authorizing RFP. Resolution 262 is awarding contract to Dan Sways and Sun for striping work under Mars County Cooperative and this
is increasing the award amount from 60,000 to 90,000 for additional striping work. Uh resolution 263 is approving 5K run fund walk for Saturday, November 22nd, sponsored by Tory J. Sabatini School. Resolution 264, the authorizing
the purchase of equipment and installation of components for radio equipment at Department of Public Works through the Hunter County Cooperative Pricing uh structure funded through ordinance 33 and not to exceed $34,913.
Resolution 265 is opposing the proposed judicial consent order for 3M company in the matter of NJD versus DuPont and this is related to the PAS contamination. This would be um
limiting towns like Madison for getting funding to uh treat our own water. Uh resolution 266 is approving the second annual Rose City Dog Day and Parade sponsored the Madison Chamber. We just heard about that on the report on
November 1st. Uh resolution 268 is authorizing renewal of membership of the Mars County uh Municipal Joint Insurance Fund. Resolution 267 is authorized an agreement between the Burough of Madison Police Department and the Mars County Sheriff's Office to participate in the Mars County First
Amendment Support Team called FAST. And this is to support um um public safety during crowd control, large gather gatherings and and such. Resolution 269 authorizing a Christmas tree sale at Dodge Field from November
22nd to December 30th by the Madison Rotary Club. Uh resolution 270 is appointing James Savage to position of Burough Engineer, annual salary of $165,000. Resolution 271 is awarding uh
professional services contract property revaluation appraisal system incorporated. You heard that uh about that and uh council president Erlick's report. Resolution 272 is execution of collective bargaining agreement with uh Teamsters Local Union 469. This is u for
the contract period January 1, 2026 through 2029. This is pending their approval. Resolution 273 is authorizing special events permit to allow use of Summer Hill Park by Boy Scouts of America Patriot Pack 124 on October 11th
through 12th. Resolution 274 is the appropriation for the uh reevaluation emergency appropriation for the revaluation uh process which you heard already in the report. And resolution 275 um connected to the comments I made in
the beginning is authorizing an amended lease agreement to the Madison Community Pool Corporation. This will authorize uh the um support of $225,000 to cover their uh any outstanding
payroll obligations which will be u amended in a payback through uh their lease. So, those are the uh resolutions you may comment on or the one agenda item. If you wish to comment on those, you step up to lect turn. State your name and address. State the item you're
going to comment on. Try to keep your comments at three minutes, but we give you a one minute grace period. And uh then cut you off at four minutes. And please write the same on the on the clipboard there. Uh how you doing? Uh Peter Osberg, 7
Long View A Madison. Um I'm here as a very concerned citizen uh regarding the pool. Um I've had issues with the pool and the management for quite a while. I have made that clear uh to the town. Um
but obviously uh the most recent uh issues have sort of been the breaking point. Um and the pool and its board has completely lost the trust of this community. Um, and I think it's great that the town is stepping up and paying
uh for employees, but I think it is very clear that the town needs to take more drastic steps. Um, and uh, a change in the board is required. Um, or else I don't really see how uh, a community
pool at Madison can continue uh, under this lack of transparency. Um, there was $839,000 in the in the pool's bank account at the end of 2017. Where did that go? Um,
$500,000 of PPP loans that were not announced or um and in fact, you know, they called for, you know, pain and suffering because of COVID and yet they basically got an entire year's worth of
salaries uh loaned and paid back. um and forgiven. Sorry. Um this is it. This is it. This can't continue. Um and I think uh as taxpayers, we need to be cognizant
of potential liabilities, legal, tax, etc. um of what is happening at the pool and it can't continue. And I urge the council uh and the town to use whatever power you have, which I know is limited based on lease. Um to use whatever power
you have to protect this important resource for the community and make sure it is handled in an ethically and transparent way. Um because otherwise it doesn't exist. It can't exist. Who's going to join the pool next year? Who's going to who's going to be employ
next year? It needs a complete overhaul. That's it. Thank you very much, Peter. [Applause] Appreciate the applause. Well, we do request that we hold applause at all times because sometimes people don't get
applause and then they feel feel hurt. Hi, my name is Paul Tupia, a 15-year uh Madison resident. I live on 11 Ashlin Road. Um, I just wanted to echo Peter's sentiment uh with regard to the pool. Um, I have tried desperately to get the
attention of the board to address glaring issues that have been taking place. Um, there were a lot of things that I was going to highlight that Peter touched on, so I won't repeat myself, but I do want to emphasize that there w seemed to be a lot of impropriy that
took place throughout the year um or throughout the season um at the pool. Uh payroll was um was spotty. My son, who's here with some of his fellow lifeguards, um was cheated out of 15 and a half hours in the month of July. um we were
lied to and told that uh there was an issue with payroll when all along it just seemed that the payroll administrator was um fudging the the numbers within ADP. Um additionally, they came up with stories
in terms of why these kids haven't been paid for the last two weeks. uh they they told us there was money in the bank account, but the fact of the matter is if the burrow is getting involved here, there's no money. So again, to Peter's point, where did all the money go? Um
you know, there's people point to the fact that people who were in charge uh had relatives and friends who were in choice positions uh with inflated salaries or inflated uh hours. Um, these are all very concerning
things that I feel need to be investigated. And additionally, on top of that, if the bureau is going to get involved, I think transparency is in order in terms of the financials. Why form 990s haven't been filed for the
last 5 years. Um, and ensuring that this takes place going forward because again to Peter's point, we cannot continue to exist like this. Thank you very much. Did you write your name on the clipboard? Anyone else wishing to be heard on items
our agenda? Yeah, Debbie, come on up. Good evening. I'm Deborah Fenny. I am no longer a resident of Madison, but I live very nearby and have been a member of the Madison community pool consistently since it began in 1968 despite being an
out oftowner because even though you're out of town, we do need your address. So I will put it down not to worry. I said 88 Constitution Way convent Station. Thank you. I'm very disappointed that
it's taken this long for the bureau to realize that something has been wrong at the pool because in 2020 during CO I questioned the appearance of a group that was renting the pool because of health reasons and I was
thrown out of the pool for two weeks. Since that time, I have noticed numerous, mostly seniors and people who have noticed something fishy also being thrown out of the pool. I've noticed
bullying of both members and staff. I have also noticed odd people with no title, especially this summer, no staff designation, adults. They were not lifeguards.
None of us knew who they were. Numerous lifeguards around that were really not being treated as staff and they were also not well trained. Um I don't have any documented evidence
because every time I would try to question something I would have to be worried about being threatened. I will say that it seems that this nonprofit entity which was formed for the purpose of recreation and enjoyment
sees itself as a business. It says so on its own website. It is not a business. It is a nonprofit which has failed to file the documents it needs to, which has failed to be transparent, and which has failed in the mission of
allowing the citizens of Madison and the surrounding area to use and enjoy. Most recently, this summer, there was very upsetting, disturbing, loud music being played every day. I tried to approach
the pool staff on behalf of seniors. I was told not to complain. Another senior complained and was thrown out of the pool. This is no way to treat a community. This is no way to treat
anyone and it's a wonderful facility with lots of potential. I hope that we can find another way to preserve it, protect it, and realize that its mission as a nonprofit
is for the use and enjoyment of people in the community. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to be heard? Please step forward. Hi, Claire Finnegan, 5 Howard Street, Madison. I'm also a member of the pool and I echo the comments that went before
me about concern about the transparency from the pool board. And although I appreciate that the town has stepped up to pay the lifeguards who did an excellent job this summer, I do not think that the solution can be the town
to bail out this nonprofit that has been completely untransparent to its members. um and has exhibited gross financial mismanagement. There needs to be audited financial
statements. There needs to be open books for people to find out what happened to the money. Thank you very much. Anyone else wishing to be heard? Please. No. Sorry, but appreciate it. You can
Anyone else wishing to be heard? I'm Carl Hes from 198 Park Avenue. Back in the day, a former manager, assistant manager, and many trustee of the Madison Community Pool. Uh you've heard all the complaints tonight. I know you had a
meeting earlier with the trustees. I hope they were all in attendance. Uh that's one of the big questions that people have. Who are the trustees? Do they ever come to the pool? Uh but my main concern is that the if the town is
involved, keep it as transparent as possible. Uh keep all the information out to the members of the pool. And if you have any way to assure the pool membership that the by the bylaws the annual open meeting of the pool trustees
and pool members is reinstated or carried on again this year. Uh there's been a massive lack of communication. Uh I know there's concern on finances which is obvious and I think like I said that the involvement of the bureau at this
point is is necessary. I hate to put it that way, but when the pool started in 19 69 and uh I've been a member, my family's been a member since then. There was never a problem or issues like this. The
original member of the original trustees were always at the pool. We used to call it trustees row. If any of you had been to the pool at that time, they were on the east side of the pool. Anywhere from 5 to 10 or 12 trustees would always be
there. they were involved with the pool. U so again I applaud the the town council getting involved. I hope it can be a handsoff position but uh please keep it open. Please keep it uh public.
I appreciate it. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to heard? Please step forward. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting just to uh reinforce some of the comments I made at the beginning about the uh pool. Um, we do view
uh the step we're taking tonight as a very key step to make sure that those as as we said watched your children, watched you swim, make made sure everything was running smoothly, that they get paid. So, that's be being taken care of. Uh, we're committed to working
with the op uh the uh shore up the operations and governance of of the pool operations. some of the points that were already brought up. The bottom line is and I' I've been a member um I have to admit that as a child I was dragged to the Chattam Fishing Game. So I didn't
start until I was a adult. Had to take the train to get to swim practice, but that's another story. But uh I've been a member for decades. This is the first year I was not in the pool because of poorly timed uh uh surgery. But it is a treasure to Madison
and it must continue. it must continue as a strong operation and uh we are committed to make sure that happens. So, thank you for sharing. Um if you have other thoughts, please send them our way and um there will be more to come. Thank
you for those comments. We now move on to our agenda discussions, climate action committee report. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to uh present from my seat here if you all don't mind. Uh Michael will show the report. So, I'm I'm pleased to present the 2025
climate action annual report on behalf of the climate action committee. Several members of the committee are here tonight. I thank them for their hard work on this report and for joining us here. Next slide. So this report describes Madison's
progress in 2024 and 2025 year to date in two main categories. The climate goals that were adopted by the bureau in February 2023 as well as the actions that are adopted each year by the governing body to help us reach those goals. So these are
actions to help us cut our carbon pollution, increase our resiliency as the climate changes, and achieve the goals adopted by the bureau. I want to be sure that everyone's clear. This is a report of metrics and progress. There's no action requested tonight. But based on these findings,
the climate action committee is developing some proposed 2026 climate action recommendations for the governing body to consider. And we look forward to returning later in the year to present some suggestions and recommendations for the governing body to uh endorse or
adopt as we look to continue progress towards these goals. Next slide. So tonight's report is like a 10page highle summary that's extracted from what is like a 50page uh report. It is a
lot of data. It has a lot of metrics. Uh even the short form version which is condensed for a presentation has a lot of stats and numbers. So rather than go through all the items, I've highlighted a couple to call out for your attention. Somewhere where we're making good
progress, some where there's uh room to grow. So I'm just going to uh give you some highlights from which this report itself, this presentation is itself a highlights report. So we'll start with the second row. Madison has a goal to
electrify our municipal fleet. Can we see about see if we can the noise outside? It's tough to concentrate. We can't we can't close the door, but uh see if we can move the conversation. Uh oh, there we go. Okay. Thanks, Jim. Okay. One of the burough's goals is to
electrify our municipal fleet. So the goal is that by 2025, 25% of the non-emergency light duty municipal vehicle mileage will be from plug-in electric vehicles. And the goal is to reach 100% of that fleet mileage
by 2035. So how are we doing? You can see in the summary that year-over-year we do better and better. Uh the last reporting year it was 18%. So we're getting close to that 2025 goal. We're not quite there yet, but the good news is that uh assuming we complete the
purchase of the EV shuttle bus to replace the aging senior shuttle, we will meet our 25% goal for PEV mileage in 2026. So, we appreciate that the bureau has committed to finalizing this
purchase once the um all the the terms have been worked out for this senior shuttle. Uh and it should put us over the top for our 25% uh PEV mileage. On the flip side, if you look at the second row from the bottom, we're not doing so well on the goal to accelerate
residential solar installations. The burrow's adopted goal is that by 2050, we're talking long-term, 1,000 Madison residences will have rooftop solar generation. In 2024, we count only 122
residential systems on our rooftops. The annual rate has dropped to five per year, which is a third of the past year's rate. and we're going in the wrong direction on this one. So, here's an area where we see a clear need to make more progress. Uh, in light of
that, I want to mention that members of the climate action committee and some other volunteers have planned uh an outreach program called Solar Madison. It'll be held on October 20th at 7:30 p.m. at the Madison Community Arts Center. The idea is that Madison residents with rooftop solar will be on
hand to provide perspective and discuss their experience and the benefits uh with residents who are considering installing solar on their roofs. So, this is the kind of like hands-on volunteerism that the climate action committee is recommending and taking on to try to boost our progress in some of
these areas where we are falling behind our goals. The last one on this page is the goal is to increase the solar power generated in Madison from non-residential sources. So, municipal, school, commercial solar assets. We hope to generate 5% of our
electricity demand by 2050 from these types of larger scale PV photovoltaic installations. We can't report any progress on schools or commercial buildings, but we are so excited that the MRC solar carport is online. It was completed this summer. Uh, as um, Councilman Harel Pudus
mentioned, it was energized on September 4th. It'll generate 1.7% of our peak demand on those hot sunny days and 6% of burrowwide consumption every year. So, this is a great first step and it encourages us to um, recommend the that the bureau seek to install the next
solar solar carport based on lessons learned. Next slide. I'll just pick up one more from this one. the middle row. Maintain high level of grid reliability and stay ahead of growing infrastructure demands. We know that our Madison electric utility is one
of the gems of our utility infrastructure here in Madison. We're so proud of the high level of service and reliability that we offer to residents and businesses. But we know as demand increases for electricity, we need to maintain that high level of reliability and stay ahead of growing demands as we
have more electrification, more EVs in town. So one of the strong recommendations that the committee has been pursuing is to map and track our existing grid infrastructure and use that information to predict future demand. So we have a great first step in place this year. uh burough staff has
begun adding electric utility grid information to our existing infrastructure map that we have in a GIS map that so far up until now contained primarily water and sewer infrastructure where now uh the bureau is going to benefit from adding electric grid utility information as well. It'll be a
long-term project, but we made great strides this year. I want to give a shout out to Ryan Fury in the uh engineering department who's been focused on this project with the support of Vince Patty and the electric uh field crews as well. Next slide.
In addition to energy goals, the climate action plan also includes resiliency goals. These are goals that help Madison adapt to the changing climate. Uh on this page, I'll highlight one of our um great successes this year. As we all know, we cut the ribbon on a 44 unit
allaf affordable housing project on Walnut Street and Community Place. This is a passive house project which provides lower energy bills for uh low-inccome residents. It has on-site solar to help reduce the um those electric bills for the for the residents
in each apartment. And it has a healthy indoor uh air quality because of well sealed, well ventilated apartments. It's got all these great features because the burough was committed to providing a passive house standard which is very efficient and very healthy. And this
really helps us uh to show that we are striving to meet um our goals for health equity in the burough. Next slide. So the first part was talking about how we're meeting those long-term goals. You know, they have metrics that run out to
2035, 2050. These are really long plans uh that we have committed to making incremental progress on every year. Sometimes it's hard to see that that progress year-over-year because they run out, you know, decades. So for comparison, we've also added actions.
These are adopted climate actions that the governing body along with Burough administration has endorsed every year as steps that we can take to help bend the curve uh to meet those goals. So this year we're showing a little snapshot with progress rating. How are we doing on these actions that were
adopted in 2023, 2024, and 2025? Um, we have a few here that are completed. I added a little tag that says completed to each of those. So, we can celebrate those and we'll take them off the list with a check mark, so we won't report on those again. Um, on the other hand, we have some where we're lagging behind. For instance, adopt a
water conservation ordinance. This was an action that the governing body endorsed in 2023 and we have been slow to act on this. Uh, as a governing body, as an administration, we did adjust water rates. Uh the idea was that if our highest water consuming users were
paying more for their high level of consumption, this would start to curb water use. Uh I look forward uh hopefully next year we can get a report on how that's going. 12 months out, we can see if those rates have helped to uh discourage excessive water use. But if not, I think we need to turn our
attention back to this and talk about what it would mean for the bureau to take the next step and require especially high users of water to be more conservative in their approach. Next slide. Here's one where um we are on the right
track because of the great success uh with some bumps along the way uh which we we got through with a um the solar carport at the recreation and conservation complex. Um we now have a a great operational uh on-site generation
here in Madison that is free energy every day that's feeding back into our grid. We learned a lot as a burrow and uh the engineering department, Jim Bernett, who took this on as a project that most CFOs would never have to take on. Thank you, Jim, for seeing it
through. And based on those lessons learned, um the burrow is looking next at where the second option for a solar carport could be installed. This idea of installing it at the community pool parking lot was
first raised. It has to be at least two years ago. And the administration is now uh taking the next steps, the geotech investigations to see what the soil looks like, the shade studies uh to see how we can generate um solar energy
without affecting the tree canopy, the existing trees. Those have all been done and we want to encourage the bureau um to continue um developing plans and getting bid documents ready as soon as possible to see if we can possibly ek out some advantage of the sunsetting uh
federal tax credit for this second carport. We gave this one four green circles because the bureau is acting quickly to to um prepare and present a concept to the governing body and the public um hopefully later this fall.
Next slide. This is a snapshot of the money that Greening Madison uh has saved our bureau. This is just a selection of grants that various green team uh committees and boards have received in the past couple years. So between the climate action committee, sustainable
Madison shade tree and friends of Madison shade tree and the EC, the environmental commission, 5,000 $526,700 worth of grants um have flowed to the burrow in order to pursue these energy and resiliency um efforts and actions.
So you can see there's money to be had out there and with uh dedicated administration and volunteers pursuing these grants, we can bring it back to Madison. Next slide. Okay, so this is where I trimmed 40
pages out of the report. You can Thank you. The report contains um metrics for each of these objectives. You can see how we're doing in every category. When this report, this presentation goes live on Rose, there'll be a live link here to
see the full length report where you can see how we're doing. Um, but I'm going to spare you all the details other than the the ones I highlighted previously. And on the next slide, I'll just give you the sort of high level findings. This is very similar to what we reported
last year. Madison is taking steps towards our climate goals. The work is in progress. We've made some gains, but we have a long way to go. The whole idea of starting now and working on this over the next 25 years is that we can get it done by 2025 if we
make steady progress every year. We can't wait and then panic and try to change the way we do business and the way we live uh in one year when when things have become dire. I just want to stress something that we know but it's hard to think about.
Climate damage and suffering exist on a continuum. Every degree of warming that we save, every bit of resiliency that we build in to the way our infrastructure and our community works will save us pain and suffering. The faster we act,
the better. So, we do need to ramp up the rate of progress here in Madison at the state level. The federal level is looking a little bleak right now, but it's all the more important that states and municipalities take the lead during this time of indifference or threats,
frankly, from the federal government to climate progress. So, uh, like I said, the climate action committee is going to look forward to coming back later in the year based on the findings where we're making progress, where we're slowing down, and make some recommendations for the governing body to consider, new actions
or continued actions that we can take to meet these goals. The next slide has a couple of items uh kind of a preview of the things that that are in the mix right now. Um these are ideas that the committee has to talk
through with the burough administration and the governing body to see which of these are most appealing, which would have the greatest return on investment, which are achievable, which are more long-term. Um I highlighted one here which is real lowhanging fruit. We do need to identify two municipal buildings
in our burough portfolio that are in need of future a track replacement because the systems are becoming obsolete or coming to the end of their life. We need to identify what the two most likely buildings are that are going to need new air conditioning, new heating and retain a consultant to develop some concept designs with cost
estimates to include heat pump options so that we can reduce our reliance on gas which is very costly to the bureau. So, we do have a strategic asset list of buildings in the burough's portfolio. We need it hasn't been updated in about 10
years and then the time has come to figure out which these candidate buildings are so we can make proactive plans and not wait till we have a catastrophic failure. This we did a great job on this this past year uh with planning for the Heartley Dodge East Wing renovation, east wing renovation as
well as the Heler Center retrofit. uh we can repeat that success with additional buildings in our municipal portfolio. And the next slide has a goal or an action I should say for resiliency. Uh there is growing um uh enthusiasm and
commitment to pursuing a gas leaf blower ban uh perhaps a partial ban during the offse uh and then growing it um to a year round ban. I know that there's a petition that is being circulated among residents and businesses to uh for the
bureau to pursue this. We can follow the lead of what other towns are doing. We know the state is looking at this as well. But this is a quality of life issue. This is a pollution issue. It's a health issue especially for the landscapers who use this dirty equipment which is highly polluting and frankly is
a nuisance for everyone in Madison. So the idea would be to transition to electric um lawn equipment. Uh We're setting a great example with the $10,000 grant that was received for the bureau to replace gas equipment at the DPW so
we can start um proof of concept uh right here in town with our own equipment. Okay. So I gave you um very high level overview. I'll be very happy to answer any questions um from the governing body. I want to thank again the climate
action committee volunteers who spent a lot of time analyzing uh our work and capturing it in the full length report uh for their time and their commitment to this work. And then I'll mention uh that the last two slides are some references. We do have a snapshot um of
Madison's 80 by 50 goal, how we're doing. You can see it here. This is a very informationheavy graph that I won't dig into but you can see we are not making huge gains right now. And then the next slide after this is references. We have been doing this
for four years now. Uh 2022 through 2025 report captures quite a span of research recommendations and endorsements by the governing body. So you can click back here and see how the work has evolved over the last few years as well as the
state level um guidance that the Madison goals um are drawn from. So I'll pause there and happy to answer any questions. A great report and um all the great work by you and the the committee and as you stated Madison is not wavering from our
commitment to uh climate action. uh we're not just taking care of our four square miles, we're we're setting an example for the state and others. So, thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Eric, Rachel, thanks to you and all the volunteers for putting this together. I think one of the things, you know, never
mind all the formal actions and and the the goals that we've adopted. But I think, you know, one of the things that is very interesting to me is just how the work of this group and the other green committees in Madison has sort of
changed the vernacular. when we were at um National Night Out in August, both uh Chief Misha and Chief Wickman kind of pulled me to the side and said, you know, this this truck over here and this car over here, you know, those aren't
real patrol or real real emergency. Like, we could we could make those EVs and you know, that would be maybe better than a patrol vehicle or something like that. Um, so, you know, I think just it's a testament that everybody's sort of thinking this way in a way that um,
you know, that's not necessarily directly tied to a goal that we have to do in the next three days, but it's just top of mind for everyone in the burrow. Um, and hopefully that education is also kind of leaking out by osmosis to our
residents as well. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Right. Thank you. And just a reminder again, you can dive in a little bit more online and get more details. So, all the links are right there. Thank you for the work
and report. We'll now move on to ordinance for hearing. Will the clerk please read the statement? Yes. The ordinances scheduled for hearing were introduced by title and passed on first reading at the regular meeting of the council held on September the 8th, 2025 were posted and filed
according to law and copies were made available to the general public requesting same. I call ordinances for second reading. Ask the clerk to read sudden or ordinances by title. Ordinance 39-2025. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison amending chapter 190 of the Bur Madison
Burough code entitled water to authorize the revision of the Bureau of Madison's water rates and service fees. I open the hearing on ordinance 39. Anyone wish to comment on this ordinance, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing.
Mayor, I move ordinance 392025. Second. Any council discussion? Just a note, mayor, as as I think we noted when we did the introduction, this is largely administrative. When we adjusted the minimums for some of the uh pipe sizes,
the service sizes going in earlier this year. We didn't include 1 in, one and a half inch, and 2 in uh services. So, this just lowers um the the the minimum fee per quarter. Um, so you pay for the water you use and not just some
arbitrary number in the code. A way encourages uh conservation because if you're paying more, you might want to say I'm going to just I might as well use my whole minimum, right? Push it right up to the minimum. So any other comments?
Roll call vote, please. Mr. Erlick, yes. Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harold Pudut, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. I declare ordinance 39-20225 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof of newspaper and follow the ordinance
accordance with the law. Ordinance 40-2025 ordinance of the bureau of Madison appropriating $26,000 from the general capital improvement fund for the purchase of new automated license plate reader computer hardware installation for the parking enforcement vehicle.
I open hearing on ordinance 40. Anyone wish to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 40-2025. Second. Any council discussion. We'll call vote, please. Mr. Erlick, yes.
Mr. Landrean, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pudis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. I declare ordinance 40-2025 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof newspaper and file the ordinance accordance with the
law. Ordinance 41-2025. Ordinance of the burrow of Madison amending chapter 98 of the burough code entitled filming to regulate commercial filming in the burrow of Madison. I open hearing on ordinance 41. Anyone wishing to comment, please step forward.
Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 41 2025. Second. Any council discussion? Just a update of the current regulations. I think puts us more in line with um the uh film ready uh
regulations. Um roll call vote, please. Mr. Eric, yes. Mr. Landan, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harold Pis, yes. Mr. For Yes. I declare ordinance 41-2025 adopt and
finally pass and ask the clerk to publish notice there of newspaper and finally ordinance with accordance to the law. We have now moved on to our second of invitations for discussion. This is when you make comment on any topic. Same regulations or same guidelines apply. Uh
step up electron, state your name and address. Write the same on the clipboard. Try to keep your comments to three minutes but we give you that one minute grace period. I say welcome. Thank you Mayor. Good evening. I'm speaking first as a
board member of Friends of the Dream. First, state your name and address. Oh, did I not say that? Well, you said welcome, Kathy. I I did. Yeah. Kathleen Kaka Valley, 82 Central Avenue. Speaking first as a board member of the Friends of the Drew Forest. It's a new
school year both at Madison's K through2 schools and at Drew University. Recently, I had conversations with a couple of Drew professors, and it looks to be a meaningful fall for those taking environmentally oriented classes. First,
Professor Sandra Lavinia, who is also associated with the Great Swamp Watershed Association, indicated that in the first week of classes, she had already been in the forest with her restoration ecology class. Sandra says, "We were looking at assessing the value
of the forest as it stands." and what work has been done. We also looked at the impacts of climate change and disease and how that will change the forest moving forward. The areas that are beach dominated are already opening up due to the beach leaf disease and
other trees were definitely showing signs of drought stress. I will be bringing my students back into the forest throughout the semester to look at different restoration strategies. She added that many students mentioned using the area for recreation
and relaxation to help with stress relief. Second, Professor Hanyan, who is teaching classes formerly formerly taught by Lisa Jordan, had some exciting news. Her environment society sib sustainability class is already working
on removing invasives in parts of the campus and may be able to fit in some work in the forest. But here's the most exciting part for me, and I hope she and the students can report on this later in the year. Hans says, "I will be taking
students back to the forest in November to do some environmental artwork there. We will be using natural elements to create non-intrusive art installations to promote the connection between people and nature and inspire a sense of
environmental stewardship. I personally love this idea. Now I'm changing horses in midstream. As chair of the sustainable Madison advisory committee, I have learned today that Madison has been reertified silver by
sustainable Jersey with 1,000 points matching last year's record representing 84 actions in 16 categories from energy and food to arts, health, operations, and waste among others. Kudos to our
team of dedicated volunteer committee members, to the initiatives of other green committees such as the environmental commission and shade tree, and to the administration and staff who embrace and recognize the importance of maintaining and enhancing sustainability
in our town as we continue to find ways to adapt to climate change and make our town a more environment environmentally friendly place to live. Thank you. and your work on that and again it's it's a whole lot of work to uh put all the
points together but we are making a difference and that's why we do it. Anyone else wishing to be heard please step forward Rous 28 Bedford Court. Um I'd like to uh comment on bike laws. I don't know if it's possible to increase bike signage
in uh the burrow. Uh there are a number of roads that are useful for longer bike routes that run through the burrow and might require some cooperation with adjacent towns to make sure that they are properly signed. Um the state law
says that four feet of clearance is required. when you're trying to pass a bike. Uh there are places where that's not easy to do and maybe some signage would help with drivers considering the possibilities and exercising due caution.
Also came up with a couple of questions. Due to uh recent presentation at the um art center nearby, the uh dark there was a dark sky presentation. I'm wondering who in the burrow is working on that. Um For example, there is uplighting in
front of the uh town hall. Um, also um I wonder if there's a plan for uh darkening town during bird migration. If you're done with your statements, yeah, because we we don't don't have a back and forth, but yeah, I can answer.
All right. Thank you very much. So um related to to bike path and um Kathy Kakaval who just spoke is a passionate on uh on that and we realize that um we made a major effort probably more than a decade ago uh on markings and I think we
definitely need updating. We will be coming uh to the council pro maybe next meeting, if not the next meeting, the one after it on a uh ebike ordinance to um create some safety around ebikes
because that is getting um in control as I out of control. As I just sat here, I had a popup that a 12-year-old in Paripony rode a scooter on into ongoing traffic. So, it is really out of control. We need to bring that safety level. Part of it is also uh getting the
bicyclists off the sidewalks in our downtown, but recognizing that a 10-year-old that's just uh learning to ride a bicycle on their own probably should be on a bicycle on a sidewalk elsewhere in town until they're comfortable on the road. So, thank you
for their comments on that. Dark sky. Um that that will be handled by the planning board. So, that's already on their radar. Um work the ordinance parks. Mayor, can I make a comment about lighting? I know this is a little bit out of term, but it pertains to the
carport and some special lighting that we specified for the solar carport. Over the years, um, comments have come up about choosing warmer street lights, like a true yellow or amber color street light, um, which is more for healthy,
um, ecology. It it helps um uh our our birds, our pollinators. Um and at night especially, it is um important that we not have bright white lights. So, we made a special effort to specify um wildlife friendly lighting for the
lights that will be installed under the solar carport because the parking lot there is adjacent to a conservation area. So, when those lights are up and running, um it'll be a bit of a pilot case. I or a test case and I invite people to take a look at what true wildlife friendly uh warm amber lighting
looks like. We can decide if it's suitable for other places in town. I think it'll be um a good real life uh precedent that we can check out. And we've it's been called turtle friendly, but it is wildlife friendly. It's far more than just the turtle.
Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Good evening. Uh, Colette Krescus, seven Albright Circle. I just wanted to thank the mayor for your very intelligent, compassionate, and honest um
uh presentation about uh not lowering the flag. I think that was um really important and critical. So, thank you so much. And I want to thank the council for their ongoing um sustainability efforts in saving the Drew forest and
other things in town. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward? Seeing none, I Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, I didn't finish my sentence, so we're okay.
Close one. I am uh uh Adam McGovern. Um, I'm actually at St. John's Avenue in Mount Taber, but I work here in town. Uh, and, uh, you know, since I love this town and I much appreciate, uh, you know, the efforts of the council, I wanted to echo the, uh, previous speaker in thanking
you for your thoughtful, uh, you know, explanation of the, um, of the flag controversy. Uh, you know, I think that, um, uh, grief is a very personal matter. Uh, and I think everyone has the right uh, to exercise it, you know, the ways that they see fit. uh when grief becomes
a compulsory matter of the state, we get into you know uh dictatorship territory and uh especially with a figure like this who is so polarizing uh you know the answer is to meet each other in reason debate uh rather than you know to do anything uh that is um compulsory on
principled public servants who have to not play favorites uh amongst ideologies or people especially with a figure who you know tried to divide people based on you know what they look like where they're from etc. So I think you did the right thing uh in uh you know sticking to your principles. I think you did the
right thing in acknowledging you know the grief that people who do mourn this person have uh as well as you know many other people across the spectrum who we should be uh you know equally honoring. Uh we started this session not only with your thoughtful discourse on this but
you know with um you know proper observance of those we've lost in town and famous people giving them equal value uh uh celebrating the diversity of this community with the Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrating a business that has become a pillar of the
community and wouldn't have existed without being started by an immigrant. So you know that's what this town is really about. That's what this country is really about and we thank you. Anyone else wishing to be heard? Please step forward. Carol Ruiz, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant
Resource Center to Green Village Road, Madison. We are a nonpartisan faith-based organization that advocates for human rights within a nonviolent framework. Our organization supports this body's position on the flying of our United States flag at half staff in
a time of collective mourning. According to the US Department of Veteran Affairs, we fly our flag at half staff when the nation mourns the death of a federal, state, or territorial government official or a member of the judiciary. We also fly our flag at half staff on
Memorial Day as a solemn honor to those who sacrificed their lives in the name of our safety and freedom. In addition to being a member of Wind of the Spirit, I'm also a mental health lawyer. I don't speak for my employer nor my clients, but I can tell you that the veterans I represent in civil commitments, veterans
who suffer PTSD and homelessness, veterans who grieve their fellow combatants they lost in times of war, all hold Memorial Day with great reverence. It is disrespectful to our veterans, to those members of the armed services who gave their lives in battle,
and to the families that grieve them, to fly the US flag at half staff for one divisive podcaster. This podcaster's vitriolic style which he misrepresented as debate, his polariza, his popularization of cruelty, humiliation,
and dehumanization of political opponents, especially college students, is at odds with the humble service and sacrifice of all the dignitaries and veterans for whom we lower our flag. As an advocate for justice, as a mother, and as a member of the bar, I remember
with great grief the 2020 murder of the honorable Judge Estes Salah's son, Daniel Sal Daniel. Um, and Judge Sales is the first Hispanic woman to serve as a United States magistrate judge and as a United States District Judge in the
District of New Jersey. Her son was killed with a gun in vengeance for Judge Sales's service to our state. Flags were not flown at half staff in New Jersey, nor nationally in response to this tragedy. Flying the flag at half staff
for a podcaster that spewed ragebaiting racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, and misogyny while not doing so for all the others in the public eye uh lost to gun violence is disrespectful to every person in our country who has lost a
loved one to gun violence. We at Wind of the Spirit advocate for every government body to honor the inherent dignity of every human being. Every life lost to gun violence is a tragedy. The murder of this podcaster is a tragedy. Those who
loved him and followed him are in grief and we honor their right to grieve. As such, we deeply appreciate this body naming this tragedy and the many, many, many tragedies as a result of gun violence that we suffer daily in our country. Thank you for your leadership,
Madison Mayor and Madison Council. Anyone else wishing to be heard, please step forward. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting and we now move on to consent agenda resolutions. Will the clerk please we actually just to note that we
have no ordinances to introduce so we are going past that and now we go on to consent agenda resolutions and the clerk will 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 move resolution R260-2025
through R275-2025. Second. Any council discussion or any of that need to be pulled separately? Tom. So, mayor, I have a question. I don't know if Greg can help us about um resolution 264205.
Uh we're purchasing radio equipment for the DPW. I recall, I don't know if I was on council, I might have been, that we received a grant during COVID, a P maybe a PPP grant or whatever it was referred
to as for upgrading our entire burough radio communication system. We got the schools involved. They b they purchased their own version uh that now the police and firemen can talk to any department or facility in
the burough. So, what is this? Is this something different just specific for the DPW? Uh, you remember, right? Didn't we buy a whole new $100,000, $180,000? I wish it was that le that little. No, it was a multi a lot of money. Yeah, I remember.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a trunked radio system. Yeah. Uh, this is just an enhancement for DPW. That's all. Okay. Still using the same system. Yeah, they're using the same system. So during an emergency, police fire, DPW, and the schools, yeah,
can interact with each other. So if there's an active shooter at a school setting, we actually can communicate directly with them. And the same way a weather emergency, all the unlike 911 when first responders couldn't communicate with each others. Our our entire workforce couldn't communicate with each other.
Yeah, I remember it was very comprehensive. Okay. Thanks, Ray. Any other comments or questions? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Erlick. Yes, Mr. Mr. Landeran. Yes. Mr. Range. Yes. Mr. Harland Pudis. Yes. Mr. Forte. Yes.
Just an additional clarification on that. It it includes a base station for DPW. So, which didn't have before. So, we had the radios but not necessarily DPW base station. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, there is no unfinished business. So, we move on to approval of vouchers. Would the clerk
please read the voucher totals? Yes. From the current fund, 4,682,85527. From the general capital fund, $34,338.85 from the electric operating fund, $232,476.68 from the electric capital fund, $640.
Even from the water operating fund, $34,631.78 from the water capital fund $13,967.50 and from the trust $20,635.7. The total is 5,19,545.15. May I move approval of the vouchers? Second. Any discussion, questions? Roll
call vote, please. Miss Herurlic. Yes. Mr. Landeran. Yes. Mr. Range. Yes. Mr. Harland Pudis. Yes. Mr. Forte. Yes. There is no new business. I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. Mayor, I move to adjourn. In favor? die. Thank