##VIDEO ID:867TNJ3Xn18## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e we'll get started in a minute sorry to keep you all waiting we had business do Mr where you let us know when you're ready sh you're ready all right never go me pursuant to section five chapter 231 Public Law 1975 this is to State for the record that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the public by posting and maintaining the annual notice of regular meetings on the bulletin board of the municipal building by ing the annual notice of regular meetings for 2024 to the news record and Star Ledger in December of 2023 and by filing said notice in the office of the Township Clerk miss kpe here Mr daffis present s DeLuca here Sangle here Adams here please rise oh sorry go ahead I forgot whereas chapter 231 Public Law 1975 commonly known as the open public meetings act requires that all meetings public bodies be open to the public and whereas section 7A provides that the governing body has a discretion to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation of the public at any meeting and whereas it is a desire of the governing body to comply with the provisions of this act and at the same time to conduct this business in an orderly and expeditious manner now therefore be resolved by the township Committee of the township of Maplewood that it does hereby prohibit except as set forth in the formal agenda active participation of the governing body by the public and except as otherwise prescribed by law does limit the public to Observation on the actions and discussions of the governing body at all of its regular and special meetings come Mo second M kpe yes Mr dpis yes Mr DeLuca yes this angle yes may Adams yes thank you please rise for a salute to the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States America and to the rep for it stands one nation God indivisible with liberty and justice why did they move the flag I don't know they repainted oh I see so we didn't have to look at yeah got let us know these things we stood up was like good evening everyone um again apologies for our our tardiness from our um close session um and welcome to the November 18th meeting of the Maplewood Township committee um we're going to have one Proclamation today as you're aware I'm sure for a transgender day of remembrance and awareness week for 2024 then we have one appointment to the historic preservation commission then we will have public comment for agenda items only then we have five ordinances on for final passage then we have one ordinance on for introduction ction and then we will move into reports from departments administrative uh Township attorney and our Deputy Township Clerk this evening then we will have uh reports from elected officials Committee Member Duca Deputy Mayor kpe Committee Member daffis Committee Member Engel and then I go last discussion items we have two for this evening one on the storm water utility draft ordinance and Mr D will lead that discussion as well as the second discussion item Springfield Avenue partnership as leaz on to that board uh public art project for utility boxes then we will have consent agenda another public comment session for any item and then we will adjourn so with that I will turn it over to Mr daffis for a very special proclamations a very special Proclamation indeed mayor and thank you very much and we have such a great crowd to tonight to share this with and hopefully we have some folks online I believe Mr worry um so in light of transgender awareness uh month and week this week and transgender day of remembrance on Wednesday November 20th of this week uh we have a special Proclamation tonight we want to read into the record this is an annual tradition but really really critical this year in light of uh recent events with the election results um there's no question there's no question there's no question however you voted the incoming Administration made it very clear that they will Target our lgbtqia community especially our trans neighbors and Friends specifically targeting our trans youth they've made that very clear and since the election results we're already hearing about this being realized and from our own family our own friends our Progressive friends and some others were hearing that maybe things turned out the way they did because we have taken such a visible unequivocal stance in support of the lgbtqia community especially of our trans neighbors and friends and we are here tonight to say that that is not true we are here tonight to stand inside solidarity with we are here tonight to create a safe space that is inclusive of all especially of our trans friends and neighbors and our youth who are watching us who are depending on us who need us to see them and support them unequivocally and that's what we will do we will not compromise our values yes we will speak to our voters we will understand them we will make policies with their input but we will not compromise our Progressive values we will not let our trans neighbors and Friends be targeted Left Behind be attacked or erased so with that mayor if I may I'm going to go down to this Podium here and I'm going to Vite invite some special guests tonight who went out of their way to help us read this Proclamation and then after we do our Proclamation reading we'll take a few uh photos together if everyone is willing so thank you testing we've really got to get a better mic for this thing maybe this year with this year's budget we'll do that okay so I'm gonna invite some special guests to join me up here in the following order please ammani Hayes ammani welcome please come on up we have Zoe and Ash berovic from Maplewood please come on up or just ash come on up Ash I know you're not shy you don't mind standing right next to ammani here Shannon cuddle I think everyone knows Shannon come on up Shannon JP do we have JP with us JP pedoto perhaps JP is online can we check Mr warry if JP is online all right uh do we have we have Joan Joan howlet please join us Joan thank you for being with us Laura hjj come on up Laura and thank you for making the time and being here in person really appreciate it okay and last but not least we have our great Pastor from um Presbyterian Church here in Maplewood Jessica Dixon welcome okay so um you each have a hard copy with your respective sections highlighted right everyone understood the assignment that's great so um this is how this is going to go we're going to start in the order that I read out we'll start with ammani uh and then we'll go to Ash and then Shannon and uh and then we're going to do let's see we don't have a number four so I'll I'll do number four uh then we'll go to Joan Joan your number five then we'll go to Laura Laura you're uh number six right there and Shannon is comes twice number seven and then our pastor number eight Jessica come again okay okay fantastic great and we ask that you just introduce yourself to the public here tell us um your name what you're comfortable sharing and your affiliation if you have an organizational affiliation okay wonderful let's go let start it off with ammani Hayes evening everyone my name is ammani hay I'm the program manager for project T um which stands for Trans empowerment and action um for um njc in nework New Jersey where it started in 1999 by transgender Advocate Advocate wenderland AI an Smith to honor the memory of Rita Hester trans transgender day of remembrance is when on November 20th we lift up the names of the those um lost due to transphobia aversion hate speech and violence and I'm Ash my PRS are she they I don't have an organization I'm a child whereas whereas according to the Human Rights Campaign we lost at least 27 known transgender nonbinary and gender diverse people this year with 74% being people of color 48% being black transgender women and 63% being killed the gun and uh I'm Shannon cuddle my pronouns are they and them I had the honor of serving on the South Orange mwood Board of Education and was the first elected transgender non- bioner elected official in the state of New Jersey whereas to add insult to the devastation many victims of transphobic hate and violence go unaccounted for due to being misgendered and dead named and those that are known and rep reported on nearly half at 37% are misgendered or damed when reported or unknown and whereas for those unaware deadname someone is to use the name or gender non-conforming person or trans identity that they were given at Birth which they no longer use or identify with and hi I'm uh Joan howlet I'm a resident of Maplewood a parent and a grandparent a grandparent of a transgender young lady and uh sometimes non-binary older um brother that she has uh and uh I'm a proud transgender grandmother whereas speaking specifically to our young people here in Maplewood we are committed now more than ever to ensuring that our community is a welcoming safe space across our schools and communities for all residents including our transgender non-binary and gender diverse Community please know that you matter you are Loved You are not alone and you belong here [Music] and hi everyone my name is Laura hog I'm the owner of Spectrum Health and Wellness uh mental health facility in Montclair New Jersey we specialize working with trans and gender diverse folks and their families my pronouns are she and her whereas we call on communities and on our state legislature to call for equality resistance and support to strengthen and Safeguard the protections that make the Garden State a safe haven for all lgbtq plus persons especially bipo transgender non-binary and gender diverse communities and affirm our Collective commitment to equality across our communities and schools and whereas if anyone ever feels the need to ask why we have pride in June lgbtqia a plus history in October and transgender awareness week and day of Remembrance in November it is to continue to reinforce the contributions the joys and the privilege of those who dared to be their most authentic cell it is because for many not being cisgender not being straight and not fitting into a box can get you killed also while Society has come a long way as shown by regions of our C of our County even municipalities here in the state of New Jersey we still have a long way to go and I'm Reverend Jessica Dixon Ebner the pastor at Prospect Church um was married until August when we lost him to a brain tumor to a trans man and my aunt and other family and beloved people are trans people I am a queer person and I Pastor a church with multiple families and members who are themselves trans and so it's important for us to show up for one another whereas that is why we uplift during trans day of remembrance the names of those lost to trans violence including but not limited to casim Omar vanity Williams Dylan Gurley Camden Ryder Michelle Henry and acknowledge the more than 400 globally this year and many whose disappearances and deaths go unreported their Spirits are alive and well say their names especially on Wednesday they were here they mattered and all transgender non-binary and gender diverse persons deserve to live to old age and experience all that they desire now therefore be it resolved that I Dean daffis Maplewood Township Committee Member maplewood's First lgbtqia out proud elected maplewood's first gay mayor at the time only one in the in the county and among only a handful of lgbtqia plus identified elected officials around the state on behalf of our great men mayor Nancy Adams mayor of the township of Maplewood duby dear hereby proclaim the transgender awareness week is November 13th through 19th and transgender day of remembrance is November 20th in addition I would like to remind all who are listening that our beloved beloved and beautiful diverse Community makes us who we are and it is coming together not only in times of strife but in Celebration that makes us stronger we should honor and seek out experiences beyond our own as the pursuit of equality cannot be a passive act it requires an effort to know and understand others so that we may in turn realize an ideal world into reality thank you all so uh before we take some photos here I'd like to offer my co-organizer this evening Shannon cuddle an opportunity for a few remarks Shannon I know you can pull something El H thank you comman Deus um I just want to uh first uh thank you uh commun man DFAS and also thank mayor Nancy Adams and the maplehood township committee um for your unwavering support for the trans nonbinary and lgbtqia plus Community uh when I first moved to mwood um over 10 years ago um being getting to organize the first transgender uh day of Remembrance Day of visibility um and all the many wonderful events that we do in our town uh right here um and uh our Township committee room in Maplewood um and starting from those early days and all the previous uh mayors of support including former mayor Victor Luca uh still committee men um we were able to still have these celebrations to be a Beacon of Hope for other communities for our other community members for our students for our youth our family members and be able to be uh not just that Beacon of Hope but truly try to Great foundation and waves to create change and I just want to acknowledge that because it's part of all of you the the camera can't capture the fact that we have a very great crowd here tonight in support and I want to acknowledge and thank all of the community members that came out here tonight showed support online virtually watching the meeting right now those that will watch it later and support because they support their transgender non-binary gender diverse lgbtqia plus community members neighbors families and friends we need you now more than ever thank you we're also honored this evening to be joined by our director of The Office of lgbtq Affairs ofex County Reggie bledo Reggie welcome I'd like to offer you an opportunity to say a few words if you if you are so inclined we are so fortunate to have such a great Ally in this space um our great executive in Essex County Joe divincenzo thank you Dane I'm going to be very very brief uh thank you to the township committee uh again always leading the way uh what you all are doing here today is signaling uh to the rest of this state and to the rest of this country uh that transgender and non-binary people are welcome you're telling the rest of the state in this country that uh transgender and non-binary people matter and that they're safe and that they're whole here so again thank you to you all for your leadership uh your wisdom thank you for continuously open opening the doors to those who are part of very diverse communities and like I always say uh the township of Maplewood uh leads by an example and where we are in terms of our climate now uh the role that you all play as elected officials is more important now than ever so again uh to your colleagues uh mayor former mayor dafis uh to Shannon cull and all of the wonderful residents that are part of this wonderful Township thank you thank you for seeing us thank you for opening a door to lgbtq people and from my role you have a partnership in the county and again we appreciate you so we'll take a few photos and this is how I'd like us to uh manage this I'll ask my colleagues to stand up where they are behind the deis and then the rest of us will uh gather I will direct you accordingly um we will gather on either sign of the flag and that way we'll be able to take a great photo uh looking from the back there all we need now is someone to take the photos we have anybody all right excellent y pher also I'm Mari for thank you mayor I'd turn it back to you sure thank you thank you everyone for for doing that and for as Mr daffis and others mentioned uh given the results of the last election and some already um unfortunate uh text messages going out to uh the trans Community as well as the lgbtq community and um people of color and it's just hopefully they'll investigate and find it out so we just need to Soldier on right um but you know that Maplewood is a safe place for all of us so thank you all for coming out we're going to get on with our agendas you're welcome to stay you're welcome to leave um but thank you all for coming out in support um boards and committees Mr DeLuca you have an alternate for historic preservation commission yes mayor we just give a moment for folks to Nancy this is not about you not everyone's leaving because of you Oh no you're Nancy you're coming up no no no no I mean everyone leaving personal is what say nothing about you this is how it happens it's weird people don't like to stay at our meetings but NY over to the podium well thank you okay um welcome so uh colleagues we've discussed uh the appointing Nancy Bui to the as an alternate number two to the historic preservation commission and uh she's uh graciously accepted and is here tonight to say hello um you have an engineering background I really think um it'll be very helpful on the commission particularly as we talk about Redevelopment of Maplewood Village and some of the other issues around historic preservation of private homes so so welcome and you could tell us a little bit about yourself and what you think you might bring to the commission oh uh thank you I thought you would have questions or something um well I'm a structural engineer uh I've worked in the industry for 38 years and I'm getting ready to retire so I mentioned it to Vic and suddenly he um really but it's good I was on the zoning board for seven years um but it got to be too much so I left uh but I'm available I mean I could help you know I understand it's once month meetings and that's fine anybody have any questions no but I agree I think you'll be a big asset for the Maplewood movie theater Redevelopment area especially with regard to yes oh yes okay thank you for volunteering that's great so I move we point Nancy you see me as alternate number two second it's one on the agenda it's right number two number two got it second second Miss kpe yes welcome daffis yes thank you Mr DeLuca yes angle yes Adams yes thank you fellow Nancy congratulations and the meet next meeting is Wednesday we'll see you on Wednesday right in there see you on Wednesday it's next door inside here yeah okay thank you uh now we open the floor to uh public comment for agenda items only um is there anyone there's no okay so Mr worry do you want to uh open it up for the people online yes if any members of the public joining on Zoom would like to speak in public portion please raise your hand now there are no hands mayor okay great then we'll move to ordinances on Final passage um Mar we have number 8 a bond ordinance 31 32-24 ordinance amending section 3E 8 of bond ordinance 311824 of the Township of Maplewood in the county of Essex New Jersey finally adopted May 7th 2024 in order to amend the description of the project the interpretive statement is this ordinance will allow previous approved funds to be used for a high efficiency gas priate furnace at the greenhouse did you want to read the um okay this I'll read it this ordinance has been published copies posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and copies made available to the General Public in accordance with the law like to open it up for um the public if anyone has um any comments or questions about this ordinance this is now the hearing is open I see nobody in the house Mr warry if any members of the public on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now I see no hands mayor okay great I move this ordin to be adopted as a whole and the clerk to be directed to publish the same as a passed ordinance in Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law second Miss kpe yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Sangle yes may Adams yes thank you Mr alad 8B another Bond ordinance Bond ordinance 3,134 d24 Bond ordinance providing a supplemental appropriation of 700,000 for improvements to Springfield Avenue Phase 2 in and by the township of mwood in the county of Essex New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of 700,000 bonds or not the township to finance the cost thereof okay uh this is the next ordinance so we'll go back to the one before that's okay mrad no problem um want me to read you want to read the interpretive statement yeah this ordinance provides additional necessary funding to award spe Avenue phase one and phase two improvements this ordinance has been published copies posted on the bulletin board in municipal building and copies made available to the general public in accordance with the law is there anyone here who would like to speak to this ordinance Mr Ry can you see online please any members of the public joining on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now I see no hands mayor okay then I will move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to publish the same as a pass ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law second Miss kpe yes Mr dapas yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes Adams yes thank you now we'll go to bond ordinance 3133 d24 Bond ordinance 3,133 d24 Bond ordinance providing a supplemental appropriation of 5 million for the construction equipping and finishing of a new library in and by the township of Maplewood in the county of Essex New Jersey and offer has an issue of 5 million bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof the interpretive statement is this ordinance provides additional necessary funding to complete the library project this ordinance has been published copies posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and copies made available to the general public in accordance with the law would anyone like to speak on this ordinance any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now I see no hands okay thank you I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole the clerk be directed to publish the same as a past ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law second yes Mr deffis yes Mr DeLuca yes angle yes may Adams yes thank you now we'll move to 8D 3135 d24 ordinance 3,135 d24 ordinance amending chapter 255 7 of the Township Code entitled vehicles and traffic to allow street parking on a portion of Inwood place this ordinance will remove the current no parking Zone on the south side of Inwood Place between map Avenue and Woodland Road this ordinance has been published copies posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and copies made available to the general public in accordance with the law is there anyone who would like to speak to this ordinance about parking on inward Place anyone joining us on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now see no hands okay I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to publish the same as a passed ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law I'll second Miss kpe yes Mr dafis yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes may Adams yes thank you and the final ordinance on second reading for Passage 8e onance 3,100 36-24 in ordinance to create a new article for under Chapter 93 of the code of the township of mwood entitled control of plastic dust and contaminants during construction this ordinant will supplement Chapter 93 building construction of the Township Code with a new article to describe the requirements for controlling plastic and dust contaminants during construction and preventing them from entering the watershed this ordinance has been published copies posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and copies made available to the general public in accordance with the law is there anyone who would like to speak to this ordinance Mr wary anyone joining on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now I see no hands mayor okay can I get a motion finally on this Mr death certainly mayor thank you I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to publish the same as a past ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law I'll second Miss kpe yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you and finally an introduction of a new ordinance on for now uh 9A all right okay onance number 3,137 d24 an ordinance to amend chapter 19 of the code of the township of map entitled community board on police this ordinance will amend section 19-8 of the township code to modify the term limits for members of the community board on police can I get a motion Mr daus I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading its publication according to law in the Maplewood South Orange News Record and a hearing to be held on December 3D second Miss kpe yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes Adams yes thank you okay now that that business is done Mr warry you're up for a report from the administrator's office thank you mayor one report I know there was interest in when the senior bus was being delivered we are excited about uh its delivery we expect it now by the first week of December so that's by December 6th wow make yes we so is that like a sure thing exactly what Graphics are going on the side and yes we we are confident that it will be delivered by the six okay we should talk about ribbon cutting on yes yes ribbon cutting let's have go for a drive honestly yes hold the ribbon out the window yeah we can get your CDL license before then mayor we should definitely have a party I don't think I could reach the pedals probably any questions for Mr we great no you're off the hook good M cdio you're up no report okay any question everybody wants to go to Atlantic City I everybody wants to pack and go to bed to go to that's fun any questions for our Township attorney no okay any report from Mr alaf for our clerk yes but I'll summarize it yeah it was a a very nice report actually thank you just want to start off by saying for people are not in her room and are watching from home there's no need to worry our clerk is just on the way to the league she's not there's no ominous reason for me being here right now okay people are freaking out where's L with that said we do have a report as custom for our office we first want to thank those who participated in Veterans Day from musicians to the staff who helped and of course all the members of the veterans and their families who came and spoke that day we also wanted to give a special thanks to all the veterans Who currently work in the township of Maplewood who decided to have the next phase of their career here in the township following that I need to note that after speaking with mayor Adams we have requested from the county to consider in 2025 Maple to have an early voting location right now we propose the Willen and dehart Center we're hoping to get a finalized information about whether or not we are accepted by April 20125 but based off of initial correspondence with the county it's pretty much based off of whether the Border Commissioners are looking to have that but we spoke to someone on Election Day and they are looking to expand beyond what they currently have following that we have been updating the boards of committee so that now the roster's descriptions and media information is publicly available and also it should be on our Township calendar and we're working with the township committee to further Advance any type of information that the public may want and need we also have the residential bashore which is at this point I think 62 pages of information which provides contact information for staff the committee if you need the county information for them as well as various facts about things and how we do procedures here in Maplewood and lastly parking and jenty for 2025 is going to open up on December 16th and thanks to the administration's approval we're now going to have it so that for the Jitney passes they can also be digital so you would not have to come into the Township offices and you can get them whenever you please y awesome that's awesome is that all you have yeah well that's the summary of it well I didn't want to cut you off before I asked if anyone had questions I mean your report I must say was much more thoughtful than the other two departments so mean next time they're going to show up with a big report any questions for our Deputy cler no I just have one statement about the early voting location so when early voting started we did look here um it is a huge commitment of space and time yeah because you have to block out 10 days so I would suggest that before we have any conversation with the county we either look at the schedule now for deart for 20 2 and the Woodland because you're talking two times of the year in June and in November right so that means that Monday through Saturday through the next uh Sunday right Sunday before election day so it's like 10 days or so that you have to block out times so if we don't have those times we can't do it because you can't move it around it's got to be in one location right so the Woodland seems logical because if there's room in that parlor part I don't think the Parlor would work I think you'd have to be downstairs well the Parlor has issues with stairs can come in on not no the parking is on the side got it got it got it that's the other right yeah okay we'll talk more about location in time all right noted now we'll go to reports from elected officials committed you can thank you I got three items uh one uh the Hilton neighborhood association is meeting this Thursday night 7:30 p.m. at the community center in deart park and chief Albert Sally will be the speaker so anyone out there who would like to talk to the chief here's an opportunity to come he'll be talking about um some of the recent uh crime statistics and also traffic and parking Believe It or Not yay so um if you have a concern certainly come and speak to the chief I was told today by Mr kitten our engineer that we're going out um to get bids for or quotes of of cost to install the four-way stop sign at Parker and suffk uh which we committed to do before the end of the year so hopefully that will take place and lastly we had a planning meeting for Black History Month and we're going to be calling together um the various parties from last year to a zoom meeting on December 4th we're trying to get things started I've been working with um Miriam and Stacy so great that's it any questions for Mr DeLuca nope okay we'll move to Deputy Mayor CRA very quickly uh just a reminder to folks that we are still very much in a burn band here in uh the state of New Jersey so please please please mul your leaves preferably don't leave them on the street and if you do make sure they're very close to the curb um and also follow the water restrictions and conservation suggestions sent out um in various Communications as well as announced to the meeting our last meeting um in regards to traffic reminders to slow down be aware of your surroundings stick to the lighted areas if you're a pedestrian and please as we move into the holiday season be aware of folks in the crosswalk it is mandatory if someone is standing in a crosswalk in New Jersey for you to stop you may not like it but you're supposed to do it so please do so um and thank you for the senior bus I cannot be more excited I was going to say some stuff about the seniors but that right there just wiped all of it out because they have been desperately wanting that um and then finally I wanted to say thank you to Mr daffis for sharing his heartfelt words at the beginning of our meeting in regards to transgender day of awareness and week of visibility um and to our transgendered family friends children in this town I just quickly want to say that you always have a home here you are beloved and beautiful just as you are and you don't owe anyone any justification for your courageous presence in this world stay resilient and know that as long as I have breath you have a friend a pseudo mom and an ally in this fight to your full rights to live your truth without any shame because you have nothing to be ashamed of thank you my it's beautiful any questions for Deputy Mayor C such a great Ally thank you capital A oh uh Comm member de no report mayor everyone's got any questions from Mr okay remember angle you're up thank you um I want to remind everyone that the old time Foles are this Thursday at 7:30 at the Woodland so if you're not going to talk to chief chief Sally at um Hilton neighborhood association you can come and laugh at all of your neighbors performing on stage it should be really fun I'm very very excited we got to judge the audition so you're you're in for a real treat um I want to just acknowledge the Som bike bus which is now operating all over Maplewood and South Orange I got to see the Tuscan bike bus uh ride around right by your house on uh Friday which was really cool to see all these kids and families and I want to thank all the volunteers who are helping out with that um Miss crepe and I met with the youth advisory committee we have two members who are super enthusiastic and have great ideas and insights and um it's really exciting to get that rolling we are still recruiting especially seventh graders eighth graders and 10th graders so if you're interested you can reach out to us to find more information or check out our website for the application form um with Thanksgiving coming up I want to also remind everybody that small business Saturday is coming up and it's really important to support our small businesses um during this holiday season the fourth quarter holiday sales are the biggest part of their business so it's really important to shop local you know you like online shopping it's really easy and convenient but please remember all of our Merchants you are on at all over Maplewood in the village on Springfield Avenue on Irvington and on Ridgewood and lots of other places and um and the Winter Market is coming to Springfield Avenue on December 7th and 8th and I believe both Miss kpe and I will be making appearances so you can check us out there you will be what making appearances as appearances oh Mrs Claus Mrs CLA CLA yes you'll have uh me on Saturday and Miss kpe on Sunday I believe so uh come shop and support all of our neighbors that is my report thank you any questions for Committee Member angle no okay I have no report other than Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the community once we all I know we all forget because I'm just we all have a conference to go to that um we're all kind of focused on we forget but Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the community from all of us I think it's safe I can say that on your behalf uh so we'll move to our discussion items now and we have two by Mr Duca so the stormwater utility draft ordinance thank you mayor um so we received then a draft ordinance from our Consultants arcadis draft used the New Brunswick ordinance as the model um you've each received a copy of that so we can answer any questions you might have I'm going to go through some of it just want to let you know we did have two meetings uh regarding the the uh the Ordinance one um Miss cido and Joe K was there Mr weary and we went through it and worked out a lot of the stuff a lot of the language um Miss cido is gonna Maplewood eyes the uh the language she likes that word but we we thought in general the ordinance was sound and we're just going to change a few of the things make sure that the practices that are mentioned here are the same we also met again on Monday um Joe K and Mr Wei and I with um the uh arcadis folks and answered a bunch of Mr um Bitner was on also I guess and Mr Barry too right so we went through it again and uh asked questions and got all the information um so we're ready to move the plan now is uh after we get the the final um writing from M cido we'll introduce this at our meeting in December the first meeting in December and then have a public hearing and final adoption the second meeting in December this will go into effect in 2025 and it will be part of the billing process with the sore fee right we've worked that out and um there's a you know they're now looking at blocks and lots and making sure that everything matches up so that that all works so again what we're talking about is establishing a storm water utility this will be a set aside budgeted um entity in the in the township similar to the pool the the pool's the utility money coming in stays there it doesn't get used for the general fund um the money that we're talking about is uh roughly $900,000 a year that we'll raise and that will be raised through a fee and the fee will be $70 for um what's called a a residential uh equivalence residential unit and so just as we had a discussion here we wanted to get a lower amount than 70 so for the smaller properties in town which is about 1,400 they will be paying $35 um for the the one unit equivalent that's about 4,000 units they'll be paying $70 and then there's about a th000 that will be paying 105 and then roughly uh um let's say 160 that will be paying more than that and that's based on the amount of impervious surface that's on their lot and this is all calculated by an eye in the sky that's done by um by the department by the state by the department protection so um we are talking again about uh dedicating this money for storm water activities so this would be improving our storm water drink rins and our system dealing with some of the flooding issues we have in town looking at installing green infrastructure we did talk about including making having the capacity to make small grants to uh owners of property who wanted to install green infrastructure on their property to reduce the amount of runoff that comes into the streets speaking of streets we will be charging ourselves um $280,000 for the the 4,000 units of Municipal roads we have here will also be charging the county and hopefully they'll be paying um again we're looking to put this money into many of the different uh programs that we're talking about we have we have um a a storm water uh project on on Maple teris on kendles coming up um on boen Avenue uh they're all around down toown and so um this is what we're going to be doing and and we'll be by generating these dollars year after year we'll be able to have a dedicated fund that can we'll have some I guess guaranteed funding that we can operate these projects we will get a budget for 2025 this year during the budget cycle um we'll be able to see what the projects are and be very clear about how this money will be spent Mr kitner as the engineer will become the utility director so uh there's no additional cost uh we're not hiring anybody to do this this is all going to be done with uh current staff although of course with projects we do bring on Consultants to help us draft the specifications and everything else so um just want to give us one caution just so we all know most of the the all the numbers we've been talking about and all that deal with residential units there are also um the commercial units and so also nonprofits we have some nonprofits in churches for example the church on Parker which has a very large parking lot they'll shrink it a large parking lot fault parking lot which is going to be charged a lot of uh residential units which is the factor so um and you know any of the other major businesses in town that have large parking lots in addition to their building that's all impervious surface so um we will probably get some uh push back from some of the larger property owners and the ordinance does allow for people to come in and speak to the storm Mort utility director and uh negotiate again is there are there ways that they can mitigate the storm water runoff uh and we'll be doing that work as we get through so what we'll be doing is once we get uh more information from our Consultants they'll start identifying some of the big users and we'll have some pre meetings with them before the bills go out so that they're aware of what what to expect and they can do their own budgeting for 2025 so that's the plan we're still due a credit policy I was just going uh and that's that's we're going to get that this week okay that become that's referenced in the ordinance we don't need that for the ordinance but that will be something if someone says well wait a minute my my uh my lot is not that size I should be paying the lower amount we just go out and measure it and we can fine-tune that or if someone says well I'm going to be planting something they can get credit for something like that okay so there'll be a process it'll be a process okay um can we use Capital um can we bond for the Township's contribution to the annual contribution for that because I don't know I'm just asking a question do you or you don't have to know if you don't know I mean our contribution would be based on our roadways yeah no I know that contribution isn't a capital asset said wouldn't be eligible for bonding but it's but it's going toward capital projects the capital projects from the utility we can use we can bond in the utility like we do at the pool yeah yeah Debt Service okay um and obviously and I just want to thank um Mr waray and Mr Cog for working on um figuring out how to get that billing done the way I think we all envisioned it from when we first started talking about it um so thank you for um hearing that and and moving with that I know it'll be more work for the finance office but I think it'll be easier for the residents to understand and um so um so I'm in favor you ahead I'm in favor too I just think that one of the things we should do with this uh this is groundbreaking as Mr Duca has mentioned uh we're the only the second municipality going in this direction in the state at a time when in New Jersey were're realizing what the big cost of storm water man mismanagement is right in light of climate change so um I think we have a big burden here in not just passing the ordinance but also in socializing this in the community talking about it explaining it uh doing a few stories and through our coms committee Miss angle we can talk about some press releases and that kind of thing um that's all but yes I'm I'm in favor of and I want to thank uh Mr Duca for his leadership here he did a lot of leg work a lot of research and the mayor too because I know mayor this is something that you wanted to do a while back yeah you've been talking about it since I've been on the township committee uh and now that everybody else is on board now they finally listen yeah yeah this is definitely something we should be doing appreciate that thank you Mr D M no I'm just grateful that the the financial aspects of things were looked at in consideration for lower income housing as well as our senior population because that was a very big worry for them so thank you for that and this could to your point Mr DeLuca about the um church with the huge parking lot where I first tried my um my car um I think it's might incentivize some people to um get rid of some impervious surface that they don't need but they don't want to invest in in ripping up something I can't imagine that community garden is that used all the time but that's a good point yeah I agree and I'm also in support and we talk we're going to talk about in Communications committee about how to get this information out to the public because it is a tax so we want to explain it um more and we also talked about looking at the credit system and figuring out what are actionable items that homeowners can take to help improve not only to lower their tax bill but also to help the environment because like you said it is from climate change and there are little things that we each can be doing we just don't know what they are and so if we have if we give the tools and the information to a residents and it's possible we can make even greater change than just having a fund to pay for what we need to do adds value to your home so aspect as well yeah no I mean climate change is real and we've been talking about doing this so um thank you Mr Dua for all your leadership on this and for all the work from Miss cdio and everyone else it was a lot but I think we're almost there so all right so sounds like you got by in okay we're ready for your ordinance M but what eyes okay Mr Dua um yes the Springfield Avenue partnership's public art project we've spoken about this a couple times here even back in the uh beginning of the year when we talked about the Springfield Avenue Partnerships budget they've been raising dollars from um the various events we've had um most of them involve alcohol the uh the wine the wine nights and the beer nights we put that together any event we've raised some money and um we now want to move forward with painting the utility box now these are these are the electrical boxes that are at the corners where there are traffic lights they're generally big brown or black ugly box that sits there that has all the Mechanicals for the lights to work um and so what's uh what's being proposed is that we paint six utility boxes we put out an RFP we received 11 qualifying submissions from artists um it was no required theme although they did have to use the three primary colors of Sam oh nice and so um in the designs and the designs are quite different and quite cool um they are cool Miss Angel and I were both on the selection committee I know you have much more Talent on Art I at what was cool I'm just always so impressed with the artists the people we have in our community and the ideas that they came up with were really quite enging and clever and interactive yeah so um just uh I think just to make it official I would like to move that we authorize the Springfield Avenue partnership to move forward with the public art project uh on the utility boxes on Springfield Avenue uh Mr kitney will notify the county because the County's role even though we we have the boxes as having jurisdiction on the Avenue the county is responsible to maintain the traffic light so we just want to notify them that it'll be these boxes will be painted and if in fact they have to to go in and use these boxes to fix something to just respect the the paintings instead you know St M angle would you like since you help judge would you like to second the resol motion sir I second the motion Mr alot Miss K yes Deus yes yes SLE yes Adams yes thank you okay anybody I I actually we're all good no more discussion on that right I realized I didn't let anybody disc we're excited we're all excited I don't know if any the high school students applied but I remember that was a conversation from years back but maybe the next round reserve a spot for the high school students there's plenty of utility box our kids at the school okay we'll move on to consent agenda can I get a motion please moved second Miss kpe yes Mr dais yes DeLuca yes Sangle yes Adams yes now we're to our second public comment meeting on any item is there anyone here seeing none is there uh anyone online Mr R if anyone joining us on Zoom would like to speak in public portion please raise your hand now see no hands May okay then I'll take a motion to adjourn move we adjourn second M scrip yes Mr daus yes yes yes yes thank you have a good night and have a