Good evening everyone and welcome to the April 21st, 2026 meeting of the Maplewood Township Committee. Going to read the statement pursuant to section 5, chapter 231, public laws 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 mailing the annual notice of regular meetings for 2026 to the news record in Star Ledger in December 2025 and by
filing said notice in the office of the township clerk. >> Miss Adams >> here. >> M Collins Cing >> here. Mr. Daffis >> present. >> Thurman here. Mayor Duca >> here. >> Whereas chapter 231 public laws 1975
commonly known as the open public meetings act requires that all meetings of public bodies be open to the public. And whereas section 7A provides that the governing body has the discretion to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation of the public at any
meeting. And whereas it's a desire of the governing body to comply with the provision this act same time it conduct its business in an orderly and expeditious manner now therefore be resolved by the township committee township of Mapwood that it does hereby
prohibit except to set forth in the formal agenda. Active participation in deliberations of the governing body by the public except as otherwise prescribed by law does limit the public to the observations of the actions and discussions of the governing body at all
of its regular and special meetings. >> So moved >> Adams Collins Calding >> yes >> Mr. Daffus. >> Yes. >> Surman. >> Yes. Mayor Duca. >> Yes. Thank you. Please uh join us in a salute
to the flag. >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So this evening we're going to start out
with uh proclamations. We have four that we'll be reading. We then have a board and committee appointments and we're adding uh a reappointment to the arts council. We'll have a presentation on our wood watershed inventory report and
then we'll go to our first public comment which is on agenda items only. After that, we have four ordinances on final passage. After each ordinance is read, there'll be a public hearing uh both here, anyone in the room and on
Zoom, and we will uh have township discussion and then there'll be a motion and a second uh to vote. U we then move to new ordinance, introduction on ordinances. We have five ordinances on introduction. Uh we'll go to department
uh reports, elected official reports. We have three discussion items. We're going to be talking about the 2026 SUR fee, uh the commercial property assessed clean energy program, CPACE, and then the request from Soma Shuttle Working Group. We have a consent agenda after that. We
have a number of items, resolutions to pay bills, um refund certain fees, um and then we also are um voting on a cannabis renewal license for elevated by cannabos lady. Uh lastly, we'll have our
second public comment meeting uh sub public comment session on any subject matter and then we will adjourn. Um, so with that, I'm going to ask Deputy Mayor Herman to do the first proclamation on diversity month.
>> Thank you, Mayor. This is a proclamation to celebrate diversity month. Whereas celebrate diversity month was established in 2004 and takes place each April to recognize
and honor the diversity of the world around us. It is a time to understand our differences, be it gender, race, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, and other factors, while honoring the common essence of humanity. Celebrate
diversity month aims to get people to foster a deeper understanding of others, regardless of who they are, what they are, or how they live. And whereas the township of Maplewood is a welcoming community that remains committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and
inclusion as reflected in its advisory committee appointments, proclamations, resolutions, budgets, and overall approach to governance. And whereas the township recognizes and uplifts uplifts diverse communities and experiences
through annual observances and proclamations including Black History Month, Women's History Month, Pride Month, Transgender Day of Visibility, Arab American Heritage Month, Autism Acceptance Month, Juneenth, Haitian Flag
Day, and Jewish American Heritage Month, among others. And whereas these recognitions create opportunities for education, reflection, and community engagement engagement, strengthening, understanding, and connection among
residents. Now therefore, I, Malia Herman, deputy mayor of Maplewood, on behalf of Victor Duca, mayor of the Township of Maplewood, and the rest of the township committee, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as
Celebrate Diversity Month in the Township of Maplewood and encourage all residents to participate in community events, support local businesses, engage with their neighbors, and embrace the opportunity to learn from the diverse iverse cultures and perspectives that
make ma Maplewood a vibrant and inclusive community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um next up we have Arbor Day and I'll read that. Whereas Arbor Day was founded by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska to promote tree planting, fuel,
shade, and windbreaks on the treeless plains. The first celebration on April 10th, 1872 resulted in over 1 million trees planted. establish establishing it as a tradition focused on conservation, environmental beautifification and
future oriented action. Whereas Arbor Day is now observed nationwide and in New Jersey is celebrated on the last Friday in April which falls on April 24th, 2026. And whereas trees enhance the beauty of our community, increase
property values and our vital resource, providing oxygen, improving air quality, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. And whereas trees also reduce energy costs by providing shade and windbreaks, moderating temperatures, and helping to prevent
soil erosion caused by wind and water. And whereas Maplewood annually plants hundreds of trees along our streets and in our parks. And I might say that this Saturday we'll be uh providing residents with um tree seedling seedings seedlings
if they'd like to come to the DPW and that starts at 8:00 a.m. Uh now therefore I Victor Duca, mayor of the township of Maplewood, on behalf of the township committee, do hereby proclaim April 24th, 2026 as Arbor Day in the township of Maplewood and urge all
residents to celebrate Arbor Day and support efforts to plant, nurture, and protect trees and woodlands throughout our community. And next we will go to Mr. Daffis with the parliamentary law month.
>> Yes. Thank you, Mayor, and good evening everyone. proclamation celebrating parliamentary law month. Whereas this is the birth month of Thomas Jefferson, author of the first American manual of parliamentary procedure in 1801, it is
fitting that we honor him and reflect upon the importance of parliamentary procedure in democratic organizations. I will add especially right now. Whereas on this eve of the birth month of Henry Martin Robert, author of pocket manual
of rules of order for deliberative assemblies, also known as Robert's rules of order, which we try to employ successfully here during our meetings. First published in 1876, it is a worthwhile time to honor him and to
celebrate his contributions to the field of parliamentary procedure. Whereas Robert's rules of order newly revised is the most widely recognized and used parliamentary authority in public and private organizations throughout the world. Whereas it is timely to reflect
on the importance of parliamentary procedure in meetings in providing for civil discourse protecting individual rights, ensuring fairness and maintaining order. Whereas the National Association of Parliamentarians has by adoption of a standing rule designated
the month of April as parliamentary law month. Whereas the National Association of Parliamentarians is committed to educating leaders throughout the world in effective and fair meeting management through the use of parliamentary procedure. And whereas the National
Association of Parliamentarians is globally recognized as the premier provider parliamentary leadership whose mission it is to provide education and resources to enable efficient and democratic decisionmaking through the
effective use of parliamentary procedure. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Dean Daffis, member of the township committee, on behalf of Mayor Victor Duca, and the rest of my colleagues on the township committee,
declare April 2026 as parliamentary law month and call upon the district's associations, units, and all members to observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities as a way to honor our rich legacy and bring
our mission and vision into reality for current and future generations. Thank you. >> Thank you. And lastly, we have Parkinson's Awareness Month. Uh and that's Committee Adams. >> Thank you, Mayor.
Uh, April is Parkinson's awareness month and as this impacts many of us um I'm honored to read this and hopefully get people thinking about uh research and cure of Parkinson's. Whereas Parkinson's
disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects movement including tremor, stiffness and balance and is caused by the loss of dopamine producing cells in the brain. And whereas nearly 1 million people in the United States are
living with Parkinson's disease and tens of thousands of new cases are diagnosed each year. Whereas more than 30,000 individuals in New Jersey are living with Parkinson's underscoring its significant impact within our state. And
whereas Parkinson's disease affects not only those diagnosed but also their families, caregivers, and communities creating emotional, physical, and financial challenges. And whereas Parkinson's disease can also
incur occur in younger individuals known as early onset Parkinson's presenting unique challenges related to employment, family life, and long-term care. And whereas while there is currently no cure, ongoing research continues to
advance treatments and improve quality of life for those living with Parkinson's. And whereas raising awareness and supporting education, research, and advocacy are essential to improving outcomes and ultimately finding a cure.
Whereas organizations such as Parkinson's Foundation, the American Parkinson's Disease Association, and Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, along with local health care providers provide critical
resources, support services, and drive innovative research for individuals and families affected by Parkinson's disease. Now therefore, I, Nancy Adams, township committee woman, on behalf of Mayor Vic Luca, and the rest of the township
committee, do hereby proclaim April as Parkinson's awareness month in the township of Maplewood, and encourage all residents to increase their understanding of Parkinson's disease, support those affected, and promote
efforts toward research and treatment. Be it further resolved that residents seeking information, support or resources are encouraged to contact the Parkinson's Foundation at 1 8004PD info
or visit parkinson's.org or consult with local health care providers and consider donating to these causes. Thank you. >> Thank you. And um one of the reasons why we do take time out to do these proclamations is
because we want to make sure that we recognize um our community, our community is diverse and inclusive and um this is a way for us to make sure that everyone feels part of our
community of Maplewood. We're now going to move into um some more community activity and that's serving on a board and committee and we're going to have some board and committee appointments to the senior advisory committee. Deputy Mayor Herman, >> thank you. I'm really excited about
these next two appointments to our senior committee. Um these two women came to our last meeting and I know um at least one of them was enjoyed it so much that she wanted to be a member. So, we're so thrilled to have the two of you
here tonight. Um, I'm going to call you each up and if you could come to the podium and share with us um who you are, how long you've lived in town, and you know, why you want to be on the senior committee. And I'll start with Carol. Carol Cornoselli.
>> Hello. Um, my name is Carol Cornoselli. I have been in Maplewood since 1997, so almost 30 years. Uh we moved from Brooklyn, of course. And uh I've been very involved with the Maplewood Strollers. That's I've done the theater
theater all my life. My my other jobs were just to support my artistic habits, as they say. Um my last job before I retired was with AARP, so I'm a big advocate of that uh organization. Um,
and I'm also part of the I'm a member of the Maplewood um, women's club. And so with all of that in mind, I I found out through the Maplewood Women's Club that there was an opening on this committee. And I thought, well, I'm a senior now. I
could do something. And my experience gives me a lot of uh I'm very good at organizing, planning, and cleaning up after events. So, if we ever need something like that to support the um
the senior advisory committee and uh you know, I I'm here to help. I want to know what more I can do to serve the seniors in the community because as although I'm a senior, I'm very mobile and very independent. So, I I don't know all the
services that people need and I would like to know more about that. So, I'm glad to be here. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. And now I'd like to call up um Erica Demba. Please please tell me if I'm saying your your last name incorrectly.
>> Demba. Thank you. >> Hello. Thank you committee for re reviewing my application and for inviting me to talk about myself. Um so I grew up in New Providence. I lived in
various towns around here. South Orange. Um or no, West Orange and Maplewood and Morristown. Well, Maplewood is new for me, but um I did I attended secretarial school and a year of two
years, got my associates degree at Morris County College. So then I've had numerous positions as a secretary or an EA or a PA or an administrative assistant, whatever they want to call
it. um in varying industries and as the as the years have gone by I've had positions of increased responsibility and accountability. Um I'm a new senior myself. I just moved back to um to this
area. I lived in Chicago for 30 years. I moved back here three years ago. Um I spent time a lot of time at Winchester Gardens where I met my friend Jackie. Um my mom and dad lived there. My dad has since passed. But because of that, I you
know, I feel like I have a lot of knowledge about what seniors need, maybe even more than they they know they need just having seen it. Um, and as being a new senior, I think it's important for me to be involved and to see what is
available and to help make other resources available. So, >> thank you. >> Thank you. >> Can I move both together? Sure. >> Yeah. I move that I Thank you. Um I move that we appoint Erica Dembo and Carol
Cornelli to the senior advisory committee. >> I'll second. >> Please call the role. >> The role. >> Mr. Adams. >> Yes. >> Scolins. >> Yes. >> Mr. Davis. >> Yes. >> Sherman. >> Yes. Mayor Duca. >> Yes. Congratulations. >> Congratulations to the committee.
>> And thank you. Thank you. And uh Committeeman Daffish, you'd like to move Bruno Lee for another term. >> I would. Thank you, Mayor. Uh I'm delighted to uh move the reappoint of Mr. Bruno Lee, who has been serving uh
on the Maplewood Arts Council and is interested in continuing his term expired at the end of December. Um and I move his reappoint. Uh he's been a very active member and the the council is very happy to have him to continue
serving. Um so I would move his reappoint for another three-year term uh a term ending at 1231 2028. >> Second. Call the RO. >> Mr. Adams. >> Yes. >> M Collins Cing. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Daffis. >> Yes. >> Thurman. >> Yes. >> Mayor Duca. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And we're now going to move to our presentation and we're going to hear um about our watershed improvement plan.
This is a requirement that comes to us from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. All municipalities have to adhere to this. So, we've been working with our consultants from FPA and um Mr. Redmond, are you going to do the
introduction? >> Well, Mr. Redmond is our staff engineer and go go for it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, mayor. Um, just a brief introduction. Yep. I'm Scott Redmond. I am the uh staff engineer for the township of Maplewood and I'm
accompanied tonight by Stephanie Williams. Uh, she is the project manager and principal author of the watershed inventory report that she will be presenting to you tonight. Um we would usually be accompanied by Paul Kitner, the township engineer and director of public works, but unfortunately he is
not feeling too well tonight. So um he will not be attending. Uh but he uh he apologizes for his absence. Um so as as stated the presentation tonight concerns the watershed inventory report. So what is the watershed inventory report? So
the report is essentially an accounting of the township's storm water um infrastructure. Uh the infrastructure uh including inlets, catch basins, piping, manholes, outfalls which you know deposit storm water uh into our local waterways. Um also interconnections into
neighboring towns such as Milburn, such as South Orange and we want to map those interconnections so we have an accounting of them as well. Um so uh and this all of this data was incorporated into um a GIS mapping database that was submitted to the state NJD and they
approved that mapping. Um another major component of the uh watershed inventory report is TMDLs. So what are TMDLs? Uh TMDL stands for total maximum daily load which is a fancy way of saying pollutants, right? So we want to we want
to have a full accounting of these pollutants as well. Um and it's basically a measure of these contaminants that make their way into our local water bodies via storm water runoff. Um and these contaminants uh vary from anything including lead um copper, phosphorus, fecal chloroform and
like I said most of these are like phosphorus for example is a byproduct of some households fertilizers um that make their way into local waterways. Um, and there's two there's two types of uh sources. There's point source and um there is I believe it's broad source,
right? Um, so we don't have any point sources, which is usually industrial zones that dump directly into rivers. So, we don't really have any of those being that we're not an industrial uh town primarily. Um but you know it's it's important for us to have an accounting of these impairments because you know it not only affects our living
environment but is also a huge detriment to aquatic life and those habitats that actually you know live in these rivers and adjacent to them right so it's very important that we track these and D is mandating that we do um so as Mayor Duca had mentioned um it's important to note
that this uh watershed inventory report is mandated by NJP and is part of a larger reporting effort that's broken out into three phases. So the wershed inventory report is just the first phase of this process. Um so like I mentioned, it's just an accounting of our storm water infrastructure and these TMDLs,
which Stephanie Williams will go into more detail on during the presentation. Um but there's also phase two and three, which is going to be us making recommendations on how to mitigate um the existence and the presence of uh these TMDLs and flooding throughout our township. Um, I'd also like to mention,
and Stephanie will probably mention this in the report as well, but D is also pressing for the establishment of stormwater utility authorities, which the township already has a leg up on because we just recently established our storm water utility authority, which is going to help us out tremendously in uh, you know, uh, addressing these issues.
You know, we're going to have funding in place. So, once we have these recommendations as part of phase two and phase three of uh, the watershed improvement plan, you know, we'll actually be able to act on these improvements, which is which is hugely important. Um, so without any further ado, I'm going to hand it over to
Stephanie Williams and and she's going to walk you through the presentation and you know, we'll we'll wield some time for comments as well. All right. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Scott. That was fantastic. Um, so I prepared a
presentation uh via a PowerPoint presentation. It's going to go through a lot of the things that uh Scott had mentioned. Um, so next slide. So, one thing I would suggest because you're going to be turning that way is to hold that mic and keep it in front of
your Yeah. Or that's perfect. >> Picks up. >> Sounds like a plan. All right. So, we're going to talk about the MS4 program general idea. I know Scott, you know, he really did a nice little uh summary of it. Uh, next page. All right. So, what is MS4? MS4 sounds
for the municipal separate storm sewer system. This is part of the clean water act. So this is actually established as part of a federal regulations. That means New Jersey is not the only one who is doing this. This is a statewide
United States. If your waters go into a waters body of the United States, you are required to do an MS4 permit. It just so happens all of New Jersey goes into United States waters. um you know and they're typically non-treated. Uh
next slide. All right. So the MS4 permit now has become a little bit more uh involved. We now have to do a more uh analyzing the watersheds and addressing the impaired streams. Um you know really going into
doing some pollution reduction as well as New Jersey wants us to do flooding reduction. Uh next slide. All right. So pro the program has turned into becoming a a inventory and kind of
checking the box type of program to now we have to go ahead and do something with it. So now we're looking at an outcomebased system. Uh next page. So who what does MS4 permit regulate? We're looking at municipalities. We're looking at public complexes and we're
looking at highway agencies. um where we have to t track demonstrate that we are making measurable goals to reduce TMDLs. Next slide. All right. So the core requirements of the MS4. We've you know you guys have
already addressed this. We're looking at public education. This presentation counts as one. So three points right here. uh elicit discharge detection program, storm water ordinances, some good housekeeping for our DPW mapping,
and what I'm here to talk about, which is the watershed improvement plan. Next slide. All right. So, what is the watershed improvement plan? I get a long-term plan. As Scott said, it is a threepart system that we have to uh take account
of what is happening in our system and obtain uh feedback from our stakeholders. Stakeholders are Maplewood Township. Next slide. All right. So again, we're identifying
TMDLs. Um, and just so you are aware, all the things that you are doing now as part of the MS4 permit are part of the watershed improvement plan. So the ordinances are a program. The um good housekeeping that's part of the program.
Any new construction projects and reviews of plans that you guys do are again part of the watershed improvement plan. Next slide. So the purpose again, we're going to establish a baseline of what is actually
happening in Maplewood. What are we our concerns about? Next slide. Right now we're on the planning phase of everything. We are trying to figure out what do we have? What do we need to do? Uh and how are we going to do that?
We're going to use regulations that NJ D has created. So we're looking at the tier A permits. We're taking a look at the storm water rules for development and any surface water quality requirements.
Next page. And another aspect of this like I was saying is that we are also going to be addressing flooding which is I think a benefit for all of New Jersey. Um this right here was actually taken in Hope Township which is a township that I am
the municipal engineer for. Um so that is actually a real picture. The only thing that is missing there is um whoever had this picture before. If you see there's a a sign under waterfront, that was his um house that he was
selling. So it is especially waterfront in this situation. Uh next slide. All right. So phase one, this is obtaining all the information that we have, all the inventory. Uh so we're looking at infrastructure mapping. We're taking a look at the drainage areas for
all the afalls. We're looking at storm water interconnections impervious area which I believe you guys have already established in a previous um iteration when you guys did your storm water program. Next slide.
Uh these are all the items that we did track. We looked at outfalls, interconnection, MS4 conveyance, which is our ditches, our pipes, uh inlets, and we took a look at all those inlets to see what kind of inlets they are because inlets actually affect the storm water quality. Um any storm water
facilities you guys had and as well as any property you guys have in order to potentially have a project. Um, and one of the greater benefits of doing all this, we went from having a paper system where we would track everything to everything becoming digitalized. Well,
all of your inspection forms are now on a digital form and there's less tracking where we and we could just obtain quick summaries of all of the things that we have done. Next slide. All right. Phase two. This is the
planning phase. This is where we're going to try and obtain different projects. What kind of projects are we looking at? What kind of programs do we want to do? Um, it's basically an a draft of an action plan of how we're
going to address TMDLs. Next slide. And then final is what those actions are. What are what is our final system that we're going to implement? What kind of funding are we going to need? what kind of uh projects what's going to be
the most cost effective to the TMDLs that we need to do. Uh next slide. All right. So, why does this matter? Well, we're going to improve the water quality. We're going to reduce flooding. We're going to prioritize capital
infrastructure and improvements. Um and most importantly, long-term resiliency. Um next slide. So one town that has done this already is Haboken. Haboken has created uh a
entire system where they have reduced the amount of flooding that has been occurring and have reduced the amount of pollutants that are going out into the ocean. Um and from their handbook they have prevented 107 floods out of a out
of potential 121. that to me seems like it is well worth the cost. Um, this park over here, the Resilient City Park, currently holds 1.2 million gallons of water, which is the
equivalent, I believe, of 20 Olympicsiz pools. Uh, so this little bit of land carries a whole lot of water to prevent a whole lot of flooding. Uh, next slide, please. And like I said before, this is not
something that is New Jersey special. Um, in Ohio, they actually have a entire um, this place, Ohio Creek, did an MS4 and a watershed improvement plan. Um,
they have their own resilient city park. They have their own uh, if you see along the roadways, there's little bits of green. Those are little rain gardens that they've created in order to reduce the amount of flooding in their town. Next slide.
All right, so let's take a look at Maplewood. Um, you guys might recognize this. This is over at the memorial park. Next slide. All right, so as I've stated before, this is what we're identifying. We need to determine in Maplewood where our
drainage, where are our flooding patterns? Um, you know, we're documenting our natural features. We're documenting our not so natural features. Um, and as stakeholders, I encourage you all to reflect during this presentation. You know, what is your vision for
Maplewood? What do you guys, you know, want to see? Next slide. I'm not going to go through all of this because this is a lot of text, but these are different ways we could do the implement a watershed improvement plan. We have education. We have pollution and flooding reduction. We need to look at
projects and improvements. We restoration projects. You know, a lot of people do the clean streams. Uh community engagement, again, clean streams, uh protection and advocacy, and of course, funding. Next slide.
So, I'm just going to go over what this is not. This is not a final storm water design. This is not a permit application. Um this is trying to engage you guys to determine what do we want to do. Next slide. So having keep on saying this word
wershed. So what is is that? It is a area of land that all the water drains into. So we identify where all the ridge lines are and we determine that that is the area of concentration that we want to take a look at. This is the area that is polluting the stream. Uh and how do
we address that? Next slide. So we took a look at five different watersheds. These are subwaterersheds I should be very clear about. Um so uh we have five of them. You'll see that
there's uh the Raw River one that is right to the north that's mostly in grass air floristed area. Our biggest one is the Rawway River uh EB. The Elizabeth R is another one that's the next biggest factor. And then we have
some smaller ones that drain further south. Um and then we also have a little influence on the Elizabeth River to your northern neighbors. Uh next slide. So this is a snapshot of all the data we collected.
We physically went out there and we identified all of these inlets outfalls and we have a uh you know photo inventory of everything here. Um next slide. Uh next slide.
All right. This is what we've determined. We found we have 37 outfalls, 90 interconnections. that is connections from different towns into your storm water system or that could be private storm water facilities coming in
um that are coming into the system. Um and we also have uh 37 drainage areas as well as three overburdened communities. Next slide. Uh again, this is a kind of a a really
important view of what we're kind of looking at as well. Uh you'll see that there's blue in these watersheds. Those blue areas are what Ruckers believes is a three-foot elevation gain for
flooding. It's not completely accurate. I'm going to point that out there. It is something that they were able to quickly do. A full analysis would have to be done through a more strenuous program, but it is a good tool to determine what kind of impacts the real rules are
having on Maplewood. Next slide. Um, again, this is another map of our developed conditions of what we've, you know, determined and found in areas that we might want to concentrate in. Next slide.
Um, and then this image right here is our drainage area maps. You could kind of see what areas we want to tackle. You can see that there is an outfall number 10 that is located a little bit north of
uh that bigger blob to the north of that orange blob. That is probably your biggest storm water system that is draining into the river. Uh so these type of maps help us identify where do we want to start with. Next slide.
Uh this right here is a FEMA flood map. We've seen many of these before and you can see you know the red area is a floodway. Blue is potential flood areas. Next slide. Again the inlet flood map from Ruters
showing the uh plus three feet. Um, I have my little, you know, this map shows how big flooding could be. Not exactly where it will happen. So, just to give you that heads up, uh, but is still a great tool
for planning. Next slide. All right. Uh, we already talked about what a TMDL is. It's a total maximum daily load. Uh, the Clean Water Act established this and this is a tool to determine where our pollutants are. Next slide.
So where are they? They come from developed landscaping. They come from background loads. They come from waste loads. Background loads, I'll start from the top, can come from geese. They could come from deer. They can come from your wildlife. Those are the background loads. They can even come from the rocks
in the in the uh rivers. Uh a non-point load is your develop area. So when somebody puts on phosphorus on top of their grass, that is a uh non-point load and waste loads. Those are the point sources that we can identify. Next
slide. In summary, these are all of your TMDLs. You have fecal caulifform, you have total phosphorus, you have dissolved solids, uh you have copper, you have lead. That's a couple of things that are
in there um that NJD and Ruckers have come together and established in your waters. Uh next slide. Uh we'll run through these pretty quickly because uh you could kind of see, you know, we have fecal caulifform
in this little blue area on the south. Uh total phosphorus and total dissolved solids. Uh the TMDL rankings are also placed on there based on how what uh Ruckers and NJT have determined as what is high priority, medium priority and
low priority. Uh next slide. Rawway River uh fleifform phosphorus and dissolved solids. Next slide. Raway river. Uh even though this is our largest area uh the NJD has only found
fecal caulifform. Next slide. Uh that little corner uh to that side u that is again fecal caulifform. Uh and then our more robust one is this one over here where we have the fecal
caulifform the copper the lead the total phosphorus and the total dissolved solids. Next slide. Uh and then over here I established a map where you could kind of see where the heat map is of where the TMDLs
are really need to be addressed. Um next slide. So the key aspects of this is that you know we need to establish what do we need to do with land use to affect and you know clean up the waters. Um, you
know, this inventory provides a picture of current events, establishes again a baseline of where we're at. Um, and we can now create informed decisions in order to address these. Next slide.
So, what are our next steps? Now, we need to evaluate strategies. What do we want to tackle first? What areas do we want to tackle first? We also need to engage stakeholders. Uh there's a 60-day commentary period that will begin. Uh
when you guys uh put the uh report online. Uh next is you know coordinating municipal planning seeing what can we do to you know address these uh doing targeted studies as well as identify priority areas. Uh and all of these kind
of happen all at once in order to go to the next phase. Next. Uh, so the report, like I said, will need to be posted online and a 60-day commentary period. Uh, those comments that we receive should be implemented
into the watershed inventory uh, phase two. Anybody is welcome to provide comments. Um, and that moves us on to the improvement plan. Next slide. Do you guys have any questions for me at this
time? >> I have >> any questions from the township committee? Yes. >> Thank you for that. It was fairly informative. Um it's a lot in a short time. I had the uh ability to look at it ahead of time which is good. So I
understood it. I um uh I think it was eight years ago or so I asked our engineer to start incorporating rain gardens and green infrastructure into our road work things and then brought up the storm water utility. So I'm glad we're on the right track. Is there
anything that you um recommend that we think about implementing as well like you know past those two sort of policy things we've been doing? >> Well, I think it'd be a great idea to you know engage in what kind of
things that other people are doing. Other like I said uh that Ohio Creek was done in 2008. So other places have done that. There are plenty of different strategies we can do. Um during the
phase two those strategies will be laid out uh and different type of projects will be available to you guys. Um and there's a lot of things we have to take a look at. One is what is the most
practical approach. Um you know you guys are not the only people who are polluting the waters. >> Sometimes it's also a great idea to contact whoever's upstream and say hey what kind of projects can we do together
in order to address these TMDLs. So, start engaging in figuring out where's the water going. Um, and see what other people have done. Um, I know that a lot of towns have been turning their parks and their new uh, you know, if they're
redoing a basketball, they're turning them into storm water uh, storage facilities. Um, and the key aspect of the watershed improvement plan is to address the TMDLs. The flooding is just
a byproduct of addressing the TMDLs. >> So, we're a pretty much fully built out >> township as you know from being here evaluating it. >> Yeah. Um I'm just wondering if there's
other infrastructure projects that we should incorporate whether it's in our road program when we're you know other than like the rain gardens that we're doing like underneath depending on how big of a construction project like whether
we're rebuilding a road or we're just repaving. I mean right now I don't want to speak beyond for the for the you know engineering department but for new roads when we're redoing inlets a small little
thing you can do is install catch basins in your inlet you're already there it's only going to cost a few dollars more but it already addresses taking some of the heavy pollutants out of the water
and you know it's already there you you know, start that little steps. Um, I really strongly believe that the watershed improvement plan is all about the little steps, not one huge project such as Haboken did. Haboken did one
huge project. And since you guys are already built out, the small little projects at a time is going to be your key. >> And what about um water usage? Does that have any impact? like because we've kind of danced around the idea of like
limiting uh lawn watering for example um because of the water you know I would have to take a look at more at that uh to see what the studies have shown um you know
I don't want to assume that that would do something I would prefer to take a look at the studies and see whether or not reducing the amount of lawn um has lawn water has reduced the amount of TMDLs. Uh you know back in I believe it
was 2008 2007 New Jersey outlawed phosphorus in their fertilizers which is why you can't find that in Home Depot or Lowe's anymore. You have to go over to Pennsylvania. Um but you know it's you one of those things that it's a slow
process. Things don't get cleaned as fast as you know one would like. For example, my house, I have toddlers. No matter how much I clean up, it's always going to be, you know, there's always going to be something there. Uh, so I strongly believe a town is very much
like having a, you know, a busy household. You constantly have to see what the next, you know, project is going to be and, you know, try to jump on it before it gets worse. >> Yeah. And the education process part of
this is that that we get >> points for the of anything we do for education. >> Yes. >> Um so education of the public is why do we have street sweepers? You know that's that's to keep stuff out of the catch basins or out of the the system so that
they're not going into the water stream, right? And same with fertilizers to better not to use fertilizers, better to use basically green practices in your home. And please people recycle >> um or don't buy like single-use stuff.
So all these environmental things we talk about all the time really play into what ends up in our water. >> Absolutely. And like going back to your point with the street sweeping, um not to bash the word maple, but maple trees,
they do produce a very sugary leaf, which is actually another cause for the phosphorus in the water. >> So pancake syrup, that's the problem. >> Oh yes, got to reduce the pancakes. >> I And yes, Mr. >> I have a couple questions. Thank you.
This is eyeopening. Very informative. So, this report pretty much subject to the 60-day public comment period establishes our inventory for Maplewood, right? >> Correct. >> Okay. And so, the next step is to what
to do stakeholder engagement to figure out prioritization and how we want to address. Right. >> Correct. >> So, it's sort of like a master plan process. >> It is it is very much like a master plan. I will be engaging, you know, If we get the next phase, I'm not going to
speculate that we are uh but we'll engage with the engineer, we'll engage with a planner, we'll engage with you guys of what exactly is a feasible solution. Um and the one key thing that
NJD has put into their watershed improvement plan is practical. Something that is absolutely practical to get goals that are practical. Um you know again if somebody else is creating a
hardship on reading reading a TMDL that is not a practical goal for you guys. Uh so that there's a lot of things that go into it. It's a whole community um engagement of this plan.
>> Wonderful. And does NJP offer grants for for some of these things? >> Currently, uh they are not. I am aware there's a couple of legislations that are before and New Jersey Senate. Um I believe
there's a hund00 million dollar grant in front of the Senate at this time um that is still being in the herd process in order to open up some money for these uh improvement plans and just storm water in general.
>> Great. You mentioned in your report at some point that you identified um three burdened communities within the township. >> Yes. >> Do you know where those are? I would have to take a look at the map to be honest with you. Uh they are uh
communities just it I don't really like the term overburdened community too much. Um I live in an overburdened community. Uh and I will tell you it does not feel like that. Uh but it's a community that has a high uh level of
poverty or it has a high level of minorities. Mhm. >> Um, again, I don't really like that term, but that is the term NJ has provided, and NJT has identified those as communities to concentrate on due to historical
um, discrepancies for them. >> Great. Um, what's the required timeline as it relates to implementation? for implementation. Uh so the first part we have to do is a phase two and that is
due by December 31st and then the it's either December 31st or January 1st I forget. uh but then the next one is 11 months later is the phase three and then that's when the projects are looking to
be started and as far as I'm aware it's the it's a plan at the end of the day it is a plan when the projects come in they come in but it is in fact a plan uh so they don't really tell you a when it has
to be started by it just is a Yeah, >> great. And one last question. Uh existing projects that we have um to make improvements in certain MS4 conveyances, >> those would count toward this, right?
>> Yes. >> Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else have any questions? >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you guys. >> Mr. Redmond, anything else? >> That's it. >> Okay. Well, thank you very much. Um I'm interested
>> we'll uh again this will be posted on our website. >> Uh yeah we can post the video. >> Yeah I think we should well no I mean the report will be on the website. >> Yeah we should have well if we're looking for public comment or any kind of input should be on our website >> and people can take a look at it and
they can um contact your office if they have any questions or comments or suggestions. Thank you. Now going to move to the first public comment session. Is there anyone who would like to speak on an agenda item? >> Good evening. Uh John Sullivan, 11field
Road, Maplewood. There's two issues uh that are on the agenda this evening that I'd like to address. The first one has to do with the uh the heart field and the rehabilitation of that field. At the last uh TC meeting, there was a
discussion about the need for a maintenance and management program and the TC had made a commitment a year year and a half ago to rehabilitate this field. And I'm a proponent of the
rehabilitation of the heart being a natural grass field. And I hope that since the last meeting till tonight, the township committee was able to vet the management and maintenance plan and that that can be passed this evening.
My other point has to do with a discussion item, the request from SEO shuttle working group to present two town shuttle ideas.
I was present on Saturday when the uh township did their ribbon cutting for the electric jitney and I'm happy to say I'm part of a community that realizes the importance of electric power and has
now moved forward and including that into the Jitney system through a grant which um did not cost anything to the community and you've utilized it for a good reason and I just hope that we can
utilize that not only for commuters but also to transport our youth and others in the community from businesses from South Orange to Maplewood, South Orange Avenue, Maplewood Avenue,
Irvington and Parker and then also Springfield Avenue. So if um I can be of assistance on any working committee, I volunteer to do so. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else want to address the township committee?
>> Good evening. Uh Martin Seperly, 152 Parker Avenue. Uh, I'd like to voice my support for the Soma Shuttle Working Group and urge the town uh to partner with South Orange in um discussions
including launching a survey townwide about the need for a shuttle. Um, and have you guys heard of the Swamp Trolley? I have. Now, >> swamp trolley. There's a great video on YouTube from the South Orange uh
historical society. It's an hour long if you have an hour, but it's it's very interesting. This area was built on public transit. Um this area was built before everyone owned a car. We have a long history of public transit. Um that
goes far beyond the the commuter jity service that that the town offers now. Um we have residents of all ages that do not drive. Um, we have middle school students, high school students, seniors, even adults can't drive for medical or
or various reasons. Um, we're a very small town and we we need options to get around. We need options to navigate our town. Um, today I I took a walk. I walked from Mapwood Village all the way to Newark Way and back just to just to get a feel
for it. Um, this is a very walkable town. Um but that's quite a distance and um the workers for example at at the Arty's restaurant they don't they get in on the train NJ Transit they don't have a way to get around um so we need we
need bus service u we need to talk to South Orange because our school system uh is combined with South Orange. We're one town. Um we should treat our transit system as a unified system. Um,
pedestrian infrastructure plays a part, bike lanes play a part, um, buses play a part, uh, but it's all it's all one system and and parking plays a part, too. This is all related. It's it's one connected system. Um, so it's time
Mapwood Township partners with South Orange and and really prioritizes it. Um, there's funding for this. Uh, we don't have to take the full burden of the funding. Um, there's federal grants. Um, it's all on the table, but it's a matter of prioritizing it and um
and walking in our residents shoes. I I would urge all of you to to spend a day, spend a week without driving. Um because a lot of our residents do not drive and and if you're a driver, you do not understand what this town is like uh
when you're not driving. Thank you. >> Is there anyone else who would like to address the township committee on an agenda item? Okay. Uh, is there anyone on Zoom who would like to address the township committee on an agenda item?
>> Anyone joining on Zoom would like to speak in public portion on agenda items, please raise your hand. Moving over Julia Fla to public portion. Welcome Julia. You can unmute yourself and address the committee.
Hi. Um, I'm here on behalf of the Soma Shuttle Working Group. Uh, we are members of both South Orange and Maplewood covering all ages from the Maplewood Youth Advisory Committee to the South Orange Senior Advisory Committee. And we started looking at this back in October. There is a new
grant that's specifically intended for expanding local shuttle services with the goal of reducing personal vehicle trips and congestion, reducing carbon emissions, and improving uh personal mobility. And those are all things that I think we can agree that we want to see
here in town. Um and uh the vision is a joint venture between South Orange and Maplewood to operate a shuttle service on a regular loop schedule similar to the Jity during the daytime to destinations in both South Orange and Maplewood that would
serve teens, seniors, and the general public. Um and there's, you know, a lot of demand for this for youth to be able to get around independently without their parents needing to drive them places. Um and you know we just need to get more people out of cars as we have
our population increasing with development here. Um there's lots of complaints about traffic and this is one of the ways that we can um you know one of the solutions that we can offer and um so we're you know we'd like to keep
moving forward with exploring this opportunity and we've been working on a survey to gauge um you know to show the demand and help develop the proposal um and just hope that you you know both towns will continue to partner with us on this. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there anyone else on Zoom? >> Yes. Now moving over Deb Angel to panelist. >> Welcome to public portion. Miss Angel. You may address the township committee. >> Hi everybody. Deb Angel, 29 Schaefer
Road. I am um speaking in support of the Soma Shuttle. Um, this is something that came out of the youth advisory committee, I believe, last spring and we brought it to the engineering planning and public works committee. Um, and I understand that there were challenges
um, in regards to expanding jitney service. We were talking about mostly in the afternoon hours before the commuting time begins. We were also were talking about loops around the town to key areas. Um, and uh, I appreciate um, Miss Fla for starting this working group
between the two towns. And I guess my ask is to maybe formalize a working group between Maplewood and South Orange and have representatives from Maplewood Township Committee as well as South Orange on it so that we can work through some of the challenges similar to what we did with the um bike lanes group
working group um so that we can work through some of the challenges and hopefully get something done. Um, I think that we all have a shared vision of reducing traffic on our roads and making it safer for our pedestrians to be able to move around and increasing
public transportation and a way for uh all residents of Maplewood to move around safely um with these SOM shuttles would be of help to that mission. So, thank you so much for your time and all the work that you do. >> Thank you.
>> I see no other hands, mayor. Okay, we will close the first public comment period and u again there'll be a second public comment period on any item and that will come at the end of the meeting. >> All right, now we're going to move to uh
ordinances on final passage. >> Mr. Mayor, if you might indulge me, um before we uh entertain any of our ordinances for final passage this evening, I have a resolution for the township committee's consideration,
if I may. Um, in light of our moving forward tonight, not just uh on Dehart Park important improvement, but also in light of our recognizing that we are going to be making a lot of improvements to our
parks and our fields uh in the long term in Maplewood. We've committed that to the community. Um and we're also understand that for those improvements to be sustainable and successful, we are committing to uh management of parks and
fields um and a wholesome uh maintenance plan uh for for all. Uh, I would move a resolution tonight that the township committee commits to uh
hiring a part-time this year field manager uh to oversee to begin looking in into parks improvements and field maintenance um and seeing where that takes us next year and beyond. Uh subject of course to
our budget being able I >> understand. I understand what you're trying to do. So, you move that as a motion. >> I'm moving it as a res as a motion for resol We could do a resolution, right? >> Yeah. Um, we could do certainly a motion
if it gets a second and it passes. Yes. I'm not sure about the order here because we have not um you know we have this scheduled for ordinances now not resolutions but I do understand your your your point. Um well let me ask is there a second to
that resolution? >> I second the resolution but I would um be more in favor of a full-time position uh if the budget allows next year. >> Yeah. Well, there's no there's no resolution that we can make this year that will
>> bind next year. This is for this year. >> You're as I understood it, you're looking to do something this year. >> Yes. >> And um I guess the the So that's that is the motion. Is is there an issue interest in
in making sure that we have a field manager for 2026? Correct. >> Yes, that's the motion. >> Second for that. >> I second that. Um, could I also ask our administrator, is this something that we
could uh do in our budget this year? >> I go ahead. >> Yes, I I expect it is. We have some relief in the Department of Community Services because there are some positions that are unfilled so far this year and that gives us some relief in our salary wage line. So for a for a
part-time seasonal person, I we can absorb this in our in the existing budget that has been introduced and is to be considered for final adoption. >> And so this would um you know without encumbering future township committees, this would give us an opportunity to see
how this kind of a position would work um and put us in the best possible position, you know, for for putting this kind of investment into um our fields. >> Yes. So what Just to be clear, if this motion was to pass, there'd be no cost associated with
this because it could be covered by the existing um for 2026 by the existing allocation to the Department of Community Services. >> That's right. We wouldn't have to increase the salary wage line at all. And can I ask also um if you've spoken
with the uh department heads I think the relevant ones would be community services and uh DPW to ascertain their um their thoughts on this position. I the there was a job description that was circulated to all of us uh that I quite
liked. So um I'm interested in in their feedback. Yeah, we've had conversations with the director of the department of community services and with the uh or township engineer and director of public works. Both of them are in in favor of the position thinks it would benefit
both departments though it would be uh the role would be in community services and they would certainly welcome this support. >> So if I could just um you you sent us a memo on April 17th, Mr. Weary. Okay. So if I just go to that you talk about
field manager job description. The creation of position specific to field management isn't is an early concept is in early concept for discussion. If the position was created uh it would likely be implemented in 2027. So it's possible that we could do that earlier. You did
say that um with part-time seasonal staff and the current 2026 budget, it could happen this year and the position and job description were developed in part through conversations with South Orange to understand their operation in areas they find success. Okay.
>> Yeah. So this >> so there's nothing inconsistent with your memo with the resolution as all this in discussions that we've had in depth and ongoing since the last township committee meeting. >> Right. Okay. So, as I understand it, there's been a a resolution made and
seconded that um we direct the uh department uh the department of community uh services and the township administrator to um engage a field manager for 2026. >> And Dean, you said part-time, right? You
said part-time. >> Well, I think it's whatever the whatever whatever's I mean whatever the budget can handle, right? >> There you go. Yeah. Yeah. I was trying >> I think if we direct them to do that >> they'll hire somebody based on what's available and what the need is. >> Yeah. >> And why are we taking this like out of
order before uh we get to is it connected in your mind Mr. Davis to the um bond ordinance that we're about to vote on? >> It is but I wanted not to condition place conditions on the >> certainly can't. Right. >> Right. So this is why I'm doing it this
way and it would apply to all of our fields and parks. >> So it wouldn't be just about the heart, >> right? >> And just to be very clear that this person would be um a management person uh field management person and would work in the department of community
services. >> Yes. >> Not in the department of public works. >> Correct. Okay. >> Any further discussion? Please call the role on the motion. Miss Adams, >> I'm not necessarily opposed, but I don't
like the process here, so I'm going to vote no. >> Molding, >> yes. >> Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> M. Herman, >> yes. Mayor Duca, >> yes. Thank you. Okay, we're going to move now to the ordinance on final passage. So before we uh read the
ordinance, um I just want to uh inform the community of of what we've done. So this ordinance for the bond came up two weeks ago and there was a feeling that we were it was not ripe for action at the time. So we um carried the item to
from the April 7th meeting and Miss Credio, that's perfectly legal to do that. We had a vote to carry it to tonight and tonight we're able to have the public hearing and the and the final vote. Is that correct? >> Yes, mayor. That's correct. >> Okay. So, um in the interim in the two
weeks, it's actually has been beneficial because it has given us time to really um get a number of reports and and dig into those reports. One of which is the Deart Athletic Field and Maintenance Plan. And we have a picture of that, Mr. Weary, we can put up. >> Yeah,
>> let me bring Um, and this is something that's on the website and it was prepared by our consultants VHB. Um, and I would urge you it it is fairly detailed. It's about 45 pages. Um, you can find it if you if the best thing to
do because it's a little hard to do. It's under resident and all that, but you can go into the search and just hit the Deart Park maintenance and management plan. It'll take you here. It um has a number of uh you know various suggested activities broken up by
months. It talks about the fields um and it's very good. So it talks about maintenance and maintenance is primarily the responsibility of the department of public works and then it also talks about management and management is primarily responsibility of the department of community services. So
this report is is going to be used by both of those departments to to move forward. Um, additionally, you'll find on that uh on the website a storm water management plan and a report and that um after taking a look at that, our
consultants from VHB have found that the field rehabilitation will not result in any increased runoff to the nearby storm water system and in some conditions will result in decreased runoff. And what we saw earlier with the storm with the MS 4
and storm water inventory is we're actually creating some of those retention pipes underneath the field. So some of that those pipes will be larger, be able to retain that water and then uh empty that water out. Uh there was also a uh an assessment of the cost of the
new uh field and um right now we we um are spending somewhere in the vicinity of $72,000 on that field. That includes everything from grass cutting to fertilizing, irration, seeding, um watering, things
like that. So, uh, the estimate for the new field will be about $43,000 more a year, 116,000. Um, the question of who's going to maintain that, um, it's going to be a combination of DPW and contracted work.
For example, we do contracted work. Now, we contract all of our large fields for grass cutting. The T the DPW does not do grass cutting. We hire a firm. In fact, there's a resolution tonight on the agenda about hiring a firm to do grass cutting. So, the grass cutting will be
done by a private firm and we will likely have more private firms do things like fertilizing, aerration, seeding, um all the things that that we're talking about and DPW will supplement that work. We are looking as I mentioned before about the segregation of
responsibilities but also the coordination of responsibilities and I think what we talked about with this field management person is a way in which we can um build that communication between the various departments and um I for one would be some would if if I'm
here for in 2027 would be um interested in looking at that uh carrying that in the 2027 budget and agree that we we can move forward with here. Uh the good news is that we received on April April 14th, we received nine uh construction bids
for this project. Um those bids cannot be awarded until um the end of May because we need a 20-day if if this ordinance is passed tonight, there's 20 days. It's an estoppable period uh in
case the citizens want to file a petition to to um overturn the the uh ordinance. uh if it if it moves forward we have 20 days that'll bring us to um I think it's May 19th is our me second meeting in uh in May and um at that time
we can award the contract and then be on track for the end of June beginning of July to start the work. So we're we're fairly close to where we want to be if we adopt this tonight. Just on those bids, we're very happy. Um we had estimated bids at around 2.8 8 and the
the uh the bids we received came in at just over 2 million to 3.2 million. So, um our engineers and professionals are looking at those bids and they'll be recommendations and as I said, we'll have plenty of time to to vet those bids
and vet those contractors because we won't be doing this until May. So, that's where we are tonight. Um some people have said we voted things down. Nothing was voted down. We just carried it to tonight. We've gotten a lot more information. We've pushed the information out. We have the information
on our website. Um, we urge you to take a look at it. We're very serious about this. We're changing the orientation of the plan. Uh, the we're changing from a sand base to a sorry, from a soil base to a sand base, building two fields. We've talked about and you do we have
those pictures of the field resting. We've talked about the ability now with two regulation high school fields to rest the fields a little bit. So you can see we'll have a field A, field B. There will be times when there'll be games going on on both of those fields. And
there'll be times when field A will be open and field B will be resting for an organized sports game. Doesn't mean that you can't go out there with your child and kick the ball around or throw a Frisbee. You'll be able to do that on field B, but you won't have an organized game. And then there'll be times when
field B will be operating and field A will be uh resting. So that's what we're going to be doing. We're going to be managing it. uh because we're we're going to be making this field um a really good field and we're going to do it right this time. >> I'd like to compliment Director Manuso
on the leaf resting. >> There you go. >> Okay. So, with all that, can you uh take us into the bond? >> Uh yes, mayor. It's um ordinance on final passage item 9A bond ordinance
3189-26 bond ordinance providing for the Dehart Park rehabilitation project in and by the township of Mapwood in the county of Essex, New Jersey appropriating $3,150,000
therefore and authorizing the issuance of $3 million in bonds or notes of of the township to finance part of the cost thereof. This ordinance appropriates $3,150,000
for the Dehart Park Rehabilitation Project and authorizes the issuance of $3 million in bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof. >> This ordinance has been published, copies posted. I'm sorry,
>> I keep I got to remember this. This is the new language. This ordinance has been published on the township's website, 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 in the room who would like
to speak on this ordinance? Seeing no one, is there anyone on Zoom who would like to speak on this ordinance? Anyone on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance, please raise your hand. I see no hands. Okay. Uh, >> I I would like to say speak before we
call the role. >> Yeah, we're going to do we have to do the motion. >> All right. Do the motion. >> Then we'll then we'll do the discussion. >> I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to post the same as a past ordinance on the township's website and town hall bulletin board according to the law.
>> Second. Any discussion? Deputy mayor. >> Yes. Thank you, mayor. Thank you for your comments that you made earlier. I want to extend a thank you to our departments who have worked very hard in the um in the maintenance and management plan DPW and also community services.
Please pass that along. Um I think that the plan um I'm really pleased that the plan is on our website so that everybody can see it because transparency is important and we want everyone to be able to see the plan that we are looking at. Um and there have been some changes
that have been made in the last couple of weeks. So, we took it from the draft form to the final form. So, I'm really pleased with where we're at and we're going to be able to use this plan when we go out to bid for um field uh contractors that will will take care of the field. So, that's really important.
Um I'm really pleased with the u management um uh um plans that I've heard from community services and how we're going to um handle this. Um, I think there's still a lot to be worked out, but I think that we can, um,
definitely get there. Um and I want to thank this committee for really um you know this is a this is a big project and this is a lot of money that we are um you know spending on this and for taking this seriously and you know for really
committing that it's not going to be more of the same that we're really going to turn a new page um in the maintenance of our beautiful grass fields in Maplewood. So, I'm really proud of where we're at tonight and of moving forward on this project. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any other discussion? >> I just want to say that um this project, it was a lot of headache, hard work, and I just want to just remind the community that this township came together and made this happen. the thought about all
the comments and everything that uh the the the small group sessions that we had, all the input that the community had, they took that into consideration. They considered it and they met each person halfway and everybody didn't get what they wanted, but we sure got a, you
know, great plan and we put things we put things that we wouldn't have thought about after having the discussion with the township and the community. So this this township really thought and reached all out to get this done. So I I thank the township because I wasn't on the township last year when you guys started
this. So thank you for this. This is excellent. >> It's more than last year, but that's >> I wanted to also add that I was um able to bring this to the recreation advisory committee and so I thank our administrator for um uh um presenting
this to the committee and to engaging with our residents who are on the recreation advisory committee. um because that's important. It's important that we talk to our residents, then we take their um thoughts into consideration and I think that um it makes us it makes the uh report stronger for that.
>> Okay. Any other discussion? Okay, we have a motion moved and seconded for this bond. Please call the role. >> Mr. Adams, >> yes. >> Miss Collins Golding, >> yes. >> Mr. Daffus, >> yes. >> Herman, >> yes. >> Mayor Duca,
>> yes. Okay, we have a another ordinance on final. >> Uh, yes, mayor. Item 9B, ordinance number 3191-26 is an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 79, article one of the code of
the township of Mapwood entitled consumption in public areas to provide for permits related to municipally sponsored events. This ordinance will amend and supplement article one of chapter 79 of the
township code to permit the temporary suspension of the prohibition on public consumption of alcoholic beverages within a defined area and for a limited duration in connection with a
municipally sponsored event. >> This ordinance has been published on the township website. 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 here who would like to
speak on this ordinance? >> Seeing no one, anyone on Zoom? >> If anyone on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance, please raise your hand. >> I see no hands. Mayor, >> thank you. Daffis, can we get a motion? >> Certainly. I move this ordinance to be
adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to post the same as a past ordinance on the township's website and town hall bulletin board according to law. >> I second. >> Any discussion? Uh this is primarily being done so that we could have our
watch party on June 25th for the World Cup. >> I can't wait. It'll be in Maplewood Village. We'll close the street and have a blast. Um, please call the role. >> Miss Adams, >> yes.
>> Miss Collins Golding, >> yes. >> Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Herman, >> yes. >> Mayor Duca, >> yes. Thank you. And we have another ordinance on file. >> Yes, Mayor. We have uh number 9 C,
ordinance number 3192-26. It's an ordinance amending chapter 187 of the code of the township of Mapwood entitled outdoor dining to revise the streetery program fee schedule. This ordinance will amend article three
of chapter 187 of the township code to revise the shredery program fees. This ordinance has been published on the township website, 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 on this ordinance here in the building? Seeing no one, is there anyone online? >> Anyone on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance, please raise your hand. >> I see no hands.
>> Thank you, Tman Davis. Can we get a motion? >> Yes. I move this ordinance to be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to post the same as a past ordinance on the township's website and town hall bulletin board according to law. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mr. Adams,
>> yes. >> Miss Collins Cing, >> yes. >> Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Surman, >> yes. >> Mayor Duga, >> yes. Thank you. And our last ordinance on final. >> Uh, yes. Mayor 9D and it's ordinance number 3193-26
calendar year 2026 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank per NJSA4A 4-45.14. This ordinance has been published on the township website, 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 here who would like to speak on this ordinance? Seeing no one, is there anyone online? >> Anyone on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance, please raise your hand.
>> I see no hands, Mayor. >> Okay. Committeewoman Adams. >> I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole. The clerk be directed to post the same as a past ordinance in the township's website and town hall bulletin board according to law.
>> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mr. Adams? >> Yes. >> M. Collins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Daffis? >> Yes. >> Miss Herman? >> Yes. >> Mayor Duca? >> Yes. And we have an introduction of an
ordinance. >> Yes, mayor. Uh on introduction, item 10A, ordinance number 3194-26 is an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 65 of the code of
the township of Mapwood entitled volunteer incentives. This ordinance will amend and supplement chapter 65 of the township code to include Maplewood residents who volunteer with the South Orange rescue
squad. I move this ordinance to be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to post the same as a past ordinance on the township's website and town hall bulletin board according to law. >> It's not an introduction, mayor. >> No, it's on intro.
>> Oh, my bad. I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading and its publication according to law on the township's website in town hall bulletin board and a hearing to be held on May >> 5th >> 5th. Thank you.
>> Second. >> Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Mr. Adams, >> yes. >> Miss Collins Cing, >> yes. >> Mr. Daffis, >> yes. >> Surman, >> yes. >> Mayor Duca, >> yes. Next we have item 10B, Mayor uh also an
introduction ordinance number 3195-26. It's an ordinance appropriating $680,64 from the open space trust fund to provide for various purposes in and by
the township of Mapwood in the county of Essex, New Jersey. I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading, its publication according to Lana Township's website and town hall bulletin board, and a hearing to be held on May 5th.
>> Second, >> please call the role. >> Miss Adams, >> yes. >> Mr. Collins Cing, >> yes. >> Mr. Daffis, >> yes. >> Mr. Herman, >> yes. >> Mayor Duke, >> yes. Uh, next also on introduction item 10 C,
ordinance number 3196-26, bond ordinance providing for various improvements to the storm water utility in and by the township of Mapwood in the county of Essex, New Jersey, appropriating $736,165. Therefore, and authorizing the issuance
of $736,165 in bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof. I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading, its publication according to law on the township's website and the town hall bulletin board, and a hearing
to be held on May 5th. >> I second. >> Please call the role. >> Mr. Adams, >> yes. >> Miss Collins Cing, >> yes. >> Mr. Daffis, >> yes. >> Herman, >> yes. >> Mayor Duca, >> yes. Thank you. >> Uh, next also on introduction item 10D,
ordinance number 3197-26, bond ordinance providing for various capital improvements in and by the township of Mapwood in the county of Essex, New Jersey, appropriating 5,75,819. Therefore, and authorize authorizing the
issuance of $5,422,000 in bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof. >> Uh before I I move this, just want to point out this is our major capital ordinance of the year, which is just
about $6 million that we'll be allocating. Some of the big uh items here, we'll be putting $500,000 into our roads. Um, that's really going to almost double because we're going to work with New Jersey American Water in partnership
for the roads that they opened up to do some of the lead abatement program. So, that's still being worked out, but you'll see a lot of activity this summer on on the roads and the improvements there. Um, we're also putting uh
$400,000 in for trafficcoming, which is actually a h 100,000 more than we had started out and 150,000 more than we had in last year's budget. So, we do are taking traffic calming very seriously and we've talked with our engineer about
a number of u areas in which we're going to focus on uh in 2026. Um, Prospect Street, we're going to be having a couple of meetings coming up and we're putting in an additional uh $800,000 in there and we've received nearly $1.2
million in state money for that. So, that's going to be a redo of Prospect Street from the Union border to the South Orange border. We're also allocating $250,000 for the Dunell uh bike lanes, Dunell Road bike lanes, and that will will enable us to connect the
Parker Avenue bike lane with the Dunell uh with the train station using Dunell. So, that's an important thing. Maple Terrace drainage improvement, we're putting another couple hundred thousand in there because we've got to get that job done and um and costs are going up. Uh, of course there's always vehicles
and equipment for DPW, our buildings and grounds, building repairs. It's very important that we invest it service. Uh, we've got to, you know, keep up with our, um, our computer systems and our, um, you know, everything, our servers
and switches and and software. And then we're buying two, uh, police hybrid vehicles. Um, that's our policy is to, uh, either buy electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles. And these will be SUV police vehicles which are hybrid. So,
additionally, we're um making investment in some of our fire department buildings uh as part of our relationship with South Orange and the South Essex Fire Department. And this budget includes a cost for a new ambulance. And even though we would be buying it this year,
probably won't be receiving it for a couple years. That's how backed up things are. So, but it's a it's a I think it's a good package. We worked hard in putting it together. I compliment the the township committee and the staff for, you know, working through that capital uh that budget. So,
um with that, I will move it this um I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading and its publication according to law on the township's website and town hall bulletin board and a hearing to be held on May 5th. >> Second. >> Please call the role.
>> Mr. Adams, >> yes. >> Mr. Collins Cing, >> yes. Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Mr. Herman, >> yes. >> Mayor Duke, >> yes. >> And uh also uh the final one on introduction item 10E, ordinance number
3198. It's an ordinance amending chapter 272 of the code of the township of Mapwood entitled zoning review and permits to amend the fees for zoning review. This ordinance will amend fees for
zoning review. >> Mr. Dashes. >> Yes. I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading and its publication according to law on the township's website and town hall bulletin board in a hearing to be held on May 5th. >> Second. >> Please call the role.
>> Miss Adams. >> Yes. >> Miss Collins Cing. >> Yes. >> Mr. Davis? >> Yes. >> M. Herman. >> Yes. >> Mayor Duga. >> Yes. Thank you. We're going to go to administrative reports. Mr. Weary, >> I have no report tonight, ma'am. >> Any questions for Mr. Weary?
>> Why do you have no report? >> Kidding. I don't want an answer to that. >> Mr. Credio, >> I have no report. Mayor, >> we know why you have no report. >> Miss Fritzen, >> I have a report. >> Of course, >> but I'll make it quick.
Uh, yes. Uh, mayor and township committee, I want to report on uh, the election last Thursday, the uh, special general election held on April 16th. Uh, it went smooth. We had um
5,693 uh, votes cast and that's uh, roughly 27% of registered voters in the township. Um my staff again, you know, it's every
election. They're terrific. Everything's well done from uh opening of the polls first thing in the morning as you all know until the results are tallied and sent down to Newark in the evening. So I compliment um certainly my staff, the
deputy township clerk who is here this evening. And um we'll get ready for another one come June 2nd. another election. Uh I just want to uh indicate that we talked about this at the last
meeting. We are going to be moving a polling location for the June 2nd primary. And uh districts 1, three, and six that have voted here in the lobby of town hall will uh be moved and voting uh starting
at the primary um at the um community room at the brand new beautiful Maplewood Library. So, uh there'll be a lot of uh social
media and uh the county will be putting out uh information as well. So, we're excited about it. We wanted to do this and uh we got approved. So, uh voter registration deadlines, these are some important dates coming up
that'll all be on the website. Uh the last day to register to vote is May 12th for uh the June primary and um mail and ballots will be uh going out shortly. Uh well, they're going out.
Uh so it's recommended u to do so online if you're interested in the mail and ballot. And finally, preparing for Memorial Day parade and ceremony. Um, and more information will be out there
very soon. >> Thank you. >> Any questions from Miss Fritzen. >> Okay. Thank you. Reports from elected officials. Uh, committee member Jane Collins Cing. >> Okay. Our art and culture department was
very busy this weekend. uh Yugo and Maxine exhibition film screening screening and conversation was a huge success. We had over 110 people arrive at the woodland for the film and 1978 Earth Day the Garden State week art weekend was a big success as well. We
had three different artists showcased. The community workshop is still on view this weekend, the 25th and 26th from 2 to 5:00 p.m. And we have the Habi Fest on Sunday the 26th from 12:00 p.m. to
5:00 p.m. at the Woodland. And for our arts um not the arts but the our rec department have we have uh the release and the rise manifesting meditation for adults on Thursday April
30th which I think all the committee members need to >> practice I like that 7:30 on the third floor at the woodland so you can sign up at the rec desk and I just wanted to just quickly give a quick
review on all the recreational the spring recreational program that we have coming up or is open now. We have uh new field hockey, the new girls flag football, spring tennis begins uh this
month, adult open um gym basketball, maps basketball spring for the spring, softball, soccer skills and scrimmage, parents and me soccer, parents and me multisports. So we have lots of programs that are open that we can you
can go and sign up for. We have te-balls, we have track and fields, we have squirts teballs. So, please sign up at the rec center. That is my report. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Committeewoman Adams.
>> I just have a reminder for everyone. We have um some public meetings on Zoom. The links are on our website, I believe, for um the redesign and uh plans for Prospect Streets um paving redivi
redesigning that's forthcoming. Uh, one of them is April 28th from 7 to 900 pm and the second one is May May 4th from 7 PM till 900 p.m. So go to the website,
get the link for um for the Zoom and join us for the public hearings so that you can see what the draft plan is and so that uh the township engineer and the township can get uh input from the public as to um especially particularly
those stakeholders who live along Prospect Street. And that's my report. Mayor, >> thank you. Deputy Mayor Herman, >> thank you. All right, y'all. We got just about a month until the pool opens. How many days?
>> Oh, I didn't count. Um, but look, it opens on May 23rd, which is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. And I just want to point out that, um, a lot of pools, well, I don't know a lot, but there are a lot there are pools that open after
Father's Day. And our pool opens on Memorial Day weekend. And this is a conversation I was having with our community services director and you know she pointed this out. We are really lucky. We are a really lucky town that our pool opens on Memorial Day and we get to have more pool and earlier in the
year. So I just want to, you know, make sure everyone appreciates that. And I want to make sure everyone gets their early bird pool fees. You have until June 1st. So you have a whole month. There is no excuse. Um, and I can't believe I'm encouraging you to do this
because this is the lowest price. This is the price we haven't gone this low since 2012. And trust me, I would like more money in our budget. But, um, I want you to get a best the best deal you can do. So, get your early bird price by June 1st so
that you can be ready, um, and enjoy the pool all summer long. Um, I want to tell you a few things that you can enjoy while you're at the pool. You can enjoy 30 new chairs. This is a very exciting thing. People often complain about
chairs. We're gonna have 30 new ones. Okay. We're gonna have 10 new tables. So, those, you know, the tables were kind of like, you know, worn a bit. So, they're going to be brand new. It's very nice. We have a very loud PA system. So, there's been some complaints. People around the pool, they can't hear when
they're going to do like a a deep water test or or whatnot. It's very loud. Trust me. Um, Winchester might get a little upset, but it's a loud PA system. You're going to be able to hear them. Um, our volleyball net is up. The pools have been powerwashed. They are
currently being filled up by our Well, Mhm. This is We're being very sustainable here in Maplewood and saving money. So, um, excited to share that tidbit. We have a ton of staff hired. Interviews are happening for others. We're in good shape. We're working on
the schedule for swim lessons. This is going to be a great summer for our um from our recck committee. Our fields have opened. Play has started. We had a wonderful softball baseball parade this last weekend that we were all at. It was such wonderful coming together both our
t our town and South Orange to celebrate youth sports. Um and as such, I am thrilled to announce that work is starting very soon in Memorial Park and at Maplerest to get our ball fields ready at Maplerest. We're going to be doing a little more work on those fields. They've already have new back
stops. It's looking gorgeous out there. Speaking of Mapler, we're going to be doing groundbreaking out of our new inclusive playground there this week. Very excited about that. And at Bordon Park, the new tennis courts just went in. So guys, this is amazing. You can
enjoy our parks, our pool, all of this good stuff. But this weekend, you know where we're going to be this weekend on Saturday? We're going to be at the Hart Park for our health fair. Yes. This is amazing. the the morning starts off with two classes. There's a learn to ride
class and a safe bike skills class. These are being done by Easy Ride and they are both unfortunately they're both booked up. So, there is a lot of interest and we're very excited that they are booked up and we are looking to bring Easy Easy Ride back to um offer these again because this was so popular.
Um, but there is, um, on our website and on our socials, the community health fair, um, there's a QR code and a an email to Easy Ride if you want to get more information about their classes. But, um, lot of great things coming up and I hope to see you out and about.
>> Great. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Daff, before you go, would you make a motion to go beyond 9:30? >> I move that we extend our meeting beyond 9:30. >> Second, >> Miss Adams, >> yes. >> M. Collins Golding. >> Yes. >> Mr. Daffis, >> yes. >> Herman, >> yes.
>> Mayor Duca, >> yes. Thank you, Mr. Daffis. Your report. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I have a couple items. Um, I have an update as it relates to the reinstall of our rainbow crosswalk
uh at the corner there. Uh, the crosswalk at Valley and Oak View, which has become a landmark for Maplewood all these years. Um, as everyone knows, all of the intersections along Valley from South Orange to Maplewood, uh, were part
of a federal program, road program. The county has used federal dollars to come in and make improvements. Um, those improvements are ongoing. Not all the intersections are complete. And uh while we were hoping to reinstall the
crosswalk before Pride this June after a recent meeting with the county, I think um we're going to have to push that back a little bit. Uh but not by far. The county says that um there is an inspection that needs to be done by
federal officials before they can u let us do whatever it is that we want to do. and they strong and they think that that uh inspection is going to happen in late July. They don't have an exact date, but it's not going to be until July, possibly late July. Uh they do not
recommend because this is a federal funded project to uh put in a rainbow there, not with this federal administration and how they feel about the LGBTQ community. Um, of course, we are we could do whatever we want, but they don't recommend it. I certainly
don't recommend it. So, we have two options. Well, three options. One, we can move forward notwithstanding that advice. I don't think anyone on this committee is going to do is going to vote in favor of that. Two, we could um wait until after
the inspection and possibly uh you know, aim to reinstall it and have a big community event in September when everyone is back to school and back from vacations. I recommend that approach. The third option is to
reconsider location entirely to a um to another place. Uh one other possible location to keep it very central in town as this intersection currently is is to paint a rainbow uh on Oak View um
leading into Denell. Um that's an option. Me personally, I want to keep what we have as a landmark as it always has been, but I'm going to open it up for discussion to the township committee. >> When do we have to decide this?
>> Tonight. >> We do. >> If I mean >> because you're looking to have this done if we if we were to have the other if we if it's on Oak View, will it be done before? >> Oh, if we do it on Oak View, um we can do that now. like we can move forward
now because that is not a f it's not part of the federal project, >> right? Are we trying to get this done before Pridefest? >> Well, that was the intent, but we celebrate we can celebrate Pride all year long and we could do something in September. >> And do we have an absolute
um a clear direction from the county that they'll let us do this after it's done? Yes, the county has said that after the inspection is over, they will allow us to do whatever we want to do there. Um, including putting in reinstalling the
rainbow crosswalk. >> Could we use um washable chalk on the crosswalk for for pride? Like, you know, um maybe as a temporary installation. >> Yeah. Could we could we save that question for later? Let's focus on the the question of what we want to do. Yeah, >> because
>> so does anybody want to move forward on Oak View and Valley right now? >> If the C No, if because my position is the C if the county is absolutely sure that they will defend it, not only allow us, but to defend it
because with this administration, they're going to try to claw back money, potentially claw back money, right? >> So, if they're willing to do that, then I absolutely agree with you. It's best to put it there. Right. So, wait until after the federal inspection. Right. >> Yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wait for
sure. Yeah. Right. >> I agree. I don't think it's worth rushing just to get it done in time for pry. We could do something else, but this is more impactful as >> Yeah. It's a superficial deadline to get it done by June, right? Anyone else? >> Yeah, that was my opinion as well. What
Miss Adams said is, you know, let's wait and be safe and we can try and do something else um for Pride. There'll be a lot of opport pride events that we're planning. So, okay, let me move on. Um, a our community board on police, fingers
crossed, will be going on the road all the way down to the League of Municipalities hopefully. Um, there's some interest. Um, the attorney general's office is looking to put out some guidance to municipalities to create community boards on police like
we have. Maplewood is quite a model for suburban communities. Um, and we had engaged the attorney general's office to come to Maplewood and meet with us during our retreat. But what has been recommended is to have a wider audience
and the league is a great place to meet with other municipalities and law enforcement officials. And uh earlier today, I placed a uh a request to be on one of the sessions um this upcoming League of Municipalities in November. Uh
we shall find out after Friday during their last planning meeting whether or not we're going to get one of those sessions. So fingers crossed about that. I have a public safety item that I hope members uh of the township committee who are liaison to the south Essex Fire
Department will bring to their attention next week when they meet next. Um, I've gotten a couple emails from residents at the Gaslight uh Commons building in South Orange, including from my own mother-in-law,
uh, about very frequent fire false fire alarms at that property. Um, like literally every month and some months it's twice a month. Um, and my question
to our department is what sort of jurisdiction do we have to engage with the management company that runs that property or any property in our town as well as it relates to fire safety infrastructure and so on and so forth.
Certainly, every time the fire alarm goes off, we're required to respond. That's a lot of town resources uh that we're putting there. Um, and I don't know what the law is in New Jersey, but certainly in New York City, uh, you are
fined thousands of dollars every day every time a fa a false alarm happens and you have to go before a judge and explain yourself. Um, so I don't know if there's a if mayor, if you have any idea what >> what power we have. >> Yeah, we could certainly bring it back.
I I'm not sure because each town is responsible for fire their own fire official. What do you think is and each I'm sorry each town also has a false alarm ordinance. We have an ordinance false alarm with penalties and
I'm sure South Orange does too. >> I think it will be in the code of the respective municipality. >> Yeah. So let's we'll bring it back and then we'll have that discussion at at SCFD. >> Right. So um that particular building has a lot of seniors. Um and the second
point that I want to raise for the department is their process with um residents who need to be rescued who are immobile or have mobility issues. Um I have followed the process. I have spoken to the chief and the deputy chief on
many occasions. I have on the phone and by email registered my mother-in-law who uses a wheelchair. Um, and there's a process uh by which people like her are rescued by fire personnel during alarms or during
evacuations. Uh, but again, on more than one occasion, she and many others like her have wheeled themselves into the hallway and they just sit there and wait for someone to come or to go up in a fire
not knowing what's happening. And I just think that we should figure out what that registration process is and what the followup is and make it clear and make sure that it works each time. >> Okay, >> clear. >> Great. Um, and then lastly, I want to
say that I had the opportunity to participate in a panel that several uh statewide groups uh advocacy groups put together recently in response to the Supreme Court's decision uh out of a Colorado case uh involving uh a
Christian counselor asserting her rights uh to um talk to their youth client about conversion therapy. The Supreme Court found Colorado's ban uh against conversion therapy unconstitutional
and calls into question therefore 26 other states that have similar bans like New Jerseys. Um, I'm engaged in advocacy with uh experts and other stakeholders to tighten up New Jersey's law uh
because it is very alarming that this long since discredited harmful practice uh is resurging again. And I just remind everybody that even the strongest laws against this do not apply to members of
the clergy who participate in conversion therapy um outside of sort of the medical arena. Conversion therapy is abuse. It is not therapy. I'm a survivor of it. Whether it's just talk therapy or
physical abuse by way of medical treatments, injections, or electroshock therapy, it has lifelong effects and it has taken too many lives to suicide. And we must all stand against this and do whatever we can um
to ensure that we protect our youth from it. And to that end, I highlight an upcoming opportunity to engage on this issue and all issues of uh our youth's health and wellness. The New Jersey Advisory Commission on Advancing LGBTQIA
plus Youth Equity and Inclusion in Schools is having its first open public meeting outside of Trenton on Monday, May 4th at um Essex County Branch Brook Park. Uh 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. I will
be forwarding uh information in social media on how to register for that. And it's the first time that the advisory board, it's a statewide advisory board, is appearing outside of Trenton. And Essex County, no surprise, being inclusive, is the first county to welcome them um to offer public
engagement. That is my report. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh a few things I have. This Saturday we have a river cleanup and that is happening over at the um >> Thank you for
>> and it's happening at the river, believe it or not. And there'll be two two areas. One at the civic house on Dunell Road and the second will be at the uh student parking lot. Additionally, at the student parking lot on Parker, the
um Girl Scouts will be doing a cleanup and planting there at starting at 8 am. So, you can go spend your entire morning there if you'd like. Uh also that Saturday morning at 8 a.m., as I mentioned before, we'll be giving away tree samplings.
Gez, I'm losing it here. three saplings uh to the first how many ever come in. I don't remember how many they give out. They give out quite a few. So um and you just drive in, we give you the saplings. So uh tomorrow we're going to be cutting a ribbon at Winchester Gardens uh for
their uh one of their phases of work and um they're going to be announcing some exciting things going on this Sunday at Bordon Park. There'll be a fix a flat workshop for bikes from 11 to 12. And then at 12:00 we will cut the ribbon for
the Parker Avenue bike lane. And just a couple other items. Um we uh have been working over the last couple years with the uh steam tank folks over at Maplewood Middle School.
These are the kids who did the gate to help with the traffic control. And this year they took on a no idolling project and we provided them with an electronic sign and um they've reported today that
there has been a 30% decrease in cars idling around the middle school. >> That's great. >> And they've asked us to um we told them we'd keep the sign for a month, but they've asked us to keep it to May 20th. So if you could forward that to Mr. Kitner, I think I think it's well worth
it. They're they're they're showing real results here and I think it would be good if we could we could do that. And lastly, I brought up a few weeks ago um the problem um of mail service and the complaints we're getting from the community. So, I did speak to Senator
Booker's office and they did contact uh the post office and I don't know about you, but my mail has been coming >> earlier and every day. So, it is uh it's it's been good. And I've spoken to some of the folks who uh had experienced some
problems and they say it's much better. And the the response we got from uh the post office was that they did uh route inspections and they've um made adjustments to schedules to improve delivery services uh so that carriers um
are reporting back before 7 p.m. and no mail is being returned to the office delayed and um they'll continue to monitor for accurate mail delivery. So great. >> Thank you, Senator Booker's office for uh helping us out on that.
>> All right. Um now we're going to move into the discussion items. We have three. The first is the 2026 sewer fee, and this is for the sanitary sewer. This is a um a fee that we charge every year,
and this goes to support the joint meeting. And that's the where our trunk lines go to Elizabeth. And that's where the the the sewage is treated and then um sent out into the waterways. And the finance committee has looked at the uh
the current fee and Mr. Weary, what are we going to be proposing? >> So there's three portions that make up the the sewer billing in Maplewood. The first is the rate per dwelling unit which covers the annual cost of the
bills we receive from the joint meeting of Essex and Union County. Then there are two capital lines. Uh the capital for improvements made by the joint meeting that they then bill to us uh separately and capital improvements made by the township that we either fund
through our operating budget or borrow money for. So currently the the most recent established rates were established in 2024. It was uh $224 per dwelling unit for the joint meetings annual bill. $37
per for joint meetings capital improvements and $40 per for the Maplewood capital improvements. So residents receiving a bill received a total bill of $31. The proposal discussed at the finance committee was to increase the rates in 2026 to reflect
increases in the um in the annual bill we received from the joint meeting that has gone up 4.86% from 2024 through 2026 and increase the Maplewood capital improvement by the the
percentage that aligns with the increase in our capital budget for those years. So that's a a total from 24 to 26 of 6.45%. If adopted, that would increase the rates for the um joint meeting annual
bill from 224 to 235. The capital improvement would stay the same at $37. We haven't had a new assessment on those, although I'll have a recommendation in a moment. And the the capital improvement for Maplewood would increase from $40 to $42.60. 60.
The total bill would increase from $31 to $31460. The And then regarding the recommendation, I I do suggest and we had discussed in the finance subcommittee taking time this year to look at all of the fees that are collected um from our sewer billing and
do a true up for the annual costs coming out of it. We've been making increases on a percentage which will track well uh against actuals but the sewer billing doesn't run as a utility. So each year we don't exactly balance our revenues um and our costs because they're kind of
buried into our operating budget. However, you know, from time to time it is a good idea to evaluate everything coming in and going out and making sure that they are uh true. And so I'd recommend we take on that effort this year. So the immediate proposal is to go
from $31 one $31 per year to 314 you said >> 60 >> 60 and the bulk of that increase would go to the joint meeting not the township. Is that correct? >> That's right. 235 of that goes to the joint meeting. Well actually 235 plus
the $37. So yes, the the majority of it to the joint meeting. >> Right. Okay. Um what's the the I think the finance committee was um in in recommending that. So are we okay to put that on for Okay, very good.
>> Can you explain to everyone what the joint meeting is? Yeah. So, it's a joint meeting of Essex and Union County. And actually, there um we have commissioners who serve from the township committee on that board who probably know more about the day-to-day, but generally it is a
it's municipalities that have joined together to collect and treat waste water from those municipalities. And so, they they collect they have trunks that collect sewage in Maplewood that they own are completely and entirely their responsibility at points, right? So it's
not on every road but some common areas they have trunks that collect our sewage. The sewage flows to the joint meeting where it is treated so that they can then you know pump it out as as clean water is that's the short of it. >> That's the short of it.
>> Yeah. There are there are 11 municipalities and it was actually started by a Maplewood South Orange person uh elected official before Maplewood existed early 1900s and most of the sewers that exist in Maplewood
these are the things these are the ones that run down the center of the street not the ones on the side the curb that's the storm >> storm water >> so when you look at those manholes in the or those maintenance holes uh in the center of the road. That's your sanitary line. >> Yeah.
>> And most of the pipes we have, we own. Those are on our streets. But then there are large trunk lines that go down things like Bdon Avenue and some of the bigger roads and they go out to um the joint meeting which is in Elizabeth. And all this is a gravity system
>> that flows out to that >> and it's >> and it's treated there 24 hours a day, 365 days. there's tremendous redundancy because the alternative to treating it is just to put the raw sewage out into
the river and the bay and the ocean. So the it's it's a fairly expensive process. And if you're ever been on the joint meeting, you just sit there and approve purchase order after purchase order purchase order >> for the weirdest things that you could
ever imagine being named all >> and you hear the word sludge a lot >> all the time. Yeah. >> So that's what it is. It's every time we we do our wash, we flush a toilet, we empty our our sink, >> that all goes out to that system. It's a
closed system and it goes to uh Elizabeth. >> And there's lots of different vets >> and that's what our that's what the majority of our sewer fees go toward. >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And it's always just getting more and more expensive. I mean, it's a massive operation. I don't know if any of you have been to visit. It's pretty
impressive. >> And Mr. Weary mentioned the capital portion. When the joint meeting does a capital improvement, it then gets spread out to each town, each of those 11 towns based on uh users. >> Yeah. >> Each town gets assessed by users.
>> I'll just say as the one serving on the joint meeting right now, they have had uh several projects, capital projects that have been um flood mitigation, environment related, and um And you can
take a tour. It's you just It's a little smelly, but >> it's a pretty cool place. >> Interesting tour. >> It's a pretty cool place. Yeah. >> Yeah. And we have a great director right now. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um so we're going to move ahead at
the next meeting, introduction of that ordinance for the new sewer rate. Uh commercial property assessed clean energy. That's CPACE. Uh this is a program that the state operates and um it is it was discussed at the sustainable maplewood meeting and we had
a a representative from the uh economic development authority. They're the entity that runs this and this is to allow uh commercial properties to engage uh or to undertake uh environmentally related um projects, clean energy
resilience. Um and then what they do is they go out to the private market and borrow money to make these improvements and um the town actually collects the payments through an through the assessment through our tax collector. So
we've had meetings with um representatives from EDA and our tax assessor, representatives of EDA and our tax collector. We've talked about in finance a couple times. There is an ordinance which is a standard ordinance that our attorney has um mapleized it,
maplewoodized it, I guess. Um in any event, uh we would like to put this ordinance forward. Um this is a voluntary program if um again it's for commercial properties. It can be for apartment buildings, anyone who wants to
do an energy efficiency. So it could be new boilers. Uh it could be retrofitting windows. It could be a lot of different things. Uh and um I think even solar. So there's a lot of different things that it can do. Uh and it um and the rates actually get a
little better than if you go out to the just a strictly private market because the lending institutions feel comfortable because the town is collecting the money and if there's a default, we can do a lean on the property and all that. So there's a lot of protection for a lending institution.
So, they generally loan this at a little bit lower than just going out to the market. >> And it's like it's a no-brainer because it's encouraging green um structures, green um you know, initiatives being part of
of a development project or some anything like that. And it doesn't other than some administrative, it's not really a cost to the township at all. >> Right. So if we're >> mayor to clarify on that point to the extent that special assessment is not
paid the municipality is not required to pay over any funds it doesn't receive >> we're just going through the process which is a little different from if we issue debt that's secured by special assessments but you know we have no exposure for unpaid special assessment right >> and we can charge a fee up to I think
$5,000 um >> for administration >> for administration for to cover our costs. >> Yeah. So if we're okay with that, we'll move it put it on for next meeting. >> Yeah, I heard I heard the presentation in sustainable and I think this is a great program for our >> town. Really? >> All right. So that's another thing we're
going to have on for next meeting. >> Uh lastly, the um request for the Soma Shuttle Working Group. So um there's a there was a uh I guess a a worksheet that was put forth. Um I had not seen this until about a little over a week
ago. And then I met with Mr. Weary and and we talked about um how to move this forward. There was some question of whether the two towns should have a presentation, but that does create issues, logistical issues. It's you have to have open public meetings. You have
to have it both clerks there and all this stuff. So we our suggestion is to uh Mr. Weary and myself and I also spoke to Deputy Mayor Herman on this. Uh our suggestion is to um have them come to our meeting. Uh what I would suggest, we
have a lot of a few things coming up in our next couple of meetings. We have budgets and we've got affordable housing issues that are going to be addressed. So I would suggest we invite them for to the June 3 meeting. Ask them ask the working group to provide us with a
revised proposal. This proposal I think is a bit old. a revised proposal by May 15th, which we can then uh circulate to our professionals. I think we would want to have our engineers take a look at this um our attorneys to make sure what
questions we might uh generate and then have them come in to make a presentation on June 3 so that we could hear what they have to say um what what funding we heard potential funding and then we can
um ask questions based on our own uh information that we've uh gleaned from this and also what we've received from our uh professionals. So, if that's okay, we will do that on June 3rd. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> And follow that schedule.
>> Okay. Uh Committee Adams, consent agenda. >> Yes, Mayor. I move the consent agenda for passage. >> I second that. >> Okay. Any discussion? I guess not. Call the RO. >> Miss Adams? >> Yes.
>> M Collins Colding? Yes, >> Mr. Dus. >> Yes, >> Turman. Yes, Mayor Duga. >> Yes. Thank you. And now we're at our public comment on any subject matter. I believe someone's here to speak to us. I live on Hickory Drive in Maplewood and
I resid >> Excuse me. Can I ask you to speak into the mic? There you go. Perfect. >> Start again or not? >> No, go ahead. We got you. >> Okay. Thanks. Um, so there are a number of us who are requesting that you develop guidelines for short-term
rentals like Airbnb, VRBO, Furnish Finders, and we'd like you to do that as soon as possible. The World Cup is coming to New Jersey in June, and Maplewood needs to be prepared. As you may know, there are several houses within our community that are being used as short-term rental
properties. Due to the nature of short-term rentals, people move in and out of these homes with great frequency and neighborhoods are left concerned about their quality of life, noise, safety for our ch our children and ourselves. At this time, Maplewood has an ordinance for rentals that includes
property inspection prior to renting, fees, regulations, registration of landlords and tenants, etc. And um I just gave Miss Fritzen a copy of this and it's referencing the Maplewood, New Jersey code, chapter 2092039. This ordinance does not specify
short-term or long-term definitions. Other towns, such as Bradley Beach, have assigned the short-term rental issue by requiring the homeowner to report all short-term renters to the town. Some towns impose a fee per rental day. Town
inspectors are sometimes asked to monitor homes as required for long-term property rentals. 30-day minimum stays or abolishing short-term rentals altogether. Please refer to hudson countyview.com March 13, 2022. Carne bans Airbnb and
other short-term rentals ahead of the 2026 World Cup. We appreciate you providing us with feedback about this pressing issue. Please reach out to us if you would like any further input or information. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you. So just so the process so I it's a little close because the you know the World Cup starts on on June 11th. There aren't really games here until July. It's it's would be a little tight to get us to adopt something before
then. And I'm not sure because we we'd have to bring so what we'll do is we'll refer this to the code committee. So the code committee will meet in May and then they'll take a look and you know we'll have to look at some of these ordinance. It it takes a little time to figure out whether or not it makes sense for us.
Some of them are different you know shore towns. Bradley Beach is a shore town. Um so >> but am I allowed to >> Yeah, you can you can respond. >> Just in the mic though you keep >> West Orange has codes for short-term rentals. Milbour has them. Short Hills has them. I mean,
>> so we'll take a look at those has them. So, >> yeah, >> we'd like the same. >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Anyone else want to address the township in the room here? >> Mr. Weary. >> If anyone joining on Zoom would like to
speak in public portion, please raise your hand. Now, I see two hands. Moving Julia Flath to panelist. Welcome, Miss Flat. You may address the committee. >> Hi. Um,
so I heard what you said about the June 3 meeting. Um, and I guess I'm just one, you know, wondering a little bit more what this process would look like because it's not all going to be figured out in, you know, township committee
meetings, right? So, um, is there a point where, you know, there's opportunity to kind of hash things out in more detailed discussions? Um, because that's, you know, there's there's kind of
presenting the general idea and and then and figuring out how to proceed and then there's, you know, going to be a lot of more detailed discussions about how to how to move forward with it. >> Yeah. So, I I'm thinking that we would
uh hear the presentation, sort of take a poll of the a straw poll of the township committee about the interest in furthering the conversation, uh seeing where South Orange is at that time, and then maybe setting up a working group as that was I think you
suggested putting together a working group of both towns. But I think we need to see what our interest is first. Um, and what resources we have, what questions we might have, um, how it might impact services we're providing.
Those are things that I think we need to hear from our professionals. So, getting an updated proposal from you or report from you would be helpful. And then hearing from you and being able to do a little bit of give and take here. Um my
my assumption and I you know is that we probably will want to have more conversation past June 3rd. How that gets put out, we don't I'm not sure yet. I think that'll be part of what we'll talk about on June 3rd. >> Okay.
Thank you. >> Moving over Ben Vatitali to panelist. Welcome, Ben. You may unmute yourself and address the committee. >> Thank you. That's so freaky when I disconnect and reconnect when you move me over.
>> Last time we did that, I missed like seven really important words. I still don't know what was said, but someday I'll follow up about that. Anyway, nice to see you all. Thanks for all your great work. Many things I could talk about, but I just wanted to spend 25
seconds tonight speaking in favor of this idea of a shuttle between our two towns. I think that's a great idea. I hope you look into it. I don't know if it's possible, but I know if it is, you guys will work hard to make it happen. Um, I would use this shuttle. I'd pay
good money to use it. I'd pay taxes, extra taxes to help make it happen. Um, I travel between these towns almost every day, just like many people. I'm sure you know that. I mostly ride my bike actually because we only have one
car and let's face it, let's be honest, it's my wife's car. So, um, yeah, it would be really useful. My kid would use it, too. Most half the time I'm using my car, it's to taxi my kid around. So, um, it'd be great.
>> Thanks a lot. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> If anyone else joining on Zoom would like to speak in public portion, please raise your hand. >> I see no hands. Mayor. >> Okay. Can we get a motion to adjourn and
reconvene on May 5th? >> Move. >> Second. >> Call the RO. >> Mr. Adams? >> Yes. >> Collins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Davis? >> Yes. >> Herman? >> Yes. >> Mayor Duca? >> Yes. Thank you. Good night.