##VIDEO ID:CGKGPLIJzAI## e e e e e e e e evening everyone in accordance with Section Five of the open public meetings act be advised that a notice of this meeting was made by posting on the bulletin board in town hall and forwarding to the officially designated newspapers that this meeting would take place at Town Hall at 7 p.m. on Tuesday December 17 2024 meeting details and the draft agenda were also posted on our Township website please stand to salute the flag [Music] may I have a roll call vote Please Mr here M here mayor second here Mr pres mayor Rano here may have a motion to approve the agenda may have a second all those in favor it is so as many of you know tonight is committee women prases last meeting um so uh we've had our moments through the years we've disagreed on a lot um but I just want to tell you that um you you've been an excellent friend and um you've done a great job um during your tenure on the township committee six years including ining your time as mayor and um I want I want to thank you so just a couple of Tara's accomplishments you stepped up as a leader during Hurricane Ida by supporting both the township and our residents efforts in the recovery process you helped organize and start Tour to Milburn which is still going strong uh four years later you initiated and championed the Downtown Vision plan and several goals have already been implemented Z changes that have been made to make the process a bit easier for businesses that want to join our Township uh Taylor Park Gateway study that's currently um underway working on it for 2025 and you've advocated for the creation of the public safety Advisory Board and more um so again I just want to thank you for your service and your commitment to the residents um of this town and the township thank you when you go to Vermont with your new swag okay okay may I have a motion to approve the December 3rd 20204 regular Township committee minutes so may I have a second second all those in favor right may have a motion to approve the December 3rd 2024 special Township committee minutes so I have a second second all those in favor okay okay uh Chief Gil feder you have some uh hires for us today hello uh I would just like to thank the committee the mayor uh Mr McDonald for allowing us to present two candidates for police officer tonight uh first off it's going to be Stephen porse Ste is 30 years old currently lies in Rockaway he's born in Summit but lived in Costa Rica from 2008 to 2014 where his parents currently live he graduated from high school in 2012 in Costa Rica and After High School he moved back to New Jersey intended County College of Mars he worked for Atlantic Ambulance as an EMT and a medical transporter for the past eight for the past eight years Stephen has been working for Advanced Auto Parts and has become the Snore general manager Stephen will be attending the mors County Police Academy in January 2025 next up is James Greenbush James is 24 years old he currently resides in Clark um James graduated Arthur Johnson High School in June of 2018 he joined the Marine Corps and served from 2018 to 2022 and then in 2023 James started pursuing his undergraduate degree in Business Administration at Kane University James will be attending the Mars County Police Academy in January 2025 may I have a motion to approve resolution 24274 which confirms the appointments some may have a second second roll call vote Please Mr Collin yes M pus yesy mayor second yes Mr ster affirmative mayor Romano yes Miss Gotti will now issue the oath of office to the new appointments I state your name do me swear doar swear I will support the Constitution I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will Faithfully discharge and I will Faithfully discharge the duties of police officer the duties of police officer of the Milburn Township Police Department of the Milburn Township Police Department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me congratulations thank you welcome thank you it's thank you okay we are honoring some police officers this evening Chief would you like to start or want me just to do the proclamation officers sley n and fr you guys whereas on Sunday December 27 2024 an 88-year-old woman was trapped in her home that was on fire and whereas the police department was dispatched to the scene and whereas in a coordinated rescue effort the woman was pulled from the fire Fury home fiery home and saved through the heroic actions of Officer Thomas Sweeney Officer Steve massim and officer David fish now therefore be it resolved by the T Committee of the township of Milburn and behalf of the township residents on the 17th day of December 24 December 2024 the milour police officers Sweeny Nassim and frish in the tradition of your Noble profession receive the praise and thanks you so rightly deserve for your selfless dedication to your profession and receive profound thanks for your heroic actions thank you so much okay and I said it at an earlier meeting and I'll say it again I just want to thank you for um giving Ellie another week to say goodbye to her family and friends so thank you okay uh mayor lieberberg community service award or actually you know we're going to take a quick break first so that um the officers um can leave so you don't have to stay for the rest of on thank you thank you again e e we have a special birthday today so let's let's take a poll like who's who thinks that we should sing definitely okay I'm turning my mic off so you don't hear me sing happy birthday to you happy birthday toy [Applause] [Applause] dear everybody grab a piece of cake and we'll start in like 2 minutes [Music] [Music] watching recording too [Music] app I can manage e mayor Li bird community service award so I'm here with Leah Cruz and former mayor Lane Becker Laura Jana on the committee can you come on in yeah you can come come join us go ahead hey hello Township committee and residents uh my name is Leah Cruz I'm a member of the community service award committee our committee recommends to the township committee deserving individuals or groups who have generously given their time and who through their volunteer activities enhance the quality of life in the township of Milbourne and the community at Large this will be the 97th award given since the Inception of this Committee in 1991 tonight we recognize Short Hills Garden Club whose work throughout the township we all benefit from and appreciate here to receive the award is Heather kadrell president of the Garden Club and I will let Heather explain more about their activities and you will understand why we have chosen them good evening everyone as as Leah said my name is Heather kadrell president of the Short Hills Garden Club um thank you to the Community Service Awards committee and the township committee for this uh wonderful recognition um the award recognizes the commitment of so many ladies over so many years who wanted to give back to their Community by digging in by digging in the dirt tonight the shore Hills Garden Club members here tonight couple row um are mostly my board but um they also represent all the members um who have helped this Milbourne sh Hills Community grow and thank you and I think you'll read the proclamation which to give you some um highlights of the things we do including the community garden and we we'll let them read that to you get you'll you'll hear about that so thank you whereas the Milburn Township committee values the contributions of Volunteers in the township and wants to recognize outstanding volunteer efforts that reflect the giving spirit of our community including Township residents and whereas the Short Hills garding Club a nonprofit organization was founded in 1906 and was a founding me member of the Garden Club of America in 1913 over 100 years ago whereas the sh Hills Garden Club was founded to share and expand knowledge of gardening and throughout the years has been dedicated to horiculture flower arrangement conservation and community service to the enjoyment of nober shills Township residents whereas the shills Garden clubs approximately 70 members are comprised of the Milburn Short Hills Community and the surrounding are who each volunteer their time to one of the five active projects of the club and other projects on an a hoc basis which include the Walbridge Rose Garden at the entrance to Taylor Park the gift from a generous member and her husband in 1979 which includes a gazebo and four quadrant rose gardens which the club maintains along with many of the perimeter plantings and the sprinker system the community garden which was created in 1975 for Milburn Township residents on land owned by the neighborhood association of Taylor Street in which the club oversees the management and daily operation of the 87 plots of town residents who enjoy growing fruits vegetables and flowers and the camaraderie of fellow gardeners and which was the first community garden accepted into the Garden Club of America collection the 12 Shore Hills train station window boxes which club members filled with a variety of seasonal Greens in early December and then again with colorful flowers in early May special seasonal table Arrangements of greens and flower arrangements for Atlantic Health home care and hospice which club members create throughout the year and which are given to Atlantic Health Care Home Atlantic Health home care and hospice for distribution to their patients lastly Thomas Edison Greenhouse at L Allen Park a National Historical Park project which was pioneered by The Garden Club of the oranges which merged with the shore Hills Garden Club in 2020 and which club members continue to help maintain and preserve the plantings in the greenhous as they would have been when the family of Thomas Edison lived there whereas the sh Hills Garden Club is currently self- sustaining with brands from the Garden Club of America member dues and its annual plan sale in may now therefore I Michael Cohen member of the township committee on behalf of the township committee and members of the nober community appla the continuing efforts of the sh Hills Garden Club which has significantly contributed to the beautification of our country ladies I had stand up there all that Michael you want do you want to say anything about if anyone wants to Jo thank you okay we're going to move on to reports okay um committee Stellar would you like to start sure okay Recreation committee uh registration for the rad women self-defense training ages 13 and up is still open uh program takes place on January 13th and 14th from 3 p p.m. to 9:00 P pm at the bower Community Center uh so um that's available uh the guo park LED light installation should begin early January tennis and basketball lights will be retrofitted to La LED uh and they will be added to the new pickle ball FPS the uh special improvement district uh winter Villages were a hit we had over a thousand visitors between two nights for the annual winter Villages I saw a lot of people out there it was an awesome experience and we look forward to sharing the photos and videos on social media uh the sponsors were fantastic the whole year on S uh and I just want to name them because they've given so much back to Community Garden State Dental design art of problem solving Community Splurge Bakery Wonder Duncan Garden State Therapy Group Home Instead of Milburn Oliver nany Sweet Tooth pediatric dentistry Dr Shaw the footer Financial Group of Jamie mcgomery Scott Jack surf and turf curious kids MNT Bank Bull and Bear brewery Orange Theory men and regenerative Institute PNC Bank and C2 Education big round of applause for those guys ,000 donations uh explore completed first year of holiday Decor improvements in partnership with the township uh kind of fill the void of the Chamber of Commerce the new holiday lighting at the bower Center Rose Garden gazebo Clock Tower lot one in the courtyard behind Willow and whisk Short Hill station at Jack Lobster Shack on upper Milburn uh Stephen Amanda thank you so much uh and we just want to really recognize Tim Alex Tom Dodie John Walker and the members of the public work staff for all chipping making Happ tonight's the approval is Sid budget uh that comes on later in the in the evening uh we received over 50 letters of support from businesses uh received less than 10 in opposition to the budget uh which is pretty much a form letter uh was a form letter uh additionally their key performance indicators were robust and they met and exceeded all metrics uh those were available to the TC uh to the TC as well as to the public in the um in the last TC uh or the explore budget presentation Boe Board of Education liaison last night's Board of Education meeting the board approved Dr diskin's recommendation to appoint John Connelly as assistant superintendent beginning on January 1 uh and congratulating Mr connley Dr Disc I look forward to continued collaboration Mr connley in his new role Mr connley is currently the principal at Milburn Middle School where he has been leader since July 2017 uh planning for the transition is underway and he will slowly still be on call for the uh Middle School um Mr connley um on a personal note I always get aemotion my son was in a horrific wrestling accident uh when he was in Middle School and to tell you that Mr Connelly Connelly was accommodating uh uh and caring to our family into helping him through that issue I cannot say enough good things about him he's a great guy we're lucky to have him in the administration other um you know a lot of a lot of information on drones and such going across the across the night sky I actually saw one above my house I got it on video I just want to let you know that you know uh we are I'm speaking to Jamal Jamal Boer and Summit uh we're talking to the police chief we're talking to other uh admin other folks in New Jersey uh and really trying to get some answers from Governor m mph and the White House per se we've also been in a close communication with Mr bramnick senator bramnick who has been fantastic in helping out and keep keeping us informed as well and I think Frank will talk a little bit about that um joint fileld uh joint Fields no update right now emergency dispatch Mountain Valley Emergency Communication Center we have a budget meeting tomorrow I'll report back at the next meeting in the new year on that uh and no updates on flood mitigation affordable I will defer to uh to M yeah or Jared if he's I guess he's in round right so we'll wait for G to get here great so that's my update thank you so much commit and color sure um the arum um they we we met um last week they will be conducting a strategic plan to uh to do what strategic plans do help them re establish their mission and their vision and and where they want to be going forward um they're also continuing to plan for the uh Indian vegetarian cooking event that will be held in January um at the library um first of all uh we we plans continue for the refurbishment of the second floor um it should uh the final plan should be available shortly and then the construction should begin in the new year um um just take note that the freedom to read Act was signed by the governor um since the last meeting which uh addresses book Banning and as you may remember the Milbourne library is a book Sanctuary it was one of the first libraries to pass a resolution that way but now um the the the uh the new statute uh put some uh rules around that and also provides protection for librarians who are just doing their job lastly as I think I mentioned last time this is also the time for the uh annual renewal for the friends of the M library and I would encourage all of you to to join um it's a it's a very worthy organization they put on a lot of programs at the library and if you're a member you also get a lot of pretty cool discounts uh in downtown so uh that's my report thank you uh Deputy Mayor second M sure uh so the citizens affordable housing committee will be having its first public meeting via Zoom at 7:30 pm on Thursday our town planner Grant PTO will be giving a presentation explaining the town's fourth round affordable housing obligations so I encourage everyone that's interested uh in affordable housing uh to you know join that meeting and the uh link is going to be on the township website um the EC would like to remind the community uh to recycle poly that in order to recycle polystyrene packing materials uh that they may find protecting many of their you know Christmas or Hanukkah gifts um they must deposit it into the large Blue polystyrene collection container in the DPW Yard on Main Street if you put it in your curbside recycling bin it will not get recycled so if you want to recycle it it needs to be uh clean free of all tags labels and tape uh and it does need to be the white uh type of uh styrofoam um so I would encourage everyone that has styrofoam uh over the holidays to bring that to the DB w y uh planning board has another meeting tomorrow um and I believe the entire meeting is going to be focused on the high Center so I know a number of you in the audience have been following that closely um you know definitely come to the meeting if you have have questions uh or want to make comments uh that's oh uh yes so on drones um so I've actually had a number of uh residents in town reach out with concerns about the drones we've all been reading stuff in the news um and I did actually uh inquire um you know to our business administrator uh to to get in touch with the police chief to see if there's any hardware or software um that can be used to help bring these drones uh down or to you know identify um them uh that technology exists and it's available to militaries around the world apparently though is not available to local law enforcement and would require an active Congress uh in order to um give us permission for that so um aside from that um you know I think we're starting to see there's more and more uh politicians that are starting to make more noise about this so I'm hoping in the coming weeks that we'll eventually uh get some answers that's it commit I have no reports okay um so yesterday um Mr McDonald and and um John rusy the township engineer from Mount McDonald and myself met with mayor Warren and his business administrator um in the city of Orange to talk about um next steps with the orange reservoir uh we discussed conceptual plans for the bypass solution that would be presented to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to determine feasibility of the project and permitting requirements in order to move forward with discussions with the njde we needed the support of orange and their endorsement um on our D application um so mayor Warren said okay so what do we do next so uh we are preparing a resolution for their consideration and we truly appreciate their continued willingness to hear us out on this impactful Regional solution and their continued support through the process this project if feasible and permissible could significantly mitigate flooding in downtown Milburn South Mountain and other areas in the raway riv River I just wanted to thank the flood mitigation advisory committee and the township committee for their steadfast steadfast commitment to evaluating Solutions and supporting these ongoing efforts so we'll look forward to that next year um senior citizens uh they recently went to the hunterton hills Playhouse they saw a show had lunch and dessert the seniors also uh had other holiday lunches throughout town they met with the neighborhood um Nursery School had some uh craft event with the children uh they had speaker Ellen styberg present to them um a conversation on property tax relief the anchor program and senior freeze they also had uh someone speak to them regarding emergency preparedness uh sneaker Factory also spoke to them regarding proper sneakers for walking um then our uh human services coordinator was also in the group on the last quarter she reported that she assisted 10 senior citizens she has uh one case management uh case that she's working on uh she provides the uh Pantry resources to the seniors she um also said that the flu Clinic was um very uh heavily attended and she assisted four seniors with SNAP affordable housing resources and uh utility assistance and and then with our local assistance local assistance board for the last quarter she ass she had 19 cases 17 households um of those households six are seniors eight families three single adults and again she assist them with Medicare Medicaid and um SNAP benefits that's all I have Miss Tamaya would you like to wait to see if Mr caner shows up or yes okay m mdon thank you mayor just a few um reports for me briefly hopefully um first and foremost I just want to provide an update on The Pedestrian safety Advisory Board who met for the final time in December uh we set our um some goals and objectives for 2025 as well as discussed our meeting schedule for 2025 which will be uh posted on the Township's website following the reorganization meeting we will meet six times as we did this past year in addition uh we are going to be adding a night meeting uh to that schedule just so that we can um uh activate some participation from the public um on that note um I would just like to let the community know that the township uh is the recipient of a safe rout to Transit gr Grant in the amount of $479,000 for the eastbound side of the uh sh Hill train station while we've spoken about this project for quite some time since about 2019 uh there is some still some work to be done in terms of its uh overall design but uh generally the concept and uh the the idea behind it to promote organization on the eastbound side as well as increased pedestrian safety uh has been awarded a grant and we are very pleased with that um in addition it's I understand uh there was a pedestrian crash uh at the on the westbound side of the Short Hill train station last week and um on Monday myself the traffic department the engineer uh met uh at the site just to evaluate and see if there are some additional measures that could be taken uh to alleviate what may have occurred there unfortunately the individual was in the crosswalk and was walking properly through uh that intersection and I think there's some improvements we can do over there uh in the short term which we will uh we will be addressing in addition we have added barricades um to the no parking areas by The UPS Store and the post office we ask that residents do not just park beside them I imagine it's also visitors um but just for for those that are here and uh spread the word but do not park beside it that defeats the purpose we put those there so that no people do not park there and that we can create a better flow of traffic uh more safe parking as well as Maybe some increased pedestrian safety by not blocking the crosswalks view so just wanted to alert the public to those um those those changes that have that have taken place um just wanted to let the public know that tomorrow we will be closing Town Hall at 3:30 PM uh for a staff meeting uh the staff meeting is in relation to the town hall renovation that was approved by the township committee uh so that we can start our process and alert the staff on measures that need to be taken between now in the time that we move to 22 East Willow which will be the temporary town hall for approximately 18 months to two years once Renovations do take place um so just a just a note to everybody that town call will be closed tomorrow at 3:30 um I wanted to let let the community and the and the township committee know that the 250th anniversary committee which will take place uh 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026 has been formed I thank uh committee with Stoler mayor Anette Romano for being the TC leaon to the committee uh and there are several other groups that are involved in that such as the mil short Hills Historical Society the Fourth of July committee and and others the sons of the American Legion and so we look forward to getting the work started on that committee and some uh events and having a special celebration uh for that 250th in 2026 the first thing that will kind of be coming out and happening is as many of you uh may have been here for a meeting in which we were presented a Revolutionary War information kiosk that would be placed in Taylor Park regarding the last thrust of the of the of the of the British that took place out here in front of town hall there's a rock that commemorates it as well the Battle of Springfield and other various things that took place in in the Short Hills and Milburn area uh that not many people may be aware of but um but this kiosk will draw awareness to that and uh to the history of of our Township uh we'll be um uh looking to set up a a a uh a donation um um platform for that um it's about a $115,000 expense uh we do have other people that are uh do donors that are willing to match um and some more information that will be coming out with that um as well just to supplement the flood mitigation advisory committee uh update I just wanted to let the let the public know that we are uh we had our resident kickoff meeting for home elevations um there are three homes post Ida that were severely impacted and decided to um go the route of elevating their homes which is a grant through the through FEMA and which um the township is a is a part of and helps administer we had that homeowner kickoff last week and so we have uh some very excited residents um that have been through a lot um as as as a result of Ida and this is a uh this is a Avenue uh that they want to go through to protect their homes and themselves and their family so we're excited to get that that kicked off um lastly uh it's the end of the year so it's time to renew your parking permits um if you haven't done so already this goes for commuter business um and uh Shopper parking don't forget Shopper parking which was another thing that terara helped with in in the township and getting that started which is a great program uh residents can purchase a permit um and not have to feed the meters not have to worry about using the pay stations and all of that um so just if you're looking to get a permit now is the time to do that there's a grace period till January 15th so we just encourage everybody to do that and that is all available online as well residents can do that online so those are my reports thank you mayor awesome thank you okay public comment when invited to speak to offer your comments please come to the Lector and clearly state your name and whether you are a Milburn resident Andor property or business owner please do not provide your full address seeing our meetings are recorded and readily available to the public for the convenience of our community there is a remote option if you if you called in and would like to comment please press star six now if you are attending by computer or electronic device please click the race hand button and be sure your video is on when you comment all members of the public wishing to speak will be put into the queue to address the committee to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speakers shall limit their comments to one three minute session you will be prompted when there are 30 seconds remaining a reminder that this is not a time for dialogue or to debate a matter and this is a time during our business meeting for the public to offer comments and if you're here for um the public hearing for the Sid there will be another opportunity later for comments for that I will now open the public comment period hello everybody hello for those of you who don't know me I'm Joanna Parker lent um I do not have time unfortunately to stay for the public comment that specifically relates to explore because I have a Milburn education Foundation board meeting that is starting in 16 minutes so um I was hoping to make my comments you know heard right now before we have a chance to uh move on I would like to wholeheartedly State my support personally as a resident of the town as somebody who puts on really great events for the town and find Steve gillo and Amanda Dean to be partners in event planning I run ideas by them we do a lot of things that are collaborative for the milour Ed foundation and I get a lot of great resources from them as a realtor I also get resources from Steve when it comes to bringing in new businesses I've sold homes in this town for over 25 years I've rented Residential Properties downtown commercial properties I've placed people into many different places of the downtown Steve gillo has been the most helpful resource and I've tried to put people in down town for 25 years I've never had a great time until Ste Steve got here so it's it's really important to have people like that who can act as your um leison in positivity and please don't let the negative Nellies uh convince you that um this is not a worthwhile Endeavor the downtown really needs to be supported and for the first time in a very long time I feel like we have a great support system in downtown and our events are running nicely would I like them to be on Main Street during the summer sure but am I going to die in a hill for that no I think you know they've done the best they can with the resources they have and it's really great what they do for our downtown so I just would like to make that support known mcole Cohen RoR who is my co-founder of the rocktober Fest event along with many others but she is my right-hand person she can't be here tonight but she would like to also offer her support and really you know appreciates all the work that's done downtown and we really love the event so please let's keep it going thank you Jeffrey Feld I live in the poet section I guess I'm a negative Nelly I just want to talk about the agenda of sent agenda first first of all everyone I wish you a happy holidays for your families um Ben can you look at me when I'm speaking please um um I wrote as as I my custom I wrote a heads up letters to you about various questions first issue is about the minutes that you approved November 17 2024 um meeting they were sanitized there is no mention of the the discourse between councilman sakami Mr gorilla there was no reference attorney Canter's statements about my legal capabilities um that takes us into other things because tonight you're have to make determinations as to what was said on the record as to the budget hearing because questions were asked they have not been answered yet um tonight you're going to be approving the NES Redevelopment agreement it's about a year since the planning board approved it now um have you compared it to the Upton and the other Redevelopment agreements and is there a deadline that they had to finish the projects I don't know if there's a performance deadline I could not find it at the end of your agenda there's a item about improvements to the police station there's no availability certification of where the funds are coming from I think it's like an excess of a couple hundred thousand dollar how are those improvements being funded um you're also shifting monies and Appropriations when did you know that you had to get more money to pay your legal expenses over the year um there's a question on the bill list about a th more thousand this goes back to the harassment of the various denters or negative Nellies the last meeting there was a little discussion about the initial scope of that invation it's my understanding that the summons was given to you I understand that all was looking at first was the input of the of the complaint there was never an investigation from the input of the complaint to the issue of the summons if you look at the summons there's VAR different issues but it ties about the weaponization of our municipal court system against the centers in this community um I'm happy that we're appointing two new police officers they're going to the academy but question is will after they're appointed or will it be a net increase or are they replacing people that retire again happy holidays and I will be speaking of the other opportunities thank you good evening everybody um hello everybody back to you all I'm Julie London I'm here as a as a Milbourne resident and also as an employee of opportunity project and I know some of you and a lot of you know what we do we support people that have a brain injury adults with brain injury right down on Willow Street and we are here and I'm I'm actually joined by my executive director Eddie blatha and our board of directors in spirit they couldn't they couldn't come but we are all we are all here in support of the expl the wonderful explore Milbourne team here um um I just wanted uh Echo Joanna's comments before and add some of our own um they have been wonderful partners of our Organization for several years on one particular initiative which is restaurant week which you're all familiar with and we've been working with them on Restaurant Week for a few years now and not only are they so so talented and they are also very very kind and very invested into helping this community Thrive which is so extreme important to our members the people that join our program that have brain injuries and need help reintegrating back into the community so Restaurant Week has opened so many doors for us you know with the help of Amanda and Steve we've gotten some uh paid employment offers for our members we've gotten various volunteer opportunities we've gotten so much visibility which is so so necessary um you know with all the mark the wonderful marketing that the team does and all the ban and all the Articles and that is just so so critical to our programs we've raised over $112,000 in funds from restaurant week that we really really need because we are 100% nonprofit so those funds are really really critical for our programs um and you know I we all feel that they explor does a wonderful wonderful job really improving the vibrancy of this town and as a resident I can say that's so so important it inspires me to D local shop local because of the all the fun activities and very engaging things that are happening in town I think that's really really important so our my full support as a resident and my full support as an employee of opportunity project for their budget to be passed and like continue we absolutely need them and one last thing I want to mention um not a lot of time I was in one of the shops and we had the hurricane like four years ago and I know I remember when Steve walked in with a check for the owner of that shop um as a donation to help her reopen and you know clear out the flooding from that storm and that that stayed with me that stuck with me and I think that um that kindness is so important and um yeah that positivity we need we need it and uh please support please support them please support the budget yeah thank you thank you thank you uh good evening everybody my name is Vanita gangal I'm a resident of Milburn 69 Athens Road I'm here uh just to applaud the TC for putting the uh seasonal restriction on gas power Leaf flowers on the agenda uh for today's meeting I hope it is still on the agenda it's under new business yes I mean old business old business yes um so uh I am speaking speaking for myself as well as many residents in town uh as part of Milbourne climate action we wholeheartedly support this ordinance as being proposed by the EC and we hope uh it is in place for the upcoming year thank you hi everyone I'm Ian Dalia and I'm a a junior at the melbour high school and I'm a resident of melbour and I'm also here to offer my wholehearted support for the ordinance against uh gas powered leaf flows um so what I would like to emphasize is that it's not a complete ban on them it's only a seasonal restriction and I believe that this only has beneficial impacts uh for example I I see this to be a social as well as an environmental issue as not just does this prevent the release of several um chemicals into the environment due to these leaf blowers but also um gets rid of a lot of like the noise and the Very harmful noise corruption caused by these leaf blowers and I believe that and I would like to motivate the residents to opt for other options such as battery powered leaf blowers that are not necessarily gas powered as there are very very many accessible options and again I would like to offer my wholehearted support for this ordinance thank you very much thank you uh hi my name is suid boria um I'm als I also live in Milbourne so yeah I think this uh this restriction is like a really good idea because usually when you look at these types of things you're looking at the public support and all the pros and cons but I think it's great not only because it's like a seasonal restriction but also it might allow for um other type of blowers such as like electrical blowers to um come more into the market and more people to start using them which can just in turn create like even better environmental effects so yeah I think we should definitely implement this restriction thank you uh hi everyone my name is isan Jane uh I'm a senior living in milour uh Milbourne shans so last fall a few Milburn and Short Hills um students representing Milburn for climate action had the opportunity to interview um upcoming candidates for the TC election um on issues that we felt were of importance and I specifically had the opportunity to ask about restrictions on uh uh gas powered Lea flers now it's great to see that just a year later um not only has this um you know ordinance passed through the EC but is on the docket for the TC um now last year when I was you know part of this you know interview and question answer team I was just 17 years old and was just happy to you know talk about an issue of environmental importance but now as an 18-year-old um who can vote I can't wait to put my support behind um candidates who are focused on climate action and sustainability thank you thank you hello everybody my name is Rema Jaffer and I'm a resident of Short Hills I'm here to give my full-hearted support to Amanda and her team I am um I'm an amateur artist and I was part of painting the wheel projects and I got to paint three wheels and I thought it was beautiful how this group allowed uh the town to embrace diversity over here so I give them my full support and would like you to approve their budget for 2025 I'm also part of the Milburn Action Group with my friend Vanita over here and I would also like to um ask for a seasonal restriction on leaf blowers thank you thank you we come as a pair okay um I'm Dorothy Kelly I'm a resident of Milbourne Short Hills I'm Mar Epstein and I am a resident of Short Hills as well so this morning we had the great pleasure to pack an enormous U-Haul full of toys for that Karen kids has collected for their annual caring kids Holiday Drive and I'm thrilled to report that we raised from Milbourne the schools and from Individual citizens over $10,000 in cash and gift cards and over 1,500 gifts for children and families at the New Jersey Regional day school and for the the um individuals who are at the Center for Autism and as you may have heard that these individuals have severe um special needs in many cases and they are also below the poverty line this makes a huge difference in their lives and thank you again Milburn for being so generous and opening your hearts and your wallets to help this very worthy call so thank you again thank you anyone up hi I'm I'm Donald jaffy I live in in Maplewood but I'm here kind of representing all the bicyclists that ride through through Milburn in particular the areas around uh on up I call it upper Glenn lower Glenn by Brookside and Jefferson Avenue those two areas but particularly Glenn is incredibly treacherous for us as bicycl i' I've been riding for 13 years in the area literally over a thousand times I've been up and down that hill and it's incredibly dangerous and I realize and I've spoken to the Department of Public Works here a couple of times and also the engineer outlining the fact that we really need to have those roads and particularly the upper Glenn because that that the the ruts the I mean God help you if you if you fall off I mean everybody's been on that even for motorists it's very treacherous and we get two cars coming by and I know it's going to be hideously expensive because that whole thing has to be milled it's got to be widened you got to probably get permits from the people that that own property on the sides but I think and and Jefferson is another area where I was kind of hoping that once the construction on three houses was done that they'd finish that they redo that road because that road is also fairly treacherous and I know I have to go like that with my bicycle as I travel back and back and forth on that road but I as I said Glenn was partially done in the lower part towards the tennis courts and that s in that area and I had requested in in one area where there was a little ditch where it goes off of Ridgewood and that was a repair sort of good but not very well but there's a huge area uh on on Glenn above and below but particularly like I said above that absolutely needs to be repaired like 10 years ago go so I that and what I've what I've also done and I can leave this with you I've taken pictures of the upper part the lower part and the Jefferson particularly bad parts of it and I can just leave this for the the engineer for the Department of Public Works or whatever and I I just really appreciate i' I've been meaning to do this for like 10 years and I know everybody that that I ride with you know we I moan about it and so I would really appreciate that that it be put into the plan so maybe for next year even if possible I know it's kind of late in in the area to do that but it would really be appreciated because it's it's it's very highly dangerous thank you thank you for coming yeah you can thank you David marrow melbour uh I'd just like to Echo the support that was raised by Joanna Parker lens for Explorer Milbourne both Amanda and Steve Grillo uh I've lived in the town for over 10 years and I can tell you that they have had a significant positive impact on the com Commerce in this town uh and Milburn is should be feel fortunate to have them working for that effort um so I hope that you'll approve their budget and give them more resources in the coming years to uh take care of a number of the challenges that they have to face here in mbour thank you thank you Charles banara uh 28- year resident of milour Short Hills um I'm here to raise an issue uh regarding uh I guess Township statutes and ordinance es regarding uh storm water uh drain off and and storm water management uh I've been following the kai Center development uh and at the last meeting uh they presented a a drainage plan which is seriously flawed um and uh in my opinion um and uh the basis for their uh design of their storm water system is is a two-year rain event which uh Noah which is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publishes uh frequency of storms uh and the intensity of the storms the twoyear storm is is a approximately four inches of rain uh committee M staller and I stood in Taylor Park and saw the effects of that um and uh the flooding on Main Street and uh and Willow Street and we were one inch below uh the river hitting uh the futter building so um the 4in rainfall is based upon State statutes this town is different than many other communities we have three tributaries of the raway river running through town and our ordinance should be stricter than that we shouldn't be looking at 4 Ines of rain we should be looking at 8 in of rain for for new construction for storm water management uh I I bring that up to you I don't know where the where to direct that um but uh you know the storm water drainage at the kai Center they're looking at uh troughs to carry the water instead of uh uh pipes for storm water drain uh when that becomes inundated with a heavier rainfall that's going to reach the banks of that those troughs and it's going to carry and grass and everything else down on the Jefferson and all down through through the surrounding Community uh the uh the rude lawyer for the applicant interrupted my line of questioning and didn't allow me to continue uh so I I bring that up here um but uh that storm water system should be underground and it should be in pipes it shouldn't be on the surface where it's going to wreak havoc in a major storm a storm that's every two years is is very frequent and it needs to be designed for a much more severe storm and our ordinances in town should support that and require a stricter uh storm water control thank you anyone else before we go online Christine best m t Hills um I just want to thank everybody for a wonderful year I think this team has done a really great job at pivoting the town in a lot of ways and Anette thank you for leadership that thank you and also making the environment really super nice so thank you um in in um I'm I'm reading some things in in um I guess in the future of tomorrow night's meeting that as it would relate and mostly my questions are directed to you Alex because you're on the town um so it's about the high Center the high Center um how do you class class ify one Jefferson Alex is it a resident a temple or hybrid resident house of worship or is it a parsonage house or and if it's a parsonage house can you advise what qualifiers you need to have a parsonage house if one Jefferson is a residence can you advise me how they're not paying taxes on that property since approximately 2003 to 2006 so for 18 to 21 years at 45k approximately tax valuation that home does not um offer 940k almost a million dollars of money from taxpayers in addition to the settlement agreement for 750k could you that could estimate about $1.7 million of taxpayers lost money so each household gifted over the last 25 years of estimated of $372 73 um to this individual group has the clergy housing been audited on annualized basis on their gross wages on tax forms to make sure this property um is being shown his income in the state of New Jersey is a minister Rabbi allowed to have a parage when they don't have a physically recognized house of worship or can you self orain your home as a house of worship number six did the township offer the high Center purchasing of the rra property or the old shantaa Clair property prior to engaging in the settlement agreement section 462 of the real estate property tax law authorizes an exemption for Real Property taxation for property owners by religious organization while the property is actually being used by the officiating clergyman of that Organization for residential purposes April 19th 2024 how have you as Milbourne Township interpreted this law when the house is not recognized as a full house of worship in the settlement agreement with the high Center um the high Center agrees not to use one Jefferson as a house of worship in section Direct in in this section and and the rest of the document from what I can understand directly contradicts the rest of the agreement in the regard to the settlement agreement on page three section four it states the kai Center parties agree to the following restrictions using the use of one Jefferson number four D the high Center shall not conduct rashan or Yan kapor religious Services except for a minion which I believe is only 10 people please correct me if I'm incorrect why are they allowed to have up to 120 people on holidays such as sukut and not on high holidays isn't that conducting services in a house of worship which violates section four of Milbourne Township's agreement and the court order for the Welches section 4E no Banquets can be held thank you thank you I'll finish later anyone before we go online um okay Jean past resident I'm just gonna continue um for f restrictions of more than 15 vehicles of persons in attendance has been violated by overflow parking on Park Road and Jefferson has testified by many residents how many times have you cited them for this violation in total over the last two years how many emails of advanced notice have you received from the kai Center for events that exceed the 15 vehicle restrictions um ad restrictions there are serious ad restrictions yet their events have been consistently and are currently being advertised what are you doing about that have you issued violations violation of this agreement constitutes an irreparable injury for which there is not adequate remedy at law and agreed to the entry of injunctive relief to cure such violation please list the times when this has been done since both the Welch's attorney private investigator and the township have witnessed such violations over your tenure how many violations have been issued to the kai Center do you audit llc's as our Township in our Township to manage hostile land acquisition I see the state of New York has enacted such a transparency act why are we not doing this to protect our residents from high density projects both commercial and residential in nature being developed if you knew where reparan areas at 165 old Short Hills Road and it was designated potentially historical and could have an active archaeological site as deemed by Barton rosson Associates on the master plan why was his property permitted to be demolished before the planning board hearing if Virginia Welsh won a lawsuit regarding land use restrictions and Covenants from previous Deeds why did the township not enforce the code violations that the judges ruled on did that ruling supersede the settlement agreement the Welch's deed to the high Center states that quote the conveyance of the property was subject to Municipal ordinances building zoning planning and subdivision regulations restrictions covenants conditions limitations on title and easements of record if any environmental laws regulations and conditions and such state of facts as an accurate survey May disclose end of quote and the 1898 deed States quote nor shall said land be used of any purpose which could create a nuisance unquote and that but two dwelling houses shall be erected on the premises hereby conveyed and that such houses shall be used as private and for two families only un quote how is it possible that the high Center quasi residents is violating local and New Jersey state nuisance laws why was the engineering staff not present during the first planning board meeting on this application why were the Tree Experts not present during that same meeting were you familiar with nuisance law in the state of New Jersey a nuisance in New Jersey is a condition or activity that interferes with the use or enjoyment of a property or is harmful to the health safety or well-being of others some examples of nuisances oops okay we're gonna go online awesome please turn your camera on thank you good evening good evening yeah who's up is it is it me yep you're up okay right it's Ted C long-term resident 35 over 35 years in Short Hills and my questions were actually covered by Christine and Jean I just wanted to know who was responsible uh for enforcing this decision that was handed by down by the superior court of New Jersey in December 9th 2022 I mean we did pay the balinsky $750,000 and in turn they were supposed to agree not to uh have these Services conducted and if they did there was going to be a fine a $5,000 fine per violation so I would like to know as they just asked who's responsible for enforcing this decision and has it been enforced and is have fines been levied against the balinskis and if so have those fines been paid so I'd like to really get you guys to clarify what is the decision with the rabbi what is the agreement with the rabbi on this issue so it's just a followup to what Christine and Jean were talking about um we have an agreement in place it doesn't appear like it's being enforced who's responsible for enforcing it and and why aren't they enforcing it so that that is my question thanks very much thank you good evening good evening you're muted think you're muted we can't hear you Harry I think your phone you're muted or you can't hear us can you hear us okay you're you're muted can't hear you can hear you do you want it we can't we can't hear you your phone is on it looks like your phone is on mute Perry I would just come back all right we'll go to the next person and try again good evening hi good evening this is radika anger I live in Milbourne in the Wyoming section and I just wanted to support the gas Le gas leaf blower restriction seasonal restriction uh because I feel that there is too much noise in the neighborhood and it disturbs a lot of people doing their work especially people like me who are also working from home uh do these Zoom meetings and I think it's a big pollutant as well so I really support EC's comments here and hoping that we can uh support this restriction so that we can have a quiet Milburn and we can have a less polluting Milburn and we can take care of our environment so just wanted to raise this issue again and uh see if we can have uh some resolution to this sometime very soon thank you thank you is per still there Tex can turn your camera on please there you go can you see me yes thank you hello my name is nidi takur I live on coldridge Road in Short Hills I would like to uh support the seasonal ban on gas powered leaf blowers uh because I feel that they cause a lot of sound pollution also the leaves can be left if they can be to support the biodiversity uh and also if they can be blown in a more uh piece manner if at all of course leaves are good for us uh but if they need to be blown uh if we could use something else uh the sound pollution is bad not just for us who are working from home people who live here but also for I think other animals squirrels and so on so if we could put a stop on those uh polluting gas powered beaf blowers that would be good um also because I don't need to repeat the science that you know gas powered leaf flowers use uh so much gas uh it's almost equivalent of driving a car um hundreds of miles uh away uh so that much gas should not be used for something as simple as uh you know taking care of our backyards if we can't do it in a more clean way uh I guess we shouldn't do it at all so I would like to really support this uh that the EC has proposed and I hope this can be executed also because other towns have done it I don't see why we should be behind thank you thank you okay okay so I will now close public um would anyone like to comment committee Wier would you like to start uh sure um it's just so great to see the young people come out and support the environmental team it's just fantastic I actually interviewed with h with youan Van Jane last year he's just the kids are just so smart and putting it to work so it's just good to have all of the uh young people come out um it's great to have all the support uh and people out for the TC uh for the explore as well uh and uh and I I just want to thank Mr Vana uh he works tirelessly on this flood mitigation committee with us and you know Charlie thank you so much and literally he's probably the only person in the world that would go out with me in a in that rainstorm and stand in the middle of Taylor Park up to our you know ankles and water so appreciate everything you said thank you I just want to congratulate the uh the caring kids program on a on an excellent um an excellent Drive something so important to uh spread the joy of the holiday season um and then a question Alex for you um I know that we decide um what roads to repay based on Al you know metrics and so where does Glenn fall I mean anecdotally you know the bicycles are say it needs to be repaid but that isn't how we do it where do you know where it falls on the list the the upper portion of Glenn Avenue between Brookside nor hose road is being repaved in 2025 2025 however I think some of the um comment was widening the road and that is not anticipated to be a part of it that is a that is a very big undertaking as the gentleman stated but that portion is slated for 2022 yeah I was just asking about the paving I know you widely their Jefferson is also on our radar um uh particularly we understand like there's a there's a quite a dis disperate um curb uh treatment there uh every every house is different on that street in terms of how that how how it is curbed as well as the condition of the roadway so that is probably most likely a 2026 Road and then just one other thing you know Mr I don't I I agree that we probably should be uh basing our zoning rules on something more stronger than a twoyear storm given that we've had at least 300E storms time that I lived here I guess the only issue is as I'm sure you realize whatever we do it would be as seems to be the case as many of our zoning rules comes after the fact of somebody taking advantage of the rules as they were when they supplied their paperwor nonetheless going forward there will be other developments like that um that would be similar and so I do think that's something we should look at on the um the zoning code Review Committee which uh you know which is where these zoning changes start Deputy Mayor sure uh so first I would like to thank all of the young people that came out and all the individuals that came out in support of the seasonal restriction for the gas powered leaf blowers um it's always great when we have people come out to speak in support of something as opposed to against something um which seems to happen all too often here um that said I do also appreciate those that came out to make remarks uh about the Sid uh we'll discuss that a little bit later tonight Mr Bamba I appreciate the uh issue that you raised um I do think it would be worthwhile for the town to look into what options we have with regards to ordinances for storm water management I'm not sure you know what options we have versus you know what the state regulations are so maybe Mr McDonald could um talk a little bit about that or if he doesn't have those answers maybe we can um you know engage our our our planner or whatever necessary professionals to see what options we have and whether there's things that other towns have done to help Shore up uh their storm water management requirements um Miss best you had a clany of questions um and uh M Mr crun as well um I would like to know if there are indeed restrictions uh on the high Center for what sort of services they can have number of cars Etc um I I would like to know Mr McDonald uh has has that been enforced and if not why not you know at some point was that the township committee authorized you know uh a relaxing of those restrictions with those restrictions you know in place to begin with it would just be good to get some clarity because I think there's a lot of questions and um we have questions like that we should try to provide answers because I think one thing this town needs to do a better job of is Code Enforcement across the board this has come up you know time and time again not necessarily about this one specific item but code enforcement in general um so that's something we should strive to do more of that's all I have for now committee I have no Mr M um first and foremost to answer Mr feld's question about where the funds are coming from for the police department renovation uh the police chief has put in capital for the last two years regarding that project so it is coming out of the capital budget to speak to miss best's uh list of questions I would just first and foremost ask that you provide those questions um there are some that will be better answered by uh in particular tax assessor when it comes to the tax status of one Jefferson as it relates to the settlement agreement um I think that the long and short of the settlement agreement is there are um a lot of Provisions in that uh settlement agreement I mean and again some of these questions I'm not going to be able to answer as it relates to Mr Welch's case and who enforces his case at the suprior court and things like that which are not necessarily the Township's responsibility um but in terms of the settlement agreement it is the Township's responsibility to enforce it um however for the past few years as it relates to the high holy days um the rabbi has asked for dispensation from that and it has been granted um to have those services at one Jefferson um and the um some of the other things are generally started with complaints um and I can tell you that myself I have not received complaints um particularly about the parking or events taking place so to answer your question um and and I would have to go back and look at the police reports and see if any police reports were filed as a result of complaints with the usage of that property um but yes they are permitted to have minion they are per permitted to have up to uh five events a year um they are they are permitted to they were not permitted to have the high holy days there um but um but again so that is the uh as far as the settlement agreement goes and the question about whether it's been enforced um there hasn't particularly been a reason that I'm aware of to enforce it um but I'm happy to look into it further and also um so no so therefore no fines have been levied against one Jefferson so um but please send the rest of your questions and and uh be happy toh take a look at them um I think I also assist with Mr quint's um questions as well so that's all I have at this time Mr caner do you wanna um thank you mayor um I don't have a report tonight but I'm happy to take questions from the committee I know a question was raised regarding developers agreement that's up for approval tonight as to no time frames section 24 of the agreement does provide that um it does provide performance guarantee and a performance bond of 36 months and that's section 24 of the developers agreement um I believe that was in the packet um I really didn't have any further report tonight um but if there's any questions from the committee I'm happy to answer any question thank you mayor thank you the township committee will now consider consent agenda resolutions are there any comments from the committee in regard to any items listed on the consent agenda we have a motion to approve resolution 24 4 -273 through resolution 24284 which are listed on the consent agenda so may I have a second second roll call vote Please Mr Cen yes M pus yes Deputy Mayor secondy yes Mr sterer May Romano yes okay uh the 2025 melbour Short Hills business organization budget was introduced by the township committee at our November 12th 2024 meeting I have a motion to approve resolution 24- 282 which authorizes the township to read the 2025 Hills Business God bless you organization budget by title some I move that resolution 24282 be approved second the motion of resolution 24282 may I have a roll call vote Please Mr cin yes M brus yes Deputy Mayor sakandi yes Mr Stoler affirmative mayor Romano yes I will now refer to refer to Mr Steve griller executive director for any final comments on the 2025 Milburn Short Hills business organization budget me me mayor Romano members of the committee uh since this is the last meeting of the year before we get into our very brief I promise uh presentation on questions from the last meeting um I just want to make a few personal remarks and also on behalf of the explore board mayor Romano thank you for your leadership this year and congratulations to your daughter on her wedding this weekend uh the entire explor team wishes her nothing but the best committee M Stoler uh thank you for your amazing involvement as arle aison this year uh you came on the board with an open mind a willingness to listen learn and get involved and the board and the staff really appreciate your commitment and we hope that you return as our liaison in 2025 uh committee mcen thank you for your support and your engagement and you're always very pointed questions um and it's always lovely to see your wife and your son at our events in a Town Hall Plaza committee woman puus thank you for six years of service um including your time in 2021 which was a formative time for our organization it was our first year and I don't know if you remember but 7: a.m. uh the day after the storm you and me and Alex stepped off of town hall steps and walked into destruction um but you were an amazing leader as our mayor and allowed us to raise and distribute $420,000 to 75 businesses and every single one of those businesses um either came back in its previous or in a new form um and it's a remarkable Testament to our town so I I hope you can somewhat forget that awful day but I hope that you remember the good aspects of it um and Deputy Mayor sack aandy thank you for your service this year and and best of luck in 2025 So based on the discussion at our November budget introduction Jackie liberg and Richard wasman and I will provide responses to those questions this evening uh since we did the budget in its uh its entirety we'll answer just we'll make this fairly quick um I want to begin with a request from committee woman prus to ensure robust communication about tonight's vote as I mentioned previously explore hosted two public sessions at our September and October board meetings to discuss the budget and all stakeholders were invited to attend the October meeting multiple times in response to her request the November 12th meeting in addition to the Township's official mailing of the notice of tonight's hearing to all Property Owners explore developed a four-page memo on the budget we sent it in our weekly email blast to a distribution list of over 500 people we did two social media posts about the hearing we reached out to over 150 stakeholders who received direct assistance from us this year and went door Todo and handed out the memo to over 250 businesses as of tonight we've received 54 letters of support which I have shared with the committee they're all on your desk and I've shared them electronically um there's also a number of stakeholders here this evening who would like to express their support that represents all five districts as well as business owners property owners and residents concerning some of the letters in opposition that Mr Stoler referenced we understand some people are totally opposed to the sit um but for those who feel like they are not receiving optimal benefit we do encourage them to reach out and set up a meeting uh one of the best parts about our job is that we get to understand the unique needs of the 550 15 businesses that we represent and how we can leverage that to expand and refine our services we're always learning and we're learning from the businesses as we meet them and so with that I'd like to invite our chairwoman Jackie Benjamin lieberberg to the podium to discuss the responses from community outreach as well as some comments uh relative to Mr sakandi and um Miss pu's questions about our governance and operation thank you Steve good evening members of the township committee Jackie Benjamin liberg former mayor trustee and share of explore to begin I want to to say that I am so very grateful to have had a ringside seat at this table since the Inception of the bid and I'm very happy to add to Mr guillow's comments we are a wonderful Community I am very proud that we have been able to provide Innovative programming business guidance to an Eclectic group of stakeholders throughout the five districts during our Outreach for uh tonight's meeting I learned that while many Sid property owners are very supportive of the services of explore some are afraid to have voice their opinions publicly um I hope that this will subside in 2025 as we all continue to work together to create an even more collaborative Community secondly at the November meeting there were some questions uh with respect to how our current s operates compared to the dmda a and the existing Chamber of Commerce um these are excellent questions Tara I know you remember the dmda um and as a board member I see that um there is some confusion on social media and the public deserves to a good time to explain the difference the dmda was a business improvement district before explore and focused exclusively on the downtown as of today 22 one of the 515 businesses in the Sid 43% are located outside of the downtown and utilize Explorer Services while the dmda served its purpose I don't believe that the model would could have worked today in our competitive environment and professionalized world of Economic Development we all know that people's shopping habits have changed dramatically explorers structure has addressed many of those issues that handic cap the dmda including a CH a part-time director overhead that in a separate location to name a few I believe that we learned lessons from the dmda which helped us in launch a successful Sid additionally there are roles about the role of of explore the Sid versus the Chamber of Commerce our local chamber is a valuable tool in mbour and the Chamber and the Sid work as partn ERS this is a rare situation because in many communities they're often very adversarial some of the key differences between explore and the Chamber is that the chamber is a membership organization with a part-time director and a limited budget the chamber also can serve businesses that explore cannot this includes businesses from other towns homebased businesses by working together explore and the Chamber have helped each of their stakeholders expand their relationships without a professionally run Sid and adequately funded one Milburn would far be would be far behind our surrounding communities in terms of Economic Development and small business support this would not only hurt local businesses and Commercial Property Owners but also our home values our overall tax base and Community engagement a thriving business environment which I believe we have today is an essential part of our overall exceptional community at last I'd like to provide provide you with a few kpis for the 2024 calendar year so far real estate assistance 36 requests by 26 individual entities navigating the government process 65 requests by 43 individual entities General business ad advocacy 62 requests 48 individual entities I firmly believe without explor to answer the phone interface with the business community and provide knowledgeable assistance many of these 163 requests would have gone unserved I'd like to invite now explor board member and former deputy mayor Richard waserman to the podium thank you so much Ma evening happy holidays everybody and and I also want just want to start by by uh thanking everybody for their service want to thank Tara for her hard work over six years I mean we kind of started out together and I just want to wish you well as you move forward in many communities special Improvement districts are limited to marketing and events but here in Milbourne we are lucky to have a team of a team with a diverse skill set the explore team works with the Township in a variety of ways to reduce the burden on Township staff as well as to support the business Community explorers executive director serves on the township parking committee and in the past has served on the Essex uh on the Essex Street two-way conversion committee and the Taylor Park Gateway committee ensuring that business and property owners have a voice explorers also served as a project lead for the township projects including the parking efficiency study which led to more parking spaces downtown a signage Improvement project for the parking deck downtown and upper Milburn Avenue and the creation of the Milburn art alley which is required to be a pedestrian space this year the team has worked in collaboration with Alex Tim and Public Works to design order and install holiday lighting throughout the C in a number of locations furthermore the furthermore another major accomplishment this year was milburn's acceptance into the Main Street New Jersey program according to State and National program rules communities with over 10,000 residents must have a full-time director in place to manage programs and the director must meet professional qualifications and training requirements in an annual basis in order to maintain the designation the designation will allow Explorer to participate in Grants for infrastructure and beautification initiative one of the key reasons for explore successful application to the Main Street New Jersey um uh on behalf of the township is because we have a qualified full-time executive director funded by both resident and Commercial owner funds this is an investment in human capital that will result in long-term funding for the township make no mistake this could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in Grants for the township as we go forward finally and perhaps most significant was the role that explore played in September 2021 in the wake of hurricane idem explorers work included storm preparation with businesses and they continued to go door too before storm events to assist with prep work and then met with over a 100 businesses after the after the storm to assess damage and coordinate with affected businesses explore organized a raising drive that raised over $200,000 that was matched by the township and then we managed to review um of assist uh assistance request distributed funds within a month and pass a financial review that was required by the township none of this would have been possible without a 501c3 nonprofit designation and a full full-time de dedicated director while we still H have been fortunate that we have not had another Ida I think we should take solid in knowing that we have a team in place should another storm occur to both help in preparation and recovery please also know that our director serves on the township OEM team speaking of our nonprofit status and related governance at the last meeting both Deputy Mayor sakandi and committee women prus asked questions about board formation and assessment calculations these are all fair questions to ask now that organization is four is four years old and has proven its value and has also learned real world lessons about functionalities that could not have been predicted when we pass ordinance in 2020 our board and staff is would be more than happy to meet with Township committee to discuss how the township ordinance ordinance is written uh in order to meet the evolving service needs of our organization stakeholders and Community however this not occur until after pending litigation is concluded we welcome the opportunity to continue to work together to support our mutual goals in the township thank you so much thank you I hereby open the public hearing for any comments on the 2025 Milburn Short Hills business organization budget I just ask that we all just be um respect please my name is Jeffrey Feld um I'm a resident I'm also Council sub superseding Council in the litigation that was just referred to um this is our annual dance regarding the Sid but this year is different first we have a new Municipal attorney we just heard about Main Street New Jersey application February committee delegated to Mr gillo and the explore group the ability to write this application when will someone disclose that the state told the township that they had amend the boundaries of the city the Main Street application the Main Street application that was approved the boundaries or the origional downtown area there are five districts the question is and based on notices are coming out of other municipalities best practices that each district is entitled to its own bid and Sid the four other districts are subsidizing the downtown as I've been saying for four years and the best practices we're supposed to have a director of economic Planning and Development that's the first thing I told Mr gorillo when he came May 2021 we don't have one that's best practices a lot of the work he does should be done inhouse it should not be paid by other taxpayers one other taxpayers we pay 50% of the salary that was never really told to anyone during Co in addition to the various other districts I think the public should know that the township or the Sid has ever received a written legal opinion as to the validity of the Sid under state law at the last meeting I asked if have they received a written opinion as to the budget this budget is unique uses $20,000 of a carry or roll over but if you look at the statute statute prohibits that when I say things are different pre-trial exhibit and pleadings have been filed we're waiting for the judge to sign us a trial date I don't know when that will happen but all of you have received it some of the exhibits show you how retaliation was given to people that dissented criminal complaints were filed against people who dissented that should not stop at the last meeting a year ago our ba said yes there are problems in the way the ordinance is drafted don't burn down the barn one year we have not cured those deficient the issue we have and we also have preliminary conflict of interest issues thank you can I have a little more time you give them like an hour to present thank you thank you for your comments thank you hello hi I'm Lily Brian I'm one of the directors at Studio 1200 at 511 Milburn Avenue in Short Hills and I'm here to support Stephen Amanda and the great work they do um in particular I want to point out something they did recently which was to make these little videos of all the stores in town and we have about 27 employees we are extremely hardworking and when Steve and Amanda walked through our door you would think Rockstar came in the morale was so big and they felt we're getting filmed you know and it was so exciting and our Instagram blew up which is fantastic because it also helps me in recruiting you know we're cool we're we were on a video and these 27 employees and go out and spend money in town and also Steve and Amanda they they they were contagious because when we had um we had an incentive this past year to build up our mailing list so what we did was we went around to every store and we bought $20 GI certificates and whoever helped us give any employees that helped us build our list we had them pick from one of the stores in so he's got us all excited about downtown he's made us feel like we really matter even though we've been here for so long we've designed so many homes and businesses in town we really feel like we matter and and I wholeheartedly hope that you uh approve his budget so he can continue his fantastic work thank you over in Township um I probably going to be hated by everybody for saying this but I um because I I'm Center on this whole issue um I think that explore has a lot of benefits to the town I've seen a lot of improvements happy events and goodness come out of it so I'm sure those some people will hate me for saying that um but that's how I feel um my biggest concern tonight in actually approving the budget um is that there are no benchmarks what Jackie listed is not a benchmark in the retail industry um or kpi um and what I want to talk to you about is what I really think needs to be done is we need to have a calendar it needs to have each day listed it needs to have totals by week to date and needs to have totals by month to date needs to have totals by year to date okay we need to create a Ty which is this year last year retail terminology we need to track total Topline sales and maybe we can't do that maybe retailers don't want to share that maybe they can share confidentially with Steve's gorilla's organization but like looking at total revenue so when an event goes off you have your expense you have your in-house expense okay which is Steve's back back office expense okay you also have your expenses to actually buy the goods that you're going to have or the vendors you're going to have there and the equipment that you're going to have and then you know you have the event and so you have to list was the weather bad because sometimes events just bad because the weather's bad you have to have a keep history and it's really helpful and that's how you develop true benchmarks and kpis so having a tyy Topline sales and gross margin would be really helpful if you could cumulative look at it and then break it down by basically not category of business well you could do it by category business as well because we have different categories of business from restaurants to bakeries to shoe stores to clothing stores and Gift Stores Etc but I think what um Jeff made a very good point is that each district should probably you know pay into what they get um and so I really support Miss erso um you know in her lawsuit because she feels that she doesn't get the benefit and I think we have to look at the benchmarks by each area to see you know who's getting any more benefit um that's just my personal opinion some people won't like that um and I also think we need to include marketing expenses um and what those are in the kpis and so you would look at an event's total Roi with the marketing expenses also so so see that see the total Topline Revenue course margin for the event so that's how you would do a true um kpi on something so I also think the merchants should be paying for this not Property Owners because they're the ones who are actually benefiting the property own are just collecting rent um I also want to see turn rates on actual businesses coming in and coming out because we say oh we got all these new people in I want to see how many times people are leaving and then coming in because turn rates matter so the more turn we have in terms of people coming in and out doesn't mean that's positive so it's just I want you know a little bit more effort in that area and I would like to see actually the budget increased thank you okay thank you we're back Dorothy Kelly resident of Milburn Short Hills maritt Epstein resident of Short Hills and the vice president of the Milburn Short Hills Historical Society um I am the President of friends of the Milburn Library I'm on the Milburn Library Board of Trustees and I am the curator of the Milburn Short Hills Historical Society Museum so we are speaking in multiple capacities and um I would like to offer my support for explore in the Sid um I have had the pleasure of working with Steve uh now for about three years um directly on the Founders Day program and he has really invigorated it he has helped us really make our town known and cares quite a bit about the history he's also um they've brought together so many diverse ideas and programs and in terms of the library they have been so helpful in um community outreach I think all of this enhances our town in such important ways that we just um it's made such a difference to me living here and me do trying to spread the wonderfulness about Milburn in the community so I strongly support everything they've been doing and would like to see their budget approved you thank you hello my name is James vukanovich I own Milbourne indoor golf club across the street from this building um I I don't this feels so divisive I don't really want to like take a side I do want to speak just real quick on the tack on the kpis briefly um I went to the top ranked business school in the country I spent uh time in Silicon Valley where that acronym really became popular and I can tell you most of those companies make up their own kpis and then they track them over time so viewing something like they being a specific kpi and it's like written down on chat GPT for you is just um you know not true in my opinion so just to share my my story uh it's no exaggeration to say that my business wouldn't exist without Steve gorillo and explore Milburn um from the moment I decided I wanted to open an indoor golf experience in Milburn my search for information quickly led me to Steve and his team he provided invaluable insights into the town and to be honest after learning about the challenges of obtaining the necessary approvals I initially chose to pursue a location elsewhere um my first attempt was to do everything myself but I soon realized that it wasn't the best approach after taking a step back and opening a location in Montclair I returned to CE with a fresh perspective I told him I was committed to making Milbourne work and asked him for his help and his guidance um he offered excellent advice and connected me with trusted local professionals including planners and attorneys while the approval process in Milbourne proved to be more complex uh than it was in Montclair uh the experience experience ultimately made me feel uh much more connected to the community and resulted in a better product and service for its residents um at first I was a bit frustrated the process but after adjusting my Approach uh I came to appreciate it um and and uh I'm certain I wouldn't have had uh such positive outcomes without Steve and his team's uh support I uh I can say that in regards to churn uh we're doing we're doing fine we're uh first quarter we're already profitable on a recurring basis and so we're excited to be in Milburn and uh don't expect to be leaving anytime soon thank you very much hello Jean past neck I'm just GNA finish the last uh point that that Jeff wanted to make he said um where is the legal opinion on the disqualifying conflicts of interest of both Tara and Ben and also that everything that you're hearing tonight is about the downtown and that is essentially a problem um I this is my comment first I wanted to say thank you for the hard work of all the volunteers of explore your efforts are genuinely appreciated even by people who have criticisms the feedback um may not be in support of all aspects of Explorer but it's not personal criticism it should be taken as constructive feedback and if we really are all for community and working together for the betterment of this town that feedback should be handled professionally and be welcomed by the Explorer Ed Mr gillow and the board members I have to say I have not experienced that and I know others that haven't and I think we can fix that that's something fixable there are always some deficiencies in every organization and it would be arrogant to think otherwise we all want success for your organization and our town but we only can get that by working together to solve problems explorers asking for an increased budget for this fourth year uh the 501c3 has been in existence that long while they have successfully increased their activities for businesses especially downtown and Town Hall Plaza I know I've asked repeatedly every year what is the bottom line impact what metrics can you share with taxpayers who contribute to both the salaries for the director and the underwriting of the Town Hall Plaza amongst other things can you tell us how does this impact our town our bottom line each there each year there have has been an increase but no explanation about the bottom line impact to the township yes there are soft uh things that we can look at and say great it's been a big help but it really would help to have some actual concrete data also I think Jeff pointed out there is a lawsuit and I think it should be exposed to the public that there is this lawsuit in existence uh and it's basically essentially about conflict with potentially conflicts with the state statutes governing and forming such entities the downtown businesses benefit vastly more than the other districts so the question is why should these other districts subsidize the downtown bus businesses why don't we just say that out in the open and talk about it I also want to point out my concern about someone who I do respect greatly Jackie lieberberg she is my counterpart as chair of the democratic committee um I think heading the board of of Explorer has some conflicts um there are taxes or assessment monies involved in the determination of the distribution of those resources to various businesses and groups and to me in my capacity as chair of the Republican party I would not want to be involved in this because of just the appearance of a conflict um in in terms of dealing with monies taxpayer monies thank you okay thank you hello everybody hi my name is Camilo I own last mbour and I've been a resident in mbour for two years now I just wanted to say thank you for Steve and Amanda for helping lastrada in particularly uh this year and last year I own LR for the past two years and I've been through a lot like everybody knows we had a fire we had so many things going on and just to know that I had their support that was great I just wanted to thank you thank you hello uh good evening my name is Vicky pal and my family has been part of the Milbourne business Community for 40 years and a resident for 25 so my roots to Milbourne Run Deep I'm here tonight to voice my strong support for exploring Milburn Short Hills budget and to express how essential this organization is to our business Community explore does so much more than simply host events to draw people into town the actively maintain the public spaces support beautification efforts and are indispensable advocate for our local businesses they serve as the first line of support whenever we Face challenges be it responding to issues that arise during hurricanes or helping us make the most of the holiday season they work the work they do directly benefits the community and creates a more vibrant welcoming downtown and the other districts explorers our voice when we have questions concerns or even complaints they are the ones we turn to they provide the platform for our needs and help ensure that our voices are heard even when it may not always be convenient without Explorer there'll be no training classes on social media no influencers hired limited information about the ND njeda and other state programs they are needed to support the business Community despite the vital role they play there has been some ongoing debate about the township support for the organization to those who may doubt their value I would ask would you prefer a ghost town because without the support for our local business restaurants boutiques service providers this is what we risk a thriving business district is essential for a thriving community and Explorer has been invaluable in supporting us and keeping our doors open the deputy mayor mentioned speaking with a few businesses to gauge their views on the organization well I can tell you that not everyone's voice has been heard I personally sent an email in supportive Explorer and never received a response from you I've had only one member of the township committee come to my store and ask for my opinion and it wasn't my neighbor yet I'm here tonight to ensure my support is clearly voiced regarding the Township's portion of the budget the funds this organization I believe it amounts to approximately $7 per household for the immense value they provide this is a modest investment yes their work supports the business Community but it also enriches the entire town enhancing the quality of life for the residents and creating a community that we can all enjoy and be proud of in closing I urge you to support the organization and its budget the business community may not always be present at every meeting but we are watching and we care deeply about the future of this town I hope you choose to value and support the business that have been here for decades and invest in our town and that brings vibrancy and Life to our community thank you happy birthday Alex anyone before we go online anyone evening everyone NAD Nik I am a resident and a commercial property owner in town um I could talk about being also a merchant in 2018 which correspond to the time where the dmda ceased to um operate and uh at the time um it was impossible to find any support for any processes procedure there was no marketing there was no events there was nothing and um Tara you approached a few of merchants who were trying to get together to support one another and ask if we would form a um organization and we declined um because it is not a volunteer job it is a full-time job and it also takes a lot of skills which we didn't have uh so from firsthand experience this is a full-time job um I could talk about the fact that I am a property owner and and that I reach out to Steve on a regular basis to ask for help on processes and on procedures uh Jackie I thought you were going to say there were five million calls and only one person and that was me I could talk about being a volunteer at girls night out and how very proud We Are that we bring people from all the neighboring towns who come and shop and dine in town um I could talk um about the fact that I am a resident and that I think the work that expb does with all the events make this community vibrant and Lively and it's well worth the seven bucks a year uh but I think all this has been said so instead of talking about this I just want to say to Stephen Amanda that I know you work really hard on a continuous basis to make this time a better place um you're true professionals you stretch every dollar to its maximum you are very knowledgeable and you do all this with Grace and with a smile and that whatever is thrown at you you keep your head head up and you have a lot of class so I want you to know you are valued you are needed you are assets to this town and we need you and we thank you and to the township committee I would like to ask that you please approve the budget for the seed thank you very much anyone else before we go oh sorry Charlie Charlie bambar uh resident milb Ro Hills for 28 years uh stepping back from this and viewing it I think a lot of the conation on the part of the residence is is somewhat of a lack of transparency on where the funding is going which districts are receiving what monies um so I think uh as Jean pointed out uh toward the end of of what she was talking about U I think and as Christine pointed out a better accounting of the metrics and better accountability on where the money's are being spent would certainly make it a lot more palatable for the taxpayers thank you thank you anyone good evening is that okay oh you going online perfect it's okay all right that's okay I'm I'm right side up I came here for you today Mr Cohen so unfortunately and I do appreciate that you're giving me some extra time I want to say my name is perero but I'm a Nelly and I'm sorry that you know some people have different opinions I stand firmly on taxation without representation it's not a matter of what's being done who's doing it how they're doing it it's where they're doing it and we have five districts and I have asked on multiple occasions dates times locations of where these events are and I was told by the attorney of the Sid board that they do not possess this type of information so how you get some of these kpis and stuff going if you don't know where your events are what type of events it's kind of interesting I feel it's most important that I read my first um statement from because I just need to clarify as far as what happens when somebody speaks and you're the minority um amongst you know the rest of the people and a majority and I think if you're going to pass a a um a budget tonight you should be very clear that you know where the people that are why whether they're in favor or not whether they're a property owner or they're a merchant and if were they pay and are responsible to pay the um assessment and what district they are from so I think very important before you and I listening and and a majority is clearly um within the downtown I wanted to address a false statement about the Sid executive director during the November 12th Sid State um Sid the original Sid budget hearing the executive director claimed that I'm the only property owner who constantly expresses my displeasure but I never got on a knock on the door to see if we want to talk about that um however this is untrue my family and I currently own own five commercial properties represent 10 storefronts including mixed use within the upper Milburn Avenue District since 2020 I've collaborated with property owners on upper Milburn Avenue who some are publicly silent and do not support the special assessment ordinance on Commercial properties many share their concerns about the taxation without representation and oppose subsidizing districts and businesses exempt from the Sid tax awareness of the Sid budget has been Limited and it was only through the recommendation of committee woman puus thank you so much for directing the executive director to notify once again all the property owners em mergence at this hearing I received letters from Property Owners opposing the 2025 Sid budget retaliation is a real issue as evidenced during the November 12th Township committee meeting the exchange between the executive director and Deputy Mayor sacan displayed the lack of leadership maintaining decorum critical portion of this discussion were admitted from the approved minutes I have written you all first in February and once again on December 4th without receiving a simple response with the exception of on and receive from a few since you had technical difficulties I'm G to give you another three minutes I know you're GNA pass the budget but thank you so much I'm going to because you you're very gracious time with your phone so I'm going to and I am deeply touched by that thank you um so therefore the exchange between the executive director and Deputy Mayor sakan displayed a lack of leadership in maintaining decorum critical portions that of this discussions were admitted from the approved minutes I have written to all of you first in February once again in December without receiving a single response with the exception again I Reed if any Property Owners experience unwarranted ex inspections disruptions or notices as a result of their opposition I will con it will confirm the abuse of power and retaliation the bare property lawsuit further highlights troubling Behavior with the exhibit showing that the executive director and sadly our former mayor our current Sid chair filed complaints against consenting Property Owners clear examples of lawfare we know that you all will pass the Sid budget this evening however dismissing Mr feld's warning emails is truly a mistake I would like to just there was one uh part of I I'm privy of a um letter that was circulated as far as people you know needing seeking help while the introduction and this is um something that went out by the executive director which I did not receive myself while the introduction of the vote passed four to one nothing is never guaranteed if the budget is not approved on December 17th explore will go out of business before the end of January explore will go out of business by the end of January so I leave you with keeping in mind merchants and what they're going through and their struggling and I think equally if you're representing five districts despite people's differences we all deserve a seat at the table which we have not personally been invited to and a knock on my door and it's very sad that you have all or most of you or some of you have declined our offer from May 7 and I think this all could have been resolved and fairly done a mediation and not litigation again I thank you for your time you're very gracious and Tara I think it was happy birthday to you too and happy birthday Alex so happy birthday Tara happy birthday my birthday was yesterday good evening here you go good evening uh Sarah Sherman Milbourne resident I want to applaud the Sid its board and Steve gillo on their recent Main Street New Jersey designation for those of us who remember the chaos of the last iteration of the dmda um this is a proud moment for downtown Milburn um Mr waserman um mentioned it but I'd like to remind residents of the important work of the Sid after tropical storm Ida in 2021 uh you'll remember that Milbourne Avenue was a sea of mud uh we had Governor Murphy at the corner of Milbourne and uh Maine with a number of other um dignitaries and elected officials and they went around to the various uh businesses explore raised over $200,000 which was matched by the township to help Sid businesses affected by the storm and the Sid sponsored a fashion show fundraiser providing money to Sid businesses as well as others you may remember the famous muddy dress which made it to national news outlets Milburn is fortunate to have explore working on behalf of its businesses especially in times of need as we experience in the aftermath of Ida or as the lrda owner mentioned um after their fire Milburn residents and many of its businesses were in dire need of assistance after Ida and the Sid was there to help I'll mention also that explore Steve always makes sure that they come to uh flood mitigation public meetings and educates local businesses about hurricane preparedness so in closing explore is an invaluable resource to the township and should receive the township committee's continued support thank you thank you good evening wh camera hi can you put your camera yes I can't just can't see you oh what happened I don't know I don't know if your camera is on or your camera is not it says it's [Music] on oh maybe you have a privacy screen on you have a privacy screen on I do not name I don't know um there might be a physical switch on your device there yeah I get you have to have your um video on I have my audio and my video showing is on it must be some type of a block you have on there so that your video doesn't your camera doesn't go on P back your yeah let me call back call back with your phone uh that won't work because I have my notes on my phone so oh sorry okay thanks thanks good evening I think you're muted okay n Stone I'm in the car I was coming home from New York working um it's Christmas time the holidays hanukkah's coming up so as a successful business over 30 years in Milburn I um wanted to call in in support of the people that are not for the Sid um I am supportive of a special improvement district or anything to improve businesses but the way the organization stands as it is is a joke I have personally not benefited one iota as a resident yes I'll pay my $7 I guess if that's how it comes down to but I get zero for it I'd rather donate the money to my temple or to an organization that I choose to donate my money to I am also getting a rent increase this year because of the tax assessment and again in Perry's quote taxation with that representation this organization serves of no benefit to me but that's irrelevant because if it served the community I would support it because sometimes you have to support a community in order for it to thrive and I can only tell you that I was also a victim of Steve's harassment with a police report because I went to town hall to complain about it uh a coffin that he put in front of Saigon Cafe on Essex Street and they were taking selfie boxes it was the tackiest thing I've ever seen in marketing in my life and Alex McDonald was gracious enough to respect me as a as a longtime business owner and have that damn thing removed from the street and moved it unfortunately Uptown uh to Upper Milburn Avenue the town upper midburn Avenue is so dark and dingy it is so so sad no snowflakes no nothing I mean it it's just it's just dismal and this is a very very small group of people that seem to be benefiting from it and that's lovely and if they want it they should pay for it like anything else in life you get what you pay for but they should be able to write the checks and as a business owner who signs the front of the check this is one organization I would not sign the front of the check on I can also tell you you that I find it ironic that I was standing here six six years ago and Jackie was the deciding vote to pass the budget and I gave her my commitment that if this organization I found it to be INE efficient in any way and not serving the business community that I would end it and I honored that obligation that that commitment I should say and this is the same thing here it's serving very few businesses that seem to want to take advantage of it and that's their choice and that's a wonderful thing then they should pay more than their fair share of it because I can tell you doesn't do for thank you Miss Stone wait one more thing and then I have I'm sorry your time is up I'm sure I'll hear it anyone else yes somebody coming up okay wait give me one second oh sure thank you have a you're up uh just the only thing I have to say is concerning uh makes decisions uh concerning uh closing of mainstream stre I mean the Sid or whoever does that uh in the past the business owners some business owners wanted to close Main Street the board finally made the right decision and decided that closing Main Street during the summertime was not the best idea maybe a life could be saved I commend the board by overruling some of the decisions that some of the members of the uh whatever committee it is over there Sid thought might be beneficial of closing Main Street petitions what it 500 petitions signatures I remember hearing that uh a deputy mayor and a mayor came up here and said look at all these people who decided it would be a good idea to close Main Street I'm a little old but I do remember that but the board decided maybe those people were not uh thinking properly so there's some decisions that the people don't make that are proper so I'm saying that it was a great idea not to close Main Street this year possibly Save a Life or two just saying that there are other opinions out there thank you very much have a great New Year and oh by the way I think that the board did a very good job this year and I give it a passing grade anyone else like to make a public comment no I have to close public oh I'm sorry oh public comment yeah can yeah absolutely um well good evening everyone um my name is Amanda Dean I am the marketing events director for explore MB Short Hills normally I do not speak at these meetings um however I wanted to share my thoughts and gratitude with you all it is a privilege to serve this community uh through explore we continue to create and Implement um impactful events educational initiatives special projects Business Development and marketing campaigns we do not do this alone the data we col collect and share about how we work and support work with and support all five districts and the community at large is only part of the picture to complement the statistics we invited our stakeholders to share letters of support and be present here today to share their individual experiences and perspectives these individuals have taken the time to support our 2025 budget during one of the busiest and most profitable times of the year for small businesses thank you all so much for making that sacrifice today the human aspect of what explor does is what connects all of us and brings an even deeper meaning to what we do the relationships the bonds the trust the knowing that we are on the other side of the phone an e or an email or available to pop into a shop to have those important discussions is something we take pride in we are professionals that are invested in this community this work is about being a part of something bigger giving all we have to help make this town prosperous inviting and a place residents are proud to call home we have worked extremely hard to get to know businesses and Community organizations to engage Shoppers and visitors alike we understand that every dollar counts we appreciate and respect people's time and we are in a constant state of improvement we are evaluating uh researching listening innovating and pivoting as we go and as conditions change in real time we are stewards of this community and do not take our roles or impacts lightly as I said we do not do this alone we could not be successful if we did not work work with this multifaceted Community from our colleagues at Town Hall and DPW to Our Community Partners to you the township committee to our volunteers and to the hundreds of businesses in the C we want to thank all of you for making 2024 an amazing year we look forward to serving milour Short Hills through explore in the coming years thank you thank you yeah I'm being told that that D uro is online waiting to that's she needs to put put her name she needs to put her name on there anyone else sitting that would like to speak no she needs to put her name on their phone okay I will now close public comment um Mr gillo do you want to um address any comments or answer any questions no this time may have a motion to approve resolution 24283 which authorizes adoption of the 2025 mbour sh Hills business organization budget before we do that um I have some comments I'd like to make um so I want to thank everyone that came out both in support against um one thing that I've noticed is that it certainly seems like the Sid does provide value for a good number of businesses in town um I there were a lot of emails and support I counted about 16 properties that were not support um however you know it seems to me that I think more of an effort needs to be made on the part of Sid specifically the Sid director to try and work with those denters and turn them into fans right I I think there's a lot of good that the Sid does but I think there's some structural issues as well so Mr waserman I really would like to take you up on your offer to sit down and hash those out I think that with some modifications to the structure we could avoid the whole taxation without representation issue if businesses had some ability to vote in a couple members of the Sid board directly um I think that would be beneficial and that could resolve that issue I understand there's ongoing litigation but I don't think that looking at the Sid and making improvements to its structure necessarily is going to cause any problems with litigation you can certainly get legal to weigh in on that but you know as long as you don't admit they did anything wrong to begin with and you're just making an improvement you can make an improvement right without putting the town at risk um Amanda I must say I have heard nothing but good things about you from everyone even from the people that don't support the Sid I have not had a single person have anything negative to say about you now on the other hand Mr gillow while you certainly have a lot of fans I did receive an email the other day that I think is um important to be shared it's only a few sentences so I'm going to read it it goes you should be aware that the executive director of explore bur had a few Choice words for a few Township residents on social media the other day there was a post by one resident regarding the proposed increase in the Sid budget when a few residents stated their disapproval of Explorer the executive director that's you Mr gillow called them arrogant and without using the words Liars he was basically a bully which several folks have stated is his M we really want to support this type of behavior in our community so I personally have also been a victim of Mr guillow's attitude and Mr gillo I really do think you need to think long and hard about how you interact with members of the community and particularly members of the community that own commercial properties and are denters you should be focused on trying to win them over kill them with kindness and I know it may grind down at you right but you have to try and be positive and you need to try and help everyone in the community and I hope that you'll take this opportunity to reflect on how you have conducted yourself and make improvements because I think if you did that you'd have far fewer denters as well okay so to sum this up I think that the Sid does some good work I think that there are legitimate concerns from some of these uh commercial property owners I think we can address those concerns but we have to willing to come together sit at the table and figure that out so Mr werman I'd love to take you up on that offer uh as soon as we can miss lieberberg you know if you join in as well I think that'd be great um and I want to not have this same conversation again next year I don't want us to be in a position where we have people on both sides arguing about whether this should exist what we should be talking about is how we can you know have it ex expand and and continue to help the community the businesses so that's my fece uh and with that I will see the actually I want to say a couple words as well uh you know having sat on this on the board now I'm going back on back next year I've had a front row seat at what they're doing for this community the feedback and the affection for the Sid is is Bountiful the best email I got all year was the email from a local owner who said that the Sid bridged a gap and may keep his business keep him in business it's a pet store owner he didn't have a website he was fighting Amazon he was getting crushed by the online Rush Etc the Sid built them a a website they put them on an Instagram account they they put him in touch with uh with Amazon to deliver local product to different folks um and you know just heartwarming and trying to help him I don't know if he's going to survive but just fantastic job in terms of Christine best thank you so much for stepping up and saying those kind words improving the budget I'm sure if they had more money I go through the kpis religiously uh help put them in place it's very difficult to get Revenue data cost data things along those lines as Mr James uh James uh vukanovich said with the experiential Golf Center um I'm a little dismayed that you know I was called conflicted if I'm conflicted it's because I spend too much money in town and my girl spend too much money in town uh and and my son so it's just incredulous that uh that some some modum of legal training would actually call me conflicted um Nancy Stone uh when she was just cut off she actually texted me and she said she also wanted to congratulate Donnie on his soon approaching end of the uh on the board because of your invaluable uh contributions to the town and such so we appreciate that also um uh to the uros I love like family uh they they catered my daughter's Bon mitvah uh Nancy Stone I love like family she's building the be most beautiful Hanukkah gifts for my children hope they're not watching tonight um just and that's where she come bringing them back from New York so uh the I'm going to I'm signing up with the the golf experiential Center hopefully now that golf season's over it's h warm today though uh and just the amount of of outside dining I went to just about every event for the Township Plaza it was a big hit the winter Villages were fantastic I can't tell you the amount of people who came up and thanked me and thank the sponsors and thank the explore for the job they did so after that just leave it there I have a motion to approve resolution 24- 283 which which authorizes adoption of the 2025 Milburn Short Hills business organization budget so moved oh just let me so someone second it I second the motion resolution 24- 283 I second it okay may have a roll call please I'm sorry Mr Cohen yes M pus yes Deputy Mayor secondy out of respect for the few denters I going to vote no to stand in solidarity with them but uh not saying no to the sit overall so I vote no Mr Stoler affirmative May yes thank you Deputy Mayor second command you are scheduled to sponsor ordinance 2692 d24 I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2692 d24 ordinance amending and supplementing the township of milber development regulations and zoning ordinance tonight is the time set for the public hearing final passage as advertised in accordance with law I declare the hearing open I move that this public hearing be closed and that the ordinance be adopted on Final reading and that the Township Clerk be directed to publish the ordinance by title as passed on Final reading in accordance with law may I have a second roll call vote please thought that was the iPhone from before [Music] yeah just I would just lower her hand and see if she raises it again I don't think she's need to comment on okay uh I don't know the name was second name second roll call vote Please Mr Cen yes M yes Deputy Mayor secondy yes Mr Mayor yes Deputy Mayor is scheduled to sponsor ordinance 2693 d24 I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2693 d24 an ordinance authorizing the township of Milbourne to execute a residential property lease for that certain property located on block 491 lot 3 in the township of milour tonight is the time set for public hearing and final passage as advertised in accordance with law I declare the hearing open a little sure so this one is concerning the parasol house okay and what is the least for I just because I tried to find it is that too much to ask Mr McDonald sorry sor it's not to put a cell tower on right this is a this is a lease of the parcel house to the Milburn Short Hills Historical Society um which was the overall goal of purchasing that property and to uh allow them to run um certain educational programs and and other activities out of parcel out all right so I move that this public hearing be closed and the ordinance be adopted on Final reading and the Township Clerk be directed to publish the ordinance by title as passed on Final reading in accordance with the law may have a second second roll call vote Please Mr Colin yes M brus yes Deputy Mayor Zandy yes Mr ster May Romano yes thank you I present for consideration this is ordinance 2694-24 I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2694-24 ordinance amending chapter 7 traffic of the revised General ordinances of the township of mbour the proposed amendment to the chapter 7 traffic code of M's General ordinances is intended to correct inaccuracies between the code and regulations displayed on the street the purpose is also to establish several recommendations of the mbour police traffic Bureau and parking ad hoc committee these changes include reducing the parking time limit in Lot 12 from 1 hour to 30 minutes and codifying the mid block crosswalk on Highland Avenue tonight is the time for a public hearing and final P passage is advertised in accordance with law I declare the hearing open I move that this public hearing be closed and the ordinance be adopted on Final reading and that the Township Clerk be directed to publish the ordinance by title as passed on Final reading in accordance with law may I have a second second roll call bot Please Mr Colin yes M Rus yes Deputy Mayor Sandy yeser affirmative mayor Romano yes committee woman Pro is your schedule to sponsor 2695-24 I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2695-24 an ordinance authorizing the township of Milburn to execute a cell tower and compound lease for that certain property located on block 541 lot one in the township of milour is time set for public hearing and final passage as advertised in accordance with law I declare the hearing open yes I'm the only person sad to say but um I have just it's Christine best again I just wanted to I where exactly on that land is it going I mean it's a great place for it I just wanted to ask the proximity to our water supply because frequency affects the water supply do you guys know where what how many is it 1500 ft from the water supply it is the water supply being the reservoir yeah that's I just was wondering okay that's all I need to know thank you I move that this public hearing be closed and ordinance be adopted on Final reading and the to clerk be directed to publish ordinance by title as passed on Final reading in accordance with law may have a second second roll call vote Please Mr cin yes M prus yes Deputy Mayor second Mandy yes Mr Stoler affirmative mayor Romano yes committee M St you were scheduled to sponsor 2696-24 thank you mayor I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2696-24 an ordinance of the township of Milburn County of ess6 authorized in the township of Milburn to execute a lease agreement with paper mill playoffs for 20 Brookside Drive Milburn New Jersey 07041 tonight is the time set for public hearing and final passage as advertised in accordance with I declare the hearing open cherill po section I just have some questions as to the drafting the first is if you go to um page three the rent and the commence or section 101 when will this lease commence because it's blank Alex you have idea when you think the closing will occur so this leas will become effective because in 101 the it says commence um the closing of the sale of the premises I don't know when that will be also it seems that there's no cross default with this lease this lease is for what we acquire requiring uh was like the parking lot the former parkk or house and parking lot um there is an existing lease that's referred to it but if there's a default on the original lease does this lease go into default I don't see across default provision um also Article 15 was emitted um the reason I raised that is that under the original lease that was done in 2008 I think that's a sale lease pack that paper mill always had the right to pay to buy the property for what we did for the bond that type of provision is not included in here if you look at the rent it seems like the First Once the lease begins um once like the first three years it's a dollar a year and then it goes on for like 30 years at $50,000 um when we started this this discussion this transaction was like a year ago originally paper mill came in and said forgive All the Monies that are owed under the original lease then they said Give us new money of $7 million of which proportion is we're using to buy the property um I'm just trying to figure out how we ever recoup if we're ever going to recoup the amount of the bond based on this rent payment I don't see that um and I guess section 16.10 um the township will have a voting member on the board I don't know if that's part of the other agreement but who will be that person and if that provision was in existence the original um agreement and we had a voting member was did that person have a conflict if he was on the board negotiating this the original transaction but I'd like to know historically what's going to happen when we anticipate the close when we're gonna have a I guess a bond sale to pay for this so we know when the terms of this agreement begins thank you thank you um I I just want to Gan past I just want to um also ask uh for that information if the if the terms that were're described to the public about this this Bond transaction have been changed within this lease I think that should have been disclosed thanks thank you I I move that this public hearing be closed and the ordinance be adopted on Final reading and that the Township Clerk be directed to publish the ordinance by title as passed on Final reading in accordance with the law before we vote real quick uh Mr McDonald has any of the terms in this lease Chang yeah um no none none of the terms in this lease have changed um as they were discussed in in the public the fact is that the the rent does not start until the construction of um the carriage house and other improvements to the paper M Playhouse are finished um so that rent um doesn't start for I believe it's two years three 2027 but the Dollar rent on the lease starts in July 1st 2025 um and the other question regarding closing uh we anticipate closing within the next two to three days um probably by the end of the week correct Mr Canter yes we we have a 10 of closing dat of Thursday or Friday there was mention made of the original payment was forgiven that did not happen no no no no I think I think I think yeah again that's that is not true um this is this is a separate lease um that lease is still forced in effect um that is um still being paid the rent is still being paid um and uh and I think the other question was you know in all of this I think we had mentioned that the township uh is whole at the end of these leases being being paid corre provided that analysis to everyone and even then the original rent the rent from the not this rent but the other rent will continue to perut right it's a 75 years yes s for dity but not not 30 years correct and in terms of the rent payment $50,000 uh that far exceeds the anticipated revenue from the parking lot uh so we've negotiated uh I I believe if my recollection is correct it's around 30,000 or so uh and we're getting 20,000 50 20,000 additional 50,000 for the 30 years and it is 30 years you don't burn the first two or three years waiting for it to be complet well isn't the first two or three years a$1 payment correct yes yes and then 30 after that the 30 starts after that correct cor so it's 30 years yeah we that's what I remember I just wanted to make sure we had that clarification may I have a second second roll call vote Please Mr Colin yes M pus yes Deputy Mayor Deputy Mayor Sandy yes Mr Stoler affirmative mayor Romano yes thank you okay so old business uh gas powered leaf blower regulations um deputy may do you want to say start or yeah so I mean I think we still have this on the agenda because uh there were still some questions from members of the township committee and concerns uh we've got members of the EC here um so I was hoping we could take this opportunity to have you guys ask the questions uh or Express the concerns because I'd like to get this moving forward we've seen there's there's public support for it um you know other than the meeting we had where a lot of landscapers came and I think at the end of it they walked away you know kind of okay with the compromise we haven't had a lot of people come and speak out against uh this proposed seasonal ban so I think this is a win for the community um in in many ways and I want to see it move forward as quickly as possible um next year I I know that the EC is going to be holding some additional information sessions so that we can educate the public in how to treat their landscapers once these uh rules go into effect because you know it's it's going to be harder to have every single blade of grass be gone in the summer um but that's okay and uh so I'd like to see this move forward so if there's anyone up here on this deis that has continuing concerns let's use this time to voice those and and get some answers so we can get this moving along and I just like to at seeing the the young people come out tonight in support of the seasonal uh uh restriction on the gas leaf blowers just fantastic and they understood the issues they understood the the nox the the noxious uh the fumes they understood the noise pollution I mean watching these guys and girls grow up it's just been fantastic uh and uh uh the uh the seasonal restriction is a happy medium where everyone's met in the middle and bringing it back for our town it's my my feeling can I don't have any questions my only concern and it was the concern that I said last time too was you know that has anyone talked to the um to the schools and let them know that this we were having these conversations you know that was one of my questions and then again I would just want more um public information sessions you they scheduled yeah your honor we've we've schedule the next public information session for January 8th it'll be just down the hall in the small meeting room you you are correct you had asked me about the schools that was I I I tried to address everything I remember from our conversation that one I didn't um can you can you tell me exactly what I'm asking by the way is it well not just let them know that it's what the environmental commission is talking about and just get some feedback from them because it's going to affect their seven schools sure okay you know thank you I mean I don't know if there school isn't there a high schooler on the EC that can bridge that Gap as well I mean so are you talking about the environmental Club yeah no no I mean the the the young woman who's on the environmental that's the environmental Club well she wouldn't really know the administration though I think it's a conversation that the committee has to have with um with the administration I'll do as Le on to the Boe I will set up with Visa and and the powers that be including uh my son's former football coach Chris Drexel who's now the athletic director well I think it would be more proper he has the he has the people who do the all of the fields then so Dam would be able be there he's the guy it's not only the fields it's the school it's all of the property so and I don't know if um I don't know that they would even really be using during the season that they're going to be well they're still cutting the grass and everything so they might be I don't know they you know but at this let's talk to them sure but if the township DPW can deal with it and they said we'll learn to live with it I no I totally agree with you but again I just want them to be aware of the convers it's a neighborly thing to do also I think I think the thing is that we we as a Township started preparing because we had been aware of the conversations previous so it's just that they may not have started buying things like like we we we already had started buying things to deal with the summer months and and the electric so conversations fac next meeting we'll have an update on that okay and they may surprise us we surprise it might also be worthwhile for the two of you to go to a Boe meeting make use of the public comment yes and sell the idea to them I'm sure it won't be a very hard especially if you bring some of those students along um you know then we can close and hopefully get this wrapped up early next year we you know every you know we always going to have people that are going to say that they didn't know no one told me you know but we just have to try as best we could to just to make sure everyone knows good point and in addition to the information sessions there you know the EC aside money from the 2024 budget for purchasing ads on Facebook in tap into um the patch so we're very I mean we want to reach as many people as possible and we'll add it to the message when you have the public sessions coming up we'll add it to the message just so as many people know as possible thank you I appreciate anything else so we're good okay okay okay uh public comment this public comment perod is allowed is to allow for final comments from the community when invited to speak to offer your comments please come to the Lector clearly state your name and whether you are a Milbourne resident and or property or business owner please do not provide your full address seeing our meetings are recorded and are readily available to the public a reminder that in order to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speakers shall limit their comments to one three minute second Phil kers Milbourne resident uh first I just wanted to thank everybody on the day for all the work they did this year I'm sure we all really appreciate it and happy birthday Alex um what I wanted to I wanted to make a suggestion going forward um I know that the packet um here in online has the as a background for the resolutions on the consent agenda but I think it'd be very helpful if uh at the meeting if the township committee gave just a thumbnail sketch of items on the consent agenda especially when they have the import of something like a developers agreement like with Annie says I think for people to just hear briefly what's involved would be very helpful I know they do this the meetings I've been in Verona they do this and they had just have the clerk um again give a very brief description of the agenda items before they voted on I think got something you might want to consider I think it'd be very helpful thanks thank you than um care Phil again Happy Holidays for everyone Tara thank you for your six years and I think they had a rocker they didn't tell the public enjoy rocking in it yes thank you of that um couple other points Alex when you meet with the orange remember Orange has a longterm a 15year lease with the county for that um and I and I think know that there really the county we have to keep in mind that they have an interest in the uh the reservoir and just um as we talk about Mount Laurel declaratory judgment um I just hope that a lot of people watched the affordable housing um SE seminar on Thursday and watched the hearing in Mercer County on uh Friday and hopefully soon we will have a notice of appearance for our new Council being put into the docket because that has I have not seen that happen yet because I think they were supposed to once they signed the agreement they were supposed to be our new litigation Council again everyone happy holidays and Tara thank you I know we've been battling for four years but again thank you for your service thank you best calling going again um I just wanted to finish up on some of the explore stuff that I didn't to tell you actually um because you just not make those decisions I know you already need the budget thing that's totally fine um so I I want to ask about what happened to the snowflake lights this year um and uh I I know actually a couple stores I spoke to some stores which I do often sometimes just talking to some of the merchants that they were upset about the lack of snowf plates particularly on um Milbourne Avenue further down closer to Andy C like near Goldbergs Etc so um Amanda had told the store owners in an email that um that they broke so did all this did all the snowflake leges break that we couldn't put them up this year I just maybe Alex will know that answer or the DPW and um you know there I don't think there's a tree light you know in Taylor Park it's just was strange so I just thought that was really strange this year and I also noticed a lot of the TBL Planters are empty you know so I do want to call out that I I personally think as a longtime resident that um our town has a higher income level than Summit and we don't do as good of a job visually I do think the main part near the standard is really tight but there's a lot of other work to be done particularly in Upper Milburn Avenue and and closer to Goldberg it's looking a little sad a lot of weeds there's there's Broken Bricks there's like potholes in the bricks it's it's quite a mess up there so just something that I think needs to be worked on and I also want to just talk to um I do support the C and I talk to you why I had issues with with some of the the budget and I actually don't have a problem with what they spend in retail there's quite a bit they do a lot of work my issue is is that you don't have anybody with retail expertise true retail expertise other than Mr waserman and I'm not talking about a small business owner I'm talking about somebody who understands retail metrics and the um young gentleman who's super sweet and has an MBA I don't think he realizes that I think Stern business school at myu is the only School in the country that has an MBA program that specializes in luxury retail um and that's relatively new so um an a classic MBA person would not have that experience you'd have to get that Hands-On working as a chief merchandising officer in retail organization so I just wanted to put that out there um and then um I wanted to talk about um the um environmental commission um you know blower ban um I actually have like mixed feelings about it um and so the one thing because I I totally agree with the environmental implications of it but my conc ER is is that um I'd like to see the DPW actually do a test with electrical equipment to understand the deel the disal I can't talk tonight I'm so sorry the decibel difference and also the frequency difference because high pitch frequencies from electrical devices are actually more painful and damaging sometimes to the ears and I personally can't stand what my neighbor uses electric blower um and it will cost homeowners a lot more so like instead of blowing the acorns off you actually will be handpicking them off of your thing maybe people are a there's a lot of people in town that are so thanks thanks I'll see you later and happy birthday everybody Charlie vanara resident Milbourne TR Hills um I it it's spent quite a bit of time uh with the environmental uh uh committee on on this this ban uh I gave some advice I I provided some information for uh commit for Deputy Mayor sakandi um uh I personally don't think the ban goes far enough because I think string Tremors should be in included and I think you have to Define I've said this time and time again gas powered there's a difference between two-stroke and fourstroke and everybody keeps talking about all the pollution that's from two stroke engines it's not from fourstroke engines so make the distinction the ordinance call it two-stroke engines ban any garden tool with two-stroke because I know uh in my neighborhood when the landscapers come through in the summertime with their string trimmers some of them have three or four string trimmers operating at the same time and it's def just as deafening as as the leaf blowers are so you know the I think the band should be on two-stroke garden tools uh and some fourstroke garden tools are quite compliant environmentally and they're muffled a lot more than two-stroke are uh so uh I think there's a little bit more homework that can be done and I think the ordinance needs to be very specific or it can be challenged as being arbitrary and then it's not going to hold up in court so if somebody wants to do that it won't be me but just protect yourselves and make it specific thank you thank you okay Renee paparan I am a resident I'm also the chair of the environmental commission and I would like to remind everybody again that this restriction is seasonal so when the acorns fall from the trees you're going to hear everything that you hear right now because the gas blowers are going to sound just like they do right now in the fall okay so everybody can blow their acorns away if they can't get them before I just want to reinforce the fact that this is seasonal okay it's not a full-on ban that other municipalities like Maplewood have done it's very reasonable and in the summertime you don't need four stroke or two stroke and the electric will do just fine when there's heavy duty cleanup that is when the gas blowers are permitted as is all the other equipment and as far as the other equipment and I certainly understand the concerns but right now we're trying to bite off what we think the township can you know can chew you can't address everything and be totally unrealistic let's get this done we're not the first we are certainly not taking the lead in this but let's be smart about it we have done a lot of research and if people think we haven't then they haven't come to the information sessions I am going to say to anybody who's listening or who's going to listen to this recorded come to an information session that the environmental commission is going to hold stop guessing on Facebook and proposing what you think you heard your neighbor say about the disciples about the get come to an information session you can ask okay and Christine best I happen to know that that was cleared with you and your schedule okay okay that is my and also once again about the polystyrene collection if anybody's listening please just bring your polystyrene it's the packing polystyrene white has to be clean has to be dry it has to be free of any tags or tape bring it to the big collection bin at the town yard we are very fortunate we're one of the few municipalities that offer this the recycling facility facilities the murfs they don't have the capability to recycle which is why when you put out that material with your weekly recycling it's not going to be recycled it's going to end up in a Pennsylvania landfill okay that just happens to be what's going to happen you want it recycled bring it to the town yard thank you thank you Richie cyber Milbourne resident thank you Renee paparan you know seriously how much do you get paid for all the time you how much I didn't hear okay same I all of you good job I just want to go on the record it's final meeting of the Year good job everybody pay is low lot of hours put in and you all work for the town except you you get paid lot okay but everybody else works for the works pretty much to T you're GNA be missed yeah seriously thank you and for my wife she misses The Nutcrackers that were on all the poles God no no I know somebody said just snowflakes but she misses The Nutcrackers and you know what they were Toy Soldiers Richie by the way well we call them nutcrackers okay Toy Soldiers or nutcrackers aren't they no Nutcracker is not a soldier all right she misses the toy soldiers so if you could put up a couple of toy soldiers just for her that would be great all right happy holidays to all anyone online I get to go first absolutely absolutely my name apologize I lost my voice um my name is Donnie Koski president first of all I wanted to thank everyone here I've been sitting here for many years people said supporting Daren I've witnessed all of you guys through the years and it's really been an interesting and amazing experience I appreciate everything that you guys do for the town I see from the inside being with Tara how much work you guys put into it and it's truly truly appreciated and thank you all and Tara I couldn't be prouder of you and I just I love you and I love you so much and I just I just wanted to publicly tell everybody that and how much I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you goodness and I'm just GNA leave with that for now and I love you and happy holidays to everybody [Laughter] [Music] [Music] you could put put your camera on please There She Goes we can't can't hear youe M can't hear you sounds happy yeah she sounds Happ what good evening hi good evening um hi my name is Gia aan I'm a junior at penan in mour Resident I just wanted to say that I support a seasonal restriction on gas leaf blowers um gas leaf blowers are incredibly disruptive and many here have already spoken to the data around it not just to our peace and quiet but also to our health and the envirment environment on a personal level my mom sister and I share responsibility for walking our dog we often encounter landscapers using Gaff Lea blowers the noise scares my dog and the air pollution makes it difficult for both of us to breathe comfortably as we walk past while most of us have gotten used to the noise and environmental pollution caused by them my dog responds in a more natural way by dragging me away from it change starts with simple actions and this restriction could set an example of how we can balance practicality with an environmental responsibility by restricting the use of gas leaf blowers milour can become a leader on the environmental responsibility like a few of her neighboring towns inspiring other communities in New Jersey and other states to follow seat thank you for considerating this important important initiative thank you Jerry K Short Hills resident I'll be quick I forgot to mention this during the first public comment um Mr McDonald I think you mentioned the town got a grant for 459,000 495,000 I might be getting the numbers wrong for the Short Hills 79 for the Short Hills train station is this with regard to the the plan that was presented I think a little over two years ago related to the the I think there was like a traffic barrier and then cars there was a one-way traffic pattern or something um I I'm just a little curious because those plans seemed a little Nati in terms of you know they weren't well formed a lot of I remember residents particularly in that neighborhood I I think there was I don't know if it was related there was talk of turning Hobart AV one way related to that I think there were a lot of Neighbors in that area who were concerned about it um and I had personally thought that you know those plans had sort of been set aside so I just surprised to hear that we got grant money for that is that are there plans specific that that grant money is restricted for are we going to go back to the drawing board in terms of you know coming up with new plans that that Grant monies can be applied to um I think originally the cost and I could be wrong was 1.8 or maybe even $3 million like you know I just don't remember for the whole project so um I'm just curious as to how we anticipate that process playing out because while a $400,000 Grant is great if it requires spending $2 million for you know a$2 and a half million dollar project that's still two million $2 million that we're spending so we just need to make sure that you know that's the right project for the town um so with all that rambling um I think it's time for me to stop so that we can all go home um so thank you all for everything you do um looking forward to working with everyone in the new year thanks thank you so we're gonna close public comment Mr McDonald can you please answer about the snowflakes yes thank you so one I just in general about holiday lighting I think it's important for everybody to know that the Winter Walk was a chamber of commerce event they ran the event they got the sponsorship for the event and at some point after people that had started it and worked really hard to get it up and running had left the chamber and and it was um attempted to be taken over um it just has not come to fruition so the so the um I think there's at times this expectation that this just stopped or this un like this mis misunderstanding that this just stopped this has not been in a in place for two years um so what the what the township and with the help of the special improvement district have been attempting to do is sort of working on a long-term plan of how we are going to continue to light up mbour for the holidays this is not something that is going to happen overnight this is not something that is inexpensive to do um and I know people will speak to you know whatever the budget is or whatever but it is a part of what we're trying to do um the snowflakes have been in existence for I don't know somebody else could probably tell me because they're probably here before me yeah forever the the the toy soldiers or nutcrackers have been in existence forever um the snowflakes yes a lot of them are broken there are a lot of poles that are inaccessible able to to accommodate them if you notice throughout the years those snowflakes get more and more sporadic you've got one or two on upper Milbourne Avenue you maybe got one or two on murn Avenue down yes I am I am I 100% positive on what I'm saying these snowlakes are have been sporadic throughout the years because they break or the poles aren't accessible in addition what we've done with the with the honoring our Hometown Heroes has also made those polls inaccessible uh for the snowflakes so I think we are looking to revamp that and I think that um sort of I get people's concern about holiday lighting um however we are implementing holiday lighting the courtyard is lit up the the lot one which had previously been done by the by the chamber is lit up we are also in the process of purchasing permanent fixtures that we can use to continue to light up uh the township um in a respectful way uh this is going to take some time and and and also I would say in comparison to Cranford Summit Westfield other communities that have pedestrian scale Lighting in other areas other than a small portion of their down town it facilitates the use of these types of decorations much easier when you have a pole with electricity at the top that you are already being metered for and you can plug in a holiday decoration or a winter decoration in that light makes it a lot easier hope maybe this will be motivation to continue pedestrian scale Lighting in areas like upper Milbourne Avenue or Milbourne Avenue where we don't have it that could help facilitate a better holiday feel in the downtown um so again we are working on it uh we are continuing those efforts but it is no longer being supported or supplemented by the Chamber of Commerce and what they had done um so it's going to take some time to do that in addition I just would like to uh while I have it uh the mic I would like to answer uh Dr kung's uh comments so this project has been spoken about since 2019 um in particular I'm talking about the eastbound side of the train station not the westbound side the westbound side of the train station was the conversation in which I think most residents were not in favor of improvements based on the fact that it was traffic changes it was changing you know station Plaza to a one way changing Hobart Avenue to a one way um making those improvements in around station Plaza and that eastbound or that westbound side the eastbound side it are improvements that include a variety of things um but and and a lot of those things weren't necessarily in consternation with the public but yes there are tweaks right I think you know I received a comment um from a member of the committee that they didn't like an entrance being eliminated um I've you know there are uh approaches in that conceptual plan that are are um to organize the traffic anybody who's been up there at drop off time pickup time it is a it is a it is a mess and there needs to be some organization to that also lighting lighting is not good up there um so this project uh uh it approaches lighting it approaches organization it approaches additional connectivity to the business district as well as Woodland Avenue um it is about organizing pedestrians to make sure that they're Crossing and across walk and AC Crossing at the right places um so it it it touches on a lot of things the budget is $479,000 I don't anticipate this being a $3 million project or $1.8 million project I don't none of those numbers were associated with this at any time that I'm aware of um and and I think that again there will be some retooling this is not something that we're married to but I think generally speaking the overall aspects of it lighting um organization you know pedestrian uh safety are all all part of that project so again agreed getting a $479,000 grant if you're gonna pay two million is not is not necessarily something you want to do this is a $479,000 grant it's a safe safe rout a Transit Grant so it's much like what we are doing with uh the safe routs to schools Grant which is a grant that you actually re receive design assistance with so uh we're looking forward to it and it's going to be a process it's going to take a while it's not going to happen tomorrow um it'll probably take a few years actually to make these improvements and make utilize this grant money um La lastly I just I I just would like to say something because I think it's really important um you know when you quote people that you quote people correctly especially um when you say things and and and I and I would be remiss to not say I never said that there are deficiencies I said if there are def deficiencies with the Sid don't tear down the barn not burn down the barn so i' just like to it has to be clear that when you quote people quote them quote them because that's important so that's it thank you does anyone have any other comments Deputy Mayor yeah um so we didn't get an opportunity to do this before but I would like to express my gratitude to Tara for all the hard work she has put in um I've been attending these meetings for the past few years now for most of them I was s out there and terara was up here fighting for the town Tera you fought the good fight you you did what you thought was best for the town and the residents and you didn't give up even when everyone else on the de was against you you stayed in the fight and um I also really appreciate your commitment and helping um to drive forward the referendum that we're going to have uh on the charter commission I think that's going to be really great and if that all goes the way I hope it does I think that's going to put the town in in a great spot and that'll have been a huge lasting impact so again I I just want to thank you for your service um I want to wish you the best of luck on wherever you go next or whatever you do next um you will be missed and uh I'm I'm honored to have served with you so thank you uh you know I tonight was just fantastic I love the robust exchange of ideas in a professional and civil manner I love that change this year um I want to Express gratitude to everyone on the de for the great job everyone's done this year um and and everybody's worked together Tara uh I cannot wish you uh more than the best uh you have been fantastic thank you for everything you've done for this town um you know I love getting my drink there before every meeting the uh what is it turmeric and cayenne pepper so uh I'll be seeing you before the meetings anyway um happy holidays to all uh and we always have to remember we have more that unites us than divides us and that always comes out at the end right so uh everyone have a great holiday season and we'll see you in the new year committee yeah I'm up but I'd like so the first campaign that I worked on when I decided to get inv in local politics was your first run Paris first run for office back then I certainly didn't think we'd end up Ser I thought you'd win but I didn't think we'd end up serving together so um thank you for all you've done over the six years it's a tremendous amount of work um as as people said you're certainly someone who when you believe in something which started with complete streets but you know everything everything else all along you've certainly certainly fought for it and then to Echo everybody it's I think it's been a great year I mean we've managed to restore civility across the board both at the days and the audience and you know people are people who no longer live here are calling up and say I still watch the township committee meetings when they take out the pop for and that I'm glad that that doesn't happen anymore so thank you to everybody and happy holidays to everybody here in the community yes I want everybody to um have a safe happy holiday um and just to remind everyone that our next meeting is Tuesday January 7th at 7 pm will be our organization meeting so may I have a motion to adjourn this committee woman SEC uh second second meeting aour