good evening everyone welcome to Milbourne Township 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 pm on Tuesday December 5th 2023 meeting details and the draft agenda were also posted on our Township website please all stand to salute the flag flag the United States of America the stand [Music] nais roll call vote Please Mr Cohen here M puus here M Romano here Deputy Mayor Vana here mayor miggins here thank you there is an add-on resolution resolution 23- 288 authorizing surviving spouse benefits to the family of Lieutenant Adam nor I have a motion to approve the agenda as revised to include resolution 23288 may I have a second all those in favor I any opposed thank you and I'd like to read it whereas the township of Milbourne wishes to provide surviving spouse benefits to the Widow of Lieutenant Adam Nars of the Milbourne Police Department whereas these benefits are a result of lieutenant RS having suffered a major medical episode that resulted in his passing at a time that he should have still been working his shift as lieutenant in the milb police department and whereas Lieutenant had Lieutenant Norris not utilized sick time to go home when he felt ill tightness in his chest while on duty his family would have been afforded benefits through the township of Milbourne and whereas Lieutenant Nars was an exemplary leader of the Milbourne Police Department with 22 years of service at his passing and his family was left without recourse to be provided health and prescription benefits as was planned upon his retirement and whereas Lieutenant Norris's Widow will be required to contribute to these benefits in accordance with pl20 chapter 78 and the collective bargaining agreement of the mg PBA local 34A whereas the township committee wishes to attempt to provide such benefits to Lieutenant Norris's Widow and children until such time that the children age out or the Widow reaches Medicare ability and now therefore be resolved by the township Committee of the township of Milbourne that the township Committee of the township of Milbourne authorizes the business administrator to attempt to add Janine norus and her two children to parent child coverage under the State Health Benefit programs in NJ direct 2030 this action will be with the assistance of the New Jersey state PBA and that the addition of this coverage shall be approved and authorized by the New Jersey state health benefits program and being further resolved that the actions of the township committee are at their sole discretion based on the evaluation of the facts presented to them and the business administrator by the Milburn Township PBA local 34 and the Milburn Township Superior officers Union PBA local 34A no action taken by this committee will set precedent for future consideration of other parties nor that any other obligation Beyond this attempt will be required the Milbourne Township PBA and SOA will be required to provide for a separate agreement with the township of Milbourne that this action sets no precedent prior to any discussions with the state PBA the new New Jersey state health benefits program or any other attempt at addition so may I have do I guess a motion may I have a motion to approve this may I have a second second roll call vote Please Mr Cohen yes Miss puus yes Miss Romano yes Deputy Mayor vanay Mo fall left and Norris thank you for your service and for is yes thank you mayor mgin you bet yes thank you thank you I have a motion to approve the December 5th 2023 Township committee minutes so may I have a second second all those in favor I any opposed I abstain may I have a motion to approve the December 5th 2023 special Township committee minutes so move may have a second second all those in favor any opposed I abstain okay great day today as evidence by this room um Chief gilfedder I am so excited to see you standing here today because that means that we've got people getting hired and so may I have a motion to approve resolution 23276 so Mo okay chief Gil feder do you want to tell us about our oh I need a second second second second all those in favor none opposed okay chief gilfer just like to start by thanking the mayor and C committee Mr McDonald for allowing us to present three candidates for please officer tonight first up is going to be Thomas Sweeney 23 years old resides in Clark with his family Thomas has graduated from Arthur Johnson High School 2019 and for the past two years he's worked at the Clark Township uh Clark Township Department of Public Works in 2020 comes join the clock volunteer fire department receive all the training and become a volunteer firefighter currently holds a rank of Lieutenant with the fire department and he will be attending the Morris County Police Academy in January that we have Tyler Barrett is 30 years old and resides in Lake of pacon with his family he's a graduate from Jefferson High School in 2011 and attended to Morris County college and graduated with his associates degree in criminal justice uh he also graduated from the state uh New Jersey state Bic Corrections Academy in January 22 for the past few years he has worked as a full-time ructions officer at Northern State Prison of new be attending the Mars County Police Academy also in and last is Gerald stralow he's 22 years old and resides in pumpin Plains with his family graduated from Quantic Valley High School in 2019 and currently is a junior in his junior year at Ropo College pursuing a bachelor's degree in law and safety uh this past year has been working as a security officer for Atlantic health and he's an avid student of martial arts uh is a third degree black belt in Taekwondo and also a lead instructor at ner Kim's tiger Taekwondo he's also following his Father's Footsteps here tonight with him is Chief St from Harrison Police Department welcome uh and he will also be attending LA County want to administer the I did a little backwards it's okay smile raise your right hand and then I'm gonna after me raise right yes repeat after me okay I state your name I Tyler Barett do Sol me swear to swear I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that will Faithfully discharge and that will Faithfully discharge the duties of police officer the duties of police officer of the Milbourne Township Police Department of the milour Township Police Department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you good Lu guys are congratulations congratulations thank you so [Music] much yeah you just put the date just while we're waiting here I just like to thank the committee for passing resolution who's a great employee and a great friend for Police Department this is great going to help this thank you I'm sure you'd all love to stay for this meeting however we're going to take a five minute break thank you okay we ready we're here are we ready so nice to see friendly faces okay um um mayor may I have the floor to invite Deputy Mayor bayak to stand me while I honor you may I didn't either but we let didn't either oh here we go look I want to thank you for serving on the township committee thank you for being a strong supporter of our resident volunteers and a watchful eye on our finances and thank you for being instrumental in getting the flood advisory committee off and running but most of all um I'm honored to call you my friend I've gotten to know your family over the years and I'm going to miss seeing you up here than you every two weeks but you hopefully still still be able to see the family so thank congratulations thank you so much thank you to the TC here thank you for all to all the residents a special thank you to my friend Deputy Mayor Richard bosserman and mayor Jackie lieberberg because of two of them I'm stuck here for three years uh they were very instrumental to getting me in here and thank you to Annette and the entire District leader who actually voted me to get on the ticket and thanks to ultimately the residents of the Town who voted me in I did my best for three years Wherever Whenever I was in doubt which way to go all I thought was will it be good for my next generation and will it be good for our kids to grow up here and I voted based on that there are some tough decisions I think this was probably my best most valuable experience anybody who gets a chance they should run for the office they will get to know it's very very difficult it's impossible to please everyone but you got to do what your gut says you got to do what what really you feel good about there will always be perception of different things and they're not wrong they're just seeing it with different eyes my sunglass glasses will not work on your eyes so similarly their sunglasses will not work on mine I think it was a very humbling experience and and I would tell everyone out there to run if you really want to make a difference don't make a difference on social media be here be here spend your three years go volunteer for any boards and committees and last but not the least thank you to my family who actually put up with me for the last three years my wife my kids and thanks thanks to Milbourne resident this this Township committee is great and you have a good CEO running the township thank you [Applause] Alex I guess that's [Music] so bring this to your house chair do I need to move the mic or you know I have a pretty big voice but we can maybe I'll sing do you want me to sing for you I've got a song I'll sing for you if you want I have a good song okay it it uh it gives me great pleasure to recognize mayor Maggie miggins for her service to mbour Township and the township Committee in her three years of service two of which she served as mayor she's been a tireless advocate for the town a strong advocate for Public Safety Maggie appears happy at the TC meetings like this one when they include police department and fire department promotions and new employees to combat the increase in car thefts occurring throughout several towns in the area she helped establish neighborhood watch groups and also advocated for license plate readers that notify the police when suspected criminals entered the town she's also worked with Senator Cody to legislate additional penalties for repeat perpetrators Maggie has fought Rising anti-Semitism by working with the Anti-Defamation League while you all may be aware of the Proclamation we read earlier in the year more importantly it resulted in police training to recognize and react to bias incidents Maggie reinstituted the mayor's weekly mayor's message which is a great way to notify residents of important issues and also to publicize local events Maggie has worked with our state legislators to bring several million dollars of Grants to the town she is advocated for historic designation of various buildings in town because keeping our history available for future Generations is important while the most visible aspect of her role is the semi-monthly TC meetings I can attest to the fact that Maggie has worked non-stop to improve Milbourne Short Hills I am happy to present this chair as a token of thanks for her service thank you mayor m thank you thank you thank I'm going to sing for you I am going to sing and I'm gonna sing because I think it's important today um especially in these times I do I really mean that so let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me let there be peace on Earth the peace that was meant to be with God as our father Brothers all our we let me walk with my brother in perfect Haron let peace begin with me let be the moment now with every Step I Take let this be my to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally let there beace on Earth and let it begin with me and that's for you because [Applause] we need to work together you didn't know I had it in me we all need to work together sometimes when we're up here behind the curtain y'all don't know what we're doing but I promise you we're working really hard for you um and I think um I think to sanji's point difficult decisions are never met with gratitude and sometimes we've had to make some pretty difficult decisions and I will say um I think it's important it's been an hon honor and a privilege to have served on the township committee it really has and to being the mayor I really liked it I I like the role for some reason I don't know um I'm glad that Michael talked about us bringing money back we brought almost $2 million back to the paper mill I see Mike STS in the audience folks pass that paper mill get them the money that's the State Theater of New Jersey and we need to keep we need to redo it you know things need a little fixing every now and then so you know it's like facelift Botox we all need it so they need it um I would I took a class in college that said you know everybody should be in their local government and I'm like all right that's interesting and so here we are it is so much more difficult to be in a local government than it is to be in a this state house or you know because you have people blocking you as it were people answering for you being in the state government we're being in local government we see you every day and um it's uh a little difficult at times but I I've enjoyed every moment of it and I would encourage everybody who has a a Yen for definitely run and get on a board I think that's important um and also because I always don't like to talk about what I do for a wedding uh even though some people in the audience used to bring it up I will bring up the fact that um I'm not going anywhere I get to get back into my business and uh which is selling real estate and I will be um you know blogging and having a YouTube channel live about what a fabulous Town mbour chart Hills is to live in so look that in the future for next year and um the last thing I want to talk about is the people that work in the town we don't realize how hard the people are that work in the town whether it's Christine Gaddy or Alex McDonald or our attorneys or the people that uh collect your taxes or work in the building department our DPW our fire department our police department they are so important to our community and um I always want to give them shout outs I think it's really important and if you see a police officer officer if you see a fireman thank them thank them for the service most of them probably have served in the military anyway but they really care about our community I think it was evident today when you saw all the police that showed up for those three gentlemen that they really don't know but are going to be joining their Brotherhood so um we need to make sure we respect everybody that works in our um for our town because they feel just as close to our town as we all do so that's all I have to say I want to I want to thank you all for coming tonight and um let's finish the [Applause] I'm [Laughter] available okay uh no we are going to reports uh Deputy Mayor Vania any reports that's one last report on the flood mation [Laughter] because the team is here as well and and it's so good to sit on their by their side to to see them passionately working there we had great meeting last time and it it was last meeting last week the thing is after that we had rainfall couple days ago and everybody on social media was talking about how the floodgates was an open tailor P wasn't uh Dressed out or or not dressed out was not brought down all those things sometimes is not misinformation but incomplete information so we as a flood mitigation team were talking about what floodgates are these guys talking about because there is no Floodgate so what Floodgate to open we were even confused which one we did not open secondly on the tailor Pond it was the the water was taken out but the amount of water that we got in filled up so quickly it could be that it took 6 minutes it would have taken 5 minutes or it could be 6 hours versus 5 hours but the tailor pond water was taken out before it filled up again so I think the team is here team is listed on the website as well they have meeting monthly public meeting as well is better to take some time out and talk to the team and ask them there were also comments made last time about walking the river uh and and we went back the first thing we did when we made this flood mitigation team was we walked around the entire Riv all the way from arm mbour even before that all the way to Turtle Back looked at every step of the way so so team again they invested a lot of time they put in a lot of their time as of volunteer again and they are passionate they experience they're professional too and all in different ways so kudos to them and this was my report thank you thank you committee woman Romano any reports yes thank you mayor um senior citizens met last week uh they recently took a trip to Peddler's Village and did some shopping they also went to PNC art center to see an Elvis impersonator um Jamie reported that their uh weekly inperson and online canastra and maang it is uh very popular uh Friday friends has been meeting at the library because of the bower Renovations at the gym very popular Project Healthy bones she's up to 27 people in person and 14 on zoom taii and Cher yoga continue at jro and then uh we always like to talk about the creative hands lady uh ladies they've been in existence for at least 20 years as far back as I can remember and what these women do is they meet and they make a wheelchair and Walker bags and the fabric is donated from the Red Cross that used to be in town now they're over in Fairfield and the township has made them little labels that say um made with love by creative hands of mbour Township so those ladies are are very proud of that um and just some numbers that I'd like to share from our uh board our Sid board meeting last week uh the attendance for the winter Villages was between 16 and 1,700 combined on both days and that was only Saturday because Sunday was rained out on both both weekends um they distributed and collected 234 surveys 55 unique towns were represented 55% of the attendees were from Milburn Short Hills and 19.2% were firsttime visitors to Milburn Short Hills the uh their Instagram reached over 5,958 accounts which is up 51% from the previous month the total number of followers hit 3,000 during during the winter Villages there were over 480 social media posts from Sid businesses and other community organizations and uh 2023 representation in all of the events uh from the business districts uh for the different events Restaurant Week there were three districts represented girls night out yeah three businesses girls night out 15 fall into Milburn Short Hills four and winter Villages three and that's all my reports thank you very much M Kus you want my puus anything for us I don't I'm just really like that was amazing oh thank you well I didn't know that you well I knew probably you saying in church yeah love it maybe that's the I think I'm so moved because I think um I think we really we don't talk about it enough but we need to have more peace in this world and we really um you know I feel firm you know the Irish are either with me or again me um um that we need to stand with Israel and um and that's really what's on my mind a lot lately so I've been thinking about that and um thinking how can we bring about peace but we we as a community did that we got out got out right away after October 7th we said then it was going to be we were all a gast and appalled and that we would um as the months progressed and more people were going to try and turn against it and so that's very frustrating to me because I don't understand good versus evil I just understand good versus evil and so there's evil out there and um and so I think about that I hope we can have peace um but I I will always say that Israel has a right to defend herself and her people so that's where that just briefly excuse me um the library Board of Trustees met yesterday and we are closing out a record year at the milb Free Library in terms of circulation visits and programs so you know certainly postco and and having to relocate and whatever else things are back and better than ever and um we're just starting to look at plans um they in the very early stages to renovate the second floor um and there are a lot of different options and uh the the board is starting toh look at that um but when that renovation occurs the library will remain open during that whole time that's one of the critical measures that uh you know that's that's a crial importance but you know the first Flo renovation was a big success and now we'll be doing the second awesome I have a question about the r like are you guys talking about putting kind of making that meeting more so that you can hold zo meetings so I raised that as a matter of fact and yes that is on that when when the renovation happens the technology will be replaced and and we will be able to hold Zoom meetings that's awesome Mr Mayor zii share shares thank you mayor yes I have a short Report with respect to the case management conference that was held yesterday uh by judge Santa Moro in connection with the obligation of the township according to her court order to adopt a Redevelopment agreement for the uh nine Main Street affordable housing project of the case measurement conference was called for by the judge on Friday afternoon it was held yesterday at noon many of you in this room I know attended uh but I wanted to report for the for the minutes that Mr caner and myself appeared on behalf of the township I was asked uh very robust questions I guess I would say by by the judge about where things stood uh Mr caner explained that a motion has been filed uh to extend the time uh for uh for the adoption of that uh agreement uh uh and the motion is returnable I believe it's January 5th I'm not sure of that date U the U the judge indicated that she would hear that motion and kept an open mind but she did go on to say that she wanted it understood that this project is going to be built and that after hearing the motion she didn't know what she would do but she speculated that she might impose a a fine of $500 a day on the township where May maybe a $1,000 dollar a day on the township uh to encourage compliance with that so that will all be determined uh as a result of that motion that will be held in January um and that is the major outcome of that appearance before the court I have no further thank you sir Mr McDonald yes mayor uh several reports first and foremost I would like to welcome uh Timothy Hoffman who's the new assistant administrator for the township um Tim comes to us Tim comes to us from uh uh seen Hall University where he was actually employed and is was also a uh a professor um at seatan Hall uh in the uh public administration and political science program uh pre previously Tim was an intern in city of Hoboken as well as was a um uh a elected official on the hackensac board of education um and so Tim has uh you know some experience in in this realm from both sides um and also uh brings a uh a large U Academia uh and um uh experience to to town hall I'm looking forward to mentoring him uh through uh local government and all things that are uh being a business administrator uh I know he's very capable and has jumped right in already and uh we're excited to have him and certainly excited to have a helping hand um so welcome Tim thank you um just a couple uh quick updates to Residents a reminder that zone one recycling will have a makeup day on December 30th you're uh missing out on your recycling on both uh Christmas Day and New Year's Day so uh that December 30th date please keep that in mind that is going to be your recycling day uh trash and recycling for zone six is back to Saturday come the New Year all right so no three times out um so uh just a reminder to all those residents in zone six uh that were concerned about that that is going to go back to Saturday thank you um flooding uh uh I I I just want to piggy back on deputy mayor of anak sentiments um yesterday uh Sunday uh essentially Sunday night into Monday early morning the township recedes almost four inches of rain in a very short period of time uh I will say that uh we did experience flooding uh in particular Terell Park Pond onto Main Street um and which resulted in the closure of Main Street uh we were close we were very close um to to an event uh I will say that a lot of this was roadway flooding poor drainage flooding um um and minor flooding uh with the exception of Taylor Park Pond which did go onto uh onto Main Street um but uh for some of those that were in and around the town uh the wall uh behind the footer building and Goldbergs was about 12 inches away from uh over topping and the rain stopped around 9:00 a.m. uh which I think could not have been a more perfect time for the rain to stop um fire chief aaria who is now the coordinator and director of the Township's OEM and myself went around to South Mountain um in particular and visited with some of the residents that were particularly hard hit during um hurricane Ida check up on them and uh checked up on the rest of the Town Public Works police fire were all instrumental in making sure that we were responsive and and reactive and proactive about uh the events that took place there was a lot of discussion on social media um I saw most of it and I just want to take this moment to reiterate that it is really important that that in these times especially when things can get rough and that uh things can um be difficult that we're our our first reaction cannot be to cast blame or aspersions or question necessarily you know are there areas that we can help are there things that we can do to be of assistance um I heard several times that the floodgates were not open we have not had floodgates on that Dam since 2014 it is now a weir Dam it has a bypass um a pipe next to the dam that allows us to drain Taylor Park Park Pond that was done that has actually been open since they've been doing the dredging work the dredging work is complete yes it is at a particular depth and that depth is established by the the Department of Environmental Protection that is not our choice as to how big or deep that hole goes um in addition there were some comments and complaints regarding leaf collection all I'll say is that we have a schedule and that we put that out and we provide that to every resident that schedule is there for a reason to make sure that it is followed Leaf should not be out in the street for more than seven days that's a storm water uh regulation and for this particular reason that the the dep of Public Works cannot go back and forth to different zones to pick up leaves that are out in the street um because there might be a rainstorm coming they're following a schedule trying to keep up with a 4-day pickup three-day put out four-day put up three-day pickup whatever it might be in a particular Zone and so if there were leaves in the street I cannot say for certain but I would say that there are examples of those leaves being put out in the street at a time that they weren't supposed to be so I just want to help you know um provide some of this information also I think that since the flood mitigation advisory committee was established this town has accepted um I think once and for all uh that it does flood we've put it out in the public we've put it on the website we've made sure that people are aware of it we've committed a group to make sure that they're working toward it um and these are all very important things um and I just want to reiterate that um it's important the stuff that we put out there um and and and that we're not causing additional alarm or additional Panic um we had an individual call our Township's Dispatch Center three times on the same subject with incorrect information and beated the people that work there I just had a board meeting yesterday and uh I I I I don't think that is helpful in these times in the in these types of situations that's all I'm to say about it and certainly again there's a website there's information on the website there's ways to prepare we put out a message on Sunday morning around 9:30 a.m. after getting our final weather weather report before the storm hit and so um that was sent to 9,000 um individuals some of those are duplicate households or phones in a household but it was sent out during from the Township's Rave 911 or Milburn alert system it's put on the website and was put on social media um moving on from that uh Town Hall will be closed on uh Monday or I'm sorry yes Monday thank you Christmas Christmas Christmas uh December 25th it will also be closed on Monday uh January 1 uh there will be no trash pickup as I indicated before and there will be no recycling pickup uh just a quick update on The Pedestrian activated signage all the signage has been installed in five different locations those include Campbell Milburn Avenue Milburn Avenue Short Hill Circle right across from the high school uh par um parsonage Hill and Long Hill um they've also been at Pine Terrace East in Short Hills Avenue and at talet court in Old Short Hills Road these signs are uh again pedestrian activated so if you're looking to cross those streets please push the indicator so that the lights Flash and that cars can be made aware of your presence please make sure you wait until the car recognizes and stops um we've also we've also installed several speed indicator signs throughout the township um I hard pressed to give you every exact location but I know that there are two on Hobart um and uh and we've installed five in total Glenn is another one thank you Mr Highland Highland is not one nope not yet um yet so um just wanted to uh I just I think that is the uh oh one one more report on the Mountain Valley Emergency Communication Center uh yesterday Miss romano and I were at the board meeting um and at that board meeting we uh the Mountain Valley passed a budget it is a flat budget um going into 2024 and uh Milbourne and Summit will remain uh as partners in that um that Dispatch Center uh Springfield will be staying on for potentially staying on for a short time uh as they transition to Union County those are my reports thank you Mr McDonald and I think it's important to note you had said you know with flooding I mean I looked at all these other towns where there were cars that were totally sub submerged and I think we really did dodge a bullet in this one was there not a 50 foot tree or something that was dislodged behind FS or something it came down a large tree with the root ball with the root ball still intact so um I think with all of this and um I'm sure as different people maybe get on flood mitigation we'll see all the hard work that our flood mitigation committee has done and I promise you I'm on that with uh Deputy Mayor vanak they work diligently um I think you'll see there's not there's not going to be a magic cure I guess we're going to do the best we possibly can every single time where're floodings concerned but it's like whack-a-mole you fix one thing and here comes the other one and then you fix this and here comes something else and things that you don't expect so they're doing a really good job and we've worked really well with orange and mayor Dwayne Warren and we'll continue to do that um trying to figure out a solution um so that we maybe someday don't have it but I think everything worked the way it was supposed to and I'm sorry that Main Street did get flooded um but I think everything worked the way it was supposed to we just got so much rain the entire team was actually on site making videos clicking pictures collecting into the one data room that's true that is how passionate these people are they are there yes AB along with the fire department and the police wherever they were or DPW sorry they were doing their own work while other people were we're helping each other out it's it's commendable you guys are great thank you y thank you so we are going to public comment when invited to speak to offer your comments please come to the lecor and clearly state your name and whether you're a Milburn resident and or property or business owner please don't provide your full address our meetings are recorded and readily available to the public for the convenience of our community there is a remote option if you called in and would like to comment please press star six now and if you're attending by computer or electronic device please click the raise 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's 30 seconds remaining a reminder that this is not time for dialogue or to debate a matter and this is a time during our business meeting for the public to offer their comments after the conclusion of public comment period And if they wish to professionals and committee members May respond to comments made by the public members of the public are welcome to contact the township or Township committee at any time outside of our business meetings for requests for information or with any questions a reminder we are all neighbors and personal attacks will not be tolerated I will now open the public comment period one I don't know why I'm always this person because you sit in Fr Mr Feld um again my name is Jeffrey Feld I live in the poet section first of all to everyone in the community a happy and a safe holiday season and a a good New Year um I have questions I want to focus first on the agenda packet it was great that the police were we have three induct these but can you tell us is that a net positive three or they replacing people that retired also when they will come to uh online I think they're going to start the academy in January but when will they actually come online to serve us and this is like a budgetary question um the resolution says they come employees as of tomorrow were was money allocated in the budget for them for the 10 days this might sound minutia but pennies and cushions do matter about whether we follow the budget law as to the bill list question of the delay of posting it um interesting um there's questions that monies are coming out of in escrow for the Woodland Silverman report uh project to the mariti firm what is the status of that project um that got approved by the planning board I think a couple of years ago but doesn't seem like anything's happened hopefully next year the new um Township committee will give us s salary and wage information every two weeks as to how much money is going because that's major portion of our budget there's something interesting on the the um agenda this tonight and that's the identification of Township employees but when you read the resolutions about police officers and that's the first time I've noticed that type of resolution in the three years I've been here um has that been required by our GIF insure will the same Law Firm represent the police officers and the township or will will they each have separate Council will there be a division between the township and the police officers and who selects the uh Council that's going representing the police officers finally there's a resolution regarding the parking deck and this might sound like minutia but I have problems tracking the source of funding parking deck and it says phase one but last year we did like I think phase one about 20 to $30,000 to do a quick repair of the parking deck it makes reference to an ordinance that was adopted in 2011 when you look at the annual debt statement for 2022 there's no reference to that that ordinance so I'm trying to find out and especially also when we heard the last minute meeting the co funds was used to pay off that outstanding debt so the real question I have is really where is the money coming to pay for the availability of funds for this project if the ordinance has been satisfied and can you by law amend a bond ordinance by resolution because you're changing the appropriation this might sound like manuia but it isn't because if you misappropriate monies that been appropriated in a budget that could become a criminal offense and I'll speak later on on another issues thank you Mr [Laughter] phelp Mo the chairs else wants to mayor mayor Deputy Mayor first of all thank you Maggie and sanre for your service I know what it's like up there and it is a lot of hard work so I'm Diane th Eglo lifelong Pantry president and former mayor I am speaking about the Papermill tonight which is a nonprofit yet thankfully a very profitable organization they do not pay taxes are asking the town for 7.5 million towards their proposed massive renovation this includes the 20 Brookside Drive purchase at 1.8 million which the Papermill will now collect parking Revenue they're also requesting to amend the lease agreement for either reduction in rent or a total release from paying any future rent to the township Mr Hobie the producing artistic director and Mr STS the executive director's salaries are publicly available online together they are $700,000 I understand their desire to upgrade renovate and beautify the paper mill however $40 million is an enormous sum of money um this got cut off um they haven't even gone after their Capital Improvement drive and they've already been able to raise over $20 million why this pressure on the township committee the stage and seats were recently renovated were 100% paid for from just two single families private donations so the theater will not be increasing in size and every show sells out I believe our Township's public building such as Town Hall police fire department and DPW upgrades must come first as well as the Aging Bower Center and jro park building these buildings house our First Responders and serve all our residents equally no tickets needed our residents depend on and use these Public Services daily we cannot run the town without them our own public employees are working in conditions the public would be shocked to see the bathrooms in town hall are old and leaking and nowhere near as nice as the paper Mill's current bathrooms Town Hall has plastic on the windows and freay carpet the basement in town hall has water issues the police and fire departments could absolutely benefit from additional space and classrooms for our emergency First Responders as well as new hbac and all of the Township's buildings desperately need upgraded technology we know that this building absolutely does as Mr sad said last night it's not their fault I'm paraphrasing that the town has been deficient in upgrading our buildings so why shouldn't he get his cut well that might be true but there are millions of dollars worth of must do projects for the town the unknown cost of the affordable housing project with its unknown legal fees will DPW be located and at what cost an important and truly necessary flood mitigation for our residents in downtown businesses all of which were devastated during severe storms as you said we were lucky on Monday at and Taylor Park did Flood please uh one more minute the paper mills plan may be beautiful but it's not emerging it should not be rushed through with taxpayer dollars as committeeman Alex Stoler said last night this must be an open and transparent process this has just come before the public a few weeks ago to a Township committee meeting and there seems to be pressure to approve this so quickly our Town's gateway to Taylor Park on Milbourne Avenue is not ADA Compliant nor well lit and safe yet the last TC in the public were against any upgrades there to cost about a million dollars our downtown has seen no improvement since complete streets seven years ago two more sentences if the paper mill must do safety and flood mitigation parse out these items the town as land owner should pay for that as soon as possible to prevent de further deterioration as for the lease obligation two more sentences Maggie please kind be kind you're you're saying let me be they need to pair down their wish list or realistic plan lastly what you might find offensive perhaps a paper mill should become it a public should perhaps be not owned by the town and become a profitable and independent entity as they were they were safe ones sometimes you can't live off The Laurels of your parents thank you thank you Miss egler good evening Sarah Sherman flood mitigation advisory committee and I'm here with some members of our group I want to thank mayor miggins and deputy mayor vayak for their service on the township committee and their contributions to the flood mitigation advisory committee Mr vanak has been with our team since the group was formed and Miss megin joined us last year Mr Vanek has always encouraged the committee to keep advancing its agenda to accomplish our short-term goals while working on the long-term objectives originally Set uh to meet quarterly our team met four times in the first month with a river field trip followed by Weekend meetings with residents and we knew then we had a great deal of work ahead of us blue Acres Home elevation drainage and South Mountain were on the table immediately the orange Reservoir bypass was a project rejected by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2018 because it relied on human forecasting but our committee brought it back for reexamination mayor miggins had much to do with moving the needle on the orange Reservoir in meetings with orange officials and getting a commitment for us to move ahead with the bimetric survey on a personal note thanks to Maggie and Sanji for checking up on me and many other residents in my neighborhood during heavy rainfall one morning I looked at the window and saw Maggie walking down the driveway to look at the ponding in my yard sanjie has called to see if I am okay and if I needed to leave my house because of rainfall uh your concern is appreciated I want to say a few words about yesterday's rainfall adding to comments already made our team spent the day gathering information visiting key locations in the neighborhoods prone to flooding taking videos and photos talking to Residents and updating Mr McDon with data to learn what worked yesterday what didn't what breached what do we need to do and why we thank the DPW the fire department Mr McDonald the OEM team for their considerable efforts it was a long day Milbourne floods and that has been recorded for the last 125 years our team was tasked with finding solutions to control and mitigate flooding in the township and in the region and that is what we have been doing Maggie and sanjie it was a pleasure to work with both of you on this effort you can always come back to the committee as a volunteer and I wish both of you all the best thank you Sarah thank you Sarah Gina truid Short Hills I'm a property owner I'm want to say I think the mayor should sing from this time forward at least at the December meeting every year uh the reason I came tonight is to say a few words of thanks to Mayor Maggie megans thank you I wanted to say I've always been impressed by your unflappable calm organized conduct on this committee you were always prepared and committed and I know your heart is in this thank you I remember one time when I was on the board of ed years ago I was chatting with someone on another board I can't recall his name but I can recall his words he said in this business and he means by this business Public Service you make a lot more enemies than you do friends he said the way that he coped was by having passion for what he did and Maggie I know you have passion for what you've been doing thank you and I wanted to say that I personally thank you for your service it showed in every meeting every communication and every conversation I'm grateful to you for your three years of service and I'm proud to call you my friend want to tell on a personal note I appreciate all you've done to support the Jewish members of your community and those of us who support Israel I deeply appreciate that and I hope you don't get bored with your free Tuesday meetings yeah thank you it's okay we'll go back and forth yes am I audible is Miss Morgan unmuted Miss Morgan you are unmuted you just need to put your um green with your face hold on one sec give us two seconds please there you go we can see you now great can I'm not muted can you hear me yes we can hear you yes ma'am okay thank you um my name is Stephanie Harris Morgan and I reside at 49 Greenwood Drive in mbour and my comment um deals with fair share housing um the court has said that there's nothing we can do to keep nine Main Street the nine Main Street project from going forward and that we only have until January 5th for the judge to decide whether we're going to be subject to a 500 or a thousand day per day sanction U my comment is that given that there's a lot of information and misinformation surrounding fair share housing the township committee and the appropriate professionals should hold a hybrid or a virtual session to clarify our current situation before the January 5th hearing date even after listening the fair share housing yesterday our current situation feasible options and their legal and financial consequences really need to be fully understood by having an open forum for Township residents my concern concern is that the cost and liability of making a decision based on emotion politics or bravado could end up being an open taxpayers checkbook and the township should not embark on a lawsuit nor put the Township in Jeopardy of being sued or saddled with an expensive daily penalty or endless expensive litigation without giving residents an opportunity to fully understand our situation and to participate in deciding on our course going forward thank you for your time thank you Miss Morgan can you guys hear me good evening we can hear you sir good evening everybody um my name is anurak kadan and I'm a resident of Milbourne Township first of all I would like to wish all of you all the town personnel and our neighbors and residents happy holidays and happy New Year here I also want to thank mayor miggins and Deputy Mayor van for their services to the town thank you thank you I'm here today to speak to you about the historic district designation process uh this was also discussed in the last meeting on December 5th as Mr PTO stated in that meeting the designation process for Marywood Nottingham and the other districts has stopped I believe I can speak on behalf of all of my neighbors that we are all all very deled uh democracy is alive and our voices were heard I want to take a moment here to thank miss kupus and miss Romano both of whom reached out to me personally and a few other residents to share in our concerns and show support for us in that time I also want to thank incoming members Mr Soler and Mr sakandi for their full support of our coas to stop the nomination process at that time diving deeper into this HPC topic um one I would like to uh check on what the status of the notification letters from the town is that state the nomination process has stopped this is something Mr pedo mentioned here on 125 I don't believe any of us have received them yet second I want to encourage the committee to look very critically into the current HBC members votes comments in their men and actions in this bungled nomination process that gave all of us residents so much angst and heartache for weeks and where appropriate not to renew any terms finally I welcome the formation of the subcommittee to look into the S HPC ordinance you all discussed that in the last meeting um my only request is to have more than one resident on the subcommittee the residents that we nomin should cover a cross-section of Home times home home types uh for example new construction homes non-contributing homes tutors and historic homes this will ensure a wide spectrum of interests and points of views that are represented from the residents in the subcommittee debates thank you and happy holidays and happy New Year again everybody thank you you thank you finished two more oh okay awesome do you have the name David elephant oh there you are hello good evening hi good evening uh David elant Short Hills resident uh you do have to forgive me I'm about uh nine hours ahead of you in time zone oh all that I can say is um the gentleman uh was most eloquent and I'm here to reiterate what was just spoken uh regarding the historic designation process um it is my understanding and I did see the video from the December 5th TC meeting and I do know that it was recommended that that letter be prepared and sent to homeowners who were originally impacted stating that the process has stopped and it's my understanding that no one has yet to receive such a letter I had not and so my question is who is preparing this letter to the homeowners and when can the homeowners expect to receive these letters and what is the target date the second recommendation that was made at that December 5th meeting was the formation of new subcommittee to discuss the historical designation process and to you know Iron Out out the mishap that took place and to craft a better path forward I concur I think it's an excellent idea I also believe that more than one member of the community should be present based upon the designations that were made I think that would be appropriate again who is selecting the subcommittees and when will the subcommittee be formed these are all reasonable questions that have yet to be answered thank you uh and I appreciate uh your Indulgence based upon the hour for me so good evening thank you have a love evening thank you Mr elepant that is all that is it on the on the okay anyone else in um in the committee room that wishes to make public comment excuse we're gonna miss you Mr car I I am I'm gonna miss you I'm gonna miss you okay uh let's go Disaster Recovery uh great job by the fire department police department and I was watching a 222 as fireman going by uh my apartment building and they did a great job and it's very very important to understand that it's disaster recovery and if we close Main Street next year and there's a flood some people may not be able to get to the hospital or to wherever they have to go so just remember that please before you vote next year about next year as far as when you close Main Street during the summer time if there's a flood and different places and a tree falls down and you can't get to the the hospital someone may not make it Dr Cutler the gentleman over there he spoke said how important it was for people to get to the hospital I have been involved in Disaster Recovery unfortunately for many many years it might even be a separate committee concerning Disaster Recovery by the way Alex oh you do a great job when it comes to that and the coordination between the fire department and the police department is fantastic I think they do a sensational job working together I came here about three years ago concerning uh problems as far as code enforcement I still believe there should be more oversight as far as code enforcement if there's a violation serious violations it should be adhere to and people should take a look at it and if a property owner or a landlord is in violation they should be taken to task if need be even taken to court as far as being a landlord I heard what for Maya said about uh paper mill at this particular moment Milbourne is the landlord Milburn is responsible someone Falls they building collapses or whatever Milburn is responsible until that time Milburn has to take action like it or not that's my own personal opinion I'm not that bright but that's my feeling great day oh by the way and as I said before the last harah for two members thank you sir Christine best mbour Township resident I want to wish everybody happy holiday and I want to thank everyone here I'm a grumpy lady and I really do love you all as people and I actually had the pleasure of seeing Maggie at the bagel store and articulating that because you do work very hard and I can't even imagine all the stuff you have to deal with I might not agree but I will um I will miss our dialogue Maggie and I have to say I was touched by you singing thank okay actually I kept my tears back and it it shows what a good person you are so thank you I just very talented and sanie I will miss you I think you're a very stute business person and you brought a lot to this to this committee so I'm sure I would love to see you in a start at at some point um so anyhow just I just wanted to talk about um just a couple of things for me um that were disappointing this year and I'm hoping maybe next year um I think there's a lot of people here that you know have different viewpoints I'm all about inclusivity of different viewpoints and some of the things that were hard for me to watch this year were the vilification of the rep Republican candidates through some of the hate signs that was very very sad to me um to use those type of tactics of retaliation issues that I've seen on two residents that um bring up complaints um that is very very very much saddens me and I hope I don't see that next year um avoidance of people's dealing with people's complaints are actually addressing them directly I don't know why that is maybe if I was on the committee I would understand it um and going back to inclusivity Democrats are all about inclusivity and right now this is an all Democratic board and you know I really believe in inclusivity and I've actually tried to apply many times for different committees that I'm passionate about and never been able to get on and I'm just publicly declaring because it just goes into a black hole and no one even ask for my resume what my experience or skill set is so I'm interested in the planning board um the zoning board and the environmental committee and if you do establish a retail committee which I think you actually really really need for the downtown I would be very interested in doing that that is my background and I would like to just flip over just quickly to talk about the Sid I don't know a lot about it but what I have seen as I have seen Mr gorilla's presentations and you know I do support the merchants greatly and I also support a lot more money going to the downtown actually from Milbourne residents not just for them to be accountable for it um I don't think that we I think we need to have somebody who's leading the um the Sid um and I might be incorrectly saying that that has retail background I think they have to be a merchant they have to been as a cheap merchandising office or run a store I I think having somebody with a planning background or an urban planning background is really not appropriate because they don't understand what retail is all about it's very complex business actually so I don't have time to talk about all the issues I wish that the streets were clean I wish that people didn't cut down my tree roots in my in my neighborhood and that people don't help me when I go out to the Township Board I wish that Amazon drivers didn't show up from 4: to 8:00 a.m. on Sundays that's a new thing that I'd like to work on with you guys because I don't know why people have to have their stuff at 400 a.m. on Sunday but they do and um you know and I really hope that um we can really come together and not discriminate against people with different political ideologies not everybody come is crafted and people have a lot of different viewpoints and I'm really looking for more transparency on the housing and also committed to actually follow up on the taste level of the Housing and Development that we approve I think it's really important and there's a lot of other stuff but again thank you so much I really appreciate everybody's time thank you m and have a great holiday Merry Christmas hi um my name is Julie weiner I'm a resident in Short Hills and I'm also a business owner I don't come up here very often especially without notes but I wanted to thank Maggie and um Sanji for your service that I've run into both of you from time to time and I know how hard it is to do what you all do and I thank everybody here um for being here um so I really wanted to just talk a little bit about how um excited I've been um in town I've been here for 13 years as a business owner and has really I've really seen a huge difference over the past couple years um with all the different activities that are going on of course lately um The Village wi the winter village that Annette spoke of about was so exciting and that's kind of what brought me here was to just tell you what an awesome experience it was how important it is to be bringing all these people to town as we are um because it really does help with our businesses um I did have one or two people already come in and say that they've um they came into Splurge because of being at the winter village and seeing us we sponsored the big sores and we hope to do that again um and with the with all the different activities that the that um Steve has been doing and Amanda has been doing I haven't I wanted to publicly just thank them both for all of their hard work because it really has made a difference in making a much more vibrant town I wouldn't necessarily want someone with retail experience because they don't have restaurant experience or Bakery experience and so if you start to go down that line I don't think that's the best way to approach I think these guys that we have here are doing an amazing job um just a really quick story I have been here 13 years when I first moved in nobody came out to say welcome you know we're happy you're here the first time I heard from anyone was when I put my sign up and someone from Township committee said that I had violated a sign ORD and that was my welcome to the neighborhood and then 10 months later I got flooded out completely um from uh Irene and so um so and nobody was there to help me on that either we got completely flooded in our basement so things are much different now the vibe is so much better and so I just wanted to speak up and let you know that thank you for your time thank you so much thank you hi Jean p resident uh I have um I want to wish everybody a happy holiday and thank all of you who volunteer to serve our community uh to Mr McDonald's and Mr vincs comments about the flooding I just have a couple things the leaves um on my street were collected the day after the bulk of the rain fell so I'm not sure if that's um okay or whatever I know you mentioned it but I think it they should have been collected by then the person um who you didn't name but I think you're referring to is not present here this evening uh to defend def himself against some of the remarks but I know for a fact that he's been trying to offer his feedback to the town as a 30-year resident and a 50-year experienced engineering company owner to the town for more than a decade and he said he never received as much as a phone call back fortunately he has not given up and he's comfortable giving his ideas still especially to the newly elected Township committee members so I just like to say rather than be offended at his suggestions uh in the spirit of what our voters just conveyed to all of you in November why don't you invite him to the table I believe every resident deeply appreciates the efforts of our town employees especially during a crisis like a storm so thank you to all for your dedicated work regarding the fair share housing case uh the hearing that took place last week I agree with Stephanie I think her name was I think a more robust update should be made to our residents by our attorneys representing the Township in this matter could our attorneys address wire taxpayers is responsible for example to pay a $199,000 sanction that has already been made by judge Santoro what makes us responsible we had no say in the agreement and yet we are now paying for a sanction as far as the Sid my comment there is the history of the entity does need to be kept in mind as you vote on the budget there is a pending lawsuit contending that it was set up incorrectly the preponderance of activity is focused downtown in spite of the expansion of Assessments to all five districts the board is appointed by this Township and is not elected by those who are taxed so it is arguably taxation without representation appropriate steps were not taken for the closure of Main Street there have been no metric shared with the public on actual impact on the bottom line of the Sid for the town overall in fact Mr Gilla dodged my question at the last Sid meeting and was unable to State definitively what the bottomline contribution of the Sid is in numeric terms on the town with the exception of the vacancy rate the Sid No Doubt contributes as we just heard very significantly but if we are using taxpayer funds to support it it must follow all the municipal laws and we should have full transparency as far as the indemnification resolutions or ordinances do other towns have these ordinances why are they being introduced now and when will they be effective and my last uh comment or question to each one of you is um for each one of you as you are thinking about and taking action in preparation for forming the government for next year what do each of you believe the voters of Milbourne said with an election of with 65% of the vote going to Ben and Frank what are you planning to do individually to carry out the overwhelming Mandate of the voters of Milbourne Short Hills thank you thank you Miss Pastor good evening I'm Mike St I'm the executive I director of Papermill Playhouse um not on the agenda this evening but I wanted to say a few things and first of all thank you mayor miggins for your support for your leadership than uh for helping us to get our project off the ground and securing some State funds for it we truly appreciate that my pleasure um and now that this obligation will be winding up we'll make sure that you're you get Cass in a roller paper now now that you've had your audition uh Deputy Mayor Vanek I really uh want to thank you as well for your leadership and your service um some of your your words tonight really resonated with with me and the decision making process that you go through to ensure that the next Generations are well thought of when making your decisions and this Papermill project is about securing paper mill Playhouse for future Generations the company has been here for 85 years it's been here longer than probably anyone in this room and it's Our obligation I feel mine as the executive director all of us all of you to ensure that this tremendous Community Asset remains in good shape for future Generations uh and speaking of that the Middle School the entire middle school will be attending Fiddler on the Roof on January 3rd 1100 students um the PTO came to us asking if they could use Fiddler on the Roof as a teaching tool to talk about anti-Semitism and of the issues that have been going on in this community and we've added a ninth performance to be able to do that and that's another really important role that paper mill I think plays not only in this community but in the community of all of our lives that theater can help us to teach really valuable lessons and then finally we did have some flooding at the theater the other day some new holes in the roof flooding in the orchestra pit um there are a lot of issues with the site as have been prev previously mentioned and they do need to be addressed um this project is largely about addressing those issues but also making the theater a much better place for future Generations um it would be inaccurate to say that every performance sells out it does not we're still recovering from the pandemic our subscribership is down 30% and we are not playing to 100% at capacity we have a three-year plan to get back to break even but the generosity of our board Community keeps us going the support of this Township keeps us going and I'm grateful to all of you who serve on this Township committee and those coming in for your valuable support of this great Community Asset thank you very much and have a great holiday thank you so [Applause] much well good evening everybody and good evening again thank people for for their service who are outgoing and I hope you do get some extra rest as a result um so I did attend the meeting last night I thought it was poorly attended at the paper mill and I assumed it was poorly attended because a a lot of people had no idea that it was happening not my friends not one of them got a an email or a notification so we have I have to work on that figure out why their names aren't on the mailing list when they've lived in town for 30 years um but I think that the paper mill uh is a worthy cause and um I enjoyed the presentation however right now I want to combine the S and a half million paper mill ask to the township I'm not going to argue about the 40 million that's that's the decision between them and their Architects but the s a. half million dollar ask I want to combine it with the nine Main Street project because they have like one really big thing in common it's all about the ease with which town boards as well as Church synagogue and even Country Club boards if you've ever sat on any of those you will understand how easy it is for Township or any other board to spend other people's money if they think it's the right thing to do now and apparently that includes state judges who do not have all the facts regarding the financial impact of new Housing Development on a Township and just want to spend our money along with the monies needed to upgrade most Milburn public buildings there is an unknown number well into the millions that taxpayers will need to pay for the nine Main Street project when do we learn what that will be it seems that the 500 a day fine threat will be a drop in the bucket compared to with how much that development is going to cost this town at the end of the day as to the paper mill it definitely needs a facelift I'm not arguing with that at all the question is do we pay the amount asked without any negotiation or do we engage in some negotiation or does the township think we have so much money that we can plow it into the projects they're shouting the loudest thank you thank you Miss oh we have two more online hold on we go toap good evening can't see you miss uro I don't know why you're blurry you're halfway you're there you go oh hello Miss cerso Hi how are you there you are good evening everybody um and happy holidays to all of you I'm just are we we're also going to be afforded an additional time uh to talk about the Sid budget is that correct correct when there's open public comment on that yep all right wonderful so I'm just going to take just a few minutes Maggie I want to thank you for your service I know it's uh good days and bad days and we agree to disagree but I do want to thank you for taking the time and serving this community and Mr vayak for the same thank you again for your service everyone have a wonderful holiday see you soon okay one more okay so curious kids there we go hi wait you're muted hold on you're muted darling thank you hi sorry I was gonna talk about Sid should I wait you um I don't have a ton to say or anything like that I just want about well if you want to talk about Sid when we're talking about Sid you do that because I'm sure that the Sid people would want you to talk about Sid when you're talking about okay so I'll wait then no worries come don't be sorry thank you so yeah ladies and gentlemen before I close the public comment period is there anyone else left in the room who'd like to make a public comment Mr Stoler okay I I wasn't going to make a public comment Ben Stoler Milburn uh Township incoming elect uh Maggie sanjie thank you for your service uh thank this job appreciate everything you guys have done great silic tonight um part of the uh when we rant Frank and I it was on Trans on transparency accountability good governance it was about good decision making what I'm saying here tonight is some conflating of good decision making openness transparency taking all the information qualitatively quantitatively and making a the correct decision for the community it's not comparing One Thing versus another especially without all the information we talk about fair share housing Miss Morgan put a once a open form we should have had that open form a long time ago but if we're going to have that open form we need understand that the Township's on the hook for possibly $49 million and that's just a building that includes $10 million of remediation there's possibly 100 to 200 kids coming from that building $25,000 a kid that's another $25 million over 10 years there's all types of costs for policing fire infrastructure Etc so there's a very big number that needs to be addressed and it's a pilot program there's no taxes coming into the school system from that then we talk about the paper mill Playhouse talking about7 a half million doll request they own a piece of property for a million four there's a bond or a reserve for a million two so net net five million they're looking for a $40 million investment on a piece of property that we already own very difficult to compare those two subjects so what I'm saying is as a community going forward we need to take the decisions give all the information to the public let the public understand the ins and outs and make good decisions it's incumbent upon the township committee and the public to make those decisions together to leave the town forward that's all have say thank you thank you Mr [Applause] Stoler hi name is Brian Nelson I've never spoken before but uh to say thanks I just want to say uh happy holidays to everyone um thank you Maggie for uh being an amazing mayor and doing everything that you do thank you um thank you to you as well um and um you know everything that you do we really appreciate and especially with like the with the with the watch and things of that nature watch how's watch and everything you know it's been really really helpful and we really appreciate it so thank you and happy holidays thank you so much Mr nson we good wait a minute wait a minute I like to get the last word yes you do good evening Miss Stone Maggie thank you Stone thank you Sanji um Maggie thank you for your service thank you for all the um support that you gave to Ben and Frank during the transition it's been very helpful I only have uh I know that the Sid budget is is going to pass so it's really stupid that we're even all here to talk so everybody save your breath cuz they already made their decisions with that said I have two things to say you have the opportunity as elected officials to do the right thing you never go wrong doing the right thing it has been a fundamental mission of mine personally and everything that I do that you never go wrong doing the right thing and you were elected to do the right thing and Ben and Frank were elected to do the right thing because people were not happy as they were with Ted and Ian with what they did so now people have spoken you're getting fired apparently so I wish you good luck so the bottom line is that um I hope that everybody does the right thing and you have the opportunity to be um to do the right thing Michael you were elected for the town you are not elected to the party you are not elected to anybody you said in your that you serve the people of Milbourne you were very well vetted you have a really good reputation and I hope that you make the right choice for yourself and the community and the people of Milbourne I wish you good luck you've served the town well we'll see what happens thank you thank you Miss Stone I will now close public comment period would Mr Cohen would you like to speak to anything that was discussed this evening actually glad speak anything and everything well to the to the letters go letter yeah yeah all that help Mr McDonald will get to that Mr Mar do you want to speak to anything about what was spoken about tonight just two quick things there was a question about the Silverman developers agreement yes not a redevelopers agreement it's a developers agreement and that document uh is awaiting the final submission by Mr Silverman's Council we have been my partner uh my partner Brad Carney is working on that matter and he has been telling me that he's been pressing Council for Silverman to finalize the document and submit it so that it can be considered by the township committee the other question was about indemnification of public officials and other staffers and uh I can't speak about all municipalities but I think every client I've ever had and I represent primarily public IES have an indemnification ordinance policy or resolution it's not an unusual thing that's all I have and I just want to say that U if this is my last meeting I uh maybe it is uh I have very much enjoyed working with this Township committee and all of you and and mayor and and committeemen uh I wish you well and I wish the remaining members of the council the same and the newly elected members as well I've enjoyed meeting everyone in this room and others who are not here and I will miss you happy holidays thank you no you don't say and I think just to go back to the um Silverman property it was approved by the planning board if memory serves correct me if I'm wrong that after two years they have to go back in front of the planning board because they didn't start their project and apparently where they wanted to put their Transformers they had not cleared it yet with jcpnl who said no no no you can't put your Transformers there so that might be something we look at that for planning purposes or ordinance purposes that before the planning board accepts that the that everything is checked off properly and I I'll just Echo um I believe that they are scheduled to come back to the planning board either the second meeting in January or the first meeting in February right and that will open that discussion and that will open that discussion terrific um uh Deputy Mayor do you have anything for I guess I should have taken a break I'm sorry yes May so there was a question asked by Mr Feld how many total police officers microphone there was question asked by Mr Feld how many total police officers are there is 59 now total UH 60 had been approved 59 will be including these police officers I think it's a way too many police officers for the small town but it is what we have approved so they they are net net 59 and that's the question I also asked I got the answer and that's what I'm giving you all uh as for as Mr Carlin Al Carlin he came in here and talked about how everyone should be whether that's a landlord or Township committee is a or Township is a landlord for that I encourage you to read the contract that Township has with paper Mo Playhouse they got the sweetener or the sweetest of the contract because they are supposed to take care of the maintenance projects across the building including the structural part of paper mill Playhouse all this is in the contract and I read when I read it it was like okay why are we even talking to the township committee uh about this so but as he had gentleman has mentioned uh talked about we should talk about the future uh Next Generation yes but there's always a pool I said it in the last meeting as well you're using the same pool of money that is coming in and I I said that paper mill playhouses asking for $7.5 million they're getting from the state 2 million I don't know why townships 7.5 there's a $5 million flood mitigation project pending if we have everything going on in the right direction that was stalled by by the feds we are trying to put that in momentum and that 1.2 million that is in ACR for for the paper mill Playhouse whatever rent we got from them was going in a bucket two years ago we actually dismantled that bucket we started using that money towards a general budget and Our Hope was to use that money towards the flood mitigation project at that time Mr waserman and I was on the on the finance committee and that's where we were trying to see where we can allocate what we can allocate that money was coming in as a rent for town to the township so where we use it is our thing is not to maintain that building the maintenance of the building as I said is in the contract for them to maintain not not for us including again structural then we have we we talk about next Generation we don't have turf fields little while back we were talking about $10 million project to make the entire Golf Course into Turf for our kids to play then we spoke to the board of ed they wanted to put turf fields behind their high school but they wanted help from us because they don't have money to invest on the turf field so we were looking at what would be the cost and we could probably do a joint project there because it's going for our own kids and if that project is about5 to10 million and if half and half is taken care again I'm saying if we're spending about $5 million there as a Township money and I feel better again everybody has a different perspective I feel our kids need more turfield to play on than actually again paper M playoff I'm not saying it is not a good thing they are great but on the priority scale is again different lenses My Lens says I would rather spend money and the kid St field then we have TC Building Maintenance this whole building needs to be maintained I haven't even looked at the cost because lucky for me I'm not going to be voting for it Ben and Frank would be including the three other TC members so I don't want to have a bu's opinion there so I chose not to look at that so they can make their call without taking my bu opinion and I said that last as well Ben Stoler mentioned about 59 or $50 million project of the building well we have discussed this several time in our TC meetings Township is on the hook for about three to5 million but with the way that we have talked about taking that uh sand out it was going to be 5 to 7 million on the hook and yes the total project is about 50 but there are different pools of money that would be coming in on that project so again I'm saying even if Township is on the hook for5 to7 million that is the same pool the money is coming from then we have $2 million $2.2 million that we spend on the building that we are buying we have 1 million increase in the garbage and the recycle Services last year that we are paying on top of so it was about $850 or a million dollar charge it increased by a million dollars then we have $2 million charge on the pension and the benefit of our employees that we had to pay on top of what we were paying for this year itself so some of the charges are ongoing year after year and we added two more police officers which is approximately about $200,000 each it may not be the first year it may be when they actually get to that next highest cycle five to seven years is a cycle they including the benefit including the pension including the Bas and again we keep making these calls of adding or spending more money we have to be mindful that these tax pair are us and we should optimize our our money towards the right cause I'm not saying that we shouldn't look at Public Safety we should we must but we should always look at do we need to have we have two fire station that doesn't go away that is still there we have Springfield Summit working with us doing it do we need three headquarters similarly for police similarly for everything that we do in here we don't need to keep spending money over and over for what we can actually make it more efficient have more coverage but with little less money paid so whatever whenever we talk about like we are passionate about Township is the landlord they need to pay money well partial information let's look at the contract okay then miss basner talk about N Main Street I hope N Main Street doesn't happen because that is what Ben and Frank said and they are filling up a big shoes here they are going to be here they've been in the meetings ever since they've been elected so whatever we have done about N Main Street they've been a part of it decisions are not easy it is from we picking up a bad decision out of worse so it is employed on the town committee and they are not secluded they are have and have been a part of this ever since they have been elected there's couple more sit you keep going deput sit we just heard that we needed certain kind of experience on the S employees but we have a said board there are all different kind of experiences on the S board that can put them on that line so yes while one could say retail experience the other one could say restaurant experience the other one could say Township or urban planning experience but there are different people on the board and I think if there more members on the board we can we can hire that kind of board and and get that get that l or or that kind of experience I think that's it mayor thank you well you know Deputy Mayor um running a government and running people that work in public service here is different than running mergers and Acquisitions and ripping companies apart and taking people out and taking their jobs away and I don't do merger acquisition by the way but the idea that you would think that you could we want to hire more police officers we want to hire more firemen and i' like to know that when I call 911 that the police are to my house right away or that the fire department gets their house right away so it might work in other places but and you know what South Orange and map wood I think they tried it and I think they cost them ex a million dollars in overtime so Livingston has fire department completely volunteer for now for now for now they're looking at that so I guess my point is that um I'll stick with my police every day of the week and I'll stick with my firefighters every day of the week and I'll stick with our our DPW who does a great job and I also have to mention um our volun I do it on my mayor's calls as well and you'll hear it this Friday um our volunteer first aid Squad needs us we we we need volunteers and here's what happens so a town like Maplewood they couldn't get people to be volunteers anymore so the fire department is now doing all the rescue work right so you have to be careful about that where you know all of a sudden we're not getting enough volunteers and then the fire department's going to have to take over all of that so I think if anybody you know Steve Roth runs a great um Mar glow is on the rescue squad so um they years 15 years so we really need our volunteers I think it's important if you're not doing anything and you can help volunteer it's something you'd like um you're special people and we really really really need that um in our town but I'm all about I'm all about the cops and firem and let's keep hiring them all right Miss Romano okay Miss puus just a few things sure um I do think that we should get a public forum on oh sorry better yeah speak it I think we should get a public forum uh with about the affordable housing so not everybody watched the case management conference yesterday and I think that that information needs to get out to the public as soon as possible so I don't know if that's something are you going to be able to get well we're finished here this evening but I don't know if you'll be able to get that done tonight before January 5th when you all have to meet with the because there's been many P let's let's be crystal clear about this there's been many public for forums about affordable housing in this town and they're all online um but this does have a different wrinkle to it because it's the judge who's now saying hey Milburn you guys really aren't complying and we're going to start finding you $500 so so all those people that voted for that change need to know yes that could be happening however I don't know if you'll have enough time between today which is December 19th and January 5th before the judge meets with Council again whomever that may be to have enough time to get it could be just a it could be a forum where um maybe Jared and um Joe explain what was said so I don't know I think it's a good idea Alex I don't know if you think that there's like time for that to happen a zoom or something just so that people know exactly what's going on so I hear you yeah I hear you so I think it's really important um the folks we're still meeting thank you the HPC the retraction awesome and the I had one other thing flood mitigation committee thank you for all the hard work that you're doing um we were really lucky right what Alex said like had the rain gone another hour the downtown would have been flooded so my I know you guys are working on a lot and you've done a lot my one request is to look at the downtown and try to figure out something um to address that I I I don't know what it is but I'm sure all of you can figure out you know had it kept raining and just how are you going to protect the downtown so that's that's awesome thank you puts my you know mind and heart at ease and that's it so Mr McDonald if you would address everything that wasn't addressed so far this evening sure and one other one last thing before you do that back to the Papermill for a second do you know not everybody needs fields to play on because not every child is involved in athletics some children are involved in athletics some children are involved in the theater some children are involved in the band or orchestra some play football everybody has different talents and treasures so it shouldn't be a zero sum one against the other there there's the word in the English language called and and we can do this we can do this and we can do this Milbourne is in really great financial um that's word I'm looking for standing standing we have no debt we have the lowest tax rate in the state we are the one of the wealthiest communities in the State uh from a real estate perspective I think uh Short Hills from Zillow with uh price per house was ranked seventh and the first six towns were all Jersey Shore towns I might add and then Milbourne and then Short Hills 07078 and Milbourne even ranked in the top top 50 so the point is we've got really great property values in this town we've got really low tax rate in this town and we have F fabulous fabulous services so something to think about when when different yes I agree with Miss ow this town hall could look fabulously redone and yes I agree we should could do something with the paper mill and yes there's stuff talking about with the fields because the rec Department's been working with the the um the high school with the fields and yes eventually to get a nice Cricket pitch but by the way there are Cricket pitches in the in this County that people can use as well that are proper Cricket pit Cricket pitches but it doesn't doesn't have to always be a zero sum if we do this then we can't do that so that's what I'm going to leave you with and now you can speak thank you sorry y um I'm I'm I'm gonna try to touch on it as much as I can um the uh Deputy Mayor vanay did answer the question regarding the number of police officers um he had asked that question earlier um yes it is 59 um and we do anticip paid a retirement early in uh 2024 so that uh will leave us down to uh which we will end up certifying another list early in the new year uh to get that um to get that back up to uh the current Staffing level um deification ordinances as Mr mared had uh mentioned um they are um common and prevalent in communities uh because what occurs and for this instance in particular is is that public officials uh employees as are working in the confines and the constructs of their job are sued personally for things that they may do um and so the township uh committee has the ability to indemnify those employees as long as they're working in the confines of their job and that nothing that transpired for comes to light as a result of a case is criminal in nature and nefarious in nature in which at which time the committee will have the ability to not indemnify those actions um the the other thing to of note and as Mr Fel had asked who's the attorney um they have the choice quite honestly um whether to use the township attorney or to use their own attorney um they would have to submit I mean we have there's an entire ordinance on this and I'm not going to recite it line for line but um they're they have the ability to choose um generally speaking in uh cases like the one that we're facing um with regard to the police department uh they will end up most likely utilizing the Township's attorney which was assigned by The Joint Insurance Fund um and um and should it come to a point where uh their their lawsuits personally are not dropped or are not otherwise um adjudicated um then the the township would would indemnify them again as long as nothing comes out that is Criminal uh in nature or uh a list of reasons in the identification ordinance that would preclude um the the Township from indemnify um there is a parking deck funding question on that if they chose their own attorney you have proove it would they then would we be on the hook to just pay what what we would have paid if they had chosen the township attorney and they would pay any over it correct and you have to and the committee has to approve it um Parky deck funding question um the the funding um of that uh the parking deck work is uh from a 2011 Bond ordinance it's found on um D6 of the Township's audit as being funded um that is the remainder of the parking deck construction ordinance um which is fully funded as you know we paid that that that ordinance off um there's about $250,000 left in it we need to do some maintenance uh at the parking deck and this uh this funding is going to be used for that um in terms of historic preservation um when we had we had a had a conversation with um historic preservation um to discuss the contents of the the notice that went out in particular the section of the notice that stated that no work could be done as the consideration took place um we asked that the attorney for the historic preservation commission to um present a retraction to the HBC um of that particular language uh because that is not um the case uh if you if you read the reference in the letter in the notice and it points back to section of the ordinance that does not um state that no work can be done while consideration is taken for up to 180 days or or whatever it might have been um so that was the purpose of the um the re the retraction uh letter um that was not uh presented at the HPC meeting on December 7th um so I would just ask the township committee um with your consensus that again That was supposed to come from the HBC who had started the designation process and had put out those those those notices that if you're comfortable with the township uh putting those those that that information out to those residents that received that letter uh we will do that expeditiously before the end so by certified mail in the same manner that the first letter went out uh yes yes we can do that I think it's important to do that okay I just want to understand what the letter the letter just says work can can now be done that's all that it's saying I think I think there's some feeling that I don't think is what's been approved that this process is is ended forever and ever and I don't think that anyone has committed to that so yes and so again I I'm always speaking to the to the to I think which which was uh information that was incorrect that was the notice the notice was incorrect correct it um referred to a part of the ordinance in our code that we doesn't exist and the residents to need to know that that was false information and that they were given wrong information it was a mistake that's right yeah but it's still false they need to be given the correct information corre and that needs to happen through the township and that doesn't could do because they wouldn't have I missed the last meeting where this was discussed unfortunately so I didn't know that so when I went to the HPC meeting as liaison just were discussing different people's projects yeah yeah so I didn't know and I and I and I did follow up with the attorney and and found out that it had hadn't hadn't been um I also think it's kind of weird I just need to say this that we sat with the attorney who said um committee woman romano and Alex and I met with the attorney just trying to figure all this out because there was false information um alluding referencing our code which wasn't true so we that with the attorney Maggie I'm talking yep okay thanks I I have no one to whisper to um we sat with the attorney who said that it was going to be that she felt that this needed to happen so again this I don't understand how that didn't come through the HBC and I think there's like a big disconnect here with the HBC that needs to be address like how did why wasn't that why wasn't that on the agenda the that last meeting well I the liaison for the HPC you had a meeting I didn't know about nor was I made aware of it I know that the HPC chairwoman's reached out for you numerous times to Alison this is nothing to do with Alison no no but you didn't get back to her right away so I'm just going on the record this has nothing to do with no no no but I'm putting that on the record that you didn't return her phone calls however oh my God I returned her phone calls in a very didn't you didn't however the um the attorney you had a meeting with an attorney that I didn't know about so how could how could we this whole process happened Maggie the HBC that we didn't know about you never once reported on it the entire year I did we reported on the fact that there was a the element of the master plan that they were going to designate the neighborhood wow I miss no no I didn't say that don't put words in my mouth at our last meeting please miss Magie please please behave I just you should behave too we are however what I'm trying to say to you is I just asked that the HPC the letter go out Alex I'm done the letter needs to go out to the people and let them know that there was reference to code in our Zing ordinance that doesn't exist and they don't have to follow that's it so correct so um understood and completely agree uh that that we need to get that information out um I just want to also clarify because I think there was a little bit of Mis um misunder understanding maybe um at the last meeting we had discussed the revisions of the historic preservation um ordinance in the zoning code and while there was some back and forth about how that process would take place I think it was generally agreed upon by the township committee that we would utilize the zoning sub re-exam subcommittee to do that correct it is not a new committee it is not a new committee correct just want it's an existing committee that may have new members given the reor but it is an existing correct just want to clarify that and and just to further further clarify that it is it is not this Township committee's respons you know or charge to stop a stop this process um I think we've said from the beginning that that process um was noticed and and started by the historic preservation commission it would be Theirs to stop but at this time I think at least on the current board or the township committee there was concern over the designation and it was expressed at public meeting and um but again that does that does I just I just want to be clear I know I'm maybe the bear of bad news but that was not what um was the in intention of whatever was stated that that's the historic preservations process they need they they need to they need to uh end that process officially um and they have not done that at this and they have not done that table but not stopped correct corre and so I think people need have Miss some people I've gotten emails today in fact from some of the people that spoke earlier that that is a a misunderstanding the process has been TBL correct and is not active at this time but that's all that we can say and and to further that the historic preservation commission has committed that prior if that they are having public information sessions and discussions if that should ever come up again so that's not to say it will but I'm just saying that they have committed to that um paper mill so I just I I had said this last night the paper mill held a public information session um uh yeah you know I think it was attended by uh about you know 25 people or so um myself and the township CFO were in attendance at that meeting um I I I'll just State what I stated at that meeting regarding the notice of it and and I agree with Miss Feld if if if individuals that you know are not getting I would love to look into that because um the paper mill sent out of out a postcard to 6,232 Residents between single family and four family homes um that was a list that was provided by the Township's tax assessor um we had sent out two notifications uh via the Township's milbar alert system uh again with that 9,000 number um and it was done via email um to to uh to Residents I got a I got a card too and I would like to add something about the paper mill as well it may say in the lease that they're responsible for the infrastructure and and they are however if they're coming looking for for help and funding and that's what they choose to use it for then it doesn't really matter what it says in the lease either we choose to to grant that request or not but you know and if we don't choose to Grant it and and and there's an accident yes at this point they're responsible for fixing it but that doesn't preclude us from choosing to grant that request it it it it also doesn't necessarily indemnify us from liability on so we could be held so so the other thing I just want to mention about about the paper mill and just to again put the put the information out to the public of the actual request and what that request is for um again it was a$7 A5 million request $1.2 million of which uh are held in reserve um I again I don't think that uh the the other part was the uh purchase of property that they had purchased to acquire additional parking uh which is you know informally known as the seic property um to make the campus all Township owned there was also a historic facade uh that is going to be moved um to a new location to create a continue to create or preserve the postcard image of Papermill Playhouse as you approach from old Short Hill Road as you see from the train um so uh and then and then the additional money that's part of that request would go toward um the the actual construction project so so we own ultimately if this all goes through would we own that property that they just purchased correct and so um and that that uh and and and so I just I just wanted to put put that information out there um I also wanted to report on something that I didn't report on if that's okay may sure um uh a while back the the township committee had asked uh ask task me with um figuring out a way to bring animal control back in house oh um so I I'm happy to report that as of 11 one 2024 Animal Control will be serviced by the Township's Department of Public Works y good we are we are utilizing two current employees that will work uh for the Department of Public Works and when there are no calls they will work for the Department of Public Works um they will uh they both are ACO certified um and but they will also be responsible for responding to um overtime calls outside of work hours at night and um on the weekends um and again I think the benefit of this approach is that we are going to recruit uh additional Public Works employees um that are uh eager to um service the community and be Animal Control Officers and also certainly They will receive some overtime when those calls come in um so uh we just actually had a meeting with the union today to solidify um some of those foris that scope will include deer management which has been an issue that well they're not going to be out there deer management but they will deal with I was trying to Sayce de removal you know and I and I do want to say and and that I that we ran projection on the cost of this um and uh given the given the cause of service for animal control Solutions which a private carrier um from uh 2022 and 2023 and based on the fact that these individuals are employed here and will be working during the day and will be permitted to respond during the day as employees of the Department of Public Works much like if you had a volunteer firefighter on in public works they would respond to a fire um the the the amount of calls that are considered overtime calls outside of the working hours of Public Works is about 40% um so as it's projected right now and of course things change and there are other costs to it uh such as uh equipment and vet bills and and holding stuff like that but from a Personnel perspective uh it's going to cost us roughly between 35 and 40,000 we do we've repurposed a vehicle um to to be utilized as animal control folks I'm gonna take a five minute break were these the same two guys that wereing and we're back ready all right here we go what oh yeah no he Mr Carl said it are they Infinity keys and I saw the infinity thing okay the township committee will now consider consent agenda resolutions are there any comments from the committee in regards to any items listed on the consent agenda no no anyone may I have a motion to approve resolution 23- 277 through resolution 23- 283 which are listed on the consent agenda so move may have a second roll call vote Please Mr Cohen yes missus yes M Romano yes Deputy Mayor van yes mayor m yes thank you resolution 23- 284 adopt provisions of chapter 48 under which a Public Employee may agree to pay for the shbp Andor SBP coverage for certain retirees are there any comments from the committee in regards to resolution 23- 284 no none seeing none may have a motion to approve resolution 23284 so mo may have a second second roll call vote Please Mr Cen yes M purus yes M Romano yes mayor Vania yes mayor Megan yes thank you thank you 23- 285 authorized indemnification of Township employees are there any comments from the committee in regards to resolution 23- 285 no no seeing none may I have a motion to approve resolution 23-25 so may have a second roll call vote Please Mr cin yes M yeso yes mayor van yes mayor Meg yesk okay we have approved resolution 23288 so now we will go to we all waiting for 2024 milour Short Hills business organization budget public hearing consideration of adoption 23 d286 so the 2024 Milbourne Short Hills business organization budget was introduced by the TC at our November 21st 2023 meeting may have a motion to approve resolution 23- 286 which authorizes the township to read the 2024 Short Hills business organization budget by title I move at resolution 23- 286 be approved may I have a second second thank you may I have a roll call vote Please Mr Cohen yes Miss brus yes Miss Romano yes depy mayor Vana yes mayor miggins yes thank you okay I'm G to refer to Steve gorillo who is the executive director for any final comments on the 2024 Milbourne Short Hills business organization budget no comments for me this evening mayor but members of the board would like to speak oky doie okei who would like to speak from the board Mr Paro who's limping up to the dates that's how important it was okay good evening mayor good evening Deputy Mayor members of the township committee Michael Paro resident of Short Hills uh also the soon to be outgoing chair of explore Milburn Short Hills uh first thank you to Mayor and deputy mayor for stepping into the arena not an easy thing to do and I thank you for your years of really good service thank you very much so thank you U as you've heard uh Explorer Milburn Short Hills has produced a number of very important and well-received uh in-person events over this past year that have brought thousands of people not only residents but members of other communities into this town where they thankfully have shopped and dined in our many commercial areas of town uh the people behind that are our Volunteers in part our board members or Board of Trustees is made up of Township residents of business owners of property owners who share their times and talents with this Township to move it forward we are also lucky to have the service of our professional staff who directly interact with our business owners on a regular basis provide their expertise in areas of Economic Development and marketing and other areas that are here to enhance the business community and to overall enhance this town so I'm just here to uh ask for your support and moving this ordinance forward adopting this ordinance approving the budget for 2024 so that explore Milburn Short Hills can continue its Mission I thank you for creating this board to start with and we are uh very thankful for the opportunity to be heard thank you Mr Paro is there any other member of the board of Explorer Milburn that wishes to speak not at this time not at this time okay I hereby open the public hearing for any comments on the 2024 Milburn Short Hills business organization budget we're open open for business that's okay one it'll be F Jackie Benjamin lieberberg Short Hills resident good evening good evening good evening TC members a special thank you to Mayor miggins and deputy mayor vayak for your service to the community thank you it is not an easy job the purpose of a special improvement district is to promote grow and support local businesses Property Owners residents and visitors milberg Township Sid ordinance designates a district Management corporation whose mission is to encourage the economic cultural and social Vitality of Milburn Township through increased marketing and visibility improved and renewed infrastructure and local business development engagement that is the Sid mission statement for the past three and a half years I've had the privilege and honor to serve on the Sid since its Inception the organization was established to assist our business owners throughout the five districts on a variety of initiatives activities educational opportunities and has provided vital programs during some very challenging economic times in the past three and a half years the following are just a few of the many accomplishments of the SID number one giving businesses a financial Lifeline during covid through a gift card promotion two assisted businesses dramatically impacted by Hurricane Ida with a direct cash infusion three dramatically reduce the vacancy rate through hands on leadership and follow through and engagement four Works closely with the township on traffic and sign initiatives work with the TBL Essex County and chamber on a variety of artistic and beautification work and installations five engaged residents visitors with Innovative programming throughout the year and in the summer The Pedestrian Mall and the music has created a unique vitality and engagement in our community Milbourne Short Hills is a Destination six provided ongoing training classes for businesses Financial workshops social media training marketing and safety protocols just a keep going under the leadership of Steph gillo and his marketing director Amanda Dean the Sid has made Milbourne Short Hills a more robust engaged Community for businesses residents and visitors I believe we must continue to support and move forward with this vital organization that has contributed so much to our community thank you thank you [Applause] Miss hi there everybody my name is Lily Brian and I work at Studio 1200 which is at 511 Milbourne Avenue in ch Hills um we're an architecture and interior design firm we have designed many buildings in town to downtown now live breads Splurge Bakery evolve Fitness and countless countless homes in the Milburn Short Hills area I've worked at Studio 1200 for about seven years now and I never really felt like a part of the community even though Studio 1200 is a vital part of the community um until Steve showed up and he came to our building and he toured with us and he even uh took the time to chat with Nancy Doty who is one of our principals who by the way just became the AIA New Jersey architect of the Year Con and Steve was so kind to promote our business to the other businesses so we really feel supported by him um and we do he's had several events in Short Hills and we really feel like we're a part of a neighborhood right now with the stores down there and we made some great connections and we you know do business with each other now and that's all because of him I know there's a lot more that happens and needs to happen in the main part of Milbourne um but he he didn't forget about us and we really appreciate it we would love to see the Sid continue with Steve as its leader haven't worked directly with Amanda but I know she's doing great things too so thank you for your time I appreciate it thank you very [Applause] much anyone else who's PK um my name is Jeffrey Feld live in Alexander Lane Short Hills New Jersey um I think we have to put this in historical perspective we've all heard about the marketing we're going to hear about this but we had to talk about the rule of law last Thursday our state supreme court issued an opinion about the concept of ultrav virus I didn't get involved in the litigation till November 2021 that's after judge Moore twice recommend mended suggested conrolled this Township to mediate and not litigate the statutory interpretation and the validity of the appointed five district Sid under state law in June of 2021 Mr vinc says we will never mediate we will always litigate in calendar year next year we will have an answer as to the statutory validity prior to me coming here because in junee end of June of 2020 my family sold business for 25 years I ran a family business the state looked to me because I was a destination business my family was destination business in Orange i f in 2007 I fought the creation of a sid in Orange the same strategy you're hearing now was used against me in 2007 character assassination in September 20120 the current Secretary posted on thing on a PO social media that I file for this litigation no court has ever found that in 2007 the municipal attorney of orange called me a plantation on because I objected to a sid you have to understand there are laws to Creation there was no feasibility study done in August of 2020 many of you who are here were not involved many people are spoken were on the original trustees Mr Paroo on the first meeting of the Sid said even though I am an attorney I will never give an opinion as as legal opinions we've asked Oprah for various attorneys to give us is there a written opinion as to the validity of the expanded appointed five district Sid under state law no do written document has ever been produced to me or others and let's look at the last year as the cost of businesses you shifted the cost of commercial Solid Waste there's a state new requirement that we have complied with that they have to every business has to produce an insurance certificate to the town that's usually another $100 there's an additional amount of monies that have to be paid for the Sid assessment the state just did a survey they said about the small businesses of let's say 25 people only 33% are profitable I understand the marketing but we were talking about five different districts it's question about taxation without representation there's questions about the lawsuit that what you took disc Discovery for stuff that had nothing to do about the statutory interpretation this is a unique Sid most SIDS are not funded by taxpayers dollars that there's now an ordinance in place the first two years 100% of the operating in 2020 2021 was paid by the township sorry in 2022 50% of the executive director's salary is paid by taxpayers and there's questions whether that was disclosed to the taxpayer in 2020 during covid during that hearing I say many of you go back to look what happened in August there's also a question as about whether this entity under the United States tax code is a controlled entity of this Township because all the members of the boorder of Trustees are appointed by you they're not elected by the people that pay the special assessment no order has ever delivered an opinion whether this entity the Sid is a controlled entity of you if they are they're not entitled to 501c3 I know my time's up but I'm try trying and keep you a record I've been repetitive over the time what is going on here you're gonna hear about how great all these activities are that's one part but you also have the law what was created it goes back to also when we did the downtown closures the question is did we comply but there's also really another issue here it goes back to the master plan to get goes about Transit Village we're gonna hear that word Mr Fel one second it goes back to Transit Village Main Street um designation for granting a predicate to get Main Street designation this is because of my experience in Orange is having a sid that was never disclosed to people if you want to Sid and I think what we're saying keep it to downtown because that's what you've been arguing about for always thank you Mr cut loose the other districts thank you Mr Fel uh good evening Phil kers milberg resident first I just wanted to briefly thank mayor Megan deputy mayor vanak for all the work you've done the past three years thank um I have to say that I for I was disappointed when I saw you weren't running again for re-election thank you for the time you did put in thank you thank you very much thank you sir um I have a perspective uh as not being a a restaurant tour not being a bakery person not being a retailer not being a business person not being a legal expert I can just tell you that I'm one of the lucky people who does get the emails about activities in the town I get emails about uh explore Milbourne and I've gone out sometimes to see just what was going on and the main thing is I've been very happy to see the activity the energy the vibrancy and obviously I see people from town a lot of kids I see people from out of town as as has been mentioned and I see also the advantage taken of of uh of Main Street when it's closed off after complete streets widened it did the bump outs we put the lights over it makes a festive area it's something that you see in some other towns and I was very happy to finally see it in Milburn So and I've spoken to Steve Grillo I've seen him at different events um and I I'm happy to so my impression is a very positive one and on the other hand I'm happy I I've seen uh I saw the s that was there previously I saw chaos I saw fights you know now I see some organization and I'm willing to sit back and trust that the organization is doing the job it should because I see that from the outside and I I definitely would uh recommend that you that you continue the budget and continue to support this Sid and I just think it's been good for the town in every way thank you Mr hello hello hello friends Mr Anyway Richard werman former deputy mayor and um first I want to thank Maggie uh and sanjie uh for your dedicated service to the Township Public Service is indeed an incredible honor but it's an incredible Challenge and I'm not sure all of our neighbors understand the The Blood Sweat and Tears that goes into this endeavor and I really want to thank you both thank you thank you Mr I stand tonight in full support of explore Milburn with my good friend Jackie and all of our dedicated volunteers from explore um in three short years this organization has really done so much for this Township we recruited an incredible team between Steve and Amanda and we have such a hardworking board uh explore Works day in and day out creating uh recruiting new businesses working to keep the vacancy rate low engaging our residents in public art and a fun summer music program uh and so much more as you know with the Steve is involved with traffic and and many other endeavors in the township and I don't want people to forget what happened during Ida when our businesses were down many people were wiped out it really was Steve on the ground um you know supporting the businesses as an extra hand um Distributing R fundraising and distributing I think about $420,000 at the time I mean I'm not sure what would have happened if we didn't have the sit in place during that time and as we know from floodman iation you never know I mean we we can always mitigate floods but you never know if there's something else that's you know that's coming so I just want to say to to you that um and and again I've been on the board I've been lucky enough to uh to work on the board these past few years um and you have to also remember what it was like uh when the dmda wasn't here you know they they tried they worked really hard but but post dmda if you remember uh we had a town you know we we didn't have a lot of support for the businesses there were many Merchants that were getting together trying to put together a business you know a business advocacy group um and at the time we you know we all we saw that there was a need for a support group and uh and with Jackie's help with Tara's help and um at the you know at the time I don't know how you'll vote now uh we came together and we um and we created a amazing organization so I I'll keep it short anyway but that's what I'd like you to consider but thank you so much thank you Rich best mmer Township uh I I was a retail executive for 25 years um and I've done everything in retail actually from scrubbing the bottom of the toilet at Banana Republic to you know being the chair at um a a bunch of different um smaller retail organizations starting up the Nook starting up a bunch of other um retail organizations required by like Alibaba Etc so retail and I've also worked in almost every category business that there is from women's fashion to um coats to um outwar um bedding Furniture lighting I've worked at places like Martha Stewart I've worked in food businesses so I want to just Define so no one somebody challenged the definition of retail retail is everything that's like any front center shop in town so a restaurant's a retailer and um a bakery is a retailer and so is a footwear shop so is a personal care product shop so is a dispensary etc those are all retailers it's as defined by a definition of retailer so I actually support um some type of organization and my call out that I just wanted to talk about is I do think that more money should be spent but I don't think it should be I I I don't think it should be forced on retailers I think retailers should have the freedom of choice because for example I noticed that there were retail classes some types of different marketing classes that they had and I don't think that Mr rillo or his team is in any place whatsoever to be educating retailers of this town in terms of social media marketing and I'll give you a case in point explore Milburn social media site like if you just go on there it's just a basic person it's like all the people that like everything on there are the retailers they're not actually customers from Summit or customers from awood that's like a marketing disaster in my opinion so I just want to point that out so what I support is and I'm not saying he's done a great job I'm not trying to sit and criticize you guys have done an amazing job you're bored I'm not saying that it's it's definitely better but I'd like to understand when are the year-over-year vacancy rates like I'd like to see it 20 years back like because I I think actually we've lost a lot of really great stores like gido is gone gido is a great store like it's gone I mean curate was a great store there's not as many great stores from a retail perspective in this town as there are on Summit there's just not in even chadam so I think we need to talk about that and some of the vacancies like it looks run down and also the architecture is part of the Sid like choosing the right architecture for the town's really important I don't agree with all the studio uh 1200 designs I think that they're not in keeping with the Township's character and um I think there's a lot more I know my time's up so I couldn't you know talk about everything else and I also think we need to talk about changing demographics because we want to actually be very inclusive to all the people that live in this town and actually provide retail services to everybody okay thanks thank you Miss best we have two online we know who she is hi good evening um my name is Carrie Smith um I am an almost small business owner in Milburn along with my uh business partner Peggy uh we're opening curious kids Early Learning Studio in January um we're very excited and um we've been opened for seven years in Jersey City and we're excited to be opening our second location in Newburn uh we signed our lease way back in like May or June um and the it has been absolutely amazing um unlike anything we've experienced in Jersey City and has just really set apart our experience um opening here from anything we've experienced before um there's nothing like this um in Jersey City definitely um and just a sense of community and support they' provided has been incredible um encouragement so we just feel very encouraged we just wanted to get on here and kind of give it give a shout out um we obviously haven't haven't opened yet and we're not even there yet but um we just feel so strongly about the support they've given us um we wanted to make sure it's taken into consideration um and also just that we're not really talking about like corporate backed businesses like we're we're like a micro business we're really small um these are like small community building character providing businesses that you're getting into town and keeping in town with programs like the Sid um we sponsored an igloo at the winter village we did the Halloween event um and they helped us partner with another small business um so that we could provide sample classes to kind of get people interested in our program before we open in January um we've gained hundreds of social media followers and um we're just really prepared and ready to be successful when we open in January so I just wanted to give a quick thanks and my point of view as an almost business owner um in Milburn thank you so much thank you oh Lord hello Mr abbit JJ Abbott uh Short Hills resident for 21 years um I'm the managing partner of Premier creative which is a digital agency that has been in Milbourne for 21 years since 2002 operating um the vacancy rate was at 16% under the Sid's leadership it's now at 3% that that's an absolute huge home run the Sid is outpacing all of our local peers uh in terms of other other communities we're an extremely dense and competitive area there's I think more than 13 different other SIDS in the area um we have to have an improvement district organization businesses in town need the confidence that your group will support them and fund it um I've seen a massive difference over the last 20 years in fact my office is where the DMD or whatever that group was called used to be the Milbourne Theater which is now the Charles Schwab business um the budget I think is under $300,000 I think there's 495 businesses if we conservatively estimate those businesses are doing $200 million in revenues combined if you take a basic MBA or business class of the university the standard is that you spend 2 to 4% of revenues on marketing I know this because I've worked with over 500 corporations in the last 29 years of my business so that'd be a minimum of a budget of 400 to 600,000 I think they have less than 300,000 Steve and Amanda have been stretching every single dollar working on behalf of all the businesses in town and the Sid is an investment in these businesses no different then you have investments in roads in trucks um in any kind of cap X expense that you have in the town it's a very hyperco competitive environment we see that housing goes up so why shouldn't their budget go up where's the priority priority lastly I think it's really terrible that anyone on this board would question the professionalism of our Sid director not sure share where that's coming from but it's completely inappropriate and unnecessary thank you for your time thank you Mr Abbot no one else online correct NOP nobody El okay folks floor still open hi Ben solar incoming uh Township committee elect uh Milbourne um thank you Mr Abbott um I agree wholeheartedly with your comments um as I come to Township committee uh I hope to bring professionalism civility kindness empathy uh what happened at the committee a couple of weeks ago where Mr gorillo was treated poorly by this Township committee um it's not professional I do not expect that to happen under our tenure under my watch it was insulting and I apologize Mr Gilla Milburn is open for business we must treat our vendors and our customers who are businesses who are coming here as if we are open for business Mr gorillo is a professional he's employed by our Township we cannot make this personal once again Mr gillo I apologize for how you were treated thank you ladies and gentlemen of the township committee I'm Vicky pal and myself and my mother have been a fixture in downtown Milbourne for 38 years at our business shalas tonight I stand Here passionately supporting explore Milbourne Short Hills and its dedicated staff Steve and Amanda my comments tonight will be brief because I feel this should not even be a discussion with all the success that explorers had since 2020 a dissenting vote is inconceivable to me it's disheartening to hear the constant negative messaging and criticism directed at the organization and its staff by a small vocal group with 120 Property Owners within the Sid and maybe three in opposition countless other property owners in support and 33 letters in favor of the Sid and pass this m Budget on the majority not the vocal minority history continues to repeat itself and it's time to get off the hamster wheel I fail to understand why anyone would object to an entity striving to uplift and improve our business Community while our neighboring towns are supporting their SS many of which far underperform our own why would we eliminate ours yet again 2024 is a time for aggressive modernization of business not dismantling the progress we've made eliminating explore would be a severe blow to our business Community which they Stead fastly supported especially during the challenging times of covid and flooding this Swift Organization for fundraisers and ongoing assistance many bit kept many businesses afloat After the flood explore provides invaluable resources like education social media management a website business engagement events to name a few I also want to commend the staff particularly Steve who de whose dedication and tireless efforts remind me of our first executive director Tara bradish criticism has been voiced regarding Steve's leadership and other clients in this age where work extends Beyond traditional hours multitasking is a reality I find it ironic that the concern is raised while commitment puus herself manages both a downtown business and a role on the township committee as for the budget and the support the cost per household is a mere $7 a small price to pay to ensure our town remains vibrant and supportive of our local businesses Amanda's excellent work in marketing and events combined with Steve's effort makes them a for formidable team keep in mind that the 204,000 collected for the five district Sid is the same as the old dmda assessment the current Sid serves four more districts 2450 more businesses that increase results in higher costs for services more Planters more banners more signs Etc Steve should be commended for stretching a dollar not criticized for collecting a paycheck let's shift our Focus from criticism to support passing this budget is crucial for our business Community survival we're the first to be asked for donations to schools and sports teams now it's our turn to ask for support our businesses are the lifeblood of our town and a thriving Community benefits us all thank you and lastly I have another letter in support of the Sid from another business in town who couldn't be here tonight but did send it to all the township committee I want to put it on the record Oxford jewers thank you thank you hi Dominique erso 514 Melbourne Avenue I just think everyone should understand the the committee and the the group that supports this the small power that support this I don't think you understand the tentacles that it has further and I think we can all understand that when you have a business it's a personal business expense to Market it shouldn't be you know thought of as the community to help you know it's it's a good thing to have Community together but it shouldn't be at someone else's expense to advertise and say my business it's my responsibility and there's many ways to do that for free so sorry thank you thank you anyone else have anything to say before I close public comment good evening everybody good evening uh nades nikle I speak here as a resident and commercial property owner I wanted to offer my um Insight of explore Milburn Shore Hills and why I think we need to support it um I would like to particularly comment on the statement that U the seed benefits a small group of business so they should only be the one contributing paying into it or that it should be voluntary on elected by businesses themselves I don't think this logic is very sound uh we don't apply that iic to school you know people who don't have any children in school still pay their share of the tax because Great Schools benefit everyone we don't apply that logic to road maintenance people who don't drive still have to pay their share of tax to maintain infrastructure because great infrastructure benefit everyone so why don't we apply that logic to the seed uh explore Works to build a strong community and even if most of the event are taking place downtown a strong downtown benefits everyone it's attractive for other businesses to come and establish in town it's attractive for people to come and visit our town it's attractive for people to come and live here a lot of events are taking place down toown but that's where most businesses are to be fair and also having worked as a volunteer and as a former board member on a lot of events I can assure you that there's a lot of deliberate effort to make sure that every district is represented whenever we do an event so every everybody's benefiting from Great Schools everybody's benefiting from great infrastructure in the same way everybody's benefiting from having a straight A great town which is what explorer is about we benefit because we get increased property value and we get great quality of life so the seeds efficiency goes much much deeper than how much dollar comes to which store a strong seed is a strong business Community it's a strong sense of belonging which makes Milburn unattractive itive place to work to be and to live we need to protect this entity and the investment that has been made so far there is still work to do and Steve is the best person for the job he is talented he is diplomatic he's knowledgeable he's solution oriented and he's responsive we are so very lucky to have him steering this organization and Amanda is one of the most efficient person I have ever met and she's a real God doerer together they're working very hard at bettering our town thank you for your time thank you so much hi Tracy LaVine I'm a longtime resident of Milbourne and a member of the special Improvement District Board of Trustees serving as secretary and marketing committee co-chair a key thing that attracted and keeps my family here is the vibrant and diverse business Community as I've always had a pass passion for small and independent businesses I'm proud to have been a founding member and a current board member of explor Milburn Short Hills and of the organizations's accomplishments over the past three and a half years to support and grow our local business and community in a region rich with terrific towns and active SIDS it's key for Milburn to invest in our Sid to attract businesses customers and their spending importantly as you've heard earlier the vacancy rate has been reduced from 16% to 3% almost unheard of since the organization's launch in Fall 2020 explore plays a key role in attracting and onboarding new businesses nearly a 100 have open in this town about 50 downtown and 40 in other districts this past year it's been incredible to see the results of explorers efforts with hundreds of businesses from all Sid districts and thousands of community members engaged through events promotional efforts training grants and more the value of a sid in today's economy is highly driven by the knowledge and the resources person Al provided by the professional staff to hundreds of businesses complemented by the robust schedule of in-person events that draw thousands of community members and visitors to Milburn Short Hills I also would like to commend the outstanding work and dedication of both executive director Steve gillo and marketing director Amanda Dean they are consummate professionals who consistently deliver on and frequently surpass their responsibility great to directors are in high demand we are very lucky if you enjoyed Summer live music on Main Street pay patronized the business impacted by Hurricane Ida that's still thriving today enjoyed a great new local shop or restaurant shopped online at a local business that never had e-commerce before warmed up at winter village fire pits and Igloo viewed new public art visited favorite stores and discovered new ones at girls night out dined with a special offer while also supporting opportunity projects during restaurant week and many more you have experienced what explore milber CH Hills is all about the board has worked diligently towards excellent choices in terms of vendors and Consultants as well as programs and services that compr comprise the 2024 budget designed for high impact in a fiscally responsible manner this includes an expanded focus on fundraising and sponsorships which is possible as a 501c3 organization to increase the total budget without increasing the assessment or the township portion and the taxpayer portion I encourage final approval of the budget by the township committee so that the explore board and professional staff can continue their important work with Township leaders and staff Sid constituents and community volunteers toward our common goal of making Milburn Short Hills the best it can be um thank you also to all of you for all of your service and Leadership thank you folks going going gone hello my name is is Marina Mara uh I'm an owner of a small business on on Milburn Avenue it's called Marina's Treasures um we went through a very hard time we went through covid we went through two huge constructions in town uh and of course the hurricane Idol was the biggest nightmare that we all had to go through um and then exactly at that moment in the picture came sit with Steve G Steve guo has been um extremely helpful and very knowledgeable of what he's doing and uh the only help that we got was actually only from Sid the government didn't help us the landlords didn't help us it seems like nobody cares about small businesses so I have to say that thank you so much Steve guo for doing such a great time um job and basically he brought um Sid brought wife back to Milbourne I think Milbourne was basically dying and uh I think we need SE please don't get rid of SE thank you i' just like to Echo Jeff feld's comments um and some of my own prior there is a difference between the successful marketing efforts of the people involved in the Sid volunteers paid people Etc and the legal issues that are involved in its establishment and operation and I would also say that there is absolute legitimacy sorry Ben I totally disagree with you to having a person who is responsible for approving the actions of this organization and questioning how taxpayer dollars are being spent and asking for accountability for those spending those dollars using Township assets and space as well as admitting that they have multiple clients there is absolutely no reason why those questions shouldn't be asked and answered and I would say the same thing about my questions about understanding as a resident in taxpayer how the bottom line of this organization affects the town I don't think it's a hard thing to answer I think it should be answered by someone sitting in an executive director position I'm sorry I I I just really feel strongly about that and I would also have to question some of the comments made by a former mayor who was heavily involved in the the founding of the Sid and is still actively involved um and under her watch important things slip through the cracks including businesses that did not go through the town processes to get approval there was a a lawsuit involved and it cost you know that business as well as the town a lot of money because you know tees were not crossed and eyes were not dotted and the same thing I think is happening with the Sid those things have to be done legal actions will occur if they're not done and I think that there is a big difference between that and applauding the efforts that have been really good you know have helped the town and have helped the businesses so let's separate those things and not conflate them because they are really different thank you I had a speech but I am not doing it because it's now 10 o'clock so I wanted to say thank you Maggie's going I'm Janine Mar what we've done to one in the morning I have to get home so I'm not a resident I'm a business owner elements for style 358a I have to thank you guys I agree Jackie Ben coming in thank you to Steve and Amanda they've done so much so I'm just asking for you guys to consider push the budget through I also agree with JJ Abbot whoever wherever he is now that for six years the budget has been the same now we've included F four more districts five well we have but five but we've added four districts right in and we have the same budget inflation my costs have gone up marketing has gone up I think his budget needs to go up and I think he's doing a great job with what he has right now but really it has to go up in the future thank you and have thank you so much good evening will fit in the room here unfortunately um I don't have good batter or indifferent to say about the executive director or the marketing director however I do know the marketing director is lovely because I had the pleasure of serving her um several times when she patronized the restaurant early on obviously way prior to her even knowing um what she was um getting into I suppose I would like to start off um before my comment to say that I was disappointed to hear in a prior comment that the Sid budget had already been passed I would ask you all to familiarize yourself with the public familiarize yourself with the 33 letters where do they come from who are the authors who do they represent Property Owners Merchants um are they they subjected to the assessment or do they have landlords that don't defer the assessment like myself I would say that my tenants are not familiar with Mr gorillo or I don't even want to say I'm sure he's a wonderful man so I can't even say um but not familiar with explore milbar majority of the people you heard tonight you heard the word downtown and that's what I've been saying since August of 2020 so this this evening you will decide to vote in favor or against the Sid budget this evening since 2020 I've spoken upon deaf years as a taxpayer property owner Merchant and a resident I have no voice I have no vote with your ordinance 25 61-20 that I have asked multiple times to resend please realize that this is not a popularity contest but rather a matter regarding the usage of taxpayers trust fund monies without a voice clearly three minutes is not an adequate enough time to make a statement to back them up with all the facts because I've done a lot of homework and I'm always doing a lot of research there's been many unanswered questions regarding the Sid that go far back as 2020 identification feasibility studies buyin conflict of interest and taxation without representation on uh in November uh committee woman um presented the um I'm sorry committee woman Romano had presented the 33 letters that were solicited that were were said that they were solicited but were they solicited to all 160 property owners were they solicited to all 500 plus merchants or just a select few has anyone received or performed an analysis of those letters because I have and who were the letters submitted from like I mentioned are they members of The Advisory Board are they Boards of trustees and which district do they represent have any of the authors have been ever awarded the following stiens event stiens grants ref from refresh programs and Ida relief money and during Ida and during covid we did offer and and afford our tenants a rent reduction or abatement and I did ask about if they were um subjected to the um assessment also I have to say we've been here for 30 years 1994 December of 1994 Sachs closed and saaks went to the mall what it was total devastation to Upper Milburn Avenue we didn't know what happened the entire town of that portion was very very slow I had the opportunity and I mentioned at the last meeting that I knew a prior member of the dmda I asked them you know what's happening why is everything happening downtown oh well there's this organization well hence here we are in 2020 you pass the ordinance and it's the same old same old same old facts matter and you should understand all the facts before you place your votes tonight ask yourself simply are all the districts being represented by the Sid what is the Sid doing for moris Avenue ask yourself for Kings what are they doing for Stone Mountain what are they doing for um garden homes what are they doing for Trader Joe's what are they doing for shopright I mean this is a expanded Sid that you're getting big property owners and and and big assessments that are primarily if not wholeheartedly 100% supporting downtown just just like the supporters are behind me I'm happy that they are benefiting from the Sid but I think that in all fairness this is not um you know an an open-end um all all the districts should be treated fairly so if both committee woman uh Romano as the Le is onto the Sid board together with committee men Cohen if you honestly make base your vote that you can absolutely have read and fully understand the ordinance 2561 D20 then you should vote accordingly otherwise understand that this is not an entertainment piggy bank for just a few mayor miggins and Deputy Mayor vayak if you consciously vote against your campaign promise then I I would suggest that you vote accordingly as you walk off this dis this will be your legacy committee one pro committee woman prus it appears that you have seen history repeat itself then you also should vote according thank you for your time thank you m have a nice I will now close the public comment perod anybody have any comments I have a comment does anyone else have a comment no you could start this purose you go ahead so you know what I want to come back no one else has have to comment Mr gorillo do you have any comments you want to make are you good no mayor thank you okay thank you very much so am I the only one that's gonna make a comment Miss Deputy Mayor vanak go okay great thanks there a lot of pros and cons we have heard and as I said earlier also there is no way you can make everyone happy but I've seen uh Mr gorillo working and Amanda working with alongside with him and I have seen Jackie and Richard both working for the past three years and I'm sure everyone else on the on the board on the group helping support or not helping support they're all right in their own way in their own conscious but I think it's a very difficult job and thank you to volunteer on the board thanks for your time and thanks for whatever you do to keep things moving forward you have my support thank you um I'd also like to Echo what Deputy Mayor vek said this is an incredible board I've loved working with them all year um you do amazing things Stephen Amanda 247 you're on chopping wood lighting fires um you know and we're very lucky to have this group so thank you Mr know my I I'm not on the board my interaction is with the c is really primarily been as a resident I've gone to some of the events they're wonderful C has also been helpful I sit on arum board and I ask we asked for some help with a with an event that we were planning and and so we're not a downtown Merchant but or a merchant of any kind but they were tremendously helpful in terms of getting the word out for us which is not easy uh in this town um and and whatever else we we've asked for so they have my support as well okay um M um Miss puus ready yes okay go so I'm gonna vote Yes tonight for sure and there's been a lot of input from the merchants and um property owners and I still think it's really important that the Sid board looks at the way that the Sid board is composed and I feel like the people paying the tax should get a vote and it shouldn't be appointed by the TC members so you'll do it that whatever you'll do with it and um I'm glad so many people came out to support the board tonight and um yeah you have my support so you have my vote Mr do you have anything you need to add I do not how do you like that Mr McDonald since you've afforded me the opportunity I I look I all all I'll say is um you know there's a lot that goes on in a municipality in in the dayto day U probably a lot more than than most do realize sure um but but I think that one of the things that has been immensely helpful um to me has been this organization from the standpoint of there's always been um a a degree of needing to provide um attention you know and and resources and um support to the businesses and I remember very clearly the the the years that the dmda didn't exist and so I just from from a standpoint of you know what what happens um in terms of how the organization is structured and things like that you know the only thing I would ever say about it is that they provide an immense service and I can only and I you know I won't speak for any businesses or Property Owners but certainly to the township and the offices here um by supporting a perspective for merchants when it comes to traffic when it comes to or changes and how we can be more friendly to businesses and how the building department is interacting with businesses and all the things that happen from a Township perspective that impact the Merchant's Merchants property owners and those that that that sit in a in a business district um it has been a a a great a great resource um for myself and for the people that work here and so I think that you know whatever happens with the organization in terms of structurally and things like that you know know you can always make changes to something um but it is hard to rebuild something and we've built a great organization here and some wise person once told me that it's very easy to tear down a barn but it's very difficult to build one and so we've built one here while it might need some changes or additions or whatever it might be um I think it's a great organization and I've I've immensely uh appreciated what it's become you know sitting up here for three years um you get to see what people are really passionate about right so when somebody doesn't like something we've gone to meetings whether it has to do with fair share or fields on a par three Golf Course or something with historic they show up our people show up and I look in this room tonight and everybody's shown up but they've sh I mean heck Mr kers who doesn't he doesn't own a business in the town he just a town a taxpaying resident showed up to support it and I think I think it speaks volumes that you know a a Tuesday night right before Christmas people are showing up and spending their time to come out and support someone um and there's only two people that don't support it so just from a numbers perspect three people there's just from a numbers perspective you have to look at the fact that there are more supporting it than not not supporting it so um yep take the vote please wait I gotta make the motion all right here we go ready may have a motion to approve resolution 23- 287 which authorizes adoption of the 2024 Milbourne Short Hills business organization budget motion M have a second second roll call vote Please Mr Cen yes Miss puus yes M Romano yes deput mayor vanay yes mayor Megan yes thank you we are on to ordinance 2655-20 Mr Cohen you are scheduled to sponsor sure I present for consideration an ordinance and titled ordinance 26 55-23 ordinance amending and supplementing the township of Milburn and deification ordinance tonight is the time set for public hearing and final passage is advertised in accordance with law I declare the hearing open um this is an amendment of a standard rise identification provision that's in most municipalities first question is why S A need to make these Amendments have other municipalities adopted these amendments or modifications did the GIF insurer approve these changes because it affects them the effective date if you adopt this ordinance when does it become effective and does it cover actions these amendments that occur on before the effective date or is on the adoption and what coverage you get because I would caution you because of the little debate we just had we heard mention of structural changes and structural deficiencies and does it cover all current will these changes cover all current TC members or would they be carved out because they voted for these changes because I don't know really what this change covers because we're talking about if you provide services within and do actions within the purview of your official action you should be protected whether it's criminal or whatever is but when you go outside your purview such as you do not follow state law you commit ultrav virus acts does that cover you and I don't know what why we need this new provision all of a sudden being needed if because we never had it for years anyone else go ahead okay I move that the that this public hearing be Clos 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 so second second anybody have any comments questions want answer Mr F do we have any answers from Mr f um no I think look there there the committee as the policy makers of the township have recognized the need um for amendment I can't speak to whether other mpali have B similar amendments um you know and um perhaps Mr M has some additional Insight but I can simply say that there are a couple of Provisions couple of amendments here one is to change the dates because the time frame to provide notice and responses was too tight that's one of the answers to the questions as to why and it expands somewhat the coverage of of also actions that are taken in an administrative way that may be F fall short of an administrative program that the state or federal or other government has the the ordinance will not cover ultrav virate act virus viral acts it the ordinance will become effective after publication uh and I I think that uh those are the questions address and we're not Exempted from it just we voted for no the members of the township committee are not Exempted from Roll Call vote Please Mr Cen yes Miss puus yes M Romano yes mayor Vana yes mayor M yes ordinance 2656-20 Mr Rano you are scheduled to sponsor this I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2656-20 ordinance amending chapter 7 traffic of revised General ordinances of the township of Milburn the proposed amendment to the chapter 7 traffic code of milburn's General ordinances is to make amendments to business permit categories modifier modify fire Lanes clarify parking allowances in the Township's commuter lots and codify requirements of parking permit applications tonight is the time set for public hearing and final passage as 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 second second roll call vote Please Mr comman yes M puus yes M Romano yes mayor Vania yes may yes okay we're into Old business now so for old business we have uh an update and discussion about nine main street so do you want me to read this I'm gonna read something yesterday the township of Milbourne had a case management conference before judge Sant tomoro regarding it regarding its compliance with the township settlement agreement with fair share housing center and other interested parties of particular interest was the Township's effort to approve a Redevelopment agreement with rpn fact is we have 100 plus page development agreement that outlines the Township's obligation to build 100% affordable development with 75 units simply put we are not prepared to vote on the agreement as this community's Representatives at this time at a previous case management conference residents of Milbourne were told that if they did not like the way that they were being represented in the matter of affordable housing that they should vote accordingly that's exactly what happened folks and we feel it incumbent upon this committee a lame duck committee to allow the newly elected officials a voice in these matters in particular a matter that will be potentially be constructed during their tender on the township committee the agreement and I don't need to do that one we have a hearing before judge Sant tomorrow scheduled for January 5th 2024 stay tuned 11 am stay tuned okay put that on the website yes we'll put that statement on the website so everybody is aware all right we don't have any other old business by golly we don't have any new business either may I have a motion to adjourn the meeting May I have a good night mil Jord Hills Merry Christmas thank Youk Mr phelp look what I have for you