Good evening everyone. >> In accordance with section five of the open public meetings act, be advised that a notice of this meeting was made by posting on a bulletin board at town hall and forwarding to the officially designated newspapers that this meeting would take place at the Milurn Education Center at 700 p.m. on November 12th,
2025. Meeting details and the direct agenda were also posted on our township website. Please stand to salute the flag to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for it stands nation.
>> Deputy Mayor Cohen >> here. >> Mr. Hoswell >> here. Mr. Sakamandandy >> here. >> Mr. Stler >> present. >> Mayor Romano >> here. >> May I have motion to approve the agenda? >> May I have a second? >> All in favor?
>> Okay. May I have a motion to approve the October 7, 2025 regular township committee minutes? >> Motion. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? May I have a motion to approve the October 7, 2025 special township committee minutes?
>> May I have a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Okay. Reports. Um, >> this is buzzing. >> Something's buzzing. And if that happened to him and we ended up just shutting off the system
without >> Okay. >> Would you like to stop? Yes. Thank you, Mayor. So, yeah, I'd like to um give a report from the uh historic preservation committee, the HPC. um their November 6 meeting um
there was a group of township residents who actually want to subd designate their neighborhood as historic. Um so it's a a wonderful thing. It's it's something a little new actually. Um the uh section of the town so everyone knows is what's called is the Woodfield states
section. It's actually the original homestead of the Taylor family uh in town. Um, it's an area that's actually north of Parsonage Hill Road, bordered u on I guess the western side by Del Barton, uh, and on the right by
Woodfield. Um, there is there's about there's 54 properties located in the district, 26 are contributing, 28 are non-contributing. There's a November 25 2025 report that was prepared by Barton
Ross who's the township's um historic consultant that may already be posted on the site on the town side. If not, it will be >> um tomorrow. So, I invite people to take a look at that. That's got the it's in it's a weird shaped, you know, chunk of
land. So, you may want to look at the uh the borders of it. Um I encourage all you to review it. Um there's a lot of more specific details on the boundaries and the homes are actually identified in the report. Um please also let your friends and neighbors know about it in
case they might be interested in that. Um this type of designation is in keeping with the town's master plan uh goals including preserving historic research resources as well as protecting the character of neighborhoods to name a few of the uh
the town's master plan. Um, I hope the other members of the TC here could say that they support this effort. I do recognize that there will be need for further public outreach on this. Thank you. >> Do any other reports or you're going to
discuss that or >> seems like there's some guidance needed. So, I fully support that. when uh residents get together and decide to selfd designate their neighborhood um or we just stand in their way. So >> Mr. We can't hear you.
>> Yeah, we're mad. >> That can pick us up. So what I was saying, anytime uh residents want to get together and decide they want to selfdesate their neighborhood, I mean that's a that's a great thing. Um that's them choosing what they're doing with their neighborhood. So I fully am
supportive of that. >> Mr. Do you know of the you said 50 odd houses about how many people signed that petition to do this but you know give or take. >> I don't have the I don't have the exact number. Um I know they were following or
so >> do you know? >> Yeah. It was in the it was in the 30s. So, so will the people who did who did not sign and agree to it, are they going to be pulled into it? >> Well, so what would happen is it would go through the process where there'd be
a hearing and then the ordinance that we have applies. So, if there were a certain threshold to them that were opposed, they'd file a opposition letter uh and then it would require twothirds majority of TC in order to uh
>> I've been up there. I have a friend who lives up there and her house is beautiful. I agree. They should be historical. I don't want to see any of those torn down in the middle. >> I support it. I mean, if it's, you know, 35 out of 50, that's a pretty happy uh
percentage. Of course, the other people, I'm sure, there'll be >> long as there's an avenue for them. They have they'll be hearings. There's all the stuff we have. As long as as long as the entire section is aware public conversation about
>> yes we'll have to receive the um we'll get the official letter right >> okay um anything else >> uh no thank you >> we second it >> sure uh so for the EC um the EC passed a
resolution recommending that uh we eliminate fees for landscaper registration. Landscaper registration is something new we put in place um you know after we passed the uh seasonal restriction on the leaf blowers. I guess
some landscapers reached out to the EC complaining about the fee. Um I don't remember us ever discussing a fee, so I'm not sure. >> Did we? >> We voted on it. >> Oh, did we? Okay. Um I I mean I personally have no problem with waving
waving that fee. um since it's advantageous to the town for the landscapers landscapers to register so that we know how to contact them. Um but that is a resolution they they've passed along. Um and then they also passed a
resolution encouraging the TC to look into the feasibility of purchasing the old Exxon station and turning that into a pocket park. Um I think that's something that we were already looking into. Um so that's the update on the EC
um planning board. Um nothing really remarkable to report on that. >> Okay. Um >> sure. Recreation committee. Uh there's a coaches meeting for uh Wreck basketball
uh on November 17th. They need more volunteers. So if any of you guys are uh hoopsters, they could really need some help with the volunteers for the for the coaches. Uh special improvement district um we're going to have a presentation later which which I'll introduce. And
then uh you know explore Milburn Short Hills excited to kick off the five-week effort to support all local businesses uh during the most busy time of the year for the holiday season. uh make sure everyone goes on to their Instagram and Facebook for a series of social medias
uh including a takeover by local business uh bid infusion which will be in multiple languages. It's a campaign for foreign languages of all about shopping local and what we have to offer in our town. Uh and there's also going to be a special raffle on Black Friday for local shoppers to be able to pick up
opportunities to win that raffle by shopping locally. And then the s'more shopping winter village which was really big last year was on December 6th and 13th uh at Town Hall Plaza. Uh nothing really remarkable on BOE on
the board of education. Please drive carefully as everyone is getting their footing, continues to get their footing. Joint facilities commission. Uh there's going to be a public information session regarding the proposed high school field improvement joint project with the board of education on Thursday, November 20th
uh at 7 p.m. at the >> Is it confirmed? It's not confirmed. >> Not confirmed at the Milurn Library. Okay. So, I'm waiting for we're hoping to get the information out tomorrow. >> So, we'll get that out tomorrow. Okay. Uh but that'll be a good session. Um uh had a meeting today on the Mountain
Valley Emergency Communications Center to uh go over some logistics and some personal matters. That was nothing really remarkable to discuss. Uh open space tax fund. Uh we're actually going through the final touches of the matrix
rubric uh to assign some values to projects. We actually did a number of different mock projects to see how it comes out, whether it's in uh what our expectations would be and and how it works through. Uh so that's working itself through the I guess the belly of the snake uh on affordable housing on
the Florida council. And uh it's pretty much it. >> Deputy Mayor. >> Sure. Well, the reason the meeting won't be at the library is because they uh they were installing parts to fix the elevator and they run into some problems. So now they have to have a new
part that has to first be manufactured. So the library elevator will not be which was supposed to be available already by now will not be available for at least another month and hence the meeting. We'll have to find another another home. Uh Mr. Sony covered the
planning board. Yeah, it was just one minor um one minor case of the Pilates studio on Milurn on Mars Turnpike expanding into the uh into the store next door to make their studio bigger and have it more capacity. And then at
the zoning code subcommittee um there won't be anything coming out of that committee this year any further because it take it would take too many meetings to to approve something. But the committee is still working on improving the zoning code with respect to
definitions of things like um different uses, what a change in use would actually mean and a more robust definition of medical office since we have many properties zone that way. We want to make sure that um and and as
that industry continues to evolve, make sure that we're comfortable what goes into those sites. >> Thank you. Um Mr. talk to >> um >> just just a uh two two quick things. One
is um on on the agenda tonight is the uh supplemental uh road uh projects. Um there will be another of essentially 10 streets. These are streets that are easier to be done, doesn't don't require as much curb work or um other other work, drainage or
otherwise. um that um that we are looking to try to complete uh prior to the end of the year and if not then it will certainly go into the spring of next year um when the weather breaks. Um but uh that information will be put under the township's current projects page on the website. Um some of the
roads are are are meer which was the one street in the Washington section that did not get paved. Um so uh that is one of them. uh Puritan, Hamilton, South Terrace, you know, Oxford's Wdsworth, uh Garden Court, and uh Cedar Street
between Wyoming and Sagamore. Um so those are those are some of the roads that we've done with that. Um also wanted to let the the community know that and and I've seen a lot of um I guess questions or or or chatter about
it, but um the the township was at one point under a energy aggregation program. um that program is ending and everybody will be converted back to their JCPNL uh account. So there'll be no longer a third party that's providing
your electricity supply. Um if that's something that that the committee desires to explore further in the future, I think we have to go through the whole process all over again which includes passing an ordinance becoming a part of one of those aggregation groups. Um and I think it's a a larger
discussion but um that program will end. Um, nobody is being dropped from JCPNL. Nobody's losing electricity coverage. It is is simply that you had a thirdparty supplier through IDT. Now your now your electricity supply is going back to JCPNL. Um, everybody still has the
option to go and you know get their own 30 third party supplier. Um, but it will no longer be an aggregation program. And if you had signed up for that search charge for green energy since JCPNL doesn't offer that, that's over as well.
>> Correct. Correct. >> Um but we we will also we're working on just getting a bit of information out on that. Um just so that so that's clear that >> um Mr. Can. >> Uh thank you mayor. Um I always like to
keep the public uh updated on our fourth round fair housing. Um, we had our first mediation session today. As uh the public may recall, we had a letter put in by Fair Share Housing Center, which wasn't exact what they considered not to
be an objection, but uhformational purposes. We also had an objection put in uh by RPM, who is a developer of the post developer for the Nine Main Street site. Um, and their objection solely involves the Nain Street project. That's
in our third round. So, no new developers. uh have objected to our fourth round. Um we met uh with um with a retired judge. Um we spent some time um and there's really nothing else to report other than negotiations are
ongoing. >> The only thing I want to I have no reports but just the uh free parking is coming back um mid to late December. >> Uh start no start on Thanksgiving. >> Thanks. Yeah, right after Thanksgiving. Um, so the parking rates still apply.
Um, but you do not have to commute. The parking time still applies, but you don't have to do um Okay. Uh, special report, the 2025 best practices inventory. >> Uh, yes. So, the township completed its
uh best practices report. We scored a 41 out of 43.5. Um, the best practices inventory is a state annual checklist that reviews, you know, financial practices, administrative compliance, recordkeeping, transparency. It also breaks things up into, you know, weird
weirdly best practices, core competencies, and unscored survey questions. Um, they're not all in one order. They they sprinkle in underscored surveys throughout the uh throughout the document. Um, but we did score a 41 point 41 out of 40 41.5 out of 43, which
keeps us safe as far as our state aid goes. I think if you if you score anything over a 32, um, you uh, you do not, uh, then your state aid is not impacted. Um some of the the you know questions that we said no to um particularly those scored questions is
you know when we uh did a note sale we did not do a uh um sort of a a uh a disclosure uh because it's it's about a $15,000 expense. Um and uh we maintain that AAA rating without going through
that process. Um certainly if there is something done in the future that's a larger amount uh we will end up having to do that. Um the other thing is is that our health insurance broker procurement um we didn't do it as a competitive contracting. We did it as an
FP um which we did with a uh with a flat fee uh instead of a percentage of premium uh which is the best practice. Uh so but we answered no to that because we uh we did it through a request for proposal. Um and so again scored very
well on the on the best practices. um some of the unscored surveys um you know some of them had to do with the the uh the lead paint um requirements for the township. I will say that this is an area that we do need to uh touch on. Um you know we have done it a little while
through new corporation to help out uh those that own a home that is built prior to 1978 and is rented and we were supposed to have a uh lead safe certification of that home that you're renting that was built prior to 1978. uh L Corporation was providing that
service. Um we will be uh looking to put out a concessionire's bid that will allow us to have a company um you know be be that service for Milbourne and for Milbour's residents that that that uh that it applies to. However, nothing
precludes a homeowner or a you know someone who owns a rental property from going to any of those companies that are listed on the state's website uh that do this lead safe certification. But it is an area that um you know through the unscore survey we did we did find that we need to uh to address
>> in uh also I forgot to mention uh in the niche high school rankings we got the number one high school ranking in Essex County and number 12 nationally. Uh so that's impressive uh by the uh best public high schools and teachers.
>> Okay. So the the 2025 best practices inventory, that's resolution 25-240. Are there any comments from the committee in regards to resolution 25-240? >> May I have a motion to approve resolution 25-240? >> May I have a second?
>> Second. >> Roll call vote, please. >> Deputy Mayor Cullen, >> yes. >> Mr. Costro, >> yes. >> Mr. Sakamandi, >> yes. >> Mr. Stler, >> Mayor Romano, >> yes. Thank you. >> Public comment. When invited to speak to offer your comments, please come to the lecture and clearly state your name and
whether you are an over and or property or business owner. Please do not provide your email address seeing our meetings are recorded and readily available to the public to help facilitate the orderly meeting and permit only be heard. Speaker shall limit their comments one minute session. You will be prompted when there's 30 seconds
remaining. A reminder that this is not a time for dialogue or to debate a matter and this is a time during a business meeting for the public to offer comments. I will now open the public comment. >> Richie Cyber, uh, resident. So, landscapers still have to register,
but they don't have to pay any money to register. Do they still have to register or do they don't have to register at all? That's my comment. Hello. Good evening. My name is St. Phil
the poets for more than 30 years. As my custom, I submitted a heads up letter exhibits to the council and I hope it's incorporated in the minutes. I don't want to go really through them. Um, but focus on the best practices inventory.
Again, I ask you to post like when we go to the finance page, maybe post the last five years that the public looks at all these questions. Um, there's questions about pilots. We're going to have a pilot at 9 Main Street.
And the question is, could we satisfy those questions about the monies and the going to the county? I don't think we have, but how are the correspondence? Um, there's going to be the introduction of the budget. Mr. Caner in his report
did not report back about the hearing that occurred on October 29th. Um, we're still waiting for the judge to enter various orders so that case can proceed. Um, it's interesting that the township provided an omnimous proposed
order and I and I believe that was under your direction of the TC put that in where I had submitted various other proposed consensual orders. they weren't entered. But at the end of the hearing, Judge Spencer, like other judges, said
suggested that you control the statute and and in February, you created a subcommittee to analyze the SID ordinance. You have not reported back. And I think the committee should understand what is the finding of the
committee because interestingly when you were talking about historical preservations designation of a certain neighborhood you said you needed a super majority you're going to subject a group of people in August of 2020
when the city ordinance amended city ordinance was superseding orders were adopted you did not have a supermajority who approve that ordinance. you recall it was a 3-2 vote and there was always questions whether Tara had a conflict of interest. Um,
and I just caution you when you're attacking this because there's always been questions, you know, um, as to the bond ordinance. I think we do up with introduction. Um, yes, you put a supplemental desk in it comment amended, but I think the public should understand
why we need additional monies, what those monies are going to be for. And as to the salary like from 2025 to 2029 range if you can help give us identify what are the current payments that people are
receiving in 2025 and how many different people because this helps us when we go to use the fun budget to understand how position because it's very unclear about police officers what ranks them. I know my time is up. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else?
Bar Hills res 28 years. Um, first of all, regarding landscapers, uh, they should be required to be licensed and insured. Uh I don't know
what the registration requires. I haven't seen it. But for sure uh it's important that the employees of landscapers be properly covered as a truck and things be properly insured. Uh and that may not be the case with some rogue landscapers. So in the
registration process, the requirement should be to have them licensed and insured. us. Now, uh, in February 2024, a plan was proposed to reduce the probability of flooding in the downtown business district less than a fraction
of a percent. A year later, in February 20.5 of this year, a detailed request for a quotation write up document uh was put together
and submitted uh to uh forward that plan one step further and solicit bids from engineering contractors for implementing that plan with the whole set. uh downstream communities
could also be asked to participate in funding and explain. Uh this community should be appalled that this committee is considering a $3.5 million expenditure town hall reservation but could not come up with approximately
$400,000 to fund a study to uh virtually eliminate the possibility of flooding in downtown. So I just see it as a misplaced sense of priorities. We can spend $7 million on
the paper mill playhouse. We can renovate town hall. Yes, those are needed. So is flood mitigation and no money is appropriated. Sad. >> Thank you. Anyone else?
Hi, good evening. Perry Erso. Um, I have a quick question. I didn't I wasn't there during reports. Um, I just want to know if Mr. um Cosg Gro or Attorney Caner had spoken about any reports or mentioned during their reports about the
October 29th hearing that we were all present. He was present and um based on what the attorney said the basically it was like her last sentence. Um I'm wondering if Mr. uh Cosgrove had the opportunity to bring his comments that
comment to the actual the TC. It's very unfortunate that this is where we are today. We've heard over and over again about mediation. No mediation occurred. Uh going back uh in 2020, I was not afforded the opportunity to speak with
our now chair of the SID, former mayor at the time and former deputy mayor did not afford me the time to speak as they did afford other people offline to discuss any issues that we have. I think it's very important um that TC members
should be willing to talk to people if they have any questions or concerns or certainly objections because that would eliminate um a majority of the lawsuits. Hence, here we are five years ago today. Um I just think it's really important. It's very disheartening that we were not
afforded the same opportunity. However, um I am in the process working with the uh Milbourne Police Department because not only did I not I was not afforded the opportunity to to uh be spoken to, but there was a harassment complaint against me, which is actually being um
corrected now as we speak. So, it's very disheartening that people would take the extra effort and file a harassment complaint when you have no idea that it's being filed. Um, and now multiple years later, we're going there to uh try to recre uh correct the record. And uh
also I wanted to ask about the um >> um sorry sorry the review uh did has anybody reported on the review of the SID ordinance. I think that should be um orch, you know, spoken about and discussed in front of the public so the
public knows where you're thinking because you're going to in the next few minutes going to be hearing about a SID uh a SID budget. Thank you for your time and have a wonderful evening. >> Thank you. >> I will now close public comment. Um
committee Miss Storm, would you like to >> Sure. So, Mr. sideburn. I believe the fee was the fee was waved on the mouth. >> No 200 let me get the information on the ordinance and then you guys can speak. So I just looked back. It was ordinance 2714-25
um and it was a license requirement um for commercial landscapers and it said no no shell gates commercial landscaping without first obtaining an annual license. Uh the exemptions are residents providing casual part-time services without the use of commercially
registered vehicles um and landscapers working on public property. Just address some of the questions as far as requirements. Um in order to get a registration, they have to provide their name uh proof of insurance um vehicle license plates numbers and and proof of
insurance. So I know insurance question. Uh the current fees are $200 for annual registration fee per business and $50 annual RA registration fee for businesses using electric leaf blowers only. So I think just to I I think just
bring the committee back. There was two reasons to have the fee. One was to encourage electric leaf blowers because we had the $200 and the $50 fee. And I think secondly just the administration costs involved in keeping the registration uh intact. And I don't know what those fees would be on um the
municipality, but uh certainly if we wanted to put a provision in for waving fees, uh it would be an ordinance um because we have an ordinance. So to change the ordinance, we can do that. We could also put in the ordinance in the future that these fees may be changed by resolution to make it less in the
future. Um but currently it's $200 per business if you're using gas power leak blowers and 50 if you're using electric. >> Just so everybody has uh the background. Thank you. And then uh second uh with Commissioner
Gan um you know I'm on that flood mitigation committee you know I agree we can we should do as much as we possibly can. It's not we're not choosing projects if and you know and excluding other projects. So I don't want anybody to think that the town hall reservation
is taken away from flood mitigation. It's just not. We can do both. We can do the paper mill of that and plus build whatever we need to do. Uh the question is how do we get there in an efficient manner? Uh and I wholly support everything you're doing as well and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you
being on this game with me this year. It's been really helpful. You and >> Rod was just going to talk about the landscape Jared covered it. I know that I think Mr. Solomon might have thought that because the environmental commission came out against it that that meant it was over. But it doesn't you
know it has to come back before the committee. Um, can we have a second? >> Sure. Um, so yeah, on the uh registration fee, the EC made a recommendation that we eliminate the
landscape of registration fee. They have no authority to um do anything with that fee other than make a recommendation to us. Um, I think that now that it's been explained, this committee ought to consider uh waving that fee for the
first year. And I think that uh we should also put language in the ordinance that would wave that fee that the fee could be changed by resolution in future years because we may want to re-evaluate that. Um, you know, I think since this is the first year that we're
doing it, maybe it makes sense to to wave that fee. Um, and I really would want to get a sense of what the actual cost of the township is to administer this program because I feel like it's probably an Excel document and, you know, someone punching some stuff in.
Uh, so I don't know that a $200 fee is necessarily warranted. Um, but you know, if there's someone else uh on the committee that that feels that way, maybe we can get something going in the next meeting. uh because we have a limited amount of time to make ordinance
proposals for the year. Uh because ordinances can't be introduced in one year and then carry over to the next year. Um so we would either need to introduce the ordinance at the December uh meeting and then um pass it at the
subsequent meeting or or would have to wait until January. Um let's see. Mr. Feld, you asked about the findings of the SID subcommittee. I believe that on the agenda for our next TC meeting, we'll have something under new business
to discuss those findings. Um, you know, I think one of the challenges has been some of these lawsuits surrounding the SID have, you know, sort of impeded progress uh on on on this because there's a certain level of unknown. Um,
but now that I think those issues have been rendered, uh hopefully we'll be able to uh discuss it in the next meeting. Um, Mr. Vanbera. Um, you mentioned there was a request, I guess, for equipment. Um, you know, I I think that that's something we should
definitely pursue. Uh, I'm in support of, uh, you know, if there's money that needs to be spent, you know, wisely to, um, measure the problem, uh, or to help, you know, determine whether various solutions are are going to be feasible,
then that's probably a worthwhile investment. So, um I'm certainly in favor of uh revisiting that. Um >> I would just want to add to that though. Um I would have I would expect that a
just as the environmental committee had an opinion about the two things they had an opinion on. I would have expected to so I would expected to have see some kind of memo from the flood mitigation committee making a request for that study. >> And I don't know that I've seen later.
>> Yeah. So, I I think that's a good point that uh Deputy Mayor Cohen brings up. Um it would probably be helpful to have an official resolution from the flood mitigation committee outlining exactly what it is that they would like uh what the projected costs are because then
that's something tangible that the TC can take and you know hatch it. Um so if I don't think that's happened, I would have heard about it. So, um I would advise that that that happen at the next uh flood mitigation committee. That's all I have.
>> Committee. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um I'll chime in too that I'd love to see the the proposal for the the you know, from the flood mitigation committee. Um it's something new to me, but uh it I'm
sure it's out there, but I haven't seen it. Uh and on the um the SID I I do agree with Mr. um Sarakamundi that we should disc will discuss that at the next at the next meeting. Thank you.
>> Um the only thing I want to add with the um landscaper licensing is maybe offering some type of an early bird discount so that we could put it into play now. You know, just something to think about. That's something to think about, but I
agree wholeheartedly that we should wave at it year one. That, you know, our job is not to tax these guys. It's to understand that they're in our town, understand the safety issues surrounding it, the insurance issues. I think somebody mentioned insurance issues uh and such. uh not to put undue
uh uh burdens on them, you know, financial burdens on >> I mean if there's one more member of this body that agrees with that then we can try to get the ordinance in before the end of the year. >> I haven't heard from any landscapers
and no one complains about to >> um >> can I just ask a question regarding that? Um is is there no ability for the township committee to pass a resolution sort of or direct us to not collect the
fee at this point? Um you know while while work on the ordinance because again I think timing is tight. So um if there's an ability for us I mean you know I was asked the question the other day told the forester to just right now we have to collect it but we can always
refund people. That's the that's the process but uh that takes place. >> You think we could so if we could wait what I would suggest is a resolution directing you not to collect fees introducing the ordinance that night and saying that you know we believe that
this ordinance is going to pass. So we're directing you not to collect fees based on the fact that we're going to be adopting ordinance. So technically the resolution can't contradict the code but I wouldn't have an issue with the resolution directing your department not to collect fees introducing the ordinance that night and the governing
body would adopt it the next week. So basically accomplishing that task. >> Do we have any sense of I don't the number of landscapers that would be registering because you know I have no idea what that is but if it's do you know 20 * 200 is $4,000. I can't imagine
implementing this program that costs for that amount. >> Well, we also had life basement to generate revenue too. >> And and in addition, I think also don't that part of the registration is also so that is also part of the seasonal restriction which is also something that
potentially needs to enforce and and uh and be a part of. So I think that it's not just it's not this one or the other like we're not just collecting fees just because we want to register landscapers but it's also as a result of the additional actions enforcement that are going to take place when it comes to uh
the the legal restriction. So if there's a consensus, I'll draft a resolution and an ordinance for the next meeting. >> I'm in favor >> for the first year while we're still bowing, you know, >> and the ordinance will have a provision in that we could adjust the fees by
resolution going forward. Um, Mr. Do you have anything com? >> Not unless the committee has any questions for me. >> Okay. The township committee will now consider consent agenda resolutions. Are
there any comments from the committee in regard to any items listed on the consent agenda? I have a motion to approve resolution 25-241 through 25-251 which are listed on the consent agenda. So move. May I have a second? >> Second. Roll call, please.
Deputy Mayor Cohen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Coser, >> yes. >> Mr. Sakamandi, >> yes. >> Mr. Stler, >> correct. >> Mayor Romano, >> yes. Thank you. >> Are there any comments from the comm point out that we just passed resolution um approving a close session for
immediately after this meeting? So, just the public knows that after this meeting, we'll be going to close session. Um but there'll be no further action taken by this committee following that clos. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. May are there any comments from the committee in regard to resolution
25-249? I have a motion to approve resolution 25-249. >> May I have a second? >> Second vote, please. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen, >> yes. >> Mr. Posro, >> yes. >> Mr. Sakami, >> yes. >> Mr. Stler,
>> Mayor Romano, >> yes. >> Yes. Um, do Okay. Um, okay. So I have had the task for the last two years of I would say task and I would say privilege of serving as a township committee liaison to explore
Milbour Short Hills board for the I'm continually impressed by all the work they do and the organization's impact on our local business community. uh not only through the major events, town hall, plaza projects, etc. and how they roll up their sleeves to help small businesses uh from all types of
financing to websites >> to everything else. Uh the day-to-day support is critical for the businesses in our in our in our community. Uh this evening we have I'll just introduce Jackie Lieber if she's the board chair uh board secretary Richard Wasserman uh
and the executive director Steve Brillo to present uh and review the first three quarters of 2025 along with a blueprint of services that are going to be offered in 2026. Um in addition to strong key performance indicators we've put in place and they will highlight in the presentation. Uh
I'm very excited about the year ahead. Uh we have a number of different things happening including uh the World Cup festivities which are going to be fantastic, watch parties etc. And then we also have an innovative AI uh uh social media and shopper engagement
program. Uh the AI is redot right now and it's really driving a lot of conversation discussion around our businesses. I think we're going to be one of the probably see the initial uh townships to offer this program. So, um, and you can explain what AI is later to
everyone once I figure it out. >> All right. >> This, so this doesn't work. >> Okay. >> All right. >> I've been accused of a lot of things. Soft spoken. So, uh, good evening members of the township committee. Uh,
thank you for your time and courtesy this evening. Before we begin, just want to give an update on five new businesses that will be joining us. Urban Scoop is in the uh final inspection at the footer property. Strong Pilates Milbour will be
coming where the professional audio consultants up by footnotes that is the same owners of Sweat House that is in the Metropolitan uh Dilly Dilly Milbour which will come into the common lot space. That's a
high-end New York Citybased Indian cuisine restaurant that will be joining us. Uh Peel Juice Bar is uh next to um Schwab right off the corner. Guacamole Mexican Restaurant is in the old
Mariachi space. They'll be on online very shortly. and prep and mill barberh shop which will be coming into the old cubic and cubic house which will be a um high-end um retail experience or service
experience I should say uh men's barberh shop. Okay, so thank you for that. Explore Melbourne Short Hills serves as the district management corporation for the township special improvement district. We represent more than 520
businesses and over 160 properties across five commercial districts. Explore is one of approximately 100 SIDS in New Jersey and we have the distinction of being one of only 27
communities that is a Main Street New Jersey designation. That is the highest level of recognition for SID that can be received by the state of New Jersey. This evening, the board will consider
the organization's 2026 budget. The process began over the summer with staff and executive committee reviews, followed by discussion at a workshop meeting last month. If approved tonight, the budget will be forwarded to you, the
township committee, for introduction this evening and a final vote on December 16th. Once adopted, the assessment role and collection process will begin the first quarter of 2026. Okay. I don't know if some of if every
you you and you uh TC can see this. I don't know if the the the public can, but if you come share this the seats in the front, you're certainly welcome to. Um 2025 is a year that of achievement and significant milestones and it was
highlighted with significant growth and achievements for explore that celebrated our fifth anniversary of which we are very proud. Some key accomplishments include hosting multiple signature events, restaurant week, girls night
out, as well as activating town hall plaza as a vibrant public space with dozens of events and live music performances. The plaza created a community gathering place for a diverse town residents as well as other members
of the of of ancillary community to enjoy. We launched a new event, the Upper Melbourne Avenue Block Party, which attracted over a thousand attendees and showcased the vitality of this important commercial corridor.
Our Main Street, New Jersey designation enabled us to secure a grant of $150,000 for sidewalk improvements on Melbourne Avenue in partnership with the township. This investment represents a tangible
enhancement to public infrastructure and improved accessibility and appearance in the downtown. We also manage our second season of sidewalk maintenance, graffiti removal, weeding with a private vendor, which was
primarily funded through the township's clean communities grant. In August, we achieved a major legal victory with the resolution of bare properties civil case in our favor. Hopefully, now we will be free of the Oprah request, numerous meetings with
our attorney, and challenging budget hearings due to inspector of the case. I'd like to now introduce Mr. Gillow to continue. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Jackie. >> Tim, if you go to next slides. Thank you
very much. So, um, Ben mentioned key performance indicators, KPIs. Um, as explore continues to grow, we're increasingly using data to guide our decision- making and our budgeting process. And KPIs play a significant role in that in that effort. Um, and
they really serve for the foundation of informed and strategic and really measurable outcomes. So, in terms of economic development, I know that this chart is is somewhat small. Um this as of this evening, our storefront commercial vacancy is at 3.9%
with the downtown performing even stronger at just 1.7%. Um this is well below the industry average of 5% which I think reflects the strength and appeal of our multiple commercial districts. We currently have over 520 active businesses including 27
new openings this year. Parking meters in the district and I always think this is a very interesting thing to track. I look at it quarter over quarter, year after year, um, parking meters have generated $360,000 in revenue in the first three quarters of this year. That's an increase of $32,000 over the
first three quarters last year. So more people paying these meters to shop in our in our three metered communities. Additionally, we have the benefit of over 300 hours of volunteer service. that includes the mamas uh and minis of Milbourne as well as the Milbourne
Native Plant Group among others. Go to the next slide, Tim. And as of tonight, we've handled as a staff 260 business assistance requests. So those are businesses, residents, potential new tenants, uh calling us up
and asking for various assistance. 38% of that 260 have been for marketing, which includes the business onboarding. So all those folks that Jackie just mentioned, they get an onboarding package where I sit down with them, we go through all the necessary items, and then we usually follow up with um a
social media training with one of our staff as well. 18% are for resources, including grant programs, attending webinars, and other educational assistance, and 11% are for introductions and networking to various members of the community and businesses. So it's a fairly diverse array of
services. The next slide, you could look at vacancy over time. So, we look at storefront vacancy. As you can see from this chart, back in June of 2020 when the SID was established, there was a 16% commercial vacancy. It then declined to
sub 5% in March of 2023, and it's essentially held static there for the last uh two and a half years. Um, due to some of those recent occupancies, the rate is now 3.9% which I had mentioned, which matches our record low from October 2023. So even though there's
obviously economic hardships that many small businesses are facing at the moment, we have a very very strong uh commercial base and a very low vacancy rate especially compared to many other communities. Next slide please. Social media is a huge aspect of our
work. Um so the end of September we had 3,646 people on our email distribution list. Um that's an increase of 629 people since the end of last year. We've shared over 4,300 pieces of content on Instagram and we have over 800 actually
as of today we have over 900,000 views on our Instagram page this year. We've also gained a thousand new followers this year alone on our Instagram. We have 5100 5200 or so. Next slide please. And we also track our Instagram
followers over time. Um, what I think is really interesting, if you compare us to the other 28 Main Street programs in New Jersey, our Instagram is ranked eighth in total number of posts and 14th in total followers. But when you look at the groups that are newer like we are,
um, there's 11 of those, we rank first in the total number of posts and second in the total number of followers. So, of the newer, more emerging groups like ours, we're actually leading the pack and in social media. With that, I'm going to turn it over to
Richard who's going to talk about how we're going to develop our program that we are seeking budget funding for. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Good evening, committee members. We have broken our our budget into into
the four main street American pillars, design, economic vitality, promotion, and organization. To begin with design, we have a plan to rebrand mil rebrand explore with new banners, signage, and our website modernization.
We also plan to complete the Milbourne Avenue sidewalk project, perform our usual seasonal plantings, continue our street cleaning efforts, and launch a new signage called more to explore to connect cultural and recreation site
users. uh with uh the business district. Finally, we have applied to Essex County for a grant to develop a five-year public art master plan. Um, next slide, Tim.
We will continue to work with the town planner and boards to address zoning and regulatory issues, update ordinances on abandoned properties and business signage, and simply the zoning review process to attract more diverse mix of
businesses including restaurants and medical uses in the downtown area. In terms of business modernization, we plan to partner with local digital media firms to develop a business ownerdriven online directory, a also a shopper
feedback app and other AI based tools. We are expanding outreach by partnering with the local Chinese community, sharing business promotions in three WeChat groups with over 500 members each.
Upcoming special projects include pursuing uh film ready New Jersey certification and conducting a regional economic comparison study. We also plan to seek um Main Street New Jersey funding to replace the downtown speaker
system with a modern Bluetooth system similar to downtown Denver's. Uh some of us will remember the holiday music they used to play uh in the downtown during the uh late 90s and early 2000s. That's that's something that I always I always
used to think about. Uh next slide. We're going to shift our events in 2026 from largescale community events to more business revenue driven events. This includes a shop and stroll series which
will feature events include including a drop in shop, parents night out with free child care, a back to school shopping extravaganza, summertime tag and sidewalk sale, and a new focus on existing events including
including girls night out, a trickor treat pumpkin spice stroll, and some more shopping English stroll. We plan to launch a world club world cup uh promotion to draw foot traffic to the
town uh which will feature a shop the world campaign, a shopping passport program, a food pro and food food promotions including a world cup to go menu and viewing party uh catering packages. Finally, we are going to
create a concierge document for visitors at the Paper Mill and at Short Hills Hilton and a business awareness calendar which will help local businesses plan for cult cultural and holiday events and their associated shopping trends.
We are also excited to announce that for this holiday season, we're launching a new marketing campaign that which will feature social media videos in multiple languages. developed with AI technology. The messaging to shop local in Milbour
Short Hills will be delivered in English, Spanish, Ukrainian, Chinese, Hindu, Portuguese, and of course, Korean. So, that's something we're very excited about. Uh, Tim, next slide. The final Main Street America America
pillar is organization which in 2026 will include a focus on expanding on our volunteer pool and developing both a board recruitment plan and exam executive director succession plan. But
I don't think we're going to let Steve go so quickly. We will also continue to serve on various local committees including the the Milbour Development Review Committee, parking ad hoc committee, 250th anniversary committee, and the
Office of Emergency Management Committee. And with that, we're going to ask Steve to take the helmet. >> Thank you. >> Well, the good news is this is going to be the shortest part of the presentation. The budget is essentially the same as the one that this body
passed last year. Um there's a very minor increase to cover some operational costs, but um I'll keep this very brief. So in general, the 2026 budget is is very similar to last year's. The total budget is $48,491. We then allocate $20,000 to a
contingency line for unforeseen expenses. So we actually only budget or intend to spend 388 or 91. So, the total income is approximately 15,000 more than last year's. Um, but the special assessment is only scheduled to increase
by $6,400 across the entire district. Of the 388491 spendable budget, 65% of that is derived from the special assessment that the properties pay, 15% from the township's mandatory portion of the executive director's compensation, and
14% from the requested discretionary funds from the township. things like the clean communities uh money to clean the streets and the World Cup. Staff compensation represents 52% of the total spendable budget. Non-staff compensation operations is 9% and services is 39%. So
those are your events, your street cleaning, etc. Um the special assessment is projected to increase by 0.002% to a rate of 0.089% of the assessed commercial value. Um based on the average property values
from this year, which of course will change slightly, the average assessment across the entire district, all five subdists will be 1576, which is an increase of $40 for the year or $3.33 a month.
On the revenue side, the two changes of note are, and they are minor, is the increase in the assessment that I just discussed of $6,400 and an additional $7,500 that we're going to carry in unspent funds. Um, that was part of the contract for marketing services with
Black River Design Company. Um, Amanda, who who uh worked with us for a number of years, left to pursue another position in another town. And so, we have a little bit of funding left over that we're going to put into the next year budget. Um, on the in expenses side, we have a small number of expense
increases. My compensation goes up $2,000 per my contract. Um, but only a thousand of that actually comes from the assessment. The other thousand is from the obligation from the town. We anticipate a $1,000 increase to our legal services contract, which Mr. Stler brought up at our last meeting, which
has been uh used quite a bit this year. So, the the $1,000 increase we feel is very fair. Um we've also broken out the Main Street America line for the first time. We didn't have a Main Street designation when um this budget was passed last time. So um there's a cost in there that that covers travel and
lodging to the annual conference next year um with the other communities from New Jersey. And then finally, we're increasing services by $5,000 for events, live music, marketing, and digital media. And then we're going to invest an extra $4,500 uh above this year in streetscaping and
plantings. Um, so as I said, not a particularly exciting uh budget. Um, it's essentially what you passed last year, but we're certainly happy to answer any questions. >> Anybody have any questions? >> Yeah. So, given the um given the town
hall renovation where that will be next year, so what you know, what are the plans for the summer, you know, due to that renovation? >> Sure. So, it's a two-part answer. It's an excellent question. Um the first part is we're going to uh we're going to relocate the live music performances
from Town Hall Plaza to the courtyard which is behind Coffee Mill Roers and all those those buildings where the fountain is. >> Um I've already worked with Mr. McDonald on the logistics there. There'll be some minor improvements that are needed, overhead lighting and things like that. We'll have to make sure that we have
ample electric, but for the most part we've already programmed that space with 30 chairs and tables. Um and it's actually a very popular outdoor dining area. So, what we've done is we've re we've reallocated the $30,000 that um
the town had provided us for um the uh town hall plaza for this year and put that towards running a World Cup program. So, we're asking basically just for you to switch the use. Um we don't think there's going to be much of a cost when it comes to the live music. So, we've asked for that to be reallocated
to serve for the World Cup, which of course only happens once every four years and once every 30 years in the United States. >> So, that's an addition. And we'll still have the concerts then. >> Yes, we'll have a full music slate. Um, it'll certainly change a little bit. I mean, it's a much smaller space. There's there's already dining, so I think it'll
probably more of a a jazz and light music type of experience. But, um, we'll also work with the rec department because we have a lot of great bands that would love to play. Maybe we can expand the rec department's program in Taylor Park where that music might be a little bit more appropriate, but there
will be a full slate of summer music that we've already budgeted to our budget. >> It's not incremental. >> Right. Right. Right. >> What was the question? >> I'm telling it's not incremental. It's a dual we're splitting those funds between the two different programs.
>> No, no, that's that's not correct. Um, we've because the the cost of the summer music programs are going to go down so significantly because we don't have to build out Town Hall Plaza, we've just put that already in our events budget. The 30,000 we're asking for is what you gave us last year for Town Hall Plaza.
We just want to use it instead for the >> That's my point. It's It's not going to move, >> right? Yeah. >> It's a little Yeah. Just want to make sure >> we're not asking for any more fun. >> That's Anyone else? Thank you very much. I
appreciate all you do. It's been a fantastic year. >> Thank you all so much. We've got plenty of work to do the rest of the year. >> We we work late in December, >> the holiday season. >> Yeah. You'll see us already lose. >> Thank you. >> And we appreciate your support.
>> Thank you. >> The public hearing and consideration of adoption of the 2026 budget is scheduled for December 16th. for the December 16th township committee meeting was beginning at 7 p.m. here at Melbourne Education Center located at 44
Milurn Avenue in Milbourne. The introduced budget is available in the township clerk's office and will also be posted on the township website. Once the annual assessment role is certified by the tax assessor, letters will be sent to each property owner within the district and the full role will be posted on our website. The annual
assessment role will also be scheduled. It will also be scheduled to be before the committee at a future meeting in early 2026. Is there a motion to approve resolution 25-250? >> I move that resolution 25-250 be
approved and the township clerk be authorized to have the budget notice published in accordance with law and that the public hearing and final passage be scheduled for December 16th, 2025. Township Committee meeting beginning at 7 PM at the Noburn Education Center.
>> Is there a second? >> Roll call vote, please. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen, >> yes. >> Mr. Costco, >> yes. >> Mr. Sakamandi, >> yes. >> Mr. Stler, >> Mayor Romano, >> yes. Thank you. >> Ordinance 2723-5.
Okay. I would like to present an ordinance entitled ordinance number 27235 bond ordinance to appropriate additional sum of 3,500,000 in the town hall renovation and additional an addition project in by and
for the township of the county of Essex New Jersey to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to financial finance such additional appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes and anticipation
of the issuance of such funds. I move that this ordinance be taken up and passed on first reading and that the township clerk be authorized to have the ordinance published in accordance with law in the item and for hearing and final passage on December 16th, 2025. Please be advised that the public
hearing of this ordinance will be held at the Milurn Education Center located at 434 Milbourne Avenue in Melbourne. May I have a second? Second, sir. >> Roll call, please. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen, >> yes. >> Mr. Posro, >> yes.
>> Mr. Sakamandandy, >> yes. >> Mr. Stler, >> Mayor Romano, >> yes. Deputy Mayor Con to sponsor ordinance 2724-2. >> I would like to present an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2724-95
an ordinance to amend and supplement the revised general ordinances of the township of Milburn chapter 4 general licensing article 4-39 vehicle towing and storage services. uh the purpose of this ordinance from
what I read it was to uh raise the fees for or attorney in line with markets. I move that this ordinance be taken up and passed on first reading and that the township clerk be authorized to have the ordinance published in accordance with law and the item and for hearing and
final passage on December 16th, 2025. Please be advised that the public hearing of the foress will be held at the Milbour Education Center located at 434 Milburn Avenue, Milburn. >> May I have a second? >> Second.
>> Deputy Mayor Cohen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Costro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sakamandandy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stler. >> Mayor Romano. >> Yes. >> Command second. You are scheduled to sponsor ordinance 2725-2. I would like to present an ordinance
entitle ordinance number 2725-25 ordinance to amend and supplement the development regulation and zoning ordinance the township public library article 5 design and performance standard section DRZ 525.3
storm water control. The purpose of this ordinance is to repeal section DRZ25 I'm sorry 525.3 entitled storm water control and replace this section with the current NJD statute governing storm water control. Additionally, this replacement will set
a factor of safety of two related to storm water runoff quantity and recharge standards. This change will double requirements for storm water runoff quantity and recharge standards for non-residential major developments and redevelopment projects and aspects of
residential major developments and redevelopment projects that are not preempted by the residential site improvement standards at NJAC 521 uh sequence. Um, I move this ordinance
be taken up and passed on first reading and that the township clerk be authorized to have the ordinance published in accordance with law and the item and for hearing and final passage on Tuesday, December 16th, 2025. >> Oh, I thought there was a sentence. I'm
sorry. May I have a second? >> Second. Roll call vote, please. >> Deputy Mayor Collins, >> yes. >> Mr. Cosgrove, >> yes. >> Mr. Sakamandandy, >> yes. >> Mr. Stler, >> yes. >> Mayor Romano, >> yes. >> Ordinance 2726-25.
I would like to present an ordinance titles. Ordinance 2726-25. Ordinance revising and supplementing the salaries and salary ranges of offices and positions of the classified and unclassified civil service positions of the township of Milurn County of Essex
for the 2025 to 2029 year. Purpose of this ordinance is to amend the salaries and salary ranges of offices and positions in the classified unclassified civil service positions at the township of Milbour for the years 2025 to 2029. Some ranges are established by
collective bargaining agreements with unionized employees of the township. Additionally, some agreements do not extend to 2029 and will have no salary range shown for that. >> Do you want to add anything? >> Uh, no. >> I move that this ordinance be taken up
and passed on first reading and that the township clerk be authorized to have the ordinance published in accordance with law in the item and for hearing and final passage on December 16th, 2025. Please be advised that the public hearing of this ordinance will be held at the Milurn Education Center located
at 434 Milbert Avenue. May I have a second? >> Second roll call. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Poss. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sakandandy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stler. >> Mayor Romano. >> Yes. >> Thank you.
>> Command Sto, you're scheduled to uh sponsor 27 ordinance 2718-25. >> Okay. So, this is the uh final reading. Uh, I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2718-25, an ordinance amended supplemental revised general ordinance to the ordinances of the township of
Milbury, chapter uh, XXI abandoned properties article 21-1.2 inventory of abandoned property registration of property owner. Uh, the purpose of this ordinance is to amend article 21-1.2 2, inventory of abandoned property, registration of property owners,
specifically subsection H3, uh, which is a registration of property to increase registration fees and a renewal of reg registrations for abandoned properties. Uh, these changes to the registration fees will reflect the increased cost of the township to administer the ordinance
and register properties. Additionally, the increased registration fees will assist in addressing the economic impact that abandoned properties have on the community, particularly those that are renewed several times through this process. This ordinance will see initial registration and each subsequent renewal
indicated in the ordinance uh increase threefold. Uh it should be noted that this fee has not been adjusted since 2016. The township will also add a section as it relates to the maintenance of listed abandoned properties.
Tonight is the time set for the public hearing and final passage as advertised in accordance with the law. I declare the hearing open. >> Um good evening. My name is Sher. I live in poet section. I got basically three important comments on this. First since
the first reading has this ordinance been amended for anything corrected in this ordinance? Next question is when we were here when it was introduced there was questions in newspaper article about various
properties that were reportedly on the abandoned property list which soon until I got Oprah there's only six properties that were listed. two of the properties that were being highlighted were on this list. I think those property owners are entitled to a public apology being
deemed to have abandoned properties that they're not on the list. And the next question is delegation of authority. Why are we delegating the code enforcement to a non city employee? Why is a city executive
director who is not a city employee given the authority to make sure you enforce safe execute code enforcement especially on properties that are not loc commercial properties that are not located in the state? >> Anyone else? Is anyone on?
>> No. >> No. >> I move that this public hearing be closed and the ordinance be adopted on final reading and the township clerk be directed to publish the ordinance by title as passed on final reading in accordance with. >> May I have a second?
>> Second call, please. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Costco. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sacramento. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stler. >> Mayor Romano. >> Yes. Thank you. Command Cosgrove, you're scheduled to sponsor ordinance 271. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, this is the final
reading of this as well. I present for consideration an ordinance entitled ordinance number 2719-25. It's an ordinance amending and supplementing the Township of Milan development regulations and zoning ordinance. Tonight is the time set for
the public hearing and final passage. advertised an importance. >> I declare the hearing open Jeffrey I believe at the last planning board um they made recommendations and I don't
know if those recommendations were transmitted to the BTC and how you're going to handle it. There was a question at the planning board that they found it was not the master plan but there was issues about recommendations and how that would be handled. Um will
he be going back to amend based on the uh there was a pretty big heated discussion of certain little points on that. Thank you. >> You want to close public? >> Okay. So there's no >> I move that this public hearing be
closed and the ordinance be adopted on final reading and the town clerk be directed to publish the ordinance by title as passed on final reading in accordance with law. We'll take a second if we have a second.
>> So I will I'll just briefly answer's question is we do have the memorandum from the planning board and um those recommendations are were considered uh by the by the township committee as required by law. Um I'll let anybody
speak as to going forward as to >> Sure. And so this was discussed a bit at the planning board meeting um which I would not categorize as being heated or contentious. Um I think it was very common civil um and what we have
discussed is there's there's sort of two ways we can handle this. One is if the recommendations were deemed by a municipal attorney to be minor and material uh then the changes could be made without having to reintroduce the ordinance. I believe our township
attorney has deemed that the changes were more than you know just typographical changes. Therefore, they would be substantial um and that would require reintroducing the ordinance. Um so it wasn't the intention of the planning board to hold up the duction of
the ordinance. Um and we actually talked about in the future ways we could streamline so that things could go back and forth and the planning board would have an opportunity to at least comment uh on the ordinances before they went to first read. um that that's something that we'll do going forward. Uh but in
this case um you know I think what we uh at least my preference would be let's pass the ordinance and then we can follow it up with a uh supplemental ordinance making any necessary changes. Um you know it's it was unclear if if those those changes uh that were
proposed um should actually be implemented. Uh so that's something this uh committee a little bit more time to um to discuss and decide but I see no reason to hold this up uh as the recommendations.
>> I was at that meeting as well. I agree with what Mr. Sacramento said. It was not the intent to hold this up. It was not a heated discussion and I would like to pass it as is and then let the committee next year whoever they may be um reconsider it with those changes.
>> Anyone else? Can I have a second? >> Do we do it? Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. Roll call. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Costco. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sakamandandy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stler. >> Peru. >> Mayor Romano.
>> Yes. >> May second. You're scheduled to sponsor ordinance 272F. >> I present for consideration an ordinance entitled Ordinance Number 2720-25. Ordinance of the Township Committee of the Township of Melbourne. awarding the
lease ground space and approving the township Milurn entering into a lease with the winning bidder for ground space to be used in connection with the construction and operation of a small wireless facility on a portion of the property located at block6002
lot 2 also known as 15 Chattam road township of tonight is the time set for the public hearing and final passage as advertised in accordance with law >> I declare the hearing I move 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 S pass final reading in accordance with law. >> May I have a second? >> Yes, sir. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Costco. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sakamandandy.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Stler. >> Mayor Romano. >> Yes. Thank you. Ordinance 2731-25. I present for consideration the ordinance entitled ordinance number 2721-25. Ordinance amending chapter 7 traffic of the revised general ordinances of the
township of Milbour. The code amendment of chapter 7 traffic code of Milurn's general code is to establish several recommendations of the Milurn Police Traffic Bureau and the parking ad hoc committee. These changes include the adjustment of parking on Shirles Road across from Milbour Middle School,
adding stop signs to West Road, Essex Street at Milurn Avenue and the intersection of South Terrace and Hobart Road. In addition, 15 minute parking will be added to Bingham Terrace. Tonight is a time set for public hearing and final passage as advertised in
accordance with law. I declare the hearing open. Van president of short for over 28 years. Um on several occasions in past meetings I
raised the question of impact parking. I did not hear that that was addressed in the current codes. Um, I noted that the two uh handicap parking spaces, I don't know what the lot number is, but behind
the old movie theater there, um, were in the furthest location from Milurn Avenue that they possibly could be instead of the closest. There's only one uh parking space uh by the uh
component in that lot where there could easily be another one adjacent to it. There's uh one uh by basilico and there's one by the clock tower. There are none that I could observe on
Chattam Road. uh does not seem like this community pays private pension designating handicap parking spaces. Uh I had need after a recent surgery to avail myself of those spots and I
couldn't find it. So and I just hope you've included that in the traffic code and address that before you go. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. I move that this public hearing be closed and the ordinance be adopted on final reading and that the township
court be directed to publish the ordinance by title as passed on final reading in accordance with law. >> Can we can you address that? Yes. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> Um >> um so as it relates to handicap parking
one is is that um it is not my impression that particularly as it relates to lots that it needs to be codified. no slots can be established and and um and parcelled up however however being deemed necessary. The
difficulty with on street handicap parking is that um it is it is only for handicap parking. So I think there has to be a much more sort of robust investigation as to where that parking should take place um and how uh how that
should be allocated because that space will you know at times um sit empty um if if there is no uh need for it. Um which is why you find most of them in in parking lots. Plus the in and out of uh handicap spaces on in a parking lot is
much safer uh than on street handicap parking. uh if there's a difficulty getting out of a car and you're dealing with traffic and open the door. So, um but it is something that we can continue we'll take a look at when it as it relates to the lots. Um one to make sure that we have uh the adequate number um
and if there is any additional need um in those lots and the location of those spaces uh that make sense. Um certainly lot four is which is the one behind the movie theater is a difficult lot in and of itself because the spaces are so
small and narrow uh in that lot. Um and and and certainly uh anything will be addressed when we do any refurbishment or uh reconstruction of parking lots as well. >> The the feasibility. So I understand the
the idea the desire but um you know handicap parking has certain requirements uh to it. So oftent times you'll see example at the town hall the handicap space has an empty space next to it and that's to allow someone that a
wheelchair to be able to physically exit the vehicle. Now, if you're parking, parallel parking, um, and your exit is out into the street with oncoming traffic, uh, that that might not be the smartest of ideas. Also, the curbing,
uh, depending where it is, may may be a hindrance. So, uh, I think that the reason the spots a lot, as Mr. McDonald alluded to, is the conditions there are safer. Um, so you know, while it's
something we could look at, I think at at this time there's I can't think of space uh, you know, along the street that would currently make sense for handicap parking. Something we look at in the future, I suppose. >> Deputy Mayor Cohen. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Costco. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sakami. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stler. >> Mayor Romano. >> Yes. Deputy Mayor Cohen, you're scheduled to sponsor Ordinance 2722-25. >> I present I present for consideration an ordinance entitled Ordinance Number
2722-25, an ordinance to amend and supplement the revise general ordinances of the Township of Mil Chapter 3, Police Regulations, Article 3-8, Construction Activity Mitigation. The purpose of this ordinance is to amend article 3-8
construction activity mitigation to clarify when construction activity can take place and by whom. The intent of this ordinance revision to ensure that homeowners have the ability to for perform work at their homes or permanent residents on Sundays and legal holidays,
but that no redeveloper, paid professional or hired contractor shall engage in construction activity in the township on Sundays or legal holidays. In addition, further clarification requirements for the placement of a temporary construction fence to ensure compliance when large additions or
demolitions take place on a property. 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 this ordinance by title as passed on final reading reading in accordance with or >> I have a second roll >> deputy may deputy mayor >> yes >> Mr. Cosbro >> yes >> Mr. Sakamandi
>> yes >> Mr. Solar. >> Good afternoon. >> Mayor Romano. >> Yes. >> We have no matters for old business and no matter for new business. Final public comment. This public comment period is to allow for final comments from the community. When invited to speak to
offer your comments, please come through the lecture and clearing. State your name and whether you are a resident and or business owner. Please do not provide your full address seeing our meetings are recorded and readily available to the public. A reminder that in order to help facilitate a voter meeting and to permit even without speakers shall limit
their comments to one three minute session the post section. Um four minor points first happy Thanksgiving to the community. We won't be seeing each other in December. everyone enjoy the holiday for your family. Also remember
giving monies to various food banks for people that have food insecurities during the season. Um, I noted today that Chattam Burough passed a resolution against a proposed ordinance, uh, state
law taking away zoning powers regarding density and height restrictions that they're afraid it's going to be passed during the lame duck. I just bring that to your attention that we we follow the lead because we've been like in round
four uh that we maintain our u rule powers over density and u height restrictions. Um I like I'm still trying to find out the status of the round three appeal of declaratory judgment. Um because on the dock it doesn't even show
I'm talking about the trial docket doesn't even show the notice of appeal. Um, and I have not really known whether a notice of docketing has occurred um with that because when we were there I think beginning in October I think um
Judge um Russo said he was going to amend the order to attach some exhibits and that's not even happened. So I don't know where we are there. Um I just asked you independently to confirm and verify certain facts that was said by Mr.
Gerillo. Um, I think the community should know whether the Bay Street, New Jersey application, the boundaries were restricted by the state. I believe we have evidence of that. Um, also the
question of whether there is a mandatory perpetual payment of 50%. There's a question because um, dur October 29th there's a question whether that's really a discretionary payment. But I think you should also look at best practice inventories from past years as to how
they describe SIDS and the location of that. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. else. Um, first I want to thank uh committee for ordinance 725-25
for storm water control and for the unanimous uh vote in favor of that. I think that's a big step in the right direction of controlling the storm water. Uh second, I just want to note a year ago I gave my personal contact information to
Mr. Gillo. uh and advised him that myself and Miss Christine Best would volunteer our services to study advancing the concept of the river walk. Uh I know that was brought up. I thought it was pretty popular concept. Uh he never contacted me back. So if he's
trying to do the right thing for the community, follow through. Thirdly, we talk about the flood mitigation advisory committee. Please don't neglect the word advisory because I don't think
it should be there because I know I've used my 53 years of engineering experience and expertise to advance some proposals and there seems to be a gatekeeper that we and I get reminded we have to we have to control our costs. We
have to take baby steps. The next big storm is just around the corner. We're renovating the Paper Mill Playhouse, $7 million. We're renovating town hall. We're fixing the entrance to Taylor Park, uh, and beautifying that,
and it's all going to get washed away in the next storm. But we can't we can't address that. We have to take baby steps. So, you know, I think if you want to call it a flood mitigation committee, call it a flood mitigation committee. But I'm I'm pretty tired of advising
using my 50 plus years of engineering experience and get and getting no, you know, getting reminded that we have to scale back what we're doing. Do we really want to scale back flood mitigation in this town? So, and yet you allow residents,
non-residents, continue on the committee and to publicly rebut me. So, if if I'm wasting my time, tell me I got something else I could do with my time. Honestly, >> thank you. Anyone else?
>> Anyone? >> We have one online. >> Oops. >> Hi. Thank you, Perry Erso. Um, I just want to correct the record that I believe I mistakenly spoke and said that it was an attorney that had stated that
this could be a matter that should be taken care um litigation matter that should should be handled at the TC. Um, it's a brought back to the municipality and I think I said attorney and I meant to say the judge. It was actually and I think Mr. uh Feld corrected uh the record for
that. So, I just wanted to make sure. Um also I just wanted to be clear that again we were not afforded the opportunity to be spoken with privately or at a round table um trying to discuss our concerns in 2020. Um we suggested that you know let give us the
opportunity so our attorneys could be present. It was um stated why do we need our attorney? Hence five years later here we are. Um, again, we've had judges that stated that we should be, you should be mediating, not litigating.
There was a settlement offer without a counter. Um, so it's very disturbing to hear and then all of a sudden the judge on October 29th says that this can be handled, this should be handled um at the municipality. Um, Mr. Caner was there, Mr. Feld was there, myself and
Mr. Cosgrove. Um, I believe that you stated that you were going to discuss the re design. Um, I'm sorry, the SID review at your next meeting or sometime in December and just wanted to clarify that. And also, um, I did try to get on
earlier, but the ordinance that you just passed for the abandoned property, has anybody I just wanted to make sure that is it within the guidelines of the contracts within the SID board? Is it within the SID um, ordinance? So, I just want to make sure everybody on the board
that you all passed that unanimously that in fact you've read read the contracts, read the um SID ordinances. Um it that that particular code enforcement was brought up at the March 20 14th I think 2024 meeting. The SID
board actually um was with displeasure about having another code enforcement. I do remind this board that we do have a code enforcement officer and we do have a part-time code enforcement officer and I think you know giving the um another
responsibility you're taking services away from um somebody that's on the SID board and from what they're doing. So, or is this part of a um job description or the way the
township can kind of get other services for their 50% of the executive director salary? I did notice that he's on the uh DCR committee because he was on um present during a recent meeting that I had and now um most recently now you
just uh passed this ordinance. So, if you could just answer those few questions, I greatly appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Sure. >> Um so Mr. Sheld um we are aware of the pending legislation that you brought up.
Um I believe the legislation is concerning um properties owned by religious institutions. Uh and the bill would allow for those religious institutions to turn that property into affordable
housing. Uh and it would do away with local control on some level. Um it's a particularly terrible uh piece of legislation. Uh it adds densities of up to 40 units an acre and you know potentially single family neighborhoods.
Um so that's something that we are all aware of and we'll be taking uh action uh at the next meeting uh to do some sort of resolution opposing that as some other municipalities uh have started to do. Um so rest assured we are on top of
that. Um, I would encourage members of the public to contact their state senators and state assembly men and women uh and let them know that that's something that they don't want if they have uh strong feelings about that. Um,
you know, there's only so much we can do uh to advocate for the town and we will do our part, but it would also be helpful, you know, anytime a resident contacts their assembly member or their state senator um through official channels, there's an entry that gets
logged and you know, the more people that oppose something or support something, it gives uh members of our assembly more ammunition to either support or uh oppose you know, that legislation. Um, let's
see. Um, Mr. Vanbera. Um, with regards to the gatekeeping on flood mitigation, you know, I I think that hopefully tonight we've made it clear that the flood mitigation advisory committee and it's called an advisory
committee because there are certain committees that are formed and under state law and then there's certain committees that the TC forms and those are generally advisory in in nature. the advisory as a has a special designation to it. There's rules that surround
advisory committees versus something like the EC which is a statutoily required committee. That said, um I think what we had said earlier is be helpful if flood mitigation advisory committee has something that they would like from the township committee, they'd
like something purchased or considered, etc. do a formal resolution as other boards do that'll then get submitted to the TC. Uh and that would bypass any, you know, gatekeeping that may or may not be um and then, you know, we'll we'll get
it as a TC and be able to decide what to do with it. So, uh I would imagine there's a whole bunch of stuff that you guys have have wanted. um put that in in a resolution and uh you know we'll have a formal way to consider it and uh it won't get lost in the shuffle. Um
it's all I have to say. >> Committ Thank you. >> Um Deputy Mayor >> I have nothing to add. committee miss. No, >> I would just second u you know the uh legislation on the development of uh
houses of worship is a particularly bad legislation and they're going to try to ram it through. So I do think everyone should take uh take the u or have it has the ability to to contact their local uh official and voice your concern because
it is going to be a a big issue especially in a lame duck session. Uh first time I heard about it was in the mayor my mayor's meeting with the that we do once a month whereas I'm committing person but there's a lot of towns that are concerned with it and
it's better to be proactive and try to be reactive but thank >> sure I guess I'll briefly address properties just to clear up some I think um misinterpretation
what the court said was they dismissed the lawsuits of bare properties one and bare properties 2 because there is no legal basis to challenge the ordinances what were passed. What the court said was and giving no opinion on the substance of the ordinance. If you don't
like what your town council is doing, which they have every right to do, you can come to a meeting and discuss as you do a public comment what your view is on the SID. The court did not ask this particular committee to re-evaluate the
current SID, just the fact that we're allowed to adopt it as we did. We're allowed to move forward with it and you shouldn't bring these as lawsuits. What you should do is go to your elected officials and have conversations with them. So that was for clarification. It wasn't directing this committee to take
any action, but certainly to for anyone in the public to express any concerns they have. >> Mr. McDonald, do you have any? Just just one point of clarification as it relates to the abandoned properties ordinance. Um there is one section that is
regarding the first floor windows and their coverings uh when they're abandoned in a commercial area that gives the the uh executive director of the special improvement district or committee you know the ability to approve those treatments because obviously they add or detract from the
aesthetic of the commercial district. uh it is not a uh this sweeping sort of um u authority to them throughout that maintenance uh requirement section and uh of course uh I I understand we have code enforcement officer but also when
there are areas that can alleviate some of that other the other burden that they have great and I think that that's why that was applied there um that's uh that's all I wanted to sort of clarify on the abandoned >> just a very limited particular circumstance.
>> It's literally commercial properties will be required to cover first floor windows in a way that will maintain an aesthetic quality of the building and surrounding area and increase safety. Such treatment shall be approved by the executive director of the special improvement district or a designated committee of the special improvement district. That's it. That's the only
spot in that all. >> Just so everyone's clear, city director is not handling code enforcement badge limited limited May I have a motion to adjourn the
meeting? >> Yeah, we're not adjourning. We're going to close, >> but we'll be adjourning after our close session, but no further act taken by the committee. There'll be no further public participation. >> We'll be on our