about it like a can't do like a journal entry. That's what we do. Okay. What? I thought you're ready. I'm sorry.
You ready, Mr. Ready? Give me a second. Uh, yep. Okay. Good evening. I'd like to call the April 28th, 2025 Burough Council meeting to order. Will the clerk please read the open public meeting statement? Adequate
notice of this meeting has been provided as required under chapter 231 public law 1975 specifying the time, date, and location by posting a copy of the notice on the municipal building municipal website. Providing a copy of the annual notice schedules to the official newspapers of the bureau and is on file in the clerk's office. Will the clerk
please call the role? Council President Zambrana here. Councilman Collins. Councilman Mango. Councilwoman Payne here. Councilman Pnansky here. Councilman Potter here. Mayor Murray present. Burough attorney Peter Venolo. Bur engineer Mike Mlen, president. Bur
engineer Lupusanka, present. Burrow administrator Frederick Carr, yes. Burrow uh CFO Joseph Zangga here. And burough clerk Monica Orlando here. Thank you. Will everyone please stand for a moment of silence which will be followed by the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. So before we start the meeting, I'd like to remind council that we should remain professional and I will not want
any more um anyone causing public disturbances. Uh moving forward, please. So, we have a presentation for the Girl Scout Troop 80270. Ladies, [Applause]
um being passed around to you right now is a presentation that we created to basically get the little bit of the idea of the pollinator garden that we have in mind of creating near the senior centers. senior centers. Thank you. Thank you.
Um, The Pollinator Garden 2025 Silver Project by Ali Mango and [Applause] um, a question a lot of people might be asking right now is what is a pollinator garden? And it's basically a garden that
gives food and resources to animals that can help better the environment around us. And it provides essential habits for bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Or those are like some examples of them. Um they offer a variety of nectar and pollen sources. And they support the
survival of declining pollinator um populations. Sorry. Deep roots prevent soil erosions, improves soil structure, helps with water rotation. A stable soil ecosystem
supports diverse plant life. So in these pictures you can see is when it rains the water cools and with the flowers being there will absorb some of the water and stop it from cooling. pollinator garden um using native plants. We plan to have like lots of
wildflower mix and we've done lots of research of plants that are going to actually help the environment more and like are native to New Jersey and um we will supplement oh sorry supplement with
annual flowers as well. So those are flowers that come back like every single year. Um, and you don't always have to plant them back again. Um, we will renate some of the planters as well. And we're planning to extend 6 ft from like
the current area around the senior center. And we're going to create like a barrier with like rocks to stop um like to split it from like the rest of the grass and the flowers. And we plan to have like two days of work. and plants
will be donate like plants will be donated and will supplements with troop funds. And so we plan to uh ask some like places like Ruckers or Home Depot to have some donations. We we started to
write letters to them to help us with that. And in our past, we have done that before and they have been willing to help. And if we're planning to get more flowers or like rocks with the money that we are used we use use. Thank you.
Maintenance of the garden. Regular watering and weeding is essential and we will probably have p like we'll probably go like maybe once or twice a week and go water the plants unless it rained. And then we'll use organic methods to
manage pests. We'll monitor plant health and pollinator activity as well. Educational opportunities. Um, we could like educate the community. We plan, yeah, during mealtown day, we plan to set up a booth during one of the Girl
Scouts events. If some people know they do have a Girl Scout booth, we plan to have some time to talk to anyone who's willing to listen and educate them about this so they can also learn and maybe do something cool like this one uh like one day too. And then yeah,
thank you for youration. Are there any further questions that we can have hopefully answer? Yes, one quick one. So um I know that you mentioned you going to go to Home Depot and maybe some other places in town for um donations. Uh what if a resident
wanted to just donate money so you could you could help you like support something? Is that possible? That is possible. Yeah. Who would who how would how would you facilitate that? Would you cash make out a check? Um you can make a check out to the troop and then I would
make sure that they Thank you. Um any other questions? I have one. Uh what kind of stone materials will you be using for the quarter? probably just like regular like rocks that you could find like pretty much like anywhere
like like this. We're planning to have them bigger to like create more of a border. If you look around like the flag post by the senior citizens, there's bricks there. Yeah, there's like kind of bricks. We're planning on using those to like make a wavy effect to make it a little prettier. And we're supposed to
have it like cut by color order. So, we're going to have like red, blue, all those colors. Okay. If you need uh stone material, I'd be happy to donate all the stone materials. Thank you. Thank you. I have a question. Um when do you plan
on starting this project? Um Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day. Yes. And we do have a rain day. That does not work out too. Yeah. Perfect. So, Peter, is there a way uh like our other Actually, it's on the resolution today. The Girl
Scout King wanted to do Can we do a resolution uh for the next You could have a resolution on for next meeting if you wanted to endorse this project. Anybody have any objections? No, council. No. And I'm sure Councilman Mango probably would not have an
objection as well. Um so I think that I think we're good. Excellent. Thank you so much. Thank you. Now is the time for public comment limited to the resolutions on the agenda only. If you wish to speak, please step up to the microphone and state your name
and address for the record. Again, this is the public portion is limited to the comments only on the resolutions listed on the agenda at this time. There will be a 5m minute limit time limit as set forth by the rules of council. If someone raises their hand, please come up to your microphone and state your
name and address for the record. Seeing none, I will close audience comments. Ordinance introduction first read. This is an introduction to ordinance 251559. There will be no public input on
this ordinance tonight. The introduction summary will be published as required by law and a second reading public hearing and final adoption will be considered at the May 12th, 2025 meeting. Full copies of this ordinance will be posted on the bur website on the bulletin board of at
the municipal building and available at no cost in the office of the municipal clerk between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Fridays. Will the clerk please read ordinance 15, I'm sorry, 251559 by ordinance to amend chapter 14
parks and recreation section 6 burrow pool subsection 6.3 fees and section 7 recreation program subsection 7.2 fees a revised general ordinance of the burough of miltown county and middle sex state of New Jersey. May I have a motion and a
second please? So moved. Second. I have a motion made by Councilman uh Potter, seconded by Council President Zambbrana. Uh is there any uh comments? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the role? Council President Zambrana.
Hi. Councilman Collins. Hi. Councilman May. Oh, sorry. Councilwoman Payne, I. Councilman Pnansky, I. Councilman Potter, I. Authorizing payments of municipal obligations. Next on the agenda, we have authorizing payments of municipal obligations. Will the clerk
please read resolution 25 2025154 by title? Authorizing the payment of bills, claims, and statements against the burrow of Miltown in the total amount of $2,277,75162. May I have a motion in a second, please? So moved. Second. I have a motion made
by Council President Zimbrano, second by Councilman Potter. Uh, is there any questions? Yes, I got a question here. This is on page five. I just a quick question for it says that's for affordable housing, right? That's what it's saying for uh Heler Brewer
Associates. Yes. That's our Mr. Vnola. They're our planner. They're our planner. Yeah, that's our planner. And we're planner for affordable housing obligations. How come we're paying for affordable housing? Well, because you have a fourth round obligation that you need to plan for prior to the end of
June. And currently, your planner is in the process of identifying locations and and the numbers and how to satisfy that. I I don't understand how how are we paying? I mean, you are a municipality. You have an obligation to come up with a plan for your fourth round affordable house. But I'm saying like you live in
an old older home. Well, I live in over. We're both in over 50-y old homes and we have to pay for somebody to live in a new home. We have to pay for them to live in it. You have to pay for a uh amendment a new home. No, you're not. This isn't to pay for a home. This is to
pay for the plan under which someone to live in a new home. Well, for someone to be able to construct housing that will be affordable to people in certain income limits. Yes, that is a mandate from the state of New Jersey. That doesn't sound fair to me. I mean, why don't they just take the old home and then give us the new home?
You don't meet you don't meet you don't meet the income guidelines. I I can tell you why I'm not getting it. So, I'm just saying that's my point. You know what I'm saying? Like it doesn't seem logical because everybody who moves in
an old home couldn't afford a new home. But now we're living in the old home and we're going to buy something. We're going to build a home for somebody else that's new. Well, we're not building people. Well, in the end, we're we're we're taking the expenses of their new home and we're paying,
right? No, no. You're allowing someone to build a development and that development is going to have, right? We're paying the bill to your planer in order to come up with the plan. But if you buy a new home, you pay the closing cost,
right? So, listen. If you'd like, we can we can have a more in-depth discussion about this after the immediate. I I just think it's unfair that my opinion will certainly drive. This is true. Will
the clerk please call the role? Council President Zambrana. Hi. Councilman Collins. Hi. Councilwoman Payne. Hi. Councilman Posnance. Hi. Councilman Potter. I. A consent resolution has been prepared for the resolutions listed on
the agenda. All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine in nature and haven't been reviewed by borrow council will be enacted on in one motion. Any items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any council member and if so removed will be treated on as a
separate matter. Any items requiring expenditures are supported by a certification of funds. If any member of council wants any res resolution acted upon individually, please give me the resolution number and it will be pulled from the consent resolution. Yes, Mr. Mayor. I want to
pull 2025-158. Okay. Is that it? Okay. Will the clerk please read the consent agenda resolution uh minus 125 on the 58th date?
Whereas pursuant to the rules of council, the council may establish a consent agenda for any regular or special meetings upon certain conditions. And whereas each of the following resolutions to be presented before the burough council at its April 28th, 2025 meeting appear to have the unanimous approval of all members of the
burough council. Resolution 2025-156,57 and 159 through 169 therefore be resolved by the Burough Council of the Bureau of Miltown that each of the above listed resolutions be approved and adopted by the Burough Council with the same legal effect as though each were read its entirety at its April 28th, 2025 meeting and adopted
by separate vote. May I have a motion in a second, please? So moved. Second. I have a motion made by Council President Potter, seconded by Council President Zimbrano. Will the clerk please call the role? Councilman,
is there any discussion on that? Yeah. No, we'll discuss your pled one after we consent. Council President Zambrana. I Councilman Collins. No. No. This is for the consent agenda. Not for the one that you Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. Councilman Collins. Yes. Councilwoman Payne. Hi.
Councilman Pnansky. Hi. Councilman Potter. I. Now, will the clerk please read resolution 2025-158 by authorizing developers agreement with Greenspace Self-S Storage LLC? What's the pleasure of council?
I'd like to make a motion this uh resolution should be adopted. Second. Have a motion made by Council Lyn Potter, seconded by Council President Zenbran. Is there any discussion? Yes, Mr. Mayor. I have a couple questions here. Uh, one is that they're being able
to build a three-story building and uh, what does it say? They're getting a variance from the planning board to go up three stories. Is that correct? They already have. They already have it. This is an application that's been approved. of all this is going to deal with is an
obligation that they pay a share of the expense to get the electrical utility in a position to provide them with the electric they need for their project as well as another project that was approved approximately the same time. Well, that brings up my next point. Why is why are we paying some of their
electrical costs? Because we operate a municipal utility because we are an electric company. This isn't their electric cost. This is the cost of improvements. So, we're actually a rebalancing of circuits in order to provide them with the electricity they need. But if I have to
rebalance the circuits at my house, do I have to pay? I mean, this isn't that well, arguably this is our house. This isn't on their property. So, to the extent that this would be rebalancing the circuits on our property, they're paying for 2/3 of it instead of us paying it all. So, vote
yes. I agree. I don't have a vote. So I only have one question. Yes, sir. And I I do understand that the background of course. Um but um we just indicate authorizing the execution of developers agreement with GSI, but
shouldn't that also include Heritage Plaza? Well, well, presently the Heritage had an obligation. Heritage has not moved forward with their project. GSI is ready to move forward with their project. So gsi has agreed to pay the proretta share attributable to the heritage project and should that ever go
forward the bureau has indicated that they will make an attempt to get the proretta share from heritage and then reimburse gsi for that rather than pull gsi up try to figure out a another way to to balance it. GSI has stepped up and said we will pay that share and if you
can get it back great otherwise we're paying two 2/3 because we want our project to go forward. My only question to that, my followup to that is if uh Heritage doesn't uh provide the financial um expenditures for it, uh what does the burrow, what repercussions
or recourse does the bureau have? Is it a lean on a property? Is it Well, here right now, Heritage, it's not a lean on the property because we haven't imposed anything on them because we don't know what they're going to do or not do. Sure. So, this is a this is a whatif, but currently we have an obligation to make best efforts to get that from them.
We don't have an obligation to initiate litigation in order to get that from them um because we have the money from GSI. Okay. Okay. Beautiful. Thank you. You're welcome. Can I ask one question, Mr. McDonald? Of course. How long has this project been in talked about? That I can't answer. I might need to defer to
Mr. Mlullen. Uh cuz Yeah, at least five. Thank you. Yeah. And I'm uh may I have a uh vote, please? Please call. Council President Zambrana. Hi. Councilman Collins. No.
Councilman Councilwoman Payne. I. Councilman Pnansky. I. Councilman Potter. I. Thank you. Will the clerk plead please read resolution 2025170 by title, please? First, we're
going to need a budget presentation. Oh, it's just presentation. Thanks. [Music] Good job, girls. playing. Come on. How's that? Everybody say home.
[Music] Excellent. Right. This is the 2025 municipal budget presentation. Uh the finance committee is made up of the chair, council president Zambrana, Councilman Potter, and Councilman Pausnanski, Administrator Fred Carr, myself, Joe Zang, the CFO. I want to
thank everybody for input to getting to this final product. Uh we met six times uh to go over the budget spending plan. We met with uh almost every department head on a few of those meetings to get their input on this budget. This is where your taxes go. This is the
pie chart. The biggest section is the the board of education which makes up about 61% of your taxes. Uh the blue section, light blue section is our portion which is about 24% of taxes. The county is about 13%. County open space is 1% and the library is 1%. Your total
taxing authority is about $30.5 million. Okay, this is what the municipal budget appropriations and revenues make up. Mainly salaries and wages, other expenses, which is your department's utilities, miscellaneous, contractual obligations, statutory expenditures,
which is your pension bills and FICA employer portion. Revenues mainly make up fees, fines, grants, state aid, which is energy receipts tax, which is the same number as last year. It did not increase from the state of New Jersey, and municipal property taxes.
These are some of these are the services that are provided to the residents through the budget process. mainly for police protection, garbage collection, recycling collection, storm cleanup, snow removal, parks and recreation, which is the pool. Also, code
enforcement, building inspections, court services, animal control services, vital statistics, uh your office and aging, senior center, public library, and your volunteer EMS service and fire protection. This is the pie chart of where your
appropriations are are distributed. Uh on the left, the salaries and wages make up 37.2%. Other expenses make up 30.6%. Up top, the library makes up 3.2%. State federal grants make up 2.1%.
Uh debt service and capital makes up 11.2%. Statuto expenses, again, that's your pension bills and FICA tax makes up 10.6% 6% and reserve uncollected taxes makes up 5.1%. That is the portion that we usually don't collect in the current year which we'll collect the following
year. Here's your 2025 municipal budget appropriations from last year to this year. The biggest mover in all the budgets, the current fund, the electric and the water sewer fund was insurance, medical benefits and uh health benefits and prescription cost. It went up significantly with the state of Jersey,
but it went up significantly any everywhere in New Jersey. In another town, I'm in a different uh health benefit program and they went up 19 something%. So, this is something that has been a a budget change in almost every town. Second line is liability insurance. The town left uh one of the
joint insurance funds and joined another joint insurance fund. So, we we were able to uh anticipate a savings in this year's budget. Let's see. The pes the fourth line down PDCP went down. Uh the rate actually went down from the state of New Jersey which was great. It was 17.61% to
17.11%. For many many years it's been going up. This was the first year I've seen it go down which is good for us which was a benefit. Uh the line that says bond band principle went down. I don't know if anyone remembers last year we brought in additional revenue to try to pay down our bands quicker because we were on the verge of having a a bond
sale which going to cost us a lot more money. So we ended up bringing in more revenue to pay the bands down quicker. So that's why it looks like that went down $119,000. I'll show you on the next page where that offset. Library went up $13,461. That's statutory. We have no
control over that. Uh utilities went up $11,000. Gas heat has gone. I'm sure people have seen at their homes uh how much their heating bill is nowadays. Same thing with the burrow and salaries and wages at the bottom is a little more than
2%. All right, next page is revenues. Okay, a lot of some of the revenues did stay level, but some of the revenues that did not hit their uh target projections in 2024 um were decreased. That's where you'll see in red. And some of them increased. Other lines that that we received more, we
increased. But on the one, two, three, four, fifth line down where you see that negative 822,000 that is offset with the expenditure that I showed you on the other page from the band principle. And also down the bottom where it says surplus, it looks like there's a large amount that says
732,000. In 2024, we were almost forced to to use a different line item to help balance the budget. Now this year, it's back into surplus. So if you take those two numbers, one on a page prior, the the surplus number that says 732,000, less the 822,000, it's almost
even where it says state aid energy receipts tax probably 2/3 of the way down the page. 4,383. This was the municipal relief aid that the state came up with for two straight years. It ended in 2024. So
that's why that chose a negative for $40,000. The energy receipt tax is the same number as last year. Local purpose tax down the bottom, $169,672 is a 2.3% increase. And again, like the last page, the local library
tax is 13461. That is statutory. Next page is your water sewer budget. Total budget was $4,192,800. This budget includes the rates that were authorized in December of 2024. Uh the water sewer budget was not selfquidating, which means revenues did
not support operations. It just barely missed it, though. It was off by about $1,300, so it was very close, but it did not hit its target last year. Uh on the operation side, I mean, water sewer rents, one thing. Water sewer rents do make up the majority of your budget. It's about 93% of of revenue comes from
from buildings to residents. On the operation side, uh your expenses are general expenses, clerical meter readers, um operating services, licensed operator, which is PACE, which is required by law, debt service, and you purchase water from New Brunswick and
sewer is treated from New Brunswick. In the electric utility fund, uh total budget is $8,126,82. This also was not selfquidating. Um, we did pass electric rates this year. That was that was in to help uh
balance this year's budget. Um, everybody I don't know if everyone has been reading the paper, but everybody in New Jersey is seeing a large increase. All of the major um IUS they called investor own utilities had about 20% increases and last year they had about 8% increases. So this has been seen
everywhere throughout New Jersey and even up and down the east coast. A lot of it is due to the market for capacity and transmission. uh the market really dictates how much everything is increasing and the last increase on June 1st was a sign was about five times what the bureau was
paying prior which is very significant. Now one thing we're going to try to do we're out to bid for a battery storage project. So, one thing we're going to try to do to mitigate these costs in the future is try to do a battery storage project if the prices come in uh favorable to the burrow and this will help offset these increases in transmission capacity because right now
from what I'm reading in the future, there's no certainty on what these prices are going to be also going forward. It's like the stock market when there's uncertainty in a market and they go out to bid for these type of uh services, it just goes up and down and right now it's going up significantly. So, to try to mitigate that in the future, hopefully a battery storage
project will work. Next page. Capital improvements planned for this year. Uh roads. I know we have a DOT grant for Northbrook Drive too. Phase two. Uh curb curb cuts and sidewalk improvements. Um parks and playgrounds.
We usually do uh purchase of vehicles. Albert Avenue bike phase 2. There was $194,000 grant received for that. Uh electric bucket truck possibly improvements to utility system. We're always trying to upgrade poles, wires, transformers, uh water sewer pipes, and
as a forementioned battery storage project. So, in summary, the general budget, uh the tax increase on an assessed value assessment of a a home of $164,349.79 will see $64.12 annually. Uh
there's no reduction in municipal services and infrastructure improvements anticipated. water soup budget. As mentioned prior, we had a rate increase in uh December. We had in we had rates approved in December of 24. Um no reduction in any services there, infrastructure improvements anticipated
and the electric fund we had the rate increase effective April 1st. No reduction in services infrastructure improvements anticipated. So again, I'd like to thank the finance committee and Fred for their input on this and take any questions if you have any. Thank you, Councilman. Mr. Second. Um,
I'd just like to run something by you and and this is in essence what we you would want from Miltown in the future. Um, if Miltown was financially stable, would it be a viable plan to have an encumbrance? Money that can only be used for a particular item, for instance, a fire truck, garbage truck, or police
vehicle, etc. We could have a 5-year plan, an appropriation, setting money aside for these items of need. I understand that with the lack of taxes collected, especially from the owners of Ford Avenue site, it precludes setting a plan such as this in motion. Because of past governance, we owe almost 30 $30
million in t in u in obligations uh almost 7 million uncollected tax revenue from Fort Avenue. Uh it's it's this is not an ideal situation around as much as the tax revenue from the year. My point is instead of budgeting for our needs, we
have to solicit bonds for adding to our debt. Would you would you say that if we were at some point caught up that you have a plan to look like a 5year plan, so you're setting aside money every year instead of bonding for bonds? You have the situation set up so you have the
money in your budget. There's a six-year plan, but yes, that's that's in another town of men. That's what we we did. But you have to get to that point first to start doing it, right? And I know we're not there yet. We're not there exactly. So what we did in another town is we took savings from projects like a battery storage project and we started
taking those savings and started doing other work in town to offset costs and now we start we started to do um projects in cash instead of bonding for it. So we took that savings lower electric rates and also purchase the fire truck um pave a lot of roads we do
other work with those profits and then give it back to the town that way. So that's I understand it's a good idea. We just got to get to that point. We'd like to make Yeah. If we get to that point, that would be great if we can just have Yeah. Usually, right now it's through taxation, okay, is the way to get to it. But if you can have a project, say like
a battery or something that generates a profit, you can then take that profit and the council or finance committee to decide what to do with that profit. Thank you. I appreciate it. You're welcome. You did a nice job. Thanks. Thanks, C. Thank you.
May I have a motion and a second by council, please? Motion. Second. Second. Resolution 2025. I didn't read it yet, Dr. Will the clerk please read resolution
2025 on 75. Authorizing a reading of the calendar year 2025 budget by title. I have a motion made by council president Zbrana, second by Council Potter. Is there any discussion? No. Will the clerk please call the roll?
Council President Zambrana. Hi. Councilman Collins. Hi. Councilwoman Payne. Hi. Councilman Pausnanski. Hi. Councilman Potter. I. Will the clerk please read resolution 2025 171 by title? Uh 2025 municipal budget adoption.
What's the pleasure of council? So moved. Second. I have the motion made by Council President Zambrana, seconded by Councilman Potter. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the role? Council President Zambrana. I.
Councilman Collins. Hi. Councilwoman Payne. Hi. Councilman Pnansky. Hi. Councilman Potter. Hi. Reports of elected officials. Council President Zambrana. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, the only uh short report that I have tonight uh is to uh thank Mr.
Carr and Mr. Zanger uh for all their work and hard work. Um both part-time professionals here uh but made the time on I want to say consecutive Thursdays. We got together for a couple hours. Uh you know, had department heads come in uh and bounced
off a lot of things uh around the table. Uh so again can't say enough appreciate all the work that you've done um to bring in this budget uh first of all to have it submitted in March to have it adopted in April. Uh not like last year it was like two months late. That's not the way you want to do it. You want to
do it this way every single year. Thank you council. Oh thank you Mr. Mayor. I got a couple reports. One's going to be a little longer than normal. First I'll do the library report. Uh I forgot it last time. Sorry. Tuesday, April 29th and May
6th at 3 p.m. Game out game on after school video gaming. Wednesday, April 30th, 2 p.m. Movie Matinea, Warthingington Heights. Thursday, May 1st, craft at noon, create
your own craft and supplies. That's Thursday, May 1st, 3 p.m. Monday, May 5th, 9:00 a.m. Yoga for adults. Wednesday, May 7th, movie matinea, Easy Rider. Thursday, May 8th,
3M after school Jeopardy. Saturday, May 10th, 11:00 a.m. Crochet. The library will have a table for Earth Day on Saturday, May 10th at Mil Pond Park. And some of the walls are being
painted this uh this week. And uh in case anybody has any problems with the pink uh you should uh try to avoid the situation. Again, Earth Day is May 10th. They put a flyer out. I pretty much see it. It's May 10th, 10 to 3 at
Mil Pond Park. Uh I had a letter here from uh the Environmental Commission about an ANJ grant. The introduction says, uh, the Middle Sex County Open Space located at 87 Washington Avenue in Miltown presents
a valuable natural asset for the community situated to an adjacent ice cream shop. The encompassing of flowing trees, circular garden bed, and naturalized wooded section towards uh, Lawrence Brook. While many people visit the ice cream stand, the open space has
experienced an unfortunate degree of neglect, resulting in underutilization of potential as a vibrant community resource and ecological habitat. Recognizing this opportunity, Miltown Environmental Commission proposes a comprehensive revitalization project to
enhance the ecological value and accessibility of this important public space through volunteer efforts and strategic improvements. Project description. This project focuses on two key areas of enhancement within the Mills County Open Space
Restoration and circular garden. The ecological improvement in the tree can cater canopy and understory garden restoration. for the existing 700 ft square garden bed originally established as a native pollinator garden through William
Bradford 260 2016 Eagle project has unfortunately become dominated by invasive non-invasive species such as mugwart and fountain grass you can't read some of these I don't know how to pronounce them I'm sorry despite the
previous efforts these resilient plants persist diminishing the intended ecological benefits to the garden. To address this, the meltdown Department of Public Works has generously agreed to undertake the necessary excavation to remove the invasive plants following the critical
step. Our primary goal is to replant the garden bed with diverse section of native perennial herbicous plants and shrubs. The careful trusted couer planning and
designed to attract a wide array of natural pollinators including insects, birds which provide field and educational opportunities to ensure the long success of this endeavor. will collaborate with Middle Sex County Master Plant Gardeners to obtain expert
advice on proper soil remediation techniques and selection of advantageous deer resistant plants suitable for the site sunny conditions. True
canopy and understory enhancement. The open space tree is currently facing significant challenge. First mature flowers and trees will remain standing detracting from the aesthetic ecological integrity of our plan. Our
plan includes these dead trees replacement species chosen for the environmental benefits and suitability of the ecosystem. And what do we have to do for this inject grant? We have to get a proposal on us to put it upon the agenda.
Uh, so I would say yes. If this since this is the first I've heard of it, that would be a good start. Um, yes, sir. If they have some information, they can email it to us and this something that goes into Sage or what? I'm not sure.
That's the Excuse me. That's a $1,500. Okay. Um, microphone right 38 Harrison Avenue. member of the environmental commission. Um, this is by grant proposal. What I need from council by the next council
meeting would be a letter a council letter of support. I'm applying through ANJ, which is our organization we belong to, the environmental commission, for a $1,500 grant, no matching fund, and and I just need a council letter of support.
That's that the council supports this application. Okay. We can do that, Fred. Yes. Thank you. Again, send you can send that information to me and we can go from there. Okay. Thanks, Fred. And let's see what I got for the rest of
the Don't forget Miltown Day is uh May 10th, 2025, 10 to 3. That concludes my report mayor. Thank you. Does anybody have Councilman's report?
No. Okay. Council member, no report, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Counc. Yes. Uh, this is a senior center first. Monday, May 12th, 11:30 bus trip, stage house in Somerset. Monday, May 12th. 9:30 bus trip to Holly's and Trader
Joe's. Tuesday, May 20th, 10:45 bus trip to the Shrimp Box. Tuesday, May 27th, 11:30 bus trip to Zenya's Bistro. And events. Tuesday, May 13th, 1:30, a presentation by Miltown Rescue Squad. Thursday, May 22nd at 1:00, a Q&A with
police officer Olinski. The VNA nurse will be here Tuesday, May 20th for appointments 12 to 3. This is a free service to seniors. And they also have weekly lunch provided by Elijah's project, the promise, Wednesdays at 12:30. And for the DPW report, uh I had
a meeting with uh Ralph Jasnowski. Um the old DPW site was discussed. There are areas that can be reme remediated such as the concrete barriers, storage boxes, general cleanup, etc. But for the most part, the majority of council will have to come up with and agree on a
plan. The Schwendam property was discussed. The DPW is still waiting on decisions from the committee as to how to proceed other than mowing, trimming bushes, general maintenance, etc. The rotting deck and the disposition of its question of of it is a question mark as is the shed. the heating and air
conditioning at the DPW and now the firehouses still wers off after all these months. In winter the inside temperature was 40° now the temperature is 80° and that concludes my report. Thank you Councilman Park. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh few announcements for the
Middletown Recreation Department. The youth tennis soccer and multisports programs commenced this past weekend with high registration numbers. The musical theater program began its next session of Annie on April 22nd with the final showcase scheduled for June 10th.
The new adult Pilates program started last week with 29 registrants. This is a fantastic addition to Miltown's offerings. Interviews for the Burough Pool uh will begin this week, followed by interviews for Albert Avenue summer camp once the pool interviews are
completed. Registration for Albert Avenue and CIT programs start on May 13th and end on June the 15th. Albert Avenue camp is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 30th. The adult co-ed softball league
started this evening with the championship game set for Thursday, June 12th. Burough pool memberships will be available for purchase starting on May 13th. To buy your badge, please visit community pass. Another joint session will be held at the senior center in
midJune. Please visit community pass to register. To book Albert Avenue Park, please contact the recreation department to reserve your day. Once the date has been confirmed, you can fill out the application online. The annual Spotswood
High School boys baseball game will take place on Tuesday, May 6th at Michelin Field. The Spotswood High School girls softball game will be played at Burough Park on Thursday, May 8th. Please come out and show your support. From the planning board, the
next meeting is scheduled for May 7th. And from the Miltown Fourth of July organization, we're less than 3 months away from the big day. The Miltown 4th of July organization thanks everyone for their continued support. Don't forget to participate in our Super 50/50 raffle.
Limited tickets are still available. And if you wish to be a sponsor or participate in the parade, please visit our Miltown Fourth of July website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram. And Mr. Mayor, that concludes the report. Thank you. Reports for professionals.
Peter Mola. No report tonight. Mr. Thank you for engineer. Yeah. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um, first off, a status report of the water meter replacement project. To date,
1,036 replacements have been completed. That's um an additional 155 um since the last council meeting. 16 others are complete and are being validated. 43 are incomplete and
516 replacements are currently scheduled. Secondly, with regard to the Northbrook Drive improvements, we're happy to report that the curbs and sidewalks have been completed and milling and paving is tentatively scheduled for next week, weather permitting. And that concludes
our report. Mr. Mayor, thank you. Um, staff, business administrator car. I'm good, mayor. Thank you. Thank you. B, just a few things. Election day deadline reminders. May 20th is the deadline to register to vote. Forms are available in
the clerk's office as well as online. June 3rd is deadline to apply for mail and ballot. Early voting will be uh June 6th through June 8th. And primary election day has been moved to Tuesday, June 10th. Voting will still be 6:00
a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Uh District 3 and District 4 voters, you will be getting a postcard to your house indicating the change in polling location. District 3 will be voting here at Burough Hall. District 4 will be back at uh Joyce Kilmer School. Garage sale permits for
the unofficial garage sale are due by Thursday so that I can email the organizer, everyone who's applied to paid for a permit. And our next meeting, May 12th, is our youth and government meeting. So, I hope everybody tunes in to see our JK students uh run a meeting. And that's all I have. Mr. Mayor, thank
you. Does any member of council have any old business to bring before council? Seeing none. Does any member of council have any new business to bring forth council? Oh, I'm sorry, Mark. What did you say? The garage sale. Uh, Thursday by close. This Thursday by close of
business for the permit for the permit for that unofficial What's the unofficial date? Uh, it's this weekend coming up. This weekend coming up. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Thanks. Mhm. Thank you. The public comment portion of our
meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments. The council will respect the public's time by refraining from any comment until the speaker is finished. It should further it should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured
as a question and answer session, please state your name and address for the record when you come to the podium. Just a reminder, under the rules of council, individuals wishing to speak during the public input part of the meeting should be limited to five minute period and may after other speakers have finished be
allowed to speak for a second fiveminut period 99 JFK drive. I'm going to ask the council for a little bit of help tonight and the mayor. This is concerning Mil Pond Lawrence Brook below the dam. I've been investigating the ownership of that for a long
time. Right now, it's on the tax maps that we own it. Till last week, I have found no evidence anywhere that we own it. This is a serious problem. I'm asking this council tonight to show
the taxpayers in this town a verifiable instrument that Miltown owns those two properties. This block 8611 and block 30 3201 lot one. I've
gotten criticism from the past. I engaged last week with the 40 Avenue Redevelopment Agency. somewhat simple question. Who owns the pond? I've had it up to here. The taxpayers want to know. People are asking
me. Please tell us. If we took ownership of that pond and that belongs to the dam, too, we're in trouble cuz we're going to be paying for stuff that we shouldn't be paying for. So, if this has occurred, please explain it to the taxpayers. This should
only take a few minutes. I'll explain that, too. Because you can poke up the county property records, put your name in there, you can look up your deed in minutes. There is no no documentation pertaining to this. Our
tax assessor, there's no record of this. It shows up in the tax books 2020 or so. There's no documentation with it. There's nothing to verify this. Like I said, it's been dragging out. It's getting serious. We need to
know. That's all I'm going to say tonight. Appreciate it. Can you please repeat the lot and block 8601 is the block number. Lot one is Mil Pond. Okay. 3201. Lot one is Lawrence Brook below the dam. Thank you. They go
together. And I'm confused by this. And I I'll go I'll go more. 2013 big year planning board grants Mr. Bore Ray permission for preliminary approval of his his site plan
application. He presents the board with the title search. Who owns it? Also, Mr. Burger. That's it. Since then, nothing has changed. He's in a lot of court cases and stuff, but property has not exchanged. Nothing
has gone on. It seems simple, but it gets complicated every day for some reason. And so, like I said, we need to fix this because we're going to be in big trouble here in more ways than one. Like I
said, something has transpired from 2013 till now. Please, somebody explain this. There's transcripted meetings from the planning board 2013 when they get the approval several months in a row. Anybody can
read this. It's on the website. So, I'm passing it on now because it has to be resolved because this is there's serious consequences here. And that's it. Appreciate your time.
Thank you, sir. Thank you. That's it. Anyone else? There you go. Barbara, right? 38 Harrison Avenue. Um, so I'll just tell you again about uh about the grant application. Um, I'm on the environmental commission and we do
the pollinator garden at Mil Pond and we're having a cleanup this Saturday from 11 to 2. Anybody who wants to come help us uh work in the garden, we're welcome to do that. The other application, and this is uh nice to go along with the Girl Scouts project
because it's good for there to be a pollinator pathway. And so that they're putting up pollinator plants at the senior center and we have them down at Milon Park and at the library. And then what we're hoping is to redo Will's
pollinator garden up at the open space on Washington Avenue. And uh so yeah, I have this is I guess you all understand already, but um I'm putting in an application for $1,500 which will cover the cost of plants for the circular
garden. And we're going to get perennials so that you don't have to replant them. And they'll they should be plants that won't require a lot of water and and won't need a lot of maintenance. Uh there's a couple trees that died, so we want to replace those with native
trees, native flowering trees as plants as is best. And um some of the trees that are up there need help because there's vines growing on them. and we need to kind of take off that original fencing that was around those trees and
remove the vines so that they don't take away from that. So, we just want to spruce up the open space a little bit and this grant can help us do that. And I'm hoping that we can also lay down a a path just to the garden where the
there's a bench there. And so it'll make it accessible for people with accessibility issues to to get to the bench so that they can appreciate the garden. And that's the whole plan. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Barbara.
Anyone else? No. I will close public comment portion of the meeting. Does any member of council have any uh comments? Yes, I do. Um first I'd like to I'd like to
recognize chief chief family. Um I appreciate everything you do and I appreciate your men fighting the wildfires. Uh very heroic and and I'm sure we all appreciate that. So thank you very much. Um I'm going to start. This is for uh Fred Fred Carr. Uh, Mr.
Carr, I appreciate you being here tonight. I understand your busy schedule. With that said, is there some way that we can accommodate you to ensure your presence at our council meetings? And I I'd like to ask if changing our meeting nights temporarily would help you and your appearance and
your feedback is is crucial in my opinion. Since you have been and still are helping Miltown in our times of need, it only makes sense to accommodate you as best that we can. And I'll say this again. I appreciate you for the stabil stability that you gave us last year through all the confusion and the
chaos. And I thank you, Councilman. Thank you for the effort, but you know, I changing the council meeting next to accommodate just mwah is a little extreme. You know, it's a it's a positive stroke. I appreciate that. But
I look very favorable on the fact that I have a conflict and I only have to go to one meeting. you know, you know, so it's being self- serving and some of it, you know, you know, but if the council, you know, when there is no ma meeting in Spotswood, I am here. Uh, as you all
know, this month they changed the schedule and I I don't know if the council wants to change the meeting schedule in Miltown just so that Fred can be here. That's okay with me if you change it, but I think that's I I just thought for what you've done for us, what you've been doing for us, that that
we could do that at at a minimum. Uh, I I don't think you need to get crazy. I think he likes um I also have something for Mr. Vinola. I'd like to thank you for stepping up in some of the difficulty of our last meeting. Even though I may not have been
in complete agreement with you, in retrospect, I appreciate that you took initiative as no one else weighed in. being that we use the term Robert's rules to make it more understandable for people. These are our bylaws, in essence, our laws that we follow. It is understandable that you do not need to
know Robert's rules like a Bible. However, there are those that need to. The mayor needs to know our bylaws better than anyone else. He should have weighed in last week instead of leaving you to make decisions that were his to make. It is also true that we do not always follow our bylaws. I do, and I do
have a problem when others don't. The law is not an idea or suggestion. it is to be followed and that is what the citizens and the taxpayers expect and I have uh another two small things. Uh I have a short retrospect from our last council meeting and some council members
commenting. This is not a rehash but rather a perspective. For those that do not know me and those that do, this is me. On my first day as a councilman last January before meeting the meeting began, I went up to then councilman Potter and Zambr saying to each quietly
shaking their hand. I said, "I don't want you to feel alone here. I did this because their party is now the minority." And I told them that I vote my conscience. This year's Councilwoman Payne joined us on the day. I welcomed her warmly. First, I went and offered her a flag lapel pin, which she
graciously accepted. I got the idea to do this because council president Zambrano gave me a lapel pin on my first day. I thought it was an honorable gesture then and I decided to do the same. I would also like to read comments I made on Councilwoman Payne's first
day. I would like to welcome our newest council person, Pat Payne. She brings very experience and attributes. She's an educator and an attorney. She has integrity, cares about her community, and to me most importantly, she is a proud mother of two exceptional sons. With that said, nothing else can top
that. And one last one last thing here. I would like to thank Councilman Payne for the idea to run for the school board. There's so much that I would do to bring about accountability and responsibility in the position. My voice and my ideas would be heard every meeting. For instance, I would champion
merit-based pay raises. In voicing that, I would be consistent. I am sure the taxpayers would want to know that they are paying for the best teachers. That would hopefully ensure that their children would have the best education we could provide for them so that they may have the confidence to make use of their
god-given intelligence and be successful. A 20 a 25th percentile out of 100 in any educational scholastic graphic is unacceptable. This needs to change and I hope parents and taxpayers are going to make their voices heard. Again, I thank Councilwoman Payne for
her idea regarding my future. The only area that she was mistaken was when she stated, "When my term is over, terms is a plural usage. That would be running for a second term on council and or continue on and run for mayor." And I'm done.
Thank you. I have no comments. Mr. Mayor, I just have two quick comments. Uh first of all just to remind all the residents this Wednesday the mobile DMV will be at the senior center. Um even though real IDs all the slots were taken I heard they were taken within minutes
but that's all over the state but they do have other services if you have to turn in license plates registration all that information. Please um go ahead and visit the mobile DMV and we're also looking to get them uh back in Miltown in July. And also to um Monica, the next
meeting is May 12th, correct? I believe the day before is Mother's Day. So I would like to wish all the mothers a happy mother's day. And that's all I I'd like to reiterate council on Father's Day and happy Mother's Day to
all residents. And I also say if u I think a good idea was if you want to criticize the board a bit try going over and substitute teaching and then come back to the meeting because that's what we should do
and if you want I'll pay for the license. That's it. Okay. I'll close council comments. Uh I have no comments. Will the clerk please read resolution 202572 please? Entering executive
session. Whereas the open public meetings act public law 1975 chapter 231 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances. And whereas public bodies of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist. And whereas the governing body wishes to discuss pending litigation. And whereas
minutes will be kept and once the matter involving confidentiality of the above no longer requires that confidentiality then the minutes can be made public. Now therefore be resolved by the burough council of the burough of Miltown, county of Middle Sex, state of New Jersey that the public be excluded from this meeting. May I have a motion in a
second, please? So moved. Second. A motion made by council Councilman Potter, seconded by Council President Zambrana. Is there any comments? May I have a vote, please? Council President Zambrana, I. Councilman Collins, I. Councilwoman
Payne, I Councilman Pausnanski. Councilman Potter. Hi. Okay.