Always I call to order this regular meeting of the township committee of the township of Mars this Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. The time is now 7:01 p.m. This meeting is being held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, and adequate notice of this meeting has been
provided as required by law. Specifically, notice of this meeting has been sent to the daily record and the Mars Newsby fee on January 3rd, 2025 and posted on the Township of Mars website. The agenda and resolutions for the meeting are available on
marstownship.com under the agenda center. Certain portions of this meeting may be closed to the public for the purpose of personnel and or other matters as outlined in the sunshine law. Notice to members of the governing body and township staff. Any use of
electronic devices during this meeting shall be used solely for the purposes of township business and any communications are open to the open public records act. Madame clerk, roll call, please. Mr. Gazelle here. Mr. Jorphy here. Mr.
Ravitz here. Mr. Janata here. Mayor Grigglia here. Please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance. And please remain standing for a moment of silence after the pledge. I pledge allegiance to
the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty, justice for all. You think it was maybe both. We please
remain standing. Um, we are having a moment of silence for in honor of former Mars Township Chief of Police Anthony Almelio. At this time, I would like to ask our township administrator, Tim Quinn, to say a few words about former
Chief Amelio. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Chief Anthony Millio uh passed away on Monday, April 14th. Uh, Chief Alio was from a large family in the Marstown area and following his military service during the Vietnam era, he then served
with distinction with the Mars Township Police Department for 33 years. Uh, he was the chief of police from 1998 to his retirement in 2002. Um, as many of you know, uh, Chief Amila's wife Kathy was our Mars National
Municipal Clerk for many years. Um, our condolences, thoughts, and prayers for Kathy and the children, Lindsay, Stacy, and Brian are with them during this very difficult time. Thank you. Thank you. You may be seated. We have one proclamation on our agenda
tonight honoring April 22nd, 2025 as Earth Day and April 25th, 2025 as Arbor Day. We will have Committeeman Janata will read the proclamation and he'll talk a little bit about Earth Day and
then Committeeman Jory will say some remarks about Arbor Day. Thank you, Mayor. Whereas Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22nd and Arbor Day will be celebrated on April 25th, 2025.
And whereas both days serve as an opportunity to recognize and celebrate our planet and its natural resources while promoting environmental stewardship. And whereas the Earth Day theme for 2025 is our power, our planet,
emphasizing the the collective strength of communities, individuals, and nations to protect and restore our planet through actionable sustainable solutions. The goal to triple the global generation of clean electricity by 2030.
And whereas Earth Day serves as an annual reminder of the ongoing need for environmental activism, sustainability initiatives, and community engagement to protect our natural world. And whereas the first Arbor Day was celebrated on
April 10th, 1872 as a dedicated occasion for the planting of trees to promote conservation and environmental well-being. And whereas trees play a crucial role in combating climate change by preventing soil erosion, reducing
heating and cooling costs, moderating temperatures, improving air quality, producing oxygen and providing habitats for wildlife. And whereas all living beings have the right to a healthy, thriving, and sustainable environment.
And whereas Earth Day and Arbor Day were celebrated worldwide to inspire individuals and communities to take a meaningful action to protect and preserve our planet for future generations. Now therefore, be it resolved that the
Morris Township Committee proudly supports and commemorates both Earth Day and Arbor Day in 2025 and encourages all residents to participate in efforts to enhance and protect our environment for the well-being of current and future
generations. And this our u Earth Day many uh communities in and around the county and the state have many um Earth Day related environmental related activities including Morris Township which on the
morning Earth Day we're going to inaugurate an adopt a drain program which we'll uh if you want to register for adopt a drain just go on the township website and register for there and and it should be something that will
be popular. I know some other towns, nearby towns have done it and it's great to have that here. Kate, thank you. Uh thank you, mayor. I'm pleased to provide some comments uh supporting our Arbor Day proclamation. Um I'm grateful that over the past few years, the
township committee has and continues to demonstrate a commitment to restoring and sustaining our critical tree canopies throughout our neighborhoods and across our open space in the township. Whether it's part of our street tree replacement program, which continues to be funded in our capital
budget, uh through open space plantings throughout our thanks to our open space trust fund or through our street reconstruction projects. Uh we've budgeted together com over $300,000 in the past few years to plant trees throughout our neighborhoods, which will
not only provide environmental benefits to our residents, but also increase property values and provide shade for our kids to grow up around town. Many of these trees we offer are considered keystone trees. Trees that are that provide the highest level of resources for our native wildlife. Over the past
three years, we planted over 500 of these trees throughout our neighborhoods along streets, and we continue to grow that number each year. Like every year, I'm looking forward to seeing the notices go out to residents to request a tree free of charge to put in their front yards. Um, I think it's a great
program that we're running in the township. Um and um I continue to support uh budgets in the f in future years to continue this great program. So thank you for the opportunity and thank you for the uh Arbor Day proclamation. Thank you committeeman
Jory. We are now going into our first public comment. There are three members of the public joining us via Zoom and six in person. At this time we will open the meeting to public comment. We will first take comments from in-person attendees and then switch over to Zoom.
Please use the raise hand feature in Zoom. Please state your name and if you are a resident or non-resident for the record before speaking. Please note that comments are limited to five minutes per speaker. If you have questions you would like answered, your remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this
person. Is there a motion to open public comment? Some move. Second. All in favor? I. Are there any members from the public who would like to approach the podium? So, hi everybody. My name is Tina Cassal. I live at 11 Tall Timber Drive
in Mars Township. Sorry, am I too close? Um, I started to tell everybody the little problem that I've had with my neighbor and the water. Um, this has been going on for two years. It started once he um extended his
patio and I've been there 17 years and I've never had a water problem. After that, my backyard flooded, my basement flooded, my driveway flooded. We had to replace everything. A new driveway, the
whole backyard, the patio. We put in a French drain. We replaced the driveway hoping that that would stop some of it. But unfortunately, his backyard has a lot of um gravel dirt type stuff that there's
nothing catching the water. So, it continues to come down, clog our French drain, and we just had it again. And the whole slew of mud and mulch covered my driveway. Um, we're ending up shoveling it out of the driveway every time it
rains. Um, Dave and Jim have both been out to my house. They both um have asked him, you know, if there's stuff he can do. He's extended his drains to enter my French drain, which is now is triple the amount of water, and it can't keep up.
The drain keeps getting clogged from all the dirt and the gravel, and there's nothing. They said at that point he could do, but I believe he did that extension of his patio. Um, he said he didn't, but there's two different
papers. I was there. I watched the whole thing. The bulldozer in the backyard. I saw it all. Um, he didn't get a permit for it. So, I don't know if there's anything at this point that
we can do. I've been there, like I said, 17 years. I've never had a water problem. We don't intend on moving. I just don't know at this point what the right steps of what we possibly can
do. So looking for help and that's it. I you know the I know I say this word wrong all the time impervious coverage. I don't know if if that's what's wrong. I don't I don't
know. But I we need something to be kind of taken care of. No, we totally understand and appreciate you coming in. And I think Mr. Quinn, do you have some I I wasn't aware of the issue, but I Oh,
yes. Sorry. No, that's okay. No, I I am now. So, um I was I'm gonna I have videos and pictures. Like I said, this has been going on for two years. Okay. We tried to fix it and remedy it oursel. We spent quite a bit of money and you
know it's I'm not willing to spend any more money for to fix his property at this point. Um what I'd like to do is just follow up with Mr. Hansen tomorrow. Mr. Slate's retired and u Mr. Hansen is also retiring in the very near future. So um to get all their information so we
have it and we he has it all. I sent it to him but I want to get it from him and we have we have a new engineer that's starting. He's being appointed by the governing body tonight so that I can bring him up to speed as to as to what the concern is and we have another assistant engineer that's maybe also aware of it. Then I will find out if
he's been what his role is with it also and then I can get back to you if not tomorrow certainly the beginning of next week. That would be great. I just don't like I said I don't want to cause I'm not a person to cause any issues. I just want the problem fixed. You know, I
don't want to spend any more money doing things that aren't going to help if it has to be on his property. Right. Yeah. Mr. Hans's been working with you, then I will make sure that we have all of that. And then I'm sure we have a couple of inspectors, I'm sure, that have also been up there. So, yeah, the both of
them came out. Those are the only two people I met that came to my house and saw. Okay. Just quickly, sure. How when was the last time they were there? Um, last year. Okay. like a year ago. So, and it's continually gotten worse and worse
and it's just not remedying it. I mean, like I said, we thought the French drain would help, but it's the stuff that's coming down off the property is just catching and it's not able to it's not able to clear. And did I hear you say he actually connected his drain
into your French drain and so now there's just more now there's double the amount of water. Mhm. So, and did you know he was doing that or was that suggested that he did? was suggested by Dave and and Jim and trying to contain I
guess the water, but it's Yeah, it's made it worse for Have you spoken to them? I know they were out a year ago or sometime last year. Have you spoken to them in the last month or so? Two. I I the last two weeks I sent emails and left messages for Dave, but I
haven't heard. All right. Um I would just ask uh Mr. um for a patio extension if it's beyond a certain limit would that have to go to the zoning board for variance or what are the I know you have to pull out a permit to build the zoning and then if it was you know increasing they would
have to go to the board of adjustment. Yeah. And what are the penalties if a person does not go before the town to get a permit or go before a zoning board to get they could be subject to fines and they wouldn't be able to get any additional permits. Okay. Thank you. So, do we know if they actually applied for
a permit after the fact? No, I don't I don't know anything about it. Do you know if they apply? Yeah, I they said he never pulled any permits. So, yeah, usually would be a zoning review that's required and then they would let them know if it Yeah, but if Dave was out at the house, I'm surprised he didn't give
some out of It may not may not have needed a permit if it was under a certain square footage. Oh, okay. Yeah, that may be the reason why there's no permit. Mhm. Okay. Right. depends on the the size of their you know what the how big the extension was. Yep. But if they changed the slope of the land kind of
thing is that yes because that's what happened in my opinion. All right. They would look at that if as part of their review. Yeah. Because it's now steeper where the water comes down. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So they changed the slope then from their yard
and going into your yard. Mhm. Okay. Thank you very much and we'll get back to you. Thank you guys so much. Is there anyone else from the public who'd like to speak? And seeing no hands raised, will someone make a motion to
close public comment? So moved. Second. All in favor? I. Next, we'd like to welcome Betty Simmons from the Transportation Advisory Committee. And we also have another member from the committee. Jim Hunt is here with us. And Betty is going to present to the
township committee the bikewalk roll presentation that she and her committee, her smaller group, put together. Welcome, Betty. Thank you, mayor. Good evening all. It's good to see you all, and we greatly appreciate you all taking time out to hear an update from the
Transportation Advisory Committee. I I do want to um extend a thank you to my colleague Jim Hunt who is also here representing the transportation advisory committee. Um and we have forwarded to you all um a brief presentation that I'll walk through and certainly be
available to answer any questions. But um I wanted to be clear that the transportation advisory committee has been talking about the possibility of a bike walk and now roll uh plan for a number of months. Um and we have been
talking about the importance of trying to move forward with the adoption of a plan, creation of and adoption of a plan uh in an effort to reduce the amount of vehicular traffic that is uh traversing through the the municipality. So if you
go to the second slide, um it will talk specifically about what a bikew walk role plan is. And I want to be clear, we started out with just a bike and a walk plan um because we really wanted to encourage people to use alternate alternate means of transportation either
through cycling or through walking. We know that a number of people are doing that in our community. As a matter of fact, the number is increasing especially of bikers. Um and I as a walker um spend a lot of time walking recreationally. Um but there are other people for whom biking in particular is
their only means of transportation to get to work or to wherever they would like to uh within the municipality. But what we also realized over the course of the last few months there has been an increase in the number of individuals who were using scooters or electric bikes of some sort. So, we decided to
think forwardly and include the rolling feature, which represents if you're on a scooter, on um an electric bike um or um whatever other type of transportation besides an automobile um as as a means of transportation.
So um we know that in our current complete green streets plan there is reference to trying to reduce the carbon footprint of vehicles um in and around our community. So we wanted to make sure that we aligned um our bike walk plan
with our complete and green streets initiative. Um and that is really aimed at improving the safety, the convenience and the accessibility of biking, walking and rolling um throughout the township. Um obviously as I mentioned it's also very focused on reducing the amount of
vehicular traffic. Um and I will tell you all that um especially with Route 80 um having its drama um and lane closures um I think we all can see an increased amount of vehicular traffic driving through the township as people are trying to get west of us in particular
as well as east and that's in addition to the normal traffic that traverses through the the township. Um but the plan will also have to address the amount of infrastructure to allow for more biking, more walking, more uh scooting um as um viable means of
transportation. Um we also want to just promote this as a health and wellness initiative. It's really important that we try to make sure that we have a healthy and safe community. And if we have a plan that really distinguishes between the regulations that are out there for biking and walking and
scooting, especially scooting, um, and also being very mindful of the adjacent communities that are around, um, and within, uh, the township that have different rules and regulations than we do. Um, as my committee members are are
used to hearing me say, it really bothers me that Marstown has a biking regulation. the township has a very different biking regulation, but people don't know when they've crossed from Marstown into Mars Township and therefore they don't know when they are out of compliance um or traveling
illegally. So, we want to be um very mindful that this plan will also be an educational piece um for the township. Um so as you will see the benefits are really to uh connect um our initiatives with the township's various plans in
particular the master plan um our complete green streets plan and the trails and pathways plan. We know that that plan currently exists. Um we've talked to the recreation department about the plan that they put in place and they're looking to update and there can be some connectivity among all of
the plans that the township currently has. again promoting um a safer and um more realistic biking, walking, and scooting approach throughout the township. Um that allows us to improve um the our ability to enforce the
township's regulations as it um relates to biking, walking, and rolling. And mostly importantly as well, it's encouraging community cohesion. um there's something to be said that when people are walking together or when they are riding bikes together that you're strengthening the community as well as
making it a much more um healthy um community. So what we have thought about um is who should be involved in helping us develop this plan. Um we have had the opportunity to speak to the representatives from Marstown which has
created um a biking plan and gotten some feedback from them. But we've also identified who we believe should be some of the potential stakeholders that we would reach out to uh to get feedback about what should that plan look like, what should we include, what are some of the areas of concern that people have,
what are things that are relevant to them. And and you'll see in your packet there is a long list currently of organizations um that we would ask to join us in just talking um about what are the elements that we need to be very mindful of. Um this is not an exhaustive
list. Um there could be additional groups that we would reach out to to get some feedback as we develop the plan. Um I would also mention to you all that um it's important to for us to have as many voices as possible represented in our plan. Um the township is a very diverse
community. We've got a lot of people with a lot of bless you areas of interest and we want to make sure that um whatever plan we do develop should you all um authorize it is representative of the different voices that are out there as it relates to different modes of transportation beyond
and in addition to your your typical vehicular traffic. So those are the potential stakeholders uh that we have already identified and again there could be more. And then finally, um, we had put together what we felt was, um, the steps that needed to be
taken and what a realistic timeline, uh, could look like. Um, and we're at the initial planning stage where we have defined some potential stakeholders. Um, we wanted to make sure that we have aligned um, the possible plan with the township's current plans. Um, and then
we have to get into the coordination piece and a statement of intent and the development of our initiative and and vision and statement goals. We decided that we didn't want to do anything that you'll see in that initial planning aside from identifying the key stakeholders and aligning our plans. We've done nothing else because we
wanted to appear before this body. We wanted to make sure that we had your endorsement to move forward. It is quite probable that as we move forward with this plan, we will have to tap into the resources of the township um and various departments within the township um as an example, we would need some
representation, some voices from the local police department um perhaps the recreation department um and other areas under Mr. Quinn's um supervision. Um, so we didn't want to go forward with moving anything with the plan until we had
discussed it with you all and hopefully get your endorsement. Um, and as you can see, we have a disclaimer that even though we've got a a a timeline that says that the plan should be finalized and developed by the end or the middle of 20 uh 26, that that timeline could be
adjusted just depending upon circumstances that we can't anticipate at this particular point in time. We just wanted to at least kind of lay that all out in the different stages and determine um how long it would typically take. And based upon what we've heard from other towns and municipalities that
have gone through this process, it is about an 18mon to 24month process to develop a very realistic and robust biking, walking rolling plan. We believe that this is in the best interest of Mars Township because of the type of township that we are. Um and again we
are looking forward to any com concerns or questions feedback that you all might have as it relates to this planes my presentation. Thank you very much Betty again always you do such a great job and I know the people who worked with you to put this together.
So, um, the tantrum committee members did receive a copy of this in advance and wanted to So, I'd like to open it up to any committee members if you have any questions, concerns, anything you want to ask of Betty and her group.
I just wanted to add that um I'm I'm in favor of what this because I I was in the meetings that in TAC meetings where we talked about it and it's it's so a well thoughtout plan. Uh
and I just wanted uh ask though do you have any um examples from other municipalities and uh are there any benchmarks to compare what you you're planning with what we we would be adop adopting? Yes, there are several plans
that we've looked at preliminarily um that are um somewhat similar to what we're thinking about. The Marstown plan obviously is one we've seen that entire document. It is a very robust document. We also know that there are several plans in the Essex County area that
we've taken a look at. There is one inic that we've taken a look at. We've tried to also identify towns that are reflective of Mars Township as well because of the uniqueness of our township and the borders. Um, I think it it's also important that um we've also had some preliminary conversations with
the county parks commission because we know that there are inter overlapping um trails and pathways that go into the county. So, we're looking to see what plans that they also have because they are trying to strengthen especially in the biking area. So, we have looked at
other plans um as a benchmark. Yeah. Can another example that we always talk is on Speedall Avenue. We have a bike uh bike bike lanes in Marstown and then go to the that's one place where we know where where the division is because the
bike lanes are in Marstown. There's no bike lanes on our side. Yeah. And I would also say um that the the state of New Jersey also has some guidance in developing these plans um because they've got a whole initiative um for
biking in particular as well as as walking. So um we've done some preliminary looking at some of the information from the state. That's important because some of this work will be costly and so we would uh want to make sure that um there's opportunities for us to achieve some grants to fund a
lot of the research that's going to be necessary to do this and they've got some benchmarks that we could also take into consideration. Okay, thanks um committee man. Thank you mayor. Um thank you Betty for all the hard work that you and the committee have done on this and thank you Jim too. Um, I was,
um, Kathy and I were on the T on TAC when it first started and Jim's been working hard ever since. So, I appreciate your hard work, Jim, and I appreciate you, Betty, um, joining. Um, I love the plan. Um, and I think it's the right direction that we need to go. I just like more of an observation. Um,
you know, when I'm driving around town, I'm I am seeing more and more people riding bikes, which is great. I've actually started seeing folks riding bikes with their kids in carts going to school, which is something I used to see, which was very normal for me to see when I lived in DC. It was like everywhere kids like the, you know, the
schools were in neighborhoods. They'd have like the big cart in front that's part of the bike. It's like built in together and they have kids. I think like the biggest challenge for just all of us in New Jersey is just education because there are so many roads in our area that just I just don't think are safe period for people to be
on bikes like Madison Avenue where I see someone who teaches at my son's daycare riding her bike to school every day. And it makes me really nervous because our the people driving in our car in cars around town at rush hour just are not prepared for that. And I just don't
think they're educated on what like they're supposed to be doing when they see someone on a bike on a four-lane street in the rain. Um, so I like, you know, I think this the educational compon component that you guys have been advocating and been working on is super is super important. Uh and um you know,
I'd hope that we as a township continue to support TAC and do everything we can to educate our residents on how they should be adapting their driving habits to uh allow for folks to safely commute or go to the park or what have you uh throughout town. So, thank you for all
the work that you're doing on this and um really appreciate all the time and effort put into this plan. Oh, thank you very much. And to that point, we've begun to put some signage around the township um to try to educate people about the distance that they should have if they happen to see somebody who is biking or walking. Um education is going
to be critically important as well as making sure that we have the right infrastructure to encourage those families that need to use bikes as a as a means of transportation where some of the alternate paths are that they could take that would be safer as opposed to a Madison Avenue or, you know, a Hanover
Avenue. Yeah. And and I know T did that with the um with the routes that we did too. Just like finding alternatives to go down. I know Tim this is really important to you too. It's like don't go on the street. Go go go go go go on McCulla instead of South Street or something like that uh in town. Um like even on Mass. It's like I'd almost
prefer I know you're not supposed to. I'd almost prefer you go on the sidewalk because in the morning no one's on the sidewalk on Madison Avenue. Please just go on that to get yourself out of rush hour traffic. But I know um one other thought I had too and it's we don't have a property this large in the township I
don't think but I noticed uh in Whippony um Barclay's corporate campus they have bike lanes off the street and I'm assuming Barclay's put those in probably as maybe I don't know if Hanover did that but you know thinking critically too about employers in the town are they
willing to put the money in to help us build safer pathways to get to um get to their offices Um, just another thought, but I, you know, we don't have huge campus office parks like that, right, going down major thorough affairs, but there I don't know if it's like, was it Jefferson Road or something like that
over there? That might have been, they might have removed that. I just drove past it last weekend. I was It's off the Yeah, it's painted green still, too. And it goes into their trail system. Yeah. Um, you know, we have the traction line, which is fantastic. Um, but, uh, you know, my wife is training for a
triathlon, and I'm telling her, please just ride your bike in Joy Hollow. like don't like I don't want you to ride anywhere else quite frankly because like even just going up Western Avenue going up there is like crazy and like I I just we need to do a lot more educating for people driving on the roads to like to I
mean you know um there's a lot of serious accidents so thank you for all the hard work you're doing on this. You're welcome. Thank you. And and to that point I I think it's safe to say that while we've been talking about this plan for quite some time which takes us away from vehicular transportation, we've not lost that focus as well.
That's still critically important to us. How do we keep our streets safe for those individuals who do drive or and try to drive legally appropriately? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that. Good. Committeeman Rabbitz,
Betty, and and Jim Hunt, thank you and your your committee for all the hard work you've done. I am fully supportive of the direction you're going in. I think it's necessary as we move into the future because the future is now. So, um, you know, how how we can help, let
us know. Um, we will help to whatever extent we can. Uh, but as Committeeman Jory had said, you know, it's it's education that's going to be the key and you already know it. So, um, whatever whatever you can do to to mitigate that is going to be um, only just a bonus for
you guys. So, thank you for what you're doing. It's very much appreciated. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Thanks. Just to piggyback on a couple of examples that Mr. Jory gave, I live out uh on the western side of town and I see people on Menum Road. Menum Road's really fast,
busy road. See them jogging and biking along Menum Road when there's the alternative of going on Old Menum Road for just a section of it, but it would it would take them off the main road for a section of their commute or their ride
or their jog or whatever. But I don't think people know that it's there. And so the education piece is there. Another example you mentioned Western Avenue try to redirect people to Brookfield Way for example. Not for the, you know, it doesn't take them along the whole length of their route, but it takes them off of
the major road for a portion of the route. So you know, finding those alternative paths are going to be really important. Um, as we encourage people to, as we used to say, get out of their cars and get onto their their feet and uh other kinds of wheels. Uh, so one
last comment is as an original member of the Trails and Pathways Committee back 15 years ago, Jim, were you on that committee, the original one? A long time ago. It's it's so gratifying to finally see an actual plan uh come together
after years of us thinking about it and wanting to do it. So, thank you for your work and all the members of the transportation advisory committee uh for being so dedicated to, as I always say, making the town a better place for all of us. uh because it's work that you guys do that really benefits the entire
community uh and benefits all of our residents. So, thanks again. You're welcome. Thank you. And it is rewarding to know that the township has these various plans already in place that puts us in a good position to put this plan together that will then support that. And um as as Jim very much knows really
well, way better than me, that complete green streets plans is sort of the overarching for the work that we have to do. And then it's supplemented by the trails and pathways plan which is magnificent. It really is. So thank you for that work. Yeah. And layering the commitment that the governing body has to providing, you know, safe modes of
Yes. alternative pathways like we putting in sidewalks all the time now and a bike lane here or there where we can. Yes. Um it's all coming together. So that's great to see. Thank you. So Betty, I want to kind of just wrap up too with one of the most important
things that we continually discuss at our TAC meetings too when this all comes together is the safety issue of it. And it's not just the education of people. We talk a lot in those meetings about changing the culture, which is a giant step to really get people to understand
whether they're driving or biking or walking or whatever. Um that's going to take some time. But what's nice to see is how everybody's working so hard to making improvements. And I think what you the work that was done to put this
together and I can't speak for everybody else but certainly I feel the township should endorse the plan and we realize it's going to take time. Um, admittedly you said too, we don't know what if the timeline we're going to be able to meet
it exactly where it is, but I don't think that's a reason to not try it. And one of the other things um is probably under the mayor's wellness program, we could find some grant money to put towards putting this plan in place as
well. So um again unless anybody has any reason to not I think that is something that we should endorse with the understanding that we know you know certain things will take some time and but let's take those next steps and again can't tell you and Jim and
everybody else on the committee how much we appreciate all the hard work and it's not just the state the county as well. Jim and I were both up at Aven News in Motion just about three weeks ago now maybe it was and um you know Commissioner Shaw and Avenues in Motion
is also you know somebody we can call on and Jim's connected with them but um the whole issue of making everything safer and ending fatalities of any type is something that you know I you know we all support. So absolutely
well thank you all so very much. We greatly appreciate your support. We will keep you posted as we move forward. Going to have an opportunity to have a nice chat with with the um administrator Quinn shortly to talk about how we really get this jump started because we can't do any of this without um his
support of his staff. Thanks, buddy. Nice job. Thank you all very much. Appreciate your time. Thank you so much. And just before we move on, because I know both Jim and Betty are here, um I will speak about it a little bit later too, but um we are this is the beginning
of it when we kick off the work that TAC has done on Mars Township in Motion and we have um our whole new calendar with I think 12 events. That's okay. But I'll speak to that a little bit later. But again, just can't
thank you enough on all the great work that TAC continues to do and Steve has been a great addition. He's been coming to the meetings as well. So, thank you very much and know that we do support all your efforts and we're all trying to get to the same place whether we're
walking, driving, or scooting. So, thank you very much. Next, we have one ordinance scheduled for the public hearing and adoption. Madame clerk, please read the title of ordinance 10-25 into the record, after
which we will open the public hearing. Ordinance 10-25, an ordinance to exceed exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank NJSA4A
4-45.14 calendar year 2025 note requirement for municipal budget. We will take comments from in-person attendees first and then switch over to Zoom. Please virtually raise your hand on Zoom if you would like to speak. May I have a motion to open public hearing
on ordinance number 10-25? Some moved. Second. All in favor? I I Is there anyone from the public? Seeing no hands raised. Is there a motion to close public comment? Some moved. Second.
All in favor? I I May I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 10-25? So moved. Second. Is there any discussion or any questions? Madame clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Derpy, yes. Mr.
Janata, yes. Mr. Gazelle, yes. Mr. Ravitz, yes. Mayor Griglia, yes. I, Donna J. Gerriglia, mayor, declare ordinance number 10-25 approved and adopted, and direct the township clerk to publish proper notice thereof in the official newspaper.
And next for our exciting presentation and adoption of the 2025 municipal budget. At this time, we will begin the presentation of the 2025 municipal budget. The presentation will be provided by township administrator Tim
Quinn, our chief financial officer Sha Ferguson, and township auditor Valerie Dolan. Welcome to you all. This will be one where the opening act is much better than Mayor and Hatch Committee, I thank you.
We are pleased to tonight to present to you the 2025 municipal budget for adoption. With us tonight is our auditor, Valerie Dolan. And as we've done in past years, I would ask for Miss Dolan to give us an
overview of the conscious finances and her review of this budget. Dolan. Thank you. Good evening everyone. As we always go through this budget process, as you all know, it's a very lengthy process that you start well in advance. Um, we get through all of the information. We
review all of the financials. And honestly, this year, once again, you are putting forth a very good budget. Is a sound fiscally sound budget. um unique to this year and I think Tim and I explained this is the probably the first time in a long time you've just passed your cap bank ordinance and actually
this year you needed to use your cap bank not for any other reason other than you had some well higher costs that were greater than with inside the own cap interestingly enough you were starting to face one of the things that we've seen across of the 90 school 90
municipalities that we audit this is a common one where there's plenty of room in your levy cap but there's very little in your appropriations cap. So what that means is you could raise taxes way more than you are, but appropriation caps are limiting to limiting you to what you
can. So at the time when we reviewed the budget, we did say to Tim, let's look at the budget. While this is possibly doable, what does that do to your future? We had to look forward on a 20 I made I actually made Tim and Sean go back and look and say is this the best budget that you can put forth that does
not impact you in a future year. They decided to make some final adjustments to bring it down to give you the wiggle room that you're going to need next year to make sure that it all works out. Unique year. Haven't seen it in Morris Township. This probably one of the first times I've ever seen it in Morris
Township. We have seen it across many states right across the state on a lot of ours. That being said, you are well within your caps. You are inside your levy cap. You're inside your appropriations cap. You were self-examined this year, not subject to state review, and we are signing off on
your budget. Thank you. Thank you. As you know, we go through the budget process. Excuse me, Tim. One second. Deputy mayor, one one clarifying question. Sorry, Tim. Um, you mentioned going up against the appropriations cap and we pull back a little bit, but is that going to mean that we're going to be up against the appropriations cap for
years to come? You have like less wiggle room. When I used to sit in front of you, you probably had about 700,000 between your levy cap and your appropriation cap. You have about 700 in your levy cap and about 170 in your appropriations cap. It is getting tighter and tighter. And the reason why
is there's no relief at the state for costs that are maintained inside your cap. When we s talk inside your cap, those are all of your operating expenses of your budget exclusive of items like capital and debt service. Everything is inside. So all of the increases which
have been state health benefits are massive. Pensions the last couple of years are massive and they're all inside the cap with little relief from the state. they aren't pushing any of those things outside, which um we keep we we keep hearing words that they're saying
possibly they might push some stuff. There were years back in the early 90s where pension was outside the cap. It was an outside cap appropriation. So, I doubt they'll go back that way, but they're trying to see where we can find cap relief because you're faced with two
caps. That's the problem when building budgets. You're doing good by your residents by keeping the taxes low, but it's also now constricting your conrict. It's really just the appropriations cap that's constricting. It's it's your appropriations cap, which means that you
can only grow the 2% over what you had last year inside the cap, but you're seeing double digits in pension and health. Yeah, it's very hard to stay within that cap. Yes, very hard. Okay, thank you. No problem. And the levy cap is 2%. So it's not it's a small number
when you're looking at salaries, healthcare and pension. Yes, they go up double digits. They go up double and everything's going up double, but you have to stay in a single two. So quite difficult. Thank you. Um so again, it's a it's a six-month
process putting the budget together and it's it's a herculean effort um that goes through. We you know, we start in October and it's going with our department heads and as you know, our department heads are very dedicated. They also know that, you know, don't come in ask for 100,000 when you only need 75,000 because you only get 50,000.
But if you come in and ask about 75,000, you get the 75,000. So come in, be able to justify your expenses that you want to do and um for most part you will you will get as long as we have have the funding available. Um following that, then we go into our standing committees
with the governing body to review each of the departments and their budgets and go over those. Um, and then we bring it into the finance committee with Mayor Griggley and Committeeman Jorphy and we start pulling it together with our CFO as to um, all of our revenue sources
coming, what our exposures are on our appropriations. And then one of the toughest challenges is then looking into our capital budget. Um, usually got about $8 million worth of uh, requests for infrastructure, large items of equipment, those kinds of things. And we've got to bring that down to about
three and a half to$4 million. So, it's uh it's tough, you know, going through those projects and deciding which ones we can afford or which ones that need to be um you know, put on hold for for another year or so. So, with these budget challenges, um as I said, Miss Dolan talked about the
appropriation scap. That was probably our biggest challenge this year. And, um but again, looking to um be mindful of that. We did go through it with a scapple and we we were able to reduce about $250,000 out of that. So, it puts us in better position, but I also know
that when we get into the end of year fund balance, um that'll have a negative impact probably on that, which you'll see a little bit later, that our fund balance at the end of 24 was a little bit less than 2023. And we're probably going to continue to experience that,
meaning less fund balance that we'll be able to use for future budgets. Went over the budget process. So, we're go on to the next slide, please. Um, just a quick show of the state aid. Um, we should be getting it's really tax energy um energy receipts um
that come to us. We're not seeing any, we saw a little bit of an increase after many, many years of being stable. We should be getting over $6 million a year. We're getting $3.3 million a year um on that. So, um it's not really going anywhere as long as it's stable. It's a number that we put it back into the
budget. Um but we would certainly like to see the state um giving a more of a fair share on those energy receipts back to us. As we spoke, you know, pension costs have started to stabilize, which is good. Um as Miss Dolan said, they were going up double digits for many years.
Um this year we're seeing a slight decrease on the public employees and we're seeing a slight increase on the on the police and fire. So a net of about $75,000 on pension costs for this year. We also look every year at cost of recycling and tipping fees. It's always
been um a something that has fluctuated monthtomonth and has been an unstable expense for many years. I'm pleased to report that um it seems to have stabilized and we're not going to see any increase in the need for uh increase in for the recycling. We are seeing
tipping fees going up about 5% but we can bring that into the budget. One of the things that is always challenging for us is the cost of state mandates. Um the biggest one is is the healthcare insurance um that goes up. Although we have a cost share with our
employees where they're paying somewhere between 10% and 35% of those premiums. Um this past year we did see on the health care going up 16% on health and 9% on prescription. Um you know which makes it challenging. That's on top of
7% last year but 21% the year before. So, um I don't see anything in the future that looks very favorable on that. I would anticipate that we're going to continue to see these kinds of uh healthc care expenses. And as Miss Dolan said, this is an item that we really want taken out of the cap because
it has a direct impact on on that appropriations cap. Um we did not get any relief from that um from Trenton where in past years they've also given some cap relief on other insurance uh costs.
Our municipal debt statup has always had the policy of just bringing on debt of what we retire. Uh this year is no different. We are retiring approximately $2.8 million worth of debt and we're bring we're recommending that for the governing body for this year to bring
into debt. Um we are also using band notes at this point since we last went out to debt in 2019. We need the money annually um to be able to uh fund all of our projects. Um, our last bond issuance in 2014 was paid off last year. So, um,
we're not we don't have that bond I mean that that bond payment this year, but we will in future years when we go back out to debt and have to start paying the principal. Um, pleased to report that the parking utility is now debtree. The last debt payment for the parking utility was paid in
2024. However, we are going back out to debt for the sewer utility this year. We haven't gone out to debt on the sewer utility. It's all been paid through the capital improvement fund for the past 10 years, but um we have some significant increases for infrastructure that are coming. Um so it prudent to go back out
to um to debt on that for about $2.2 million uh this year. And again, the swim pools is the big one. It's $4 million of renovations made back in 2016. Paying about almost $500,000 in debt service and we've got two more
years of that after this year uh for that. and then we'll see start seeing that number coming down and hopefully the contribution we have to make into the swim pool utility will be reduced by that. Other variables that we look at and we have union labor contracts. This
is the last year of a four-year on all of our unions. So we will begin negotiating contracts um in September. Um the days of 2% on everything are are long gone. Um but we'll do that. Um, we've also seen an increase in the share
in in the library cost because of the equalized value. And although it's not a direct cost to the township, it is a cost to our our taxpayers. You're going to see a little bit later that those costs have gone up. Uh, we spoke a little bit before about the state aid energy tax rel receipts are stable. Um,
but also I'm pleased to report that we did add 20 million $21 million in increase in the radial base. Um, that certainly helped us out um with the revenue source this year. Um we're always looking for grants. Um this is a list of the grants that we
have so far. Um many of these are comes in every year. We have additional grants that will be coming in um as they do every year and Mr. Ferguson will be doing what's called a chapter 159 to add them into the budget, but some of the big ones that you'll see coming up in the future will be the clean communities
for somewhere around $60,000 a year if it's the same as past years. and also with the um recycling grant that we used to for our calendar that goes out and then also for our yard waste pickup uh through that. So that's $36,000 we've been notified of that since the budget
was introduced and we'll be adding adding to the budget and we'll have some more minor grants I'm sure that are going to be coming in um throughout the year. I'll just make a note that local health infrastructure we're probably going to lose that. Um it was part of a number of the grants that were
cancelled. Um we did lose one grant from last year of about $122,000. Um but we'll we'll manage. Um what's important to the township is always the high level services that we provide from police, fire, EMS, OEM, health services, waste
disposal, recycling, road maintenance, recreation professional services here with the staff at at town hall and also our professionals. Um, so it's a serviceoriented community and we maintain to keep those services. Um, we're also looking at different shared services. Uh, one of
the big ones is the joint court um, with Madison, Chattam Township, and Chattam Burough and saving several hundred,000 a year on that. We have a number of sewer contracts with neighboring towns. Some we take affluent, others we give affluent. Um but we work on that and as I think many of you know we're working
on looking at all those contracts um this year for updating them and also looking at the sewer fees um for 2026 we have a joint public library with Marstown that's based on a special tax called a third of a mill based on equalized value um and we give our fair
share to that and then the final one the big one is that we have public safety with the county communication center um that provides that along with mutual aid Good evening everyone. Uh Tim asked me to uh slow everything down here. Financial information.
We didn't approve that. But uh yeah, we're just going to get go into some of the key offsets for the 25 2025 budget. Uh one of the areas uh of increases is for the pilots. Um from last year we increased
$111,000. Um mainly from uh the commercial portion of the L project that's 100% occupied now. Uh secondly is an increase in in some licensing permits and fees. That's up about $50,000.
Uh that's mainly due to uh the hotel taxes coming back for the pre pre-COVID uh collections and we're hoping to see that to continue increase until uh we get back to uh pre- pandemic numbers that we were getting in for these. Um
next one is uh we had to decrease the fund balance anticipated uh that's by $91,000. That's to stay within our our fund balance policy. Um, and we were able to increase our investments by 30,000 uh do we were able
to take advantage of some higher interest rates and uh our cash flow to generate some revenues. And finally is our our debt. Uh there's a decrease in uh our bond principle from the retirement of the two
204 or 2014 bond issue of about $1.4 million. Again, reduction is short term. Our financing plan is to issue some new debt in the next next year or two. Um that leads us to our
budget. Uh what we're looking at is a $42 million $898,000 um total budget. Our anticipated revenues are looking to generate from our municipal taxes of 25,200,000
uh miscellaneous revenues of 8.3 million and 6.5 million of fund balance anticipated. Moving to our appropriations, as we discussed, we had some uh challenges this year. Um but come coming in we're uh for salary
salary and wages we're up 702,000 uh that's net of retirements and includes new hires and again we're in our last year of union contracts going forward we do have uh three new headcounts one for police fire and
DPW. Um, for operating expenses, we're up $592,000 and $435,000 is attributable to the health premiums. Uh, statutory expenses are up just under
$400,000. Um, our cap capital bond program, which is our capital improvement fund and a capital outlay, uh, remain the same. That's covers the small projects. There's no debt involved with any of that. And our our debt service is up by $50 just to cover the
bondicipation note interest. That's up to $580,000. Uh for our capital plan, uh staying with our within our debt policy for keeping new authorizations to amounts retired, uh there's 2.8 million that has been
authorized for the capital bond program. Uh that's for major programs which covers our annual overlay and crack sealing uh major reconstruction projects. There's some I guess Delmare, Ridgewood and Bryant are some of the
projects coming up this year and we have Gaston Road overlay and looks like we got Lake Valley Road sidewalk projects that are in place and also some intersection alignment. And finally, it's some covers uh some of our DBW
trucks, which you know are in need of uh you know, a replacement for the year. Um for our capital improvement program, that's money that we've uh have on hand. It requires no debt. Uh we're authorizing
460,000 for some police headquarter improvements. Uh fire equipment that's uh replace some of the breathing tanks. uh general services, sidewalks, storm basin repairs, uh drainage curving, some sewer mapping, and uh some the DPW
access gate. Uh our capital output program which is appropriated in the budget. It's a oneanddone program where yeah, they have a one-year to use the appropriation to fund any of the improvements that they want to do. We're appropriating
188,000 for uh some of the programs which are fire equipment, firehouse improvements, park equipment, and ashtree removal, replacement of the trees in the roadway. Um also this year we allocated some open space trust funds. Um that again is for some
dangerous tree removal um and some tree shrub and metal planting and open space and some smaller open space improvement projects you okay just looking at our property values as we discussed they went up about $21 million
um this year also you'll see that our equalized ratio is going down it's gone down almost five points um that's actually good for our property owners and residents because it means their houses and homes are much more valuable than they were last year. So it's also the equalized ratios what's
used with the other budgets that we have with the school district with the library and with the county of Mars. Um so looking at the property tax for this year um I'm probably very pleased to report
um that for the average homes that are approximately uh $600,000 that the municipal budget is going to go up or the municipal rate is going to go up very small. It's going to be less than 1% on the tax rate. It's
going to be about $25 and change a year. Uh for that on the county tax, um it's going to be flat. We're about five and a half% of the county and um taking a look at that sometimes that we do have a little bit of valuation with the county depending on our equalized ratio and how
that compares with the other municipalities. Uh but the the good news to report um is the school district and we're seeing that ratio um which at one time had been up to be 67% to 33% for township residents paying that that has dropped it dropped significantly last
year. I'm pleased to report that it is dropping again this year. Um last year we were at 6040. This year we're at 58.42. Um overall that's going to mean a drop of about $300 in taxes for the average
Mars Township resident. Um then we're also we're seeing because of the equalized ratio we will see an increase our residents will see uh an increase from uh for the library tax of approximately $19. Um Morris Township on the open
space tax is being raised slightly to raise more money for our open space projects. um that's going to go up $12 from $66 a year to $78 a year. Um so with that, I am pleased to report that it's an overall reduction of about $249
for the homeowner whose home is averaged at um $600,000. And the tax rate is going to drop from just over $2 to about $1.96 per $100 of assessed value.
And just as we split it up, this is where the tax dollar goes. Uh with that change in the ratio with the school, um the school is um now 59 58%, municipal is 24%, county is 15% and the library is
2%. Yeah. And just we've always tracked you know the difference in rate because of the significant impact on the school rate going and what township of share was that. Um as you can see um that is coming down a little bit which is is
good for our residents and our tax uh collector does a terrific job in taking the collection of taxes. Uh we're well over 99%. Um, we have what's called the uncollected tax rate. Um, and we put $3.2 million into
the budget that rolls over every year to stabilize things. So that's at 97.12%. So our ratio of what we're collecting and what we're using as the uncollected tax is is exceptional. All right. It's important to maintain an
adequate fund balance. Uh it's a tool used to protect a township against the unexpected. uh long-standing position for the township is to be fiscally conservative. The position helps preserve our AAA credit rating and
have funds available for any unanticipated events that may arise. Maintaining the adequate fund balance enables the township to have a strong tax rate without significant fluctuations. Uh being physically responsible requires a township to
remain in to maintain an unreserved fund balance of 15 to 20% of appropriations net of the uh reserve for unsolcted taxes and library appropriation. Uh fund balance provides cash flow liquidity for the township's operations. Lack of adequate fund
balance puts the township at a risk of fiscal stretch stress which could result in excess of tax increases. The budget falls within the township's conservative position, maintaining a 17.4 fund 17.4% fund balance for 2025.
Now going to uh fund balance history over the past eight years. You can see we've be able been able to maintain a uh stable fund balance which allows us to uh um keep the taxes at a a consistent
tax rate for the year. And moving on from our current fund to our utilities, we have three utilities that operate within their own budgets. Um, our first utility is our soar utility
and our budget for this year is coming in at 9.592 million for the year. Uh, it's our appropriations are 6.9 million. uh capital appropriations
are 1.675 and our debt appropriations is just over 1 million. Um to support those appropriations, we're anticipating just under 8.6 million in fees, uh miscellaneous revenue of
200,000, and we're anticipating fund balance of 800,000. Uh next is our uh parking utility. Uh the only the only appropriations we have set up for the utility for this year are operating
expenses of $321,000. Uh the utility is debtree. We paid off the last principal payment in 2024 and the um $321,000 of appropriations is supported by the permits and meter fees that we're
pulling in. Um, our swimming pool, we have operations uh appropriations of just under $1.2 million. Uh, we have a capital appropriation of $2,500 and our debt service is just under
$500,000. Um, and again, our in support of those appropriations, our revenues, we're pulling in or we're anticipating $975,000 in uh swimming pool fees. Um there's a band premium that was uh
that's going to help offset our debt expenses for the year. And again, we're still carrying the swimming pool deficit which has been reduced for this year. It's what we down 40 $45,000. And uh that that'll cover all
our utilities. So to wrap it up, the 2025 budget is, you know, basically, you know, we're serviceoriented community, maintaining all of our services, having a capital program uh to maintain our annual road overlay, our crack sealing programs, general services for drainage, curving
sidewalks, um other small road projects, infrastructure improvements, and then purchasing the large item to do those jobs, especially on our Department of Public Works with equipment and trucks. Um the overall municipal tax rate is
less than 1% 93 of 1%. Um I tried to spend more but Mr. Dolan wouldn't let me. Um um so the increase for the average homeowner is going to be $212 a month. Uh which is roughly
$2547 a year. So again, I'm pleased to present to you a very fiscal responsible budget. And as we always look into 2026, again, salary and wage increases are going to be it's also going to be a little bit of a crystal ball for next year's budget
because we'll be in contract negotiations. Um we're hoping that the recycling market stays at being stable. Um that will certainly help us. We're hopeful that our revenue projections will also stay stable as to what we're seeing. Um and hopefully they will, you know, increase too where we can help
offset the appropriations. And as we've spoken quite a bit, we again we're going to be challenged with that appropriations cap next year unless there's some type of relief and certainly if there's a way to push for relief on health care costs that would be uh certainly to the advantage. And every year we always look at, you know,
what is our state aid going to be? Is it going to be stable? Are we going to get any increase um and hopefully not going to go down? What are those health benefits costs? Are they going to be double digits again? And then pension costs, will they stay stable as they have for the past two years? And hopefully the answers to that is
yes. So um with that that would conclude our presentation to the governing body. I'd certainly there open it up to members of the governing yourself and members of the governing body for any questions or comments. And then following that I would request um you open it up for the public for a public
hearing or public discussion if anybody has any uh questions or comments on on the budget. Sure. Absolutely. Any questions or comments from the committee members? I I just want to thank the entire team for this incredible
budget. Seeing how things are are just tightening up, you know, all over the all over the country, all over the state, uh that we can come out of this with a less than 1% tax increase is that's something that's something to crow about. uh that is just incredible
fiscal management and I am just thrilled to be part and live in a town where where things are run so so well. So thank you for all of this and and and to our to our auditor uh well John well done. Thank you
committee manpie. Thank you mayor. Um thank you Mr. Quinn and um Mr. Ferguson for all the hard work that you put in over the past few months. Sean, I think this is your second budget, right, for the township. Um, I know you guys have both worked weekends since December to
put this together and have um sacrificed a lot of your time to make sure we had everything ready to go where some neighboring towns wouldn't introduce their budgets for a few more months uh because they're trying to figure things out still. Um, I think it just demonstrates that the township's prudent
planning when handling our finances have without a doubt lessened our burden on the municipality. uh not only from the wake of the COVID pandemic but also the harsh increases on good and ser goods and services from inflation and then also now the uncertain costs increases from tariffs and other outside factors
in the market. Uh we continue to produce this team continues to produce very reasonable budgets that continues to put investments toward important long-term projects for our residents that they'll benefit and enjoy for decades to come. Um I would be remiss if I didn't mention
um you know the potential opportunities for additional grants. Last year we received 600,000 from the state DOT for grants we hadn't been planning on receiving. That will then help pay for projects we had already budgeted for. Um I'm optimistic that we'll get bud u grants like that in the future. Those
$600,000 will help pay for the community center project and help buy our first senior bus. Um these are things that will help make a difference in our community. Um, as we looked at everything, you know, so much of the money that we budget for is already, you know, earmarked for things for things
that are necessary to make sure we maintain the services. And trying to whittle down an $8 million capital budget request into something much less is very difficult. And when we try to make meaningful contributions and meaningful purchases for our residents, having these grants outside, you know,
from the state doesn't look like we can we can rely on federal grants much anymore for at least four years. But at least having money like this is is super critical to continuing to move our our um you know what we want to do for the township forward and what our overall goals are. Um thank you Valerie and this
for your continued work over the years as our auditor. Um we really appreciate your hard work and I know the staff has nothing but good things to say about you and your team um continuing to provide us great guidance uh throughout all the the issues we've run into over the past three years of outside factors. So thank
you for that. Um but and thank you for the committee for continuing to work hard. I know the department heads put a lot of work into the budget too. Um this is something that we should be proud of. I've mentioned it I think the past three or four budgets, but other towns are raising their municipal rates by a lot
of money. Uh because they relied on federal funds to plug holes in their budgets. They didn't invest that money and they continue to pay for it. Uh and we did not do that here in Mars Township and I'm really proud that we did not do that. uh we didn't plug budgets to try to make it seem like the rates were flat
for political reasons. We just budgeted properly and prudently and I'm glad that's the standard that we have here. So, thank you for everything for all of you. Um and uh thank you, mayor. Thank you. Any other committee members have comments?
Deputy Mayor Greyel. Uh thank you, Mayor. Uh just to reiterate, you know, the the low tax that we have, the rate that we have under 1%. Um still includes in the budget, major infrastructure improvements. Um the whole Delmare
Ridgewood Road reconstruction project is coming, some major overlay projects that are coming. Uh we're still investing in our town significantly uh while we manage our annual budget prudently. So, just want to make sure that we're everybody understands we're
not skimping on anything in order to provide a budget that's so physically responsible. We're still making the investments in our community uh to make it a better place. Thanks. Thank you, Committeeman Janata. Yes. And I'm always impressed by the
last couple years how thorough you are and and your presentations, what you budget and everything. and and when I was working I I was always impressed by the finance people whether I could understand them or not but I'm glad that I can see this and because this is
where things really happen because the federal government whatever it does state governments it always gets the press the media attention but this is where everything happens. is what affects uh people who live in where we
actually live and work. And uh I thank you guys for doing what you're doing and um and keeping our rates low and and also getting our services well done. Thanks. Thank you, Committeeman Janata. And again, just can't thank all three of you
enough. Not only and Sean, great presentation. Hope you weren't nervous. You did a great job. So, um, I also want to thank the department heads. I know how much how hard they work and they come in and they really
do, we're very lucky that, like you said, when they come in, they're very realistic about what they would like to ask for, what they should be asking for, and they work hard to on their own budgets. I also need to thank Committeeman Jory for his financial expertise and he works on the finance
committee and not only does he bring so much to that committee, but he also really champions getting grant money outside, you know. So, we really appreciate that. it it's very helpful and it's kind of always a nice surprise when we're told that you've done
something and now we've really received some more grant money that we weren't expecting as well as the rest of the committee. Just great job all around and the township residents are extremely lucky to have all three of you in place. So, thank you very much. At this time, we will open the
public hearing for any comments from the public on the 2025 municipal budget. Please state your name and if you are a resident or non-resident for the record before speaking. Please note that comments are limited to five minutes per speaker. If you have questions you would
like to ask answered. Your remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this purpose. Is there a motion to open the open the public comment? So move. Is there a second? Second. Are there any
members from the public who would like to speak? Seeing none and seeing no hands raised, is there a motion to close public comment? Some moved. Second. All in favor? I. Mr. Quinn, will you now
read the resolution for adoption into the record? Yes, ma'am. Uh, for your consideration. Thank you. for your consideration. Uh be it resolved by the committee persons of the Tasha Mars County of Mars that the budget herein before set forth is hereby
adopted and shall constitute an appropriation for the purposes stated of the sums therein set forth as appropriations and an authorization of the amount of $25,25,583.85 85 for municipal purposes and $78,871.551 for open space recreation
farmland and historic preservation trust fund levy and 2,294,66 for the minimum library tax. Mayor, I would ask that you ask for a motion to u25 budget. May I have a motion to
approve and adopt the 2025 budget and tax resolution? So move, mayor. Second. Any discussion or questions? Madame Clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Dorphy? Yes. Mr. Gazelle? Yes. Mr. Janata? Yes. Mr. Rabbitz? Emphatic.
Yes. Mayor Grigglia. Yes. Mr. Quinn. Thank you. Uh notice is hereby given that the budget and tax resolution has been approved by the tanch committee of the tanch of Mars County of Mars on April 16, 2025. Thank you very much. Really appreciate
it. Thank you. We have nine ordinances for introduction on tonight's agenda. Madame clerk, please read the title of the first ordinance into the record. Ordinance 11-25, an ordinance of the township of Morris, County of Morris concerning
salaries for non-UN personnel. Note updates salary ranges for non-union personnel. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 11-25? So moved. Second. Any discussion or questions? Madame clerk, may I have a
roll call vote? Mr. Ravitz? Yes. Mr. Gazelle? Yes. Mr. Dorphy? Yes. Mr. Janata? Yes. Mayor Grigglia? Yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of ordinance number 11-25 will be held at the next regular township committee meeting on Wednesday,
May 21st, 2025 at 7 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the next ordinance for introduction into the record. Ordinance 12-25, an ordinance of the Township of Morris amending chapter 460, section 14,
towing and storage charges. Note authorizing an increase to towing and storage fees. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 12-25? So move. Second. Any discussion? Madame clerk, may I have a
roll call vote? Mr. Janata? Yes. Mr. Ravitz? Yes. Mr. Griselle? Yes. Mr. Dorphy? Yes. Mayor Griglia? Yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of ordinance number 12-25 will be held at the next regular township committee meeting on Wednesday,
May 21st, 2025 at 7 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction. Ordinance 13-25, bond ordinance providing for various capital improvements by the township of Morris appropriating the
aggregated amount of 3,562,486. Therefore, including grants in the aggregated amount of $648,436 expected to be received from the state of New Jersey Department of Transportation and authorizing the issuance of
2,768 I'm sorry, two 2,768,347 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof. Note capital program for debt projects. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 13-25?
So moved. Second. Any discussion? Madame clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Dory? Yes. Mr. Janata? Yes. Mr. Griselle? Yes. Mr. Ravitz? Yes. Mayor Griglia? Yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of ordinance number 13-25 will be held at
the next regular township committee meeting on Wednesday, May 21st at 700 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction. Ordinance 14-25, bond ordinance providing for swimming pool improvements by the
township of Morris appropriating $241,000. Therefore, and authorizing the issuance of $228,950 bonds or notes of the township to finance parts of the cost thereof. Note, capital program for swim pool debt
projects. Please be advised that ordinance 14-25 as it originally advertised for introduction contained a minor error. A revised version of the ordinance will be presented and our township attorney will
provide clarification of the change. The township committee will then consider and vote on an amendment to correct the ordinance. So, thank you, m. So, uh I reviewed this with Mr. Quinn and given that it was a
typo and it wasn't uh it was a basically a serial typo uh a um an amended ordinance or a revised ordinance hadn't been circulated to the committee prior to this meeting. So no amendment will be required. Uh it was simply on section
three little a um it said purchase an installation of a new playground and it should have been I'll defer to Mr. Quinn on his handwriting, but pipe replacement. It's a instead of an out of out of the pool amenity, it's an in pool amenity.
Okay. So, it it's not going to require any type of motion. So, amen. You can you can introduce it as circulated prior to the meeting. It's just to advise the public that they had seen it before the meeting that it's different than what was okay. Package. So, we're not amending. Correct. May I have a motion to
introduce ordinance number 14-25? So moved. Seconded. Any discussion? Madam clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Ravitz? Yes. Mr. Dorphy? Yes. Mr. Gazelle? Yes. Mr. Janata? Yes. Mayor Griia? Yes. The public hearing and final
consideration and adoption of ordinance number 14-25 will be held at the next township committee meeting on Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 at 7 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction.
Ordinance 15-25, bond ordinance providing for various sewer capital improvements by the township of Morris appropriating the aggregated amount of 2,32,500. Therefore, and authorizing the issuance of
2,17,375 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof. Note sewer capital fund balance projects. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 15-25? So move second. Any discussion? Madame
clerk, a roll call vote, please. Mr. Janata, yes. Mr. Gazelle, yes. Mr. Dory, Mr. Rabbitz, yes. Mayor Griglio, yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of ordinance number 15-25 will be held at the next regular
township committee meeting on Wednesday, May 21st at 7 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the next ordin ordinance into the record for introduction. Ordinance 16-25, ordinance appropriating
$460,600 available in the general capital improvement fund to provide for various capital improvements by the township of Morris. Note capital program for capital fund balance projects. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 16-25?
So move second. Madame clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Dorphy, yes. Mr. Griselle, yes. Mr. Janata, yes. Mr. Ravitz, yes. Mayor Grigglia, yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of ordinance number 16-25 will be held at the next regular
township committee meeting on Wednesday, May 21st at 7 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction. 17-25 ordinance appropriating $1,560,50 available in the sewer utility
capital improvements fund to provide for various capital improvements by the township of Morris. Note sewer improvement using sewer utility capital funds fund. I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 17-25. So move second. Any discussion?
Madame clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Janata? Yes, Mr. Griselle. Yes, Mr. Dorphy. Yes, Mr. Ravitz. Yes, Mayor Griglia. Yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of ordinance number 17-25 will be held at the next regular township committee
meeting on Wednesday, May 21st at 7 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction. 18-25 ordinance appropriating $100,000 available in the parking utility capital improvement fund to provide for security
camera improvements for the convent train station parking area by the township of Morris. Note fund security camera upgrade at convent train station. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 18-25? So moved.
Second. Any discussion? I would just like to note um in addition to security cameras, this will be for emergency call boxes as well uh and throughout the parking lot in certain areas for safety of patrons. Thank you, Madame Clerk. May I have a
roll call vote? Mr. Dorphy, yes. Mr. Ravitz, yes. Mr. Gazelle, yes. Mr. Janata, yes. Mayor Grigley, yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of ordinance number 18-25 will be held at the next regular township committee meeting on Wednesday,
May 21st at 700 p.m. Madame Clerk, please read the title of the last ordinance into the record for introduction. 19-25 ordinance appropriating $314,500 available in the open space
trust fund to provide for various open space improvements by the township of Morris. Note fund funds open space improvements through the open space trust fund. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 19-25?
So moved. Second. Any discussion? Madame clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Dorphy? Yes. Mr. Rabbitz. Yes. Mr. Gazelle. Yes. Mr. Janata. Yes. Mayor Grigglia. Yes. The public hearing and final consideration and adoption of
ordinance number 19-25 will be held at the next regular township committee meeting on May 21st, 2025 at 7 p.m. We have 10 resolutions on tonight's agenda. May I have a motion to approve resolution numbers 104-25 through
113-25 by one motion? Some move. Second. Madame clerk, may I have a roll call vote? Mr. Griselle? Yes. Mr. Janata? Yes. Mr. Dorphy? Yes. Mr. Rabbitz? Yes. Mayor Grigley? Yes. We have four items on the consent calendar this evening.
Can I have a motion to approve the items on the consent calendar by one motion? So move. Second. All in favor? I. Consideration of monthly reports. The following reports are on file in the office of the township clerk and
township administrator. February 2025, fire and police. March 2025, Tax Collector and Marstown, Morris Township Library. Can I have a motion to approve the monthly reports? So moved. Second. All in favor?
Claims for payment. The total amount of bills and vouchers for this meeting is $12,767,469.35. We are also the tax collector for the school district, the library, and the county. May I have a motion to approve the list of bills and vouchers? So moved. Second. Madame Clerk, may I have
a roll call vote? Mr. Dury, yes. Mr. Griselle, yes. Mr. Janata, yes. Mr. Ravitz, yes. Mayor Greglia, yes. We have received for the record the 2024 Board of Adjustment annual report and 13 tax
appeals. At this time, standing committee reports and general commentary will be provided by each township committee member. We'll start with committeeman Janata. Thank you, Mayor. So, first I wanted to thank the Tim Quinn and the finance team for the
thorough budget presentation because how we saw it shows how our revenues are being well spent. And I thank again Betty Simmons for her tax presentation for the bikewalk and roll plan. And I hope we can implement it since I see the benefits of making the town more
accessible for pedestrians and cyclists and now also people who go by scooters. And as the mayor mentioned, TAC has Morris Township in motion set to begin
in May and we're going to have bike tours and uh and walking tours. The guides are off are will be members of of tech and but they'll also include other groups other volunteers as well. And in
terms of uh environmental commission and green team, the green team has received initial feedback on the sustainable jersey submissions and are in the midst of updating them to be in compliance and receive the bronze level once again. Also, the Great Swamp Wershed Association is currently running its
annual native plant sale, which I think will end this weekend. It is part of the larger going native trend in landscaping. And f and the showing of the American River film about the Payic River Journey by Kayak will be shown tomorrow at the Morris County Library,
April 17th at 6 PM. It's hosted by the director Scott Morris who if if you know he made the well-known documentary about how the great swamp was saved from becoming an airport. And as mentioned
earlier, Earth Day is on April 22nd in Morris Township will kick off its adopted drain program. Volunteers can register and take care of storm drains in in town and registration can be found at the township website. And there are a
number of holy days that were took place in the last month or so. We are right now in the midst of both Jewish Passover and the Christian Holy Week that ends with Easter. And in terms of the the Christians, it's both western it's both
western Easter and Orthodox Easter. Sometimes they don't overlap, but this time they did. And last month for the whole month of March was the Muslim holy day of Ramadan and which ended with the feast of id. And in other religions,
Hindus celebrated the colorful holiday of holi which I must tell you if you're wearing white be sure that u to know that you cannot rub off the the ka the colors that you that you get. I found that out the hard way. and Sikhs and
among others commemorate the the holiday of Bisaki and Hindus in the southeastern region in which is my part of the country have celebrated the regional new year called Ugadi and uh all these holidays are
celebrated around the world around this country and locally it shows the diversity tolerance and respect found in our community and shows how people can get along and it's part of what the United States is supposed to represent. for the
world. And I must also add on April 18th, this Friday, is the first commemoration of our nation's 250th birthday with the two of by sea commemoration which commemorates the midnight ride of Paul Rivere and his
warning to the Massachusetts colonists that the British red coats were on their way to conquer the to the armory at conquered Massachusetts. This led to the battles of Lexington Concord and the shot herd around the world which began the American
Revolution. Now mind you, Paul Rivere was actually caught during his ride and that there were other there were a couple of other more successful writers who warned the colonist later called the minute men and but River's legend had grown grown mostly because of the famous
poem by Henry Wadssworth Longfellow which is an example of the dictim of when the legend becomes fact print the legend and now I'll also And of this time, I'm not going to talk locally, but I'm going to talk about general color current
affairs. As a student of history and current affairs, I have been paying attention and shocked attention to the news of the past few months and how it would be crazy for me and others to think that things are going off the rails. Many long-h held beliefs and
institutions are being upended and the future is completely unknown, possibly even by the perpetrators of this chaos. The fact is that much of the infrastructure that makes up the federal government and its policies and institutions were founded to resolve the
problems and tragedies of the past. I am in the midst of writing a larger piece, but I will just relay a few cases off off of my list. There is a reason why we have freedom of speech and freedom of the press. There is a reason why we have
freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. There is a reason why we have birthright citizenship. There is a reason why we have a civil service. A president was actually assassinated because of it. There is a reason why we have the Department of the Interior and the
National Park Service. There is a reason why we have the National Archives. There is a reason why we have the Veterans Administration. There is a reason why we have a Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC.
There is a reason why we have immigration and naturalization. And there is a reason why we have or had free trade policies and agreements. This lists can certainly be expanded and I will and each one will be given an explanation just not right
now. This was an just an illustration of what is at stake when these programs and institutions are upended without any thought or foresight. This also shows the importance of knowing and understanding our past. Each item has a problematic and often tragic story
behind it. This is why it is important to know this past so we should not repeat it again. But apparently these lessons will now have to be learned relearned the hard way. And the ghosts of the tragic side of our history will come back once again. If that is what it
takes, then so be it. I just wish many of us had remembered the past and continued those lessons to prevent the tragedies that are sure to come. This is one of the reasons why I personally study history in all of its facets and why will why we'll continue to pass this
knowledge until hopefully people will remember and learn. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Committee Committeeman Janata. And from all of us, please wish your mom a very happy 85th birthday. Thank you, Mr. Jory. Uh, thank you,
Mayor. Just wanted to provide two updates in Parks and Wreck, which I might need some help from Mr. Quinn on. U number one, for Collinsville Playground, Tucker Field reconstruction project. Um, I know residents have been communicated to recently and we'll get a more official communication and a sign's going to go up tomorrow, but um, we ran
into some, uh, I guess hiccups along the way of continuing the work. Uh, and that is in terms of soil testing and traces of um, potentially harmful chemicals in the soil that now require us to follow D
guidelines. So, Mr. Quinn, are you able to provide just some additional background? uh where we're at. Yes. As part of our um grant that we have with Green Acres, we had to do some soil plant sampling. Um in the area of the basketball court, it came back for a
chemical called benzoine, which is from when the school was originally demolished there. Um the levels are not excessive in um which it can be we feel can be remediated. So we have an LSRP. Um just yesterday we got
the final approval from Green Acres for RSRP to go through with the just additional testing that is needed so we can determine what the remediation is. It's probably going to be removal of some soil or capping of certain areas. Um we think in the area of the basketball court, but we'll know that um
once we get those next set of tests back. Um the second item that we have is um we were able to locate a underground storage tank that was there from the school. Um, it looks to be a 30,000galon uh oil tank that was there. Uh, the good
news on that is when we opened it up and we tested it, there was no oil in it. So, we're hopeful that it's not a leak. We're going through the process right now of registering it uh with the state, which is required and then removing the tank and then doing the soil testing underneath the tank to ensure that
there's no um other leaks or if there's any contamination to start that process to remove that. So, um, right now until we can get those items, uh, rectified, the can't move any of the dirt that's currently there for the
project. However, the contractor is going to be working over um on the Tucker Field site um, and they started that work uh again earlier this week. So, that will continue until we can get back in full swing on the rest of the project. Thank you, Mr. Quinn. Yeah. And
um obviously the township is um frustrated by these developments, but um you know, while it's while we're seeing delays, it's we're doing the right thing and we're going to remediate whatever we have to uh to make sure that um the
playground is up to all environmental standards and is safe for the families who will be utilizing uh the facility. So, um, just I would just ask residents to keep in mind we have D requirements we have to stick to. So, for one
example, once our sign goes up, we have to wait 10 days before work can start. And I know there's going to be other things like that too down the road potentially. So, uh, we just ask for patience. The funding is there, the commitment is there, the project will get done. Uh, but we're just going to have to wait a little bit more time
until further tests are conducted. and we will be sending out a a resident notice to the residents that live within 400 ft of um the park, you know, what the issue is and what we're doing to remediate the the concern. Thank you, Mr. Quen, and thank you for your all
your hard work and along with Mr. Fulch and uh working with the consultants to get everything done properly and working with the state, which isn't always um quick to respond to us. Um the other update I I did have and we'll have more for next month was that
is that the surveying work that we hired the consult engineering firm for the community center project uh the initial work is complete and they're going to give us a readout of a report tomorrow. Um so that work continues to be done. They surveyed the whole building and
they've given us a comprehensive look at the state of the building and the facilities and what uh the resources we have there currently and what we have to think about down the road when we're going to start building out the project. So um I know we'll have more information there. I don't know if Mr. you want to
promote? We are the company RSC architects is also going to present to the governing body on May 21st with the the results of uh the recommendations and then at that point you know the governing body for consideration for to begin the design work the funding for
that is in the this year's capital budget. That's great. Thank you Mr. Quinn. So, um I will say with recent developments in DC, our opportunities for federal funding um pretty much just went out the window for the next four
years, especially if um Congress decides to dilute um measures from the inflation reduction act and the bar bipartisan infrastructure bill, which we may have qualified for improvements, whether it's for paying for HVAC systems or more
sustainable energy sourc. for the building or environmental work, making sure it's as low impact to the environment as possible um we can't rely on any funding uh at all. You know, I think our the governing body probably would have moved
forward with hiring grant consultants to help us work with the federal agencies to try to find opportunities for funding. Um quite frankly, all those departments are probably gutted and there's no one to talk to anymore. Uh so we're going to have to rely on other funding sources to help pay for this. Um
the township has committed resources for this. Uh we are getting state funding to help pay for this, but um unfortunately this is probably going to extend our time window on getting this project completed. So thank you, mayor, for the time. On that on that bright note, I'll turn it back to bright note. Thank you,
Committee Jory. Committeeman Rabbits. Oh, how do I follow up on that one? All right. Good evening, everybody. Thanks for those who who are staying and and for your participation in in local government whether you're here in person or you
know watching on Zoom or watching the recording at a later date. Thank you for watching. National news does get all the spotlight. Um but I'll still say it's what we do here locally that have the that should have the biggest impact on your lives. And and I use that word
should um in quotes because I don't know anymore. I don't really have any standing committee updates really uh for this this point in time. I I do want to mention um that the foundation of our our nation
um is the unwritten rule that we all follow the law um even ones we disagree with because we have the ability to change them and that's how democracy works. that a legal resident can be kidnapped off the street, denied due
process, and sent to a foreign concentration camp because someone declares him, without a shred of evidence, to be a terrorist. The Declaration of Independence cites 27 grievances against King George III, of
which uh three of those benefits are those grievances were uh trial by jury, transporting residents beyond the sea to be tried elsewhere, and for basically abolishing the free system of English
laws. Due process was the underpinning of the Revolutionary War. Due process applies to every person within the borders of the United States of America. If a government can snatch a person off the street and ship them off to a foreign concentration camp on meritless
charges without there being due process or having a trial with appeal, then any one of us can be declared a terrorist and suffer the same fate. Any one of us. We must resist lawlessness at every
level. It is our duty as Americans to do just that because America, we are better than that. What we'll do now, what we do now re will resonate into the f into future history. We must reject lawlessness and
secure for ourselves and our posterity a future in a land where government is of, by, and for the people. And switching gears, Mars Township's second annual Pridefest is scheduled for Sunday, June
8th from 11:00 a.m. to 2 pm. There'll be a DJ and other entertainment for families. As always with Mars Township, all are welcome. Our theme this year is going to be unity and community. Allied groups or organizations or other vendors
wishing um a presence are welcome. Contact us for details. And lastly, as you go about your day, remember to be kind. Be kind to yourself, kind to others, because kindness in this world is going to make a big difference in
somebody's life. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Gil. Nope. Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Deputy Mayor Greel. Sorry, Jeff. Jeff, you lost your turn. We're gonna go to Donna now. Yeah. Why?
Uh thank you. Um as a member of as a member of the green team along with Mr. Janada, um I would like to thank the entire team for the hard work that they have done to get us reertified as bronze level and we are all working very hard
to get us to the next level which is a silver certification. Um so again uh another group of people working hard to another group of volunteers working hard to make the municipality uh better for all of us. Um I want to thank TAC again uh Betty Simmons for making her
presentation tonight and the work that that team is doing uh bringing together all of the the thought process that we've had over the past I say it again 15 years. It's it's really hard to believe that it's finally coming together um along with the investment
that this township committee is making in the infrastructure in this town to make it a reality. Um so thank you to everybody on attack for all your hard work and again for making our town better for all of the rest of our residents. I want to congratulate uh the
finance team on a wonderful job uh putting together the budget. Uh Mayor Griglia, uh Mr. JY, Mr. Quinn, and our CFO Sean. Uh, fantastic job in pulling that together in what year after year becomes tougher and tougher uh,
increases to digest. Um, but we still find a way to do it while still increasing our investment in the community um, in infrastructure. So, amazing budget and thank you everybody for that hard work. I want to congratulate Dave Hansen, our engineer,
on his retirement. We had a little party for him today and tomorrow is his last day after 18 years of work here at Morris Township. Um I remarked at the party today that I'm just amazed that the longevity of so many of the
employees in our town. They've been here a long time. Jim Slate just retired after what 20 something 20 close to 25 25 years I was going to say uh years of service. um as our primary engineer, J
uh Dave Hansen was our secondary engineer. Um and people stick around a really long time here because I think it's a great place to work and we have a great community to support. So, thank you Dave for all your years of service. And on our agenda tonight, we had a
resolution appointing Aaron Dy um as our uh violations officer. Assistant zoning officer. Uh zoning officer. There we go. assistant zoning officer who's in charge of violations, right? Property violations. Um, but I wanted to congratulate Aaron on um the
increase in responsibility and we look forward to working with her um as she transitions into uh that new role. I also want to welcome Joe Beach who's our incoming engineer, our incoming primary engineer who is starting his job on
Monday. So, we look forward to working with him and transitioning uh to working with him. uh the mayor and I interviewed him and we think he's going to be a fantastic match for this town and he lives in the adjoining community of um so he's got a vested interest uh
personally in making sure that our town uh is run well. Uh Mr. John mentioned all the holidays that we are experiencing currently and over the past few weeks. I don't want to mention them all again, but I do want to acknowledge
them and I want to wish my brothers and sisters and all the other faiths that have been celebrating. Um I hope that they had a meaningful holiday celebration. Um for those that are currently celebrating uh the Jewish faith of Passover, um I wish everybody a
good Passover holiday and for our Christian friends uh a very best wishes for a happy Easter. Um, and I think that covers everything. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. I've said this before. I kind of love it. By the
time it gets to the mayor, the other committee members have you can I'm crossing off things that everybody said and it as we go down the line, the last person even picks up a couple of the last things like I thought, oh, I'll be able to. So very quickly um I just want
to talk a little bit about um on the economic development advisory committee. We have met and we continue to work towards uh a collaboration with the New Jersey economic development agency. EDAC is also an important collaborator as we
work out our affordable housing plan and what the township is going to look like for the future. They continue to work really hard. and on the senior citizens advisory committee. Um they're working on a health fair that will take place in the fall and they are actively they have
a small group that's actively going to other municipalities community centers and they're getting plans together to share with us when we do sit down with different stakeholders on what they would like to see in our new community
center. On May 3rd, which is a Saturday, from 10:00 to 12:00, it's the coffee with the mayor. This will be held at the Fairchild Firehouse. And on May 14th, the information isn't really out yet, but we have confirmed um at 7 p.m. we
are doing a distracted driving presentation here at Town Hall and we're doing it with Marstown. So, um the presenter is Pam O'Donnell. She's from Catch You Later Foundation and she works with the New Jersey State Police as well
as other municipalities throughout the state to educate drivers and help save lives. We urge you to attend and especially to bring new young drivers to this event. There'll be more information coming out shortly. I would
um like I said, I think everything else here has already been said. So, I too am just going to say that for those of you continuing to celebrate Passover this week and to those celebrating Easter, may all the peace and blessings of the spring highlight your celebrations.
Amen. At this time, there are currently four members of the public joining us via Zoom and two in person. We will open the meeting to public comment. We'll first take comments from in-person attendees and then switch over to Zoom. Please use the raise your hand feature in Zoom if you would like to speak.
Please state your name and if you are a resident or non-resident for the record before speaking. Please note that comments are limited to five minutes per speaker. If you have questions you would like answered. Your remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this purpose. Is there a motion to open
public comment? Some move. Second. All in favor? I. Anyone here from the public? I'm um Betty Simmons and I am a township resident in the Collinsville section on Highland Avenue. Um uh Committeeman Gory, thank you so very much for giving
us that update. We all have been um in eager anticipation of the completion of the Collinsville project and we're quite distressed to hear that there were the environmental issues. I do have one um final question for either you or Mr. Quinn. Um, I believe that part of the
project was funded by federal funds. Do we believe that those funds are still secure or in light of what's happening in DC that those funds are at risk and the township will then have to make up the difference? Um I know um Congresswoman Cheryl's office is
optimistic about the funds because the argument is that both party both members of both parties have capital or community project funding that um so there's a vested interest in both parties to make sure that that funding is not tapped. However, I have
absolutely zero faith in what's happening in Washington, especially from the executive branch, and I would not be shocked if certain party dis certain districts are afforded that money and certain districts are not. Um, as we've described, um, the administration does not care about the law. It does not care
about the legislative branch. I used to work for the legislative branch. I'm just astonished by what's happening and the indifference of members of Congress uh, these days. So, um, the good news is we have a robust open space trust fund. If we need to pay for the $500,000 we
lose from HUD, we will do it. Um, the other thing that to consider, too, is again, HUD is being gutted. So, we may it may take a lot longer to get the money. Um, and um, our congresswoman,
our senators are part of the minority party in Congress. Um, so I don't they might not be able to help us out very much. Currently, Congress is working on a new tax bill. They are not taking input, whatever, from the other party.
They're only working within their own party to craft a tax bill that will impact every single American. So, long story short, uh, we hope we still get it. I am optimistic about it. However, if the worst case scenario happens, we
will make sure uh we we pay for it. And I'm sure down the road they'll try to recoup the losses for for some of these projects, but we're optimistic about it. I'm told that they're trying to put more projects in for this year's federal budget. I'll tell them good luck with that. But um that's where we're at. I
don't know if Tim I have a little bit of a I will I thought it positive. Um, our grant was transferred from Washington DC to Newark and we have a very responsive representative from HUD
which I am working on some other projects and we can't get a hold of anybody from HUD and once this project got transferred he was all we got to have a meeting we got to have a meeting have a meeting and we had a meeting it was a very good meeting so does he have access to the bank account at I don't know that's in Washington I just I was I
was, as I say, pleasantly surprised as to um them reaching out directly once the grant was it was some weird office of HUD. So, had nothing to do with what our grant was, but maybe they're splitting up the work, but um he was
there. He's been working with our grant manager analysts to get our reports and everything in directly to him. So, um fingers crossed by this said stroke of the pen, we could lose that money very easily. Sure. Well, we greatly appreciate speaking from
myself as a member of that community. Greatly appreciate your support, your perseverance with that because it's just going to be a phenomenal facility for our community. Um, and one final comment if I I may, mayor. Um, I've had the opportunity to watch a couple of videos
of the township committee over the past couple of months. um in particular as a result of my my work with Committeeman Gory and Committeeman Rabbitz um on the the cannabis advisory committee and I was struck and I did have a conversation with with the mayor. I was struck um by
how steadfast you all are in paying attention to the voices of the community members and I I want to appreciate you all um especially during this time when uh kindness as you say committeeman rabbits is very hard to come by. Um I had the opportunity two weeks ago to go
to a um school presentation at the PC school and I was truly moved by the civic-mindedness of the the kids in that school and one of the uh statements that I heard from a child I'm I'm going to um recite to you all because I think it's very apppropole for the comments that
you all have made this evening and I want you all to know how much I appreciate the work that you do on behalf of the residents of the township of Mars. Um it's um a quote by uh Kretta Scott King and the quote is the greatness of a community is more
accurately measured by the compassionate actions of the members of that community. You all are very compassionate in your work and it is greatly appreciated. So thank you all very much and keep doing the good work for the residents of the township of Mars. Thank you so much for those kind words. Thank you so much Betty. We can't
thank you enough too and how and and I hope you feel how much we appreciate you and all that you do. And I will say and again I can't guarantee when we will get the Collinsville project done and open and everyone will be able to bike, walk
and roll to Collinsvilles. I promise you that. Uh anyone else? I see no hands raised on Zoom. Is there a motion to close public comment? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All in favor?
The time is now 9:00. Can I have a motion to adjourn the regular session? So moved. So moved. All in favor? I the next regular the next the the next regular township committee
meeting is m Wednesday May 21st 2025 at 7 p.m. The regular meeting at 5:00 p.m. in the municipal the for closed session in the municipal building 50 Woodland Avenue the regular meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Thank you and have a great night.