Yeah, right. >> Thank you for coming to this public meeting of the mayor and council. At this time, I would ask everyone to please rise for a moment of silent prayer and or reflection as we think about the Clansancy family in Milford. Chief Brian Clancy's mother passed away
last week. Please hold the flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Before we start, please note
the fire exits behind you into the main parking lot. To my left, your right into the main hallway. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and attend any meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest to discuss their active. In
accordance with this act, the mayor and council of the Burough of New Milford have closed notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, place thereof posted in the burough hall. Notices have been sent to the record in the Ridgewood News and posted on the burrow website. The mission of this governing body is
provide essential services for the establishment and implementation of a policy that will safeguard the infrastructure. Provide fair, honest, courteous and professional services, establish a sense of trust and accomplishment between all residents and through research and proven planning. Seek to minimize risks while improving
our services. We are sensitive to the needs and satisfaction of our taxpayers while realizing that this governing body cannot be all things to all people within the revenue constraints imposed by state mandates, economic conditions, and prevailing attitudes about taxation. At this time, I would ask the clerk to please call the role.
>> Councilman Stan >> here, >> Councilman Zner, Councilwoman Duffy >> here. >> Councilman Groski >> here. >> Council President Seymour >> here. >> Councilwoman Grant >> here. >> Mayor Patino >> here.
Okay, first item on our agenda is a presentation from the Environmental Energy Commission for Logit's Community Energy Plan. Councilwoman Sanen, you want to take it from here and let us know who's participating and what we're >> Yes. What I would like to do first uh because I can't see the audience, I'm
going to speak from the podium and I'm going to invite uh mayor and council to while I move to also move down so they can see the uh see the presentation. >> Whoever would like to sit in the front row. Another All
right. Thank you everybody for being here this evening for the uh public presentation to the mayor and council and to the public from the uh new Milford Environmental and Energy Commission. That's a really big mouthful to say. So you'll be hearing the first
time as the EC from now on. I try not to overdo it with uh with abbreviations just so that it makes everything easier to understand. Uh the environment the EC has been working really hard for like the last 18 months almost two years on
this community energy plan and this was a grant from the uh Burman public utilities and sustainable Jersey. And I'm very happy to uh share with you that Tracy Woods is here from sustainable Jersey. She's an energy expert and this
answer questions and we appreciate all of the technical support and all of the information and education from sustainable Jersey uh mun small municipalities across the state especially small ones like ours can't
get as much done without the support. Uh you'll also be hearing from Amanda Neslet. She is our consultant that the EC decided to work with to work on this project. The outcome is a 90page document
that is available online in draft form for people to refer to and uh so Amanda will be going giving a broad overview 90 she will not be going through every 90 page as we would be here only. So what
we're going to do, our goal is to have a 20 minute uh presentation including Q&A and I have uh members of the environmental energy commission are here with us and I'm going to call the chairwoman up to introduce everyone and
come on I'm going to pass the mic pass the mic and say thank you very much the uh and as the leaison to the I just want to say we're really proud of this group and how hard they've worked on this project and I've really watched
them grow a lot this over the couple years. Thanks for having me everybody. Thanks for having us. Um we just wanted to share a little bit of the work we've been doing for this presentation on this grant. Um I'd like to first acknowledge
the members of the commission who have worked so hard on this. So uh present today we have longterm member board from industry golden Molly Jonathan Davis. So thank you and also like to acknowledge
King and Zach Kay who is no longer with us but was with us when we started this grant. Okay, so this grant problem has been a process we decided to take on this project because energy costs are spiraling and many of the methods that we use to generate power are not um
economically or environmentally sustainable. So we applied for and were lucky enough to receive the grant. The grant um uh template that we have been working identifies a series of actions that we can take that are grouped under certain
categories and there are different strategies that we can opt to um enact. So after a lot of research and pulling together of information that already existed, we have windowed that list down to the series of strategies and actions
that we decided the milk would best be able to achieve in a 3 to five year window and perhaps a 5 to 10 year window as well. So we've um prioritized those strategies and we'll be putting together the plan for approval and your feedback.
be happy to answer any questions you have later on. Um, but after we did our research and selected our priorities, we recognized our lack of experience and we decided to hire a member uh to help us actually put the grant together. So, I'd
like to at this point uh introduce Amanda. She is the founder and CEO of Inlet Envision Green, which is a well-known company designed to help um governments design and achieve their sustainability goals. Amen. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Um my name is Amanda. I'm with Envision Green. I thank you very much for trusting me uh with helping me put together this community energy plan. I want to start off by saying that um I have had a great time
working with chairwoman Lynn Torpy and Councilwoman L uh Lisa San Houston. Um and I think you'll agree that a lot of effort has been put into um this plan. So I'm excited to present it to you tonight and happy to answer any questions.
Um, so the exciting part about this plan is that it is fully funded thanks to Sustainable Jersey in partnership with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. And all of the actions that you're going to see here tonight have dozens of different people that can help
you achieve all of those goals. You're not doing this alone as a municipality. Um, okay. So, we can go to the next slide, please. Thank you, John. Okay. just to kind of give you an overview of where we have come from and where we are now. Um, you know, New Milk really
understands the the benefits of having an energy plan in place. It's really hard to achieve your goals if you don't have a plan that all department heads um can um align with. And so we're at the point now where we have identified the actions that are most important. first
reviewing energy data that was given to us compiled um uh from sustainable Jersey. We received that energy data from all different types types of organizations from your local utility, from the department of energy, from census data. Um and so New Milford honed
in on the actions that they think was most appropriate, most achievable with low c low cost and high impact to the community. The next step is really to gather the feedback that we hear uh here tonight um and to finalize that plan so
the mayor and council can adopt it. And then phase six is implementation which is going to be the really exciting and fun part of this plan. Up next, please. Thank you. Okay, so this is not to overwhelm you, but I want to show you that there are 41 different actions that you can include in a community energy
plan that Sustainable Jersey suggested to put in a plan because they know over the last, I don't know, 20 years now that they've been around what is achievable, what municipalities care about, and what really could impact a community in the right way. And so out
of these 41 actions, New Moford has chosen at this point 27 of them. And um they are all in all six of the strategies that are uh visible there. You will see that strategy 5 is not up. You're not uh you are counting correctly
and so can I. But uh strategy 5 is very is for a very specific uh few municipalities in the state of New Jersey that um manage their own energy grid which is not the case here in New Milford. So um all of the actions that are in bold are the ones that are
included in the plan and in the plan you will see that they are prioritized. There's a description about it. There's current status about the history of that um action if there is any in New Milford as well as resources available to help you achieve that goal and any kind of
funding availability that exists. So you can go to the next slide John. Thank you. Okay. So I mentioned there was a bunch of data. There's a lot of it in the plan, but the the couple of things that I'd like for you to see before we move on is that a majority of the greenhouse gas emissions in New Milford
comes from on-road vehicles. And greenhouse gases are, as you know, things like carbon dioxide, methane, um nitrous oxide as well as sulfuric oxide, um which we know causes acid rain. All of these things um actually, you know,
uh you know, they don't improve our air quality, of course. And so, um, we want to tackle on-road vehicles in New Milford in particular, and I'll go over this in a bit. Um, your on-road vehicles are basically commuters. And so, that's a great opportunity for us to reach out
to residents to help them understand how to trans transition to an electric vehicle or how to use public transit. Um, and then the other slide here, sorry, the other uh graph here, we have um the amount of electricity purchased by the municipality. So when I say
municipality, I'm also not I'm not including just residents um in this green section here that says residential electricity. It also includes things like schools, the faith community, as well as municipal operations. And so you'll see here that
a significant portion of the electricity purchased by the municipality is from the residential sector. And so that tells us that we need to aim for the goals that actually really you know um help to reduce the energy uh usage and emissions from the residential sector in
um you know in New Milford. Um there is a small section obviously here that does point to the commercial sector also using electricity and they are not completely off the hook of course um they do come in to play in in a couple of the strategies that we have but wanted to show you that residents really
here are where we can tackle um the most big bang for our book. Thank you John. Next slide. Okay so the first strategy here is to reduce energy consumption and emissions in the transportation sector. And like I said in the milford we have a lot of commuters about 63% if I can see
that from here um is uh our commuters and about um 12% I got my slide here is um yeah 14% work from home and 10.9% 11%
actually carpool less than 8% of new milford takes public transit. Okay. So, that means that we're going to be really focusing in on how to um maybe improve it. So, I'll I'll describe that in a second, but also to make sure that the
public has the right information about how to transition to an electric vehicle. I also want to point out here that out of the 10,000 vehicles that are on the road in the Milford, about 4.59% are electric, which is actually pretty
good because if you look at the overall Bergen County um percentage of vehicles that are electric, it's 2.5%. So you're doing double the um you know what what Bergen County is um doing. So we can go to strategy one. Okay. So, um the ones
that are in bold are the ones that I will describe because I don't have time to go through every single action, but these are the ones that actually made it to the plan. Um the bold are the ones that I think are most interesting to the council and to the public. Um so, one of the initiatives that Melford is tackling
for this plan is to improve municipal fleet efficiency. The green team has actually already compiled a fleet inventory, which is actually a a mammoth task actually in a in a in a municipality. um they're going to be taking that data and inputting it into
Sustainable Jerseys fleet efficiency software, Excel spreadsheet basically. And what it's going to do is share with the municipality all the different ways that you can reduce uh or improve, I'm sorry, your fleet efficiency. And sometimes it doesn't just mean adding an EV to your fleet whenever you need a new
vehicle. It could mean retiring older vehicles that maybe aren't used as much and have high maintenance fees or maybe even um using a different vehicle for the service that it's, you know, being used right now because it'll work more efficiently. So, that's an exciting project. Another is installing P uh
public EV charging infrastructure. New Milford already has three public charging stations. There's two of them that are online now and I think one that will be very very soon. Um, but New Milford is very interested in surveying the public and seeing if there is
interest in having more public EV charging stations in parks and maybe even by municipal um buildings. The next slide, please. Okay, so strategy 2 is all about putting renewable energy in your municipality on your in your energy
grid. And what's really exciting about New Milford is that there's a great opportunity here for solar energy. Uh, more than I've seen for a lot of other towns actually. So, what you'll see here on the left is um all those little green dots. That means there's a lot of capacity, high capacity in your energy
grid to introduce solar projects, which is something that um New Orleans is already looking at, which is exciting. And then I have here on the right another opportunity to um bring solar energy to Bergen County, which is through community solar projects, which
is an opportunity to have a solar project maybe offsite if it doesn't fit here in New Milford. um a large solar project which residents can actually subscribe to and have a cheaper energy rate than the utility is charging them uh which is a really exciting
opportunity and lots of municipalities are looking at how to do this. So what is New Melford interested in? Uh next slide please. So you have all these uh different initiatives but the ones I want to point out is uh 2.5 which is install on-site municipal renewable
generation. uh there is interest in seeing whether or not solar a solar project could fit on a municipal building and actually be feasible and accessible. Um and then there is um a deep commitment in um with the EEC here to
ensure that the community understands community solar but is also a project ambassador and that means if there are maybe a senior center or um you know a housing development or a a warehouse maybe perhaps that's in New Milford that
is interested in giving back to the community that they would present community solar as being an option to give back to the community which is really exciting. Um and then also interest in hosting the community solar project on municipal property. Next.
Okay. So like I said um a lot of the electricity that is being used is in the residential sector and strategy 3 is all about maximizing energy efficiency and demand. I want to also bring your attention to the figure 3.1 which is on
the right there which shows the units by year built in New Milford and it looks like a lot of New Milford has been built really in the ' 50s and60s right and so because their uh unit you know housing units are over 75 years old they're older but that that brings a great
opportunity actually for uh homeowners and and multi-unit dwellings to take advantage of energy efficiency programs that are already available to them by the um by the board of public utilities and their utility company. Next slide,
please. Okay, so um so what are we doing? Actually, this strategy has only four actions in it and no decided to do half of those. Um the first is to upgrade energy efficiency in municipal facilities. The green team and the EEC
is actually already on that by the way. They have already um compiled some energy data from municipal buildings that they're interested in seeing whether or not um uh energy efficiency programs at the state level could help these municipal facilities reduce their energy use. The first step in enrolling
in these government programs is to collect this data and it's a mammoth project. So I congratulate you on doing that. Um and then 3.2 is residential energy efficiency outreach campaign. So, those same kinds of programs that are available to governments, to schools, some of those programs are actually
available to residents. Um, some of them that qualify by income, but also some of them to the general public, like 0% interest loans for upgrades to your home. And we want to make sure that the public understands that. And so, that's why New Milford, it's on their website actually currently, has a residential
energy efficiency outreach campaign. That's a partnership with Sustainable Jersey, which is really great. Um, but I also want to show you here that 63% of the housing units that are in New Milford are owner occupied. So once again, this is a great opportunity
because there's less red tape to getting a lot more done um to help reduce energy um you know or improve energy efficiency at the residential sector. Strategy four, please. Thank you. So the next strategy is to reduce energy consumption and emissions from the building sector. So this is where the commercial sector
can come in. Um they are not off the hook. Um so as I showed before a majority of the housing in New Milford is kind of older and so a lot of um what we purchase and in the residential sector in New Milford is gas to to heat our homes. 10% of that is electricity.
Um but I also want to bring your attention to the next um sorry to the um the graph on your right here which shows that a majority of natural gas is purchased by the residential sector as well um with some coming from the commercial sector. So this is where we can come in to get them um to help us
with this plan. Next slide. There are a few strategies um that New Milford has chosen from strategy 4 and the ones I'll talk about are 4.2 and 4.4. Um 4.2 is to construct new municipal buildings as model green
buildings. So this is basically a commitment that if New Milford decides to create another municipal building that they will try as much as possible to do a feasibility study to see if they can make it a model green building to signal to the community to everyone in the community that we care about um you
know making more green buildings, right? Um but also there is a commitment here on 4.4 for to ensure that developers complete a green development checklist, which is basically a list of questions that um New Milford can ask to ensure
that any new development is aligned with the missions and goals of New Milford, including this plan. Okay, the next slide, strategy six, um is to support community energy planning with an emphasis on the low and moderate income community. And this really is
just to show you here that there's a population of about 16,800 um residents in New Milford and about 23 of households um have done um energy efficiency programs that um low to
moderate income uh families can participate in. And so N Milford has decided to try and um you know accelerate their efforts to reach out to this community. Next slide please. Um, so some of these actions are to um
conduct energy efficiency outreach to low to moderate income residents, whether that's through trusted community members, the faith community, senior services, or maybe even um other kinds of um community organizations that work with that community. Um, also to support e-mobility transit
options, which is really exciting one. Milford already has a program to transport senior citizens and there's an interest in seeing if there is um possibility of adding an electric vehicle to that to um to that fleet. Um and then also to ensure that the low and
moderate income community have information about current programs they can participate in just like community solar. Next slide please. We're nearing the end. Um the last strategy here is all about expanding the clean energy innovation economy because there is
absolutely room for municipalities to help the state usher that in because ultimately this plan is supposed to align with the New Jersey energy master plan. Next slide please. Um so the last few here that Milford has chosen um I'll just talk about the first one here which is to adopt energy
storage policies and this is an action that instead of it being a 3 to 5year timeline is a little bit longer than that um because we're kind of waiting for the state level to show um you know and to help municipalities usher in battery storage because ultimately this
is one of the best ways that we can create energy resilience in our municipalities and New Milford wants to be at the forefront of that um and be prepared. So um at this time uh I will open it up to questions from the mayor and council. Um and thank you so much
for listening. I hope that wasn't too fast. Try to cut it keep it within 15 minutes though. Yes, mayor. >> Um can you touch more on the solar project where you said the solar was like out of town or offsite and residents can tap into it or how does
that work? What is that? >> Yes. Do you want to offer a little bit of that because I know that you're the technical assistance um for sustainable Jersey and probably have a rap that you already have. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Tracy Woods, technical assistance director for Sustainable Jersey.
>> Hello. Uh so since 2018 uh the state has had a program that was management with public utilities called community solar which allows large solar arrays to be installed in warehouses and storage facilities. And then individual
residents can um subscribe to a little portion of that solar array and they will see a bill credit on their utility bill that's very similar to as if they got solar on their own property. And this is a game changer for people who
couldn't get solar either because of trees or the state of their roof or if they live a slave roof if you can't get solar or if you live in an apartment or a condo and don't even have a roof that you have access to. Uh it is a way to combat the high the increasing price of
electricity and um it's one of the most uh you know there's no downside. It's it's a positive for the people who are developing the site. it's positive for the residents and it's a positive for the state and um you know one of the things that mun can do to support
community solar is to provide outreach is a really important activity because there's been so much um scamming and negative attention because so many we've all seen those false ads that talk about how you know PSG or the state offers
free solar that they don't um that this is a real program that is managed but because because of all that negative um you know other noise in this space having the municipality act as a trusted messenger to um bring this program to
residents in a way that they feel confident about what it takes to get uptake into the space. Uh, you know, another thing is if you have commercial spaces in town or even they don't even necessarily have to be inside the town but they have to be in the same electric
service territory as uh Newly then um you know if you you know the mayor of the council call and saying you know you could you look like you're a good um site to a community solar project that could benefit the residents of Milford and can be beneficial to you. You can
imagine if solar developer calls a building owner and says that they immediately get hung up. But if a member of council, the mayor acts as a community ambassador for the community solar project, that conversation goes way differently. So, you know, the the
council and the uh members have an opportunity to help support the development of more of these projects as well. And so um you know it's really great news helps combat the uh rising electric prices and something that helps
more in New Jersey and um so we're glad to see that you're embracing. >> Any other questions? >> What is actually available to the average homeowner living in the country as far as getting solar? >> So um you mean if they actually have
their roof that they can put solar on? Uh so what the you know what's available right now is uh what's called the wreck program renewable energy credits and the state if you put solar panels on your roof you can get um a renewable energy
credit for 15 years uh and or that's a really common model uh where the homeowner owns the solar panels outright. The other really common model is say they don't want to pay for the cost of putting solar on their house up front. Uh you could do what's called a
power purchase agreement where you you can think of it as essentially leasing your roof to a solar company and in return for them putting solar panels on your roof and getting the renewable energy credits and the electric generation. they will give people a
reduced fee for um electricity monthly bills for a long period of time typically 15 years and uh so that's the question is does it pay doesn't pay I mean we would need to we would need to delve into that a
little further as to see if somebody does outright buy solar panels plus the return on investment money >> well I'm so glad you asked because this is one of my niche areas of interest I thought these financial plan obviously.
>> Yes. So, um my house is sort of a standard, you know, three bedroomedroom New Jersey kind of house uh in neighborwood and um I used a a a solar projecting tool to figure out what the difference would be from my house. And
so if I owned the panels, this is a couple years ago before energy prices really spiked. think you know 2 3 years ago in mind uh I would over the course of the 20 year life projected life solar panels make $20,000 in the benefit if I
did the power purchase agreement I would make $7,000 in benefit u but the difference is I wouldn't have to put out the money at the beginning um so because for my family it's very hard to put the money out at the beginning I would um be
better off taking the lower uh incentive will pay out I should say >> netting 7,000 >> yes which is better than the nothing >> and what happens at the end of 15 years >> so then typically you will you know once the solar panels meet the end of their lifespan um if you do a power purchase
agreement you'll have a new part of the end of life the panel should be considered as part of that contract um and you'll typically just do find another vendor they'll put new panels on a a day technology
better I mean right now and um but if you own them outright then the places still go upgrade the payments any other questions so much great that we can have two seaters tonight any other questions for me about
the plan um okay so I think the next slide is um questions from the public but I We're all kind of together here. So, if there are no other questions, >> yes, have a question regarding uh solar.
Um, do you help the burrow work in this plant? Is there a way to help the burrow combat um the way people think about cattle, the soul?
Um a number of years ago we did a burrow was building flea station and a couple of us on the committee we were like hey this is great let's get some solar help and there's this you know attitude
towards solo that you know it's not good it's not going to help us too much money so how do you combat that that attitude to help make this, you know, succeed.
You know, one of the most um influential things that's happen Yes, of course. Uh so the financial case for solar over the last couple years is just getting better and better and better where um you know folks that are looking at it solar just from a
financial point of view it um you know you almost don't need to make any other point uh you know that even you know even probably when you looking at it for that other facility uh the financial case was kind of online you would get some benefits but you know it came along with potential risk and it was you know
kind of in a uh on a balancing you know, on the tip of a knife, we're now like the financial benefits of doing so very far outweigh um you know, other issues. And um you know, one thing that uh Amanda didn't mention, but um it's a relatively new program under public
utilities that I just want you all to keep in mind for facilities that you have that use a lot of energy but um don't have the space for putting on solar, there's now a new program called the Renegade program where you can locate the solar panels on another building. It doesn't even have to be a
municipally only building. And then you can get the credits and you know both the electric generation and the racks um as if that building was located on a municipal or as if solar array was located on a municipal building and that's only for municipalities and other
public facing entities to participate in that program. So um you don't have to try to force a cylinder to work on a facility where you know the degree isn't perfectly situated for is there a limit of area that you can
attach that to buildings like let's just say here how far out can you go to collect that entity has to be in the same um collector you did in so yeah there used to be program a couple years ago where it had the same name and it
was also by VU and it limited uh solar panels had to be within two miles. It was just too hard and now um it's just within the same director service territory. Yeah. Okay. Uh well, thank you so much. I think that Milford is really leading
by example here and congratulations on an awesome community energy plan and um I think the best way to change people's hearts and minds is for governments to lead by example right and um so uh but thank you so much for your time
for Thank you for having me. Okay, great. >> Unfinished business, may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the May 11, 2026 board session meeting? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed?
>> Okay. Under new business, we have an introduction of an ordinance 2026 code 17. And when the clerk has the opportunity, I would ask her to please read the ordinance. An ordinance amending chapter 7 traffic of the revised general ordinances of the bar of New Milford respecting bicycles,
scooters, skateboards, electric motorized bicycles, low-speed electric bicycles, low-speed electric scooters, low-speed vehicles, motorized bicycles, motorized scooters, motorized skateboards, and other motorized personal transportation devices.
>> Okay, so this is an existing ordinance that's being amended. Um, it's bringing up it's going to be brought up to speed with the state ordinance. Okay. Okay. The purpose of this ordinance is to establish regulations and guidelines
for the operation of electric motorized bicycles and scooters and similar electrically powered vehicles as well as non-motorized bicycles, scooters, and skateboards within the Bur of the Milford. is not primarily intended to penalize individuals who operate these vehicles and devices in violation of the
provisions, but rather to educate both children and adults regarding proper and safe riding practices to ensure their safety and welfare and safety welfare of the motorists and pedestrians. Okay. I get a motion to introduce this ordinance on its first read.
>> Make a roll call, please. >> Councilman Sanen, >> yes. >> Council Duffy, >> yes. Councilman Grosky, >> yes. >> Council President Seymour, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Grant, >> yes. >> The public hearing for this ordinance will be at our June 8th meeting.
>> Okay. Item number one tonight is DPW mechanic and labor patrino. So that is me. So the DPW is down two laborers and they are recently down the mechanic. So, I'm looking for a motion to allow us allow
them to advertise and hire one laborer and to replace the mechanic. >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> Mayor, roll call, please. >> Councilwoman San, >> yes. >> Council Duffy, >> yes. >> Councilman Gratzky, >> yes.
>> Council President Seymour, >> yes. >> Councilman Grant, >> yes. >> Thank you. Item number two is schedule updates. On Thursday, May 28th is a musical performance by T. Cle sponsored by the
Friends of the New Milford Public Library. It'll take place at 6 p.m. at the New Milford Public Library. On Saturday, May 30th, it's mental health awareness day sponsored by the New Milford Municipal Alliance. It'll be from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the New
Milford YMCA. And if you hang around, also on the 30th is the 250 years of America sponsored by the New Milford Arts Committee from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the New Milford YMCA. On Monday, June 1st is the land use
visioning the Milford Blueacre property community engagement meeting sponsored by the New Jersey D and the Milford EDC >> and Ruters >> and Ruckers University. That will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. right here
in the Bur Hall courtroom. On Monday, June 29th is the New Milford Athletic Department's 30th annual golf outing sponsored by the New Milford Athletic Department. It starts at 8:15 a.m. at the Golf Club at Mansion Ridge.
And a recent addition is um starting yesterday is the uh America 250 decorating contest sponsored by the Historic Preservation Commission and the Enford Police Department. Uh you can go on the police department website or we'll add it to our website
where you can register through June 12th and they're looking for the best decorated or uh decorated in America porches, front yards, doors and there's three prizes. So first place will get $250 gift card.
Second place will get $150 gift card and third place will get a $100 gift card. And Councilwoman Duffy's house looks awesome, but I told her she she's not eligible to win any prizes. >> Uh, mayor, I went into it knowing that.
>> Yes. And if I did win, of course, I would donate it to a a most appreciative charity. So, honestly, I'm just doing it because I want to. >> But I encourage everyone to go to uh >> So, show yourself.
>> Yes. go to California and check out Ry's house. Yes. >> Is there any other events I failed to mention or anything you want to add to any event? >> Okay. Excellent. Item number three is
the administrator's report. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh for my engineering update, the DOT has given approval on the bin documents for the roadway improvement project for East Woodland Road, Grief Drive, Bridge Street, and intersecting roadways. The work work will be scheduled to coincide with the
completion of the public service work on these streets. Bid documents for the Clinton Avenue, Yugenot Road, Arlington Road, Yale Street improvements was were submitted to Burn County, CDBG for an environmental review. And when I wrote the report, I said we're awaiting their
approval to proceed. I did check in with them today and they have given us approval to proceed. So, we're uh selecting a date to go out to bid. Uh a walkthrough on the main street improvement project was conducted with the contractor on May 5th to review punch list items and the punch list was
provided to the contractor for completion. Uh the contractor has completed the original work contemplated for the French book restoration project. The NJ review for a minor technical modification is expected to be completed this week. The engineers preparing bid
documents for the Pine Avenue and used road sanitary sewer rehabilitation project and they have submitted a proposal for engineering service to prepare the watershed assessment report for phase two of the watershed improvement plan as required by the D.
Um we completed phase one by the end of last year as required. Um and this is no small task and neither is the Smith. Uh early voting for the June primary election began on yesterday on Tuesday,
May 26th and continues through Sunday, May 31st. There are nine locations throughout Bergen County where all Bergen County residents can vote early. Times and locations are posted on the burough website and the primary election is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, June 2nd.
Uh we received notice that the site plan for the crossroads development at the old shop location is being finalized and is expected to be submitted for review within the next few weeks. And the next meeting of the mayor and council is a work session which is scheduled for
Monday, June 8th at 7 p.m. And that's my report. Thank you. So I mentioned two things. Um the punch list for me on the I'm assuming it's pretty extensive. >> Yes, it is. >> All right. >> Prior to this meeting, I attended the Burton County Community Development
meeting and Milford is going to be awarded $149,5 Street improvements. So, that's good news as well. Okay, council committee reports. Let's start with Councilwoman Sanders. Well, thank
you, mayor. So, uh, first I want to start with a thank you for the support from the mayor and council on all the work that the environmental and energy commission does. Uh, the presentation went really well and our next steps are
to review the documentation. Uh, if you have comments or changes to submit and then our next step is to uh approve the the plan. So, we'll need a resolution uh to approve the plan. Um so, that's the
next step. And uh the and other work that the EEC is doing, they're preparing for national night out and clean communities. They're looking forward to the the events coming up for the year. And uh the green team continues on with
their tracks program. So, that's all I have today. Thanks. >> Excellent. Is there a template for the resolution that you need or >> uh Yes, I can. I'll look for a template. I believe there is one. >> Okay, Council.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, first of all, I want to um congratulate uh Councilwoman Sanderson um on I know you've been working on this project with your commission and it was
a very nice uh presentation this evening and uh I'm happy that Milford is participating in these types of things. So, thank you for that. Um over the weekend I just want to say uh I did
attend the um laying of the flags at our French cemetery uh where there are at least three Revolutionary War soldiers buried. Uh the scouts were there and just this
little anecdote. I'm walking to the cemetery, a little kid and his mom standing by the police station. He's like, "Hey, what are they doing over there?" So, I explained to him, we walk over and next thing I know, he's like
putting flags around and stuff. So, this kid is definitely going to be a scout someday. So, if you're out there, welcome. Um, and I just want to say congratulations to uh also the public
events committee. Um, you know, Monday was not easy with uh the parade, not the parade. Uh, but the day ended up being a really nice day for what it is really
stands for uh keeping the memory alive of those who have given all uh for our country. So, I was pleased to be at those events as well. That's my Thank you. Council Nebraska
of going to uh Bergen County Police Academy where we graduated two new CO1 officers. Uh good luck to them. Uh as far as the planning board, the planning board has approved a resolution and
forward it to the mayor and councel for their approval in regard to uh existing nonconforming uh properties uh for a change to the zoning ordinance where uh if uh there's the existing non-conforming condition
that is not being impounded by uh or any other changes or stepping over any of the boundaries. uh they would prove that uh the existing condition has existed and then they would not have to go to the zoning board for approval. So that the uh mayor and council should be
looking at in June I believe work session. Yes. >> Yes. And also Shay Tree is meeting tonight and they're discussing uh having the school system work on the tree farm mural and also working on night out
projects. That's my report. Thank you. Thank you, Council President Seymour. >> I uh I just want to thank everybody here, Mayor, this entire governing body for your support for a fantastic antibbias symposium, the first of its kind that we've held here. Uh
Councilwoman San Husen, thank you from the beginning of all of our symposiums. You've been at my side as a real partner. Mayor, thank you for all of your help. Councilwoman Grant, thank you for helping to edit all of our written materials. Um, and I thought it was really awesome to
have opening remarks by Congressman Godheimer. He's very supportive of New Milford and all the events that we put together and our entire community, but it was particularly humbling to have him give a recorded uh welcoming to those uh who are watching the symposium. And for
anybody who missed the symposium, still wants to watch it, the recording is available on the Nimford Public School District's YouTube channel. So, thank you, mayor. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Grant. >> Thank you. I attended the antibbias um symposium and I want to say that I told
it was extremely well done. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much for joining in and thank you council woman to tonight's um event. It was a really great deal. I appreciate that. Um the rent leveling board did not meet this month. The library didn't meet this month. The
senior center is a bustling area of activity with all kinds of things planned and new uh classes always being started. I'm always amazed at the talent the artistic talent of our residents. I mean I could barely draw draw a straight
line and they are producing absolutely incredibly beautiful work. It's impressive. Um the um classroom concert we mentioned is going to be on tomorrow night. Tomorrow's Thursday at 6 o'clock at the library.
And the newer arts committee's big event is this Saturday afternoon at the YMCA. We have stared uh performance coming. Barbara Allen will be playing her harp. She is an resident and is the principal harpist for the American Ballet Theater.
So that's a really exciting coup. And also Vivian Davis, a New England resident um who um loves the revolutionary and colonial era and loves to dress in those kinds of clothing and works at um Newbridge all the time and participates in all their events will be
coming to show us what dancing look like in the colonial period. So I think that's going to be really terrific. She might there might even be audience participation. There will also be a singalong and various other things. We have um Milford High School art teacher Lauren Boutin Denitia coming and she
will actually be demonstrating how she carves and designs into spoons and uh they're very popular. She does a beautiful job and she will be there and her summer off who is a sculptor and has a couple of sculptures at the uh sculpture garden at the library also
will be showing us how she works and creates her art. So I and the asking lady will be there. So um at the top of everything and so we're very excited about that and I hope that everybody will be able to come by and I think that's my report.
>> Thank you. >> Uh the only thing I'll add is um Newbridge Landing if you haven't please go to their website. They have tons and tons of programming and things especially geared towards 250. So you should just go down there and take a look. It's it's looking really nice
there. And yes, I echo everyone's sentiments. Um, antibiotium was excellent. I've gotten tremendous feedback from it from people who have watched it and um I said, "Yeah, I said it's probably coming back next year."
>> It's it's great to bring our community together. >> Also, both the presenters did a phenomenal job. >> Absolutely. >> I will say yes. >> And this past weekend was tremendous. It was >> I was unable to go to the flag ceremony but I I saw and heard that that was excellent. >> Yeah, you know parade was a wash out but
the ceremony was really really nice >> and meaning and shout out to DPW for making B hall with boy scouts or scouts the way it looks. I mean it's amazing and I I will say right here we have the best looking Burough Hall in Burn
County. I will say that to anyone. >> Absolutely. And uh shout out to NMPD for taking care of everything. It was just a great great ceremony. And I have to thank Darling Mingo and the public events committee. They spend a lot of time on that ceremony. People don't
realize most of the year planning. So thank you. Okay. Uh everyone had a chance to look at resolutions. Are there any that you can pull for further discussion on those vote? If not, I would like for a motion to
open to the public. So move second. All in favor? I. >> Ladies and gentlemen, the public, if anyone has any questions or comments related to the good and welfare of the Burford, we ask you to come up, give us your name, and we will be in five minutes. >> Welcome. >> Yes, it's been a while.
>> My name is George Muller. I live on 242. I am disturbed about the construction of city going on center because that's like the center of our town and they took away the shop right that
made a big difference to all of us that walk to shop and now we have to drive to shop. Now you're going to take away the restaurants to learn dry cleaning
and the physical therapy and where are we going to go for these things >> when they do the construction. >> I can't answer that. >> You can't go. >> No, we like answers. >> We can't answer what they're doing or
what's going to happen. We don't know. But you have approved it. >> No, we have not. >> No, nothing has been nothing has been approved. >> No, because very little considerations taken for people who live in the
apartments or don't have transportation and this is the closest place they go get something. Same thing when the shop left. It was like how all these people going to get shopping now. They have to take a bus. Let's take them to the other
end of the town. This is a 45 walk. A couple other things I'd like to mention is my closest intersection is Pacific and White. It is for some strange reason three-way stop that is not marked as a three-way
stop. The fourth coming from circle to bright is no stop. Frequently people assume it's a clothing stop and this has led to many closings.
I'm I'm questioning why it is not a flowing stop because it certainly looks like one and that would take care of and then you have the people who come and stop there when they have the right away and then everybody's like what do we do now?
So, it's interesting that you say that because another resident brought up to my attention. I went and I went to the intersection. I watched it for 20 minutes or so. >> Um, looking to see how people were interacting, seeing if there was obstruction from trees or whatever. Um,
one of the things I did mention to the other resident when they asked why isn't there a four-way stop? I know that is it is almost impossible to get approval for a four-way stop by the DOT. So all of our traffic control devices, >> there are plenty of fourway stops in >> but they're all for specific reasons,
right? So the Milford has a hard time getting fourway stops. It's >> reason is to avoid accident. >> I don't know if it's because one of the streets going into is a oneway street, >> right? Pacific is one way. >> I know, >> right? I don't know the exact reason. >> At one point it wasn't. I remember.
>> Well, it was and then it wasn't and then it was and then it wasn't. Right. And then they left the strike in the narrow man. It's two-way street, but it's 12way street. It's parked as a two-way street. >> Right. So, I actually been recently looking at the intersection and speaking to the traffic clubs.
>> Well, since I was here, >> yeah, absolutely. >> So, now are they ever going to do anything with the shop right? >> Yes, >> they are. >> Shopright's moving forward. Shop right is an approved project and it was approved in 2017. >> Okay.
Yes. >> What is that going to be? >> It's going to be 165 units and 12,500 square ft of commercial. >> Yes. >> And >> Yes. And possibly a restaurant. >> Okay.
>> Small restaurant in the middle. >> Another issue which is >> snow. A lot of snow on the street. Can you talk me into the Michael? >> When we have a lot of snow, people are
not supposed to park on the street. And this is the third 20 in snowfall that I've been through. I remember previously the cops came around, told everybody in the apartment they had to move to and they did. This clean up on so much
easier cuz basically after the snow they all to get out and throw in the streets, which you're not supposed to do, but they do. And everybody said I called the cops. I said, "Well, they have no place to park." And also, I found it interesting that
the day of the snowstorm, while it was snowing, I got the phone call saying, "You need to move your car off the street. Shouldn't this have been done like the day before the snow started, at this point, the car's already covered with snow, and people aren't going to go out and move.
They also need a designated area to move their arms to they say you can park in this lot for that long. >> What is the question? >> Do you have a question? >> I have a question. What you're going to
do about this next time because it needs address. We have these ordinances. You're not supposed to do this and yet everybody gets away. >> They don't. >> Nobody gets. So these last two snowstorms we had, we set a record of the amount of cars that were ticketed
and towed for parking on the street. >> Not on my street. >> Didn't we recently pass something? So recently we passed, we amended one of our ordinances and now the people who park on Riel will have to move their car during previously that was not in the ordinance. >> Okay.
But these people don't know, >> but they also need to have some place to park. There's insufficient parking. >> We don't have We don't have parking lots like Hackinack, right? >> So, they have to figure out. >> Okay. >> They should park in the parking lots of the apartments.
>> There's insufficient parking. >> We've been saying that for years. We've been saying that for years. >> Private property. That's an issue. The apartments need to resolve. This is why I objected to them building more apartments on top because they already had two and now
tenants are frustrated with parking. >> Seven years ago, they would have had >> Yes. But it still would have been insufficient because I asked them how many cars were bought for apartment and it was insufficient. Most of two cars,
you know, they don't have one car. >> Well, that should have sailed. I know that it's a similar situation still private property for the private property. >> Right. If if tenants have an issue with parking, they should really be
contacting new landlords. >> I can't see that happening. But yeah, I upset the police saying it's nothing they can do. >> Previously there's nothing they could do because it wasn't in the ordinance. >> Right. >> Now it is. Now it's Yeah, we'll kick in
here. Isn't one do like if I have anything else to talk 5 minutes. >> We didn't get our grass today. >> So I heard that there was actually a few streets that Miss Grass pick up today. I'm not sure exactly which ones, but
might not first person to come up. So, I want to leave it out there for so for >> I don't know. I don't know if they're coming back tomorrow. Um, if it was arranged through the DPW, if I were you, I would just bring it in. >> I would just vote in I'll leave it at just in case.
>> You could call the DPW in the morning to see if they're going to be back around. >> Okay. Interesting. Projects. >> Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you. >> I figured I could talk Thank you.
>> Thank you so much. Thank you for coming. >> Well, seeing that there's no other member of the public that wishes to come forward at this time, make a motion to close the >> motion. Second. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. I get a motion to adopt resolutions 2026
column 138 and 2026 col 151. >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor? I opposed. >> Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to ask for a motion to go into close session. When we come out of close, this body will take no action and we'll immediately adjourn. Motion.
>> Make it a motion to go into close. Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. Any oppos? Thank you.