Okay, I'm going to call the meeting to order. Roll call, please. Miss Dolan, here. Miss Bisca, present. Mrs. Mcnite, here. Mayor Morgan, here. Mrs. Joffrey, here. Mr. Kogan, here. Mr. Kamisky, here. Let's salute the
flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The public meeting council president County Union state, New
Jersey. Adequate notice has been given in accordance to PL1 1975 chapter 231 that annual notice or revision was made in conformance with section 13 of the act. Uh tonight we have some proclamations and we love when when the
kids come. So Debbie, why don't you come up and Naen and Lisa, you guys are instrumental in in uh the mental health advoc advocacy committee. So So a huge huge huge thank you to the
parents and the students for hanging out a little longer than we thought tonight. We thought this was at seven, so I apologize that it's at 7:30. Um, and I'm proud of you students for hanging in there and being patient. Um, I also am absolutely just thrilled to see these
poster contest winners and what they were able to create and how to they we asked them to illustrate what it means to be kind to your mind and the creativity is off the charts. So, I can't wait for you to see them. The way this is going to work, I'm going to announce the winner by grade and then you'll come up. Bill's going to give you
your poster. you can show it to the crowd and then walk up here and um Mayor Morgan is going to give you a little um a plaque and then we'll take a picture with all of the students up here and then um we have a little prize for you
as you leave. Okay? And then the mayor's going to read the proclamation and after that the students and families can um stay if you want but you're welcome to leave. Okay? So, our first winner in kindergarten, Arabella Powers.
Here she is. Get your poster, sweetie, and show it. Show it to everyone. [Applause] and our first grade winner, Bennett
Quomo. Show everybody your poster. Lift it up high. Lift it up high so they can see. [Applause] Our second grade winner,
Sierra Kazup. Say [Applause] Our third grade winner from Soul Brook, Isha Narana. Our third grade winner from AWR, Penel
Penelopey [Applause] Nos.
Our fourth grade winner, Anika [Applause]
Camera. And our fifth grade winner, Maria Katarina Vaz Bolman. And our sixth grade winner, Shrada Anna Poo. And I'd also like uh to to bring up two honorable mentions in attendance. The
siblings of Bennett and Shrada. Third grade Smury Anipoo and fourth grade Isabella Bella Cuomo. [Music] [Applause] Debbie. Debbie in the front. Debbie.
Two. Two rows. Let the kids and everybody take a step to take two steps this way. And one step back. Go here. Here. Thank you all. You can walk over here
and you can get your little prize. All right. Way, you know, when it comes came from outside and there was mayors from various towns council people and it actually in my 20 years of doing this
it's the first time where I've seen 10 towns work together for a common cause and it's how's that better
but uh it's truly truly remarkable and I got to hand it to uh Lisa Naen and Debbie Merrick here for getting this off the ground and it's been a been a long four years and I know you put a lot of
work into it. Um you know after co there's been a lot of everybody was cooped up a lot of people were thinking all these different things. It was really a tough time for everybody and there were there were a
lot of things that people uh shouldn't have been doing that they did do and it it all contributed to mental health. But I and I've talked to Debbie about this is what concerns me even more is the social media out there and
how kids get very courageous. In fact, not only kids but adults get very c uh courageous behind a keyboard and you know we have to treat each other with respect and when we do that we'll be a
lot better off. So I just want to thank you Debbie and Nine and and Lisa for what you've done. We got to make this fight a little bigger. Does he want my reading? Whereas mental health is essential to everyone's
overall health and wellbeing. And whereas mental illness are real and prevalent in our nation. And half of us will have mental health diagnosis at some point in our lives. And whereas all
Americans experience times of difficulty and stress and should feel comfortable in seeking help and support to manage these times. And whereas engaging in prevention, early
identification, and early intervention are effective ways to reduce the burden of mental illnesses as they are to reduce the burden of other chronic And whereas there is a strong body of
research that identifies behavioral health risk and support specific tools that all Americans can use to protect their health and wellbeing. And whereas with effective treatment before stage 4,
all individuals with mental illnesses, even serious mental illnesses, can make progress towards recovery and lead full productive lives. And whereas
warehouses, jails and prisons have often become the default places of custodial care for even nonviolent people with serious mental illnesses. And whereas each business, school, government
agency, healthc care provider, organization, and citizens have a responsibility to to promote mental health and wellbeing for all. We the mayors of New Providence, Brookley, Summit, Chadam, Fan, Long Hill, Madison,
Mountainside, Scotch Plains, and Westfield unite together to proclaim May 2025 as mental health awareness month. In our respective burrows, towns, and cities, we stand united to reduce the
stigma of mental health by recommitting our communities to increase awareness and understanding of mental health. The steps our citizens can take to protect their mental health and need for appropriate and
accessible services for all people with mental illnesses. We call upon the citizens, government agencies and public and private institutions, businesses and schools to join us in this mission.
Thank you very much. I want to thank the students. Great posters. [Applause] and Donna and Alex.
Alexander Thank you. all unless you have a good question about taxes or JCPN. It's a good way to get them to go right to sleep.
Oh, they are so cute. We can do that. Okay. Nice. And that reminds me of Donnie Marie. Good night everybody. I have a good memory. Thank you. I remember the show. I used to watch it with my grandmother. Then the Lawrence
shows after that where Is he here? Okay, come on up. Two of my favorite people in Providence. I don't remember you were born. This is proclamation is for Marshalls for life
and we're celebrating your anniversary of being in business. And before I start, my uh daughter was a student with you guys a few years ago and uh she actually attended the black belt which I
know she's very proud of and now she's going to be getting out of PA school I guess in years. So you you guys taught her well. Thank you. Whereas martial martial arts for life
with Providence as a familyoriented martial arts school that offers training for men, women, teens, and children. The school serves students from age five to over 65 years old. Please me.
Martial Arts for for Life also offers a diverse physical curriculum that includes martial arts such as jiujitsu and Thai boxing. And whereas martial arts for life has been serving in
prominence and surrounding areas since 2005. The school was founded by Richard and Michelle Ber of Mountainside, New Jersey. Richard is a master instructor who has been training in martial arts since
1993 and teaching since 1995. Michelle is a third degree black belt and has been training for martial arts since 1996. And whereas martial arts for life promoted their first group of students
to firstderee black belt in November 2009 and has since promoted a total of 195 students to the rank of first degree black belt, 58 students to second degree
black belt, and eight students to third degree black belt. Whereas life skills and character education curriculum taught in martial arts life was featured in success magazine and four articles of best
practices for school owners. um by coowner Richard Brewer and has been featured in MA success magazine and publication of martial arts industry
association and whereas not only are they active in martial arts community but they are very active in the local business community. In fact Michelle you were president for years. Michelle was president of the Providence Business and Professional Association for a decade
and also a member of New Proidence Downtown Improvement District. And whereas Martial Arts for Life has been dedicated to community involvement and charitable organizations, raising over
$75,000 since 2012 for the Providence Space New Jersey Sharing Network Foundation. They are the martial arts for life 5K team. The school has also raised over $10,000
since 2014 for local schools and parent teacher associations through their annual skills for school fundraiser which donates 100% of funds raised. Now therefore I may
proud county state New Jersey hereby honor martial arts for life for their 20th anniversary for making difference in the Province community and I have to say truly I have seen the difference that you have made over the years. Thank
you so much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Love you guys. Now we're gonna do some karate moves and break. 20 more years. 20 more years. Let's go. Thank you so much.
Okay. Mr. Bob Flynn from JCPNL. Welcome, Bob. Is it okay if I sit or Please do make yourself at home. Just pull the microphone. Okay. Good evening everybody. Um my name is Bob Flynn. I am with Jersey Central
Power and Light. I've been with the company now for almost six years. Um home districts up in Bhin, New Jersey. That was my main line shop when I started. Now I encompass pretty much a good chunk of the northern part of the state. Uh so
myself and Amy Overman split the north, but I have more specic Essex. Um Union County and Somerset at the moment. So, uh, I'm your new rep. So, you may have worked with Carol, Bianke, or Yolant Mazi, Rob Walton. Those may be
familiar names to you, but um, I'm moving a little bit further south now. So, what we're doing is kind of introducing ourselves to towns before the start of summer storm season. Um, and today's topic is obviously not as great as the proclamations you just delivered. Uh, but it's it's important
information that we want to give to our customers, to our elected officials, so they understand what's coming in June. Um, so I'll I'll jump right in and then we can open if there's questions afterwards. But I'm going to stick to the PowerPoint uh pretty strictly because there is a lot of numbers in there and data. Um, but it is everything
I'm speaking on today is on our social media page if there's any desire to post that for residents. We'll jump right in. You can go to the next one, too. So, there is what what we're talking about today and and I'll I'll preface actually before I start the
presentation is we did send an email to our elected officials and customers. If it's okay, I'll just read that briefly just so that on record. Um, all right. Of course, it just went away. Give me one second. Excuse me. So the topic for today is basic
generation service or BGS as we're calling it. Um and as you know JCPNL is your electricity provider. However, we are not in generation anymore. So we don't make power as a utility company. We go to the market like some of the other big utilities within the state. Um
and there is a increase in that charge that we are trying to get ahead of as much as we can with our towns and our customers so people understand it. But uh the background is is on February 12th the BPU announced the results of the BGS or the basic generation service auction.
They um as a reminder the customers have two charges that appear on their bill which we showcase in this slide right here. I'll I'll touch on in a minute but there is the supply charge for the cost of the actual electricity consumed. So the consumpt consumption charge as well
as the delivery charge. the delivery charge as the BGS that I'm going to be discussing for tonight. So, the results of the BPU BGS auction determined that the electricity supply cost for customers who do not choose a third-party supplier due to rising
supply costs, the typical New Jersey resident customer using 777 kilowatts per hour in their house will see a 19.9% increase. And that is driven by external market factors including higher demand and increased capacity costs.
limited generation growth. JCPanella obviously understands that these are a concern to our customers and residents within the state. As a delivery company, we don't generate or set the price of the electricity supply. New Jerseys deregulated market separates supply costs from delivery charges, which is
what the breakdown is here on the bill. Um JCPL simply delivers electricity, collects the supply costs on behalf of the supplier, which is PJM if you're familiar with that name. Um, and this is not a proposed rate hike from us as your
utility, and that's what we want to be clear on with our customers and elected officials. Um, and obviously there's a couple slides in here we'll go on. There are some options that people can supply, excuse me, shop around for a third party supplier that they can use as well as evening their bill out throughout the
year, etc. So, I'll I'll touch on those, but um, customers and our elected officials did receive that email at the beginning of March. So, this is a bill breakdown. If you get a paper bill still, this is what your bill will look like. Um, at the top here are the
charges that you use at your house, what you consume, your electricity. The supplier charges are the cost electricity itself. So, that's the BGS, that's the 19.9% increase. And again, there's no markup as we are your delivery service. We are just passing
that cost back to the generators, which is PJM. Next slide. So, the last rate increase we had was June 1st of 24. Um, it was a 3.6% increase for our base rate. Um, it's pretty standard with all the utilities
in the state. It's usually around anywhere between 3 and 5% and that goes into, you know, building infrastructure, forestry, those sort of capital projects that we have as utilities. Um, pretty standard. It's not every year. It's, uh, but we haven't filed one since June 2024.
the supply rates again the BGS was an 8.7% increase from that auction um this year again 19.9 what I want to be clear though on is the bottom bullet point the BPU um we've heard a couple towns issue
comments about that the BPU only has to verify that the auction is consistent with market trends they don't oversee the amount per customer etc they just have to certify it um but the BGS default rate for non-shopping customers
will be that 19.9%. Again, no markup from JCPNL as a utility, but we pass that cost back to the supplier. Um, rates are determined by a competitive auction, a commodity auction, obviously influenced by external market conditions. We've had a lot of uh
generation stations on the eastern seabboard that have been shut down, decommissioned, converted, etc. Um, and we've also in parallel to that seen a large increase in data centers, AI, etc. Uh so there's a big demand for those new facilities right now which is that in
addition to external market factors is driving that 19.9% increase. So again the breakdown this is I think on the back of your bill the top green circle is how much you're using per month how much consumption kilowatts per hours. The second is how we read
your meter. Um that will change a bit. That's on the next slide. But we are implementing and will finish at the end of 25 the full imple implementation in the state of our 1.1 million customers for smart meters. Um they are not required. Customers can opt out of them,
but they do have to pay to basically keep a meter reader to be employed to still go read their meter physically. Uh but it is an option. They don't have to do that if it's something they don't want to do. And I think the charge if they don't want to convert to smart meter is around $11 extra per
month. Um and then there's obviously at the bottom the comparisons and the average use that you have. But that we we had a big portion during COVID where we did do a lot of estimated reading. We would look at your bills for the last five years and estimate what you use at your house. Um obviously we didn't anticipate the amount of work from home
that we would have. So there was a lot of customers that received an estimated bill that was a bit higher than they were thinking. But if we did overestimate and there was provided a real meter reading from the customer etc we would go back and you know credit their account. So that'll go away with smart meters though um they're real-time
technology but I think that's the next slide so I'll I'll touch on it's the one after this. Um so consumption rates and the impact on bills this winter we had the highest residential consumption in six years. Uh the total residential
consumption went up by 8.4%. um non-electric heat customers up by 5%, electric heat customers up by 11%. Uh at the same time, CS customers are using energy uh using more energy and that obviously has increased the
demand for the service for the customers. So that's an 8.6% impact on from supply rates and a 3.6 impact from the delivery rates. The impact of the increase rates and increased consumption on bills is
21.1% for electric heat customers and electric heat customers is 28.5 first January 2024. Um this was our coldest January uh I think what does it say 22nd coldest on record five degrees below average. Um in parallel with that we
also had an extremely high heat summer. I think we had three months straight of either 90 something% humidity with 85 to 95 degree weather. So that took a toll on our system as well as the consumption and demand from our
substations. So smart meters um there is no correlation this is something we hear often but there is no correlation between smart meters and increased electric consumption. Um the these have been rigorously tested uh through the supplier that we use throughout First Energy's footprint which is 10 states. I
believe they're certified by EI as well. Um, but it was a terrible time to install them when you have the hottest summer and with this to, you know, fifth coldest winter or whatever the stat status was because a lot of customers anticipated that that was due to that
smart meter being installed. Um, these are tested rigorously obviously mentioned before by the National Standards Institute. Um, they are certified equipment. New meters and old legacy meters are tested as well. Um, we did compare bills. We had uh team
members internally and external affairs who still had the legacy meters which was the spinning dial that you would see the same consumption amount same you know relatively for the same square footage house. So we did our own kind of testing on it but um there are a lot of benefits to smart meters especially from
from my perspective what I do with external affairs a lot is coordination with municipalities in regards to restoration efforts. Uh smart meters are a game changer for us where the old system we used to rely upon you know our mapping system as well as where our customers are. You get a call from let's
say a street that has 50 customers on it. You get a call from one house that's fed by one transformer you know another one from across the street from a different transformer then one at the end. We would basically lump the outage together be like this is bigger this is 70 you know to 110 customers etc.
you'd have to rely upon people to call in and sometimes you don't get that. Uh especially with our service territory, it's a bit different. Like you go down the shore, half the towns that we represent down there don't have people who live in them in the summertime. So you may get an outage that 15 people
call in, but it's 2,000. So this is by far a more efficient system for also reducing truck rolls for us, wrench time. um we are able to accurately ping the meters from our work vehicles. So the bucket trucks as well as the foremen when the full implementation's completed
um and we have the cell signals up because that's how they communicate back. It's a mesh network but it's cell signal. Once we have that fully operational at the end of this year, we will be able to actively go to outage locations and ping meters to see where we're getting power, where we're not, to see if it's a bigger outage or is it
just the service line that got hit on your house and pulled the meter off. Um, so that'll that'll improve restoration efforts as well as our efficiency pretty greatly. So, we're excited about that, but that'll be completed at the end of the year. Managing your bill. These are some
of the tips that we have and some of the organizations that you can go to on the next slide. So, we have energy safe program which is energyj.com. You can get rebates for appliances, recycling. Um, had a neighbor put a fridge in the other week. I think he got like a hundred bucks
which is pretty good. Um, we have the home energy analyzer tool. So, that is live but will be even better as we finish the smart meter roll out. HVAC rebates, whole home energy solutions, home weatherization, and online marketplace. Um, energy efficiency was
transferred from the BPU to the utilities as of last year. So, we have two contractors, TRC and Wildan that we use, one for commercial industrial, one for residential. Um, but if you if you use Google or Bing or whatever your search engine is, you can search JCPNL energy efficiency and those links will
come up that you can fill out the application for that someone will reach out to you. Um, energy efficiency tips though, obviously reducing air leaks, utilizing ceiling fans, controlling radiant heat, convection oven, good crockpots better, LED light bulbs, obviously that's a big one I get from
municipalities now is, you know, we have a gymnasium we want to convert. It hasn't been updated in 20 years. Can we do LED lighting, etc. So there's there are some benefits for uh municipalities that are interested in converting facilities as well and you can get that energy efficiency um evaluation from our
contractors. And then obviously dishwashers over handwashing dishes. I've lived in apartments too long to want to do that again, so I'll stick with dishwashers. Um and then these are some of the programs that we have for billing assistance. Um they're listed on the left here. Again, all of these are on social media. If you want to post them
or if customers want to go to JCPL's Facebook page, they are posted, but these the people we work with. Um 211's a great resource obviously. And then we do have the information on this slide on our website at jcp-l.comassistance or you can call the
1800 number um which is listed below there. The equal I didn't touch it. You don't have to go back to the slide, but the one bullet point at the top which is a good one. um and may be beneficial starting in June is the equal payment plan. I have a lot of towns, a lot of customers that use that and speak highly of it. Um it just evens your payments
out for the 12 months and you you still see the consumption, you still see all the information on your regular bill, but there's no surprises where you know you may get a $600 bill in June and a 200 in February. So it evens it out throughout the year. Um and we we will be working with this obviously this BGS
as well for that. And then there is the option for customers, they don't have to stick with us as the supplier. Um, if they would like to go to a thirdparty supplier, they are more than welcome to do that. There are a lot of them out there. But what we do recommend is you do your
research, plan structure, introductory rate terms, all of the kind of terms and conditions that come with them. Just be very cognizant of what you're signing up for. um because we do hear the other side of the story where you know you got a good rate the first year, second year went up and now you're 7% higher than
what the JCPNL customer is paying. So just be very cognizant of what you're signing on to as well as the contract length and the charges and fees that come with the third party suppliers. That was one question I had. You're not you're not stuck with one supplier,
correct? Yeah. If you if you don't do anything, we remain your supplier. Um again, there's no markup. We don't make any money on this BGS charge. We're just passing it back to PJM. But that that's what I wanted to get talk about today and kind of get ahead of so that way you understood it.
It's starting June 1st. Um so if there's information you want to put out there I can coordinate that with you and you know etc. But it is a big concern for us. Obviously there's you know a lot of seniors who live in the state who want a fixed income. Um this is a concern for us and we are in communication obviously
with the BPU daily with our legislators daily. Um, but we wanted to get ahead of this so that our customers are aware when they see their bill in June and July, you know, there will be um, a pretty significant change to that. Robert, I have a few questions. Sure. On
your the BGS, the rate that you're passing through uh, that you do the auction, how many biders do you get uh, for that? Do you have any? I don't know. No, it's it's that's done from a completely different department with and it's done first energy wide. It's not just And do you guys have any
um breakdowns of how much of the power has to come from uh wind, solar, coal? Yeah, so PJM has that on their website. Um it's actually on their homepage and PJM's background is, you know, I don't work for them. I know what I know from
working in the utility, but it was I think initially called Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland. They've since expanded and I think they cover now 13 states across the eastern seabboard. Um so they supply power a lot of the big utilities on on the coast here. And a selfish question for the bureau because we're
going through our silver certification for sustainable Jersey now. Any part of that power have any renewable energy credits as part of that or you have to buy those separately? I I I let me get back to you on that because I'm not 100% positive. We'll take the credit if we
can. Yes. Yeah. Um but yeah, it's it's a big impact in a big area that they cover. So there's a lot of states that are going to be feeling that. PJM's website, the breakdown that they have, you can go to it. It's it's particularly interesting in summer months. Um it's basically like a rotating pie chart.
Yeah. So 10% nuclear today, 5% wind, you know. And how often is that auction? Is that every year? You guys, every year. Every year. So it was more plants come online. If you want an optimistic outlook, the more suppliers there are, the better the rates will be. But vice
versa, it works the other way like we have this year, right? And if if technology and there is a bigger interest from investment groups for to make generation obviously that creates more capacity, reduces the cost. Um but there's things that they're looking like like small nuclear reactors like they're
they're looking at a bunch of different stuff right now besides coal and you know upgrading natural gas facilities etc. So there there's a lot. Thank you. Do you have any questions? Yeah, I have a question. Um, do you know anything
about whether the tariffs that were just recently applied uh with Canada, I think they they provide some power to the United States. Is that impacting this 9.9% number? No. No. So, could it jump
even more if we can't get the we can't get the supply from Canada? The 19.9% you mean? Yeah. I don't anticipate it. I believe that auction has already been concluded and certified. The the caveat now is that there's been a lot of
legislators in Trenton who have put forth stuff with the BPU about reducing costs or is there a way utilities can cover. So that I don't have updates on. They just started talking about it last week. So if there is, obviously we'll share that with everybody. But there is
a big push from the Murphy administration to try and find a solution. Um but that could be the only anticipated I would I would see. Okay. But no, we I I have gotten that question before, too. So, I don't believe there's any portion of First Energy that gets their power
from Canada. I don't know where PJM purchases from. That's that's the problem. So, I can't say for certain for them what they where they get it from. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? No, that's it, Bob. All right. Thank you. Thank you for having
me. Looking forward to working with Yeah. The light. Please do. and anything you need. Um, again, we're summer storm season's right around the corner. So, anything you guys have as municipality, if it's yourself as the designated person to contact me or the OEM or police, just please give them my contact
information. Tell them to reach out. Sounds good. All right. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you all. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we have ordinance five. Uh, Ordinance to 2025-5 um calendar year 2025 ordinance to
exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank. I have a motion please. So moved. Second. Okay.
And then we have a two in the budget. This is the public hearing on this ordinance. Yes. You just have to open this one to the public. Okay, we'll open it to uh for the public about the the budget. As you know, we it was online
and we presented it last last um this is just for the cap just for the cap bank right now. It's just the second reading. Anyone wishing to address council about the cap? Seeing no one got a public hear. Miss Dolan, yes. Miss Blesca, I Mrs.
Mcnite, yes. Mrs. Joffrey, yes. Mr. Kogan, yes. Mr. Kamisky, I Okay. Resolution 114. Have a motion, please. So moved. Second.
Second. Okay. So, we've got resolution 2025-114, self-examination of budget resolution. Uh, New Providence has been declared eligible to participate in the program for 2025 based upon certification of the chief financial
officer. Roll call. Roll call, please. Miss Dolan, yes. Miss Bisca, I. Mrs. Mcnite, yes. Mrs. Joffrey, yes. Mr. Kogan, yes. Mr. Kamisky, I resolution uh 15. Please read the
title. Resolution to read budget by title. NJSA4A 4-8 provides that the budget may be read by its title only if at least one week prior to the date of the hearing. And at the hearing, a complete
copy of the approved budget shall be made available for public inspection and shall be available to each person upon request. Can I have a motion, please? So moved. Second. Second. Roll call, please.
Miss Dolan. Yes. Miss Bisca. Hi. Mrs. Mcnite. Yes. Mrs. Joffrey. Yes. Mr. Kogan. Yes. Mr. Kamsky. Hi. Okay. We'll have the municipal budget hearing. Um, read that. Go ahead. Yep.
at this uh this is the time fixed for public hearing on the municipal budget and tax resolution for 2025. The budget was introduced by the governing body on March 25th, 2025 was advertised as required by law on April 4th, 2025
together with notice of public hearing for this time. Printed copies have been made available to the public at the burough council at the burough's clerk clerk's office at the municipal library and on the burough website during the past month. The 2025 municipal budget
that is being heard tonight is summarized as follows. Total general appropriations are 26,573,37629. Anticipated revenues 9,179,685,229. Total to be raised by taxation for municipal purposes,
16,134,21. Total tax increase on the average assessed home is $1.97% which equates to about $87 annually. Okay. At this time, we'll open a public hearing. This is solely comments on the
municipal budget, nothing else. And when you come up, uh, give your name and address, please. Anyone wishing to address council? Seeing no one could. Hi, my name is Dave, 325 Elwood Avenue.
And this is a budget question. On March 10, President Trump signed an executive order moving FEMA responsibilities to state and local governments, including hurricane relief, wildfires, cyber
attacks. So, I have two questions. Have you ever heard about this? And does it show up in the budget? I know we have a reserve, but I don't think we have a reserve that big to deal with FEMA responsibilities. Have you contacted our congressman about
this new response bill? You all now have the u we do have money put aside for FEMA like we have every other time and we we have put the money in. That's why you have uh unexpended surplus as you know. We had three
bridges knocked out, couple roads we had to pay for that. We have to make a request through FEMA. Now FEMA will be done with that. That money will be going to the states. So they have to go through them. It'll be a different process.
Um I'm not sure you understand this. This is they're moving the financial responsibility to you and the state. So if you're looking for reimbursement, is anything additional in the budget? because it's a much bigger
liability now, right? There was there's no additional money in the budgets. If we have to go out and get money, we will have to get money at that time. But FEMA will is now going to be put under, my understanding, Homeland Security.
Yes, it is currently under Homeland Security. Um, and to answer my second question, have you reached out to our federal representatives about this? So I'm sure they're not happy to get this type of responsibility. What what we have done is we have uh
reached out about what kind of uh grants are coming our way. You have to understand that our our municipal budget is is 99% through property taxes. It's not through the federal government or the
state government. Okay. So anything that they cut out will affect us minimum. Where our uh I believe our taxation rate in town Jim is like 98 99%
for property taxes collection collection 99. So when we had hurricanes here we got only dimminimous reimbursement.
Dave, like I said, you have to when we have a hurricane or whatever, we have to pay for all this stuff up front and then FEMA reimburses us. There's a process. I know you're trying to bring a federal government thing into the local budget.
Don't do it. It has nothing to do with this. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, let let's keep this up here. Can I just add, you know, and you guys
can jump in, please, but we can't we can't add things to the budget that don't exist, right? We can't create something that doesn't exist. So, we can't anticipate that we're going to have a hurricane and say, "Let's put aside $100,000 for a potential hurricane." That's not how the municipal budget
works. We can't do that. So, so to answer your question, no, the the budget does not include uh potential issues that may arise that we can't anticipate. And and like we've done in the past, when something does happen, we do have that surplus, and that's why we have it.
I feel like we have been questioned before on why we have so much of a surplus. Well, that's why, you know, because when something, you know, if if we do have a natural disaster or an emergency, we do dip into that surplus to cover it um until we get
reimbursed. So, we can't really, you know, we're not going to play around with that surplus, but as Matt said, we're not going to, you know, anticipate something that might not happen. We can't build that into the budget. And that's why we have a AAA bond rating for one, right? So we have a AAA rating
because we do anticipate or we do put uh monies aside, right, in our surplus to to to to help us in times of need. Uh and when we have had storms, we like the mayor had said, we had to pay for those, you know, cleanups and and every police
action and first responders up front. That money comes out of the monies that we have in our surplus and then we go and get reimbursed from what we can uh from the state or the or the federal government. Anyone else? Yes, sir.
Hi, Mark Dy. Uh 335 Central Avenue. Uh I just had a question. I know the legislature recently allowed municipalities to increase uh over the 2% cap for property um for their budgets. What is the increase in this
year's budget? 1.97. Okay. So, you guys were still below. Even though you were allowed to go over that number, you maintained Yes. a lower. We've we've went through this with a fine tooth comb. Uh, I know a lot
of municipalities around us are way over two. Um, we only we only tax what we need. We we don't look for, you know, a big pie in the sky. So, and
like during CO where a lot of a lot of towns took uh loans, COVID loans, this and that, we stayed we lived within our means. So, that's why these budgets, subsequent budgets, we've been able to keep a a good line on and we had a lot
of challenges this year, just so everybody knows. We had, you know, insurance rates were up about 12%. We have uh health benefits that were up over 5%. Uh we have the stat Yeah. or 8% statutory raises that go out over 2%. Um
so there's a lot of challenges of increases. I mean and as everybody knows in just operating your own home, you know, inflation take took a big bite this year. So despite, you know, 8% inflation rates out in the world, we were able to keep this at
1.97. Um the only way really to to get it down even further, I mean, we've cut it down to the bone as as Al would say, but in order to get it down below 1.9, then we're going to have to start cutting into services or personnel. So, and those are two things that we don't
want to do. I mean, people, you know, choose to live in New Providence for, you know, the beauty and for the the the services and the programs and the the neighborly feel, right? Like, and so that is something that we don't want to touch. So, what I mean, what would you cut out? You know, maybe a bulk pickup.
We like our bulk pickup, you know? So, and and who who are we going to cut? Which employee are we going to cut? No, we're not going to do that. So, you know, we've gotten it as lean as possible. Well, as a new resident, I think it's, you know, I'm thankful for you guys for keeping it at that rate. I I agree. I have heard other towns in the
surrounding areas that have had a more difficult time with their budgets. And um, you know, as somebody with young kids and like you said, with inflation being as high as it is, um, I appreciate it staying at the within that 2% cap because it is something that's a little
bit more digestible. So, but we even just heard it from the electric company. Yeah. Right. Everything's going up. Yeah. So, um I mean we've done all the LED lighting. We've done all that kind of stuff years ago and um you know it's
it's a fact of life right now. Everything's going up. So, well, thank you. It's been like that for decades. I've never seen it go down. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing no one clearly a public
hearing close. Um, okay. 116. No, you just move to the next resolution. What's that? You can just move to the next one. 116. Okay. 116. Before you move on out, I I just before
you move on, I I want to say thank you to our finance committee, uh, Lisa Naen, and Jim Ta, our CFO in the very back. Uh, I think it's a blessing we have Jim kind of helping us uh with this.
[Applause] Thanks, Alex. Um, next resolution 2025-116 is a resolution adopting the 2025 municipal operating budget for the
Burough of New Providence. Have a motion, please. So moved. Second. Second. Roll call, please. Miss Dolan, yes. Miss Bisca, I. Mrs. Mcnite, yes. Mrs. Joffrey, yes. Mr.
Kogan, yes. Mr. Kamiski, I. Okay. Then we have a special down special district budget. Um, anybody on council want to uh have
questions about that? Any questions? No. Okay. Okay. Let's move resolution 117, please. Uh, resolution 117 is a resolution adopting the 2025 authority budget for
the new Providence Special Improvement District, otherwise known as the DID. Have a second. Second. Please. You want just open it to the public? Anybody wishing to uh talk
about the uh special improvement district? Seeing no one roll call, please. Miss Dolan, yes. Mrs. Bisca, I. Mrs. Uh Mcnite, yes. Mrs. Joffrey, yes. Mr.
Kogan, yes. Mr. Kamisky, I can approval of minutes for April 8th. So moved. Second. All in favor? No. So be it. Okay, we have correspondence county of union uh the American Rescue Plan Act.
Um they're going to cease the funding. Okay. Uh board of adjustment 50 Salem Road, New Proidence Fire Department resignation, Jeffrey Knight, and we have a couple because they're going back to school. Okay.
Um, New Province Police Chief Railroad Crossing at Livingston and I know the chief is here. We got a letter saying that it's working the way it's supposed to. Yes, sir.
Okay. Okay. Rebecca Kiglio, uh, about parking nightly on Potter. Amy Miller. Uh she's on the library board of trustees and she has to resign due to uh personal reasons and like to thank Amy
for her uh service. Okay. Fire department open house on October 11th which is always fun. Okay. Fire department resignation Taylor Modeski uh state do safe roots to school design
assistance program. New Jersey American Water public hearing proposed cost recovery for lead service line replacement and fire department resignation of Antonio Antonio Gallow
and Aiden Fehee. Uh any comments? No. Okay. Go a council business uh Kathleen and administration. All right. Resolution 2025118 is a resolution of the Bureau of New Providence, County of Union, State
of New Jersey, adopting a policy for a bench dedication program. Um, it is a new SOP um that sets guidelines for a new program that will um make the se uh bench selections available to be
sponsored by res residents. Um, Alex Kogan and I uh worked on this with Allison Smith. I think we wanted to put it in community activities and uh GPW um worked hand inand to talk about this. Um I think it's a an activity that a lot of
uh residents have talked about beautifying our parks. We do a really good job with um keeping up our parks and such. Um and this is the next step. We've talked about um like Centennial Park uh when that was created, we had a lot of benches dedicated. Um people have
asked uh the burrow and um Allison has kind of done a pilot over the last couple years. So um the benches will be available for people to purchase um and we're starting off in the um by the tennis court area and the new walking path and then hopefully this program
will continue and grow. Um it seems like it's expensive. the bench the the uh dollar amount is $2,000, but it has to do with the cost of the bench and the uh shipping and if we need to put down a um a concrete pad to put it on, but uh
kudos to Allison and uh Ralph working together doing all the research. Um I think it'll be a great addition to the town and beautifification committee wants to thank you too because that was part of their long-term um goals of Centennial Park. Uh, as we know,
Centennial Park is what, 20 25 years? It will be 25 years old. So, those benches are Yeah, the benches are getting a little worn, so it would be nice to to get those spruced up. So, everybody buy a bench. Yeah, a lot of uh organizations in town
have talked about this. It's been going around the burrow um offices, so we're really excited about it. Great. Okay. Engineering Allen. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, resolution 2025-119, resolution approving change
order number one for grade construction in amount of 6,282.88 for the new Providence uh community pool bridge replacement project. So, this is change order number one and hopefully it's the only change order uh for additional cost uh for delivery because we had to push the
project till after the pool season. Um the bridge has arrived. Um it it came in sections. It's like an erector set. It's lot I think it's taken up four spots. Um uh because the pool has uh a lot of chlorine deliveries and need to use the
current bridge. The timing just did not work out. Uh so soon as um the community pool stops operations in um September, we're we're going to start erecting the bridge. Part of the problem also I should mention is when the bridge
arrives, it's just a steel deck bridge. you have to pour concrete over it. Concrete has a curing time. You can't just pour the concrete and let trucks drive over it. So, I believe in this particular one, it's three to four weeks of curing time. So, it just wouldn't
have worked out to try to fit this in before the pool open. It was funny. We're talking to the engineers and they had this high high industrial strength concrete. Yeah. said there would cure F, but they said, "Well, you still got to wait like
three weeks or if you drive over, it'll start coming up." I said, "And just wait till the fall." Okay. Finance, please. Uh, thank you, mayor. Resolution 2025-120 is a resolution providing for
the insertion of any special item of revenue in the 2025 budget pursuant of NJSA 4A4-87 chapter 159 PL 1948 County of
Union 2025 infrastructure and municipal aid grant. This is um what this means basically is that we're inserting $50,000 into into the budget to be used for road paving. We have resolution
2025-121, a resolution providing for the insertion of any special item of revenue in the 2025 budget pursuant of NJSA4A4-87 chapter 151 PL1 1948 recycling tonnage grant. Uh this is
inserting $16,38966 into the budget to be used exclusively for the recycling program. Uh examples include maintenance of mun municipal drop off center salary and costs related directly to education and outreach of the municipal recycling
program or to the enforcement of local recycling ordinance. Uh, next we have resolution 2025-122. Again, it's a resolution providing for the insertion of any special item of revenue in the 2025
budget uh pursuant of NJSA4A4-87 chapter 159, National Opioid Settlement 2025. This is inserting $845.36 into the budget to be used for opioid remediation.
Next we have resolution 2025123 is a resolution authorizing payment of the attached bills payable list. Uh the amount is $423,39347. Some of the more significant items are Dakota paving um for
$141,555 final pickle ball court payment. We have suburban disposal for $45,333. That's our March solid waste disposal charge. Verers's excavating and
construction 21,200 for leaf disposal. UC utilities authority for 19,854 solid waste disposal. We have rapid pump and meter for 13,440. That is for the wastewater
treatment plant pumps number one and two. And then finally, minor Ltd 11,500 for the Dorso garage door replacement. Next, we have resolution 2025124 is a resolution supporting
application submissions for the Union County Capital Project Grant for 2025. Uh this grant program is designed to stimulate the development of local capital projects of economic transportation or government importance
to local municipalities. Only capital projects with a total cost above $100,000 will be considered. Funds need to be fully expand expended by September 30th of 2025. And we are going to be requesting
$500,000 from this grant which we would like to use towards our new public works facility. Okay. One. Oh, one more. Uh resolution 2025125. It's a resolution authorizing the cancellation of grant funds
receivable and appropriated. Okay. We have a limousine application. Summit Express Raja Shakur and the application has been properly prepared and reviewed. Public works. Matt, thank you.
Resolution 126 is a resolution accepting bids and an awarding a contract to Eva Water Technologies LLC for the purchase and delivery of odor control chemicals the amount not to exceed $89,040. Uh if you remember last week or last
meeting, we we passed an ordinance to go out to bid for this. This is the chemicals that go in the water to help save the corrosion on the pipes as well as knock down the odor uh that's coming out of the wastewater treatment plant. Uh resolution 127 is a resolution
amending contract with Denafhrio and Sun, Inc. Landscaping. Uh this is for grass cutting services and related work for municipally owned properties. We are just amending uh the bid that we've approved. Uh there was one small parcel that was left out, so we're adding that
to the to the uh to the contract. Okay. We have committee reports. Uh the only thing I really have is the fishing derby is Saturday and unfortunately it's supposed to rain, but
uh let's hope for the best. Starts at 8:00 Saturday. This Saturday. Yep. Of course it's gonna ring. Yeah, it always does. Register, but uh it's a good time for all. And I know the PBA does a great
job uh running that. And they had the uh uh prescription takeback this past weekend, which was uh which was good. And they do that twice a year, April and October. Diane and Diane Matt stopped by. It was amazing amount of turnout. I
was surprised how many people actually do bring it back. How many bags? But yeah, I think that's all I have except fire department having their their open house on October, I guess.
Right. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Um, so in case anybody missed that that whole time that we were talking, May is mental health awareness month. So, uh, keep your eye We are gonna keep your eyes open. We're going
to be getting a banner across Springfield Avenue down by the pool. Um funding for that came from the Kimberly and Wilson Foundation. Um so we are part of a 10 town coalition for mental health awareness and we worked with the
nonprofit agencies to um fund different activi to fund different activities. Um one of which again is going to be that great banner that's going to be across Springfield Avenue. So we thank them. Um there are also signs that were um funded
by the Rotary Society. Um if you look on our Do we have that on the Burough web page? The Rotary? Yes. If you look to order the sign to order the sign. So if you would like to order a sign, uh you can go on to our Burrow web page and Facebook page and Facebook page. Um they
are $20 a piece and this year they come with a green light bulb. So we're asking everybody to put their um house lights green as well. So, we're going to paint the town green um along with the rest of our coalition. Um so, just keep your eyes open for those and um hope you can
celebrate with that somehow. Um historical society um I just had their meeting last week. Another very passionate group of individuals um who have a lot of things to say. I could probably go on a lot longer about what it is that they are working on. Uh but
just I want to put a date out there. Saturday, May the 10th is the annual craft fair from 9:00 am to 300 pm and it is at the Salt Box Museum. So stay tuned for that as well. And that's all I have. If if you wanted to uh be a crafter or
have a table, is that a option? Yes, as a matter of fact, I am it is an option. Can you tell us how to do that? Uh no. Uh yes. So uh volunteers are needed. Um, so far we have eight crafters registered. Uh, but more crafters are
available. I believe if you go on the Facebook page for the historical society, you can do that. They also are looking for volunteers for setup take down bakers to bake and me well members of the society are going to be manning those tables. So if you look on their Facebook page, more information if
crafters would like to be included. It's a great event. Uh, sustainability committee update. Um, I shared this info with all of council. Um, we received our preliminary report for the sustainable Jersey uh
certification. As you know, we're trying to get silver status um uh which requires a lot of work. So, our chairman Doug Sullivan and Burough employees Bernardet and Allison are doing layman's work here. Um, uh, the person that
reviewed our application is going to get a probably a master's degree in how to look at applications. She's doing a very thorough job. Um, we have to resubmit even photos that were used to be good now have to be retaken. Um, so it's a
lot of followup that is required. Our deadline is May 15th. Uh, we have a plan of attack. Everybody's got their assignments of of the the the things we have to uh the information we have to provide. Um I think there might be one resolution in the next council meeting
that kind of helps us uh uh that has to do with the charging stations. Um but full steam ahead and that's going pretty well. Maybe just another sustainability um uh uh item uh the shredding event uh
that's sponsored by uh the burrow, Union County, and the sustainability committee. That's on the 18th of May, 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Uh you can bring up to four bags or four boxes. Uh leave it. They will shred it for you. I think you
can go back in line if you're have more boxes. Nobody's going to stop you. But it's a wonderful event. I know I'm saving up um my paper products or paper old taxes and things like that. So, great event. Hope people participate. Drop off is here at uh the high school I
believe at the parking lot. I believe full parking lot. That's what I meant to say. Yeah, next to the new bridge. Thank you. So, public art, we have art installation uh actually for those two art sculptures I spoke about uh previous
meetings. Uh the artist is Dennis Falls. We are installing them on Tuesday, May 6th, somewhere around 1 PM. He's driving, I think, from Pennsylvania. So, we don't know when they'll be here exactly, but um we put on the calendar. So, if you guys are interested in coming
out and seeing the installation, please do. The two the two um sculptures, the seafoam resting spot that's going to be at Harmony Park and yellow that's going to be at the Saltbox Museum by the community arts. Is it going to be on Springfield Avenue
or behind or like by You're saying by by the by the gardens? By the gardens. So like on the other side of the pad I saw poured the pad already. Yeah. DPW has been prepping up for that. Yeah. Yeah. It's always neat. I mean I'm I'm actually It's neat to meet the artists and talk to them about their installment. They always have
interesting stories. Yeah. Um historical preservation, you know, they meet every month. Uh they're still continuing with their collection of information on homes that they deem that they're deeming that are historical significance. Uh so more to come with that. Um the planning board, we didn't have a meeting uh for
the planning board, but I did want to note uh that well, we're having a meeting next Tuesday. Amanda, who's our burough attorney, is going to be giving us a nice refresher on um what our jobs are on the planning board, which is great. Uh there are a
few applications that will be coming up in May and June. So if you're interested uh pay attention uh and I will mention them as soon as I get more information on those. Uh community pool just wanted to mention we've been talking about for a long time. We've met with the community pool and I think we've gotten
to a great place with them and should be finalizing the lease and executing that hopefully at the next meeting. Um you know I just want to say you know since co the community pool has has uh not had the best of of
applications, right, and and attendance over the over the years and it's been very difficult, you know, working with them to uh very difficult for them. So, working with them to try to make sure that they are successful. We really want them to be successful and we want to make sure that they're offering one of the great best products uh to the
burough residents. So um so that lease will come out and I'll give some details on on some of the changes that we went through uh for them to to um you know make them successful. I thought you know Tim the pool board president made a made a very interesting
comment said that um you know 10 years ago in a hot July uh day the pool would be packed and cars would be parked down the side streets to get into the pool. you know, and and today in the hot July day, you know,
there's still plenty of parking. So, the just that visual impact really, you know, significant. So, you know, the pool's a phenomenal place. I we've all of our kids been, you know, I'm sure, you know, all you guys have brought all your kids there as well and, you know, we we're, you know, working with them
and hoping that they continue to prosper and get better and and invest, you know, in the pool as as they go forward. Awesome. Easy. Thank you, mayor. Um, so Naen filled you all in on mental health, which has been
really time consuming since the since the last council meeting. Um, besides that, we had a library board meeting uh last week and uh always stuff going on at the library as you know, you can check the website. They have a million programs going on all the time, multiple
per day. um just such a dedicated staff and friends of the library. They do a lot. Um but besides that, if you're if you're around, just go check out. They they just keep improving the aesthetics inside the library. They've added um they've gotten rid of those long
rectangular tables that made it hard to sit at and study at. Uh and they're they added 14 square tables so you can push them together if you have a bigger group. But most people don't have big groups. They're sitting one or two people. Anyway, uh then they've also added two
study rooms which are right by the entrance and they're glassed in and they're quiet and they're private and you can sign up to reserve space in those study rooms which is something new um and and much needed. Um besides that
um as you know the library has been talking about expanding. Uh we went out to the D and they told us we couldn't expand back. uh because of the Indiana bat. That was it. The Indiana bat that might come into New
Providence. So, they had to they had to re reassess what they were going to do. They've been working with an architect that specializes with libraries. And we received a new plan that goes out a little bit into the parking lot just a
little bit and then out into the front and it really looks beautiful. Um the next step would be to get a rendering and pricing. Um so that is the next step. They do have a a surplus um in the library funds that they've been kind of
squirreling away over the years to pay for some of the these initial costs. Uh when the plan is done signed and sealed then starts the fundraising for it. Um of course the library doesn't have you know the $10 million to build the
library. they are going to hopefully um put together a foundation um to raise money and it's going to take a while. So they anticipate that it's a 5 to 10 year plan to get this all done. Um but it is all going to be fundraising to get that
done. Thank you, mayor. Um yeah, the library is wonderful. Friends of the Library actually always have these uh great events and and such. And um Molly, I'm not even gonna try to pronounce her last name. Um she actually
has a quilt exhibit going on which is beautiful. So if anybody, you know, you're in the library, these they're unbelievable. So her opening sentence um just an aside, April 20 20th to the
26th was uh volunteer week and we have a lot of amazing volunteers in our bureau. So we just wanted to give a shout out uh especially our EMS fire, our council advisory committees, our boards, our commissions. Um and there are a lot of new uh nonprofits in New Providence,
scouting, PTAs, CSA. So, thank you so much for everybody who has volunteered to make our burrow what it is. Um, you know, I'm going to say go to the source, our website, our uh uh Instagram, and
our Facebook page. Community activities. Al talked about the fishing derby. It is May 3rd at 8:00 a.m. Kids 15 and under, but adults must accompany their children and you can register via community pass, which again is on our
website. Um, Alex talked about the sustainability committee and the Union County Commissioners and the shredding event. Uh, the Memorial Day parade will be held rain or shine on Monday, May 26, beginning at 10:00 a.m. If your group would like to march in the parade,
please reach out to the rec department. Um and registration is open for all of our recreation summer camps and classes again on community paths. Um, we have put a lot of our projects on our again burough website and that is
under the community tab, project updates, things like uh the pool bridge, the police department renovation, the DPW renovation. Um, these are all on the website. So, if you have if you want to look at it, please do. And, you know, you can always reach out to the bureau
if you have any questions. Um we had a really amazing meeting for Revolution 250 or America's 250th anniversary. Everything is going great. Um we hope to have um a logo mission statement, goals and potential events at
our next meeting. You talked about beautifification. We talked about did uh board of ed um again go to their website for complete information. Um their budget was approved. Uh that obviously the timing is very similar to our
budget. Uh they're finishing up their strategic planning sessions. There was one tonight. And congratulations to Michael Chrysetello who is the new middle school principal. Um and uh also at the last uh board of ed meeting uh
there was a finance action approving the transfer um of uh NPTV to the bureau of New Providence. So, we'll have some uh exciting information about that in the next couple months. And I think that's everything. Hey, can I just uh I just want to add for the for the um the
fishing derby, right? It's one of my favorite free family events. Um and and unfortunately, I won't be able to make it Saturday either. I'll be No, you'll go Friday night. I'll be I'll be picking my daughter up with your Waiters. No, it won't be Friday night, but I just wanted to just, you know, a public service
announcement, I guess. Right. Uh the derby is fun and the kids have a great time and the and the PBA gives them great prizes. So, you know, they get the big lunkers. There usually about five or six of them in there, six. Um but they don't catch all the fish, right? So, those fish are still there
for the next week maybe, right? So, if you do have a small child and you can't make the derby, uh I encourage you take them down and and go fishing at the pond. And um it's a great experience for the kids. You know, I my my kids grew up going on the to the derby and and they
absolutely love it. My daughter, who's 23 years old, graduated from college, has a full-time job, still wants to go fish, and I told her she can't. It's not fair. Um, and I did also just wanted to one thing I did forget was uh we were uh we were invited to the New Proidence um
Cricut Club holy festivalbecue that they had. And um I I just want to thank them for for a they're just great community partners. Uh they invite mayor and council to go to their events. They get very excited
when we show up and and um you know are happy to have us and and uh and we get to learn a lot about not only the cricket which I had no idea what cricket was about until we got involved with these guys but also their culture. you know, and now you gave a great speech about how, you know, many years ago, you
know, the Indian population knew to Providence was it what it is today. And it's really really neat to be able to just participate in in a lot of the cultural events uh from all of our groups. But our cricket club, um, you know, they just do a really great job of involving the community. So, I just want to thank them for that.
Thank you, mayor. I just wanted to go back if I could to get a clarification on resolution 2025124. This was about the Union County Capital Project Grant. So, we're applying for that grant and if we get it,
um I think Lisa said the funds need to be fully expended by September 30th, 2025. 26. It should be 26, right? 26. Okay. Because we may not even hear back about the grant by then. Okay. So, just wanted to make that clarification. In terms of my committee reports for
diversity committee, um, Councilman Alex Kogan and I have concluded our meetings with almost two dozen community members and leaders and we're in the process of convening a relaunch meeting of the diversity committee in the next few weeks. We just want to thank everybody that we met with, took the
time to meet with us, look forward to working together uh for diversity goals in New Providence. I was going to also mention the holy event uh that some of us went to. Uh that was my first time uh experiencing the the colorful uh celebration and I enjoyed so much
learning about that tradition and it was a really windy day so the paint was going everywhere. The food the food was very good today. The food was awesome. Um but there was no one spared just because the wind was taking the p the paint everywhere. It was great. Thank
you to the Qriket Club as well. Um, and I wanted to give a early heads up to the council and residents about a unity fair that's going to be held at the New Providence High School cafeteria on Sunday, June 7th from 4 to 6:00 p.m.
This event is actually being planned by New Providence High School students and alumni with oversight from the former diversity committee chair, Sunil Abra, and other community leaders. And so representatives from that team will be
coming here to our May 13th Burough Council meeting uh to talk about their goals for the event and invite everybody to attend. Um terms of municipal alliance uh Union County held the 2025 annual municipal alliance volunteer of
the year ceremony in Union uh last Tuesday, April 22nd. So, our committee, our committee chair, Ralph Pararmagani, and our committee coordinator, Leslie, represented New Providence very well as they spoke about um the contributions
our committee secretary Mike Yakavelli uh has made to the committee over the years. And he was nominated as the volunteer of the year. um he came in second so he didn't get the award but and he also caught some kind of virus so
he wasn't able to come to the ceremony uh but uh we do thank you publicly Mike for everything that you've done for the alliance committee um and a reminder that that group the alliance group will be having a table at the upcoming senior health fair at the Dorso center on May
14th from 9:30 to 11 uh so those are my committee updates but I just wanted to uh acknowledge the efforts of the finance committee uh our bureau administrator Bernardet Kakaro and our chief financial officer Jim Ta to
prepare the 2025 budget uh that most effectively supports the operations of the bureau um and protects the interests of our taxpayers. So, thank you so much for all that hard work. And then I see that there's a lot of people in the crowd. Just want to say thank you for
coming. Uh it's nice to see some some faces in the crowd and looking forward to um hearing what you guys have to ask us about or talk about. Thank you. Okay, Brenda D. Thank you, mayor. Um
South Street Water Main uh replacement project. I just would like to extend our thanks to New Jersey American Water, the County of Union, Crochia Paving, and everyone at the burrow who worked hard to get that project to completion. Um there was a lot of work in coordinating
um that paving project. Uh the Payic Street Bridge, I spoke to the contractor this week. The work on the bridge is progressing as scheduled. The demolition of the superructure has been completed and the contractor is working on the repairs to the existing pier and
abutments which is going to take place uh several it's going to take several weeks to complete. The new beams for the bridge are in production at the concrete recasters facility and would anticipate the installation of them to begin in May or June. Uh the projected completion of
this bridge is the fall of 2025 at this point. Um the municipal center roof uh project, the contract will be back next week um with a lift. He's going to be repairing and painting the cornice around the top of this building and then we will be able to close that project
out. That's all I have. Boy, that bridge could can't come too soon. Okay. This is an opportunity for any member of the public to be heard about the issues that are not separate topics
scheduled for public hearings tonight to help facilitate an early meeting and to be all all to be heard. Speakers, we are asked to limit your comments to three minutes and may only speak once on any one topic. And please, when you come up,
give your name and address. Anybody wishing to address? Yes, Linda. Linda Gleason, 118 Woodbine Circle. The monitor on that side that faces the back of the room doesn't work and it hasn't worked for some time. So, if you're
sitting on that side, you can't see presentations. So, if you could attend to that. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Thanks. I notice the one up there's not working either. Anyone else? Seeing no one. Oh, yeah. Jim.
Sure. Evening everybody. Hey, Jim. Been a while. Um, Jim Madden, 324 Charmwood Road. Um, I wanted to first, uh, thank you guys for doing an outstanding job on a budget. Tough year, tough
circumstances. I read about all of the budgets going around the vicinity, all the surrounding towns. Guys come through with flying colors. Awesome job. Um, I wanted to let you know, you know, I'm the purple guy. Uh, I I support the
Alzheimer's Association. Um, so we raised 250,000 or sorry, $450,000 uh through the ride to endalls. That'll be Saturday, May 3rd. I'll be taking a hike down to Virginia.
Hopefully, it's not going to rain, but I'll be doing uh try to run my age or try to ride my age, I should say, and we'll see how it goes. Um, I did have a meeting with Congressman Kaine, uh, ask for his support in signing on to
the credit for caring act, which is a $5,000, uh, credit annually for a family who's a caregiver of an Alzheimer's patient. And I just want to remind everybody that Alzheimer's is not an old person's disease. Um, we lost a friend
of mine last December at the age of 62. friend of mine age 63 has louisibody dementia. So it's very important cause that I'm involved in. I want to really thank everyone from New Providence who
donated and sponsored my ride effort. It's amazing when I just send out something on Facebook and people just show up. I mean this is what makes this town the awesome town that it is. when people can rise to the occasion and see
an effort and get behind it and people I don't even know or have have sponsored and donated this cause. I will be wearing the number one bib. I'm the top fundraiser for this event. Oh, nice. Congratulations.
So, third time third time in four years that I that I have uh rode with the number one bib. But I just want to really thank this community for for really being more than it ever could have been. You know, when I came here in 1990, we
found a house and I'd never stepped foot in this town ever. And it was probably it's probably the most fascinating thing that's ever happened to us. To be able to raise your family here. All of the things that this
community has done for us is just really amazing. And I I thank people like yourselves who put the time together, take it away from your families to serve this community. It's very much appreciated. So, thank you. Thank you.
You know, your work with the Alzheimer's is so important. I mean, you have the victims, but I think it impacts the families more than the victims. The victims really every 66 seconds a brain
is taken. Yeah. Nobody knows why, but we have to find out why. Yeah, it it it's sad. It's really sad. So, okay. Anyone else? Seeing no one, I declare the public comments closed and I need a
motion for items 1 through 11, please. So moved. Second. Okay, please. Miss Dolan, yes. Miss Felisa, I. Mrs. Mcnite, yes. Mrs. Joffrey, yes. Mr. Kogan, yes. Mr. Kaviski, I.
Okay, we need a motion for a journ. So moved. Second. All in favor? I I be it. Thank you everyone.