Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Sunshine notice, Madam Clerk. Thank you, Mayor. Board of Commissioners public meeting agenda for Tuesday, May 6, 2025. The time is now 7:14. Pursuant to the requirements of the Open Public Meeting Act, chapter 231, Public Law 1975,
notice of this meeting was published in the November 21st, 2024 issues of the Nutly Sun, the Herald News, and the Star Ledger. A copy of this notice has been posted on the Nutley Town Hall bulletin board, and a copy is on file in the municipal clerk's office. Commissioner Evans here. Commissioner Tucci here.
Commissioner Scarpelli here. Commissioner Petra here. Mayor Kelly, present. All present. Mayor, thank you, Madam Clerk. Uh, communications, please. Yes, thank you. Uh, we have, uh, several this evening. Uh, Conquer Brothers
Management for LLC, the Old Canal Inn, has submitted an application for an extension of premises to hold an event on Saturday, June 7th, 2025 from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at 2 East P Avenue. The uh Time Food Service LLC has
submitted an application for a catering permit for the JTCC CDI uh retreat on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 from 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at the Hackinack Meridian Health Center for
Discovery and Innovation at uh 111 Ideation Way. The VFW holding uh company of Nutley has submitted an application for a social affair permit for their Memorial Day celebration to be held on Monday, May 26, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. to
11:00 p.m. at 271 Washington A. And the last one is Commissioner Tucci has submitted an application for a street concert on Thursday, June 26th, 2025 on Franklin Avenue from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. between Chestnut Street and William
Street. Motion, please. Move it. Second, Commissioner Evans. I I understand Commissioner Tucci is going to do it solo that night. Song and a dance. Yes. Commissioner Tucci. Hi, Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi, Commissioner Petrago. Hi,
Mayor Kelly. Hi. And that's it for communications. Uh, thank you, Madam Clerk. Uh, reports. Uh, Commissioner Tucci. Um, I have a Sha Tree report. Get the right page
here for the month of March. March. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Stef. Yes, Mayor. I have various uh monthly reports for the Department of Public Works. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Petraco. Yes, I have um our
Department of Public Safety reports for April. Thank you. Thank you. Bills, Madame Clerk. Thank you, Mayor. Bill is for May 6, 2025. Public affairs, $173,7718. Revenue and finance, $8,519,669. Public safety, $214,5748. public works
58,39.31 parks and public property 1,157,2324 payroll uh as of April 25th 2025 regular payroll total $1,62,448.99 overtime payroll total $70,15961 total payroll $1,132 $32,68.60 for a grand total of
11,34,570 9. Move the bills. Second. Commissioner Evans. I. Commissioner Tucci. I with the exception of item number 2500890. I abstain on that one. Okay. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petra. Hi. Mayor Kelly. I. And that's it
for bills. Mayor. Thank you, Madam Clerk. At this time, we'll have public comment on agenda items only. This is public comment on agenda items only. Those wishing to be heard on agenda items only, please approach the microphone and say your name for the record, please. Thank you.
Seeing none, uh we'll move into board of commissioner announcements. Commissioner Evans. Uh nothing this evening, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Excuse me. I'm sorry. We have the uh DMVs coming on May 14th. Uh they'll be here between uh uh I think it's 9 or 10
9 to3 3 3 p.m. at the uh 44 Park Avenue. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Tucci. Yes. Uh just one announcement, weather permitting, uh this Friday, uh beginning at 6:00 and ending at 8:00, we have the Greater Nutley Cancer
Foundation Festival of Hope. Uh we're watching the weather very carefully. the uh the prediction is not a good one. Uh so we're still a little uncertain, but if the weather's fine, please come out everyone and support it. Thank you, Commissioner Scapelli. Thank
you, Mayor. Uh we have one of my favorite events, uh big truck day on Saturday from 12 to 2 in parking lot 9. That's the lot next to um good for uh big kids and little kids.
come out and see the the big trucks that the Department of Public Works has 12-2. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, uh, Commissioner Petra. Yes, Mayor. Thank you. I um just would like to bring up um being a father of a high school child
and um a business owner in town and a commissioner of of um some of these board of ed meetings that I've been watching. And I'm just wondering if it's true or false about these um JV sports
programs, these par professionals, and it just seems like being a commissioner and a business owner in this town, you know, that the information hasn't been delivered, you know, as much as I think I would like. I won't speak for the rest of the board, but I really think it
would be a tragedy. And my son, by the way, never played any sports. To cut a sport program, a music program, or anything else in this town. I've been saying it up here for 18 years. How our schools go is how our town will go. That's how our property values will go.
And I'm hoping, and I'm not being a critic of anybody tonight, but I'm hoping that the information that we're receiving is not true. I don't know where these cuts are going to be or what they're coming, but I would really appreciate a little bit more transparency. Um, during our last
campaign, we talked about one nutly, and I know I will speak for our board. If there's anything that we could help to do, you know, to move these schools forward in the situation at hand, I'm sure, um, we would do that even though we are two separate boards. But um all
this you know talk about cutting cutting cutting I mean the children of this town are are precious prizes and um education is a big important factor and how our town moves forward. Thank you mayor. Mayor may be a good idea to uh have our
education committee set up a meeting with uh the board and sit down and figure out what what where the miscommunication lies. I think, mayor, if I might. Yep. Commissioner, I think that's an excellent uh an excellent suggestion. Actually, it's something
that we have already spoken about and there was supposed to be a meeting set up. We were just waiting for a date and I guess they got caught up in whatever they were doing budget-wise. Uh but I just like to comment on what Commissioner Petraco said. I I totally agree with what you're saying. Uh it's
it's very important not only for the physical being of our students, all right, but for their futures because sports and being the parks and recreation commissioner, I can speak to this firsthand. I mean, we're we're the training ground, all right, for our
children going into the high school. you know, children that succeed and and participate, all right, no matter what degree they they they achieve, all right, have opportunities before them to move on to higher education if that's the the channel they want to take. All
right? So, by doing things like this without giving choices, I'm not so sure it was sound logic. All right? I for one um would have done things a little differently, but we're all individuals. We all have our own styles of doing
things. Uh I I like to talk about choices and choices are probably something uh that this board is going to be speaking to our residents about moving forward. What we can afford to do, what we can't afford to do, how we go about serving the people of this
township in in the best way possible. So again, I don't know where the these uh these suggestions came from. Um what I'm hearing is it wasn't the entire board. All right. There were two different discussions. One on how much it it was going to be increased the budget that
they agreed upon and the other being, you know, what was going to stay and what was going not to stay. All right. I know I for one and I don't think any commissioner here was informed as to you know what the ramifications of different
percentages would have been and what the impact would have been on that budget. So I'm hoping to communicate better with the with the administration uh moving forward and uh you know I look forward to that. We've had a great relationship with one nutly and we've accomplished a lot together uh but we had a little
misstep here and we need to get back on track. Thank you mayor. Go ahead. Yeah. I I'm I I don't Mayor, how do you want to proceed with this because this could be a lengthy conversation. Uh if you have any additional comments,
feel free to add. Otherwise, I was going to go into my announcements. I do. So, why don't you do your announcements, we'll come back to Sure. Uh just to very briefly piggyback because I I I know Commissioner Evans has uh some some greater comments in greater detail. Uh
but one nutly is has not been lip service and it has not been forgotten and I can attest to the fact that every commissioner on this board has worked with the board in some capacity towards that goal and that that aspiration of one nutly uh and we have done so both
individually and as a board uh I know I've done uh a lot with uh Kent. We have a standing meeting every month uh to discuss different health priorities for those the schools and different ways we can uh grow and enhance the education
capacities of the uh of the school district. Uh and with that said, I'm going to roll into my announcements. And uh on May 12th, Nelly Family Service Bureau has a mental health event at its
uh offices here in Mley. uh at on May 14th, next Wednesday from 6:00 to 9:00. We're partnering with Meal to do a hometown Mly hometown trivia. This is the first uh event of its kind and uh we hope to see everyone there. Uh there's
going to be uh uh all nutly based questions. Uh so you can really test your your hometown pride for the trivia. And uh it it's all indicators. It's going to be packed. So, look to make a reservation beforehand. On May 15th, we
have our mobile blood drive uh at the Department of Public Affairs and Health from 3:30 to 6:45. And on May 19th, we have the stroke stroke screening at the Department of Public Affairs and Health from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. And I'll turn it back over to Commissioner Evans uh for further comment. Thank you, Mayor. You know, I al to your point is I
don't know why the school board chose to communicate uh the changes that they're going through and and the actions that they're taking in the manner that they did that. I think that's up to them to explain. We were supposed to schedule a meeting this week of the education
committee, but uh that's been delayed and they're looking to availability next week so that we could sit down and do that. Um, so like for so for example, what I don't understand is if you're going to need to reduce your spending in athletics by $50,000 or
4.6% and you still are providing $1,30,000 for athletics, how does that translate into eliminating JC JB sports, right? I don't think that's necessary. I think the choices that were that were to
chosen to highlight, you know, I think um instigated a lot of unrest in town. Uh but I think the the question is a rooted question which says if you have a million $30,000 for athletics in Nutley,
why isn't that enough to cover all freshman, sophomore, JV, and varsity sports, whatever that is? So I I think that their approach we which we'll have an opportunity to uh deal with when we we see them but I don't uh I don't
understand why they took the approach that they did. So uh but to your point is for athletics the root question for me is if you still have a million30 why are you cutting JV sports? It seems to me that uh that your athletic director can actually produce a very fine program
for all kids with that kind of money, right? Seems like logical to me. The other thing I would point out is that I went online and I grabbed it is the corrective action plan that was approved by the board on April 17, 20 uh 24 uh
related to the actions that were necessary for them to uh correct the direction of the school board and they lay that out. It also identifies very plainly which what we knew is how did they get to a level of a deficit that's
over $7 million? What caused that? Right? U and there's a lot of conspiracy theories that are out there and the need for questions about whether or not the AG's office should be contacted, whether or not you need a forensic audit and all these other things. But when you do look
at it, and there's an underlying question as to why, but when you budget uh 2 $2.1 million worth of revenues that are unrealizable because you never got them before, we we in our budget, we wouldn't
be allowed to put in any revenue dollars greater than the dollars we received the previous year, but they did for some reason. when you underbudget your appropriations by $5 million, right? Including $3 million for
health care, which are known budget items. Why didn't you budget the right way? Uh and then, you know, you get into why not why weren't the Chromebooks budgeted? Why wasn't the South Bergen, you know, teachers uh for special needs budgeted the way it was supposed to be?
And they're all good questions and they're things that in my mind never should have happened if you had competent resources that were actually doing it. Uh so I so there is a root question that gets to to me was in effect misplaced reliance on u resources
that shouldn't have been relied on. Uh the bud the school board for years for years said our budget's only going up 2%. We're only going up 2%. Well, the cost model that they were dealing with was going up much greater than that. So, if you're only going to go up 2% because
the cap says you can only go up 2%. Right? Then you get into an issue that says says, "Well, wait a minute. If I have to go up higher, then my budget should go out for public comment." Remember the old days, the board, you know, voted in
April, the budget was voted on in April, and if it was voted down, it came to us, right? Well, then there was a ch statutory change that said, "No, no, no. You can go to November, right? And when you go to November, all you have to do is give it to the county BA and that would be your state approval and that's
your budget." Well, I think that was a change that actually lessened the level of control that was available then is was no longer available. And personally, I'd like to see it come back because I think there's greater accountability uh with that with that budget budget if you
know you got to get a vote to pass it right versus just being able to do it. But one of the things I'll point out is um and Amy, is that is that you? Hi, I saw your comment but and so I just wanted to point out is that in the budget they
call for a zerobased budgeting approach to go visit every area right and figure out what do they need to spend money on and what changes they are they going to make which is affecting uh the uh teacher teacher areas power
professional areas which all has to be evaluated and look at but it's laid out in their plan from last year. So, they're executing against the plan that was published and approved and adopted by the state of New Jersey. So, they're executing against the plan. It's not willy-nilly. I just I I don't think I
don't understand why they didn't pull out their corrective action plan and say these are the actions we're taking and this is the progress we're making against the the plan. Right? And so there's other questions I think that we will will go through, but u a better
form of and choice of communication would improve a lot. So I'll leave it at that because we can we're here about our budget, not theirs. Yeah. I just I just want to add a couple things. I think not only was there miscommunication between
uh the administration and the board and us, I think there was miscommunication between the administration and the board. Uh based on what I could see and what I heard listening to it that night, uh it didn't seem to me that the
administration and the board are were on the same page. So, um, that's not the way we've been operating for the last four or five years. We've been operating as, uh, uh, as at least consulting each other
because it does affect the taxpayer one way or another, whether it's the left pocket of the board of ed or the right pocket of the board of commissioners. And I think um, we we've been very cooperative uh, with both the administration and the board of education. Uh we have a good story to
tell on some of the things that we've been doing together. Um and I would hate, you know, miscommunication um between everybody. Um not on our end, by the way, but between them and us uh to affect some of the good things that
that are being done and need to be done as we move forward. So, I'm hoping the committee can help uh enlighten us on some of that where some of that miscommunication happened, not only between uh the board of education and
us, but between the board of education and the administration, cuz I believe there's definitely some miscommunication there. Thank you, commissioners. Uh and I one more thing to add. did see a lot of comments online about where is the
investigation and audit and uh that hasn't been forgotten. We that will be done. Uh the the process is still in the state's court. The ball is still in their court so to speak and uh once once that process concludes and we have our
ability to go forward with that we will we will certainly do so. It certainly has not been forgotten and uh cuz we as taxpayers also want the same answers that you demand answers to and so we're going to make sure that that gets done one way or another. Um mayor, one more
comment. Sure. I think it's important that uh while the forensic investigation is being proposed by the state um and there has to be a review, it we should not leap to the conclusion that somebody
stole over $7 million and somehow we needed to get it back from them and they need to go to jail for that. That's not, you know, from everything that I've looked at, you know, that would be a leap that's beyond what would be reasonable. Absolutely. An investigation is a factf
finding endeavor uh to figure out what happened, how it happened, and how to prevent it in the future. Uh and to provide us with those answers. And so I'm sure we are all looking forward to those answers. Just to dovetail a little bit, there's there's been nothing that's been
shown that anything is missing or stolen. It was spent. Correct. it it was spent and it shouldn't have been spent and you shouldn't have been budgeted the way it was budgeted. That's bottom line. Well, the only thing I would like to add, it's really it really is appalling
that people are in place in this town controlling these board of ed budget for all the money they are and they're misbudgeting money and where are the checks and balances and who's there to verify it because like we're all saying, we can't go backwards and I appreciate
everybody's comments and and I don't mean to offend anybody, but we are all taxpayers here too and you know what, a lot of us are proud are products of Nelly High School and the school system here and I know I am and there's some pride that comes with
that and you know to watch these schools being in the situation that they're in right now is very disheartening and we can do better and it's time to get off our pity pot so to speak and move this forward and correct the problem in my
opinion. Thank you. Um, at this time I think we'll roll into ordinance introductions and uh, Commissioner Portraa looks like you'll be uh, leading us off. Thank you. Okay. Tonight I have ordinance number
3585, an ordinance to amend the ordinance codified in the code of the township of Nolly chapter 22A entitled vehicles and traffic particularly article 7 special zones and area section 29A entitled handicap park and to add to the location Seth Fort. This is for 75
Raymond Avenue. I move that this ordinance be passed to a second reading and advertised in LA together with the notice required by law and that the further consideration of the said ordinance for final passage by the board of commissioners to be held on the
second reading of is that June 3rd. June 3rd. I move it. Second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. Hi. Mayor Kelly. Hi.
Okay, this is 3581 on this men chapter 585 of the code. Oh, I'm sorry. I got the wrong one. I just see here we go. Sorry about that, guys. I won't want to take your ordinance. Um, this is ordinance number 3586, an
ordinance in to amend an ordinance codified in the code of the township and not chapter 228 entitled vehicles and traffic particularly article 7 special zones and areas section 29A entitled handicap parking to add to the location set forth
thereon. This is for 54 and avenue. I move that this ordinance be passed to the second reading and advertisingly sent together with the notice required by law and that the further consideration of said ordinance for the final passage by the board of
commissioners to be held on its second reading. I'm assuming it's June 3rd. Yes. Thank you. I move it. Second. Commissioner Evans. I. Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpell. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. I. Mayor Kelly.
Hi. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Commissioner. We have a number of ordinances on for public hearing this evening, and I'll start with uh you, Commissioner Scarpelli. This is ordinance number 3581, an ordinance to amend chapter 585, the code of the township entitled sewer, more
specifically amending article 7. Um move to open the public hearing. At this time, we'll have a public hearing on ordinance number 3581. Anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance number 3581, please approach the microphone and state your name for the record. Thank you.
Hi everyone. I'm Christina Milinari. Some of you know who I am. Um my husband's Nunio's Landscaping. Stephanie's Barbecue used to be Nunio's Diner. Um I think these questions are for you. Um, Commissioner
Scarpelli, I was reading the proposed ordinance 3581 and the the fees for the installation if the properties are designated that they need to be done. Now, um it's
$7,500 um installation fee and a connection fee of a th000, right, for each property. Correct. That's that's if you need a new sewer line. Correct. Let's let's assume that I do. I'm talking about myself and I own multiple
properties in 10 three. So, does this payment needs to be paid all at once? Can we do installments or or how is this going to work? Well, I'll go back to I mean, the amount of times
that a new sewer line is is required are few and far between. You'd have to have a collapsed line um or a new construction with a new sewer line and the sewer line from the street to your house is the homeowner's responsibility.
So I mean you know in in certain situations we could look at you know some sort of payment plan but those will be on an individual basis and a hardship basis. Okay. And also um if the homes if
the installation needs to be done is there timelines uh when they're it's going to be done or um what's the time frame of the completion? If you need a new shoreline, you're going to want it done right away because you're not going to be able to
use anything in your house. You're not going to be able to use the sinks. You're not going to be use the toilets. You're not going to be able to wash clothes. So, the timeline will, you know, really is on the homeowner. I mean, unless they want to move out of their house and not replace the the the
line. And also, if I may, I would like to make a comment on the board of education. um how I found out about the sports being
cut and um and maybe the special ed program. It was on the internet. It was all over the internet. And then it also said that May 19th, the board of education is having an open meeting to I guess discuss it.
So, um I know Commissioner Tucci and I have known each other for a long time. Our kids are of similar ages and our children have been in the sports program in Nutley and they have loved it and we
have loved it and I know we have worked in the stands and brought snacks for the kids and so forth. So any of this stuff goes away for all ch our children. It will be very sad. Also, um I appreciate
the rest of the commissioners making those special statements. Um I have grandchildren. My kids are all grown now, but I have grandchildren in Nutley and my my grandson is very good in baseball. He's on three different teams
in in in baseball. Um he's on the little league. He's on the traveling team and another team, the all-star team, 11year-old. and he will be heartbroken because he loves the sport. So what are we going to do with these children after
school if we do away with the programs? They're going to get involved in serious issues, right? There's no extracurricularum activities for them to do. What do parents do? Do they go to um private schools and enroll their kids or
in sports or what do we do? Also the special ed program. My granddaughter was one of the not severe, but it helped my granddaughter pick big. I've had two tenants over the years in my house,
special ed, um that have really tremendously um enriched from the program. So, it will be a very very sad day when we can't help our special ed uh children in this
town. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Your sentiments are our sentiments and you didn't find out much differently than how we found out unfortunately that I printed it. I didn't bring it. And my son, his kids are in the school
system. He said he didn't even get like a notice from the board of education about the meeting or that um that was even up for anything. Like I think parents should be um kind of brought up
to date what's going on with with their children and when with the schools cuz it's this is where they learn. This is where they grow. This is where they advance. So my son said I didn't even get a letter from the board of ed or the
school saying that this was was might be happening or did they decide what what is we don't know. Yeah. I think we'll find out on the 19th that uh and I would I would uh Yeah, maybe. I put I put a bet on that. Yeah, 95 99% of the JV
sports are back on the 19th. I'll put I'm going to make sure I show up at that meeting because I've been in this town 45 years. My three children really were involved in the sports, every type of sport, and they loved every minute of it. And I feel like what are we going to
do with our children, their grandchildren after school and and and the sport they enjoy? If you take away all that from the children, they're going to end up in trouble, right? They're going to end up doing something illegal, something they're not supposed to do if they're not busy and they're
not participating in extracurricularum activities. That's my personal feeling. I know I had three kids through the school system and we we loved every game and every involvement over the years and
Commissioner Tucci was there with me so with his kids. He was also a coach my son's team. So it it was great. We all enjoyed the games and we all participated even in the snack bars. Thank you. Thank
you. Anyone else wishing anyone else wishing to be heard on ordinance number 3581? Seeing none close the public hearing. Second. Commissioner Evans. I. Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. Hi.
Mayor Kelly. I. Move the ordinance. Second. Commissioner Evans. I. Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Braco. I. Mayor Kelly. I. Uh the next one we have on for this
evening is uh ordinance number 3582. Uh Commissioner Petraco. Yes. I have ordinance number 3582 an ordinance to amend ordinance codified in the code of township and Dolly chapter 22A entitled vehicles and traffic
particular art 7 special zones and area section 29A entitle handicap parking to add to the location. Uh, at this time we open open up the public hearing on ordinance number 3582. Anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance number 3582, please approach the
microphone and state your name for the record. Seeing none, move to close. Second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. Hi. Mayor Kelly. I over the orange. Second. Commissioner
Evans. Hi. Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Paco. Hi. Mayor Kelly. Hi. Uh, and at this time I'll turn it over to Commissioner Evans who has a series of uh ordinances. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I have ordinance
number 3583 which establishes uh a cap bank for the municipal budget. It's uh pursuant to statute that allows us to uh uh increase our budget to uh at from two and a half% uh on appropriations to
3.5%. We established the bank every year. It lasts for two years and then it disappears uh and then it we so we continue to regenerate it. Historically we don't use it. uh we did have uh a need to use it coming out of COVID, but
that's the first time in uh 20some years that we've we've had to dip into it. But otherwise, it is a recurring item. Uh again, it's by statute and it's allowable to establish a a cap bank. Open public hearing. Anyone wishing to
be heard on ordinance number 3583, please approach the microphone and state your name for the record. Seeing none. Move to close. Second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Patco. I. Mayor Kelly. I.
Move the ordinance. Second. Commissioner Evans. I. Commissioner Tucci. I. Commissioner Scarpell. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. I. Mayor Kelly. I. U. My next ordinance is 3584. Uh this amends the uh uh liquor licensing for retail
distribution and uh retail consumption. Uh uh the retail consumption license will be uh $1,900 a year. Uh the retail distribution will be $1,500 a year. Club licensing uh stays at
$150. Uh these are adjustments that uh we haven't adjusted these rates since 2010. Uh and uh we're we stay consistently below the other towns which uh for retail consumption are already at
$2,500 a year. So at this time we'll open the public hearing on ordinance number 3584. Anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance number 3584, please approach the microphone and state your name for the record. Move to close. Second, Commissioner
Evans. Hi, Commissioner Tucci. Hi, Commissioner Scarpell. Hi, Commissioner Petraco. I, Mayor Kelly, I. Move the ordinance. Second, Commissioner Evans. Hi, Commissioner Tucci. Hi, Commissioner Scarpell. Hi, Commissioner Pat. Hi, Mayor Kelly. Hi.
Uh, my next series of things relates to the introduction of the uh u public hearing for the municipal budget that was introduced on April 1st. uh 2025. Uh before I start I need to read a
resolution that uh uh authorizes the budget to be read by title o only uh by statute whereas NJSA484-8 as amended by L215 uh 2015 C9514 2015 provides that the budget be
read by title only at the time uh of the public hearing if the uh resolution is passed by no less than the majority of the full governing body providing that at least one week before the date of the public hearing a complete copy of the budget has been made available for
public inspection and has been available to each person upon request where as these two conditions have been met. The budget has been online as of April 2nd. Uh it's been on available at the library as well as at the municipal clerk station. Uh just for the record. Uh now
therefore it be resolved that the after the closing of the public hearing the governing body may adopt the budget by title without amendments or may approve amendments as provided by NJSA uh 48 col4-9 before adoption. Uh and uh we
will only be hosting a public hearing tonight because there are a couple items pending with the state that will delay our adoption. Uh so move second. Commissioner Evans. I. Commissioner Tui. Hi, Commissioner Scarpell. Hi, Commissioner Petraco. Hi, Mayor Kelly.
Hi. Um, we have a couple things to do. Um, and uh f first uh is I've prepared several slides that take the the entire budget document and reduces it to a few
slides. So hopefully for greater transparency and for better understanding u the state budget document um is is complicated. It's not easy to read uh and it's hard to get a sense of what it's all about. So the
idea of the slides was hopefully uh to uh advance a level of transparency uh around our budget. Uh so uh with the indulgence of the board, I'd like to walk through these slides first. Uh uh
Ray Sarin Sarinelli from Nizavacia in in company is here who will share a few comments and then right after that we can open it up for public comment. Uh the slides uh that I'm going to read uh tonight will be available on the website
tomorrow. Uh unfortunately our TV screens are a little bit on the smaller side so these slides are a bit busy. Uh we did prepare extra copies. So if anybody is interested in having one, they're available uh in the audience to follow along. That might make it easier.
Uh so uh let's uh move along here. Um I already did the first page. All right. So, um, now, um, let's move off to the to the next, uh,
page. And I'm going to speak into the mic. Uh, Sassy, if I'm not speaking loud enough, you know, for the record, uh, let me know. Um this slide, this single slide summarizes the entire budget for the
municipality, all five municipal departments as well as the uh public library. And what it basically says is that uh in order for us to meet the requirements of the health, welfare, and safety of the community across all of
the departments providing each of the services that we provide. Uh we need to raise uh $64,799,792 for 2025, which is an is a $2,224,000 increase over
24. We do our best to search out revenues uh of various kinds. So it comes in the form of we invest our our money on hand in in interestbearing accounts. We received some state aid. Uh we do have pilot agreements with certain
properties and we receive pilot revenues. uh since incorporating EMS into uh the municipal services and public safety, we're able to bill for uh Medicare, Medicaid uh services associated uh with that uh as well as
the construction office uh for various fees uh application fees and so on that go go on in that office. Uh and there's there's and same thing like cable franchise fees, parking meter fees and a various other places where we identify
revenue and we do every year uh look to collect our delinquent taxes. Um and uh for some reason there's this similar group of people that like to pay late. the number stays pretty stable year-over-year, but when you add it all up, we're able to raise uh excluding
grants uh uh $18,771,571 uh in other sources other than property taxes. The balance has to be raised by the property tax. And that means that we have to raise in order to operate the municipal government only. doesn't include the school or the county. We
need to through the tax payments and t property taxes raise 44,1779 uh76,48 statutoily the library is able to generate revenue by statute uh and by and under the formula for that and there
is a formula for it uh it goes into the tax bill. So you'll see it on your tax bill as library. Uh that it raises another 1,851,813 which goes directly to supporting uh the the Nutley library. So in total for this year we will need to
raise for our u through taxes 46 million28,221 which is uh $1,489,937 increase over 24. Uh and what does that mean? Uh uh
what it means is that right now uh on introduction the municipal tax levy will for the average taxpayer uh whose house is assessed at around $491,000 their municipal tax increase will be $123 for the year. Uh the 18 the
school board adds to that uh for an additional $18. Uh so the total library municipal increase is uh $141 for increase over uh 20 uh for uh
levels. Um what's interesting about this is uh I and I want to refer to state aid. Included in our aid last year was $547,000 which was categorized as municipal relief aid.
uh the introduction of the state budget eliminated that category of aid in February. That change uh in terms of its effect on the municipal tax increase is the equivalent to about
$55. So if that we didn't lose that aid, uh our uh uh municipal uh increase with the library would have been uh under $100. it would have been at $87. Uh because of that impact, uh I
have petitioned the state uh through the uh division of of local governmental services as well as our legislative representatives for the 34th district to somehow do something to help us mitigate that loss. uh while I won't be able to get all of it, I'm hopeful that we'll
get some of that which will contribute to hopefully when we go to adopt, we'll reduce the amount of uh of the increase that we're we're looking at. Uh my goal is and I believe very strongly that we will get the municipal increase under $100 uh to around
2.5%. Um I'm hopeful that if we get the state aid uh recovery, we'll be under will be under 2%. So that's that's that's what we're working towards. So much work needs to be done. Uh but that's a snapshot. So it takes that entire booklet and and reduces it to
that that that amount. What? So moving to the next slide uh in uh oops in government a government accounting uh which is a it's a it's a separate rule book in an animal unto
itself uh revenue changes in revenue uh are parallel to uh changes in appropriations and they only meet at the bottom when it comes time to turn to determine the levy. So what I did is this next slide says well what happened
what what changed in our revenues uh for 25 that uh resulted in the fact that we had a net increase of roughly $734,000. And so what you can see on this slide is is laid out is that we uh
released a a capital improvement reserve uh for our initial payment for the new school at 777 Bloomfield Avenue. uh we reversed uh a a reserve uh that we had in the books last year and used for
$513,000 um covering the transition to the new utility. If you look at those two items, those are one time extraordinary in nature. But so if you look at the others, the interest income and net other expenses overall our revenue sources stay flat. Pretty much
flat. Well, we and and there's not much we can do to control that other than increasing our our fees, fines, you know, permit fees, things like that, uh, and so on, which are limited resources for us. The big sources of our revenue
really come from, uh, state aid and, uh, and property taxes. So, it's so I wanted to point out what was important is that year-over-year revenues stay fairly stable. It's every now and then there's an event but they stay very stable. The event this year though that was
detrimental to us was the loss of municipal relief aid. So having if we didn't lose that our revenue increase would have been a little bit higher and and as I noted on this slide uh we'll know in the June time frame whether or
not we'll get some relief uh against that loss. Uh the difficulty with it overall uh is that the state budget that has been submitted uh has a bunch of issues associated with it. Uh the governor has been making adjustments to
that. So there's not a lot of money floating around at the state level to say sure, you know, here's more money. Uh it's an empty piggy bank these days. Uh so to moving on the other side of this equation is oh I got it right is
what happens to our spending. So we while revenues are kind of stable uh and and based upon the activity in the town and they're they are volatile uh to a degree but they're fairly stable. What happens on the other side is the
appropriations which is uh the spending the money what we have to spend money on right and what are we required to spend money on. So one component is that uh we have salary increases that we have to abide by uh most of the salaries in in
the township are covered by uh union contracts and labor negotiations uh which have very specific terms and our budgets year-over-year have to to meet that. And you see that it's larger, smaller based upon the department. Um,
and it's pretty clear to see that, you know, certain areas cost more than others from from that standpoint. When you look at the the expense side, what we spend money on, uh, we had a significant increase in our group
medical insurance. Uh, we've, uh, had an increase in our garbage and recycling of $222,000. Our medical insurance went up 1,327,000. Gasoline costs have gone up $90,000. Uh the uh uh workman's
compensation insurance up $67. Uh we had to renew licenses in Treasury uh in order to operate our computer systems uh which was $44,000. uh we're coming up on a large anniversary for uh the 4th of July. So
the civic celebration is up a bit and we had some offsets which uh relates to pension costs went down uh surprisingly. Uh and so you see in here uh and also in here is the payment from the reserve which didn't go in didn't affect taxes
but it shows the payment that we made uh to the school. In addition, you'll see an adjustment which is we completed the transfer of costs to the combined water sewer utility and the 2.2 million that's at the bottom is actually the other half
of the sewer bill. We get a bill each year, this year that bill is $4.7 million. Part of it's already in the utility. This is the other piece that had to be transferred uh which I'll get to in a second. So, what you'll see is I laid out that on one page all of the
expense changes that are material in understanding what happened to our budget year-over-year. The next slide just demonstrates the sewer water utility, right? Uh the water component of that and the sewer component of that. In order to operate that the utility, it it
will cost 11.3 million uh to operate that with uh paying for our our supply of water, paying for the treatment of our sewers sewer and the manpower associated with maintaining the water and and sewer systems. Uh we will be
billing for that based upon consumption. It's no longer in your property tax bill. So depending upon how you use it, that's how we will be paid. And we're anticipating that based upon the billing that's in the ordinance that that we currently have, we'll raise 11.5
million. So we might have a little bit of a reserve. Hopefully at the end of the year, uh this prior year, we we didn't we we we didn't have any reserves. Uh so you can see processing our sewer cost $4.7 million. uh
supplying our water from North Jersey, Pake Valley, and Newark uh was our three sources of water uh cost basically $2.4 uh million. There's very little debt in the utility. It's $286,000. And the cost of people uh is
another $4 million uh providing all their benefits. So u it gives you a sense that you know that's where we are with the utility uh and um uh there are some notes uh that are attached to it as commentary but I I've covered most of
that. Uh the most significant one uh here is the municipal ordinance number 3581 which revised uh the the nature of billing and the rates associated uh with the billing. Uh so and that that is
adopted for 2025. That ordinance is available on our website for anybody who wants to look at the rates. So at this point we've walked in and said, "Hey, we need to spend this money. We need to raise this money. We need to collect taxes. We get so much from revenue." But
more importantly, the question I'm asked all the time is what do you do with it? Where does that money go? Right? Why are you spending that money? Why is it necessary? And you on this slide we're very it's very uh points out where the
money goes. So there's there isn't any question uh about uh how we uh spend this money by area. It's not by commission department. So it's not by any one commissioner but commissioners have responsibility for all of this. And
each area has all of the out-of- pocket expenses as well as as all of the employee related costs. So salary, pension, health care, taxes, everything associated with that to get to a fully loaded number. So when you think about
our job as commissioners, which is health, welfare, and safety of the community, one of the first things you see is that we are investing in the safety of the community in a very significant way. A full 50% of our
appropriation or $ 31.5 million is responsible for providing police, fire, EMS, and court related services for our town. When you go down the the list, you know, you also see that, you know, the
total cost of removing garbage and our recycling is another $3 million. uh the uh health organization, the civic area, the veteran services of $1.8 million, the planning board, the zoning board, uh and economic redevelopment
costs is another $958,000. Uh what it takes to maintain our buildings, our grounds, all the recreation services, our oil, our gas, our electric, right, is another $4.5 million. Uh making making sure the
roadways work. And you know, people are always surprised by this, but we have to pay for our street lighting. So, we have to pay PNCG for the for those for lighting the streets. So, and that's another $57 million. When you look at all of the those are like direct those are areas of
direct service that that goes into the streets, safety, lighting, buildings, and services. Behind that are administrative areas. And it's been my practice over the last 22 years is to keep that well under uh 10% and actually
keep it under 7% of the budget. So all of these services related to tax assessor, construction office, treasury, purchasing, municipal clerk, uh all of those areas, legal services, IT services
that we have as a town, which is all infrastructure related is another 4.1 million, but it's 6.3 6.6% of the budget. It's not a driver of the budget. And we've done very well with managing our debt because a municipality will get
into trouble if we don't watch our our spending on capital items. So our right now we're uh spending uh $2.4 million or uh 3.8% of the budget. It relates to our debt service. Our plan, our capital plan
that we follow basically allows us to to provide for a limited amount of capital every year. Every five years we have debt rolling off of our books and we replace it. So we maintain our debt level at a very constant level that's less than $15 million. We have the
ability if we wanted to to raise that to over $150 million, but we keep it at 10% of that. So we we manage that very effectively. And and because of that, we have a bond rating of double A1, which is a half step below AAA, which is the
highest rating. So, and then for library services, uh the total cost of the library, uh is roughly $2.1 million, which is used heavily by the community. So, when you look at it, when you look and say we we're spending $64.8 million,
this is what we're spending it on. So, it's helpful for people to understand. You won't get this out of the budget doc. And uh and I'm pretty confident that this level of summary uh uh we are it's unique to not on how we provide this information for a level of
transparency that many towns don't do. Uh it's a lot of work to do this but I think it's it's valuable uh for what we we need to do. U the uh and once I have one more slide and if any commissioners then want to comment please please do.
Uh the last slide that I included here uh is um it's a hard one but I constantly hear them saying taxes are so high, taxes are so high right in not it's out of control. Um, and so what I
did was I worked with my tax assessor and we put together a comparison of what the assessed values are of property in Nutley compared to every municipality in Essex County. We also looked at and said what's the average tax bill? Now the tax
bill here is the entire tax bill. It's municipal, school, county, uh, library, open space, it's all in here. So when you look at it and you we then said, okay, that's that. We I put in population number of taxing areas that we do you know related including med
median income because median income is really important to understanding and what we talk about all the time is you know the ability what's the affordability level what can people pay and we're very much aware of that. Uh so we we we follow that and we also
included in here uh the number of police officers per thousand uh since it's a a major component of our budget compared to every town in in in Essex County. And what you find is then this is all 24 data. I will update it for 25 when that
information becomes available, but it's not available yet. But probably hopefully in June I'll be able to update this for the coming year. But when you do look at this, in 24 the average tax bill in Nutley was $12,945. When you look at that, there's
nine towns in Nutley that we're comparable to. There's only nine towns in Essex County that have a paid fire department and a local school system. There's other towns such as Maplewood and South Orange have a paid fire department, but a regional school
system. You have Fairfield, Rosland, West Calwell, Caldwell, North Caldwell, Essex Falls that have a volunteer fire department as well as a regional uh school system. Uh and then Cedar Grove, Verona, Livingston, Glenn Ridge has a volunteer fire department, but a local
school system. So, they're all different than us, which influences what the taxing base is. But what I found intriguing about this in in towns like say if you look at Fairfield, Fairfield is $11,500 a year with a volunteer fire
department and a regional school system and they're $1,400 less than we are with a local fire department and a local school system. So when you look at it, it says, okay, by comparison in Essex County, the only thing I would draw from
it says we're not doing too bad. Can we always do better? Absolutely. Right. What's also important is and and I we zero in on this. The median income in Nutley is about $112,000. Right. Median income, right? That the absolute highest, the absolute
lowest. You take the middle. That's the median, right? It takes care of the distortion of the high taxpayers, low taxpayers. Tells you just what the me middle is. in in 24 taxes required for the average household took
11.5% of that $112,000, right? Personally, I think that's a hell of a lot of money, right, to take because that's median income. It means you've got taxes coming out of that. You've got household costs coming out of
that. But by comparison, costs are high. There's a lot there's a lot associated with providing and keeping the town safe and providing the services and we do our best to manage our way through that through that and the one way we do that is we stay within the cap limits that
are allowed uh by the state. So I share that is is information that I hope will uh advance conversation about uh how Nutley does compared to other towns and when you look at it how we are relevant uh to other towns. So I share that
broadly for for that uh purpose. Um so overall uh this is the understanding of our budget for 2025. Commissioners, if you'd like to comment in any way, be my guest.
Uh Commissioner Tucci. Yeah, just just a couple of comments. Number one, I want I want to thank Commissioner Evans uh for putting this presentation together for us. The state some years back came out with an edict that they were going to require every municipality to come up with a plain language budget. They never
had a plain language budget. This is a plain language budget. This tells you where every dollar goes. And some of the other uh smaller items but important items uh that the commissioner didn't mention is we're also involved in a joint insurance fund. It's where we're
we aggregate with nine other uh entities. some municipalities, some school districts to control our insurance costs, property casualty, auto and the like. We're also involved with the standard energy meeting. That's also a cons a consortium of towns that came
together to get lower electrical costs. All right? So, we strike a rate, we go out to bid, and then public service and other providers bid against that. So, all of that goes into this. So, it's it's not only the obvious things that people see in this budget and what the
commissioner has very very well outlined for us, but there are also some other initiatives that we're all involved in that help to keep this town affordable. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Commissioner Scotty. Thank you, Mayor Commissioner Evans. Always a
great job. That last slide, I think, is very interesting. I think we should put that up somewhere on the website so everybody can see uh where we stand in that regard uh just from u public works and I and I'm sure everybody feels this way. It's
getting harder and harder for us to maintain the services that we provide and I think you know we we uh strive to maintain the best services around uh but it's getting harder and harder uh because of uh some of our commitments on the labor side. Uh but we continue to do
a good job in uh holding down those costs where we can and I think um you know as a as a whole this board of commissioner always worries about the taxpayer and uh if we can continue to worry about the taxpayer worry how what we do affects them and at the same time
make sure they're getting the services that they're paying for and I think we do a pretty good job at that. Commission, thank you. Tom, I have to say I I think the only way to say it tonight is you're a rock star in my eyes. You were to
simplify this and doesn't fit up. No, I I I I I was really hoping they were going to dim the lights and put the black lights on for you tonight. But you're just tremendous to me. You're you've always been an asset asset to the
town. Definitely to myself. Um, tremendous job. It's very simple to read. I don't want to take the credit, Tom, that you pointed out to me, but you did show me earlier very interesting fact about um police departments and how
many cops there are per thousand. It's nutly. We're at 2.8 cops per thousand people here, which I do think we need more. Um, and I look take a look at Fairfield somewhat of a town like
Nutley. They're right at almost six. So, you know, first of all, I want to thank all of you because I am a driver of the our budget here. Um, and I always have the support of this full board. I also want to thank our police officers, our
firefighters, our EMTs when people say to me, like, you know, your your budget's gone up again this year. And I and why? And I say when you call on Christmas Eve at at 2:00 in the morning for a cop or fireman or EMT, they come
right. Um when you call Easter morning, when you call on the weekends during the summer, public safety is out there 247. There is no days off. There are no breaks in services here in um me being in this seat a long time, I
really take to heart your safety of all our residents and I will never penny pinch our budget, you know, to compromise our safety in this town. I think it's um very important and I think on the police side especially you know our neighboring
towns and you know they do have much many more cops than we do um per thousand people you know for for us to keep Nutley safe and keep Nutley what it is our little green ball you know has
been um amazing and you know it's I I can't take the credit alone it's really been a board of commissioner's effort, you know, to keep Nutley safe and keep us what we are, the center of the universe as we're called. So, thank you, Tom, for the presentation. And I'd like
to thank all my fellow commissioners for always the support. Thank you, Commissioner. And I I would I would just like to state the obvious that we are all taxpayers and we don't want to pay any more taxes than we have to. And this this budget reflects
uh the the a very good job, probably the best job that we can do and responsibly provide the services that we continue to provide. Uh and I believe that the these services that we do
provide are topnotch and first rate and they will continue to be in the future. and we're we're not going to uh look to try and short change our services that we provide to the township and we're going to continue to to provide the A+
services that we do provide. Uh uh Commissioner Evans, do you want to open the public? No, I'd like to offer Ray Sarinelli from the Zachi if you'd wish to make some comments before we open it up.
Ray Sarinelli, Township Auditor. So, I I just uh wanted to spend a few minutes um not only discussing the budget, but just your financial position at the end of the year because that plays into uh what the the budget process might
look like. So the township has had an increasing fund balance over the last couple years. Uh at the end of 22 it was 7.2 million. At the end of 23 7.8 and at the end of 24 it was 8.2 million. The
fund balance has increased uh slightly. It's part of a fund balance policy that commissioner put into place uh about seven or eight years ago. And um if you look at fund balance and the
budget plan that's been put together over the last 10 or 20 years, it really has been a steady line of growth and fund balance. The budget is prepared on a balanced uh level, meaning revenues
aren't over anticipated, expenses aren't under anticipated. you try and get in the middle there somewhere because some things are going to go right and some things are going to go wrong during the course of the year and the budget is a
budget plan. So if you take that median level through the process, uh I think it leaves you in a good position, it's left you in a better position the last couple years primarily because of interest rates. Um, uh, Commissioner Evans, well, he always
puts everything out there that I was going to say, but one of the things we wanted to talk about briefly was, uh, you, you know, part of this planning that's been taking place year after year has impacted the cost of municipal uh,
government in that your bond rating has increased um and improved twice in the past 15 years. In 2007, uh Nutley got upgraded to double A2 and in 2023, it got upgraded to
double A1. So, you're just a notch away from AAA. There were a couple of factors that are not within your control um that prevented you from getting to AAA, but
the rating agencies did say that your strength is your financial statements and your financial position. And that all has to do with what you're talking about tonight, your budget plan. Um, doing this budget plan is not an easy
process for any of the commissioners. I know uh, Commissioner Evans um, leads the process, but you've had the challenges that many other governments have had. Um in particularly the things that the
municipality face has faced in the last I'll say 5 years was had a very high inflation rate while you still were limited to two and 2 and 12% caps. You had extraordinary increases in health insurance. You've had extraordinary
increases in pension costs not this past year but in previous years. uh garbage contract increases um not particularly all in this year. Uh and also you had this $547,000 cut in state aid. So you've got
you know you you've gone through a budget process every year and come up with reasonable answers, reasonable increases and you've stayed within both cap. you have a levy cap and you have an appropriation cap and every year you've
been in compliance either at or under both of those caps. Some years you've had cap bank um uh you know nutly from my outside perspective you know to see that kind of presentation that was up there is
incredibly transparent. when you look at a municipal budget document, it's very difficult to follow and difficult to understand. But that presentation that you just got about the budget was one of the best I've seen.
Um, you know, part of what helps you stay balanced in your tax increases is that you have a formal capital plan and a formal debt uh debt service plan that you stayed within year after year. Commissioner Evans described it briefly
before. You're replacing new debt with old debt. Instead of having capital program and and debt that continues to increase year after year, you're meeting your capital needs, but it's not costing you more in debt service. As old
projects are paid off, the new projects are paid uh come into play. So, I think, you know, it's fair to say the hard work has been done. Uh, you've again come up with a budget that's cap compliant. It passes along a reasonable
increase. Um, I think when the budget is done, it'll be less than what that presentation indicated. Um, tonight, uh, there's a couple more items of revenue that are being considered that would help that. Um, so the rest of the
process tonight is to hold the public hearing as advertised. Um, I believe you're going to table your budget, wait until you see if those additional revenues come in. If they do, hopefully within the time frame that you have left to adopt the budget, you'll get process
in the next month or two uh, around June 30th to finalize your budget. Thank you. Go ahead. Thank you. Uh at this time we'll open up the uh public hearing on the 2025 municipal budget. Anyone wishing to be heard on the 2025
municipal budget, please approach microphone and state your name for the record. Hello, I'm Amy Sento and I live at 70 Newman Avenue here in Nutley. Um, thank you so much for the overview, Commissioner Evans. Um, clearly you've seen some of the comments and questions
that people have, including myself. And, um, yeah, I came last year. Um, I think the budget meeting had already happened, but I was here on 521 of 2024. And yes, I requested a zerobased budget, which I've done in past years, 2017 and 2018.
And um I'm not questioning everything in the budget and I appreciate the summary. Um there are a few things that stand out, but I would I'd like to put that on hold a tiny little bit because I'm not really clear how one Nutly fits in. And also um when it was announced about the
purchase of the 777 Bloomfield Avenue building, the indication was is that um money would be coming from Pilot. And I see that pilot is year-over-year flat, maybe down by like 3%. And yet there's a transfer of reserve of
1774. So I'm not I I probably missed that. I mean, I'm not an accountant and I just am not really clear on what that is. So I don't know if that could be answered since it's related to the budget. Sure. Do you want me to answer that right now? Well, I'm just saying yeah, I could.
It's related to the budget. So happy happy to. Uh so yes the the way I labeled it was to to basically track it through the uh reports on revenue side you'll see the capital improvement reserve yes that is uh that is pilot
money that is being released primarily released for that purpose and you'll see it in the appropriation listed the same way as a million777 and in the summary of our appropriations it's listed the same way just for consistency throughout the the uh presentation
the we released the reserve amount. Uh we did take out a a note of $8 million for the completion of the school which is on target to be ready for September 1. So uh which is great news. The debt
service associated with that begins in 2026 and that the pilot payment for in those future years will cover that. It's not you don't see it in this budget. Okay. So thank you for that. I do remember the reference to that there would be a bond. Um, so is pilot in
general is that in a in the fund balance like when you said we've released some reserve. Yeah, it's it's it accumulates in in my in my fund balance but I rather than just saying put fund balance I was trying to be more declarative about what
it is. Mhm. Uh but to your point is yes, we as a municipality collect pilot revenues. They're all municipal revenues which we can then allocate for use or capital related items if we choose to for for for like what we've done where
there's public use involved uh like a building which will now house children. We're able to do that. uh the uh because we can use the school uh we were able to do repairs to Lincoln school, Radcliffe School, and the front of uh Nutley High
School. Uh and we're able by law to do those types of things. It we're not in a position that says, "Oh, here's money to cover your operating expenses." That's separate. And I'm not implying that. I'm just going to be clear. I understand your question. I'm just not clear. Then
how much like how do we budget pilot? I mean I guess we don't know. It depends on what's happening in terms of construction etc. But is there a separate pilot fund or is that pilot fund the 1.9 something that's in the
budget? It's like an ongoing fund. To your point is the 1.7 and 744 that you're referring in the transfer. Uh that was substantially the reserve that I was able to accumulate. We use pilot revenues to offset as you can see in in
the budget. Uh we're maximizing the use of the pilot revenues right now. Uh those pilot revenues I expect will go up uh because of the completion now and progress that's being made on Diamond Springs uh for the where the age related
housing is done as well as on the Chicini uh rebuild on Franklin Avenue that will introduce additional revenues. Okay. In the coming years. Okay. Thank you for that. So, in terms of uh the Chicalini building, the property has already been sold to the developer. No,
it's under the agreement. Uh we're in the process of the uh following through on the agreement. Right now, it's in the environmental review period which will be completed in a week or so. Uh and then there is a process that says okay you've got to go through all of your
plans have to be reviewed in the code office and then you got to go before the planning board for preliminary and final site plan approval. After that then uh when he goes to de demolish the property he he will have to take title and at that time we will be paid. Okay. So is
the potential revenue in this budget? No. For the sale? No. Okay. So that will be a one-time item correct? And it will be where will that money go then? Um when it when it comes in what will it be applied against? Yeah. The intention is
is that we we don't use that for operating. There's there's more improvement that has to be done. There's there's a shortage of parking uh uh in the business district for example. Uh so we would have to evaluate how would how it would be used for basically long-term
improvements to to the business district. Okay. Thank you. I mean, that's helpful to know. Um, I did see that there's a significant, I guess, environmental cleanup related to that property. I'm just curious, and we don't have to I don't have to talk about this now, but I saw some proposal of the
developer and and some significant investment of sort of environmental cleanup. Is that not really happening? Only that we were aware of was that when we purchased the property, we had to remove the oil tank. Oh, okay. So, I don't know. he has the right to investigate the
entire property and that's that's what he does in order to make a determination. Okay, great. Thank you for that. Um, in terms of the fund balance, again, that's I understand this budget isn't a a balance sheet, but where does the fund balance that we have
in the community, where is that? You'll in the actual full budget, you you will see a line item uh that's in there for fun balance right after because I'm seeing five million. Sorry, that's Yeah, it's five million. Oh, that's not the number that we were just given. We were given a number over seven million. It
Yeah, we but we apply it. So, I use it two things happen. It sits in cash, right? In one part as a fund balance would, right? And you expect it to sit in cash. When we generate it, I apply $5 million to reduce taxes each year. It it
just rolls and rolls and rolls. It was started a number of years ago. So to avoid a double tax hit for changing of the fund balance, it has to stay at five five million. So regenerating that is very important. The other piece that's used is cash flow. Uh because we only
get paid four times a year, but our expenses are every month of the year, right? So having the available cash helps us and avoids having us to go into uh tax anticipation notes to cover in expenses. Okay. Thank you so much for that. Um in the approximate 4.6 6
million for uncollected taxes. I think I just heard that that's actually one of you said that's actually mandated that percentage. So we don't actually have that much typically in uncolcted. Oh no. Okay. Because it looks like in the in the budget when you look at the budget
we have to have a line item. Yes. It sits it sits there as a reserve as a reserve against that. Uh our collection history is actually good. It's over 90%. The municipality though we are responsible for paying the county. Yes.
And the school 100%. Yes. All the risk of collection is with us. And so this it's stat statutoily required to maintain a reserve. So it's pretty stable. It changed $90,000 but it's stable every year over year. Okay. Thank
you. Thanks for the explanation. Again, it's hard to interpret in the actual budget. Um so thank you for that. Um, I have a question about the sewer and water. I can see everything that you've outlined here and thank you for that.
Um, when the original change was implemented last year, there was a statement made that the adjustments would be made in taxes for real estate taxes. I don't see that included in the budget and it didn't happen based on the
well clearly. So to the point earlier in this meeting where there was a discussion about how things happening in the school district shouldn't just come as a surprise to everybody. That's a surprise to
homeowners to tax to real estate taxpayers. How how come that hasn't been discussed or shared or spoken about? So I mean it's like didn't happen. It's like, so just so you know, that means our expenses as a homeowner are going up
way more than our taxes are going up. So when you look Yes. you when you look at because it's you have to look at all sources of of of what you have to pay bills for. Absolutely. Completely. Yeah. And I fully understand. So in the budget you'll see that on that one slide our
expenses went up $3.7 million, but we also transferred out $2.2 $2 million into the utility which had a net increase in appropriation of a million you know five or so right so or 2.2 million whatever that that number is when you look at it or whatever I don't
remember off the top of my head I know but it's three minus two generally I saw that so so that's that's where you see it coming out if we didn't transfer that 2.2 million out we would be at 3.7 million so our increase in in
appropriations wouldn't be 2.2 2 million overall would be actually uh $2.2 million higher. All right. So, it' be up to uh four and change. I mean, congratulations. Except again, this is a
shock, right? I'm sorry to say, but I'm completely in shock. I thought, great, I'm going to get a nice letter that talks about my 25 to 26 taxes, and it's going to tell me what the net amount reduction is. So what we if you look at
it from an accounting standpoint, right, the your your what we were charging in 23 at the end of 23, part of that money was transferred out in 24 and part of the money was out and transferred out in 25. So in in effect over $5 million came
out of the municipal budget, right, over the course of those two years and into the utility went into the utility to cover the sewer charges. We also had increases in cost of sewer sewer treatment that happened inside of uh of
that utility. So we transferred out. What happened unfortunately was we if you look at the two years right we had significant increases in in in labor costs as well as insurance costs which
would which I would have loved to have have happened was we were spend if we were spending a dollar in 23 we would be spending 90 cents in 24 and 80 cents in 25 but with the nature of the cost increases that have been put in front of
us I it it did not happen. The the cost increases offset the cost decrease. Okay. Thank you for that explanation. I appreciate that. Um so, uh just in terms of the the building purchase, the
777 I was not present at the meeting, but it was reported in the electronic media. We have two different groups that reported on it. And there was a reference to the fact that um by by having the construction done
before the townschool acquires the building that we avoid the triple bid process. That was very troubling to me. Like that was a celebration for avoiding a triple bid. I'm I'm really not clear about that. It kind of makes me think that renovations are being done. Yes, I
understand labor co wage requirements are being met, but it's sort of like whatever it costs, it costs and then we're going to pay $9.8 million for the building. It's shocking to me to have that be celebrated. Yeah. So,
um if when you say it that way, there's nothing to celebrate, right? But but you're the way you're characterizing it is a misrepresentation. Okay. Well, that's how it was reported. It was a celebration. We're avoiding Okay. So, if it if that's not what
happened, was there a triple bid? And did we have any involvement? Because again, we're ultimately buying a building from someone where we're basically saying we're going to pay you all this money based on your renovations, which hopefully we'll be happy with. I'm really not clear. When you look at the the nature of the
renovations, right, and what we're doing, uh they do have to comply with prevailing wage. Yes. which is is the most significant component of the cost of construction, the labor piece of it. Okay. What we're able to benefit from is
their ability to source um the uh materials, the nails, the uh sprinkling system, the HVAC systems and things like that at a a competitive price which historically is lower than what a public
bidding process produces. And most importantly is if we were to to produce do that within the public bidding process under public contract law, which we're not required to do because it's a capital purchase, uh we can allow them
to do that. The renovations to the 777 would not allow children to be in that school September of 25. The earliest that they would be in there would be September of 26. I understand about the timing. So, and we what we did is we
looked at what the cost per square foot would be and we set a contract price that limits and so it's a fixed contract price that basically says we are renovating a 20,000 square foot building, right? Which uh has a base
price in it of about $2.5 million 2.8 It's with a total renovated value with a completely new electrical system, a completely new HVAC system, completely renovated school uh system, air circulation benefits, environmental
benefits, right? Parking and everything else, interior and exterior. We're doing that for 9.8 million. Part of the reason why I would celebrate that and very clearly why I would celebrate that is it eliminated the need for an $80 million
referendum to re renovate the middle school. So and I appreciate that. So it's very important I think to separate out what someone says that we didn't go through this public. But when you say what someone says I just need to say
when it's said in this room with this setup that it's not just someone. Please understand that if if that was someone's quoting me, then they're misquing. You are not being quoted. So, okay. So, and I since I do the financial stuff and the contract stuff, yeah, then the quote
would have to become for me if I was to rely on its accuracy. Okay. So, that's fantastic. One thing that does concern me about that building is I don't know where people are going to get dropped off and picked up. I mean, that Bloomfield Avenue isn't getting any wider unless we're taking part of the park out. It's not clear. We are. that
whole corner right is is well there's a business on that corner so that's not using the parking it's not theirs okay so no to but you raised a very good point so what will happen is we created a drop off area that starts on Kingsland you come into the parking lot and you
pull up in front of the building off of Bloomfield Avenue not on Bloomfield Avenue you're able to drop your kids off and go and so that parking that's there today who owns that parking uh today. Uh the the the financial group that
currently owns the property, they purchased it from Hoff from the road. Okay. So, are we leasing that access to that parking or are we purchasing it? We purchased it all for 9.8. So, that's the second the separate property number. Okay. Thank you. It would be so great to have better news about these things like
a picture. I mean, people have no idea what's happening. It's like how's anybody getting dropped off, picked up? And I just want to say one thing. It's a bit pre premature for that but we will we will be producing that okay and letting that go out. So just considering that I just want to say that when on
three came in and you know have have done very few uh buildings on the nutly side one of the biggest concerns was traffic on that corner. So it seems like you know that is a concern. People are concerned about traffic on that corner especially people are concerned about
small children being dropped off picked up. So, I'm glad there's a a solution. Um, but just remember again, there are certain things that on three were not approved for and therefore we have no we have limited tax revenue because they're not building in the not side. They're
building on the Clifton side because they didn't get what they needed. There were all these push backs about, you know, traffic and and where's the income? We lost $10 million in ratables and we're not anywhere close to
replacing that. Well, We lost 10 million 10 million in ratable. One.5 million dollars of that went to the county. We are currently collecting uh uh 6 6.6 million. Okay. Right. Because we
secured 2.6 million in permanent state aid as you recall because we had transitional aid. Right? So that's the permanent the current taxes are are $4 million. Uh we will be announcing more about progress that's going going to be
done which will when completed uh fully recover the $8.5 million that we lost. Hallelujah. Thank you so much. Okay. So in relation to the budget, I have a couple other quick things just um Amy, if I could just interrupt you one second
about the three property too. You have to realize too, it was easy pickings for Clifton because they had all the vacant land. You know, Nutley didn't have a a lot of vacant land to be built on except for that one big site at the cathedral.
And we h I'll speak for myself. I have been very cautious because we don't want to have a misstep. We want to get the best property use that we can. and the push back despite what everybody's been reading in the newspapers that on three
was putting out in the beginning. We've been working very diligently and hard to make sure that we get we we repurpose that property the best we can get the best ratable that we can and not so much impact on our township with the services
and so forth. So it's not that we are not moving forward and we don't want a solution, you know, we want we know that this is for the next 100 years of our municipality. Sure. And we want to get it right and I think that we're in a good place right now with um G&D on
three and you know we're looking forward to moving it forward as well as the mayor said before. We will pay taxes here too and we live here also. I understand that and I believe me I appreciate you commenting on it but I want you to know this was not all hearsay I attended many of the meetings
I was in this room many many meetings 2017 2018 many pres presentations by on three so this is not just hearsay that I'm referring to so I just want you to know I was here I was not serving but I was here paying attention right and if
you recall that in 2013 I believe that roach left they the professionals that we hired an analyst said that we are 25 years away from solving this problem. So I think that as we all wanted to move
faster, I think we're still way ahead of the curve and I think that the best is yet to come. Right. I mean that's really good news. Thank you so much. So I wanted to ask about um just in terms of affordable housing and we've we've spent a lot of money on attorneys fees related
to affordable housing. Are we done with that? Are we done with the attorney's fees? Is there a deal? And I'm asking because I don't see anything in the budget related to that. Not that it has to be a line item, but are should we be
expecting hundreds of thousands of dollars of attorneys fees over the next few years? I would hope. Okay. So, I won't ask any more about that tonight. Um, no, we we just Amy, I think you recall, we have an obligation uh what
they call the gap period obligation for 55 units. Uh, in order for us to attract someone to do that, it has to be 65 uh units because of uh tax credits that are involved. It's very important about that. Uh we uh we have every expectation
that we will we will move on that. We do have a have an ongoing requirement to report to the fair share housing folks as well as the uh the the Essex court system. Uh and so you know periodically we will incur some legal fees you know
to do that until until it is completed. Okay. But I guess I'm asking and I think maybe you've answered it the 65 units commitment you're reporting on it but we don't anticipate it changing. I know that there I've seen articles where towns are pushing back andor the whole
settlement's been questioned. Sure. Towns are some towns are pushing back. They've got uh and some some of the towns that are pushing back is that they made a commitment to do something and now they're changing their mind. So, they're trying to influence that. Okay. But we we uh are
uh currently um uh for the next uh through 2035. Mhm. Uh I I don't foresee us having an additional obligation uh because every 10 years they look at it and and right now we're exempt. Okay.
Thank you. So um one other thing related to taxes and the schools and whatnot you know when the bike shop and the upholstery when that building was purchased I believe by the district. Yes. The municipality. By the municipality. Okay. So, we lost the tax
revenue. Then we spent the money to pave it and put a put up a parking lot. So, great. There's more parking, I guess, for the teachers. That doesn't seem to be parking that applied to the community, but the teachers have to park somewhere. But,
um, you know, I just I guess I just see these things happening and it's like, how do these things happen? It's like, oh, we're going to buy that we're going to buy the Chickalini building so no one else buys it for parking. And then years and years and years go by and we have no tax revenue from those properties. And
obviously we're not going to reclaim tax revenue from the parking lot where the bike shop used to be. Right. That's now part of the school parking. Sure. So it's the the issue of the bike shop in my opinion. The commissioners will have
their their opinion was not about whether or not we're losing tax dollars which was about $12,000. Okay. Right. a tax point is a half a million, right? So less than some percentage of a penny. Okay? So so taxes weren't the driver for
that. It was a question of uh preserving space uh for the expansion of the school system because it was going to be sold privately. Uh and if it was going to be sold privately, it was deep enough to put 30 apartment units there. Okay, that
stopped that. We we as a municipality have purchased it. We're allowing them to use it for parking purposes uh for right now, but it was intended to be part of a referendum uh to expand the middle school originally. That that referendum turns out to be very very
expensive and unaffordable at this point. So, they might do something in the future, but right now we're allowing them uh to use that. We're not charging them for it. Okay. Well, I think that's great. I mean the school can't the district can't afford to pay for parking. So it's a great thing we're not charging them. And the same thing when
you look back at Chalini. It wasn't about Chicalini to become a parking lot initially. Uh the Chicalinis were about to sell that to a New York developer who was going to put 125 units there without a variance. It fits it. It would have destroyed the business district. So we
prevented that and we paid $3.4 million for that $3,425 for that. and we're se we're selling it for $4.5 million. Okay, taxpayers didn't lose. The Czechalinis paid $40,000 a year in taxes. Okay, so
again, taxes were not the driver right now with the build and what's going to be there. We're getting what we're getting out of that is very important to understand. We're getting our $4.5 million back. We're getting 50 additional parking spots. We're
converting 75 parking spots will now go into an interior structured garage. Those spaces cost $35,000 each to build today. Yeah. Right. Very expensive, but that will be public parking. So, we're increasing our public parking by
twothirds. We're also putting in a 5,000 square foot park uh that will go that will go there. And we have to move the hazmat building which we're getting another million dollars for. When you put all that together, the preserving the Chicalini building was worth about
$7 million to the municipality, which I'm very confident I think people would be would actually acknowledge not a bad deal. More importantly is the taxes going forward on that will be over $600,000 a year. It's going to be great. And that's the hazmat answer, by the
way. It was a hazmat building they're buying. When I said about hazmat, I didn't I didn't understand that. I thought it was hazmat cleanup. I was like, they need to No, it's the building. physical structure that needs to be relocated and we're getting the money that enables us to relocate that at no
cost to the taxpayers. Okay. Well, that's super helpful. So, there's a lot of things that are going to be, you know, good things coming this way. So, in terms of onely, I guess, you know, some of these opportunities are coming up. I I do want to say that um when I was here last May,
the conversation was almost exactly the same. We need to find out what happened. As far as we know, the state is not mandating a forensic audit. If it does, okay, great. But we're also going to pay for that forensic audit. And I'm sure our auditor can tell us that. I mean,
that could probably be a million dollars. I have no idea. 75,000. 75,000. Yes. So, why is that not happening then? Why are we waiting for the state to decide? Why aren't we, the township, doing saying we're that's it.
We're collecting taxes on behalf of the district. If the state does it, the state pays for it. Well, the state pays for it in theory, but they're not paying, you know, Manus' salary. I mean, we're paying it. Okay. Broadly, yes. All the tax dollars that go to the state, we
all provide for that. We all pay that. Okay. So, I appreciate I appreciate that. The the nature of how to do that forensic audit. If the state does it, it can be more expansive to look in other other places outside of the municipality. So, it can go to
individual sources. If we do it, we're confined to the municipality. So, there's a limiting factor. So, and I've had conversations on that and I support the fact that the monitor is pushing to have the state do it. Okay. Well, that's good news because it just seems like the answer is always the state has said no
twice. And and again, maybe these are rumors, but what happens is is these things go into articles that when people search Google, whatever you want to call it for our town, these articles are coming up. So the value of our town is
going down because of all the negativity in this situation with the district. So, if I'm coming here a year later or 2 weeks shy of a year later and we're still having the same conversations, I I don't understand how,
you know, we're in this situation where the town's people are finding these things out, finding out they're cutting, you know, special needs support and JV sports and people are going bonkers. And again, the articles, News Channel 12 is here. This doesn't look good for our
town. So our township is not a destination when our schools are going to be failing. So that's a problem that it just is like well we're here we are a year later we still want to know. So I'm just saying it out loud because you're all reading the comments on Facebook
clearly and it it just doesn't look good. So I plan to stay in that league but I have to question should I sell my house now because as the schools start to fail who's going to want to live in my house? Yeah, I think it's an emotional statement to say the schools
will fail fail. Okay, so that is one thing I want to say because if you're meeting monthly on this one nutly committee, listen, if students IEPs are not met, lawsuits are going to be filed by
many, many parents. Additionally, not only are lawsuits going to be filed because the IEPs are not being met. They're not students are not getting the aids that that that should be provided, but there are going to be requests for more of out of district placements and
outofd placements are wildly expensive. So Amy, I asked the question, will any child that has an IEP not have a par profofessional come September? The answer was no. We all will have them. Somebody can say that. But when they've
eliminated the jobs and made them part time, all the jobs, they eliminated many of them. And but par professionals are part-time job. Listen, I'm only going by what's presented at the school board meeting and by what's being stated. That's all
I'm going by. No, and I agree with you. I think that what they did was very confusing and was it did not present it very well. We as a the education committee had very intention of schooling them on better communication and better presentation because it's so
important. It's not good for our town to get people into an uproar over cha by by chasing shadows. They need to know the facts. Exactly. So, thank you for that. And so, my last question about um money and funds and and what's happening with
the district. I mean, uh, Commissioner Scarpell, you said, you know, probably by the next meeting they're going to restore JV Sports. Maybe they are. That would be great. But is there any opportunity for a one-time transfer of any part of the
fund balance to go into the district? Okay. So, that's an easy answer. Okay. So, my last thing is um do we have a policy that we won't have any investments? I guess as our fund balance, it's required to remain in cash, cash investments, cash and and
we're not allowed to invest it in the market. We can put it into money market type thing type. Okay. I just want to make sure accounts. Okay. So, crypto, do we have a no crypto policy? Okay. I just want to make sure there's an actual policy. Oh, yeah. It's it's state. It states we're not allowed. That's why I'm asking you. Our our state policy, we're
it's very limited what we can invest in. Okay. Perfect. And then the last thing I want to ask is is it possible to get some proformas kind of like I see on here trash carts five first of five installment payments 270,000 I mean that
comes to 1,ion350 the stated amount before was 1 million2 and okay it's over 5 years that's great we don't have to pay it all up front but then there's also an increase in garbage and recycling of 222022 are we able to get some like
proformas could we present to people. I think people might throw away a lot less stuff. They might start composting. If people understand that there's $3 million spent on handling the garbage and that it's an increase regardless of
going with the carts, there's still a $222,000 increase to the mayor's office. They they track tipping fees, which is the disposal, right? And the mayor can comment on the fact they've been experienc they've been it's been shown that we're putting away less, right? So, could we could that start being
published? I mean, again, I just think that we all appreciate having our garbage picked up. Believe me, I'm grateful. I grew up in the country. There was no garbage pickup. So, I'm grateful. And but I just feel like, you know, when it's an extra
222,000 projected for the year, it sort of is like, how are we not going down? And I understand the numbers are going down, but it's a concern like will it continue to rise every year? Because if it rises every year for the next five years, then we're up to almost a million
and a half dollars over five years. It's a question of tonnage, how much tonnage is being uh disposed of and what's the cost associated with disposing it? Cost associated with disposed is going up.
Okay. Well, again, it's just that if we're spending a million 350 on carts and we're going to go up a million 350, just someone needs to be publicizing this. That's all I'm saying. And and just just to add on that, we we entered a new contract period. So, the
old contract expired. Uh it was a 5-year contract and now we're into a new contract period. And so you you'll when you shift into a new contract period, you're going to see a a stark change in the price because it the old contract
was a flat year-to-year standard fee. The next contract is the same flat standard year-to-year fee. So the the shift or I should say the increase from year to year going forward should be a lot more muted. Okay. Well, that's good
news. Thank you so much. So, I do appreciate that this is a lot of time. Thank you for the time and asking the questions. Um, I represent myself, but I feel like because I have the time today and I did some research, it was worth it to come and talk about these things. And, um, also I just want to again
advocate for a zerobased budget next year. I think if the district did it, I feel like the town could do it. It It's just I don't know. It's an exercise and I understand it takes everybody's time and attention, but it might be worthwhile. Thank you. Thank you, Amy. Thank you so
much. Thank you. My name is uh Thomas Aramando. I own uh two multi-unit buildings that are more than four units. And uh we recently had this
shortage charge which is something new and I think it's unfair that uh anyone that owns residential property more than four units pays double the amount of uh
storage charge and also uh an extra charge for water going in clean water. And I'd like to know if you can give me a good explanation of why that isn't. I think it's just a way to
generate more uh money for the town. It's very very unfair. Commissioner. Yeah. Uh Mr. Armando, we looked at uh we actually changed a little bit in the ordinance. I
don't know if you looked at that. We got three tiers now instead of uh there's four tiers from what I understand. There's three three tiers on the commercial side and on the residential side. Tier one, tier two, and tier three. Yeah. And so we changed that a
little bit in response to Can you talk slow, please? Sure. Thank you. We changed that in response to some of the issues that were brought up. Uh there's still an increase over the 1 to four residential units and that is because of
the amount of sewage that's produced from those buildings and what else is being put into the there's more there's more washing machines. There's more uh but it's still the same water. It's it's not salt water. It's not water that
we're treating. It's not it's not water that we're treating. We're treating sewage. We're treating the chemicals. We're treating the shampoo. We're treating the washer uh machine uh discharge. We're treating the toilets that are discharged. We're treating all
that. I understand that. But that you're doing the same thing in a one unitit build. When we are, but in a one-unit building, there's one washing machine. Yeah. There's one shower. Still you still can't convince me of that. Well, I I'm It's an increased usage on our
Doesn't make any sense to zero. Well, it does make sense to us and it's not it's I think it's a way to get more revenue and it's very unfair. Well, let let the Commissioner Evans could jump in at any time. Uh yeah, I don't Yeah, anybody
having We have sewage costs $4.7 million that we pay for Sake Valley Sewage. We have to pay that bill one way or another. And that's that I like that. One way or another. One way or another. If we if we pay if we pay if
everybody paid the same rate, everybody's going to pay a higher rate, right? Yeah. Because so commercial properties that produce different chemicals and stuff into the system. Don't agree. They have to go at a different rate. And it's not just water.
You're you're getting you're getting build on the consumption of water. That is the way you're being buil because we have to have some way of measuring it. Well, we still at the end of the day have to pay for Sake Valley four $4.7 million. There's no other way to pay for
it. Now, Mr. Petra, you have a business. How did it affect you with that? It has. It has affected me. Okay. And I've asked many questions myself and we've had conversations as well and I've asked um both Commissioner Scarpell and
Commissioner Evans about the commercial properties because obviously it affects both of us and you know in fairness to them their answers that I have gotten are very similar to the same as Joe has told you about we have to pay the sewer
bill no matter what like we discussed. And you know, they have both been telling me that it's not perfect and they're working on a solution to all these questions. Is is that fair enough? And I think we made some changes in we
made some in response to that. Pardon me, John. We made some changes in response to people's concerns and some of them are not as not as charging as much as we were before. There's an in between rate. That's all I have to say.
Thank you. Anyone else wishing to be heard on the budget? Move to close. Second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Bago. Hi. Commissioner Tui. Hi.
Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Mayor Kelly. Hi. Uh, mayor, I have one more step to gohead out of this. Um, uh, resolution 11625 would be read tonight if we were
adopting our budget. Um, and for the record, we for municipal purposes, we need to raise 44,176,4812. for the minimum for the library is1,851,81310 as we have discussed uh multiple times. Uh I need uh I move a
motion to table this this resolution for this evening. So so move second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Tui. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. Mayor Kelly. And but I need a vote to uh to uh I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought you did. I'm sorry. I It's my glasses. Uh we uh are going to table this uh to and defer the adoption probably to the June time frame. All right. So, Ray, do I need
another vote on this? We're good. Yeah, we did. Okay. We're good. You mentioned about washing machines at I have a five unit and a six unit with no washing machines. So how does
that affect me? We can't we think about it would be nice if we could go into each generalize Tom if we could go into each unit and figure out what's in there that would be great but we can't. No, we can't. No, but it should there should be. So then you'll be using less
water because it's unfair. It's let me finish. You'll be using less water without five different washing machines and five different different uh you know other other things that you're using to put into the system, right? You will have less water usage. So therefore your
your t your uh fee will be less. Yeah. But I'm still paying the rate of You're paying a different rate. Yes, you are. which shouldn't be. Thank you. It's the risk. I I think I think when you look at income producing properties versus a one family residential, it's a
little different. I think uh the next resolution uh was will be read by Commissioner Scarpelli. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities and services that are of vital importance to
sustainable and resilient communities and to public health, high quality of life and well-being of the people of the township of Nutley. And whereas these infrastructure facilities and services cannot be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, employees
at all levels of government and the private sector who who are responsible rebuilding, improving and protecting nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment and solid waste systems, public buildings and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens. And whereas it is in the
public interest for citizens, civic leaders and children in the town of Benelli to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works and public works programs in their respective communities. And whereas the year 2025 marks the 65th
annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association. Whereas this year's theme, people, purpose, presence, highlights how public works makes communities safer, more vibrant, and a better place to live. Now therefore be resolved by the board of commissioners township of
peneli county of Essex state of New Jersey do hereby designate the week May 18th through the 24th 2025 as national public works week and the township of Benelli and call upon all citizens to acquaint themselves with the issues in providing public works and to recognize the substantial contribution of our
professionals engineers managers employees make to protecting our nation's health safety and advance of equality for all. I proudly move this resolution and congratulate all my public works workers. So moved. Mayor second.
Commissioner Tui. I. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. I. Mayor Kelly. I. So I have Mayor. Thank you. Uh Commissioner Petco, I see you have none on. I I don't have any and I'm going to stick
around. All right. I have I have five. The uh the first one I have on is resolution number 10925, food allergy awareness week. And although I don't have a food allergy, as you can tell, I'm struggling with my allergies right now. Um whereas food allergy awareness week
was established as a national week of encouraging food allergy awareness and supporting those who are affected by food allergies and anaphilaxis. Whereas food allergies affect as many as 32 million Americans including 6 million children. Whereas the prevalence of food allergies appears to be increasing around children under the age of 18
which is two students in every classroom. Whereas nine foods account for 90% of all food allergy reactions. Peanuts, tree nuts, milk, egg, wheat, soy fish, shellfish, and sesame. Whereas a food allergy is an immune system response to the to a food the body
mistakenly believes to be harmful. When a person with food allergy eats the food, his or her immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals including histamine that trigger a cascade of system symptoms that affect the respiratory system. The gastro intestinal tract this game andor cardiovascular
system. Ran anaphilaxis is a serious allergic reaction that comes on quickly and has the potential to become life-threatening. There's no cure for food allergies. So strict avoidance is the only way to prevent an allergic reaction. Whereas food allergy and anaphilaxis connection team fact is a national nonprofit organization committed to their mission to educate,
advocate and raise awareness for all individuals and families affected by food allergies and life-threatening anaphylaxics. Therefore, be it resolved by the board of commissioners, township of Nelli County, of state, New Jersey, they recognize the week of May 11th to the 17th as National Food Allergy Awareness Week and encourage all residents to increase their
understanding and awareness of this potentially life-threatening medical condition, proving the quality of life of the 32 million Americans affected by food allergies and anaphilaxis. So moved. Second. Commissioner Evans, I. Commissioner Scarpelli, I. Commissioner Petraco, I.
Mayor Kelly. Hi. The next one I have on for this evening is for National Nurses Month. And I just want to extend this special congratulations and and thanks to our uh town nurses. Whereas nurses serve as the
first point of contact for most patients and perform the most essential healthcare tasks. And whereas at the American Nurses Association recognizes the invaluable contribution of nurses worldwide and the real life challenges they face every day. And whereas this annual celebration is dedicated to elevating nurses voices and recognizing
their unwavering commitment to patients, communities, and better healthcare outcomes for all. Whereas celebrating, honoring, and supporting nurses during National Nurses Week provides a high impact opportunity to promote the value of nursing, advocating for the profession and sharing impact stories which all play a critical role in driving awareness and
reaching a wider audience. Whereas even though nursing is both a rewarding and challenging profession, data shows access to support system and tools are critical for a healthy workforce and 40% of nurses who practice regular self-care report 40% lower rates of anxiety and depression compared to those who don't.
Whereas an American nurses is a continuing is continuing their tradition or the American nurses association continuing their tradition of shining a spotlight on the contributions of the nation's more than 5 million registered nurses throughout the month of May. It now therefore it be resolved that the board of commissioners in the township of county of state New Jersey along with
the American nurses association recognize the month of May as national nurses month celebrating the 2025 theme of the power of nurses to transform health highlights the significant impact nurses have had on innovation healthcare patient centered care the nur the American nurses association will also
focus on the resilience expertise and and heart nurses bring to their patients and communities therefore be further resolved national nurses month is celebrated through the entire month of with a special focus on National Nurses Week which begins each year on May 6th and ends May 12th. The birth date of
celebrated nurse Florence Nightingale. So moved. Second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Scarpell. I. Commissioner Petraco. Hi. Mayor Kelly. I. The next one I have on for this evening is for uh raffle licenses. WFW post auxiliary
number 493 stored E. Exer E. Edgar a license number 3125 off premises 50/50 cash raffle Wednesday October 8th uh wherefore applications have been reviewed and approved by municipal clerk and police department now therefore be resolved by the board of commissioners township of Nley County of Essex state of New Jersey that the affformentioned
license are approved and the municipal clerk is author authorized to issue said licenses so moved second commissioner Evans hi Mr. Scarpelli hi Mr. Petraco. Hi, Mayor Kelly. Hi. The next one I have on for this evening is resolution number
11225. This is for a shared service uh with the school board uh to handle their their trash and rubbish removal. Uh and this is for 39,000 in year 1, 39,000 in year 2, 39,000 in year 3, 49,000 in
years four and five. Uh be resolved. Board of Commissioners Township of Nelly County, New Jersey approved the shared service agreement with the Nelly Board of Education for solid waste removal by FB Bassel Junior rubbish removal for the for which the township will be reimbured yearly amount commencing on November
1st, 2024 through October 31st, 2029. So moved. Second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Scorpell. Hi. Commissioner Paco. Hi. Mayor Kelly. The last one I have is on behalf of the entire board and this is for uh planning uh and
consulting services related to the on3 Hoffen Lar Roevelopment. Uh this is a professional service contract that going to FAR planning located at 190 Veterans Drive, Northvale, New Jersey. And we believe
they're qualified and best suited to provide the services to this township. FAR has completed the the business entity disclosure certification which certifies that it has not made any reportable disqualifying contributions to a political candidate or candidate committee in the township of Nelli in the previous one year that the contract will prohibit them from making any
reportable contributions to determine the contract. uh funds are available from account number 5-01-226-205 and will be certified by the chief financial officer said certification being attached to this resolution and will be reimburse reimbursed by escro accounts to be established with the designated
redeveloper on the subject property where far has submitted a proposal for services in accordance with the proposal to perform services at a cost not to exceed $75,000 whereas the anticipated term of this contract is for 12 months May 6 2025 through December 31st 2025 and therefore be resolved the board of
commissioners attention county state of New Jersey that the mayor municipal clerk hereby authorized him to enter a contract with far as a professional service contract in the amount not to exceed 75,000 and a copy of this resolution as well as a contract shall be placed on file with the clerk of the township of Nutley and a notice in accordance with the local public
contracts laws of the state and jersey shall be posted in the nutly sun so moved second commissioner Evans hi commissioner hi commissioner hi merco i mayor Kelly Hi. And uh Mr. Bruno, I
believe we Oh, we have meeting open to the public. Uh anyone wishing to be heard on any item uh whether it was on the agenda or not, uh is free to approach the microphone and state your name for the record. Seeing none, uh Mr. Bruno, we do have a need for executive. Is that
correct? Yes, mayor. We have a closeation. I will entertain a motion for second. Whereas section 8 of the open public meeting act chapter 231 public law 1975 permits the exclusion of the public for meeting in certain
circumstances. And whereas the public body is of the opinion that such circumstances exist. And whereas the board of commissioners of the township of Nutley in the county of Essex and state of New Jersey desires to proceed to close executive session. And now therefore be it resolved by the board of commissioners of the township of Nutley
moving to close executive session to discuss litigation. be further resolved that at the time when such discussion may be disclosed to the public shall be when such disclosure may be made without adversely affecting the township of Nutley pending and/or anticipated legal personnel contractual matters and other
matters within the exceptions provided for by statute. This resol resolution shall take effect immediately. Commissioner Evans I Commissioner Tucci. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. Hi. Mayor Kelly. Hi. And we won't be conducting any more business this evening. Our next meeting
is Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 at 7 p.m. I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. So move. Second. Commissioner Evans. Hi. Commissioner Chuchi. Hi. Commissioner Scarpelli. Hi. Commissioner Petraco. Hi. Mayor Kelly. Hi. The time is 9:23.