okay ready United States ofer stand God indivisible Sunshine notice Madam clerk thank you mayor Board of Commissioners public meeting agenda for Tuesday March
4 2025 the time is now 7:04 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 nle 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 scarelli here commissioner Petco here mayor Kelly presid all present mayor uh thank you madam clerk minutes please we
have thank you mayor we have Board of commissioner meeting minutes for February 4th 20125 M second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui same commissioner scarelli hi commissioner pet hi mayor Kelly hi that's there for
minutes um we have a uh no Communications no executive session minutes we do have a couple proclamations on for this evening and I I think it would be appropriate to take them now at this time uh the first
one we have on for this evening is uh jointly proclaimed by not only all the board but especially by myself and uh commissioner petraco is uh Black Balloon day uh and I I guess what I'll do is I'll
I'll read the proclamation because it kind of explains what Black Balloon day is and then uh I'll say some comments I'll let anyone else on the board say some comments and I'll turn it over to uh Sharon Baza who's our our director of our addiction resource and Recovery uh
Center AL you want to read any part of to do it I'll J whereas March 6th is Black Balloon day an annual event dedicated to recognizing and celebrating those who have lost their lives to substance overdoses and whereas substance use disorder affects many many
millions of people and affects all social groups with no discrimination whereas according to the National Center for Health statistics the nchs at the Centers for Disease Control and prevention the CDC over 990,000 Americans died from substance overdoses in
2024 whereas it is proven that the more we talk about substance use disorder the more we help remove the stigma around seeking out help where as the town CH nutly asked residents to recognize this day to not only display Black Balloon in memory of a lost relative or friend but
also use the day to open conversations about drug abuse use and therefore be proclaimed by the Board of Commissioners Township of nelli County of essic state of New Jersey that March 6th be declared Black Balloon day in the township of Nutley and we pay solemn tribute to those lost to addiction and also
encourage open conversation to support those suffering from addiction be a further Proclaim that the nutly department of public affairs and health offers a free substance use disorder Resource Center for individuals seeking information regarding counseling rehabilitation centers emergency
nonemergency inpatient out self-help hotlines mental health assistance Etc will be able to obtain this collection of materials both digitally and in print uh so that that's the proclamation I want
to add personally that you know one more life is too many to lose uh based on addiction uh commissioner Petco and I are are working together on this uh it's it's not it's not just a policing issue but it's a health issue
it's a mental health issue uh we have mental health services in the health department we have addiction Ser Resource Services in the the health department uh if you need help there is no shame uh this is a stigma-free town uh come and ask for it if you don't feel
comfortable going to the cops come to the health department you don't feel comfortable going to the health department you feel more comfortable going to the cops go to the police department uh there is no shame in asking for help please if if you need help come get it it's there it's available
uh please seek out the help uh I'll turn over to commissioner pet and then I'll turn over to the I I would just like to app everybody in this room for coming out tonight and you know celebrating the people who have lost their life and I
could ask or make a statement of whose family does an addiction affect right it's in every single family including mine and you know you see that poor soul struggling through it on the corner in
the alleyway and manions and in poor areas where wherever that person is because we all know that drugs and alcohol and any type of mental illness and addiction does that's the one thing that
doesn't discriminate for sure and I just like to say that you know those people that people see it's easy to pass judgment on them right but they don't want to be
that way that that I I know firsthand they they do definitely not want to be that way so instead of people judging them maybe you you reach out and you you find it in your heart or somebody else's heart to help them
because I could tell you firsthand it is really hard to put that addiction away you know for people who use so I just like to say God bless my mother used to say this to me all the time you know people don't leave
leave you ever on this earth look for them you know where they'll be right right in your heart thank you thank you mayor um just a couple thoughts as one is that um I I think the board collectively is is very proud that
we actually designated Nutley as a stigma-free town initially um it's wonderful that the public affairs department has taken a step forward uh in this this very serious area uh I know Al the police department not only has
been active on the front line with this but also on the uh early Side by you know School intervention you know having relationships with kids uh to actually make sure that we uh try and cut it off and I think probably you know aside from
those that are addicted uh today there are more and more influences out there where it's readily available to actually to uh get exposed to uh and I'll use the word experimentation give it a try you know see what it feels like uh which
then leads to uh other things that are more much more more serious uh I can you know relate that specifically in my own family where my nephew is away at school as a freshman and actually spent a week at home because he went to a party a
college party and thought it was the right thing to do because everybody was doing it and wound up getting very sick and had to come home uh and it related to uh being exposed to something that was inside of a drink that he didn't know what was in it and it actually had
a very negative reaction so I think not only should we be uh looking at you know overdose and addiction but any anything that we can do to put out put a brighter light on U experimentation on the early side of intervention uh and I know Al
you've been after this you know God knows I don't know how many years uh for this but the more we can stay focused on that I think the better our children are going to be I'm saddened every time I hear about uh you know a radio call where somebody has to go out and they
they've had to you know Naran you know somebody uh I lost my niece uh uh from from one of these incidents and my cousin from one of the from one of these incidents and uh I think it's ever present in everybody's lives so always
we we need to stay focused on this yeah I just like to commend both the the health department the public safety department uh for taking this initiative and raising awareness um no one want to be addicted to any substance
all right it's a sickness it's an illness it's something that that needs to be talked about it's something that needs to that our children need to be made aware of at a very young age so they know to stay away from it all right and like Al said no one wants to be an
addict no one wants to be addicted to anything so I just commend you on all your hard work and however any of us can help we always stand ready to jump in yeah for uh those of us who have lost uh a loved one to uh drugs and uh abuse
um any kind of raising awareness is certainly something that uh we should do and uh glad you guys are taking the lead on this thank you at this time I'd like to bring up Sharon Baza who is our director of our
addiction resource and Recovery Center here in in town I just want to speak to the hi everybody my name is Sharon and I'd like to welcome you here tonight Black Balloon day is a time where people come together to pay
tribute to those who have been lost to an overdose it involves uniting and advocating for overdose prevention it's a powerful reminder of the importance of supporting an individual's struggle with addiction and working toward a future
free from the devastation of Overdose deaths addiction does not define a person it just describes what a person has a person's addiction represents only a very small part of that person's life
addiction recovery is not easy but it helps when a community understands and becomes actively involved as the opio epidemic in the US has grown the need for increased awareness and education around substance
use disorder is so very important harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use the department of public affairs and health is always available to assist with harm reduction methods we
have a resource recovery center as our mayor said and all are welcome to stop by pick up some literature along with life-saving supplies to help in an overdose crisis for all of those who have lost a loved one to this disease please know in
your heart that we stand with you we support you and we pray with you and we pray for you as you travel your journey may you always have hope and know in your heart that one day you will meet again the white balloons behind me do
represent the hope we must all keep in our hearts everyone with a Black Balloon or who would like to stand and join us would you please come to the center aisle and kind of make a line I have no idea
e e e e point [Music] you support I watch all and I went but
James for I show you a picture of her in 198 I don't nicely done Shar e e okay we have another Proclamation on for this evening and it's uh it's one to
celebrate the 100 years and this 100 years to the day uh of the founding of Mount Carmel Church I want to recognize them for their their service to to this community of for a 100 years now uh this Proclamation declares March 4th 1925 the
100th anniversary of the founding of our Lady of Mount Carmel Church we declare this day of remembrance to honor the 100 years of service and faithful witness to the Nutley community and Beyond whereas originally the church was built to serve the small Polish Community and was located on Franklin Avenue whereas a new
church as constructed on the corner of Prospect Street and Harrison Street in 1949 known as the little Church on the Hill whereas the current church mission statement is as follows our mission as a holy parish is to communicate and celebrate the life and spirit of Jesus by our words and actions in order to
build the dynamic loving caring outreaching Community of Faith or as the Centennial theme is a centry of Faith love and community Through Mary and therefore it be proclaimed that the Board of Commissioners in the township of Nutley County of esic state of New Jersey declare March 4th 2025 the 100th
anniversary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel uh so proclaimed uh I just want to add uh you know father Alex is is is the pastor there now I I know he was originally previously at uh Holy Family he hasn't
been there the full 100 years but uh I I do want to congratulate him and his community and wish him another hundred years of continued his success and I hope he's here in 100 years to to get the 200y year anniversary Proclamation uh anyone else want to say
any okay all right uh is is anyone here from Mount Carmel I will get them a copy of this Proclamation uh make sure I didn't skip anything uh I see we have a a shade tree report
commissioner Tui yes I have a shade tree report for the month of February 2025 thank you uh bills Madam clerk thank you Mayor Bill list for March 4th 2025 public affairs 8,342 3 Revenue in finance
2,927 25963 public safe safety 65,00 58550 Public Works $15,438.24 and Sewer utility $
51,66652 2025 regular payroll total $965,000 roll total $4,475 64 total payroll
$1,824 15 for a grant total of 5,929 6359 move the Bills second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO mayor Kelly hi and that's it for
bills mayor thank you madam clerk at this time we have public comment on agenda items only this is public comment on agenda items only if you wish to be heard on agenda items only please approach the microphone and state your name for the record good evening my name is Kyle peot
I'm a resident taxpayer and rate payer in Nutley of the sewer Water Commission I see on tonight's agenda there's a motion to uh move back almost $600,000 that was not expended in the
Water and Sewer Commission from the last year I live at the Gateway condominiums in Nutley Down River Road we've been in contact with the board on numerous occasions I sent an email to the Water and Sewer Commission in the entire board on January 9th I
received a response from uh sou Ferrera who I understand is one of the directors there it was very kind response on January 10th saying it was under review I followed up via phone on January 30th I sent uh letters via certified usmail
January 24th and January 31st I sent additional emails January 24th February 19th and February 21st to all of you I use read receipts so I know at least some of you got them I haven't received any response to any of those um Gateway
is build at the commercial rate it's a residential structure uh you all have my emails which highlight all of this so I won't waste all our time but it's an entirely residential structure the entire Community is paying double the residential rate because
we're being build at the commercial rate as far as I can tell there's no other municipality in the entire Tri-State region that builds commercial rates at twice the residential rates for water and sewer I don't know why they made that you guys made that decision that's your prerogative but it did seem interesting
to me that there's some municipalities where there's a slight upch charge for commercial I can see where that would be but double seems a bit excessive we're also clearly not a commercial property we're entirely residential many of our uh residents are seniors fixed income
lower income we're definitely one of the more affordable areas in town uh this is R HOA which manages the entire uh facility and property our total budget's about $400,000 a year
just these Bill increases this past July increases our annual budget by about $120,000 so for the average unit there it's about a $3,000 a year increase for water and sewer that we were already receiving and paying for and that the
town advertised as a way to be more fair so I don't see how there's any fairness in this deal I don't understand why we're unable to get a response I know I'm not the only one who reached out I'm disappointed we have to come to a public meeting to would be able to address you
directly to have this brought up I think it's embarrassing for the town and frankly I think it's a sideway to uh continue to push away affordable units like ours we're not regulated affordable housing we're not any of those Section 8
or anything like that where it's all privately owned and it's not a co-op it's not owned by some Corporation Apartments they're all individual units it's just because they were built the 60s the town only put in three water mains to it instead of 94 or however
many units we have it's completely unreasonable everyone will believe to reput in 94 meters now so the only ask is Town respond and be reasonable in this situation and based off of the fact that apparently there's $600,000 extra I'm guessing there's other other groups
in town that are similarly situated to ours and I don't think that's fair for them either so I hope that the board will really take a look at this with the Water and Sewer Commission and uh address this in an appropriate way so
that the bottom line is we're going to have people moving out of their units probably at short sales because they can't afford these bills $3,000 just for water and sewer you're already using so hope you can bring this to your attention thank you thank you and we we certainly don't want anyone moving out
of their properties I I will turn this over to uh commissioner scarpelli for for for comment Mr PE thank you for your comments and as Mr Ferraro who works for me did respond as far as it's under review and it is under review we're looking at the
ordinance um I can say that um anything over uh five family is above is being um build at that tiered rate so it's not just
your complex it's any multifam complex that's over five families uh some of the issues that we found is without individual meters it's very difficult to even see if there's leaks in I don't
know how many units are down at Gateway but we won't know if there's any leaks because um there's not individual uh meters there so it's hard to tell how much of that water is being used uh a multif family dwelling also puts in more
waste more chemicals uh than a uh one two or three four family home so I want you to look at all you know we're looking at it it's under review um but that that's some of the reasons that there's that tiered
rate I just would add the resolution tonight is not to is not a refund it's actually cancelling balances that were unnecessary because if we uh didn't cancel them we'd actually be have a deficit in the utility and we'd have to through the operating budget contribute
that $590,000 that we're cancelling tonight so uh in the transition it was a bit of over budgeting um uh that we needed to cancel and so it's not um it's not that we have money that we collected it's just expenses that we didn't have
to pay if we had to pay it we would actually have a deficit I'm sorry my mic is on yeah so Mrs BOS I'm sorry can you hear me now okay maybe you can move forward too
uh the what I'm I'm canceling tonight is not money that we collected as a refund cancelling appropriation balances because we did not collect enough money to to pay those bills fortunately
we did not need the money so I'm canceling it out to bring the book The Books into balance so if you think about it very simply is that if you had uh collected um $100 if you had budgeted $100 and you collected
$60 right we would have to add in $40 for a real budget however it wasn't a correct budget so I'm able to cancel those balances out which avoids the deficit if I don't do that then we have to contribute that $590,000 out of the
operating budget which is the equivalent of $59 per household so I'm canceling it out to basically bring the utility back into balance because it has to equal so it's just basically an accounting uh mechan so Mr pipa I heard you it's not we money we collect it that's being
refunded it's just basically a budgeting error that needs to be corrected because the rates did not accommodate the the collecting that amount of money so that's all I was trying to explain uh we are looking at changes to the ordinance and I know there's a there are
draft changes coming I don't know what all those changes will be but I would think uh in the next couple weeks there will be a revised ordinance coming out uh everything and I and one of the things that's really clear the sewer bill which was $4.2 Million last year in
total we received a new bill for 25 which was 4,700 and some thousand so it went up you know quite a bit of money so while we have those sewer increases one of the challenges we have is is how do we
figure out the and I agree with you fairness and Equity trying to figure that out and get as close as we can to it however it does run the risk that once you get done making all of the adjustments because people have said oh I use a garden hose right but I don't
even get a credit for a garden hose so my sprinkler doesn't give me enough of a credit there's everything that people are raising to try and lower that bill we make all those Corrections which all of them as we identify them will be made the net result will be in an increase in
the rate the rate will have to go up because we have to pay that bill and so make we have to make sure that uh the rates will'll make sure that over the course of the year we collect the sewer bill which that one item alone went up
quite a bit and that's not under our control no we get a bill we get a bill it's just just the bill in the mail right and what does it relate to the processing of the sewage for the town the chemical treatments that are required the EPA
requirements that are associated with that but also people you know today and we're all suffering with this way back when we could look at 911 right and then how terrible that was but many of our utilities you know the electric utilities water utilities Gas
Utilities sewer utilities everybody had to increase their bonding to reinforce their facilities against a threat right whether or not that threat has materialized or could materialize that's what they did all that bonding is is being being paid for by us taxpayers and
it comes to us in the form of a bill we don't set the rate the rate is set by the Public Utility Commission uh and we just get a bill for it so it's just a function of the reality of the life we're in thank you Commissioners um does
anyone else wish to be heard on agenda items only this evening uh right now we're doing public comment on agenda items only if you wish to be heard please approach the microphone and state your name for the record seeing none we'll move on to board of commissioner announcements uh
commissioner Evans nothing for me I'm good mayor uh commissioner scarpelli I have nothing mayor I just have one thing to say tonight and um it was regarding our celebration tonight and I didn't do it
before so excuse me mayor I just want to thank Sharon baso too for putting this together in your health department it really fills a void in people's hearts and what you guys are doing is really God's work so thank you yes thank you Sharon also thanks Sam BR
from your department uh who is instrumental in putting it together as well um as many of you know this month is uh women's history month and we have a uh extensive slate of events to celebrate this month uh starting with
our kickoff at the uh Museum uh on Monday March 10th then we'll uh we have a host of events be on the lookout for them uh in terms through our Communications uh throughout the month and well I'll I'll update you
periodically on on those events um any others I should announce yeah okay there so there's going to be a lot later in the month uh but uh this Saturday is March 8th is international women's day or uh women's
History Day uh uh so everyone has uh someone uh in their life who's uh a woman so make sure you uh uh honor and thank them this month um moving on we have uh no ordinance
introductions we do have an ordinance on for uh its second reading and this is will be read by me on behalf of the entire Board of Commissioners uh and this is an ordinance by the Board of Commissioners of the township of nutan and the county of essics governing residential and non-residential development
fees uh it's a rather extensive ordinance and so I will just uh open a public hearing on the ordinance as written and and published in the uh in the our official Publications
um yeah so I'll at this time I'll move move to open the public hearing see seeing none I move to close I need a second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor
Kelly uh I and I move the ordinance second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner Peto hi mayor Kelly I uh we have seven resolutions on for this evening starting with commissioner Evans thank you mayor be
resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the township of noton the county of es state of New Jersey the the treasur be and is hereby authorized to refund over payment of property taxes in the amount of $3,630 47 for the lot and block uh
listed in the resolution so move second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO mayor Kelly I uh whereas after a comprehensive review of the budget appropriation of the Township's combined Water and Sewer utility has been
determined that certain balances are no longer needed and should be canceled as of December 31st 2024 whereas these budgeted accounts have been reviewed by n aachi and Company the Township's independent aiing firm who concur that these balances can be canceled and whereas njsa 48 colon 4-6 the allows a
governing body to formally cancel said balances so that the unexpended balance may be credit to reserve uh for the accounts and the amounts listed in here for a total of $590,000 now therefore be resolved by the Board of Commissioners
of the township of Melly County of asex state of New Jersey that in accordance with njsa 48 colon 4S 60 the above unexpended balances totaling fin $590,000 are hereby cancelled as of December 31st 2024 so move second
commissioner Evans all commissioner Chi hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly hi res Department of Revenue and Finance in the township has a need for specialized accounting services to assist the Chief Financial Officer from time to time throughout 2025 as a non-fair and open process
pursuant to njs uh 1944a uh 20.4 20.5 as appropriate whereas uh the an anrea uh de deir deir excuse me uh
Barlett uh she goes by D by the way uh licensed certif Municipal finance officer has propo submitted a proposal to provide these Services beginning March 4th through December 31st 2025 at an hourly rate of $100 for a total cost
not to exceed $20,000 whereas Miss Barlett possesses the requisite knowledge and experience to provide these services to the township as determined by the revenue and finance commissioner whereas Miss barlin has completed submitted the business entity disclosure certification that certifies that she has not made a reportable
contribution uh to a political or candidate Committee in the Township in the previous one year and that the contract will prohibit her from making any reportable contributions through through the term of the contract whereas funds are available in account 50128 2000 which has been certified by the Chief Financial Officer subject to the
adoption of the 25 Municipal budget now therefore be resolved by the board of commissioner of the township of NY County of es state New Jersey that the commissioner of Revenue and finance and the municipal clerk are hereby authorized to enter into a contract with Miss uh Barlett for 20 for specialized accounting service for the period
beginning March 4th 2025 through December 31st 2025 at an hourly rate of $100 not to exceed $220,000 some second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly hi thank
you thank you commissioner uh commissioner Tu yes where as Department of parks and public property determined due to unforeseen circumstances the families had to cancel participation in programs that we offer and whereas Department of parks and public property has determined a need to refund the
families now therefore be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners Township of Nutley County B state of New Jersey that the treasurer be is hereby authorized to refund payments for recreation programs in the amounts listed below to our neighbors at 91 Woodford Avenue for K2 Hoops in the amount of 1,000 I'm sorry
$120 for the 2025 5 year I moove the resolution second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner Petco hi mayor Kelly hi all I have thank you commissioner and uh commissioner scarpelli I see you have no resolutions
this evening no resolutions tonight mayor thank you uh commissioner PCO thank you whereas the seal bids for sh poost Vehicles no longer in use by the township were received and open on Wednesday February 12th 2025 and whereas
Jersey 1 Auto Sales Inc 495491 Avenue Jersey City New Jersey and Liberty Motors Inc 1705 1707 Kennedy bouard Jersey City New Jersey were the highest biders for the vehicles listed below it was a
2004 F550 and 1991 Bo twoo pickup now therefore it be resolved by the Board of Commissioners Township and NY County of as the state of New Jersey that the Surplus items listed above sold to the highest
biders Jersey ju Auto Sales Inc and Liberty Motors Inc and the Township Clerk is hereby authorized to accept payment and release the vehicle's titles to the purchasers I move resolution second commissioner Evans I commissioner
chuchi hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner Petco I mayor Kelly hi this next resolution that I have mayor is very very lengthy so I'm going to give a little summary of it before we um vote on it this is gives us the
ability in the police department to use um to buy any federal um to purchase any federal properties that is usually used by the way in case something um comes up we did purchase off this one time in all these
years um a truck for the floods so that this is what this the purpose of this resolution is so resolution authorizing Township and nutly through the Nutley Police Department to participa in the defense Logistics agency law enforcement Support Office 1033 program to enable
the Nutley Police Department to request and acquire excess Department of Defense equipment I move it second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner P hi mayor Kelly hi thank
you thank you commissioner I have one resolution on for this evening uh whereas the department of the treasury division taxation has provided a tax clearance certificate to license C listed below and said license is a qualified to be licensed according to all standards established by the new New
Jersey statutes annotated title 33 and regulations prolongated there under as well as pertinent local ordinances and conditions consistent with title 33 for the establishment listed below for this renewal period and whereas The Establishment has been inspected by the Board of Health fire department code enforcement department and police department of the township of N and is
in satisfactory condition and therefore it be res OLED by the Board of Commissioners of the township of NY County of es state of New Jersey at the renewal of a plary retail consumption licenses with broad pack broad package privileges can be granted to the following licy effective July 1st 2024
through June 30th 2025 be a further resolve that the municipal clerk hereby isn't be and is hereby authorized to sign and issue a license certificate for the licensing period of July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2025 liquor license number 0716 32-20
011 GL Group LLC trading as B luche uh license premises 507 Franklin Avenue plenary consumption uh license with broad package privilege uh so moved second commissioner Evans all commissioner chuchi hi commissioner
scell hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly hi uh at this time we will open the meeting up for public comment uh on any item you wish to bring before the board uh if you wish to bring any item before the board please approach the microphone and state your name for the
record I don't know if I'm being redundant but this is about the water and storage as well because it's difficult to hear you people up here honestly but uh I had somebody we went through these water bills and from what we can ascertain we were paying $44
a unit before and now we're paying $459 a unit or whatever you call it for water and that's that's 55 cents an addition also um we were paying $9 for
uh Insurance on on piping and now we're paying $10.50 it was very nice to sneak that in when you raised the bill also I have some bills where I'm paying more for storage than I'm paying for water how is
that possible and where on my tax bill can you show me since I'm paying storage on these bills where can you show me that it was deducted from my taxes since we were paying it before so uh we we certainly didn't sneak anything in I'll
turn it over to both well nobody we never got a letter saying that you were raising anything that you were uh you know going to uh raise the tax not the tax but the U insurance on the piping or whatever it's called well I I'll let commissioner Evans and commissioner
scarpelly speak on on that you know have hearing aids and I can't even hear you sure I'll speak later I'll let commissioner Evans or commissioner scoty speak on that whoever wishes to go first I'll go first um M Baza I do want to express my condolences to you on the
loss of your husband um oh thank you uh you know as the mayor said we didn't sneak in anything in you know we had public hearings on this um the ordinance was changed it was taken out of tax bill I'll let commissioner Evans explain that
um the water and sore are two different bills uh based on what we get uh charged for water through our our purveyors sake Valley uh water uh norc water and North
Jersey water in addition to uh our employees that are working in the water department the sewer as commissioner Evans explained before we get a bill from Pake Valley for $4.6 million uh we have to pay that and we divided that up
not us but our Auditors on the initial we've only been doing this for six months you know so we took a um educated guess at what the rate should be to pay those bills um it looks like you know we we fell a little short
last year um because some things we didn't consider um and so that rate may have to be adjusted especially as we change the ordinance going forward but certainly um it was to make it more Equitable based on usage rather than
based on property values and that was the reason that one of the big reasons that we changed it so are you saying that you're whatever bill you get you're dividing it or however you do it it's how much you just determine we
should no no it's it's how much you use based on your water consumption but that's also who has to look at what we have to pay for sake Valley sewage to treat that sewage so basically water in water out to
determine what you're using right so somebody who has uh a house that has a big family of five they're going to use more water and produce more sewage so they're going to pay more somebody with a house that has you know two empty
nesters in it they're going to pay less because they're using less water but at the end of the day whatever we collect we have toake uh we have to uh pay Pake Valley sewage commission the $4.6 million well how was it possible
that before when we were paying it in our taxes you were able to meet the bill and now you have to charge us extra course it was taken I let commissioner Evans explain that it was taken out of was taken out of your tax bill I'm sorry
it was taking out of your tax bill you're not paying for sewage you're not paying that 4.6 million out of your does it show that we get a rebate on that that we get it de again maybe not a rebate but your your your taxes didn't go up as much as they could
have so Mrs Bosa just to Echo what commissioner scarelli had said um and I'm trying to speak louder because I tend to speak softer but um and just raise if your hand if you can't hear me um we did remove half the cost of what
the sewer utility would have to operate with both the sewer bill as well as the operating costs which would include uh the uh the salary and wages of the people that work in that area the insurance costs associated with that uh
the pension costs all those costs have to go into there what we did last year was we estimated what that half of that bill would be and transfer that to the utility because I was concerned that we would not collect all the revenue that we needed to cor collect because it was
a startup I reduced the B the half part of the benefit coming out by $513,000 to cover a revenue billing shortfall which I'm grateful that we did because we actually did have a transitional issue with uh Billings cuz
it's commissioner scarpelli said we're only operating six six months there is a presentation of the budget presented last year online which lays out and shows what our total uh expenditures
were for the year and how much was transferred out of the budget for uh the sewer utility unfortunately last year we had an increase in the taxes to uh to everybody because other cost costs went up far
greater uh than the transfer out of the money to the Sewer utility so you would think that the budget would go down which it did half half the cost went down last year for the uh transfer out to the Sewer utility however other costs
went up quite a bit and completely offset that and as Joe mentioned that while we had an increase last year of I think it was around $83 or $87 I don't remember off the top of my head but it was below $100 if we didn't transfer out
what we would have transferred out that increase would have been well over $250 so we were by the transfer out the property tax increase was lower last year but it was an increase and it did not go down but in essence you really
raised our tax didn't raise well this it's not called tax but it's a tax because we have to pay it so well but but yeah so all those costs were in the regular operating budget so if we left them in there then your taxes uh the
your tax increase would have been for the average house paying about $122,500 in taxes that a the municipal increase would have been over $250 on that one house with by taking this out it was only8 chasing us out of this town I'll
tell you little by little I don't mean you personally but little by little you're chasing us out of this town because we can't afford to live here anymore and I was born and raised in this town but I'm I just can't I understand I appreciate older you get the harder it gets it is hard I agree
with you but please go online and also we don't need to put those Christmas trees in front of the Town Hall all this nonsense and you know change everything has to change why can't things just stay as they are as long as they're useful and they're they're they're okay leave
it the way it is yeah I would love I mean you know people like myself on a fixed budget it's really difficult to live here I truly appreciate that Mrs Bosa more than you know I've worked very hard only one lots of people complain but they don't come here to are you part of the property tax freeze program
pardon are you part of the New Jersey property tax freeze program well how come other towns in in New Jersey have much lower tax rates nutly Nutley is not high by comp no in Essex County no absolutely not uh yeah sometimes I I get
fooled too but it's serly Ser serly not but I I do but no it's not because I pay more than that but but Mrs Mrs B I want it's an important question please if you are not a member of the New Jersey property tax
freeze program and you're over 65 years old which you may be I'm not sure right well 65 years old you older and you and you earn less than $163,000 a year you're eligible to have
your taxes Frozen but there's a new program this year that says if you're already in the freeze program there's a new Pro program that's called the stay New Jersey program which actually is a new benefit that will be paid in
26 yeah if if I could yeah if if I could answer that question I would have accepted the job as a New Jersey state treasurer but un fortunately you can't you can't fix what's broken but the answer is there is a new program for seniors that increases
the benefit that says if you're collecting through the anchor program and the freeze program less than $6,500 and you make less than a half a million dollars a year this year there's a new application which maybe might be a benefit for you and if that is a benefit
for you please stop by and see my tax collector she'll help you through it it's will will help you do that you don't need to do that $163,000 from all sources Mrs Rabino today we have over
200 200 two EXC me 2,000 homes in Nutley are part of the freeze program and because of the new program more seniors will participate more many more and I I just would like to add that a lot of those cost increases that commissioner Evan
spoke about are costs well beyond our control they cost set by the state or as commissioner Evans mentioned earlier this evening the bill from pbsc went up from four to 4.6 million uh so these are costs that we can't control uh it's just the the nature of living in New Jersey
these costs are are rising especially with the inflation going on uh anyone else wishing to be heard uh on uh a comment great hi there my name is Matt I live up on Highfield Lane I stopped by
late last year um just uh as a volunteer with the voter Choice New Jersey we're a advocacy organization looking to spread awareness of rank Choice voting in municipalities around the state last year uh Maplewood South Orange and Montclair all adopted resolutions
supporting rank Choice voting and this is important because we want to show the state government that they should Empower municipalities to adopt rank Choice voting um it's used in New York City we'll see it in the mayoral election it's used in the Oscars uh it proves to be broadly popular across the
political Spectrum um helps reduce toxic partisanship in elections because constituents can rank their choices and it reduces the need for costly runoffs uh I have several little cards with QR codes more information I hope to be at the farmers market this spring spreading some more information I'd be happy to
leave some of these with each of you and hopefully have the chance to maybe work on a resolution for nutly sure you you you can leave it with the uh clerk yeah of course let me grab a grab a couple thanks you you can you can approach and okay
good evening nichas or I'm at 35 Wilson Street not New Jersey another month another payment another meeting Mr Bruno another course for me with my
lawyer last time I was here I was directed by the Commissioners meet with Mr Bruno let's put this to rest finally obviously you know nothing has been put to rest now I now I wonder you know I
[Music] don't okay you may not want to hear this but um I uh again I know I lost faith in a lot a lot of things a lot of people uh I don't
want to bash my lawyer because now I now I'm at the point I wonder you know like know someone some indiv individuals up here are they really coming after me it makes me wonder um I invited once again Carl Lordi Lou
vaco if Dave goo was alive he would be here as well just once again re reiterate to all of you how this nightmare that I'm living started all these men you all know
well I Know Carl gave the convocation for you know one or two of you uh you know your fundraisers everyone knows Dave Godel I believe you all know Louis vaco I don't think any of them have any hard feelings
towards you or me I don't think anyone of them would lie for me especially especially Carl who's a pastor okay I cannot emphasize again and this will be the last time I come here okay I can't emphasize you know again
this nightmare I'm living okay so I got a few questions to start with if you don't mind or a few things I want to bring to light again ordinance number
3439 introduced by mayor scar pelly if you're not if you don't remember this ordinance okay it was the chapter 349 flood damage prevention on page 11 section A bullet point three it clearly states
that the responsibility of the flood administrator is to inform anyone who's going for permit whether or not a piece of property is in a flood way clear's day Mr scarel do you recall
this ordinance okay well it was introduced by you probably you know all good you know intentions it was approved by most of you Mr ke mayor Kelly I don't think you were here during that
time it's clear as day that this order says that the flood administrator was to inform me whether or not this land was in a floodway unfortunately and I don't believe purposely he made a mistake I'm going to
reiterate again that your Township engineer that you guys pay for wrote a report regarding this property in this report he too never mentioned floodway but just was clear that this property
was in a flood zone and approved for one family house um I want I want to turn my attention to commissioner Evans commissioner ever why why did you run for office
can you just elaborate shortly or what was your purpose of serving the people in nly why what made you run for office I'm just gonna all all questions to be addressed to me as the the chair of the board and uh if appropriate I'll refer to the appropriate Comm I just
want to know I mean what was your I mean I'm not attacking right now but what was your purpose of running for office if you pick up any of my campaign literature it lays it well well out I I might my expertise is in financial areas and I felt that I can contribute to the
town in a positive way okay and and I believe that that was your purpose in your department okay you're in charge of the building the construction Department correct yes are you are you
aware of the process of getting a permit uh uh a building permit to build a home Mr arama I'm I am going to CAU you on your line of questioning you're allowed to make a comment you're not allowed to interrogate the commissioner well I'm
I'm not interrogating I'm also I'm doing it not as a as a request it's a warning jump in because we're happy to have anyone come up during the public uh comment stage of meetings it's good to you know be a good
citizen and our government runs but this is not going to be an exercise we're going to ask questions I can I can I can ask questions I'm a citizen I pay taxes listen I I have not
been disrespectful at all I'm not disrespecting you I'm just trying to lead to a point I just want to save you time because I have instructed all of the Commissioners not to discuss this matter because have to ask questions well I'm gonna ask you anyway because I have the
right to do so okay and if you refuse not to answer the shame on you then you shouldn't be sitting up there which you're not brave enough to answer questions so anyway I was you trying to be disrespectful I don't know maybe you're taking it personally maybe you have something to hide who knows but let me just explain
to you the process okay when you go for a building permit in the township of Nutley you have to submit plans okay the plans are reviewed okay
uh you know are you familiar with the co fees in Nutley I mean is he allowed to answer that no yeah I know what the fees are okay CES Hudson soil are you familiar with all that Hudson soil no but Co yes well these are things that
you need to get when you build a house in this Township okay these things will never ever be requested if a property is unbuildable there's no need to do it there's no need
to submit plans there's no need to get engineering reports okay I have cancelled checks I got checks made out to the township Co free he free permit free that the township made me pay because they thought that this property
was built for I just can't see how you guys don't see this how the township you know I believe the township is is really extremely liable the negligence that happened not
purposely has destroyed me okay and I I don't understand why you're taking it personally I'm just trying to tell you you know like I mean do not recognize it you not recognize this that the township made me do a toz when I didn't have to
do anything because a lot was supposed to be unbuildable that the township made me revise my my perion that the township made me hire an engineer that the township paid a Township engineer to review my plans to
give me to okay only to tell me two months later no I mean is this not like I I don't get it does no does no one not recognize this um Mr Mr Ari uh you're you're you're out of time but I do want
to say that you know I I've worked with commissioner Evans for a number of years now while we may not always see eye to eyee I don't think it's appropriate to insinuate that he has something to hide uh you know you you're in litigation with the town the town is free to take its position you're free to take yours
position and Mr Bruno can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe we've offered you to come to mediation and we're happy to sit at the table and talk about what would what would make this situation right and if there's any faults to make it right and I believe that we met a
month ago well that that was just a meeting with your with our attorney but I believe we've offered to come to mediation have a neutral Arbiter to take a look at this and say if and where there's faults well it like again you guys are
the leaders of this Township okay you took an oath to do the right thing I just can't see like again it takes one of you to make a motion two of you to agree to settlement and I'm done the nightmare with this Township is done if
if I may mayor I I think that's what the mayor saying Nick is that you know they're taking a step going through an exercise and maybe that there could be some kind of resolution on this you know right and especially having it come from a neutral person uh because you you've
come here several times and you you talked about your history with many of these Commissioners uh well when I say these Commissioners many of us uh and it it looks like there could be some sort of untour dealing going on where if we go to a neutral arbiter and the neutral
orbitor says this would be a fair settlement for this matter it gives us the appropriate uh I guess backdrop to say you know there's and and to prove to the town that there is no unfair dealing going on you know I respectfully disagree you guys should to Le this
Township like I told all of you every time you cast the vote whether you say yes you're can upset the no whether you say no you upset the people that want yes I'm just asking you as elected officials to you know to recognize this and make a decision what you think is
right okay I can't again if this was your son or daughter up here this would never gone two and a half years okay never this would have been done already I mean if I have just two more minutes of your time and then I'll stop can can you wrap it up in
one you you already twice exceeded the the the limit um just get get to the point and and I'm in feel pressure but you know what I I just like like I said I have a a log
of things I've done and able to build in this Township to build a home and again the process of building home is a to z nly Made Me Do almost A to Z I stopped at T only to tell me you know two and a half months three months later oops we
made a mistake you can't build here it's in a floodway again I cannot again reiterate three people that all of you know well came to this Township to inquire about this land for me to purchase all these people were told the
same thing it's a buildable lot yes you could build there it's Zone r r um it's Zone R1 I mean you guys the township Mr Evans you know when to to buy something you get a CO the township gave me a CO that
clearly says it's Z in R1 building I mean why Why did the Township give me the co if I couldn't build on it and I guess you know let me clo enclosure this way I could just stop talking I mean I hope this is a a teachable moment for
you Mr Evans as the leader of this department to say listen guys we made a mistake here okay we you know I you know not everyone that works for your department lives in nutly I'm a nutly guy okay my brothers live here my children live here we have a business in
town this is a teachable moment for you to say let's sit down where did we mess up here this should never happen to anyone ever again I don't know have you done that yet or it just it doesn't like I don't get it I
mean it just it I don't know again I sat in that see I ran for Council years ago I don't know maybe I'm different but if this ever happened on my watch I will be sitting down my department saying listen we need to fix what's wrong
we put this poor guy his family through hell and I can assure you I'm pretty sure that nothing has been done about this since this happened to me I don't know just any any comments like I like I said we all feel
for you we all unfortunate situation I can't even talk right now my lips are get chapped I mean two and a half years to do the right thing this is like I said this is unfortunate situation and and as our attorney has said the the
quickest resolution is to go to mediation otherwise we're it's going to take a lot longer process to draw this out through Discovery and and depositions and the whole nine yards and and if I could show you my phone right now I'm going off on my attorney I'm like let's go to mediation it costs
money it cost 10,000 I don't care I pay 1,700 a month I could have pay for mediation 10 times over already Okay and like I said I feel trapped with this guy okay uh you I don't need to go to mediation here here are my mediators right
here I Mar anything I can't talk about he can do anything you want Marl and you know my character Al I I said what I said before I mean I think it's a good first step oh first step how many First Steps am I no
well I mean this could I in my opinion and I'm not a lawyer but I think it could resolve an issue so I mean you know what I think move it along I'm trying the the benefit of a mediator is that they'll be able to independently tell us if we're wrong or they'll independently tell you if we're wrong or they'll independently tell us we're both
wrong or both right uh and and try and beat us up to get to an agreement mayor Sali any comment I mean I know but it's two and a half years of R and I'm still on step one and I hope when you when you leave
here doc that you review your ordinance and say oh this kid's right we have an ordinance here and it clearly says the flood administrator is responsible for telling me whether or not it's in the flood way it wasn't my responsibility and he dropped the ball and I I respectfully
asked you just to look over it tonight and maybe when you read it DOC you be like hey come on guys this kid's right we kind of screwed up just take some accountability thank you Mr AR anyone else wishing to be heard on on uh public
comments uh seeing none up see seeing none uh we don't have a need for executive session correct Mr Bruno uh so uh we our next meeting is going to be the budget Workshop tomorrow
at 10: a. uh and of our next regular meeting will be March 18th at this time I'll entertain a motion to adjourn second commissioner Evans commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi
commissioner Petco hi mayor Kelly I the time is 88:18 thank you good night everyone