good evening i'd like to welcome everyone to the March 25th 2025 Oldbridge Township Council meeting please rise for a pledge of allegiance please remain standing for a moment of silence and for our prayer i pledge algiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all as customary in this chamber we stand for a moment to remember those who are protecting our freedoms both here
and abroad for our first responders for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and for everyone who is suffering around the world a moment of silence thank you our prayer Mr peskitti dear Lord bless thy servants in the
ministry of public affairs who've s served thee in this chamber give us quiet minds and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right
grant that we have a good conscience and soul at peace with thee and with one another amen amen please be seated roll call councilman Acatuli here councilwoman Dara
here councilman Dealama here councilman Desai here let the record reflect that Councilman Garcia is absent councilman Murphy here councilman Pasci here council Vice President Dr greenberg Belly here and council president Sohar
here this meeting is being held in conformance with the open public meetings act notice has been given to the official newspapers of the township on January 14th 2025 and has been posted in public places next open public meeting of the township council will be held on Tuesday April 8th 2025 at 7:30
p.m thank you everyone welcome to the meeting we'll begin with the bill list mr dama yes uh bill list as of March 25th 2025 accounts payable March 25th 2025
12,690,69.36 payroll March 14 2025 1,216,472.87 payroll overtime March 14th 2025 $32,114.50 thank you anna do you have a breakdown of the overtime please yes so there were no major upticks in
our overtime for this payroll the sworn police overtime was $22,826.32 the duck grants $12,469.61 deduct ETO $527.93 for a total of $9,828.78 which was 319 men and women hours we have two officers currently on
light duty thank you very much do I have a motion second okay moved by Dr greenberg Bell second by Mr murphy roll call councilman Asatuli yes councilwoman Daro yes councilman Dealama
yes councilman Desai yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pasitti yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Bell yes and council president Sohar yes ordinances for first reading fr1 ordinance establishing hometown hero
program in the township of Old Bridge County of Middle Sex state of New Jersey do I have a motion move it second moved by Mr pescetti okay second by Mr dalama roll call councilman Asatuli yes
councilwoman Daro yes councilman De Palama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pasciddi yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Bell yes council President Sohart yes eight yeses fr2 ordinance
amending chapter 2 public hearing set for April 8th yes i'm sorry no no no april 8th right yes yeah okay very good fr2 ordinance amending chapter 250 of the code of the township of bridge
entitled bridge township land development ordinance by amending 250-12 entitled pre-application do I have a motion move it second moved by Mr dealama second by
Mr murphy roll call councilman Asatuli yes councilwoman Daro yes councilman Dealama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pasciddi yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Bell yes and Council President
Sohar yes eight yeses public hearing set for April 22nd 2025 okay fr3 ordinance amending chapter 250 of the code of the township of bridge entitled bridge township land development ordinance by
amending 250-104 entitled fees and 250-105 entitled prof um entitled professional review services fees and escrow do I have a motion second okay
move moved by Councilman Murphy second by Councilman Deama roll call councilman Asetuli yes councilwoman Daro yes councilman Deama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Murphy yes councilman
Pasciddi yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Belli yes council President Sohar yes eight yeses public hearing set for April 22nd 2025 okay next will be our consent agenda i would ask for a motion and a second and then bring it
back for separations second moved by Dr greenberg Belly second by Mr dealama councilman Acatuli any items for separation no thank you councilwoman Daro no separations councilman Deama no thank
you councilman Desai Councilman Murphy no thank you councilman Pasitti no separations thank you council Vice President Dr greenberg Belly no separation and council president Sohar yes c1 please c1 okay so
a roll call for the balance of the consent agenda with the removal of item C1 councilman Acatuli yes councilman Daro yes councilman Deal yes councilman Desai yes councilman Murphy yes councilman
Pascitti yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Bell yes council President Sohar yes eight yeses okay see one I separated it for the public um we're approving our interlocal service agreement with Middle Sex County Improvement Authority for the provision
of recycling collection services and just to bring forward that it has gotten very expensive what was the increase Anna i believe it was just about $450,000 more than the last contract okay so that's part of what plays into our
budget and that's a very big ticket item um it's something for everyone to realize that it is very very expensive now this portion and you know we pay this to the county for this interlocal service agreement very expensive so this is where the money you know is being
driven and just so people understand how hard it is to keep everything on such an even keel thank you ladies for your work we get charged for every house yeah yeah well this is it it's become very you know it's very expensive and it it takes a lot out of our
budget do I have a motion move it moved by Councilman Dealama second second second by Councilman Murphy murphy roll call councilman Acatuli yes councilwoman Daro yes councilman Dealama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Murphy
yes councilman Pasci yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Bell yes council President Sohart yes eight yeses report of the township clerk i have no report thank you report of the township attorney save for executive session madam President okay and our
administrative report anna thank you before I go into my administrative report I just wanted to give a quick update regarding the noise issues we had with the Grand Marquee uh since the last meeting I've been working with the chief and the police department and we actually had the county come down and
provide um training um and to our officers to one a couple of our officers to be able to use the disciple level uh machine and all those different things what to look for and stuff like that so this past weekend we had an officer go out Friday night and Saturday night
he'll be going out again this weekend so and they've been providing me with updates and uh I hope that we'll be able to uh you know provide the resolution that are needed if they're needed um but I just want to let you know that we've been actively working on this thank you we appreciate all the work that you do
for the town thank you very much right item number one Obridge Food Bank is seeking donations please help our residents in need the Obridgeidge Food Bank is seeking donations of the following items: pancake mix cereal pasta mashed potatoes mac and cheese and oatmeal we also accept monetary
donations for more information and to schedule a donation drop off please visit Obridgeidge Food Bank or call 732-721-56000 extension 2022 spring leaf collection the first round of spring leaf collection will begin on Monday April 21st in all wards
paper leaf bags should be placed at the curb the night before and kept outside all week please visit orbridge.com/recycling for the full schedule mayor's Health and Wellness 5K race to honor hometown heroes the Mayor's Health and Wellness Council in collaboration
with Allar Araround Oldbridge will be hosting a 5K race honoring our hometown heroes it will be held on s Saturday April 26th at the municipal complex the race registration will start at 7 a.m and the race will start at 8 a.m please note that due to this event the Obridge Library will have a delayed opening that
day for more information and to register please visit obridgeidge.com/5k medicine Takeback Event turn in your unused or expired medication for safe disposal at the Medicine Takeback event on Saturday April 26 at the municipal complex from 10 a.m to 2:00 p.m it will
be a drive up and drop off event epipens inhalers injectables syringes and intravenous solutions will not be accepted youth Police Academy 2025 the Obridge Police Department is now accepting applications for the 2025 Youth Police Police Academy the purpose
is to provide young citizens with an introduction to law enforcement and to motivate them to be outstanding citizens the academy will be held from July 7th to July 11th more information for more information and to apply please visit oberbridge.com/ youth police
academy and finally retirement of two township employees it is with much appreciation that we announce the retirement of two employees from the township detective Kenneth Flynn and police officer Vincent Galgano are both retiring effective April 1st 2025 after
25 years of service with the Obridgeidge Police Department their dedication to the township is appreciated and we wish them all the best in their retirement and this concludes my report thank you Anna does anyone have any comment or question for Anna okay seeing
no hands I'll ask for a motion of approval it moved by Councilman Desai second by Council Vice President Dr greenberg Belli roll call councilman Asetuli yes councilwoman Daro yes councilman De
Palama yes councilman Desai councilman Garcia i'm sorry absent councilman Murphy yes councilman Pasci yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Belli yes council President Sohar yes congratulations gentlemen very well done and good luck to both of you and lots of
luck and happiness thank you okay next will be um public comment on any subject matter for a maximum period of three minutes the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments this section is
open for any topic or items in on the consent agenda in accordance with NJSA104-12A and the old bridge rules of council the council asked the public limit their comments to three minutes or less only one member of the public shall approach to speak to council at a time
the council will respect the public's time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished with their allotted time should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question and answer session if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding department's
office during regular business hours the township clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of our meeting as you approach the microphone please state your first and last name and whether or not you are a resident of Oldbridge no addresses okay good evening anyone here
in the public wish to be heard okay i see no come on up or come on down however you want to however you want to put it up or down good evening hello good evening my name is Steve from Oldbridge
um so there's almost always significant controversy relative to property taxes especially school taxes uh given this I thought all bridge homeowners should know that President
Trump just signed an executive order eliminating eliminating the Department of Education the potential implications of this torch homeowners is immense immense that is receives millions and
millions of dollars of funding from the Department of Education thus losing this funding could cause an increase of many hundreds and hundreds of dollars to Oldbridge homeowners property taxes just thought the Old Bridge residents should know that thank
you all right thank you very much for sharing with us is there anyone else who wishes to be heard okay seeing no hands I'll close the public portion and now go to council comments councilman Acatuli yes
um there's been a lot of noise around town especially about the council and I've been reflecting on what it means to serve as an elected official and I'm reminded of the weight of this role when we take this oath it's not just a title
it's a call to a higher standard we don't just represent ourselves we represent every single person in this community that responsibility should make us all better it should push us to act with more compassion to behave with more humility and to always keep the people
of Obridge at the heart of every decision i've seen how this role has challenged me to grow and I believe it's our duty to rise to that challenge every day i'm committed to living up to that standard and I hope I can hold and I hope we can all hold each other
accountable to be the best version of ourselves leaders who not only do better but are better for the sake of the community and one more thing we can't do our job at a high level without the help and support from our
administration and I want to publicly thank you and I mean this sincerely for your service to this community and I think I was telling Anita the other day without you answering emails taking serious situations that the residents have and truly handling them so
professionally and always keeping the residents first i personally could not do my job without you i've been here a year and a half and I have to tell you the reason why I could do my job so eloquently I've learned is truly because of all of you and I really mean that
we're nothing without the administration and I want to commend you for all that you do i want to personally say thank you in public and thank you all i appreciate you sincerely and I know the residents do as well thank you Councilwoman Daro yes thank you Kate
um so I want to address the uh the taxes and and things that have been going around the town as well so our property taxes in Oldbridge support six key areas the municipality the library the fire
the open space county and our schools of these the school district represents the largest portion accounting for 57% of the total since 2018 however our schools have faced a reduction in the adjustment aid portion of our state aid due to a
funding formula that was established many years ago and spanned multiple administrations across different political parties our superintendent alongside our business administrators have been working tirelessly to address this
challenge advocating for Oldbridge on numerous occasions including as recently as today in Trenton it's concerning to hear comments made at the last meeting questioning his dedication to this district while I
could respond with facts and clarity and data to clarify the situation I believe it's more important to focus on solutions rather than fostering division instead of focusing on criticism I propose we work together to strengthen our community for the benefit of all the
residents the school district is our largest employer educating approximately 8,000 children and it's our shared goal to provide the best possible educational experience for our student under the for our students under the leadership of our
superintendent the district's performance has shown improvement and we should all be proud of that progress with that in mind I would like to suggest that we as a township as a township council explore
ways we can further support the school district and in turn support our community as a whole to facilitate this I recommend establishing an ad hoc committee it's been suggested by the school bin
administrator several times and uh to no avail the school district's business administrator um again has reached out without response a committee would allow us to collaboratively collaborate directly with the board of education to find ways
to mutually support each other having served as a board of education member for four years I would like to chair this committee given my understanding of both the township and the school district's operations let's shift our
focus to meaningful collaboration and take steps towards making a positive impact for the people of Oldbridge thank you Coun Councilman De Palama
thank you Kate just uh a quick couple things i just want to um congratulate the Albert High School theater students on another successful um play this year unfortunately due to work I was unable
to get there but my children got there and I know that they loved it uh this week we have the Carl Samberg uh play and then we also have the or the Carl Samberg musical and then as we get into I believe it's April the week of April
6th is the Sulk uh musical so folks from around town please if you have you have nothing to do on a week night please go down and support our children either at Samberg Sulk or both also congratulations to Detective Flynn and
Officer Gagano on your retirement and thank you I think from all of us here for your dedication to not only our residents but to the township and and its safety and finally for all the children starting spring sports whether it is soccer baseball lacrosse we have a
lot of opening days coming up over the next couple weeks good luck and remember just always when you're out there have fun thank you Councilman Desai good evening to all of you i have a simple thing to say
today stay well and enjoy the life as it comes god bless every citizen of Ulbridge and our great country thank you enjoy the upcoming good weather it's
still windy i know last time I spoke that it is spring here but does not look when you get out of the house it's so windy you have to go back and get the jacket but I think good days are
coming thank you have a nice evening good night councilman Garcia uh Councilman Murphy yes um I really just want to thank the two um policemen that are retiring and basically that's all I have to say
tonight councilman Pasitti yeah you can always tell it's silly season um the president of the United States does not have the right to uh eliminate a department
of we're talking about department of education it's that was signed into law by Congress and I think uh people are misinterpreting what's going on is trying to eliminate the bureaucracy
that causes issues for our township in each township um the money is still going to be block granted to the counties and distributed so um yeah he
doesn't have the authorization to shut a department down like that but what he's doing is he's minimizing the cost of government which I commend that's all I have to say thank you Council Vice President Dr greenberg Ble
yes it is amazing that the same people that angrily demand you tolerate and accept their ideals yet they passionately hate you for yours it is unfortunate we have a predictable pendulant child masquerading as a council woman mr carol is on Facebook
and in one post she proudly disparaged six people in one paragraph that's that's pretty good you did that it's a mystery when someone calls for collaboration and working together after this displaying such conduct is quite
shocking it is laughable at the same time disgusting and totally unprofessional and unacceptable that this behavior coming from a single sitting council woman perhaps a therapist should be recommended for this unhinged rant and this un unhinged
tolerance not being able to tolerate other people's opinions everyone's entitled to their opinion and the thing that concerns me that I did not support a governor that takes away all this money from the township and when you have to increase the taxes 10% there are
a lot of residents in this town on fixed incomes there's a lot of seniors here and it's unacceptable he did it at the first time he did it was after the budget was done at the school he had no decency to reach out to school and let them know what's going on and have a plan that this can be resolved and then
that is my concern as far as the state when we have went from a $ 36 billion budget to nearly a $60 billion budget in less than eight years that Governor Murphy's been the the governor what has he done with all this money why aren't
we helped he just recently took out away another $730 thou,000 i would like to make suggestion that may be helpful it's spring out it's beautiful get outside go for a walk in one of our beautiful parks and maybe taking a stroll in the the woods would
be very common but literally this is the problem and so when you close the school also my concerns were as I told you it was closing a blue ribbon school under the false pretense that there was structural damage what was repaired no one told me what was repaired there and
that's that's the truth and as far as increasing the taxes it does affect all residents here and it's nonsustainable when you're giving money to other school districts that really have an um attendance ratio that's dis deplorable that the kids aren't even going to
school i want every kid to get an education i care about every kid learning because it's only there's only times that you learn certain things that will help you for the rest of your life we want kids to be productive we want them to be successful healthy and and enjoy learning and that will really
enrich them for the rest of their life so as far as not concentrating on lost learning after co that was unacceptable too so I am allowed to have my opinion without a rant a rant two seconds afterwards with six people in it it's
unacceptable thank you very much for your time and I do thank everyone getting together but stop disparaging people council President Sohar yes first of all I'd like to address the um topic of the
committee I requested and as far as not answering Kate did we respond uh yes we did respond we had asked for an agenda and uh was was never provided
one right and for me as far as I'm concerned I would like to know what we were going to discuss so that I could confer with the business administrator the mayor and make you know make ourselves prepared and do our research
to be asked to come yes but in the meantime I wanted an agenda I never got a reply so please don't make it sound like I am not interested nor willing to meet that's not the truth and you as I said Kate will tell you we reached out and I said "Let can you
please provide me with an agenda?" And if the gentleman thinks you know differently he should come here and tell me because I did ask and I think it's only fair that I would have an agenda to be able to look at and and you know get some information from i I I don't think
that that's asking too much and I don't want it like I said to appear i know you know oh Mary doesn't want to but no that's not so at all once I have an agenda I'm able to to confer then we could set something up by all means but
I want to know what is the collaboration is it strictly just financial what is it what are we looking to do what ideas are we bringing forth what information do I need to bring with me i can't just walk into the room and sit down and say "Hi let's talk." No I want to know what
we're doing there's nothing wrong with that i'm sorry don't portray me as someone who is anti-education or not willing to come to the table and talk that's not me and I I really resent being always portrayed this way i also were very involved i
wasn't a board of ed member only my husband but I was very involved as well in my children's education so please don't make me seem like someone who doesn't care that's the furthest thing from the truth congratulations to the officers i wish them well lots of luck
and everybody have a great evening thank you we're going to go into close session a motion a motion to adjourn and enter sessions for affordable housing litigation update i'm sorry ajourn uh into executive
session for affordable housing litigation update move it second move by moved by Councilman Murphy who second and let them leave councilman Pasci roll call councilman Acatuli yes
councilwoman Daro yes councilman De Palama yes councilman Desai councilman Murphy yes councilman Pasci yes council Vice President Dr greenberg Belli yes council President Sohar debbie
we got Yeses 8 o'clock debbie