e e e e e e e e e e good evening and welcome to the April 9th 2024 Oldbridge Township council meeting please rise for a pledge of allegiance and please remain standing for a moment of silence I pledge alance 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 of silence to remember those who are protecting our freedoms both here and abroad for our First Responders for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for everyone that's suffering and pain across across the world and now tonight Mr pascetti would like to also add something I'm asking for um everyone to keep in their thoughts and prayers um the family of Charley breitweiser he was a good friend he was a fast poll worker and um he got hit by a car on 56 and um lost his life and uh just ask for prayers for his family thank you Dr Greenberg I would like to add um mention about Charlie Charlie was quite a special person he became he overcame many adversities in his life when he was young boy graduating from Sarah Sarahville high school he was a football player there he was in a car accident and almost died at that time he was revived and he was in a coma for 6 months and he came out of that but when came out of it he could not use his left arm and his left leg well but through therapy and years of counseling he he got back on his feet he was very inspirational he actually brought to this town the program fished um hooked on fishing instead of hooked on drugs for the kids he was instrumental in that and very passionate about it and also you should look him up he wrote um a book of poems um inspirational thoughts and it's it's quite moving so it just shows what happens in your life that you never know what's going to happen but you can make a difference to a lot of people and be positive in spite what can have to so please keep him Charlie we're praying for you may you rest in peace okay now prayer dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve you 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 and Grant that we have a good conscience so at peace with thee and one another amen amen please be seated roll call councilman EST duli pres council person dearo here council person dama here let the record reflect that councilman Desi is absent council person Garcia here council person Murphy here council person pasidi pres Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli here council president soar 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 6 20 24 and has been posted in public places next open public meeting of the township Council will be held on Tuesday April 30th 2024 at 7:30 p.m. okay thank you very much everyone welcome to the meeting um first proceed first we good all right okay so first order of business will be uh budget items Municipal budget presentation okay good evening ladies welcome and we also have our auditor here Mr Bob Allison good evening [Music] Bob I just had to get the mic on yeah good evening council members um I'm used to sitting up there this is my first time sitting on this side of the day is first I'd like to begin by saying council members as we prepare to present our budget for this upcoming fiscal year I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to each of you for your dedication and tireless efforts in serving our community our budget presentation serves as a reflection of our Collective commitment to fiscal responsibility aiming to address the diverse needs needs and aspirations of our constituents let us continue to work together with diligence transparency and integrity mindful of our duty to serve the best interest of our constituents I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to our esteemed directors for their invaluable contributions and unwavering support throughout the budgetary process together we can navigate the challenges ahead and seize the opportunities that lie before us advancing the prosperity and wellbeing of our community and I'd like to have a special thank you to Dawn and Vicky for their extra work they work very very hard this is a year-long process thank you mayor Walker I would also like to take a moment to recognize and thank our CFO Dawn as well as our finance team especially Vicky Cary all of our directors and managers for their hard work and efforts in crafting this year's budget their strategic planning and thinking have laid the foundation for a success successful year ahead ensuring prudent allocation of resources and sustainable growth their expertise foresight and collaborative Spirit Have Been instrumental in in shaping our proposed budget ensuring that it reflects our community's priorities and value I am confident that our proposed budget would not only will not only align with our goals but also PVE the way for Su sustainable growth and development thank you all right so I'll be K I'll be kicking off our budget presentation for you all this evening and we start with our Municipal budget goals um our goals are to maintain or improve core Municipal services for the residents of Oldbridge it is also to minimize tax impact and remain under stat statutory caps we look to continue to implement a sound and long-term financial plan for the township and we would one of our main goals is to identify potential areas for operational improvements and or cost savings for 2025 and 2026 so we're always looking ahead we look back to learn from the past but we always make sure that we look ahead especially in planning for this year under the municipal budget guidelines the state law a mun and under state law a municipality must pass its annual budget in order to spend money and or tax residents for that year these guidelines include a strict Municipal budget forms are prepared and submitted to the state state oversight performed by division of local government services and Department of Community Affairs it then requires that our budget be adopted um be approved by the state before we move forward by law the municipal tax levy must equal Appropriations less non-t tax revenues projected non- tax revenue cannot exceed last year's actual non- tax revenue actual expenditures cannot exceed the budgeted amount transfers within cash app are only allowed in the last two months of the year and finally the fund balance or Surplus cannot be added to the budget to increase spending after the budget has been adopted as you all may be aware our budget development process is a very long process it's basically an eight month eight-month process um this year's 2024 budget began in August of 2023 memorandum and budget guidelines were sent to the department heads in September department heads were required to submit budget requests to the finance department between the months of October and February 2024 we held review we held many Department budget meetings with Administration and Finance in February of 24 our proposed Municipal budget was finalized and transmitted to council at our February 27 council meeting our budget was also introduced at the February 27 council meeting in March of 2024 we were notified of stated certification on March 6th we then held our Council budget subcommittee meetings March 12th 13th and March 20th bless you we thank all of you for attending our subcommittee meetings we had a great turnout and and your input was very valuable and finally this evening we're holding we're holding our public hearing our budget amendment and hopefully our budget adoption thank you all right thank you um one thing I want to mention um on here we have budget amendment um similar to last year when the state came out with the state aid certification they gave us a slight increase of 0.5% which they now require us to amend the budget for so it's state required Amendment um it doesn't require advertising um so we can just vote on it tonight and then move forward with the adoption of the budget we we got s last year so this is like it equates about 31,000 $31,000 all right 2024 Municipal budget overview the municipal budget represents 18% of the total tax rate and is the only portion of the tax bill that Township officials can directly control so our percentage of Municipal Taxes has been on a downward Trend in 2013 it represented 21% of the total tax rate and for 23 and 24 it's been 18% this 18% covers the majority of Municipal services that are provided to the residents of the Oldbridge uh Township of Oldbridge including Public Safety Public Works Health and Senior Services parks and Facilities Recreation programs code enforcement and Community Development the remaining portion of the tax bill funds the Oldbridge Public Schools Oldbridge Public Library middle sex County government middle sex County open space program and four fire districts Cheesequake Lawrence Harbor Madison Park and South Oldbridge by Statute the township collects the taxes for for all agencies but the township has no control over the other ageny budgets so the school board and the County Commissioners vote on and approve their budgets the libraryies set by um State Statute and all the fire district budgets are voted on by the residents of their respective districts this slide is a graphical presentation of the total 2024 tax rate the biggest slice is obviously the school tax at 57% the municipal tax which is the only tax the township controls at 18% and as I stated the township must collect and distribute to all other agencies with 100% of their respective Levy amount so even if our collection rate is never 100% it's high it's over always over 99% but those people that don't pay the township is the one that takes the hit on that because we still pay every other District 100% of their Levy and the tax rates that are up here um except for the municipal tax and the library tax all the other agencies are estimated um we don't receive the certified rates from the county until about the first week in July 2024 Municipal budget summary the 2024 proposed Municipal budget calls for 66 m557 526 in expenditures revenues include 5,426 284 in miscellaneous Revenue 7,924 in state aid 2,235 ,000 in uniform construction and code enforcement fees 375,000 in municipal court fines and costs 350,000 in interest on investments and deposits $1 million in receipts from delinquent taxes and 37,2 29,7 158 as the amount to be raised by taxation an anticipation of 11, 500,000 from fund balance will be required to bring the 2024 budget into balance this will leave 3,752 51146 in cash fund balance to help with potential emergencies for 2024 and help stabilize taxes for 2025 the proposed Municipal tax rate is estimated to be 1.013 in 2024 which reflects a tax increase of 014 4 over 2023 for an average home in Oldbridge assessed at1 56,58 the proposed Municipal tax increase would be $22 2024 Library budget summary the Municipal Library purposes expenditure category is included as an appropriation in the municipal budget however since 2011 the amount is deducted from the municipal tax levy in the calculation of the amount to be raised by taxation for municipal purposes the 2024 minimum state required funding for the Oldbridge Public Library is 3,649 63 which reflects an increase of $240,600 the Associated Tax Rate is estimated to be 98 in 202 24 which reflects an increase of 005 in the tax rate over 2023 for an average Homan Oldbridge assessed at $156,500 the Municipal Library tax increase would be $7 under the statute the minimum amount required by the state cannot be decreased by the municipality or the library board we did ask the state a couple years ago if the library agreed can we reduce that no 2024 total budget summary Municipal and Library the total General appropriation for 2024 including Municipal Library purposes is 7,162 489 compared to 68,9 43,6 126 in the 2023 budget as modified this is a total budget increase of 1,218 1863 or 1.77% I think it's important to note too of that increase the library accounts for about 20% of that total increase the proposed tax rate for both Municipal and Municipal Library purposes for 2024 is therefore estimated to be 1.111 which reflects a tax increase of 019 over 2023 for an average home in Oldbridge assessed at $ 56,58 the proposed Municipal and Municipal Library tax increase would be $29 this slide shows a breakdown of expenditures between salary and wages other expenses and the library appro appropriation from 2019 to 2024 other expenses is in blue salary and wages in red Library appropriation is in green since we are service industry obviously our labor costs are our biggest expense however our salary costs are stable in the last three years we've seen major increases in salaries as we try and compete with Private Industry and Wall Street companies the total budget has increased by an average of 3.67% over the last Last 5 Years 2024 expenditures we're going to break down each category a little bit more the salary and wages expenditure category has increased by 2,1 45,8 169 or 8.11% in addition to contractual increases and minimum wage increases the 2024 budget includes funding for three full-time positions in the police department two full-time positions in the Department of Public Works one new full-time position in Parks and Recreation and one part-time position in the municipal court so we've added six full-time and one time part-time position to this budget uh we feel we need to increase our staffing levels in order to meet our service demands and to better assist the public especially in a a town this size uh the other operating expenses expenditure category has increased by 11 15,77 or 0.56% major increase under this expenditure category is our uh joint Insurance Fund insurance which covers uh liability and workers compensation the Municipal debt service expenditure category has increased by $78,900 or 3.39% this increase is the result of the amortization of previously issued uh bonds and notes the statutory expenditure category has increased by $48,990 or 2.39% uh the major increase under this expenditure category is the Police and Firemen's retirement system uh the increase is the result of a combination of the required contribution rate uh set by the state contractual increases and additional hiring in the police department the Deferred charges expenditure category has decrease by $249,300 or 96.2% uh the major decrease under this expenditure category is emergency appropriation if you remember in 2020 22 right after we adopted the budget gasoline diesel prices skyrocketed so we had an emergency in 22 we had to raise in 23 luckily no emergencies in 23 that we have to fund now in 24 the capital Improvement fund expenditure category increased by 20,000 or 2.63% the proposed capital budget for 2024 is expected to be7 mil 5,000 for kurbing drainage facilities and Road improvements parks and playground improvements replacement of equipment and vehicles for various departments and divisions capital projects will be discussed further um in our Capital presentation the acquisition and Improvement of open space and Parks expenditure category has not been changed for 2024 the proposed budget anticipates the same level of funding as last year which was 500,000 the reserve for uncollected taxes expenditure category has decreased by 350,000 or 11.99% this is a statutory non-s spending appropriation the actual tax collection rate for 2023 was 99.73% which I have to say is the highest tax rate we've had um without holding an Accelerated Tax sale very good last year uh the projected tax collect ction rate for 2024 is 98.73% uh we always project 1% lower than previous year just to protect against sudden drops in collection um rating agencies and the gfoa recommend 3% below but that would triple that number so for budgeting purposes we feel 1% is sufficient all right uh this is a pie chart breaking down the expenditures by category uh the blue the biggest slice is salary and wages 4.79% uh we're a service agency uh we're service industry I'm sorry important to note that employees salaries and benefits which include Social Security pension and insurance um comprise 62.83 per of the total expenditures in the 2024 budget um our next biggest is operating expenses at 29.72f which is over um one quarter of the budget so it's shows uh this administration's and prior administration's investment in public safety uh the next largest is insurance which includes health and liability 2024 revenues total Municipal Revenue including the Municipal Library tax levy has increased by 1,21 18, 863 or 1.77% % the fund balance Revenue category has been increased by 2 million or 21.05% the miscellaneous revenues category has been decreased by 1,760 651 or 24.50% the major decrease under this Revenue category was sale of assets the state revenue category has been increased by $ 36,2 27 or 5.42% uh the major increase under this Revenue category was Municipal Relief Fund so as I stated before the energy tax receipt portion they only gave us a 05% increase which equates to $ 31,37 something yeah the municipal Relief Fund um they gave it the first time in 2022 they certified our state aid amount in March then when the state adopted their budget in July they gave us this Municipal Relief Fund they said Reserve if you already adopted your budget reserve it for next year they gave us about 326,000 which we put in 23's budget the state itself told us this is a one-time thing don't expect it next year they did the same thing the following year but doubled that amount so and said again in a webinar that it could be a one-time thing don't count on it but for right now that's what the increase is attributable [Music] to uh the uniform construction and cod fees Revenue category has been increased by 385,000 or 20.8 1% the municipal court fines and cost Revenue category has not been changed for 2024 the proposed budget and anticipates the same level of funding as last year which was 375,000 the interest on investments and deposits Revenue category has been increased by 150,000 or 75% the receipts from delinquent taxes Revenue category has not been changed for 2024 the proposed budget anticipates the same level of funding as last year the anticipated amount is within the limit of the statutory formula the amount to be raised by taxation Revenue category has been increased by 1,3,5 193 or 2.85% um even though there is an increase in the amount to be raised by taxation or the tax levy of 2.85% the tax rate increase is only 1.40 due to the increased in assess valuation throughout the township uh this pie chart further breaks down the revenue uh the largest piece is obviously the amount to be raised by taxation at 53.6% and the second largest is fund balance at 16.39% we're going to drill down a little further into revenues by looking back at The Last 5 Years for each Revenue category um Municipal state aid which we just spoke about um the increase is mainly attributable to that Municipal Relief Fund or one time over the past two years otherwise we've had a $60,000 increase or about Point 1% Surplus anticipated from fund balance in 2019 we anticipated 7 million in 2020 we used the same amount as 2019 in 2021 due to the impact of the pandemic we decreased by 850,000 to 6,1 15,000 this allowed us to maintain our cash fund balance for emergencies in 2022 due to most revenues being restored to pre-pandemic levels we were able to anticipate 9,500,000 and still maintain our cash fund balance in 2023 we anticipated the same amount as 2022 while increasing our cash fund balance for emergencies in 2024 we anticipated 11, 500,000 while still maintaining a good cash fund balance the next slide will show in more detail the relationship between fund balance and surplus this slide shows fund balance and surplus in the budget from 2019 to 2024 uh the blue column represents the fund balance as of January 1st of each year the red represents the Surplus amount that's in the budget from fund balance purple represents the remaining cash balance throughout the year and green represents the fund balance as of December 31st for each year which then carries over to the following year due the due to the pandemic our cash fund balance in 2021 dropped to the 2018 levels however it rebounded in 2022 as most revenues were restored to their pre pandemic amount uh the rating agency pays specific attention to fund balance when reviewing the rating and this is part of our long-term financial planning as it's reflected in our bond rating and is an important factor in our goal to get the highest possible Bond rating for future borrowing needs did you want to chime in Bob on fund balance fund balance yeah um sure um you mentioned about the rating agencies um one thing the ra rating agencies like to see is to have healthy enough U uh fund balance as compared to your budget so your budget's about $70 million and your end ofe fund balance was 15 million so that's about a 21% as I calculate um and that's a real solid number that's what this State like that's what the radi agencies like to see um they don't like it to drop below 15 in the 2025 range is is is very good um especially for a town year size um and that's one of if there's like you know a few different elements that rating agencies look at aside from stable government and uh U uh you know a good mix of ratables uh one thing they do look at is your Surplus do you have the ability to take a hit in a year if you have to without having really jack up taxes and you do and that's uh that's very good thank [Music] you um moving on to uniform construction and code fees uh when anticipating the revenue we look at historical Trends as well as the projects approved by the planning and zoning boards and the Redevelopment agencies um this is another Revenue that obviously took a little hit during covid uh bounced back up you see a little dip again in 23 that was due to um an ordinance change where some of our code enforcement fees were no longer required um but then we were able to bring back up in 2024 um the permitting fees municipal court fines and costs our court revenues have remained steady over the last four years since the pandemic um I believe now they're back to doing they do Zoom court but they also do in-person Court um a couple couple times a month interest on investments and deposits um our interest rates took a sharp decline in 2020 due to covid which is reflected in our Revenue projections in 21 and 22 uh Midway through 22 the interest rates began to rise as reflected in 2023 and we were able to increase the amount anticipated in 24 due to to the interest rates still remaining at a higher level miscellaneous revenues um this category includes um several things including interest and cost on taxes uh Tower rental fees interlocal service agreements fees and permits Pilots uh cable franchise licenses uh cable franchise fees licenses um the hotel tax uh which was new last year is also in this categ atory as well as state and federal grants and one of the reasons you see the large fluctuation in this category is the grants can vary greatly from year to year especially um we've been getting a lot lately since we've been using Millennium um a lot of bigger grants in the you know 500 to a million dollar range so if you have more one year a little less the next year sometimes it's just timing of when they come in receipts from delinquent taxes um as I stated before uh the amount anticipated is within the limit of the statutory formula amount to be raised by taxation uh the blue bar reflects the municipal tax and the Red Bar reflects the library tax statutory caps uh so there's two uh caps that the municipality has to um stay within the first one is the cost of living cap adjustment or Cola uh it's enacted by the state enacted by the state requires each municipality to limit any increase in said budget up to 2.5% annually set by the state so they could set it at 2.5 I've seen it as low as .5% is what the automatic increase is unless authorized by ordinance to increase it to 3.5% over the previous year's final Appropriations um so on tonight's meeting we have the cola ordinance uh that we'll vote on before adoption of the budget um that's what this pertains to and looking back uh the average inflation rate in 2022 was 8% and in 2023 4.1% % and to think that inflation's 8% but we have to stay within 2.5 or 3.5 it's a challenge sometimes uh for Oldbridge Township the proposed final budget appropriation for 2024 is $ 53,9 n2500 I'm sorry 53,9 n2,500 which is $725,000 61 now our second cap is the more well-known one the property tax levy cap which was enacted in 2010 by the state and requires each municipality to limit the local government units amount to be raised by taxation to no more than 2% over the prior Year's Levy the state allows specific exceptions for health benefits pensions length of Service Awards program or lowp for volunteers Capital Improvements and Debt Service for Oldbridge Township the proposed Municipal tax levy for 2024 is 37,2 29,7 158 which is 31,44 $28 below the state mandated property tax levy cap of 37 mil 540,000 $186 um before I turn it back over to Anna Bob do you have anything else you wanted to add as far as the budget sure just a a couple things we did talk about um the fund balance U the other thing that the uh one other thing that the radio like to see is is a level Debt Service and Dawn touched done that uh before about trying to maintain the de The Debt Service to stay within a reasonable amount um and about the uh tax cap uh the state also allows you to create a bank uh of of for about four years of of Taxation that you don't use and I believe your bank is about four million isn't it yeah so so the state actually would allow you and and we just went over how tight things are as far as what the state allows and doesn't allow but because of your um uh previous budgets um being very responsible you actually have you actually have have an additional $4 million that you could tax right now if you wanted to which is over 10% of what you're taxing today um and I can just tell you that I have a lot of clients who bump up against the tax levy cap and the Appropriations cap um and they have nowhere to go they have to start cutting people um you on the other hand have been responsible and actually have some cap banks in the future if you ever need it um and so uh that that's a that's actually another thing that a rating agency would also look at to see that you're not always straining to stay within your budget that you actually can do it comfortably so um I think that's uh you know that's kudos to you guys for that all right now I'm going to turn it back over to Anna uh to take a look into the future thank you Don as I mentioned earlier when we budget for the current year we also look at what potentially could be coming ahead um this is obviously we can't not read the future and see what's going to happen but when we're planning we kind of look at things that have happened and see how we can better prepare um for for future events um obviously we always keep in mind the national state and local economic conditions how are things fairing across um the county across the state across the country so those things are potential challenges ahead weather related emergencies and related costs as you all have all seen um we have been getting these rainstorms that have I mean I don't recall them as bad as they've been probably in the last couple years um so these are all weather related costs I think you know we used to worry about snowstorms we may need to start worrying a little bit more about rainstorms and the cost that it's bringing onto the township um we have nine unions I believe and all of them will be up uh for contract negotiations later this year so obviously as we go into 25 and 26 we're keeping that in mind because we may have uh contractual cost increases uh also a positive thing we've had a lot of employees who have been with the township for a long long time and as they get ready for retirement we will be having to pay them out they accumulated uh time so we also keep that in mind when budgeting um um order to implement a municipal wide revaluation and related cost mayor and I as well as Don have met with Brian and W our tax assessor to keep us posted on the revaluation and obviously we will keep you all posted as well so we already have been planning um for what the potential cost of that will be tax appeal refunds are challenges that we keep in mind new and unfunded stat uh State mandates so top of my head I could think of a few um related specifically to police licensing that um some requirements that are going to be that have come down that are going to require um training and certifications and Licensing that are not going to be funded so we will need to to fund those things so this is something we're keeping in mind for the future and our recycling contract with middle 6 County will be up in March of 2025 so we are actively already working on looking what that's going to look like obviously we don't know any numbers yet um but we are planning for for what that could be for next year some of our potential opportunities um ongoing Cost Containment strategies competitive Contracting for services uh Co-op purchasing for goods and services these are all things that we have done and we continue doing new technology related initiatives and one of the things that Don mentioned was grants Millennium strategies has done a phenomenal job uh since they've come on with the Township in telling us about grants helping us apply for these GR grants following up on grants and even assisting with the reporting on these grants um so they've met us they've made us a really competitive person when getting those grants uh we recently were awarded a grant from Senator boer's um office for police technology improvements I believe it was 1.5 million um we recently applied for a $500,000 uh Grant through Senator uh Booker office for a renovation of our food bank uh so these grants are are big opport unities and we'll keep working at getting them and additional and and or enhance shared services with orridge Public Library orridge Public Schools middle six County government and other neighboring municipalities we will continue to work in relationship with all of these entities to keep our cost down and our services up for all of our residents thank you all right uh that concludes our present okay now I'll I'll ask uh if we'll open it up first to the council questions and then we'll go on to the public okay so do them in order Kate go in order yeah this just makes it more organized no questions I just want to say just um I don't know the gentleman's name name I'm sorry Mr Alison thank you so much um giving Kudos you know I'm a brand new councilman and a citizen but just a phenomenal job on the budget just it's exciting to hear that as a citizen staying within budget we have a surplus and thank you for pointing that out and fantastic job I mean that sincerely thank you I have no questions I just want to say thank you guys for the work um it was really very good presentation you guys did a great job and I know this was your sorry you did a wonderful job thank you and da and Vicky also great job thank you very much no questions thank you council person I think I expanded all of my questions either in the budget hearings or behind the scenes having those questions especially so thank you guys very much um it was shorter this time what it was shorter this time yes thank you appreciate it um I I think when we we look at all the stuff all of the all the expenses that we're incurring keeping it to the budget that we are being able to have Surplus I think it's it's a great thing you know just the fact that we haven't had to ever run up against that $4 million you know cap that we have so it's a wonderful thing keeping going with the prior Administration has done you know being physical I say it physically it's physical I get it just my my Brooklyn Sten Island accent's coming out um being able to be responsible with um with our Township's money is great and thank you mayor weler for your first uh your first budget and Anna as well as do thank you guys I know it's your first time around great work council person Garcia I have no questions thank you but I want to thank you guys for doing a great job everybody involved like counc Master Tuli said you know we have we have extra money that's unheard of in most towns so it's a good thing so I want really thank you guys for for the hard work you do you guys do and you got four months before you start again yeah oh they started no no Vicki's ready Vick's ready to roll over to let's go she can't wait to going again so yeah thank really thank you guys I appreciate it we all appreciate to I'm sure the town appreciates it as well so thank you thank you thank you council person Murphy yes um I don't know if I should bring this up now but I really don't care in bringing it up now because I read this stuff in here um it's my pet peeve I'm reading in here that eight not that okay of Township of vage including Public Safety police protection and emergency Management Service parks and Facilities Recreation program code enforcement and Community Development engineering they take care of all that they don't mention if it's a private road we don't and I had to refresh my memory 50 years ago I met Rocky donat tally and we had a talk and I had a call my I had a call him to refresh my memory Mary Brown had told him at that time it's a Township Road take care of it after he left he him and the ex director of uh the ex executive director of the obmua we took care of it too we would cut the trees and they would they would grade it and they're paying taxes Mr Murphy what I'm sorry to interrupt you this and you can have your chance to speak at a later time on a topic this how is this impacting the budget that was the question because they're saying they take care of everything they don't say anything about a private oh we don't take care of I mean it's about time we took care of these people they're like animals I mean that's why they they treat them maybe we should send them over to Dr Greenberg I mean that's what they get treated like I don't care it's it's horrible what they're doing they're paying as much tax as you are and they get nothing they're paying water bills they get nothing it it's horrible I think it's time we stood up and acted the right way Van's Lane I know was a private road they stick a firehouse now it's public I mean come on Mr Murphy I don't even know if it's public Mr Murphy no no wait I'm not I would never talk like that Mr Murphy now an if RBA would like to make a statement okay perhaps that will give a little guidance okay thank you um we have been aware that the residents from Joy Lane have been at the last few meetings our office has received emails you all have received emails since the first time that they've come the uh not the last meeting I believe the the meeting before that that I've been put putting together documents from the history of Joy Lane our history with that lane and Etc I have all those documents almost ready to be distributed to council to review so that an informed decision can be made so we are not ignoring them I'm you know happy there to see them here again because I wanted them to hear that I've been hard at work for the last month now putting this together for all of you so that's where we are okay but here's the problem when I was when I went in to talk to Nicole she told me she she offered them like 150 or 160,000 and she would make it a public road then I found from you couldn't do that Mr Murphy since she got here they haven't taken care of it the engineer after Rocky took care of it I just want to know why it stopped all right Mr Murphy when you see this report that you know the ba took a lot of time and a lot of effort no no on researching and making sure that everything you know we we knew the full extent of the situation before anything was done so I think that's to her credit that she did acknowledge the residents acknowledged that they had an issue and did her best to try to present a full picture for us so that's where we're at with that right now it's not being ignored it's just that there had to be time to take and look into everything okay yeah no no that this you are now and okay any other budgetary questions do you have no okay all right okay council person pidy um I don't have any questions all my questions were answered um but I want to just congratulate you d as the CFO and Anna is the ba and Debbie as the mayor guys did a really good job and all the department heads do a really good job everybody's doing well thank you very much appreciate it Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes um with the budget I hope that the public understands how much time goes in to Preparing this budget how many meetings how many hours and the back and forth but in spite of that I want them to really pay attention to the pie chart it is only 18% of the dollars that are collected that goes to the municipal and the most important thing is Public Safety and we emphasize that with the police department but in spite of that 18% we have been able to be St stable with our taxes and have a fund balance in spite of the state ta not giving us state aid increasing state aid but enforcing mandates that are non-funded if you take into consider inflation increase in wages Health cost of health insurance now cost of gas utilities I think you've all done an amazing job and I think everyone should be proud of the work that has gone into this from every department head um and to get an audit and as I said everyone should realize when we we have an audit not only from our auditor but when you have a bond agency review us and they give us an a doublea um Bond rating that's pretty phenomenal in spite of when we've had Co a lot of people make that excuse so I always like to point that out and it is unfortunate it that the state doesn't follow the same mandates that they put on us when you look at the state budget this year a lot of people don't pay attention to that but it is totally outrageous the way they're affecting negatively our schools is horrendous to to even think that we have to be in Dire Straits and that is what's going to happen it's going to impact the residents through that I think long overdue the state has to re-evaluate how they do Taxation and um for the board and funding for the Board of Ed it is a boond doggle and it has never been corrected everyone speaks about we're going to correct it and they can't get it together and figure out but it is detrimental to all of us and so when you think of that budgeting we always get yelled at because we collect the taxes as they said and that's an extra cost to our staff here we're doing the the sending out the bills collecting uh the bills and you've heard here tonight if we are responsible for 100% for everything for the library for the firehouses for the school even if we don't get in that collection so it's a very complicated situation so in spite of that I just have to say good job and continue with that it's wonderful thing to see that we can have this and have the budget meetings and the understanding and all the questions I think no one asked any questions because we went to the budget meetings and you know we've been doing budgets for a while we understand that so thank you very much council president soar yes I'll just conclude this by saying thank you to all of you again as well Mr Allison included thank you for coming and sharing your wisdom with us as well and I just want the residents to know that they're in very good hands that this this administrative team really knows how to do a budget run a budget and make sure that they keep the resident in the Forefront which you have this evening so I really appreciate all the time that you spend and all the ways that you try to find to save and improve things so really I just want the people of Oldbridge to know this is a great team and you are in very very good hands thank you all now um I'll open it up to the public if there's anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on the budget anyone okay thank you good job on the continued Bond rating I want to remind the council since you guys don't remember it that the bond rating of a doublea has been around since when mayor Phillips the Democrat was a mayor yes it's right here you can go no but it's right here fites the bond rating agent agcy that said I want to ask you when are we going to start getting money from the developer the $4 million a year for all the warehouses you guys have the contract signed two and a half years ago and it means that we have $10 million outstanding from the developer so I'd like to see where that's in the budget and why we're not seeing that money is there anyone else who would like to be heard can I address some of that oh sure yes Absolut so just so so the residents understand U just because you have a signed Financial agreement doesn't mean you start getting paid Dime One um under Municipal um Redevelopment law the payments uh start when a redeveloper receives a TCO or Co um for the different projects no tcos have been issued so the while the financial agreements have been signed they're not required to make uh the payments of the financial agreement that that being I'm addressing it that being said uh they continue to pay property taxes right it's been it's being taxed as a as was it was um we've collected roll back taxes uh as well for some of the properties because they were you uh previously being farmed um those are some of the revenues that had been collected um but as far as Redevelopment um those payments don't start under the agreements and it won't be $4 million as a resident said I'm not sure where the number came from is they build up over time because there are various warehouses and the uh projections are made and uh there's a payment schedule so over time the payments will increase as more and more warehouses come on line no we're not going to do a back and forth tonight no no let's let's we we have to move on we can't do a back and forth here yeah no I get that but she can talk in the public portion then if she wants to I mean you know we can't we can't keep going back what is it Nina you should have your microphone off when you say things like that my microphone is off okay should watch what you say off PTA um I you said that um they paid taxes on the on the land um originally by the way it was supposed to be contracted to be taxable income but you guys after um I think the election in 2021 rolled it into pilot money which means it's not taxable which means the money that we will be losing to schools would have been part of that so the taxable income that you may be getting right now for the properties right is not going to be taxable later because you're getting pilot money and that's something you're not putting into the conversation I apologize that's okay I I can set too so actually uh the same amount of taxes that are being taxed uh will continue to be taxed after the pilot the financial agreement not actually pilot financial agreement comes into effect and I think what you have what we have to understand is but for the financial agreement those sites do not get developed and you lose the the Control process so if they don't get developed nobody gets receives any money because it's going to be continue to be Farmland so you got to remember the incentive for development is Redevelopment Redevelopment law of New Jersey have been around for a long long time and that's what Spurs the development but for the Redevelopment those properties will would continue to be Farmland assessed and nobody would be receiving any funds there's no it's not fair or accurate to say that that the school districts are is losing money because there's a there's a financial agreement in place what you have to examine is with the property be developed but for the Redevelopment and and the answer is no because obviously the developer utilized Redevelopment as its incentive to to develop the property so they continue to pay property taxes that becomes a credit against the financial payments that are made under the financial agreement Town continues to collect the same amount of money uh and and remits the school districts their portion uh that they collect presently before the development occurs so net net School District doesn't lose any money they continue to receive the same amount of money and ultimately the property doesn't get developed but for the Redevelopment and financial agreement and if that were to occur if they didn't develop it then the the the school districts or any other they're not adding any money because it doesn't get developed Mr Roselle but I want to ask you you just said I apologize my eyes I apologize you think I'd know that by now but sorry um you said they're getting taxed as Farmland but it's not Farmland anymore and we all know that I mean it's listen I had Farmland Assessment on my property and when it wasn't Farmland so again 20 years ago so so again the way it works under Redevelopment is that the land there's a portion of the land will be taxed there's a land tax that continues through the duration of the Redevelopment and it's going to be Farmland assessed no no there there's it's because it's not Farmland anymore there's a land tax that land tax continues and and that amount that that continues during the duration so the point is is actually they'll they'll probably be receiving more because as Farmland there is no taxes so this what I'm saying is that the school will will actually be getting more money because of the development there's just a formula in which there's a credit given to the developer under the Redevelopment law against the property taxes that they that they pay that's reduced in the uh that that reduces the financial agreement on the financial payment but that that payment stays okay would it be possible next budget me next meeting that the budget office would provide the township with this information and present it to us that they would provide us the actual taxes that they're paying now as compared to the former Farm tax taxes that they're paying and how much that remittance will be and the difference and how much they'll be paying in the future going forward would that be fair for the town that's not a question for I know I know I know I I see the the clerk is writing this down May council president I I think that the township and all the residents would really appreciate that I mean I'm sure a lot of people will say you've seen it on Facebook they all love the new shop right that's great I'm not you know saying that we don't like our we like good development but we want to see where the money is coming from and how much it is would that be fine could you present that the office exactly I mean I'm sorry going back what I'm requesting is a breakdown let's they don't have to break it down by space let's just say the whole piece if it's one property owner the whole place what however many acres it is I don't care what they're paying in taxes if it's Farm if it's not Farm break it down it's very simple and what they will be paying going forward and when will they start paying the other money the difference because there is of course cosos on some of the properties there's no Co on the shop right okay across the street where the where the property is on Jake Brown Road that was form too right on Jake Brown Road I don't know what you're talking about all I'm saying is when it comes to Redevelopment I explained the process and and the financial Agreements are dictated by state law state law the payments commence when a TCO or Co is issued okay then I'll make it simpler there's 4 million square feet of a warehouse space being developed on properties whether they're owned whether they're they were Woodlands whether they were Farmland whether they were private property I don't really care would it be possible for the township to provide us with the exact amount of money that they're paying in taxes now and what they will be paying in taxes in the future when they get the cosos the te EOS or whatever the the acronym is and how that is going to be broken down for our school budget for our Township of course the 18% as as uh councilwoman B said and then the 20% that also goes to County would that be possible I mean it doesn't have to be two weeks from now you know I understand that it took a few weeks to get Jake Brown Road together and I Joy Lane sorry Joy Lane together and but it would be nice to have it done and prevent present it to us well the thing is this I don't know if there were other variables I'm not that you know it's not being an accountant and being in the finance realm I don't know whether or not that is how things change if it's not now if it's later I you know what I mean so I can't say to you I could do the homework and give you the property prop T lines okay and then maybe that'll make it easier well we could see but I as I said as far as Joy Lane I think she was great in two weeks oh no no I just said that I just said that I didn't believe me I didn't say that I'm happy about that believe me you heard me I I didn't say I just want to make sure because that was a lot of work on her Port I think everybody here said I said that I know she'd put a lot of work into it I didn't I'm not taking I was pointing out that it's a lot of work I know I'm not I said I don't want to take away from the Joy Lane stuff is what I said maybe I was maybe it was a little a little slip in some way but no absolutely maybe maybe you could put your thoughts together in an email and then you know there' be time to look at it to sem and see if it's possible okay who should I send the email to the clerk yeah yeah okay yeah to the clerk all right and then she can you know go over it and they can discuss it and see what we can do all right okay yes anyone else okay yeah it's for the budget right mayor budget okay thank you hi I'm a resident of Albridge and I just want to thank everyone who had anything to do with this budget I know the work must have been astronomical kudos to you and I think I speak for many people maybe not but I hope that a budget is adopted thank you is there anyone else in the public who wishes to be heard on this on the budget okay seeing no hands I will close the public portion and I will ask for oh no here we go the ordinances next right yeah next is ordinance establishing the municipal budget appropriation limits and cap Bank njsa 4A colon 4- 4514 for calendar year 2024 so this is the this is the public hearing on on the on this particular ordinance Madam pron yeah is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on the cap Bank seeing no hands I'll close the public portion and I'll ask for councel motion move by Dr Greenberg Bell second by Mr Murphy yes okay Mr Murphy roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes congratulations council person pesky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes eight yeses okay thank you all very much uh next will be resolution amending the calendar year 2024 budget this is a state requirement do I have a motion move it Mr Carol was the motion second was okay Mr jaama roll call council person auli council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yeses okay now the next Capal is the one that's carried to April motion okay these are all okay now next will be resolution adopting the calendar year 2024 budget I have a motion move it second okay move by yep second by Mr auli roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes and council president soar yes I just want to read the the title to the budget out loud too so please yes solution of the township Council of the township of lowbridge adopting the calendar year 2024 budget in the amount of 7,624 189 good now move to the bond capital budget presentation first right okay next will be our capital budget presentation n thank you very much Bob have a good evening thanks Bob ready right ahead okay um moving on to our brief uh 2024 Capital Improvement program presentation uh Capital Improvement program General overview a capital Improvement program is a multi-year plan plan and schedule for capital projects uh the state requires a six-year Capital Improvement plan to be provided in the budget but realize that this is only a plan and it's always subject to change for future years Municipal infrastructure needs constant attention and maintenance failure to maintain your infrastructure will put your community at risk for future years by Statute capital projects have a prospective useful life of 5 years or more capital projects may include the acquisition Andor development of land the acquisition of major equipment and personal property the acquisition construction Improvement Andor Renovations of buildings roads utilities and other structures improvements of Public Works and any matter described in njsa 48 colon 2-22 regardless of financing sources the annual capital budget is prepared and adopted in conjunction with the annual operating budget administrative preparation of the annual capital budget includes a thorough review of each departmental project request in terms of need justification scheduling cost effect on operating budget method of financing and impact on Municipal debt structure the capital budget does not directly appropriate funds the appropriation of funds is made part of the capital Improvement section of the budget Andor by the adoption of a bond ordinance so on tonight's agenda is two Bond ordinances one for General improvements one for arena improvements and also a capital ordinance for parking improvements upon completion of a project any unexpended balances are cancelled by Council resolution uh which is usually done at the end of year in December Capital Improvement planning and budgeting goals continue to develop a comprehensive six-year Capital program on an annual basis that supports Township goals and objectives for equipment facilities infrastructure and technology so we don't just look at the current Year's needs but develop a plan over several years for Replacements and upgrades obviously this plan is fluid in future years but you know constantly taking a look and um it gives us a good starting basis at elates the need for considering projects on an emergency basis and helps schedule resources and equipment to ensure maximum utilization and efficiency we continue to develop and Implement a management system for prioritizing tracking and Reporting on capital projects to ensure timely acquisition Andor completion Administration and finance hold routine Capital meetings usually quarterly um to assess uh the status of projects and what may need to be cancelled or funded in the future we look to maximize utilization of Grants to offset Capital costs and related Debt Service uh Anna had touched on some in the previous presentation but uh the Congressional funding uh we received uh the police technology upgrades for 2023 that was 1.3 million and we just filed an application for an addition to the food bank um for about 500,000 American Rescue plan or art money uh we've used for Park improvements uh manino Park which is uh completed or almost completed and um planning future improvements uh for GE Park utilizing that money uh Green Acres um we received a lot of money for Green Acres for Katrell Farm also uh Nicole gave a presentation a couple meetings back uh regarding applications uh one was for Ty toown Road Park synthetic soccer field and the other one GE Park inclusive playground uh annual dot grants from the state um in this current budget we have one for Princeton Road that's about 650,000 and uh Community Development block grant or cdbg uh we've used it in the past and currently for uh Road reconstruction and eligible areas equipment and facility upgrades especially at the um Senior Center and the food Food Bank are always eligible and Ada improvements to facilities uh within the complex and Township buildings we look to minimize the property tax impact of capital projects and related Debt Service through sound financial planning and balancing debt repayment schedules uh which we'll discuss later in the presentation uh we'll take a brief look back at the last five years of capital projects uh this is 2019 one thing you will see throughout all the years we always have annual curbing drainage and Road improvements that make up about half of our Capital each year uh you also see vehicle and Equipment replacement because again we don't want to wait till these items die and it's an emergency basis so we try and anticipate and budget accordingly in 2019 our total authorized was 6, 85,000 and the current balance is is 9 24,8 187.50 2020 capital budget um again uh one thing you see in here is uh larger projects sometimes are done in phases so you'll see them over a couple of years um one of them uh Katrell Park uh minino Park those were large projects um you know four or five million so they're done fa in phase over different years in 2020 we authorized 6,1 185,000 and the current balance is $ 332,750townhouse the courtroom improvements building department Renovations and this is when we started our minino Park funding utilizing the art money in 2021 we authorized 6, 650,000 and the current balance is $396,500 coule things to highlight uh we did purchase a brine making system which we haven't gotten much of a chance to use you know knock on wood um we had several Park improvements a pickle ball court installation at minino Park um also a playground on uh Fifth Street we converted the basketball court to a playground as well as Replacements at um Central Park and Genoa Park that were completed last year 2022 Capital authorized was 10,675 th000 current balance is 2,313 14 um in 2023 I stated we had um the minino park improvements uh really got underway and they are now um complete uh also NJ doot cost sharing throck Morton Lane phases 1 and two uh were awarded recently and that construction is going to be getting on way underway in 2023 we authorized 14, 667,000 our current balance 9,876 73864 moving on 2024 capital budget for curbing improvements we have our annual curb replacement program at various locations drainage improvements annual drainage Improvement program at various locations as well as Stevens Avenue pipe replacement phase five under equipment for our Mis Department Disaster Recovery site document Imaging scanning Network upgrades and phone system replacement for recreation a field pro sand Pro replacement for the police department ballistic vests and carriers body warn cameras taser replacement and infocop server for the Department of Public Works air compressor and Jackhammer enclosed trailer front wheeel loader lawn mowers backo snow Pusher Mason dump snowplow and Salter Switch and Go dump bodies walkway Salter air compressor and mobile columns and for our construction Department um upgraded equipment for electronic PL submittal which is one of these State mandates that they're requiring and it requires I believe about 35,000 to update our equipment for that facility improvements campus generator project uh that's one that's been done in phases El electric lock in bathroom doors at G minino and vets Park Veterans Park roof replacement door swipe access control system DPW building Lobby security upgrades electrical panel upgrade at the Civic Center exter external door Replacements throughout the complex fence installation at the recycling center at the Aruna Arena a roof replacement project a boiler replacement and Lobby beautification and at our commuter parking lot uh striping at Westminster and in veress Lots under Park improvements GE Park water main relocation basketball resurfacing project at Genoa Park GE Park inclusive playground which we've um applied for Green Acres funding for minino park playground minino park water main relocation Sports practice wall ta toown Road Soccer Complex Turf project which which is also uh applied for Green Acres Veterans Park tennis court and a multi-use Turf area under Road improvements annual Road resurfacing program at various locations NJ do cost sharing for Waterworks Road and parine Road improvements as well as County Road 516 pedestrian improvements and under Vehicles a Mason dump truck and a street sweeper for the public works department for 2024 the total project cost is 6, 895,000 uh section 20 costs are 110,000 which includes bonding costs preliminary engineering and architect fees for a total of 7, 5,000 um other funding of 50,000 which is the uh Capital ordinance for the parking uh commuter Lots it requires a down payment of $348,700 which is provided in this budget and previous budgets through the capital Improvement fund appropriation which leaves a net borrowing of 6,663 finally uh the capital funding process it begins with the adoption of multi-use Capital Bond ordinance which authorize project borrowings so as I stated on tonight's agenda there's the two Bond ordinances as well as the par uh Capital ordinance for parking once the project starts we issue short-term Bond anticipation notes or bans these notes are limited to oneyear expiration from the date of issue the township does not immediately borrow funds once the project starts finance department reviews all the authorized projects and determines the amount to borrow so short-term band borrowing happens over multiple years as the projects within the ordinance progresses uh we renew these banss for an additional two or three years to allow the projects to be completed and the final amount of borrowing to be determined um some of these notes are paid down each year and new money's added as we go along after a few years we convert the multiple short-term banss and issue long-term bonds our annual amorz for Township debt is approximately 7.78% of the total annual budget as we stated we try and keep this as flat as possible year toe to not cause any large fluctuations in our budget and the rating agency you know likes to see it under 10% so we always keep it under there the Township's double A1 rating from Moody's investor Services is the second highest rating Moody's assigns uh the high rating has an impct on the borrowing rate and the finance costs this High rating helps us you know get a reduced borrowing rate which then lower financing costs you know and it goes to the taxpayers on the lower cost our method of amorz has been recognized by the rating agencies as the next slide will show so this is our current debt amortization um it includes Township issued bonds for General capital and Ena Utility Fund it also includes the environmental infrastructure trust loan which was for the Cedar Ridge property acquisition uh this is the final year of payments on that loan it does not include the bans or the projects authorized but uh debt was not issued the current debt amorz is 12 years uh this is important because all these capital projects provide long-term benefits five years 10 years 20 years so we want to pay them over the cost of the useful life so even if we stopped all capital projects right now you wouldn't see relief for couple years down the road uh we have an informal policy not to borrow more than we retire and we leave room for additional borrowing so future years will uh future Bond issues will fill in those gaps and we'll probably look to issue bonds either later this year or early 2025 f slide it's just a graphical presentation of our outstanding debt as you can see it's going down but as we issue more it'll kind of fill in to keep it level finally we ask that you adopt our bond and capital ordinance well bond ordinances tonight so our department heads can keep moving forward with our Capital Improvements thank you thank you for that presentation very very informative um does anyone from the council we'll start with Mrs jarol work down anyone okay Mr Murphy do you have anything on the um Bond or the capital budget yes I just want to say that three of you uh Dawn Debbie and Anna stepped right into your predecessor's boots without missing a note great job thank you Council just great job thanks thank you I also think you did a great job Don on the 2023 capital budget it has um facility Improvement the current balance is 6,942 n12 and I was wondering um since that was 2023 and that's kind of sitting waiting for something to happen right um a a bulk of that is the Lawrence har Community Center ah okay great that's it's about 5 million five and a half million great thank you so much appreciate it councilman Garcia uh no questions just thank you for your hard work as well thank you councilman auli when the gentleman left like he said when it's really tough times and you can stay within that budget and have a surplus and I when the world is struggling it's just phenomenal when you have great people that do great things really care about the community sincerely really good things happen and I truly want to thank you thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Val yes I want to thank you also and it's good to see that when residents pay their taxes it goes a big percentage it goes back into Capital Improvement so they're seeing something for their tax dollars thank you and council president soar yes I'd like to also thank all of you it was a very very good you know presentation and I think the long range planning has is showing here because we're doing different areas different roads different improvements and it makes sense there's a there's a rhyme and a rhythm to it and that's a good thing all the basketball court like things are being done with a long range plan in mind and that's what I really appreciate I think that's great and the more we can do for the residents to reinvest in the infrastructure I think the better we are and obviously we have been so I hope we continue on with this it was a great presentation thank you thank you I'll open it to the public is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard come forward for the uh capital budget councilman petti brought up in a good point thank you um the $6 million or whatever it was in the budget that's going to the um the the Lawrence Harbor Community Center how much of that money came from uh congressman Frank Pal's um federal budget that he brought into the community his relationship with councilman Desi was able to bring in how much money of that came from the federal government from the Democrat uh 1,250,000 wonderful thank you I would say that that money that comes from the federal government we all pay federal taxes so we should get some money back thank you there is there anyone else in the public please come forward thank you good evening to say good evening um I don't know if if you would prefer me to move this to um public comment or not but I have a it's sort of a capital Improvement concern um so on Maple Street um there's always sort of been an issue with people walking toward uh where the Wawa and where the new um that new sushi place and the Halal spot over there um and this was never I always sort of driving by there new to kind of keep an aisle for people but um recently I almost hit someone um you know dressed all in black and um I I'm worried about there's this it's this little stretch that goes between the Maple View Apartments and the WWA which the Sidewalk Ends there and um I really think it might very well be a matter of time until someone does get hit because I think it's a pretty hi trafficked area now the problem is that's also a um you know difficult spot to do construction in because it's it's a yeah it's a tight sort of squeeze but um I mean people also walk to the county park that's down the street from there too and you see people walking there and that raises the same kind of issue because you have an attraction on one end and then the convenience store on the other side but um I just wanted to bring that to the council's attention going forward about uh yeah yeah all right thank you very much than you thank you is there anyone else in the public okay seeing no hands I will close the public portion here we go to the bond ordinance Bond ordinance providing oh I'm sorry providing an appropriation of 6 million 680,000 for various improvements in and by the township of Oldbridge in the county of middlex New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of 6,345 ,100 bonds or notes for the township for financing part of the appropriation move second okay Sober by council person yep okay are you opening to the yeah I'm gonna open it up to the public now as anyone want to be heard on this no I will close the public and go to roll call roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yeses Bond ordinance providing an appropriation of $275,000 for various Arena utility improvements in and by the township of Oldbridge in the the county of middlex New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of $261,200 in bonds or notes of the township for financing part of the appropriation I'll open it up to the public is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard seeing no hands I will close the public portion can we have a motion please move it second motion by Dr Greenberg Bell second by councilman Pama roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes yeses okay now the next one is um count uh Capital ordinance providing funding for various improvements to the parking utility for the township of Oldbridge and appropriating $50,000 for such purpose this is going to be carried correct yes we need a motion to carry to the April 30th um meeting uh due to publication issues move it second okay move by Mr Murphy second by Dr Greenberg roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yes so this will conclude our budget hearing I'd like to thank everyone again for all the hard work and for the residents coming out and participating thank you very much okay all right yes now we'll go on with appointments uh these are for the Housing Authority it's a a what do you call it a term that will last until uh 52 29 okay so from 61 2024 uh start date to 531 2029 there are three open seats so we'll be taking nominations for three seats okay I nominate tomy's biscetti councilman biscetti anybody else anyone else have a nomination nomin uh Denise ridi have to we'll do one seat at a time oh one seat at a time okay never mind I withdraw that anybody else too confus Quackenbush Tracy Quackenbush one at a time okay and we are I'm waiting to see if council person de Carol has a nomination no have a nominate other than those anybody no okay want to make sure we recognize everybody yes on the motion uh any more nominations hearing none close closing nominations and we'll take a roll call vote on uh councilman pasky uh for the appointment to the Housing Authority councilman auli yes council person dearo abstain council person dama St council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes and it will be council person pesky for the Housing Authority seat so for the second seat same term 61 2024 to 531 2029 who's the nominations uh we had Tracy Quackenbush okay any other nominations yeah we already closed the nomin so now we just roll calling individually okay roll call council person auli yes council person dearo abstained council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes council president soar yes okay seat goes to Tracy Quackenbush and for the third seat we need we need a nominate Denise ridi Denise okay so on the nomination for Denise ridi council person auli yes council person dearo obain council person dama yes council person Gara yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes Denise roiti for the seat okay next you good good okay all right next will be approval of minutes do we have any yep we have um minutes of November 13th 2023 December 5th 2023 December 12th 2023 and January 16th 2024 move it second okay move by Dr Greenberg Bell I second by Mr Murphy roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yeses Bill list Mr garia yes thank you uh Bill list as of April 9 2024 accounts payable April 9 2024 4,270 6208 payroll March 28 2024 1,342 2236 and payroll overtime March 28 2024 $2,763 34 that completes my report thank you seea can I have a breakdown please of the overtime sure thank you there were no major uptakes in our um overtime for that pay period our sworn police overtime was $728 one83 theed duct grants $841 190 deduct etto 3 $ 33859 for a total of $3,542 and a total of 495 men and women hours we have three officers on light duty currently thank you okay thank you very much do I have a motion move it second okay move by Mr Murphy second by Dr Greenberg b roll call council person ASI yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person P giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yeses okay discussion ordinance ordinance amending chapter 432 of the Township Code entitled storm water quality by adding a new article 10 entitled salt storage privately owned good evening ladies good evening um council tonight I'm in front of you because every year in front of njd they require us to renew an ms4 permit so ms4 means municip I get this wrong every time Municipal separate storm order system sewer system because we have a storm water system that discharges into the waterways in New Jersey they want to make sure that that water that we discharge is clean so every year we submit a permit to them and we have to give them some information on the criteria that is required as far as that permit renewal one of the criterias that they require from us this year is that we pass an ordinance for storage of salt but for privately owned places so not for the municipalities but for privately owned places um and that's to ensure that there's no deicing materials that enter our water waterways or any salts or chemicals that enter our waterways that they're not aware of so um I passed along um the ordinance to our attorney and he had reviewed it made some minor changes and that's what is in uh granicus or Peak um for your review for tonight's um I asked that we could possibly move it up to First reading tonight because our deadline is May 1st um for the permit renewal and for all that information to be submitted um so certainly it it doesn't have to be it it needs to be introduced tonight um and then second reading at the next meeting and then ultimately they see that we're working towards getting that ordinance in place thank you very much does any council member have a question Mr oh are you that's right I didn't see any over there uh do you know like if you're a private company and you have salt storage do you have to get a permit from the town to have salt storage how do you know how many people have salt storage in town well I I actually don't because I was thinking about that I don't know how many people do but for example if you're running a landscaping business and in the winter you start plowing and then you start storing salt on your um property because you want to do that in the winter um that's where Miss Savon gets involved right our Township planner or our code enforcement the neighbors say hey a lot of truck activity going on and there's a lot of material that they're Trucking back and forth and they're working at 6: a.m. well for you to be able to do that use on that property you have to come in front of our planning or zoning board and you have to get those types of approval you can't just run any kind of business like that from your private property Without Really our planning and zoning boards knowing about it or our Code Enforcement office knowing about it so that's sort of you know our checks and balances on that type of operation the question is do you know how we don't know how many I don't I would have no no idea wondering how many exist or you know I I I don't know because it could go as small as assault storage for like let's say that landscaping business and it could be small like you can't just put it under a tarp is what they're saying you can't you have to really store it in an enclosed facility so that it's not running off into the waterways or the grass or infiltrating so just if I can get some more U Back story um previously up until this year towns were broken up into two tiers there's tier a and tier B tier tier be towns were they more rural towns um and while they had a while they had permit requirement it wasn't as stringent as ti ti be more developed the town actually has a whole section uh chapter 432 uh that's geared toward all the requirements for this ms4 permit and just again this is one of those unfunded mandates um that the town that the state imposed on municipalities U smaller towns especially this year making difficult because one of the requirements you have he saw street sweeper we have to do as part of our permanent compliance we have to do street sweeping and there's but there was a host of ordinances that were adopted prior to probably all of you being on on Council um and this was one that they added this year um that wasn't previously adopted and and the state or DP has have templates and what's being adopted and or templates that are template proferred by the DP which represent the minimum requirements that you has have to have so uh Dr Greenberg B to to your point this particular temp template doesn't require me a permitting process um uh it's just it's an enforcement mechanism so so to the extent that um I think as as Miss Shapiro had indicated let's say there's a landscaping business that used to have a big U mound of salt and they had a tarp over it and somebody happens to notice it calls the township and the township zoning officer would go out and say Hey you know we now have the ordinance you're not allowed to do it you have to put in containers um so it's it's one of those mechanisms that that don't require you know like for instance our our tree cutting ordinance that's one of the requirements that came down as a result of this ms4 permit right that's where where where there's a permit process but there's actually 10 different items that are in our code that are related to this ms4 perm but this particular doesn't require the town to uh physically enforce it nor does it require Property Owners to come and obtain permits but if it's brought to the Township's attention uh that this exists then there's an enforcement mechanism in place to protect it good thank you for explaining that because I I truly don't want extra burdens on on businesses and businesses that exist and then the state changed this like how are they going to know so I'm glad that's the case um but you know obviously we want clean water ways and storm water match so obviously I I haven't ever had in uh nine years never got a complaint so I think we're okay because I get a lot of things does anyone else have Mr jaama anyone else how does this how does this apply to Residents some Residential Properties because there's stipulations in here and Resident so so for an actual house so like I have a 50 lb bag of Sal no that I didn't get to use no so I woulding I didn't get a chance on so so if it's so let's say you have that my sense is it's probably inside so it's not going to to apply but if it's outside you would simply put it in a container right just like a bucket yeah bucket exactly yeah I I only ask just because when you start to look through this stuff there's fines involved so there isn't a dissemination between property owner that's a resident or a business Mr dama you leave it in a bag don't you like the So when you buy it I do yeah right so so yeah under the ordinance so basically what it just requires is that um and most residents I think would have it in the bag some of them put in buckets they keeping buckets in it in the container and and what they don't want to do what what they TR prevent Someone putting small Mounds in the backyard so that when it rains it goes out and ends up into the drain so this this is really just for the storage of salt or chemicals for deicing that's just the storage okay okay there's a host of all others that's that and that you're not aware if you looked at chapter 432 you'd be amazed you you do know when you use this when you de I your regardless of where you store when you dece your driveway and your sidewalk it well no exactly I mean the same thing when they do it when they put it down in the street right I mean every municipality state does it right I don't know if my wife wants me using the uh I mean you know when they put when put the brine down before it snows it has to go somewhere all right Mr piss I mean as part of the ms4 permit I mean it's it's almost like the budget not as detailed but um May 1 we submit May 2nd we work on the next year's and so you know the salt does go in the street it does go into our inlets and Mr lenning has to track how much material he takes out of those inlets and that needs to be inserted into like the permit as part of the renewal so it's it's that detailed wow you had a question yes um do you have a a plan to notify the businesses in town that there's a new requirement well D does that you know they they have it on their website you know as as there but we we don't I mean same as the the tree ordinance we have it in our code so if somebody was concerned or they needed to know if they were taking down a tree or if there was some sort of Regulation they would search it on our code so there is no notification thank you does anyone else have a question no okay um we were asked about first reading move it up to First reading okay Dr Greenberg made a motion second Mr Carol okay roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas gidy no council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yeah motion carries second reading set for April 30th 2024 thank you counc you okay you're welcome thank you very much ladies okay consent agenda I'm going to ask for a motion in a second and then I'll go back for separations move it move by Dr Greenberg Bell second second by Mr jaama okay any items for separation councilman auli none council person dearo no thank you council person dama C4 C4 council person Garcia none none thank you council person Murphy three and five see3 and C5 yes okay council person Pas giddy no separations thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell no thank you and council president soar no no thank you so we'll take a vote on the balance with the removal of C3 C4 and C5 correct council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes Council person Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes council president soar yes okay next will be C3 Mr Murphy yes well I I don't understand was there a reason we rejected the parking lot expansion it it exceeded the estimated uh budget okay anyone else okay then I need a motion Mo second okay moved by Dr Greenberg b i second by Mr dama all call council person aset yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes eight yeses okay we have C4 Mr dama yes just separating it I whenever these come up I'd like to separate this just to make sure the residents understand that there are programs in place if you are a disabled veteran that you can have um your real estate taxes canceled and refunded for for years so if you do have questions you do have concerns and you think that you are eligible please reach out to any of your council members up here or you can reach out to um Administration and they'd be able to help you no has anything else I'll move it okay second by Mr Assi roll call council person asset yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yeses C5 Mr Murphy yeah uh I'm going to remove that one I I didn't realize it was under State contract and stuff just so you understand what happened was that uh the the council actually had awarded a contract at this vendor last year uh the vendor had been non-responsive is for a emergency lighting for for four police vehicles um and and then um um Sergeant um in blank doctors doctors thank you very much had reached out and then I followed up and see where they were they they had apparently run into some financial difficulties but they effectively failed to complete the uh resolution of the order so the police department needs to get lighting for these four vehicles so what this resolution does is to resend that previously approved uh that um resolution and cancels the associated purchase order for that so that now the township can go forward with obtaining quotes or bids for the Emergency letting for four vehicles since this will be canceled we have new bids out we do we we first have to cancel this before we can rebid it okay oh okay yes it's another state contract so we don't have to go up for it but we already have the list ready and the the next we have lines next the next council meeting we'll have we should yes we're good we just vote on it we'll just take a roll all right so roll call motion first right M okay you moved it okay and second mrama roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president president soar yes eight yeses report of the Township Clerk so I did want to mention that um we're the primary election is rolling around and that the county will be looking for uh pole clerks so anybody who's interested if they reach out to my office uh we will gladly forward your information onto the county thank you um report of the township attorney nothing new to report M president thank you okay and administrative report thank you number one Parks and Recreation summer 2024 brochure and registration the summer 2024 program brochure is now available online we have programs for the entire Community registration for re for residents will begin on May 1st at 6 p.m. halfday camp and Camp Robin registration will begin on May 8th at 6 p.m. for residents non-resident Camp Robin registration will be held on May 15th at 10:00 a.m. please have your Rec desk account set up prior to registering and for more information you can visit our website at Oldbridge docomo department at 732 721-5600 extension 4999 2024 Memorial Day Parade Grand Marshall nominations the township is already getting ready for Memorial Day and to that end we are seeking nominations for the 2024 Memorial Day Parade Grand Marshall nominations are due by April 19th for selection criteria or to submit a nomination please contact Lisa velera in the Parks and Recreation Department at L Valera that's V LS a old.com or you could call 732 721 56 5600 extension 410 mayor Walker's health and wellness 5K race honors Hometown Heroes the mayor's health and wellness Council in collaboration with allaround Oldbridge will'll be hosting a 5K race and a kids Dash honoring our Hometown Heroes it will be held on Saturday April 20th at the municipal complex the race will start at 8:00 a.m. the kids Dash will start at 9:00 a.m. also there will be a health and wellness fair in the ice arena Park in live from 8 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. please note that due to this event the orridge public library will open at 11:00 a.m. that day for more information and to register please visit or.com / 5K paint and bulb day this Saturday April 13th is the next paint and bulb recycling day middlex County residents are encouraged to bring paint cans and bulbs to the Township recycling drop off center from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and for more details you can visit or bridge.com recycling finally spring leaf collection the Department of Public Works will begin spring leaf collection in all Wards the week of April 22nd and for a full schedule please visit or.com SL recycling this concludes my report thank you very much does any council member have a question or comment about the report then I'll take a motion to accept second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr pascetti roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yeses next will be our 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 the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 colum 4-2a and the Oldbridge rules of council the council asked the public to limit their comments to three minutes or less only one member of the public shall approach to speak to council at time the council will respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker is 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 Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of our meeting as you approach the microphone please State whether you're a resident of Oldbridge do not give your name or address okay thank you very much much is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard this evening well there was a miscalculation in the amount of money that was given by Frank palone for the Lawrence Harbor it was 2.5 million not 1.2 million in addition Joe Biden under Ard or the American Rescue program gave this town $ 6.76 5 million and that's being used for our parks and everything else that said I did want to talk about something else because I wanted to bring up the money there was a mistake but everybody's kind of stressed when they're talking about money and budget but I wanted you to understand that $2.5 million was provided by Frank palone not 1.2 million uh two weeks ago I ran into a resident and was followed up by interviews of several residents in Ward 5 who were irate by the work done and the subsequent Damage Done when the curbs and sidewalks were done in W five I followed this up with walking through the neighborhood and looking at some of the damaged trees the work that was done by the contractor actually destroyed trees planted in the street Verge or the grassy strip I know several of you on the council and as well the mayor because she wasn't the mayor at the time she was council at large all took a walk in the neighbor neighborhood where the the trees were listing onto the power lines what happened was the township had already given the bond back to the contractor before they even were notified about damage done so I was told today I saw some videos of it that work is being done again in Ward five on the curbs and on the sidewalks this time I'm hoping that this Council will do a lot more due diligence I don't know who has to do it walking through Ward five and making sure that damages are not done to the trees and to the property owners properties as a result of the work being done the property owner one of them has to pay for the removal of five trees because the township won't despite the fact that it was damage was done by the the developer to the tune of over $3,000 per tree and that is and I know that pisti was there because councilman pisti because he described you standing there and going yeah it's leaning um so you probably remember one of the persons that said um I want to make sure that the council does their due diligence and whoever it is is who's responsible for investigating before they remove the bond and give it back to them that you guys do the DU diligence I know doc Mr dama is really going to do it but I would really hope that you guys take the uh the initiative this time time so you don't mess up the the community in the process of trying to fix it thank you council president all right thank you very much is there anyone else who wishes to be heard this evening okay seeing No Hands then I will close the public portion Council Council comments council person auli real quick um so spring is here right and it's like New Beginnings right so so new mayor new ba chief of police I want to give a special shout out though right to Zeus the Kine dog that I mean it's his first is it his first official assignment how dod you do chief I saw phenomenal I but he's okay just great job and and I always say like come to Oldbridge 20 years ago this is the fourth safest town in all of New Jersey and I really really appreciate the hard work and dedication you guys put in wh you know guys ladies all of you it's phenomenal that you can walk to streets and don't have to look behind your back so special shout out to the Kine unit and all the work that you do appreciate you yep council person daro thank you um I just wanted to make note uh today's the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the uh I Al alar I don't not saying that right um so I just wanted to wish those that celebrate a uh Happy e um and um also uh Passover I think is going to be starting before our next meeting so those that celebrate Passover I would like to wish them a happy Passover um I just have one question uh Mark just any any followup with the email that I had sent about the the pride month I know you it might have gotten lost in the in your I'm sorry for the the pride month the ordinance yeah see try to remember you know since I've been here typically resolutions Council didn't adopt resolutions relative to different groups so uh I just wanted to take a look back about that usually those were done you know when there's particular particular month those were done relative to proclamations but the council itself that I recall I just want to go back and check I don't remember them ever you know recognizing a particular group and the reason becomes once once you start doing it for one then you have to start doing for others and then what and then it becomes a question of you know where's that bright line drawn if you draw a bright line so yeah yeah I'd be fine having something every month for different groups well then then then it just becomes what what happens if there's a group that's especially yeah I understand yeah all right but yeah so I would love to sit and talk to to everyone about it yeah council person dama yes thank you um also um to build off of council woman the Caro for all those celebrating e just wanted to wish everyone joy prosperity and happy blessings you know a lot of stuff has been happening in town we've had um shopright opening we had the target um ribbon cutting today as well and for those that are listening the target is not officially open until I believe Sunday so there were folks coming in and out we we were able to see the new Target you know it's beautiful just like the shop right I'm sure that parking lot is going to be a mad house on Sunday so use caution um also everyone use caution when you're shopping there I've already told my wife to stay away is Far Far Away um but I I think it's great seeing all those new businesses open up we have the the businesses that will be opening up in front of it you know coming up soon as you see it there's a lot of signs already um already coming up God bless you it it's great to see like like councilman as Tulie said Springs new Awakenings brand new businesses coming into town it's great to see it's great to see Economic Development happening throughout the town you know recently we've had a lot of rain now we have earthquakes um you know one of the things we just want to make sure is especially when it comes to some of these natural disasters that were happening the rain especially what I've noticed and I've to me having to go outside in the middle of the night when my storm drains are covered with all of the debris that's coming down just make sure that if we are having storms coming up just check your surroundings check your your own storm drains I know on my block in particular there's two right across from each other a lot of trees because I live in a mature neighborhood a lot of those branches and leaves start to come down just make sure that we are looking at those because it does become a hazard um and I've seen folks hydroplane you know on multiple streets throughout town so please as we get into it I think we're expecting another inch of rain on the next couple days so please if do see that just go just take a look out during the day just throw it up on the grass for the time being just so we don't have those those hazards in town know Casey and team do a great job in going around but it's a 40 square mile Town lot of roadways I don't even want to imagine how many roadways that we have to go through and and kind of get the debris off of but just make sure that we are aware of that because safety starts at home and it's the better we can do in ensuring that that stuff is kind of put away to the side the better off it's going to be and it's safer for our community coun sorry there there is there's two quick other things and then I'll stop I promise um there was an incident and councilman ASI touched on it um congratulating our officer Zeus so in one of our neighborhoods one of our HOAs there was a unfortunate incident that happened you know there was a Breakin we are lucky enough that we do have a pH police force and you know I wanted to make sure that we thanked you know our K9 Officer Zeus and all of the officers that came out you know this happened in unfortunately in our town it happened in my neighborhood I came home to a flurry of activity um going on um we just need to make sure that all of our residents if you see something in your town that in your neighborhood in your street anywhere that does not make sense to you to call the cops right we don't know how long the perpetrators were inside the the house thankfully that no one was there um it was an awkward time from from my understanding for breaking ERS to happen which was around 7:30 at night that is typically the time when most people are home people putting their children to bed people are having dinner they're getting ready for bed getting ready for work whatever that is that's the time when most people are around so if you are seeing things around the neighborh Hood during the day that don't make sense make sure that you are calling and letting folks know letting the police know so that they can send out patrols to start to look at it our anti-me teams are out there but like I said it's a big town they can't be every single where we have to be part of the solution right it's unfortunate that well fortunate enough that our Police Department caught those those individuals it's unfortunate that our laws immediately release these folks back in right uh not to go into the the full breath of it but the fact that they're in and out because of these laws are ridiculous and things do need to change we also need to make sure that we're safe in our own neighborhoods and we need to take responsibility for that so I ask everybody please do not hesitate if you see something that doesn't look right to call because we don't know what would have happened if there were people home at that given time so make sure that you are keeping your surroundings your neighborhood safe call our Police Department you know I've talked to the chief before it's okay to have somebody just go they'll take a run through the neighborhood to make sure everything looks good right please make sure that we reach out because we want to make sure that everyone is safe in their homes and we keep this community as safe as possible and then finally just on a lighter note this past weekend a lot of sports openings you know baseball at saywood South minino Park you know the saywood South baseball they were so excited with the field seeing all those kids we had the saywood South we had the Oldbridge um softball league there as well for the parade it was great to see everybody out there we had soccer opening our school spring sports are starting so you know changes in the air unfortunately I missed my daughter's first lacrosse game today she's a little upset with me but I'll make it up to her somehow I'm sure I'll be spending money in Target fortunately for me but um I think it's great that things are starting to to rejuvenate okay and there's one other thing and um I do want to just have a followup because I have been getting a number of complaints about our newly renovated Courtyard as to what we're going to be able to do to hold the contractor liable or they can come back and fix because I have had a number mayor we've talked about this and we've talked about this as well I actually got a phone call today as it was on my way here that someone was up here to pay their taxes and they were unpleasantly surprised on how that contractor left especially the concrete so can we start to look at what we could do to hold them responsible for coming back and doing the fixes necessary thank you that's it council person Garcia thank you I promise I won't be that long uh Chief was that Zeus's first arrest good for him congratulations to him nice rambunctious we're really lucky in found that you guys supported Canan program yeah we're going to have Apollo at our next meeting I I think dogs are your best Partners they do what you tell them to do they they they follow the lead they're perfect they better than people uh but good Zeus congratulations congratulations to Zeus uh W wo uh they sure did they sure did they did 100% all no you and I always say as you guys know I'm an ex cop and I think cops cops were call they don't get the recognition they deserve they get the abuse from not just Statewide Citywide Countrywide so I always look for an opportunity to congratulate the cops because without the cops we have chaos so I really I I thank you guys for doing your doing the job I know it's a hard job and like Eric said we have to change the rules the I don't want to get I don't want to get into all that stuff but thank you again for for all you guys do uh I went to the baseball this past Saturday was it Saturday I think it was Saturday it was cold but I tell you those fields were beautiful that's my first time being down in monino park the fields they they were beautiful I mean I wouldn't want to be the third baseman playing on that field cuz that's you know that's fast that ball is going to come quick but it was it was a beautiful field so it it was great Matt I I really thought it was great uh I went to the grand opening today for targets I wish them nothing but luck I don't shop in Target I like er said I hope my wife doesn't shop in Target uh shoppr as you know guys know shoppr right's opened up I think it's doing well uh just I think that's all I got so thank you guys and have a good night and happy pass off I think it does start next Monday I believe 22nd I believe so happy pass of it's also celebrate so thank you council person Murphy as you all know I don't like to speak much but um I think i' I feel I've s said enough tonight thank you council person pesky no comment thank you comment and Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes well it's finally nice to have a warm day and some sunshine but uh because the rain has been phenomenal I love spring for many reasons because it brings back fond memories like they said going to to the baseball field seeing the kids there and my daughter played at cwood South and now they have manino Park I'm sure they're very happy to have those fields but also for opening day for the soccer field it's great and I I really appreciate all the volunteers that make these programs go people don't realize how many people it takes to stand up to give of yourself and your time um to do that so I I want to say thank you because it's very important for the community and for the kids and it's very healthy for the kids to get out out there and be active um also at Higgins field you know it's wonderful Karen Madera has um Just for kicks it's soccer for the special needs kids and that program is phenomenal it has grown so much so many different towns come here to enjoy that program and um one thing when I noticed at the field at from speaking with Karen that they need more buddies for the kids they need um we have a lot of kids that volunteer in town uh but they need more people to St step up to help the kids um because you need oneon-one and so if anyone is interested in doing that please go to Oldbridge soccer OBS c.com and S and you can sign up there thank you very much enjoy the spring and happy holiday to everyone council president soar yes I also attended all those functions for the sports and they were just great I can't wait my grandson is going to be too I can't wait for him to get into t-bow but that being said it was just it was just so nice to see everybody and Karen's program is it's phenomenal and then I had the honor of being uh present at a court of honor for an eagle scout this weekend mayor Walker was away so I she asked me to fill in for her and it was a really very very nice day Christopher girano very nice young man and it's a pleasure to see that kind of you know project that he made with this special the sensory touch it it was just phenomenal and I really enjoyed being there with the family and the rest of the scouts they're such a great group troop 129 and I really think the projects they do are so nice for the town they've done we have so many Eagles I'm I was really impressed with the number that we have now so that was also a very very nice time the fields were great um the scoreboard for Zach and Jude and anise was also a very touching moment um they were just very special and they always will be in our hearts so again spring is here and we're ready to just have a hopefully have a nice good weather for a little while and have a great time in Oldbridge enjoy all the parks and all the fields because they really are nice they're beautifully kept thank you very much so okay we now going to go into an executive session we need ation motion to adj motion to adjourn and enter executive session for contract negotiations and potential sale of Township owned property you have motion right and a second did we get a second second thank you roll call council person auli council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes council president soar yes everyone have a good evening thank you very much e e e e e