good evening everyone ready okay thanks good evening everyone in compliance with the open Public's meeting law notification of this meeting has been sent sent to our official newspapers and other Publications circulated in the bur of old toam and notice posted on the bulle board at bur Hall please be
reminded that all of our meetings are videotaped and added to our website and please not fire exits are my left your right on the door you came in tonight and at the rear of the council chambers roll call please mayor gallager here Council BAGI here counc Bo here counc
Council Marty here councilwoman misso here councilman you here please rise and join me on the salute to the flag I flag of the United States of America to the for stands one nation God
indivisible Li Justice okay our order of business tonight is to welcome uh Mary back and uh Miss price and Mary will you'll be going first I will thank you okay you don't have to stand if you don't want to I'm going to stay over
here so I can see both the mayor and counsel and the and public if that's okay yep good evening uh my name is Mary McDonald and I'm litigation Council representing the mayor and Council in a lawsuit filed by C
CS also counil for the planning board Natalia Angelie is here and Council for CS which is now the old in scale prises here um we're here tonight as a result of litigation that was filed against the mayor and Council and the planning board
by in August of 2023 the sole purpose of this meeting tonight is for the council to vote on the proposed settlement that's been negotiated by the parties and their Council by way of background uh back in 20 uh
2023 uh CSA to applied for site plan approval and use variance to construct and operate an assisted living facility at 244 Old Japan Road uh that was approved on February 8th of 2023
on June 20th of 2023 that approval was appealed to the mayor and Council following a hearing and the council reversed the planning board's decision on August 7th 2023 CSH filed suit in Bergen County Superior Court against the mayor and
Council and the planning board and two individuals alleging that the coun council's decision was arbitrary capricious and unreasonable in violation of the municipal land use law it also alleged violations of the fair housing amendments and the New Jersey law
against discrimination and the New Jersey civil rights act the bable to pay face serious Financial Risk including the payment of legal fees uh of not only of their own but also of of the plaintiff should they Prevail uh as well
as the risk of the site being used for uh affordable housing where there could have been over 140 uh multif family units which would have had a meal effect on the on the town schools and Roads um on September 16th 2024 the council
adopted a resolution authorizing me and my Law Firm to negotiate a settlement with te holding uh who who came into the case for CSH um on the condition that they would relocate the historic house onto the wet LS area of the property and
that approximately 2.2 Acres of the property would be conveyed to the burrow the the planning board original plan is exactly the same as as originally passed with the exception of the relocation of the historic house at the cost of the
plaintiffs um and the drainage basin which is required for the relocation uh should the council approve this settlement this matter will proceed to the planning board special meeting following this meeting for modified site plan approval [Music]
gaale did you want to add anything yeah sure um gaale price from former price nman and dreno and Mary's recitation of those facts is accurate um and we have been in settlement negotiations uh for quite some time and
our client is uh fully prepared to abide by those terms and rather than moving the historic home across the street um from our property as we discussed and agreed to be before the planning board
the home would stay on the subject property um in an area closer to the wetlands but of course outside of the wetlands and the required buffer area and um there would be a a shifting of
the um detention Basin that was requested by the planning board um same quantity same quality no modifications um to that at all but it would shift because of the shift of the historic home and at some point in the
future uh down down the line we would uh have a Judicial subdivision uh perfected by way of uh the documentation that has been negotiated and reconfirmed with judge
pavano um that should the uh governing body seek F to approve this settlement the court is prepared to approve that subdivision which would then effectuate the transfer of that property with the
historic home to the burrow so in essence the site plan would remain 100% um as it was approved by the planning board the conveyance to the burrow would stay the same the only thing that's changing is the
location um and our client would see to its um uh movement um we've already been in touch with um uh a company that specializes in the movement of historic
homes um to ensure that that can be safely done on the property um all of which would be outside of these settlement um discussions naturally but um I just want to assure you that um we've taken every step um that we've
needed to to be able to say tonight that we can um abide by the settlement that's been negotiated so it's our hope that um the council will see fit to approve the settlement um which will allow for us to go to the planning board um and seek
that um uh small Amendment to the uh prior approved plan um to effectuate the historic home to remain on that side of Road thank you any other comments uh before I ask
to open it to the public okay all right before I uh ask for a motion to open the meeting to the public um out of respect for all here tonight I'm just going to ask that uh if you can limit your comments questions to
5 minutes or less so that everyone will have a chance to uh to be heard so I will ask for a motion to open a meeting to the public so move second all in favor I okay would anyone from the public like to be heard on the matter before us
tonight sir yeah please and maybe uh over this way um I have the microphone here oh yeah why don't you I don't make pleas hi my name is Johan bger I live on
6cl court here in ultan and I'd like to just reiterate a couple of options that uh did existed already a couple of years ago and uh one of them was that there's a lot of Stu you know the discussion and the reluctance to approve this uh I to
totally agree with uh the uh one of one of the options that I had suggested at that point and now that we're a little further ahead of it it would seem likely to me that well what about the vacant building on bate Plaza the ftown building uh it could be reconstructed completely I believe we needed the
requested 80 parking SPAC where there are 65 if I counted them correctly right behind it there's plenty of parking All Around by State Plaza and there is an entrance in E to to BU State PL where you effectively don't have to worry about building all that stuff around the
the currently proposed location F furthermore the residents of the assisted living situation well they and their caregiver could readily take little promin with or without Wheelchairs and assistance to further Revitalize the stores around VI state AO
additionally it would take absolutely no problem there would be abely no issues with parking or the the uh depriving parents on picking up and dropping off their students at CDW and uh I grant you yeah but maybe it isn't for sale but it's been vacant for
several years now and perhaps there's something that can be negotiated in terms of relative cost of the property their Assisted Living would still be here and just in closing there was one one of our residents who said well we already have uh an assisted living
situation here so do we need it and so why do we need it there was a pause by the the the developers proposed and said well it's not really made for Alan or for ala pan only I'm paraphrasing here and you know if you take a look around here that there are about 10 15 assisted
leing places right around Alan so it's not that we really need one in my opinion when it comes to shopping at futon Etc things has changed drastically over the past 5 10 years when it comes to shopping and I think the majority of people would go to a place like futon just to I forgot to buy sugar or
something like that because we also have a large number of grocery stores of high quality uh all around us also so I'm not sure what a potown building could ever be used for in today so therefore I have urge of all to say no to that or rather
try to get in renegotiation to put it in the food in the Food Town building thank you thank you thank you what I need to [Music] sir do I stand up here or that's fine whatever you want so uh my name is Brian
mirandy I live at 1043 Westwood Avenue in all Japan um I I just want to ask a couple questions one is I in attending these meetings I was very struck by all the and I Ed the word time Hoops that we were the town was jumping
through to approve this property when there are other sites in town that didn't need specific variances my question is why were two individuals named in this lawsuit because to me if this is about the town and the town's
decision in Superior Court which reversed it why were two individuals also uh part of that lawsuit we do not know that it's Council can councel this is really a time for public comment not a time for
questioning it's really a time for you to comment on the settlement okay I think the comment I think the settlement is ridiculous because there are two individuals that were named that has nothing to do with this prod all they did was come here and tell the truth and Enlighten everybody in this town and
they brought up they brought up issues that no one else had thought of and for them to be part of a lawsuit that's why I have a problem with one of the reasons why I have a problem with you with this settlement because it should have never been in the in the was in the first place okay I agree with what the
gentleman said about Fu town I agree that there's incredibly overdevelopment in this town and you know what you're going to get what you I know your your hands are tied on some of this stuff but I think it's important that people stand up and just say hey look this doesn't
make any sense at all in my opinion you have your own opinion you have your own constraints in terms of things but I don't think me sitting back there are not saying anything does anybody you can disagree with what I've said that's fine that's what what discussions are for thank you very much for your time thank
you thank [Music] you [Music] sir hi uh my name is Jackson mail uh I live at 280 oan um I just got the notti and this is
new for me uh what what concerned me when I was reading the te Holdings proposal when they're proposing to ask for variant like lot coverage from 30% up to like 33
34% and also they're looking for a uh floor area from 8,000 for up 81,000 like 10 times so immediately you're looking at a me structure being built on this
site that going to change the character of the Town that's very concerning I think what makes otan is such a nice town is we keep a lot of history as well as just very nice you know homey place
so if you Sun plop it 10 times now what they're asking 10 times of what you are typically see on a very small lot with is wet L restraint so that's a very concerning question thank you thank
[Music] you sure good evening everyone thanks sh do I have to say my name and address yeah you have to not your address you have to say your name but Sher I think you all know me pretty well by now and I want to
just say on point um realize the town and Council have experienced a very tough decision you know as recently in the world there's been things going on larger that we're deciding between terrible and awful and I understand that
or I feel that many of you feel the same way um I realize that it's difficult really difficult to go through this and not only an overturning the planning board decision which I give you all a
lot of credit for having the hoods spah to not be afraid of taking on and not be bullied as was quoted by our now mayor um but also a lot of HS but like to now come back to your town and your constituents
your residents your neighbors overturning your own decision that you saw this was an unfit site for the project it wasn't the project itself it was an unfit site now I know and most of us know this has to do with the lawsuit
you know and the threat of lawsuits have forced towns like ours to do things that are unconscionable there are things that we have to live with forever though you're going to be looking at it every day for the rest of your life and so will everybody else in town and they'll know who's responsible for it if they're
happy with it then they'll praise you if they're not they'll either vote you out like you mentioned the last mayor council meeting people have a choice but you know when you don't have anybody else running it's kind of hard to vote out the last guy standing you know um
you know you all made objections to overturn the planning board decision and again that was not an easy thing to do um but just to be clear all your objections were and are still valid this
is also directed you know for Miss price to be aware of all still valid with one exception well the exception is councilman Guan at the time through his research you all had different reasons for voting against it but councilman Guan was the one that found out through
his research that he questioned whether Capital senior housing had funding for the project and sure enough we're not sitting here with capital senior housing today they bailed out I don't have the reasons behind it but that could have been one of them um they also might have
realized that the town is not embracing this project and maybe will not want to put their family members there and maybe they won't be making the money off of the project that they expect because they're ruining the quality of the town so like the obvious
question is I don't know has any one of you looked into now that this is flipped and capital senior housing is out of it um first off who is the agreement with who's the owner of the property that you're making this agreement with
is it Peter tolinski who owned the property and bought it or is it te Holdings are they now the new owners of the property you're you're a defendant in the suit you should have all that information no I wasn't given all that information there in in all due respect
I have asked information there's a lot of things that have been with help so I'm asking you now for the public to hear because they have a right to know who owns the property my recommendation to the mayor and council is not to answer any of this witness's questions
because she is represented by Council if your Council were here we would engage with your counil well he's stuck in Philadelphia right now so hope he'll be here in time but the point is then okay I will take that I can only take that as
somebody's hiding something that what's the big deal of saying who owns the property and who the agreement is with it's not just my asking I'm asking on behalf of thousands of people so I'm sorry I'm just standing here by myself and I don't have a wall of them behind me right now so I have to say that you
know I was going to ask who owns it because I was going to ask has anybody looked into if they are properly funded this is obviously the cost of building is so incredible and with tariffs and things and all these threats that are going on the cost of
lumber things that could go up are we going to be stuck with another developer or who bails out with clears the land and then leaves it or makes half of it you know look at Emerson how that project sitting there with scaffolding you know it's dangerous
to even drive by it and the whole thing nobody's doing nothing so you know but the people that have to live there have to see it every day so it's a question I ask and I was hoping to get an answer to these two yeah my advice to the mayor and
council is not to engage with you because you're represented by Council okay then maybe somebody else will want to ask this I mean I think the the residents have a right to know who owns the property and who's developing it and if they have the funding to actually see it to
completion um you know I want to put on notice too that we were told in writing it said that the new plans were available to view at Burrow Hall I went to burrow Hall there are no new plans as Anna told me nothing's changed as far as
the size of the building the project all of it's the same except they're changing one of the uh the the water basin they're going to be giving like it was in the first offer that they made to appease the town give them the Stone
House they wanted and give them approximately 2 acres of land to set it up so at least we can try to preserve some history in this country we all know it's like the 250 year I don't know all of you seem to be very quite America
first but um I don't see how people that look at destroying history you know this is all a pre-revolutionary war land that we live on and there should be some respect for it which I think there is so I'm just going to say there's no there's no plans for us to see so we're hoping
we're going to see them tonight see what it looks like thank you oh I forgot is there a plan can you answer is it still approved are they still going to be widening Old toan Road the plans my understanding is the plans have been here for more than 10 days is i accurate
but they're not new plant they're old plant they're amended sure we didn't see price you have plans let me let me just niit this in the butt the plans have been unfiled more than 10 days as required by the municipal menus law and
as I stated in my opening they're not new in terms of the design because we're honoring what was approved by the zon by the planning board but the only modification being that instead of moving the historic home across the
street which I know you had problems with we're keeping it on the same side of the street as the property where the Assisted Living building is proposed that's it the um detention ba retention
Basin that the planning board asked us specifically Mr scrael to consider having up front is only being shifted to also accommodate the historic home those are the only changes there are no other
site plan changes so the plans are new in that only one aspect they have been on file as required the property owner is 244 Old
to pan Road and we have never ever refused any request from your Council and your Council was on Zoom because he couldn't make it to court last Friday and he participated fully and when asked
by judge pavano if he had any open issues he said no okay so if he had any questions he could have voiced them at that time okay fair enough fair enough so you know that when there are mod ifications there are some modifications
there were original plans that did show the house where it was going to be moved this is going back to the first month that this even started there were plans that showed what it would look like the two acres where the line of delineation was and all that and none of that is on
file because it's not happening what what is on file is what's represented for the settlement agreement and is what is accurate Sherry that's what's on file so the modifications Untold are happening don't sound
like well I don't know I don't know what they sound like they sound like they're not Happ I think um are there as far as with the planning board meeting are there questions we can ask to the planning board or is this the only Forum to ask a question the planning board is going to
have the public comment hearing right after us okay so do we know if the road so the road is still being widened and the county approved it those are not appropriate questions to ask the mayor and Council that's part of the planning board okay thank you thank
you anybody else from the public like to be heard gentleman in the back no sorry behind you [Music] wasn't going to come up and say anything but first of all I'd like to say I've been to several meetings here in town
public John fa 98 Old f [Music] Road put a microphone in the middle of the room so that people can go up and speak every time there's a meeting people come up or they stand over there and you can't hear anybody put a
microphone in here so people can be heard so that they don't either have to walk up here or whatever that's just sidekick okay so I've been to several meetings here I've heard people speak quite frankly I think a lot of the residents I know they're represented by
Council but you know they've been they've been treated poorly their questions don't get answered they have legitimate concerns they come to the town with legitimate questions and they're not address I get it the building
historically significant it's not desirable it's in pretty poor shape the location for this building horrible the church the buildings down the street the school you're you're looking at a at a major disaster but if a disaster hits
probably nobody on this board is going to have to respond to that disaster when they have to go but it's not a good location for where this building is being put that being said it's all hammered out legally okay but it should be taken into consideration by the mayor
and counsel you have the buildings at the end of Washington and Old toan Road the senior C whatever those buildings are for elderly care or whatever I looked at those and I thought you can't even get a fir truck in the back of those buildings oh well those
plans were you have to fight a fire either on Washington Avenue or Old depan Road and no truck can get to the rear of those buildings that's poor planning that should that's an oversight on the mayor and Council or the planning board's uh site
anyway I know it's a historical building I I don't think that uh buildings like that should be just torn down and thrown away if if our hands are tied and because of council and because of other legalities there's nothing else that we
can do although I say we fight it because I don't think you should be intimidated by an attorney or Law Firm um ask for a guarantee they want to do certain things get it in writing make them put their feet to the fire and say
you want to move that building sure go ahead and move that building we want a guarantee as a bur of alteran that that building is going to be reconstructed and moved appropriately we don't want any we don't want any agreements here and then all of a sudden down the road oh well this
didn't happen that didn't happen just ask for a guarantee put their feet to the fire they're the ones that are going to be making money off of this building not the burrow b thank you thank you you would anybody else from the public
like to be heard one more time anybody else from the public like to be heard on this matter if you have a comment to add I'd allow you to have a comment but after the young lady here good evening my name is Angeline
Sheridan up here no yeah okay um 31 eth Street um I'm sorry I came late so I didn't hear the opening statement so I I didn't hear what the terms are um that were agreed upon by the mayor and councel so my question my main question
is because this was my my main question during the first hearing at the planning board meeting is what's going to happen to the house and because it's such an old house we need to have guarantees that it's not going to fall apart when we move it and so I remember Mai Mr M
saying that there was going to be a historic um a historic preservationist that was going to testify and he never did so I that's still like my main question um is there a guarantee that when we move the house it's not going to fall
apart and then that that's a burden on the town um and then so then my follow-up question is because it's a new owner or developer or whoever we're calling at te Holdings are they the same investors because again at the first meeting Mr
Mai testified that it was financially sound because it's backed by um the Carlile group and maybe Bane so are they the same investors so those are my two main questions because they weren't answered at all in the previous hearings thank
you thank you sir final comment she asked the questions ask on the stability the financial stability of the developer [Music]
I believe M price it's 244 oldan Road LLC is it is the owner I don't know who the investors are okay oh I my name is Maria Rocco I live at NS report so my question is who are these
new investors how do we know that they have the funds to be able to finish this project like Sher mentioned there's that project over in Emerson that's been there for a very long time half done it's an isore as well as dangerous I
don't think we really want that to happen happen here and number two is this Pro the property the house is historic it's very old it very well could crumble if you try to take it
apart to move it it's not a good idea to try to move this it's over 100 years old and I've lived in buildings that are over 100 years old if you even touch the plumbing
it affects everything Downstream it's not a good idea that's all thank you thank you [Music] than would anybody else from the public like to be
heard ma'am oh [Music] sorry thought wanted to be my name is Katherine line um my question is I've been coming to these meetings no
one in town really wants this and I'm a little surprised about the transparency of the mayor and councel I think there's a lot of information not given out to the town that should be given out I think no one here has addressed the
tragic loss of the environmental area that's going to be developed no it's a riparian stream it's got all kinds of wildlife there's different protections for that and no one has considered that I've seen the
town I'm in the town 34 years and I know a lot of you have grown up here it is a tragedy of what's going on here and I would like to think the mayor and Council would fight for the quality of the Town other towns have done it and
have won and there's just for whatever legal reason happened I think it's a tragedy what you're doing and what you're letting happen and I don't feel confident in any of you because I feel like you're folded you
were brave enough to stand against it with the May with the planning board planning board should never have approved it in the first place that was one of the issues and they only approved it because they were afraid of a lawsuit that's and they said that at the
planning board meetings and now we're in this mess that we're losing a vital piece of property that could be a historic Center as well as a nature center something that would add quality to the town and you're just letting it go what's the that development that
happened over by by state is is a tragedy as well that we didn't have any quality development going on no foresight no anything I from what I've con from the planning board meetings for that that went up overnight it went up in a
summer that that was approved and we're we have this isore of I forget the name of what it's called um where my friends who drive in haven't seen the town in years call it the barracks so I'm just very disappointed
in mayor and counsel I think you're not working with the community you're working against the community and shame on you thank you ma'am hi Jane Cho from 16 Lake View Drive old Jaan New Jersey um I hear a
lot about moving the historic house um I've done one uh a renovation on an old house and in Fort Lee they make you put up a bond so the town does not suffer so I think that you should have uh uh the wherever the new buyer is you're not
telling us but they should put up at least minimum 3 to 5 million I have to put up a 2 million for just a little renovation so if anything because everybody's concerned about what is going on with this building we have to put up a bond if there's a crack or if
anything happens with this building as it's being moved we need to be compensated for it so that the town you know doesn't get a minus my question is I heard that there was going to be some acreage given to us than what was previously discussed with
the other bankrupt company I believe so where is the line of delineation as as to how much where like I didn't see any new site plans I came by today they said there's no other planning no Maps there's nothing new so if we're getting
new aage additional I'd like to know where the line is like where's it coming from where where's the line you know is is that giving me more by Lake View 60 ft you know I don't want to give them the variance that you guys are suggesting I want my 60 ft um you're
giving them a variance to have I think only 20 ft and I'm against that um also there to try and decrease the the water seepage situation um I thought
that the seepage tanks may be underneath um I think that's the way they do it in Fort Lee we have seage tanks underneath the ground instead of having these reservoirs that are open that are MOS mosquito infestation ready to happen so I don't know how the reservoirs are done
uh is it still going to be outside very eyesore this is not what the town wants I want to know if they can do it underneath if you hide everything underneath I think they're more apt to agree so if you could do seage tanks or underneath water reservoirs uh I think you can go down to like uh you could dig
up to like 85 ft so if you can dig down even for the parking lot you don't have to go impervious outside you can dig down you can do like they do in Fort Lee you know level one level two go down I think it's safer for people parking they don't have to go through the rain snow
whatever it is I mean they could be underground and have access to the building I think it's safer for people if they're going to be visiting seniors um those are my things um I really don't want a huge edifice of this building and isore as I'm going up and down oldan
Road it is not what I move here for so I would like to keep nature as it is as much as possible I understand that you may have to cut the trees down in the middle of the building where you have to build but if you can kind of leave alone the old trees that's been there for over 200
years let it be and they're the ones who is taking up all the water no those SE Peach tank is will be doing the tree is going to suck up the water it's going to prevent us from having flooded basement that's what we lake views is is most
concerned with and how your excess of the water is going to be going through an easement I I think that's what was spoken before that was not built to handle a commercial building and I don't understand how a commercial building
refu or steep water that's coming out from there can go into our water Our toan Lake pristine toan Lake water where we drink out of and that's going to go through our Lake View system and our Lake View system cannot handle that it
is made for our units only and now we're going to have this big commercial going through we don't know what's going to happen in the next couple of years there's so many concerns right now I understand I can't approach every problem but there's so much concerns that we just didn't have an opportunity
to ask questions on and get answers for what the new new buyer Builder is going to be doing and I was here when we had um Capital originally say that there going to build this thing and cord Juan was sitting up there and I believe he
said what's going to happen if you go belly up and you leave this big ugly thing in the middle and sure enough it has happened they I believe they went bankrupt and they cannot build that's why they had to sell to a new uh buyer um I understand the lawyer is still the
same and I don't understand the how the site map could all still remain the same if they have a new buyer unless they agree to every term every spec on that map that was there like 3 4 years ago that we need to have new drawings we need to have new things done so that we
as town can see it again us residents we are the ones who have to live with this for the next 10 20 30 years hopefully longer if I could live longer but you know that's it thank you thank [Music] you hi my name is Mike AER
I've been living in town almost 40 years um I only have one concern precedent when we approve all of these things that are out of our normal plan and we modify in order to accommodate
what happens when the next guy comes in and the next guy after that they're all going to site oh well you approved this facility oh you approved that facility oh 20 ft verus 60 ft why can't I get to 20t that's all I'm worried about and I'm sharing with you guys I love this town
my grandkids are growing up in this town I just don't want it turned into a commercial Nest thank you thank you sir hello I'm H Gand I represent the Berton County Historical Society I'm the chairman of the historic preservation
committee a position I've had for 11 years and at first before I said anything else I want to commend all of your residents because I attend these kinds of meetings in the 70 municipalities of B County and literally I've never seen another town that has had so many people be so vocal in
opposition to something and what is perplexing is that their elected officials are not listening to them I also uh want to make a comment about Miss fr's uh statement about accommod dating was her Lord the historic house at no point has it been demonstrated how
this house is going to be moved whether these investors are going to hire a legitimate firm that knows what it's doing to move the house how that's going to happen and are they going to spend the money to do it correctly because I could also stand here and give you a very long list of all of the developers
in the county who have told us over these 11 years what they're going to do and then fail to do it or screw things up and then we lose historic resources so just because it is stated that they're going to move the no evidence has been presented to my knowledge of how this is going to happen who's going to do it how much it's going
to cost when is the investment going to be made to do it so anyway I just want to say thank you again to all the residents because this is very very heartwarming to me to see all of you come out R like this thank you thank you anybody else from the public like to
be heard on this matter motion to close second all in favor [Music] okay we have a resolution in front of us tonight um before I turn it over to
council president voice uh I do appreciate everyone coming out tonight and saying your saying your peace um couple of things you know in regards to transparency or so September 23rd is you know a letter that went out to the community explaining some of the um the
method to our Madness if you will on on um what went into the consideration of this and uh so we've tried our best to uh to be transparent uh we've tried to to weigh many factors in I think a few people said a difficult decision um so I do
appreciate um uh folks coming out saying their saying their peace um and uh that's that so uh we have a resolution in front of us uh counc may I add a few words sure okay so I noticed a
undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the mayor and Council in everybody's words that you expressed to us tonight and you know we worked very hard on this settlement agreement and the historic building was Paramount
on in importance to us the preservation of the open space was Paramount in the importance to us um trees were very important to us and um I personally sat through many meetings where we fought
for those things for you um there are um accommodations in the conditions of approval which require Financial guarantees to the town should the uh home fall apart when we try to move it uh we were able to get the home moved on
the same side of the street whereas it would have more likely Fallen apart had it been moved across the street uh we were able to um secure almost 2.2 acres for the town as open space for the future which will become educational
space for the schools across the street um there are a lot of um benefits that came out of this hard work that we did on your behalf it may not seem like it but we really work very hard to secure some positive things out of this it may
not be perfect but we've really tried um if if anybody else on the council can expand on any of that or if our uh our own Council can expand on any of the guarantees about moving the home I believe it's a condition of approval and a condition in the agreement that a
professional will be moving it and Miss price actually mentioned it this evening so yeah and they're licensed insured bonded and they will guarantee that it'll be I had a personal phone call with them they said and it's almost hard to believe that they've moved 500
historic homes and they were working in Japan moving historic buildings as well so they seem somewhat qualified and we would hopefully vet them even further given the opportunity so it's not Reckless on our part I just
want to guarantee everybody that Mr GB is there a reason why we couldn't um let the public know who the new buyers are the name of the new buyers tonight just to show that it was put on the record by Miss price
okay we're not trying to hide anything here I just want to Shure everybody but if I may Mr Mayor um I'd like to thank everybody for coming out tonight I certainly appreciate everybody's comments and we are listening to you
guys our town has been dealing with um this application and its implications for the better part of the three or four years now mhm and um I know the outcome probably isn't what most of us wanted
but I'm hoping tonight we'll find some closure I want to Shure everybody that we have spoken to many professionals about this and um legal Consultants on the matter and uh in no uncertain terms we were told that we'll likely lose this
case and the town would be on the hook for millions of dollars of Damages and that's a risk that I am not willing to take um and I hope other people see it that way thank you thank you can I get a moment also please yeah please thank you
uh first of all I just want to thank everybody for coming here um somebody used the word HSPA I've never heard it it's very good and you're right it does take a lot of Huts but um for what the mayor and Council before I got elected how they voted and unfortunately uh circumstances have changed I also think
it took a lot of hutaff for you guys to come up here and actually um just articulate your feelings and uh and believe you believe you me I think a lot of people here feel the same way you do um that being said um you know not only
speaking about 244 ultan Road in general with if somebody mentioned overdevelopment and stuff we have to understand that that isn't ultap pan that isn't the mayor and Council that's actually we don't want that a lot of this comes from the state level actually it really does come from the state level
so you know we're in a we're we have a gubinatorial race this year we have a primary coming up in June we have a general election anybody who feels like this they really got to show up and vote and remember who's in power who's in the state senate remember who's in the State
Assembly who's controlling it and remember who owns the governorship right now so that's how change you know it trickles down to to municipalities where they basically have a choke hold on us right and unfortunately
that's we kind of you get a you know you get dealt hand the cards and you have to play with what you have um I really do respect everybody here just remember that please um this really like this is going to be a very hard uh vote very hard decision
it pains me deeply and how I vote and councilman uh you said this it really is we're looking at the big picture and what's the most sophistically responsible responsible responsibility for the town and for the residents so I just wanted to put that out there thank
thank you any other comment before we turn over to uh uh I would just like to take a less than a minute um I'm obviously one of the newer members to the to the council but I'm not new to this town uh
having lived here my whole life and uh at first glance you know a lot of people as residents would myself included look at this since I why are we doing this what you know couldn't we have other options um and I can tell you from being up here for almost two years now between
planning board and mayor council that we've looked at all of the options this is not a knee-jerk reaction and uh to Mayor Gallagher's point he sent out a very clear letter on September 23rd 2024
that outlined our options continue to litigate would have been a a risk that could exceed 10 million to the town I can't sit up here as a council person and agree to take on a potential $10 million plus lawsuit for the town we
have other areas in the town that that need funding First Responders and parks and things like that I couldn't look you in the eye and tell you that that I would be okay with taking on a $10 million potential lawsuit that's part of my thinking I haven't voted yet I but
that's just what I'm saying is I came up here with the same thoughts view I'm a resident myself but it's not as simple as as saying okay we'll just we we'll fight it we'll fight we they've been they've been fighting it and then now you know Juan and I are new up here and
we I think our understanding of the the behind the scenes matter uh there has been a lot of Education given to us from professionals on this I understand there are still questions that that residents have um but that's for uh I'd say for our our in
that sense our legal council and our planning board um but purchasing the property at the price as mayor Gallagher pointed out in his letter not a viable option at the listing price and our last option settlement negotiation which would allow for the town to have better
terms and have more control over it and uh once it's said and done hopefully uh you know with all the trees built and the Nature Center Historical Center would could be a benefit to the town so I just wanted to clarify some of those statements made about uh the mayor and
counsel who would also be the First Responders there in many way shapes and form thank you any other comments okay councilman Bo thank you Mr Mayor I have a resolution authorizing the mayor and buau clerk to execute the
consent judgment and settlement in the matter of the CSH ultan LLC so whereas CSH Ulta panel C reviewed approval from the ultan planning board to develop property commonly known as 244 ultan Road ultan New Jersey also
known as block uh 16006 lot 3 as a senior assisted living facility and whereas the planning board approval was appealed by Patrick oody Jr and Sheri funo to the mayor and councel persain to uh ordinance
45-33 and whereas the mayor and Council adopted a resolution on June 20th 2023 which reversed the decision of the planning board and whereas CSH old depan LLC filed an appeal of the mayor and
Council decision with the superior court of New Jersey bearing docket number B L 4189 d23 seeking to reinstate the approval of the planning board as well as for damages persain to New Jersey civil rights act and New Jersey law
against discrimination and whereas the bur has been represented throughout the proceedings by Council appointed by The Joint Insurance Fund as well as the burough attorney and whereas the parties have
participated in numerous settlement negotiations over an extended period of time and have agreed to certain modifications to the plan which benefit the bureau and whereas the attorneys have reduced the proposed settlement agreement to a draft cons consent judgment and settlement which is
attached here to and whereas both the bur burrow attorney and Insurance Council recommend that the mayor and Council settle the lawsuit on the terms contained in the consent judgment and settlement and whereas the mayor and Council of the bur of vol Japan believe
it to be in the best interest of the bureau and its residents to settle this litigation now therefore be resolved by the mayor and Council of the bille Japan that the mayor and counts and burough clerk are authorized to execute the attached consent judgment and settlement
on behalf of the burough of V depan be a further resolved that a copy of this resolution resolution shall be filed with the clerk of the burough of vol toan have a second on that second okay any further discussion on this
resolution saying none roll call please counc um just before I vote this I'm the only one who hasn't chimed in here on the council um a lot of comments here tonight um about how long you've lived here Etc my family's lived here for f
I'm the fifth generation to live in the house that I live in in alapan they've seen a lot of things that have gone on that really uh I didn't have it very good taste in my mouth for however our job as a council here is to manage risk
a lot of it is to manage risk for the town so in the big picture I'm not in favor of this whole thing in the really large scope but when you are given the options that were given my decision took about 5 seconds after I looked at all of
our options and where we had to be and it it it's it's concerning to me that this is going on and you really need to go to Trenton as councilman Marty said so much of this comes out of Trenton now if you're I'm not saying you
should vote for a certain political party anything I'm just saying do your homework if you don't like what's going on vote for the person who wants to get rid of things like this somebody mentioned The Enclave uh which borders my property
Enclave is 19 Acres The Enclave has half the amount of units that they proposed because we had a good attorney at the time and it was negotiated half the units the reason Yan clave is built is because of council una affordable housing and fair share housing there
because there's 20% uh low and moderate income they're allowed to build the rest you're not happy with that vote that's the only thing I can tell you I I I wish I could say it more clearly also as the mayor
said he sent out a newsletter in November or September excuse me we also meet first and third Mondays and if you can't make the meetings we're on YouTube a few days after that watch the meetings come attend the meetings in that fashion
but I like it when we have a lot of people here because what happens is it comes to the endgame today people come they don't have all the information then they find out they can't ask questions they can only make comments and it creates frustration I get it I if I was one of those people I'd be frustrated
too uh so knowing all what I know now I'm voting yes with the alternative of this turning into 120 affordable housing units I vote Yes councilman Marty yes councilwoman
misso yes councilman you yes okay I'll entertain a motion to adjourn so move second on that second all in favor I I we adjourn [Music]