Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Piscataway Town Council meeting for March 12th, 2026. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required under chapter 231 PL 1975. Specifying the time date, location, log, login or dial in information and to the extent known, the agenda by posting a copy of the notice on the Municipal building. The Municipal Court and the two municipal library bulletin boards.
Municipal website providing a copy to the official newspapers of the township and by filing a copy in the office of the township clerk, in accordance with a certification by the clerk, which will be entered in the minutes. There will be public comment periods for both remote and in-person attendees separately. Each member of the public shall have only one opportunity to speak during each public portion. As the technology does not allow us to know if there are multiple callers on an individual phone line or logged in user account,
we ask that if you wish to speak that you log in or dial in separately so that we can recognize you as a separate individual. Should you have any further comments or questions. The town council is always available by email and phone, and you can always call the mayor's office during normal operating hours. Miss Seader, can you please call the roll? Council member Cahill here. Council member. Carmichael here. Council member. Espinosa. Council member. Liebowitz. Here.
Council member. Rashid here. Council member. Uhrin, Here. Council president. Lombardi here. And everyone, please join me in the flag salute. I pledge allegiance 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. We're now going to move to number six, which are comments from the administration and Council regarding adjournment of any matters on this agenda.
Yeah, we do have a proclamation, a number five. Soon as everyone's here for the proclamation, we'll return to that item. Any comments from administration and council on the agenda for any matters on this agenda? Yeah. Like to, speak to, Double C? Resolution supporting UCM resolution regarding Ice
and immigration reform. Several weeks ago, fellow council member at large Sarah Rasheed and I shared publicly that we would be presenting a resolution supporting Ice and DHS reforms at this meeting. It's something that we have been talking about since we came into office over a year ago. I'm very happy to see this on the consent agenda. It was shared very late. I would love to hear it read out loud so we can all people at home and people in attendance can hear it. And I ask, and I will be submitting a supporting resolution clarifying
appropriate use of township ordinances in relation to this in the future. Thank you so much. And we thank you for that. We listened, and we are going to be presenting this evening and we will read it out loud. So thank you very much. Thank you so much. Any other comments? I would like, if, we could get a little context of number nine. Just for the general public. Do you want to? It's very simple. We do this every year. So we have a cap bank.
Every town does this. As a matter of fact, our bank is going to be over $6 million, $6.5 million bank where we could go up to that, but we're not spending that, right. And, mayor, correct me if I'm wrong. This is what we always have to do. Business administrator time. You have to do it this time. Or as we're introducing the budget time frame. Is that correct? It always falls around when we're introducing budget just prior to introduction of the budget. That's right. Yep. We we. Thank you. Any others?
Okay. Okay, so we will move back to number five, which is a proclamation for Reverend Doctor Kenneth L Saunders and Mrs. Shirley Saunders. And the mayor will read that for us this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Council president. Whereas, Reverend Doctor Kenneth L Saunders and Misses Shirley Saunders have faithfully served as chair and leaders of the Civil Rights Advisory Commission, guiding its mission of promoting and supporting the rights of all residents with integrity, compassion
and a purpose. And Whereas, during their tenure, the Commission strengthened its presence in the community, expanding a meaningful programing that reflects the rich diversity of Piscataway, reinforcing the principle that every resident deserves dignity, honor and respect. And whereas under the leadership, the Commission enhanced important initiatives, including the annual Martin Luther King Celebration each January JFK library, African-American reading, participation in the Muslim Center, Middlesex County Interfaith Estar dinner,
Piscataway Township Street Fair, National Night Out, various flag raisings, contributions to Juneteenth celebration, hosting Jackie Robinson Day at Green Acres, and launch of the first Sound Multicultural festival at Riverside Park. Whereas the Saunders have long demonstrated extraordinary dedication to Piscataway community through their 29 years of service as pastor and First Lady of North Staunton A.M.E. church, where Shirley provided steadfast spiritual leadership, mentorship, compassionate outreach to countless families,
strengthening both the congregation, the broad community, Reverend Saunders and his services chaplain, the Piscataway Police Department, his tenure as At-Large Councilman, and his appointment as a former governor. Jim McGreevey to the new Jersey Parole Board. And Whereas, having now stepped back from the leadership roles from the Civil Rights Commission. Reverend Doctor Kenneth L Saunders, senior and Miss Shirley Saunders, and will leave behind a legacy of strengthening community partnerships, expanded outreach, and renewed commitment to inclusion unity throughout Piscataway Township.
Now, therefore, I, Brian Waller, Mayor Township, Piscataway County, Middlesex, and the state of new Jersey do by express my deepest gratitude and heartfelt appreciation to the Reverend Doctor Kenneth L Saunders, Senior and Missus, Shirley Saunders, for their years of distinguished leadership and devoted service to the civil rights Commission into the residents of Piscataway. So, Pastor Saunders, would you like to, come on up? And I think, Sharon Carmichael, come on up. One present. God. One.
One for. Us. I'm going to take a picture to. I'm not sure if I got a 12 year old. Thank you. Thanks. And one thing that we didn't put into the proclamation is that Ken is one heck of a dresser. Congratulations. Thank you.
Thank you for everything, Reverend Kenneth Saunders. You've been a pillar of our community. Thank you so much. We'll now move to number seven, which is open to the public for comments regarding any items on the consent agenda. Number 12, open to the public for any items on the consent agenda. Only. For each public comment portion for the remote attendees, I'll be opening to remote. If you wish to speak at this time, please raise your hand
either on the zoom app or if by phone by pressing star nine. When it is your turn to speak, you will receive or hear a request to unmute yourself. Please click the prompt or press six on your phone to unmute yourself. At that time, please state your name and address and know that the administration will respond if necessary. After you have completed any comments or questions. We're now open to the remote attendees only for the consent agenda items only. Council President I'm asking the first individual to unmute themselves.
Hi Brian Wragg, 1247 Brookside Road for item I. Can you explain what that is? Because the latest guidance from that commission says that you shouldn't care about harassment anymore. That was a news article from February. That's the reading of the budget. I, I'm sorry. I'm looking at the, draft one because everything moved around. Was the Equal Opportunity Commission, certifying compliance with. I'm not sure where it moved to on the actual agenda. Is it h yet? H.
Can you state your question again, please? Yeah. What is h? It's a resolution that the townships required to adopt to ensure that we are compliant with the Equal Opportunity Commission. So you weren't before. I'm confused as to why this is so. It's a it's an annual requirement that everybody in the council must confirm their commitment to that legislation. Okay. So it's everybody in the council confirm
that it's not the town passing new ordinance or something. No, it's a compliance document. Yeah, it's it's a group affidavit form to the EEOC basically saying that we're going to continue to comply and, with the EEOC requirements. Okay. Thanks. Thank you very much. Do we have any others? Yes. I'm asking the next individual with their hand raised to unmute themselves. Hi, this is Jessica Prattville, 1247 Brookside Road. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.
Excellent. I just wanted to say I appreciate that the township is working on, the issue of ice in our community, but I do want to say I'm not sure that I went online and read that document and what it calls for in advance of their meeting here, just in the last 10 or 15 minutes that became available to the public to know that that was on there. And I'm just not sure that it goes far enough with ice snatching people out of their cars, assaulting them,
beating them, murdering people in other parts of the country, and then, putting them in inhumane, holding facilities that are not usually suitable for human occupation. I think that it would be important to take a stronger stance. And I look forward to, council persons, Rasheed and Liebowitz working on that. I did want to inquire. I'm sorry. No, that's public comment. I did just want to say one thing. When you all step away from the microphones
to speak to the gentleman who you were honoring, none of us remote attendees are able to hear that. And, I'm not sure you're aware. I wanted to let you know. Thank you. Council president, there are no other remote individuals with their hand raised regarding this agenda item. The remote portion is now closed. We'll now open to the in-person attendees. If you wish to speak at this time, please come to the podium, state your name, address, and know that you have three minutes in which to make your comments.
You may take your seat after the completion of the comments or questions, and the council or administration will respond if necessary. So and if anyone would like to comment on the consent agenda items, please come up at this time. Seeing none, the public portions closed. Eight is an ordinance second reading vacating all of the Wright title interest the township of Piscataway in its entirety of fourth place. It will be open to the public.
It's a resolution adopting ordinance. Miss Seader can you please read the ordinance? Be it resolved by the township council of Piscataway Township, New Jersey, that an ordinance entitled ordinance vacating all the right Title and interest of the township of Piscataway in the entirety of Roth, please, was introduced on the 20th day of January 2026 and had passed. The first reading was published on the 25th day of January, 2026. Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the aforesaid ordinance, having had a second reading on March 12th, 2026, be adopted, passed,
and after passage be published together with a notice of the date of pastor approval in the official newspaper. Be it further resolved that this ordinance shall be assigned number 2026, dash zero seven. Thank you, Miss Seader. We'll now open this to the public because it is a second reading. So anyone, remotely wishing to speak on ordinance number eight, please come at this time. Council president, there are no remote attendees
with their hands regarding this agenda item. The remote portion is now closed. Anyone wishing from the public to speak on ordinance number eight, please come up at this time. Seeing none, the public portion is now closed. Can I please have an offer to accept this offer? Councilwoman Cahill, can I have a second? Liebowitz, can you please call the roll? Council member Cahill. Yes. Council member. Carmichael. Yes. Council member. Liebowitz. Council member. Rashid
Yes. Council member Uhrin. Yes. Council president. Lombardi. Yes. And the ordinance passes. Number nine is an ordinance first reading to exceed the municipal budget appropriations and establish a cap bank. It's a resolution adopting ordinance. Miss Seader can you please read this ordinance? Be it resolved by the township council of Piscataway Township, new Jersey, that an ordinance entitled Calendar Year 2026 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank and JSA 48 colon four Dash 45.14 B and is hereby
adopted on the first reading that it be published in the official newspaper. And then the second reading, a public hearing, be held at 7 p.m. prevailing time at the Piscataway Municipal Building, 455 Hose Lane, Piscataway, new Jersey, on the 14th day of April, 2026. Be it further resolved that a copy of this ordinance shall be posted in at least two public places within the township prior to the day of the second reading and final passage, and a copy of this ordinance shall be made available at the office of the Township Clerk. For any interested member of the public. Thank you, Miss Seader Do we have any questions or concerns?
Seeing none. Can I have an offer or for Councilman Uhrin Can I have a second? Liebowitz. Miss Cedar, can you please call the roll? Council member Cahill. Yes. Council member. Carmichael. Yes. Council member. Liebowitz. Yes. Council member. Rashid. Yes. Council member. Uhrin Yes. Council president. Lombardi. Yes. And the ordinance passes. Number ten is an ordinance. First reading, replacing chapter 21, zoning
section 21 affordable housing and repealing section 23 collection, maintenance and expenditure of development fees. Resolution adopting ordinance. Miss Cedar, can you please read this ordinance be resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway Township, new Jersey, that an ordinance entitled ordinance to amend the Revised General Ordinances of the Township of Piscataway, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, repealing and replacing chapter 21 zoning section 21 Affordable Housing and repealing chapter 21 zoning. Section 23 collection, maintenance and Expenditure of Development fees
being is hereby adopted on the first reading that it be published in the official newspaper, and that a second reading, a public hearing, be held at 7 p.m.. Prevailing time at the Piscataway Municipal Building, 455 Hose Lane, Piscataway, new Jersey, on the 14th day of April, 2026, before the resolved that a copy of this ordinance shall be posted in at least two public places within the township prior to the day of the second reading and final passage, and a copy of this ordinance shall be made available at the office of the Township Clerk for any interested member of the public. Thank you, Mrs. Sitter. Can I have an offer?
Offer? Councilwoman Cahill, can I have a second? Second. Councilman Uhrin. Miss Theodore, can you please call the roll? Council member. Cahill. Yes. Council member. Carmichael. Yes. Council member. Liebowitz. Yes. Council member. Rashid. Abstain. Council member. Uhrin Yes. Council president. Lombardi. Yes. And the ordinance passes. Council president, if I may, I just want clarification.
This, the this ordinance to revise and amend, is, part of our new plan that has been accepted by the judge so that we meet and exceed our CoA obligation. Is that correct? Correct. So this is affordable housing for folks who don't know. We are mandated by the state to meet an obligation. And tonight, by voting yes on this, I want to thank the council, for doing that. Thank you for that clarification. Number 11 is an ordinance first reading, amending and supplementing.
Chapter 21 Zoning Resolution adopting ordinance. Miss Cedar, can you please read this ordinance be resolved by the township Council of Piscataway Township, new Jersey, that an ordinance entitled an Ordinance to Amend and Supplement the Revised General Ordinances of the Township of Piscataway County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, amending and supplementing chapter 21 Zoning Being is hereby adopted on the first reading that it be published in the official newspaper and the second reading, a public hearing available at 7 p.m.. Prevailing time at the Piscataway Municipal Building, 455 Hose Lane, Piscataway, new Jersey, on the 14th day of April, 2026.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this ordinance shall be posted in at least two public places within the township prior to the day of the second reading and final passage, and a copy of this ordinance shall be made available at the office of the Township Clerk for any interested member of the public. Thank you, Mrs. Theater. Do I have an offer? Just so I know, this, this is piggybacking off these three ordinances. Off for the cola. Yes. Carmichael for second. Can you please call the roll? Sure. Was that Carmichael? That motion? That. Yes. Thank you.
First and Leibowitz So I got that. Thanks, Laura. Council member Cahill. Yes. Council member. Carmichael. Yes. Council member. Liebowitz. Yes. Council member. Rashid. Abstain. Council member. Uhrin. Yes. Council president. Lombardi. Yes. And it passes. Number 12 are the consent agenda. Resolutions for efficiency items have been consolidated
into a consent agenda to be voted on together, and the materials for these items have been distributed to the Council in advance of the meeting. Do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda? Items. Motion. Cahill. Do I have a second? Councilman Uhrin Can you please call the roll? Council member. Cahill. Yes. Council member. Carmichael. Yes. Council member. Liebowitz. Yes. Council member. Rashid. Yes. Council member. Uhrin. Yes. Council. President. Lombardi. Yes.
And with that, I would like to read the comprehensive ice resolution that the Piscataway township has created. So I will read that. Thank you to everyone. Coming together for this. Be it resolved by the township council of Piscataway, new Jersey, that whereas the township of Piscataway is a diverse and inclusive community whose residents reflect the immigrant experience that has long defined the strength in the American story.
And whereas the United States Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization representing representing over 1400 mayors from both major political parties, serving as leading voice through which America's mayors collectively advance policies that strengthen communities nationwide. And Whereas, on January 22nd, 2026, the US, CM and the Major City Chiefs Association
issued a joint statement urging all federal law enforcement agencies to model the professionalism and care expected of local law enforcement to insist upon calm and de-escalation at all times. And Whereas, on March 3rd, 2026, the US CM adopted an emergency resolution entitled calling on the Department of Homeland Security to reform immigration enforcement action
procedures, calling on DHS to immediately require Ice and other immigration enforcement agencies to cease the use of masks and standardize uniforms and equipment to bring them in line with civil enforcement standards. Always visibly display their agency ID number and last name on their uniforms. Use body worn and vehicle cameras when interacting with the public. With mandatory storage of all recorded footage, see stops
questioning and searched based merely on an individual's presence at a location. Occupation, spoken language, accent, race or ethnicity. Reinstate the Sensitive locations policy prohibiting enforcement actions at schools, hospitals, houses of worship, courts, and polling locations. Always obtain and present a judicial warrant for entering public owned facilities or private property. Adopt a reasonable use of force policy proportional to any resistance and band agent training.
To be in line with local police academy standards. Preserve state and local jurisdiction to investigate excessive force incidents and require evidence. Be preserved and shared. Ensure all detainees have access to legal assistance as required by law. And require all detention facilities to meet local health and safety standards and obtain proper zoning and building permits and. Hang up. Whereas on the same day, the U.S.
CM also adopted an emergency resolution entitled calling for immigration Modernization. Now, recognizing that 40 years have passed since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and that the current system is badly out of date, calling on Congress and the administration to undertake a bipartisan effort to fix the broken immigration system, including by enacting legislation that sustains genuine border security while keeping state and local law enforcement focused on community policing.
Reforming the visa system with modern, digital efficient framework, with adequate labor protections for workers of all skill levels, with equitable treatment regardless of nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion. Providing an employment verification system that is enforceable, uniform, accurate and timely, enabling individuals in the country for ten years or more who are leading lawful, productive lives to come out of the shadows without fear of deportation. Providing dreamers a pathway to lawful permanent residence and citizenship.
Creating a dedicated visa category for enterprising individuals to invest in our cities and small business districts, and rebuilding the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, restarting the asylum system, and extending temporary protection status for those who face credible fear of persecution if returned to their home countries. And Whereas the Township Council affirms that the safety, dignity due to the process rights of all Piscataway residents, regardless
of immigration status and our values fundamentals to this community and that comprehensive, bipartisan and humane modernization of federal immigration system is the best interest of Piscataway, new Jersey, and the United States of America. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the town Council of the Township of Piscataway, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, that the Township Council hereby endorses and supports the UCM Emergency Resolution entitled calling on the Department of Homeland Security to reform immigration enforcement
action procedures and urges DHS to implement the bipartisan reforms called therein without delay. And be it further resolved that the Town Council hereby endorses and supports the USM Emergency Resolution entitled calling for Nation Modernization Now, and calls upon Congress and the administration to undertake the bipartisan reforms called for therein. And by be it further resolved, that the Town Council calls upon New Jersey's congressional delegation
and that administration to take immediate steps to protect the safety, dignity and due process rights of all residents and to pursue a just and humane immigration system consistent with the principles set forth in the foregoing UCM resolutions. Thank you for reading that, Council President. You. Will now move to number 13, which is a resolution. And it's the introduction of the calendar year 2026 municipal budget.
All yours. Municipal budget of the Township of Piscataway, County of Middlesex, for the year 2026. Be resolved that the following Statements of Revenues and Appropriations shall constitute the municipal budget for the year 2026 be further resolved that said budget be published in The Courier News in the issue of March 27th, 2026. The governing body of the Township of Piscataway does hereby approve the following as the budget for the year 2026. General appropriations.
Appropriations within caps for municipal purposes $60,662,888.16. Appropriations. Excluded from caps for municipal purposes $35,520,419.44. General. Total. General appropriations excluded from caps $35,520,419.44 reserved for uncollected taxes $2,482,726.
Total. General appropriations $98,666,033.60. Less anticipated revenues other than current property tax $41,622,702.70. Let's see here. Difference amount to be raised by taxes for support of municipal budget, local tax for municipal purposes, including reserve for uncollected taxes $52,725,270.30. Minimum library tax
$4,318,060.60. Thank you, Mr.. I'd like to take, thank our finance department for all of their hard work and meetings with all of us to hone this budget, to be as tight as possible. A great did a lot of work. Council president. Thank you. Mr.. Can I have an offer to accept the introduction of the budget? So moved.
Can I have a second? Carmichael. Miss zero, can you please call the roll? Sure. Council member. Cahill. Yes. Council member. Carmichael. Yes. Council member. Liebowitz. Yes. Council member. Rashid. Yes. Council member. Uhrin. Yes. Council. President. Lombardi. Yes. And the introduction passes. Number 14 are announcements and comments from officials. Councilwoman. Gabriel Cahill.
Thank you. Council. I just want to say, a couple of things. What a great experience. Last weekend, I had, at several township events, including the iftar dinner at the, Muslim Center here. And it was a great event. Helping people from all different backgrounds to come together to understand each other. The Muslim center does this in the hopes that we all recognize each other as just human beings, each with our own paths. But all here, just for the same things.
It was a great event. I still have a little bit of the henna on my, my wrist, my arm. And, I also, was excited to be able to, support the Boy Scouts spaghetti dinner. That's troop 67, I believe. They have an awful lot of fun with that number now. And then also to, attend, at the Gujarati Chutney Center, the holy events. I got to tell you, getting pummeled with colorful powder is fantastic.
And that is also another event that is open to the entire community. And it is a celebratory event. And, I feel very grateful. And I think last weekend helped me to really understand, just how, precious this town is, with all of the different backgrounds, and we're not in the news because I think people here understand and respect one another, and I'm appreciative for that. And I'll say, in honor of my father in law and my husband, a very happy,
Saint Patrick's Day on March 17th. So, that's all I have. Thank you. Council president. Councilwoman Sharon Carmichael. Ditto. Councilwoman. I would also like to say, I'm happy to be able to say happy International Women's Day to all the women. For the global, social, economic, cultural and political achievements. You can't, you know, I can't go ahead and talk.
Okay. Congratulations to all of our women. We are celebrating our social, economic, cultural and political achievements. And that is a honor. And I'm happy that Piscataway is acknowledging that. And there will also be a celebration, at the senior Citizens Center this weekend. Councilwoman Laura Liebowitz. Good evening everybody. First of all, I would like to just, remind everyone that March 22nd
will be the first township municipal, Autism Resource Fair. It will be held at the Y from 1 to 3 p.m.. All community members are welcome. It is a free event. For those who are impacted by autism. There's a many, many resources. The entire multi-purpose room is filled with people who are bringing all kinds of services. The state level, local level, private business.
We have over 12 sponsors of the event. And there will also be a second room, which will be interactive with photo booth and music. And, it really should be a, some crafts. It should be a great, great event, of course, between now and our next meeting. Many, many holidays will occur across. To Gabrielle's point, many multi ethnic events. Easter, Passover, Ramadan. Many events will be happening between now and then. And so I certainly wish that they will all be observed
with peace, with kindness, with with faith. I totally support the mayor's Council ordinance. Not ordinance. Sorry. Resolution. I did have a resolution that I sent to the council. I did not see that it got printed. So I will be bringing this forward once again in our April meeting, supporting reforms of DHS and Ice. And also looking at use of township resources. Thank you so much, everyone. Council president, if I could, Councilwoman
Liebowitz, what was the date again for the autism. March 22nd. Sunday, March 22nd, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Y. Thank you. Councilwoman Sarah Rashid. I hope you know you guys already covered all the holidays. For the last three weeks. Muslim neighbors have been observing Ramadan. It's a time of reflection and charity and community. And I want to wish all my, Muslim neighbors and friends, even Mubarak, which will be probably next Friday.
And all my friends that celebrated Holi last week. So it was a great event. And, yeah, we'll look forward to spring. We had spring for two days and then we're back to winter. So hopefully spring is coming soon. Thank you. Councilman Frank, Uhrin Thank you. Thank you. Michelle. So we have three nice events coming up for our youth in Piscataway. The first one is the PBA Easter Egg on March 28th at 1245 at the Little League Field right down the street. And then we have Sunday, March 29th.
The Arbor firehouse is doing the Easter egg on at 10 a.m. sharp. And then the big event is Little League opening day, April 11th, between the Little League teams, the T-ball teams and our challenge division. We have over 30 teams. That's a record we've had in a long time. Thank you. It's always a great day. Mayor. I'm going to reserve my comments about the budget when everything's finished. Business administrator.
Thank you. Council president. I just would like to say part of. And the mayor is going to be more specific about the budget. But there's one item in here that's kind of exciting. The township ordered a drone. We're going to start our drone program. And I just really, a couple shout outs to our IT team because this was presented to the township by some other companies, and they were charging a lot of money. And I sat down and I said, I have all the faith that you can create this program right here for a lot less money. And they did. So we're going to start training on the drone soon.
The other thing is I just want to bring up I know that, Councilman Uhrin just mentioned the fact that the Easter egg hunt is on March 28th. I also I'm not familiar. I haven't been here for the egg hunt yet. And, the thing is, with regard to parking, because we are on the 28th going to be doing our municipal cleanup on the property. So all of the, dead trees, blowing leaves, all the gravel and salt from all these storms. Our DPW crews will be occupying the,
lot here in front of town Hall along Sydney, road. So that parking will not be available. I know it's a bit of a walk. I don't know if there's an overflow from Little League, but there just might be. I just want to make that announcement. The parking will be limited. In the municipal lot on the 28th, because we will be cleaning that up. And I also would like to again, thank the finance department. They work very diligently on putting this budget together. It's the first year we work together in the departments and, the administration and finance worked very well together.
And thank you so much for your insightful questions, Council. It's very important. I think the residents need to know that, you drill down on questions, you want to know where money is being spent and why. So I appreciate that very much. It keeps me, sharp. So I appreciate it. And, that's what I have for tonight. Thank you so much, Paula. I'll just say about the the egg hunt the minute those eggs drop. It's done. That the time spent is the time that leads up.
Oh, you're just saying. And that's the truth. Can I ask what are some physical activities that some program? Do? When you have, when we have situations where, folks that have all timers get out out of their locked house, instead of having hundreds of volunteer fire personnel, we can dispatch drones when he's seeking signatures to look for folks. A monitoring crack, crash scenes, you name that.
Lost and found. Monitoring our covered bridges. DPW like parks, things that need to be done. Do an analysis of, like, all the dead trees in the park and things along that line. So it's going to be not just a police department of public works engineering, code enforcement. That's great, because I know we all saw with the horrible loss of the young man with autism in Plainfield. So I would love to make sure that we can incorporate services for our folks like, you know, as well, autistic people. Thank you.
Our township attorney. No comments. Thank you. Okay. That leads me to I just, most importantly, I'd like to thank again all of the people that were involved in the blizzard of 2026, the DPW emergency services, our police department. Thank you, thank you, thank you for getting us through that very chaotic day. I was not here for that day, but I did hear about it.
I would also like to acknowledge that today is National Girl Scout Day. It honors the history and legacy of all girl Scouting. I was a Girl Scout, so I'm sure many of us were okay. So it's National Girl Scout Day, the PBA Easter Egg hunt was on my list, and also I was requested to talk about the police department's Safe Streets forum, which is over at our community center. Center, this Monday evening, March
16th, starting at 630. So that is all I have to say. Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone, and look forward to seeing everyone at the Easter egg hunt. Well, now move to the agenda session for April 14th, 2026. On the agenda will have an ordinance second reading to exceed the municipal budget appropriations and establish the Cap bank. That will be open to the public and it will be a resolution adopting ordinance. We pretty much had some clarification on that earlier.
Does anybody have any questions? Seeing none. Then the next thing on will be the ordinance. Second reading replacing chapter 21 zoning. Section 21 Affordable housing and repealing section 23 collection, maintenance and expenditure of development fees. It will be open to the public. Anyone have any questions? Ordinance. Second reading, amending and supplementing. Chapter 21 zoning. It will be open to the public. It'll be a resolution adopting ordinance.
Any questions or concerns? We'll have a motion to accept the financial report of January 2026. Also on the next meeting will be a public hearing for the calendar year 2026. Municipal budget. At this time, we'll now open the public open to the public for any matters on the agenda to the remote attendees. Anyone wishing to speak remotely, remotely, please attend now. Council president I'm asking the first individual, their hand raised to unmute themself.
Hello? Brian Toll, 47 Brookside Road again. So does this mean we're paying DPW workers overtime to come in on the weekend and clean up the municipal lot? In the past week, too many cars. I, I didn't hear if there was a the answer to that is yes. Why are we doing that? Because maybe the fact between the all the employees and the fact that the general public on Monday through Friday, that all the spaces are taken up. It's just convenient that whenever there's a protest planned
outside the municipal building, DPW is always doing something around the lot. The timing is very, very interesting. All I can tell you is, is that the plain fact of the matter is we don't. Our government operations don't revolve around different protests. It certainly seems like they do. Any other questions? Do we have anyone else? Council president. I'm asking in the next individual with their hand raised to unmute themselves. Good evening. This is Jessica Critical, 1247 Brookside Road. Again. Are you able to hear me?
Yes, we are. Great. I just wanted to bring up. So I know that you all mentioned last time when you passed the ordinance about the hotel licensure and, that all those people came in and said that that wasn't the right thing to do, and you all responded that it was a step in the right direction. I wanted to follow up on how the work you've said that you would do to continue to make Piscataway
better for all the people, including those most vulnerable. I wanted to see how that was going, and if you have any planned future steps that maybe the community could be more involved in. I can give the council an update on where how the license is going. So we've been contacted by motel six corporate as well as Extended Stay America. Just today. And I received a call from their council. So we're starting to work with them on licensing and also, making sure that our hotels are safer and, and,
a good place for, for, individuals to stay. Thank you. And what about help? Thank you. Sorry about our question. What was, about the vulnerable people? Is there anything that the township is planning to do to assist people in need? People who may be underserved at this time. Is that your last comment? Yes. Thank you. Are you talking about establishing some type of committee or commission to investigate resources available in the town,
connected maybe to the county? Is that what you're asking? It was pretty general in my question, in that, the council said that the hotel ordinance was a first step, and I was interested what the next steps were. I think getting stakeholders involved and the county involved would be a great way to help the most vulnerable people in our township, but I'll leave that to you. Okay. I'm going to pass it over to you. Love to be updated. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, there's there's a couple of items that will work
and that you may see probably on the next meeting. You know, we're making sure that we're thorough about doing our legal research and what's, what's compatible, but we want to, continue in this licensing and, and, and policies with these hotels, motels to make sure that they're safe place. We already have an excessive, call ordinance that's already in place. Working with the police department to make sure that's more effective. And also working to see how we can make sure that those hotels. And again, we're not targeting the residents of the hotels,
we're targeting the hotels, we're holding them responsible. And so we're looking to see how we can make sure those hotels are providing a safe, safe place for the residents. Mr. Okamura, if I may. We talked to that because we do a lot of shared services with the, the county that, as we do work through next steps and what they might be that we would get our, our partners at the county to be in discussions with the administration, who work in social services, to be specific.
Thank you. Council president, I'm asking the next individual with their hand raised to unmute themself. Hi. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Great. This is Allie Brockman. I live at 241 Basser Drive. I think that this Council of Mayors resolution sounds nice. It sounds kind of like a strongly worded letter to the federal government, but I didn't hear anything in it about what the town council will actually do to stop ice from using our resources or what?
The town council will allow Ice to do or not do in Piscataway. I was very much hoping to hear the ordinance that was, going to be proposed by council members Liebowitz and Rasheed today on actually using your power to stop ice from terrorizing our communities to the extent that you can. I've recently spoken to a lot of my neighbors, and almost everyone's faces light up at the prospect of town council candidates who would actually use their power to keep ice out of Piscataway. So I hope that you will consider their ordinance,
and I hope that you will use your power to show your constituents that you're willing to stand up to ice, tangibly prevent them from terrorizing our neighbors or using our many warehouses or other resources for their gain. Thank you. Thank you. We did not receive their resolution ahead of time. I just want to clarify, we did not receive that. I did email at this afternoon to the council email. Okay. So I can answer in terms of of probably since,
President Trump's first term, since the, the immigrant trust directive was issued by the AG, to go while back probably a year ago. The township immediately implemented into its policy and procedures and have has continued to enforce them. So the township police department does not facilitate Ice in any way. They do not provide them any information. We are completely compliant as we gone on new public safety director. We had conversations about retraining and educating all the police department in those policies, and we have done so.
There you know, we haven't had, a an ice raid in the township. Thank you. Thank God so far. There, you know, and the the police department continues to not to abide by the directive and, and work to make sure that they're not facilitating Ice in any way. Now, I will tell you, council, that Ice is a federal agency. There is very little a municipality can do to to prevent them from coming into town and doing what they what they want to do.
However, the township is, is doing what it can and has to the full extent. It has has continued to to not at least facilitate that. Right. So there's no ordinance that any council member could, ask to have written to stop ice from coming into town. No. And and to the extent that, you know, you know, I think we actually do have an executive order by the mayor, probably from I think it was mid-February. Kind of piggybacking on the county in the, in the state in terms of making sure that Ice is not using municipal facilities.
So we have that in place also. But, you know, this is to be honest, I think between the resolution tonight and what the township already does, this is the extent of the municipality's powers. And and our colleagues, to be clear, who did, talk about this earlier in the year, Councilwoman Liebowitz and Rasheed, who talked about this. It is a resolution. It is not an ordinance. And I know, like the average, that it may not know the difference, but it is important for the township residents to know that as a township.
The stance that we took back in the first term of this president, and what we're doing is probably to the maximum of what we are allowed to do by law. Would that be an accurate statement? Yep. You just clarified date of that mayor's executive order or just. Yeah. Don't quote me on it, but I, I think it was February 18th of this year. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Council president, there are no other remote individuals with their hand raised going to now close for the remote attendees.
So now we are open to the public for anybody who is an in-person attendee, please come up to the podium. State your name and address and know that you have three minutes in which to speak. Coastal Safety Mills 58. Curtis, on the subject of immigration. My grandfather was here in 1938. My mother came here and in the mid 50s it took the rest of the family until 1962 to come here. This is one of them.
A veteran with honors. Took us ten years to come to. We submitted all documents to the American Embassy. Each and every one of us, in our case, twice. We finally got our visa ten years after the initial application. Without the visa, you're illegal. You shouldn't be deported. No matter how long you've been here. No matter how civil you are,
you're eligible for deportation without the American Embassy approval. You cannot come to this country. 1962 I came into this country. February 1968 I was on Monkey Mountain killing people. The very first day there, I killed three people. You're illegal without that processing from the American Embassy,
you are subject to deportation no matter how long you've been here. Property maintenance. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. What a shame. There is no pride in now. Police officers. They're handcuffed. They can make any kind of report concerning public safety.
No battles, no blind intersection, no dead trees, no nothing. Why? Why are they handcuffed? Why are they blindfold? Why are they muzzled? They're not protecting us. They're listening to you. You. Who makes up all these stupid ordinance? Stupid ordinance makes people dito. Isn't that here?
I wish he was here today. I gave him as a dito coming to the Council. He didn't come today. You charged in $2,000 digital taxes for putting up a shed on his backyard. And now he has to fight in court. An account of the vinyl fence. Thank you sir. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Oh, why? Oh, okay. Good evening. Kurdish group of 1750 West third Street.
Good evening. I guess it's good so far. I need to ask the mayor and my councilman, Frank, in reference to South Second Street with the barriers. We need to that. When are we going to lower them so we can get the street sweepers over there to clean this area? So this has to be done soon because it's starting to look like a sewer. So I don't know when we could do it, but it needs to be done. And we need the other barricades coming for the one did. We talked about that.
We're going to take down that's not out to bid yet. Okay. And Curtis DPW will take a look at lowering the barriers when they go in the street, sweep the entire neighborhood. Okay, that was a little late getting here. I just want to remind, since the last meeting, I think we all know I lost. We I did, I lost a friend. I met him over 20 years ago, Reverend Jesse Jackson. So I just wanted to let people know if they didn't know he was.
I met him 20 years ago in Newark, so I feel he was more just somebody. He was a friend. I hope everything still works out the way he planned it. I appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Grubbs. Anyone else? We'll now close the public portion. Council president, if you don't mind, I'm going to go over a couple quick items during the budget. Go ahead. Mayor, couple a couple quick items. I just want to say that we affirmed our stable rating.
It's, for those folks out there, it's actually a very good credit score for the township. It's the second highest. We also, the the available base, the industrial, commercial ratable base, was an increase of over 7% this year, which equated to about $840 million, a value, this year, which which is a good thing. The other point is, is that the tax rate went down another two points, for the ninth year in a row. We also had,
increase. If I may, of, of the funding. We also in relation to the cap levee bank, there was a total cap levy bank is balance is $6,333,000, which we can go up to, but we're not. So we're $6.1 million under that creation cap. We're over $6.2 million under the appropriations cap. Which which is a very good thing for the taxpayers. Our state aid stayed flat for the last 20 years.
We we haven't had an increase since, Governor McGreevey. So, but with that being said, like every other household in our community and throughout the state, we did have some increases. In expenditures, through the health insurance and obviously, you know, various items. We did add an additional funds in for, gas and heating services, obviously, with everything that's going on nationally where everything's bumping up, we took that into consideration to and obviously we're still receiving the receipts from the blizzard right now.
I think the cost is well over $400,000 from that storm. And I suspect it will be, ended up about a half $1 million in change. One of the downsides for, for revenue this year is that there was a decrease. We now don't have the horizon tax out of horizon tax out there. Where Verizon has their, utility poles in our civil rights away. That equates to an assessed value of almost $25 million. So now that they've received, they're down below the 51% threshold
where landlines are a discount, that tax goes away. So that's just not in our town. It's in other towns in the state, too. So, this is the first year we've lost all the revenue from no one's using, landline anymore, a mobile phone. Well, that's one of the drawbacks there. We do have an awful lot of capital projects underway this year. We're out to bid. The next phase of, Patton Avenue. Harrell place we're going to be. We just awarded that tonight, between West Seventh, which is,
Hamilton Boulevard. Frank, between, Brant and the Montgomery, Murray Avenue, between using the cul de sac. Richards. Between Adams and Hart. Hedgerow between. But when buttonwood of Sturbridge drive, from metallers lane to Millers Lane and Palisade Tavern and from Brookside to Gramercy as well, we're going to be out to bid very shortly on, Boxwood Drive. And oh, and, we did add, the award tonight, comfort station up on Green Acres. First time we did award the contract to start installing utilities.
And we're waiting for the utility companies to come in and do the installations up there. That that'll be actually much wanted because, actually, what was happening up there? A lot of the, porta potties were being tipped over, and it created a hazmat situations. And a couple times some of them were lit on fire, believe it or not. So hopefully that'll and that and, we do have, some money through the pilots, to pay the debt service on the, community center. And we set aside $2 million towards the start of the construction of infrastructure work of the ecological park.
And then, of course, the comfort stations. So those folks that are out there are quick to blame pilots for their problems. If it wasn't for that, our taxes would be going up substantially and these projects would not be getting over the finish line. There's other other items in the budget, that I'll just wait for, till we have our public hearing. So I just want to highlight some of those, and also we're going to be installing a lot of this balance of the sidewalks on the road west. And we also have sidewalks going in on Sydney Road, out over here in down.
Down south, South Randolph Road. We have it going over on Staunton Road, up by both railroad tracks on New Brunswick Avenue and, Stanton Road and, the sidewalks, as I said before, on both Staunton Roads and New Brunswick Avenue. And we're going to be able to bid on phase two of all New Brunswick Road between the 287 bridge and the, the, Conrail tracks right there. So that's that should be out to bid. And that that also doesn't include the current contracts
that we have underway for Love Guard Street. Frank, that's over in your ward. And then the real big one in Dennis's ward is is the Centennial Avenue project, which is the largest, reconstruction project in the history of the town. So there is a lot, a lot of projects underway. Also, the retrofitting of the, LED lights at Riverside Park, a lot of fence repairs to a lot of the parks over Town Park. Frank and Michelle, we're retrofitting the volleyball court and the, tennis courts area.
And that also the, summer shades over there. And then over at the fire training center, we, took to retrofit the smoke tower and the building over there. We also applied, to Senator Booker and Senator Kemp's office for some additional grant funds towards that to do some, upgrades. That doesn't include the new phone system that we're that's about 25 years old here in the town that were replaced. And the reason why we're replacing that, because we can't get parts anymore with phones is they don't make it.
So now we have to have some news. So those are just some of the items that are, that are out there that we're planning to, to fix this year through this capital budget. So thank you, Council President. Thank you very much. Mayor, can I ask what is on do you have a percentage on our health insurance coverage increases? It was it was about 22.3%. Thank you. I just want to be first of all, I'm very excited about having that up on Green Acres. Having worked up at that high school for a long time, I think it's great.
I am hearing from people about concerns about when bathrooms just in general and parks are open. It seems like no matter when somebody goes I, I'm hearing, of course when they go and they want the bathrooms, they're not being open unless there's like specific like I know when we have concerts. But in general is there like a schedule or a cycle or how do we decide when bathrooms are open or not open at parks, especially now that it's hopefully going to get nice out into the season? We do have the bathrooms open Monday through Friday,
out there during the workday out there, and the reason why we used to have them open at night, but we've been having a hard time getting in attendance. And what's happened is, and, some of the kids over there did a lot of vandalism and damage and broke. And one of the one of the bathrooms, they broke every urinal and every sink and all the parks. So that's why we don't have an unless there's an attendant there. That's why they stay closed because of the vandalism. So when you say work day, do we extend it with daylight savings like when we or it's 9 to 4:00 in the morning till about 5:00.
Okay. Thank you. And those attendance are so hard to find. Yes. No one wants that job. We have to be creative. Is that something that, If we had the video cameras outside, we could get the vandals. Well, we have video cameras in a lot of our parks, and we're going to be installing more. Councilwoman. But however, the problem is that if you leave it, open it, you know, there's still vandalism that goes on the the parks take a lot of abuse, believe it or not.
Okay. Well, before I close the meeting in honor of Women's History Month, here's to strong women. May we know them, may we be them. And may we raise them. I will take a motion to adjourn this meeting. Discussion a second. Second. All those in favor say I, this meeting has been adjourned. Have a great evening.