All right. Good evening and welcome to a meeting of the mayor and council of Princeton, New Jersey. It is November 24th, 2025. Madame clerk, could we have the meeting statement, please? Notice of this meeting was provided in accordance with the requirements of the
open public meetings act and state regulations governing public meetings, including the time, date, and location of the meeting and clear and concise instructions to the public for accessing the meeting and making comments. In addition, the agenda and all related materials were posted electronically and
made available to the public on Princeton's meeting portal in advance of the meeting. >> Thank you. Michelle's going to do the land acknowledgement tonight. We gather today on the land of the Lenai Lape. As members of the Princeton community, we aspire to show
appreciation, respect, and concern for all peoples and our environment. We honor the Lape and other indigenous caretakers of these lands and waters, the elders who lived here before, the indigenous today, and the generations to come. >> Thank you. Can we have roll call,
please? >> Mr. McDonald, >> here. >> Miss Peron Lamrose, >> here. Mr. Cohen >> here, >> Miss Saxs >> here, Miss Frogga >> here, >> Mr. Nulan >> here, >> Mayor Freda >> here. >> All right, if you're willing and able to stand, if you'd stand and join us in the
pledge of allegiance. >> 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. >> Thank you.
First up on the agenda is approval of minutes from the July 28th, 2025 meeting. If somebody would move those. Thank you, David. Leticia's got the second. Any questions or comments on those? All right. All in favor, please
say I. >> I. Um, I need to abstain as I was absent. >> Okay, that's a good point. Thank you. All right. Uh, council announcements andor reports. Leticia.
>> Yes, thank you. I just have one quick announcement and happy to report that again this year Princeton has maintained a perfect score of 100 uh by the human rights campaign's mun
municipal equity equality index is for the seventh year in a row and uh so it's something I think very proud to do uh to be uh of this score We are one
of few municipalities that has a perfect score and when we first started about yeah seven years ago we were in the low high 80s low 90s and then thanks to at the time um working with uh Nick Deio
uh on uh perfecting the score uh every year since we've maintained 100. Yay. Yay for us. Good >> job. Any uh Michelle,
>> thank you. Um so as part of our plan to uh launch the new bus route, we are looking to rename both the current bus and the new bus route. So instead of the MUN bus, we want a new name. So we've
reach we want to reach out to the community and just ask if you're interested and you have a name in mind to please submit it. So, we're just um asking the public to do that. That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> What's the deadline on that? >> Sorry. >> What's the deadline? >> December 3rd.
>> December 3rd. Okay. Thank you. >> Any other council announcements or reports at this time? >> Okay. Uh Chief, you're up next. >> Thank you, Mayor and Council. Tonight, I'll be presenting the police department
monthly report from October. I'd like to begin with an update on our street smart campaign. Traffic continues to be one of the most common concerns raised by our residents and it remains a top priority for the police department. As part of the grant process to acquire the Street Smart initiative, our traffic safety
bureau was required to demonstrate the depth of our existing outreach efforts. And these include educational pop-up tableling events throughout town, walk to school day participation, community training sessions, bike rodeos, traffic safety articles, surveys, as well as
collaborative work with our municipal and community partners. During the two-week campaign period in October, officers conducted targeted enforcement details totaling more than 52 hours of focused activity. These efforts resulted in 96 motor vehicle stops at the five
locations identified as having the highest rates of bicycle and pedestrian related crashes. It is important to express our appreciation to greater Mercer TMA for their partnership along with local businesses Bel Jane the Bagel Nook and Ily Coffee at Earthen for their
support of this tremendous traffic safety initiative. The second item I'd like to highlight involves driving while intoxicated incidents. In October, our officers made eight DWI arrests. One of those incidents involved a motor vehicle collision in which a juvenile sustained
significant injury and required hospitalization. As of today, we have already recorded 36 DWI related incidents in 2025. It's already surpassed last year's total. The Principal Police Department takes impaired driving extremely seriously. In fact, we have been one of the most
forwardthinking agencies in New Jersey in our efforts to combat DWI. Two years ago, we launched the Princeton PD provide your DD program. Rather than focusing solely on enforcement, we sought to prevent impaired driving altogether. In partnership with ride
share service Uber and funded jointly by the police department and the police union, we provided more than 900 safe rides home for our community members. Unfortunately, the funding for this program has been totally exhausted and we are forced to suspend it. Our traffic
safety bureau is currently communicating with the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, exploring potential funding opportunities and also trying to identify other possible avenues so that we can reinstate and sustain this valuable community program. In the
meantime, and with the holiday season quickly approaching, we want the public to know that the Princeton Police will have patrols out in full force on our roadways with an unwavering commitment to keeping our community safe. So with that, uh, Council Mayor, I'll take any questions.
>> Thank you, Chief. Any questions for the chief? >> Okay, great. Um, do we have any other staff reports before we go to presentations? >> Just to note, mayor, that municipal offices will be closed for Thanksgiving both Thursday and Friday of this week.
>> Okay. Thank you for that. All right. Next up, a presentation on storm water utility. Tiana. >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. So used to uh police leaving us uh
giving the chief a little a few minutes here. >> Night. Um, thank you for the opportunity to provide you with an update regarding Princeton storm water utility feasibility study. Jim Pcell and I have
been leading the study for the municipality. Members of the consultant team, Princeton Hydro WSP, are joining us on Zoom tonight as well. In 2019, New Jersey passed the enabling
legislation for municipalities to create storm water utilities. Princeton started its four-phase feasibility study in 2022 and completed phase 1 in 2023. We are now completing phase 2 and seek
council support to move to phase three. In phase three, we will be making we will be finalizing the programming, annual budget, user fee, and credit policies. While we were one of the first municipalities in New Jersey to
undertake the study, at least four municipalities have created storm water utilities, and those include Raritan Township, Maplewood, New Brunswick, and Carlat. Why would Princeton want to consider a
storm water utility? The increasing requirements of the municipal MS4 storm water permit are overextending Princeton's existing staff and resources. Earlier this year, we were audited by the NJD and the results definitely
support that we function in a reactive mode. Between DPW, sewer, and engineering, we mobilized five to 15 staff at various times over the last six months to conduct inspections, make
repairs, and prepare the required documentation. Additionally, we have aging and undersized infrastructure which is subjected to higher runoff due to extreme weather events. As a result, we
have a list of major capital projects to replace culverts and other storm water fil facilities to address flooding issues. Currently, the storm water program is financed by property owners through property taxes. A utility will allow us
to recognize storm water as a municipal service, similar to sanitary sewer or solid waste, and a utility, those that create the demand for the infrastructure like pipes, are responsible to fund them. A user-based program and rate
structure spreads the costs more equitably than relying on the tax base. The only exempt groups in a utility are certain agricultural uses. It also creates a stable revenue source for
long-term financial planning. Storm water activities would not compete against other municipal capital projects for funding because they are financed by those user fees. Depending on policy decisions, grant programs and credits
can be provided to rate payers to make storm water site improvements to reduce their fee. So, as a recap, the work in phase one focused on documenting the current resources expended to address storm water, noting that not enough is being
done to meet our storm water permit requirements. This was, as I noted, reinforced by our audit. The consultant also completed an initial analysis of the imperous surface
on 360 residential properties in Princeton. As the user fees are based on equivalent residential units or erus, the consultant has created a database for imperous service on all properties
and the fee and billing structures will be finalized as part of phase three. The consultant's work in phase two focused on preparation of level of service option analyses to meet all of the MS4 storm water permit requirements
and to finance needed capital projects. Various scenarios have been prepared in order to evaluate the potential magnitude of the budget and thereby the user fees needed to fund it. Potential credit policy policies have also been
prepared to define how much revenue may be offset by credits issued. the focus group that was created in phase one um which is made up of a cross-section of uh business owners,
school representatives, um residential property owners um and other groups in town um remained active in our phase 2. We held six meetings with them in the course of phase two to
test the public's opinion on the policies and scenarios. Feedback from stakeholders was also solicited in eight individual stakeholder meetings. These efforts refined the program policy and rate
options to formulate a draft rate model and impact analysis. So looking ahead uh the next three slides will prov provide more detail on um the phase 2 deliverables. On this slide, it is important to note that the
focus group prioritized planning, transitioning to a proactive approach, cooperating regionally, and being accountable and transparent. In the cost modeling, a 10-year
projection is used in phase three. This cost model will be refined as decisions are made regarding level of service, resource enhancement, and credit policies. Feedback and direction will be required from council to rightsize the
model. Credits are another item to be refined in phase three. New Jersey storm water legislation requires that credits be offered by a storm water utility. It provides these credits provide an incentive for rateayers to reduce but
not eliminate their fee by making measurable site improvements. In phase two, the focus group discussed what qualifies a rate payer for a credit and support providing three levels of
partial fee reductions. So with the completion of phase two, we seek council support to move into phase three of the feasibility study. This is not an a decision to implement a storm water utility. It is a decision to
continue to refine the program policies and budget that would be the basis of a utility. Public engagement and council engagement will be critical in this next phase to formulate these items in a transparent and accountable fashion.
This slide provides the questions that will be answered in phase three. Um our consultant team of Princeton Hydro WSP is providing a pro proposal for these phase three services and we anticipate
providing it to council in the next month or so. Um so then at the end of phase three, council will be given the decision to implement a utility. If the answer is yes, then an ordinance will be
introduced and adopted to create the utility. Um if the answer is no, then we have the information that's been gathered through the process and it can be revisited at a later date. Um so with that
one more slide. This concludes our presentation. Jim, myself and Princeton Hydro WSP um can answer any questions that you may have. Um and we again ask for your
support to move ahead to phase three. >> Thank you. >> Thanks Diana. >> Other questions up here? >> David? But >> thank you for that good presentation. >> In in the executive summary, there was a
sentence that caught my attention that said that quite possibly the reason that we're in this position is that we are reactive rather than proactive. Can you uh talk a little bit about that?
Well, um Jim Purcell here. I reactive means that we have an aging infrastructure that uh continually breaks down. Um it's something that you don't see. It's under
our roadways. It discharges to our streams. Um we have a responsibility to keep that in good repair. and we have several hundred outfalls to streams um that are very
difficult to stay on top of uh on an annual basis. Um, one of the requirements of the MS4 permit is also that whenever there is a storm of greater than one inch in magnitude, uh, our detent our our storm water basins, I
won't say detention basins, we have some, um, but our storm water basins have to be inspected. So, um, there's only one person that's been doing those inspections this year. Uh, every time it rained, uh, she had to go out and take
the time to visit every one of our storm water basins and check the outfall, the inlets, the outlets, um, and make sure that it was still functioning. And that is our deputy administrator, Deanna Stockton. Um, resources are thin and
training is uh, is necessary to be able to understand what needs to be inspected. Um we're also under some mandates to ensure that our um storm water uh enters the state waters in a
state of of cleanliness. Um we are uh we now have to start looking at implementing retrofits into our inlets to keep sediment and trash from going downstream into uh the open
waters. Um, I could probably go on and on, Deanna. >> Yeah, part of it too is um, yeah, we we don't have staff either on the engineering side or on the public works side who
is that that this encompasses all of their duties. we all do, you know, 50 other things and especially now with some staffing uh shortages we have in
engineering. So, um, to be able to transition to a proactive position where we program and schedule this these trainings and these um these inspections
and these cleanings, we we just haven't been able to get there. Um and so having a utility with the user fees, um we have the opportunity to look at how we
approach that system and determine if there is a better way to do that with um you know shifting of resources or staff augmentation from consultants whatever it may be.
>> Okay. I just want to say thank you for for that comprehensive report and and I just want to add on that um being proactive as opposed to reactive is an all-encompassing
question and I wanted to give you the opportunity to answer that question but I think coactive uh proactively we have some additional work to do. I'll just leave it at that. Thank you. Thanks. Um,
not so much. Well, I'm very in favor of moving ahead with uh phase three of the study. However, um I'm curious, has council had a chance to see the phase 2
work product? And if not, at what point will we have the chance to see that? to uh support our decision in that regard to move ahead with phase three. >> We we do not have a one single document
like we did in phase one that um encompasses the deliverable deliverables and work products. certain members of council have seen components of it uh >> like me >> but like what we talked about like the
level of service it's it's a spreadsheet where it lays out many different scenarios. The cost model is an interactive spreadsheet where depending on the inputs that you change, you'll
get um different feedback on you know what the budget needs to be and what you user fees need to be. So in a sense those are all still working documents >> um that will be further refined as we go
through phase three. Um, but no, we have not shared throughout council all of those documents, >> but we're not expecting to have a single document sort of a close out of phase 2 deliverable from the consultants.
>> I will get back to you on that. Um, I don't know if any of our consultants are on Zoom right now. Um, but they might be able to answer that question. Unfortunately, I don't have Zoom on my computer. Any hands raised in the Zoom
world for us? >> Jamie's got it. >> Jamie or Elizabeth? >> Jaime's hands is up. >> Okay. >> Hey, Adam, if you could bring Jamie in. >> Jamie Feinstein from Princeton Hydro, can you
hear me? Okay. Yes, thank you. >> Okay, great. Well, I've come on to say a very brief uh a brief thing, but yeah, um the just the nature of phase two, it doesn't um at this time include kind of a summary document. It's exactly as
Deanna said, kind of a a bunch of different products together. Um so, so yeah, I think that's uh that's something, you know, that we can we can talk about if it's something that's desired. Um, but I think all the
information right now is is pretty clear and available um in its its various formats, but I will leave that discussion to to have with Deanna at a future point. >> Okay. So, it would be good you guys figure that out and just have it
available somewhere so that council members can get to it. >> Yes, we can. We can also provide uh the agendas and the minutes from the various um focus group meetings as well as the
um stakeholder meetings. >> Okay, >> great. Thanks. >> Yep. We'll get that compiled for you. >> Okay, David, were you anything else or you >> That's it. >> Okay, Michelle, do you have your hand? >> Okay. Yeah.
Uh thank you. I really appreciate the comprehensive work that's been done. I just want to say I'm very much in favor of moving forward and on slide 45, you know, it shows who would pay um and who does uh currently pay and I think
that there's a real equity uh in the, you know, whole idea of this and concept. um it's based on the impervious coverage and so it's kind of like a user of the sewers or you know water uh rates
it's it's you know based on that so I like that uh standpoint um and Dian I just wanted to ask if you could just elaborate a little bit on the you said the MS4 permit that the kind of the unfunded mandate from the state of where
we need where we should be and how we need to comply. if you could just uh elaborate a little bit. Thank you. >> Sure. The the most recent um MS4 permit became um active I think January 2023
and um within that document there were quite a few additions for um what municipalities need to do to stay compliant. Um some of them are phased in but they're ultimately still unfunded
mandates. So um there is an increase on sweeping required. Um so that's something that is phased in over a number of years. Um there is a requirement to retrofit all of our storm
water inlets if they are not compliant with the current design. Um we had typically been replacing them as we had capital improvement projects. uh but instead now there's a mandate
that you have to go in I think within 3 years and replace all of those um to bring them up to standards. Uh we've got prioritization inspection and prioritization of scour
um that work has to be done to make repairs I think within 90 days. Um, that's something that's new. Everything requires quite a bit of documentation. Um, and that's something that I think
most public works and municipalities struggle with. Um, because you're used to doing the activity and not necessarily filling out five pieces of paper to support each activity. So, that's been something that we're
building a program now um to be able to do that. Um Jim is helping me remember uh the watershed improvement plan. That's that's a big one. Um where by the end of this year, we need to have an
inventory report submitted. next year. Uh we have to and then within the next year put together a um proposed program and hold public
meetings as to how we can improve water quality um because this is this is mainly a function of water quality. And then I think a year after that, the third phase of that program is to
I think kind of program out when we can do projects um to improve water quality. So it's it's quite extensive. >> It is and it's capital improvements, investment as well as a lot of staff time. Correct. um which kind of will
segue into our next conversation after this but um it's very much a you know a large undertaking. So not only what we want to do and need to do on you know a regular basis but now we have to do it so in order to comply.
>> Thank you. >> Okay. Other questions or comments? Yeah. Um so I I just want to break it down very simply for the public who who are watching and are just want to cut to the chase. So basically there's climate
change. Um it creates issues related to storm water mitigation in our town. Um the state has imposed mandates which as Michelle pointed out are unfunded. Um right now uh in order to stay afloat
literally in Princeton, the the tax burden is borne um disproportionately by the residential homeowners. Um and this really is an equitable approach. The sooner the
better so that we can spread it out equitably. And I have to give a huge shout out to Deanna and Jim and everyone who was involved with um the working group because they managed to bring along uh some of the entities in our
town who have not paid um um as much um and and uh to get them to to understand how essential this is for us. Um and we really appreciate your um bringing this along so that you know everyone understands it's that it's an imperative
um you know taxexempt entities, commercial entities um and I just want to say that I particularly appreciate the creative approach to taxing because I noticed at the end that um you are going to be
taxing the dead in Princeton uh cemeteries and graveyards. I like that approach. It's a new one. It's a fee, not a tax. >> Okay. >> Fee, >> we we've heard about death taxes before, but not in this context.
>> Leticia, >> I just want to uh thank Diana for that great presentation and thank you Mia for summarizing it. Uh I for one too, I'm in favor of moving forward to phase three. >> Two questions. The first one is what is
the cost of phase three? And the second one is for anyone who's listening or views this meeting at a future point and wonders what kinds of things could I do to help reduce the fee when the fees come about.
Are we able to produce a list of potential fees saving actions that so if somebody's doing something this summer to their property, they might want to do it now instead of waiting till the utilities in place. So anyway, cost and is there a way to share with people some
things they might think of doing to >> So the first question about cost, could you just repeat that? >> Can I repeat the question? >> Yes. >> What is the cost of phase three? >> The consultant cost. Yeah. So, we had I think we had gotten a proposal from them
for each of the four phases because it's a few years past um when we started the program. I don't have an exact fee for you right now. They're working through those details. Um we also found
uh that we need to be more creative in the way that we reach out to the public. We cannot expect them to come to us. So in phase three, we will be doing a robust program where we go out to
various groups around town. We're looking to work with Sustainable Princeton on that. Um so WSP uh Princeton Hydro is working on the fee estimate for us right now. you'll get a proposal
when when we have that um fin when we have that scope of work finalized. >> Okay. So, when we say we're in favor of phase three, that is more of a like, hey, that's a great idea, but it'll come back to us for an actual, oh, here's the cost and we increase the cost. >> Yes, definitely. >> I just want to definitely
>> want to make that clear to people listening that we're not just saying go spend money and we have no idea what we're about to spend. >> Yes, you're correct. we will bring back the full scope of work, the schedule and the um the fee to you for approval before anything moves forward.
>> Thank you. >> And then the other question was >> right >> is there a way to share with people ahead of time what some of the potential things they could do to reduce fees in the future and even if they don't reduce fees just what are things people could do to help address this whole situation, right? Because it's
>> ringards are um a great option. It's a lower cost improvement for your property. It has the added but besides withholding or detaining runoff, you can
also use it to beautify your property. Um create habitat for local species. That's that's a big one. Jim, what else have you been seeing? I'd be careful with that because if if you're putting in a storm water management system on
your property because you're mandated to through our ordinance, that is not probably not eligible for credit. If you go above and beyond um and do things that are not um required because you're making
improvements, um that would be something that would be looked at as a potential credit. >> Yeah. Again, it goes back to the the nuance of the credit system. Um, but I think what Jim is saying is if you just
have a residential property that's not subject to any approvals to develop the property, somebody could try u do work to offset the impervious um area runoff
um on their sites. You could also switch out an asphalt driveway to a pvious system that is a higher cost venture. Um, but that is an option to help with the water quality and quantity. Um,
yeah, anything to remove imperous surface >> um especially a motor vehicle imperous surface is going to go a long way to help. >> Yep. green roof. Um >> yeah,
>> green roof, blue roof. There there is a list of things. Um and anybody can contact us if they have questions and we can walk them through that. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments on this?
Brian. >> Uh just so I'm not the only one who doesn't say anything, I'm strongly in favor of moving forward. Um uh infrastructure and operations got a good presentation on phase two and phase
three is really where the rubber meets the road. Um there's going to be a lot of really good and interesting information and that's where we'll get into a lot of the numbers, the costs uh to um you know the the different um
categories of um property owners who would be subject to the tax. And we'll also need to make decisions about sizing the utility in terms of how many staff, what equipment,
>> and other things we choose to uh fund. >> Yep. Thank you. All right, Tiana Jim, thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next up is a long range capital plan presentation.
Okay, Jim, you're gonna run the slide deck for me, right? >> Yes, Adam, I'm on uh table one. There we go. >> Okay, we can advance to slide two. Uh this is something the council finance
committee has been working on very hard for the last three and a half, four months. Um, basically we um realized that we have a lot of deferred maintenance that we're finally trying to
address in town. We have a lot of uh new investments, property acquisitions, things like that. So um we thought it would be a good time to delve in and really try to understand both the expenditures as you can see in line one
of the table of contents revenue sources to help handle the um debt service for those projects. Um slide three will deal with timing of both the expenses and revenues. Um,
you'd be surprised how much of a difference that makes where, you know, if you can hold off for a couple years on a project until some old debt is retired, uh, you can really, uh, optimize the way that it impacts taxes.
Uh interaction with the operating budget is really important. Not just because the interest payments wind up in the operating budget, but also because we have to understand
um what kinds of tax increases may be needed in the operating budget. um and try to take that into account as we decide what's acceptable on the capital side.
Um there are a lot of external factors which we just can't predict that we um have not included in our analysis yet but at least we'll identify them for you when we get to that slide. And finally we'll tell you what the next steps are
going forward. Okay. So, the major capital expenses and these include both uh current capital obligations but also anticipated ones. Um we have our roads which require
regular maintenance. Um we have a number of streetscape projects um to improve pedestrian and bicycle uh accommodations. People are aware of the new bike lanes that have gone in on
Harrison uh North Harrison, but um there are other improvements that are anticipated for the Harrison corridor. We have been studying the Hamilton Wiggins corridor uh Route 27, which is Nassau Street uh all up and down the length. Um and there are some other
projects that uh are being considered for the Great Road uh and Elm Road. Uh in addition to those road projects, we have our property acquisitions. The Westminster Choir College um was a
significant expense for the municipality. And we've also preserved a lot of open space in recent years, and there's a lot of um private uh donations that are going to be offsetting some of those costs, but not all of them. So,
the municipality does have some responsibility there. uh buildings. There's a major addition uh and renovation to the firehouse which has been planned for years and is finally in
the uh archite or I I should say it's been anticipated for years and is finally in the planning stages. Um, our poor public works um staff have been
living in a trailer John Street um for well as long as I can remember. And um they really have a a need for decent space. But in addition to uh accommodating those employees, there are
a lot of um spaces like you know our our um parking meter workshop and our sign uh sign workshop. A lot of little spaces
that people aren't even aware exist but which need to be consolidated for various reasons. And so we're planning a new facility out at River Road for all those uses. And then um the new property that we've acquired at Westminster um
those buildings need um some TLC storm water infrastructures and improvements relates to the um presentation we just heard. So uh a lot of things having to do with best practices for managing storm water.
these days are are considered to be green infrastructure. Those can happen in the roadways. Um they can happen on properties. So rain gardens, bio retention basement basins, constructed wetlands we're even considering for
Grover Park and uh green streets where there's some storm water management. We actually have some of that uh on Witherspoon, but we'll be looking for more of that in the future. And as Jim mentioned, culvert replacements. Um those takes
they're out of sight um but not out of mind for our engineering department. And then we have a couple of um significant recreation improvements. CB South we've been working on redesigning over the past couple years and Grover
Park is also slated for improvements. And then finally, um sanitary sewer upgrades. We know that we have a lot of um infiltration of rainwater into our
old and uh deteriorating pipes which uh significantly increases the volume of flow going into the sewer operating facility and which and that means that it increases the amount we're paying. So that's one where it's really an
investment that should pay for itself over time as we improve those pipes and reduce the the flow. Thanks. And then I'll talk some about the offsets. Um how are we going to pay
for all of these capital improvements that was just mentioning? We have some um non- tax recurring revenues that are coming online. Um pilots we know um
for the Alice and for the uh Avalon project at the shopping center. Both of those have just recently been completed and are just getting um occupied now and they'll be generating significant revenues. And
there's another one um hopefully in the not too distant future that will um start to materialize at the former tenant um Robert's campus of the seminary.
Uh parking revenues um as parking uh revenues are adjusted to reflect general inflation in the economy. We haven't had an increase in years and uh we anticipate there will be new parking
revenues coming in the not too distant future and grants and donations um are a little bit less predictable but um the engineering department has been very successful in getting grants for a lot
of the upgrades that we've done in recent years say to Cherry Hill side path and the sidewalks on Teen mode which are going to be implemented in the in the spring. There will also be new tax revenues,
ones that don't impact current taxpayers because they're coming from new development and in particular the fourth round affordable housing. We have many units um I think 14 15 different sites that are going to be developed and will
be generating new tax revenues. Um, and we also understand, we know, uh, historically that there's been a certain amount of increase just because of gradual development around town and
we're assuming that that will continue and create some new tax revenues. Um, and then finally, um, debt reduction, uh, by monetizing underutilized public assets. So, we know that we have the new
Westminster property, some of which will be used for public purposes, and we know that we don't need all of the properties the municipality currently owns. So, we are
really looking hard at how we can um use some of the the proceeds from those properties to reduce the debt. I'm also going to talk a little bit about offsets for increases to the
operating budget because as I mentioned um on the on the first slide uh these things really uh although we talk about them separately it's hard it's impossible to tease them out uh entirely. So we need to be aware that we
have okay we need to be aware that we need to be aware that we have um a lot of potential increases to unusual increases the operating budget and we've reserved certain
um new revenues to help to ease those increases. So, we have new hotel taxes that are coming in from the graduate hotel. Uh, we have revenues from short-term rentals which we're beginning
to regulate and will be generating uh a similar occupancy tax to the hotels. We have reverse tax appeals where um our tax professionals um identify certain commercial
properties as sort of underpaying their taxes. And so they uh file what's called a reverse tax appeal to go through a process of ensuring that those properties are assessed um accurately and we get additional revenues from
that. Also, the pilots that we've negotiated with the developers that were um noted in line one above are as the the properties are be are becoming occupied, we're seeing that the
revenues from those pilots are exceeding what the estimates were. So, we've taken any increase in the pilots above what was estimated and uh reserving that for operating budget. uh increases.
Um, and the last uh category there I'm not going to talk about because I meant to delete it from the slide. Sorry about that. Um, and then reserved for the sanitary sewer investments. Those are all to be paid from sewer connection
fees and sewer usage fees. And we have a schedule um for gradually increasing those as the new improvements are in are implemented. Timing. Um here are the factors that we've been
looking at. Considering when are the new facilities needed? Can we push things off a little bit to make to spread out the costs? Uh consider when our existing debt is retired. um considering staff capacity to
implement ongoing maintenance activities. So um we know historically um we tend to be optimistic about how much we can actually get done in any given year and we're try uh in terms of
road repaving and and things like that and we're trying to be more realistic about that going forward. Um timing for the new revenue sources coming online. We anticipate all those revenue sources I mentioned on previous
slide but we know they won't all materialize at once. So we're trying to be responsible about understanding when they will become available. Uh similarly for selling un selling or renting underutilized
um public assets. Um timing for repayment of the open space acquisition costs. As I mentioned before, we spent a lot of money to preserve uh a lot of acres uh almost 240
230 acres of new open space over the last few years. Uh a lot of that was pledged to be paid for by private uh donors and we're receiving those donations over time. So that will reduce
our debt. Um and then lastly, uh um when we're not sure how long the debt from any particular investment will last, we typically use notes
um to finance that that those are interestonly financial instruments. But once we know how much debt will remain on the books uh an extended way, we roll those notes over to bonds which for which we have to pay principal and
interest. So that uh affects the annual carrying costs. Next okay then this just a little bit more about the interactions with the operating budget. Um, I don't think I know need to go into this detail because
I think I've already Well, so the stressors on the operating budget include things like adding career firefighters, skyrocketing health insurance premiums, loss of federal funding for certain types of programs,
uh, climate change related costs, and the Westminster campus operating expenses. So those are just a few examples of the stressors that we're anticipating for the operating budget and that's why we have reserved certain new streams of revenue um for the
operating budget instead of allocating them all to uh to capital. And here's just a list of external factors which we really can't anticipate at this time which should um have a in
in all these cases have a positive impact on the debt. So the availability of open space funds again we have some open space debt that is being financed through open space taxes which should be freed up when those donations are
repaid. Uh we're not sure exactly what the impact of the potential storm water utility is, but we do know that more community um uh members will be paying fees than are currently paying taxes um since
nonprofits are not exempt from the the stormwater utility fees. So, it's hard to project uh especially because we don't have the final plan for the utility yet, but we know that will somehow impact all of our projections,
state and federal grants um and private donations um not just for the open space with the private donations, but we anticipate some for some of the rec uh upgrades like CP South. Um yeah,
next and this is just to say um we are planning right now a council retreat where we're going to dump a whole bunch of numbers on the heads of
our poor colleagues and uh try to get them to really appreciate the uh the dollars and cents and the tax rates that be associated with uh all these factors that I've been going through and uh
we'll be working to prioritize the capital investments so that we know which are the most important which are secondary which are tertiary and that we'll be able to as we get a clearer picture of all the unknowns uh make
responsible decisions about um how much to do when to do it and um what kind of impacts on taxes there might be as a result of all that. And the council retreat will be open to the public and it will be noticed. So if you're
interested, uh keep your eye out for that. >> Thank you. >> The end. >> The end. Yeah. The end of tonight, but the beginning of a >> Yeah. of a very an exciting meeting coming up in probably mid December to have hours and hours discussing numbers
and projects and whatever. >> Exactly. >> Very good. Uh yeah, I just wanted to take a moment to um acknowledge that there, as David said, there's been a huge amount of work done over the last four months and I want to offer my gratitude and
compliments to David and Michelle uh to the senior administrators who participated in this process and to Sher Tracy from Phoenix Advisors. Um uh I am hopeful but not certain that a
substantial offsite will get us where we need to go. The the volume of information is really huge and um I think that you know when uh David said said that you know there are certain
things that we have have done all of those things have been in the models. Of course, council needs to make a number of decisions about what what actually happens. And um what we've done as a a
committee working with the team and what we need to do now with the full council is to look at the revenues, review them, validate them, confirm the sources, make sure everybody's comfortable and has been able to uh ask questions. And then there'll probably be a a handful of
important decisions about the the use of some of those revenues. And then on the cost side, um and some of this will depend on what can happen between now and the retreat. Um it will be helpful to have uh a userfriendly categorization
and breakout of the many dozen um projects that make up the capital budget. um we'll be able to have a conversation about realistic sizing because the good news is that our administrators air on
being conservative. So we rarely underestimate the cost but when we overestimate that has the effect of uh meaning that the the total is the projected total is greater than the actual total may may be. Um, we also
tend to be aggressive in timing and as David noted in reality things tend to take longer and he noted that there's a really big impact on debt service. Um, that is a function of the timing. Um, so we need to get council comfortable with
all of those things. Um, and then we talk about prioritization and have we'll likely have the challenging decisions that David talked about. You know, what are our what are what have we already committed to? What are our high priority goals? What are
our mid-priority goals? And what are our lower priority goals? >> An hour or two. We'll knock it out. >> Or three. We'll see how many meetings we have. It is going to be a lot of work, but it's very important, right? I mean, one of the biggest and most important things we do is figure out how to spend
our money and what the impact on the taxpayers will be. All right. So, any other general questions for tonight? This is just to prep us for the fund to come. >> Yeah, >> not a question. Just I wanted to again
thank the finance committee, David, Michelle, and Brian and the staff. Huge amount of work. Really appreciate it. A lot of work, as Mark said, still to to come, but appreciate all you've invested in sorting through all of this. >> Leighton, just want to m uh mimic what
Madame President said. Thank you for an enormous amount of work and for helping I think myself at least and hopefully the general public understand the enormous uh effort that we're trying to make and you know we only have so many dollars and you know we'll have to
figure this out but this is a exercise that all of us and the community at large need to go through. So thank you. >> Okay. All right. Moving on. Next up, ordinance public hearing, and that is on ordinance 2518,
an ordinance by the municipality of Princeton revising the definition of minor site plan, modifying certain provisions pertaining to administrative approvals and zoning permits, updating the checklist for minor site plan applications, and amending the code of
the Bureau of Princeton, New Jersey, 1974, and the code of the Township of Princeton, New Jersey, 1968. Is there someone that wants to move that? Thank you, Mia. Is there a second? Leighton's got the second. Uh, questions or comments from the group up here
first? >> Justin, do you want to just sort of summarize what this is about? >> Certainly. Thank you. Um, so this ordinance is really a cleanup one of just some items that staff has noticed uh over the past couple months or years
uh regarding some of our processes uh for uh applications for development. The first one is to change the definition of a minor site plan. Uh so that if there is a variance or conditional use application subdivision uh subdivision
approval required or storm water relief required um the application will automatically be deemed a major one. Um the reason uh that's come up recently is uh the change a few years back to utilizing a minor site plan committee.
Um, so applications that are uh applied for as minor, um, go to the site plan committee. If they don't have any of those four things I just mentioned, that's the only committee they go to. Um, if they do have any of those four things, they have to go to the planning board anyway or the zoning board. Uh, so
just trying to kind of make this more efficient um, and remove a step that uh, otherwise might be unnecessary because they're going to have the board hearing anyway. Um, based on that, we just had to remove some checklist requirements that mention uh having a a variance
application uh because you couldn't you wouldn't be able to do that anymore with the uh minor site plan. Um, and then the other two are related to expiration dates for other types of approvals. We have um administrative waiver of site plan. Uh we don't have anything in writing right now. Uh but this would
require an applicant to uh receive a building permit within 12 months of their approval. Uh there are a few extensions they could get in there. Um and it would harmonize the expiration of zoning permits in the former township uh with the same ones that apply right now in the former burrow.
>> Thanks, Justin. Okay, any questions or comments up here? >> All right, anybody in the room? Anybody online? All right, we'll close the public hearing and that's a roll call vote.
>> Mr. McDonald. Yes, >> Miss Peron Lamrose. >> Yes, >> Mr. Cohen. >> Yes, >> Miss Saxs. >> Yes, >> Miss Frogga. >> Yes, >> Mr. Nulan. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Two ordinances to introduce tonight. Ordinance 2519, an ordinance by the municipality of Princeton regarding
tree removal permit requirements and amending chapters 22 and 10B of the code of the township of Princeton, New Jersey, 1968. The public hearing will be December 22nd, 2025. Is there a motion? Thank you, David. Leightton's got the second questions or comment. Oh, excuse
me. Sorry. It's an introduction. There are no questions or comments because that would open the public hearing. So, we can't do that. All right. But would somebody It's just been moved. So, roll call vote. Thank you. >> Mr. McDonald, >> yes. >> Miss Pearl Ambrose, >> yes. >> Mr. Cohen, >> yes.
>> Miss Saxs, >> yes. >> Miss Braa, >> yes. >> Mr. Nulan, >> yes. >> Okay. Ordinance 2520, an ordinance by the Municipality of Princeton regulating short-term rentals, imposing an occupancy tax on transient accommodations and amending chapters 15A
and 16 of the code of the Burrow of Princeton, New Jersey, 1974. The public hearing December 8th, 2025. Sir Leighton's got the motion and Leticia's got the second. Uh, and another roll call vote.
>> Mr. McDonald, >> yes. >> Miss Peron Lamrose, >> yes. >> Mr. Cohen, >> yes. >> Miss Saxs, >> yes. >> Miss Fraga, >> yes. >> Mr. Nulan, >> yes. >> Okay. Resolutions. Resolution 25389. Resolution of the mayor and council of
Princeton authorizing and directing the planning board of the municipality of Princeton to undertake a preliminary investigation of the properties located at 27 Franklin Avenue, Princeton, and 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton. and designated on the official tax map of Princeton as block 7301, lot one and
block 31.01, lot 105, respectively, to determine whether the properties or parts thereof qualify as a non-commendation area in need of redevelopment. Is there a motion on that? Michelle's got the motion. Mia's got the second. Questions and our
comments. >> I think we have our attorney who was just going to give a brief explanation who's online. We do have an attorney that was >> Yep. We have our redevelopment attorney. Oh, >> Steven's on and that's why he's there. >> Yep. That's why he's there.
>> Okay. Adam, can you bring Stephen on, please? >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yeah, we can, Steve. >> Okay. Uh, I don't know how to turn my video on, but as long as you can hear me, that's that's fine. Um, good evening
everyone. You are you have before you two companion resolutions in connection with the Westminster site. Uh, as everyone will recall, the municipality acquired those properties uh last year or earlier this year. Um, and have undertaken since then a comprehensive
process to begin the planning and and design future for the site. Uh you'll also recall when it was taken, it was taken for public purposes primarily for art, education, cultural and and and those sorts of uses. Um topology has
been engaged. Um the public heard a presentation from uh Chris Kohley uh last uh public meeting uh regarding the progress. These resolutions are being presented for council consideration in connection with the next step of that planning process, which is to determine
whether or not these properties qualify under the New Jersey local redevelopment and housing law as an area that can be designated. And the reason for that at this this juncture is to help inform what tools are available to the municipality as we continue that planning process. This this
investigation will determine only whether the properties qualify for those tools, not whether or not those tools are going to be utilized. Uh which can only come in the form of a redevelopment plan, which would be the next step if if this property were to be so designated
and a redevelopment plan were were to be determined to be the best course of action. But this does provide the information necessary to to help inform that planning process. Now if it is designated the tools that would be available are are significant in the
sense that a municipality as the owner of the property can leverage in terms of um partnerships with municipalities in terms of clearing of roadway networks in including taking advantage of various partnership opportunities. Uh that could
include, for example, because it's it's the one most known uh to the council and to the public, the Marter Theater, which recently applied for a New Jersey EDA grant through their cafe program um which is interested in using the property. This designation, if it were
to be determined uh does qualify, would go towards um assisting the planning of that without affecting other areas within the same zoning district. And that's the key here. Um this is just an investigation. This is just to tee up
what is available in the future. And if a redevelopment plan were to be proposed, it would have to go through the entire process um as set forth in the redevelopment law which would include the planning board uh action and an ordinance by the municipality. So this is really this is just the first
step in investigating the property. Um, I know there there have been questions and there may be questions as to why a municipality would need to do this uh for property that it owns and that's simply because that's what the law provides. And in fact, if you look at section five of the redevelopment law,
it specifically contemplates just this municipalities redeveloping their own properties. And there's several criteria designed specifically for this circumstance where municipalities are going to take control of their properties and and redevelop it. um if
the tools are so available. Um so I'm I'm available to answer any potential questions that the council has on this. >> Thank you. Are there any uh questions for Steve? Okay. Any other any other questions at
all or comments on this before we vote? >> Cool. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> Okay. Steve, don't go away. We'll do the other one. Um, resolution 25390, resolution of the mayor and council of the municipality of Princeton authorizing the award of a professional
services agreement to topology NJLC for planning services in connection with the preliminary investigation pursuant to the local redevelopment and housing law NJSA4812A-1 for an amount not to exceed $21,000. Mia has the motion. Is there a second?
Thank you, David. Questions or comments? All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Steve, thank you very much. >> Uh, next up, resolution 25391, resolution of the mayor and council authorizing the award of a bid contract
to Jay Fletcher Kremer and Sun, Inc. for the replacement and repair of guide rail on Pretty Book Road and Quaker Road for $115,225. Have a motion on that. Thank you, Brian. Leighton's got the second. Questions or comments?
All in favor, please say I. I. >> I. >> Resolution 25392, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton in support of speed limit revisions on route NJ27 within the municipality of Princeton. David has the motion. Leticia has the second. Questions or comments?
David? Yeah, I just want to um comment that this resolution is in response to a letter we received from New Jersey DOT um indicating they had studied this
question and uh had come to the conclusion that the speed limit reduction makes sense. Um, for those who don't know, 35 mph is the default speed limit on suburban residential roads in
New Jersey. Uh, the current speed limit on portions of this part of 27 is 45 miles per hour. So essentially um and and we know that there are you know regularly spaced residential
properties along this section of 207 of 27. So um the traffic safety committee was really pleasantly delighted uh to hear that DOT was in favor of the
limit reduction and uh want to recommend it. uh enthusiastically to council. >> Ryan, >> uh just to uh second what David said, I'm really grateful for the case that um
our staff made um to uh I guess impress uh the deciding individuals sufficiently to make a change that we thought they might not get to yes on. Um, and I know that there
are uh a good number of Princeton residents who live along that corridor who are very excited about this and really feel that um it's a major step toward making um it safer for residents
and children. Um, and I know that they also hope that we will continue to focus on Route 27 from Harrison Street to uh uh Kingston um and consider other opportunities to improve safety uh
budget permitting, right? And also that it does impact the speed limit on 27 aka Nassau Street in certain areas where it's 2530, it'll be 25 for the entire duration. Just throwing that in there, too. Other
questions or comments? All right. All in favor, please say, "I." >> I. >> Uh, resolution 25393, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing a license agreement by Fangloo to permit a 22 foot
wide curb cut onto Valley Road. Uh, thank you, Leighton, for the motion. David's got the second. Questions or comments? All right. Seeing none. All in fa All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> I. >> There you go.
>> Thank you. >> I'm sorry. >> I have to pay $1. >> That's right. $1. It's a bargain. >> Yes, it is. >> Okay. Next up, resolution 25394.
Resolution of the mayor and council of municipality of Princeton authorizing an increase of $40,289.80. 80 cents to the not to exceed amount for the contract with IPS Group, Inc. for parking meter charges utilizing Omnia Partners National Cooperative Purchasing
Contract CW18653 for a new not to exceed amount of 200,289.80. Thank you, Leighton. Michelle's got the second questions or comments. This is all for various parts and pieces and real exciting stuff.
Yeah. All right. All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Resolution 25395, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton to apply for and obtain a grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for $810,000 towards a sewer rehabilitation project.
Michelle's got the motion. Brian's got the second. Questions or comments? All in favor, please say I. >> I. Resolution 25396, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing block uh 7401 lot 1.013 of
the Princeton tax map to be added to the Princeton tax exemption list. Is there a motion on that? Thank you, Michelle. Is there a second? Thank you, Leighton. Um questions or comments? C >> what can we have a brief explanation? >> I'm sorry. >> Explanation.
>> Yeah. Did you want to give that or you asking? >> No, I have no idea. If there was a memo in the I missed it. >> This is the Avalon property taking it off the tax map since it's covered by a pilot, isn't it? >> Exactly. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Well, it's Avalon on Harrison. Sorry.
>> Right. Because they're on a pilot, they have to be taxed. Exactly. Yes. To take off. >> Got it. Okay. >> Okay. Good question. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? >> All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> Consent agenda is next. Thank you,
Laticia. Is there a second? Thank you, Brian. All in favor say I. >> I. >> David, >> I move to adjourn. >> Is there a second? >> Thank you, Brian. >> Mayor, public comment. >> Public comments. >> Oh. >> Oh my gosh. I'm sorry. >> The agenda. >> It's on the next page. Yeah.
>> Thank you. Yeah. Hold that motion, David. What are you doing jumping in like that? >> I don't know what I was thinking. >> Should know better when I asked you not to listen to me. >> Um, public comments for items not on the agenda. Anybody in the room or online that wanted to bring up anything that
was not on the agenda? >> All right, seeing none, I will now accept David's motion. And someone who said I forgot who second it. Leighton did. Thank you. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> And now we are done. Thank you very much. Thanks for being here. We
>> I want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving with your families. >> You too. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.