Good evening everybody. Welcome to a meeting of the mayor and council of Princeton, New Jersey. It is May 12th, 2025. Uh 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. Leighton's going to do the land acknowledgement for us tonight. Thank you, Mayor. We gather today on the land of the Lenny Lapi. As members of the Princeton community, we
aspire to show appreciation, respect, and concern for all peoples and our environment. We honor the Lapi 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. We have
roll call, please. Mr. McDonald here. Miss Peron Lamrose here. Mr. Cohen here. Miss Saxs is not present at the moment. Miss Braa here. Mr. Nulan here. Mayor Freda here. Right.
If you're able and you'd like to 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. All right. First up, we have a proclamation. And Michelle, you proclamation office of the mayor municipality of Princeton. A proclamation designating public works
week in Princeton May 18th to the 24th, 2025. People, purpose, presence. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities
and to public health, high quality of life, and well-being of the people of Princeton. And whereas these infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers,
managers and employees at all levels of government and the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment and solid waste systems, public buildings and other structures
and facilities essential for our citizens. And whereas it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders, and children in Princeton to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest in understanding of the importance of
public works and public works programs in their respective communities. And whereas the year 2025 marks the 65th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association, Canadian Public Works
Association. Now therefore, be it resolved on behalf of I'm Mayor Mark Frereda and the council of Princeton do hereby designate the week of May 18th through May 24th as of 2025 as public works week in
Princeton. I urge all citizens to pay tribute to our public works professionals, engineers, managers, and employees, and to recognize the substantial contributions they make to protecting our national health, safety, and
advancing quality of life for all. Given under my seal and hand this 12th day of May, 2025, on behalf of Mark Freedom, Mayor. Thank you. All right. So, you guys all get to come up. We got a picture opportunity where
we give you the proclamation. So, come on. Everybody's got to get in the picture. Who would like I got everybody smiling. I can't tell. All right. Thank you very much.
Okay, next up we have two sets of minutes to approve. March 10th regular meeting and March 18th close session. If someone would like to move those. Thank you, Leon. Is there a second? Thank you, Brian. Were there any questions or comments on the minutes? Yes, Brian.
Yes, just one very minor correction on page seven. Um, uh, Patricia Shandley, there's an N missing. Um, we want to recognize her properly. Okay. Anything
else? All right. With that correction, all in favor, please say I. I. I. All right. Council announcements or reports? Anybody on council with either? Okay, great. I'm not going to push that. Oh, sorry. Actually, I just want to make
a quick announcement, remind people that um on June 12th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. the police department is um running a workshop to inform uh vulnerable road
users of their rights and responsibilities on the road. So, um just wanting to publicize that a little bit. Thank you. Okay. Uh, we do have the police chief's
report for March of this year. Chief, thank you, Mayor. Just wanted to highlight a couple things um in the March report in uh in order to promote safety um with students in Princeton walking and riding their bikes to school. Uh we
teamed up with the Johnson Park School and did a uh walk and wheel Wednesday event with them. Uh it was really well attended. um very good event. And then we also on that same vein to promote safety, we teamed with um Greater Mercer
TMA and they gave presentations at Community Park School and the Little Brook School um again regarding safely walking and riding their bikes to school. That's all I wanted to highlight and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Chief. Any questions for the
chief? Okay, terrific. Seeing none, next up is public comments for items not on the agenda. And uh you come up, you state your name, you have three minutes. In theory, a timer will show up behind me hopefully. Uh but I think we had Anna
Lee, you're first up. Oh, we need to Can we just turn that on? Thanks. Sorry. Okay. Uh, good evening. I'm Annalie Kelly, owner of 16 McClean Street. Uh, I've thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this community for over 15 years, even
performing at Portfest a couple of weeks ago. Uh, but today I really need to amplify an issue that's caused my fellow man Street condo owners and I undo burden in recent years. Each of our affordable housing units was assigned two parking spaces as noted on the
original MLS property listing and other purchase documents. First, we're assigned one of six spots at the rear of our unit identified by a sign noting these spots are reserved for us. Getting my
sign. Given that our deed also identifies these spots as part of our property, neither we nor any of our guests have ever been required to display a permit when parking in these reserved spots. For our second assigned space, we receive a yearly parking
permit at no cost, which allows us to park in one spot in the McLean Street lot. The signs that distinguish the municipal spots from ours say permit parking only. For two decades, we've used our reserved spaces as we've seen fit. But
in the past year or two, we've been subjected to what one ticketing officer called a crackdown, where we or our guests have been fined for not displaying a permit while parked in our reserved space. One such incident occurred on April 16th when my
80-year-old parents drove an hour at a moment's notice to come help me. When they arrived, they did as they've done for the past 15 years, parked in my spot, except this time for the first time. Their kindness was rewarded with
this $45 ticket. We've been told that we must call the police department each evening or fill out a weekly online form to get permission to park in our own reserved spots overnight. Similarly, authorities presumably unaware of or
uninterested in our right to two spaces have insisted that our current permit is for our reserved spot and have required that we pay $300 per year for a second permit if the household has a second vehicle. These hefty fees and additional hoops we're now asked to jump through
are unconscionable and do not align with our purchase agreement ensuring two parking spaces nor with our decadesl long lived experience. Because if our current permit is for our reserved space, where then is the second parking space we were assured of at purchase?
While we can appreciate the township's obligations to ensure that parking is not abused, this hardline approach devoid of nuance is not a sustainable solution. This has resulted in excessive time and effort from both us owners and our guests to repeatedly address these
discrepancies with the police department, the courts, and the clerk's office, taking time away from our employers and causing unnecessary stress and anxiety. So today, we request written assurance of an immediate halt to these recent and unfair fines and a
return to the over 20-year practice of acknowledging our rights as owners to authorize whoever we choose at whatever time we choose to park in our reserve spots without needing external permission, without needing an additional permit, and without additional cost. If this is not
possible, though we fail to see why that would be the case, we propose the township provide each owner with a second yearly tag or some other identifier of their choosing at no cost to the owners that can be displayed on our guest vehicles or on our own vehicle
as needed. We believe this to be a fair and sustainable resolution that acknowledges our rights as owners and minimizes burden on us, our guests, and the township. Uh, that's the end of my official statement, but if you'd allow me, I wouldn't be able to have you hear
my heart on this. My parents, I'm sorry. You you've I I I don't mean to cut you off, but I have no choice because you've exceeded the time limit. Sure. I think this is easy enough. Bernie, I'm going to Bernie Havoc right here is our administrator. Okay. He or someone from
his office will contact you tomorrow. Okay. And we'll figure out what needs to be done and we will we'll work it out. Okay. I have a copy of my statement. Would you like that? Yeah. Anna Lee, thank you. Okay. Is there anyone else here to speak
to something that's not on the agenda? Anybody on Zoom? Okay. Close that part of the meeting. First up, ordinance introduction. an ordinance by the municipality of Princeton designating stop intersections within the boundaries
of the former township, establishing a new stop intersection on Jefferson Road at Turhune Road and amending chapter 11 of the code of the township of Princeton, New Jersey, 1968. The public hearing will be May 27th, 2025. Is there a
motion? Thank you, Michelle. Brian's got the second and that's a roll call vote. Mr. McDonald. Yes, Miss Peron Lamrose. Yes, Mr. Cohen. Yes, Miss Saxs. Yes, Miss Braga. Yes, Mr. Nulan. Yes.
Okay. Resolutions. Resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton. Sorry, this is resolution 25172. Resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton. One, introducing the 2025 20226 budget of the Princeton Special Improvement District. Two, directing the municipal clerk to
public publicly advertise the budget and schedule a public hearing. And three, directing the tax assessor to prepare an assessment role of properties within the district based upon the budget. The public hearing will be June 9th, 2025. There Michelle's has the motion.
Leighton has the second. And that's a roll call vote. Mr. McDonald, yes. Miss Peron Lamrose, yes. Mr. Cohen, yes. Miss Saxs, yes. Miss Braga, yes. Mr. Nulan, yes. Thank
you. Resolution 25173, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing a shared services agreement with the board of education of the Princeton public schools. Someone like to move that. Thank you, Brian. Mia's got the second. Any questions or comments from
the council members? None. Okay. All right. Yes, sir. Sorry. Um I'm very grateful to the time my fellow council members and the mayor have put into this and um there's no question that our local schools and
schools throughout the country are facing tremendous challenges right now. And one of the challenges our local schools face is a financial one. Um, and this will is an important way of acknowledging the schools and providing them with critical resources that help
to educate our town's children um and do so in a manner consistent with what we've done for decades here. Um, so I just wanted to express my thanks to everybody here and um, also to thank my former colleagues on the board of
education for all their hard work um, that they're doing to benefit our school children. Thank you. Okay. Usually we applaud after the vote, but do you want to speak before we vote? Sure. Come on up. Again, you have to identify yourself and your address
and Okay. It's a big microphone. You guys have nice facilities here. So, good evening, Mayor Freda. Um, Council President Saxs, members of council, my name is Daffhany Kendall, I'm here tonight as the president of the Princeton Board of Education, 25 Valley
Road. Um, many of the board, most of the board of education and our interim super interim superintendent are here to with me tonight to express our sincere gratitude for reaching this important milestone. If approved, this will be a meaningful moment for our town and comes
at a critical time for the Princeton public schools. As you may know, the school district's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30th. In April, we were notified that our state aid will be reduced by 3%. We are also at risk of losing nearly a million more than a million dollars in
federal funding because we do not want to compromise our educational programming to accommodate an agenda that does not reflect our community's values or serve all of our students. The majority of our budget budget is funded through the local tax levy which
is the which is subject to its annual 2% cap. While waiverss for enrollment growth or increased health care costs can allow us to exceed that cap and increase the tax levy by more than 2% doing so increases the burden on taxpayers. Unfortunately, there is no
additional state aid to support expanding districts like ours. We proudly welcome all students into our schools. As the town continues to grow, we deeply appreciate the innovation and collaboration that made the pilot this pilot agreement possible. Sharing this
shared services agreement possible. It is a thoughtful and equitable step forward. On behalf of the board of education, I want to sincerely thank you for your generosity and unwavering support of public education. If
approved, this resol resolution will affirm the town's strong belief in the power of public education and its importance to the future of our community. This agreement is a culmination of years of thoughtful dialogue and collaboration. Many current and former board members have
contributed to this process. And I especially want to recognize former board members Gene Durban and Betsy Baglio and council members Mia Saxs and Brian McDonald among the board members here tonight. We are truly grateful for your partnership and continued commitment to educational excellence.
Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else from the board want to You don't have to. I'm just Okay. All good. All right. All in favor of the uh of the
motion, please say I. I. I. Okay. The eyes have it. Thank you very much. This is where you sneak out now. Oh, sorry. Yeah, no one will notice. No one will notice. Have a great evening. Thank you. Uh, resolution
25174, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton supporting the passage of the New Jersey Climate Super Fund Act. Brian has the motion, David has the second, and I'm sorry, are you here to speak to this? Yeah. Why don't you come on up, introduce yourself, name
and address, and keep it to the three minutes. Yeah. Good evening, everybody. Um, I'm Mary Sodargas. I volunteer with Food and Water Watch. I live on South Harrison Street. Um, I was here a few months ago.
want to um just convey my gratitude, a deep thanks for your taking this seriously and joining the ground swell of support that is happening throughout the state for the passage of
this bill. Um it's not a perfect bill, but I think that it's beginning a momentum across the country to address the climate disaster issue. Um and hopefully we'll just ch start to change minds. So, I appreciate everybody who's worked on that. Um, including the
lawyers. I know that that's the overworked lawyers. Brian, thank you for all of your communication with me these months. Um, and love to partner with you again in the future. So, thank you to everybody. Thank you. Thank you. All
right. No other comments, questions. All right. All in favor, please say I. I. I. There we go. Resolution 25175. Resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing rescue response protocol policy memorandum of
understanding between Municipality of Princeton Office of Emergency Management, Fire Department, and Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad. Leticia has the motion. Michelle has the second. Questions or comments? Brian. Um, I enjoyed reading the
materials in the agenda packet and just wanted to express my gratitude um to the parties that have uh worked hard so far to coordinate and will continue to coordinate the delivery of uh special emergency services throughout our town. Um it's really impressive um the high
quality we have with our police department, our fire department, our office of emergency management and PARS. And I hope that the members of the public are duly grateful for the very high levels of service we get from that that group and also for how well they
coordinate their work together which is not always the case. Yeah. No, that's a good point. Other c questions or comments? Okay. All in favor, please say I. I. I. Resolution 25176, resolution of the
mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the purchase of one 2025 Ford 450 crew cab vehicle and equipment from Seio how do you say that? See Sioka I think Sioka Ford of Flemington
Chitterelli if it's Chidarelli I think it should be Chioka for $111,18325 utilizing New Jersey state contract 24-le88820. Is there a motion on that? Thank you Leighton. David's got the second. Questions or comments?
All right. All in favor, please say I. I. Resolution 25177, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the purchase of a 2024 Ford F-150 to be used by the animal control officer from Winter Ford for $70,290.15
utilizing New Jersey state contracts 20-fleet-1189, 17-fleet61, and 17-fleet-19. Is there a motion on that? Thank you, Leticia. Michelle's got the second. Questions or comments? All in favor, please say, "I." I.
Mayor. Sir, I I just wanted to to note that uh what a rescue it was uh on the animal control officer and also, I believe, a member of the fire department who were able to uh get some small small birds uh off of the roof. So, hats off
to what we have is a great infrastructure to add what Brian said earlier. Thank you. Our animal control officer makes many many rescues of many different animals in many different predicaments. Uh thank you. Uh resolution 25178,
resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the purchase of police vehicles utilizing a cooperative purchasing system in an amount not to exceed $275,000 subject to the availability and appropriation of sufficient funds. Thank you. David Leticia has got the second.
Questions or comments? David, I I I just want to comment that that this resolution has a different form than many of our vehicle purchase agreements. Um it gives a lump sum and doesn't specify the number of vehicles. And this
is uh an outcome of the scarcity, the supply chain issues that came out of um COVID. and uh it gives our fleet manager the flexibility to purchase um as many vehicles as possible when they
become available without having to uh come back to us for uh resolution down to the penny. So I just wanted to make sure that people are aware of that. I thought it was um more of a result of the tariffs than CO.
Well, that'll affect how many vehicles we can get with 270,000 5,000. SC scarcity is definitely going to be an impact. It is it is interesting how difficult it is to get police vehicles and how quickly the window opens and closes and how the price Yeah. can vary.
So, yeah. Okay. Other questions or comments? All in favor, please say I. I. I. Resolution 25179, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the award of a contract to SHI International Corp for the Crowd
Strike Endpoint Detection and Response Subscription for $47,99.31 utilizing New Jersey Cooperative Purchasing Alliance contract number BC-BID-24-38 computer equipment and peripherals. Is there a motion on that?
Thank you, Michelle. Brian's got the second. Questions or comments? Michelle was gonna say it's expensive, but it's one of those really necessary uh expenditures um because of the threats of of cyber cyber security. So, so thank
you to uh Bernie and the IT department for sourcing this. Okay. Any other questions or comments? All in favor, please say I. I. I. 20 resolution 25180 resolution of the mayor and
council of Princeton authorizing the award of a professional services agreement to TNM Associates for corrective measures environmental permitting and construction administration/construction inspection for the closure of the Princeton Sanitary Landfill for an amount not to exceed
$312,453. Is there a motion on that? Thank you, David. Brian's got the second. Questions or comments? David? Yeah, I'm just curious, Tiana, if you can um reflect on number one, if this has any relation to the um
contamination um that has been underway getting cleaned up over the LA past couple of years and number two, will we be finally done after this contract is completed? Um so the answer to the first question
is that it is not related to um the illegal activity that had happened um elsewhere on the site. This is solely um related to just a degradation of the cap
of the uh landfill and we have areas where we need to go in and do some repairs. Um and then the second question is we will be completed with the corrective
actions after we do the construction work and get um approval from DP of the activity that was done. Um, but with a landfill, there is still at least a 20-year window after a landfill is
closed. Um, where you continue to do the annual monitoring that we do for the the gas emissions and and groundwater. Um, and just maintaining the landfill so that we don't have this situation reoccur um where we have that degraded
cap. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions or comments? All right. All in favor, please say I. I. I. Resolution 25181, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the award of a professional services
agreement to Remington and Vernick Engineers for MS4 GIS mapping and GPS support services for $125,500. Thank you, Leon. Is there a second? Mayor, I just wanted to correct. You read
125,500. It's 123,500. 125. You said You said 125. Oh, I'm sorry. So, correct. It's 123,500. Thank you. Leighton had the I got Leighton had the motion and who had the second. Brian has the second. Thank you. Questions or comments?
All right. Seeing none, all in favor, please say I. I. Next up is the consent agenda. Three items. uh paying the bills, a banner, and a firefighter membership. If nobody needs one of those, pulled for discussion. Leticia move in all three. Thank you very much.
Is there a second? Thank you, David. All in favor say I. I. I. I. David, I move to adjourn. Is there a second? Thank you, Michelle. All in favor say I. I. We are done. Thank you very much. And good evening to all.
That was