All right. Good evening everybody. Uh, thanks for being here. It is Monday. It is not Monday, is it? Today's It is Monday. Jeez, I might as well go home now. >> It feels like Tuesday. It is July 13, 2026. This is a meeting of the mayor and
council of Princeton, New Jersey. And one note for everybody up here, our microphones, and it should be for the people at the table. Our microphones have been adjusted. You will notice I am not having the microphone in my mouth and it is picking up what I am saying.
So, thank you to Dawn. Thank you to Terrence for figuring out how to make the microphones work without having to chew on them. Um so having said that could we have the uh meeting uh 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 in Princeton's meeting portal in advance of the meeting. >> Thank you. Leticia is going to do the land acknowledgement. >> Thank you. We gather today on the land of the Lenny 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 el the elders who lived here before
the indigenous today and the generations to come. >> Thank you. Can we roll call please? >> Mr. McDonald >> here. >> Mr. Cohen >> here. >> Miss Peron Lamrose >> here. Miss Saxs >> here. Miss Frogga >> here. >> Mr. Nulan >> here. >> Mayor Freda
>> here. If you're able and 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. Okay, first up, we have three sets of minutes if someone would like to move them. Thank you, Brian. TC has got the second. Any questions or comments on any of these? All right. All in favor, please say I.
>> I. >> All right. Announcements, reports. Any council members with announcements or reports tonight? >> Michelle, >> thank you. So, tomorrow, uh, for those of you that can take the afternoon off, there's going to be a fun watch party
for and bestile day celebration. will be um inviting our um sister city from Kmar, France. And just coincidentally, France will be playing Spain tomorrow afternoon. So, it should be a lot of fun. It'll be over on Hallfish uh behind
Nassau in between there and Mediterra. So, I hope you can join us. >> Thank you. Any other council announcements or reports? Anything down at the table at this point? Okay, we have a a proclamation and
Michelle and I will share the proclamation. It has to do with the topic that Michelle just talked about. Uh which is a proclamation recognizing Bastile Day and celebrating the sister city relationship between Princeton, New Jersey and Kmar, France. Whereas the
municipality of Princeton, New Jersey, proudly shares a sister city relationship with the city of Kmar, France, fostering friendship, cultural exchange, educational partnerships, and mutual understanding before our communities. And whereas on July 14th,
2026, people throughout France and around the world celebrate Bastile Day, commemorating the storming of the Bastile in 1789 and the enduring ideals of liberty, democracy, and civic participation. And whereas Princeton is home to a vibrant international
community and embraces opportunities to bring residents and visitors together through the shared excitement of international competition, sportsmanship, and cultural exchange. And >> whereas Experience Princeton, Princeton
Special Improvement District has been awarded a welcome world watch party grant from Choose New Jersey to host a series of World Cup watch parties in international food festivals celebrating the participating nations while commemorating the 250th anniversary of
the United States. And whereas on this best deal day, Princeton proudly celebrates the France vs. Spain FIFA World Cup match, recognizing not only the excitement of the world's most popular sporting event, but also the enduring friendship between France and
the United States. A partnership that proved instrumental in securing American independence and continues to strengthen our nations through shared democratic values and cultural exchange. And whereas the municipality of France, the municipality of Princeton is honored
to recognize Bestile Day as an opportunity to celebrate our sister city of Kmar, France, welcome residents and visitors to our community and affirm our commitment to an international friendship and understanding. Now therefore, I, Michelle Peron Lamrose, on
behalf of Mark Frereda, mayor of municipality of Princeton, and on behalf of Princeton Council, and the residents of Princeton, do hereby proclaim July 14th, 2026 as Bastile Day in Princeton, and encourage all residents and visitors to
join in celebrating our sister city relationship with Kmar, France, the rich heritage and culture of France, the spirit of 2026 FIFA World Cup, the America's 250th C commemoration and the enduring bonds of friendship that
unite our communities and nations. Vivite enti. Happy best deal day to our friends in Kmar. May sport, culture, and friendship continue to bring us together. Long live France. Long live the friendship between our cities. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Okay, next up we have two presentations. And the first presentation is our community needs assessment. Uh so come on up and away we go. Hello. Okay, great to go.
All right. Okay. Well, thanks so much to all of you, to the council members, uh, for this opportunity and for supporting uh, this important work. I've met many of you, I think, before, but for those who don't know me, my name is Sabui Asher. I'm a longtime Princeton resident
and the research consultant leading the 2025 community needs assessment for Princeton Human Services and for CAMAP. Um, the last assessment, as you know, of community needs was in 2014, which was about over a little over 10 years ago. So this effort builds and expands on
that work. Presenting with me are Rodelyn Jones from human services who you all know uh and Naomi Rosen Bloom who is the director of advocacy and age friendly planning at CAMAP. Before I start I just wanted to take a minute to thank our needs assessment team
especially Row and Leilana at human services, Drew Dyson and Naomi at CAP and Arafa Kala and everyone on the CARES committee who really pitched in and made this work possible. They have been such collaborative partners in doing this work in a community- centered way. Um,
and we're so excited to share it with all of you. I'll just walk through some highle takeaways from the needs assessment and then Ru and Naomi will go over the recommendations. Okay. So, this assessment set out to understand the experiences and needs of Princeton residents facing systemic
barriers in order to inform municipal priorities, planning, and service provision to make sure that those are driven by data and evidence. We used a digital survey to gather data from 253 low to moderate income households representing 521 adults and 280
children. I also held listening sessions with diverse a diverse group of residents in both English and Spanish and the assessment included 49 higher income older adults to support the age friendly task force. I also want to take a second to highlight the approach. We
used a community embedded model where data collection went handinhand with on the spot outreach and service delivery to meet residents where they live and work. So the team surveyed and provided services at housing developments, food pantries, the library, the Princeton
nursery school, faith organizations, pop-up vaccine clinics, and neighborhood grocery stores. So we really tried to conduct this in a way that was both designed to understand their needs, but also create a pathway for building relationships and connection with the
community. One other thing to note, this is a purposive sample designed to reach lower income residents. So these findings offer a direct window into the experiences and priorities of the community's most underserved residents since the 2014 assessment, but should
not be considered representative of the whole town. And finally, before we dive into the findings, I just want to say upfront that the overall picture is relatively positive um and points to some important strengths. We have an active and supportive community rich in resources that has been planning and
working to make Princeton affordable, livable, and inclusive. Um, but the data obviously also points to some specific gaps that are worth this group's attention and we'll talk about those. So, who participated? Um, this is just a quick profile of who we heard from.
Respondents were racially and ethnically diverse and a majority were people of color. About 31% spoke Spanish at home with several other languages spoken as well. We had a mix of age groups, but the average age was 50. Two things to flag for planning. 38% were single
person households, which could mean there's greater vulnerability to a health, job, or housing emergency. And about a third reported a disability in the household, which is important in thinking about how services need to be designed, delivered, and physically accessed. Oops, sorry.
The survey also asked residents what existing services they knew about, what they needed in the last year, and whether they had trouble getting those services. The figure here shows both awareness of those existing services and the services that the residents actually needed in the past year. So while
awareness was high for some of the services like food assistance, public parks and transportation assistance, broadly speaking, for most of the services we asked about, roughly half or more of the respondents did not know that the service existed in Princeton.
Awareness was especially low for child care assistance, legal assistance, job related assistance, and financial assistance. When we look at services the residents actually needed in the past year, food assistance and transportation rose to the top, and in general, the services residents said they needed mostly
clustered around economic stability, health, and transportation. We also asked residents if they were able to access the services once they needed them. About 22% of the 253 respondents said that they had difficulty accessing services. So in
other words, the majority were able to access them when they needed them, but 22% were not. The services that were most challenging to access were affordable medical care, housing, utility assistance, and transportation. We also asked residents why services were difficult to access. And the top
two barriers were one, not knowing where to find information and two, needing help with the application process. So the key takeaway here is that while many of these services already exist in Princeton, the challenge is connecting people to them and you'll see that kind of come up throughout.
So now let's talk about some of the specific needs starting with food and health care. Access to affordable, healthy food continues to be a pressing concern for residents. 43% of respondents were worried about food running out. A little under half or 47%
said that they use some form of food assistance on an ongoing basis. And of those, 65% rely on it monthly or weekly. So, it's not just a once in a while thing for them, but a critical component for survival for many of these households. The good news is that meal
skipping is down meaningfully from 40% in 2014 to 23% now. Food insecurity was particularly acute among young people. Among the 42 respondents under 24 that responded to the survey, more than half, 57% worried their food would run out
before they had money to buy more. And about a third cut or skipped meals and used food assistance. In terms of suggestions for improvements, residents said they preferred choice-based pantries, fresh and culturally relevant food, and home delivery options. Moving on to health
care. Affordable health care also remains a persistent challenge. Nearly 30% of respondents said that they postponed or skipped medical care or dental care due to cost. And 25% were unable to pay medical or dental bills in the past year. Survey data shows that
when residents accumulated healthcare debt they could not pay, it was overwhelmingly driven by acute medical emergencies and hospital bills. coverage is largely public with 43% of insured respondents on Medicaid or New Jersey family care and 42% on Medicare. So,
federal eligibility changes would directly affect this community. Transportation to medical appointments came up as a major challenge as several residents described having to pay for transportation to go out of Princeton to access the care that they needed. Both
listening session and service survey respondents called for expanded healthc care facilities or satellite or mobile options that are in Princeton community-based offer walk-in care and accept public insurance that could serve adults and children alike in a single
visit. Next, let's talk about housing and economic security. 84% of respondents were renters and nearly half lived in subsidized or affordable housing. In terms of the main challenges and needs related to housing, residents raised
three concerns. Long wait lists and an application process that feels fragmented and having to navigate complicated applications separately for each property. Escalating fees for parking, water, trash, and technology. And they also highlighted a need for a
trusted professional who comes to where they live and can help them navigate services. So again, tying back to that need for assistance in navigation. For those who reported housing instability, it was most often a result of medical problems, showing how health challenges and medical debt can have a
cascade effect. Moving on to employment status. um employment status was diverse with a mix of respondents working for pay retired students sorry retired students as well as 10% who said that they were unemployed and 10% who said they were
actively looking for work. Um a small percentage said that they had no income at all. Um the cliff effect was a key message where households earn just enough to be disqualified from benefits while not being able to afford Princeton's cost of living.
In terms of what respondents said they needed, they requested job search support like resume help and bilingual job fairs. 22% said they need help with credit and budgeting and 17% wanted help with tax preparation. Moving on to safety and legal needs. Um
there's good news here. The majority of survey respondents reported no incidents in the past year. Also good news is that most respondents said they feel comfortable interacting with Princeton police and mistrust was relatively low overall. That said, there were some
mixed responses, so continuing and expanding outreach and trust building could help, particularly in communities of color. Legal needs affected a smaller share of residents also, though consequences can be significant for those who did experience them. Most often, these were landlord, tenant, and
eviction issues. We also included a section in the survey asking about residents sense of belonging and connection in Princeton. This was a new uh section relative to the 2014 assessment. Um given the rising rates of social isolation and the
connection to mental health and well-being. So a little more than half or 58% of respondents said that they felt connected to their neighbors and community. perceptions of how welcoming Princeton is varied by group from 60% who said that Princeton is welcoming for
people with disabilities down to 44% um who said Princeton is welcoming for immigrants and newcomers. We also collected data on digital access and transportation. Focusing in on the digital piece, about a quarter of the respondents said they either don't have
internet at home or have unreliable internet, which affects teleaalth, jobs, services. Residents also um asked for increased lowcost and expanded internet access, particularly in areas that are dead zones and could also benefit from
technology education and training. So this assessment placed a special focus on gathering input from older adults to inform the planning and service design efforts of the age friendly Princeton 2.0 task force. So we had 162 older adult respondents. About
70% were lower income and about twothirds reported a disability. Transportation was their biggest need. They reported that it was the most challenging service to access and the most requested for expansion. 41%. Residents also asked for same day
booking, evening and weekend service, and the and multi-stop flexibility when it came to transportation. Consistent with the overall group of respondents, the biggest barrier to accessing services for older adults was also not knowing where to find information, particularly for
transportation assistance, benefits, help, and technology education. About 30% of older adults said that they skipped or delayed health care due to cost and about half used food assistance. 28% worried about food running out.
Among those who um said that they used food assistance, 84% access food assistance at least monthly. And finally, in terms of equity and connectivity, 23% lacked reliable internet and 32% said that they need
technology education. And then finally, let's look at some of what's changed over time. Three things have improved meaningfully. Meal skipping has declined by nearly half. Language barriers dropped from 25% to
1%. And unemployment also declined. So those are promising improvements that could point to intentional investments in bilingual services, food infrastructure, and employment support. Two areas remain persistent needs. Affordable medical care continues to be
a challenge at about the same rate. And housing and utility pressures also continue. And then finally, food assistance use rose from 35 to 47% reflecting ongoing need and an expanded network of resources.
So while the gains are real, healthc care, housing, affordability, and service navigation were some of the challenges that continue to persist and need addressing. Um, so I will wrap it up here and thank you again all again for listening and hand it over to Row and Naomi to share
the opportunities and recommendations. >> All right, thank you Sabuhi. We'll now turn to what this means going forward, which are the recommendations that emerged from this work. Um each recommendation that you're going to hear about tonight um we heard directly from
the community whether there was a gap that was experienced, a service that was needed or a barrier they faced when it came to trying to thrive and age well in this community. So Naomi and I will go through this. I'll start with the first theme which is coordination and
navigation because one of the clearest findings from the needs assessment was that Prince doesn't necessarily need more services. It needs stronger connection between the many excellent resources that already exist. Um the recommendations here focus on strengthening ongoing collaboration
between residents, the cares committee, community partners and the municipality. Another recommendation put forth is to convene a larger partner building collaborative made up of community workers, social workers, and other frontline professionals um that can
better connect residents to programs and services beyond their own organization. Another recommendation is to develop u means to regularly solicit feedback from residents so we can identify emerging gaps um service gaps and uh ensure that
we are adapting over time in this community in real time. The second theme would be to expand outreach and awareness. Throughout the assessment, residents repeatedly told us that they didn't know what services existed, who to call, or how to navigate multiple
organizations. So the recommendations include expanding our current social services directory, making it more centralized, multilingual, and digital, and serving as a community tool. Uh this will make it easier for folks to search
for programs and services and resources. The next recommendation um also calls for bringing services directly into neighborhoods through mobile outreach and continuing hand hands-on uh case management to help
residents navigate the complex systems that exist. Um so transportation was consistently among the top service requests because it affects access to health care, food, shopping, and social connection. Uh the recommendations here aim to improve the
visibility of existing options by including them in the resource directory and potentially at bus stop kiosks while increasing service availability, flexibility, and exploring community
supported transportation options. Um I'll close with the final category, affordability. Um, and I'll just note that many of these recommendations build on work that's already underway. We've seen firsthand how digital literacy classes
and one-on-one technology support help people access benefits, health care, financial services, and other essential resources that have increasingly moved online. We've also seen strong demand for practical education on topics like Medicare, financial planning, and fraud
pre fraud prevention. Looking ahead, we see opportunities to strengthen housing navigation, raise awareness of affordable housing resources and programs like community solar, build on Princeton's leadership in accessory dwelling units, and explore home share
programs that explan that expand flexible housing options. We also see opportunities to expand workforce development, lifelong learning, volunteering, and flexible employment policies that help people remain engaged while strengthening their financial
security. Um these recommendations make um um um these recommendations are intended to build on the many strong resources Princeton already has while making them easier for residents to access and
benefit from. Okay, thank you Naomi. What you've heard reflects months of dedicated work. Uh but more than that, it reflects the trust that residents have put into this process and we believe that the recommendations are stronger for it. Uh we want to recognize the many residents
who gave their time and their voice to this assessment and um we're happy to answer any questions you all may have, but also want to make it known that the report is finalized and on the human services website as is the age friendly blueprint on the Center for Modern Aging website.
>> It's not posted just yet. >> Not just yet, soon to be. >> It's been submitted to the state. >> Okay. Any questions I can answer? >> Thank you. Any questions up here, Michelle? >> Thank you. very comprehensive report. It's excellent. Um just an observation
in question is you know 26% don't have access to internet and it seems like the internet access may really intersect with some of the other issues in terms of not being able to uh coordinate or have access to information whether it's
transportation information or other services and I know back when we did the community center um task force a few years back. You know, one of the big things too was that, you know, the awareness and kind of centralizing that
information, but in, you know, the digital age, 26% not to have access. So, I'm just wondering like is that specific to certain areas? Um, and are there things that we could look for in terms
of being able to have like a more of a community hub and some open uh ability to have internet access because it seems like today uh that would be like an essential component of all of these things. >> Yeah.
>> Sorry. Uh I can start and then jump in. So one quick clarification that 26% is a combination of people who said that they have no internet as well as those who said they have no reliable internet. >> And so there are some in there who do
have access. The other thing I would mention is that the question asked about reliable internet in their home. So this doesn't necessarily get at mobile devices that they may have access to um outside of their home. So um just to
kind of give a little more nuance to that number. Uh but that said, I will say that the thing we heard uh a lot uh in in actually going out and collecting data in in the community was that there isn't that there is this hunger for uh
information and services uh and and kind of um access to that to come to them. And so this idea of the community hub piece I think is is you know, um would be welcome in in those in that situation given the lack of uh digital uh literacy
perhaps. >> Probably they need they probably need you know education and training but I think just the basic access is is a good first step >> which is >> and then I just have one other question on one of the first slides. the second
highest item that you know um people weren't having access to. I don't have it in front of me now the slide but it was parks and recreation or parks and I'm just wondering like what's the context of that because we do have a lot of parks but I wasn't sure let's go back
to one of the yeah parks public parks and gathering spaces right after food assist assistance and I didn't know what that was. >> Yes. So they actually were most aware this this slide the figure shows the degree of awareness of the existing
service. And so um 72% for example of respondents said that they were aware of food assistance. 59% said they were aware of public parks. So the other 40% were not. Um and and the the red bar or
the orange bar is showing the percentage of respondents who said they actually needed access. So it's not showing difficulty here. This is just showing who which services they knew about and which ones they tr that they actually needed to access. Does that
>> I just wonder if it's the parks themselves or the facilities in the parks and the ability to utilize them. So anyway, I just thought that was interesting that was on right on the top. >> That's a good question. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Any other questions or comments up here?
Uh Mia, >> thanks so much. That was really helpful. Um comment and a question comment um I'm not surprised at all that transportation assistance um rose to the top in terms of need and um I I'm glad that you're
going to be working on that. Um, I want to follow up with you um directly because I think there's some um there's great difficulty. There's a patchwork of services. There's some that we offer locally. There's some that the county offers and it is very confusing for
residents. Um it all sounds great. um being able to access it in terms of making a reservation or um figuring out how to access it as as you said is very challenging and makes the theory of it
often impossible for residents in practice. Um, and there are big gaps in in all of the services in that um, often you're picked up. Um, but you then have to wait an hour at your appointment and
then another hour or two to be picked up, which means you're spending most of the day um, just to go to one appointment. Um, the other thing I really would like to you to focus on and I I hope to follow up is um there a lot
of services that we and the county say that we offer um are advertised as being offered for residents with disabilities and that's really not accurate. Um it's a a disability if you have an aid to
help you. If you are truly disabled and you cannot get in and out of your wheelchair, um there's very little that either we or the county offer. Um and I think that often aging comes with
mobility impairment often to the point where you are not able to get in and out. And most of our our services are predicated upon um your ability to to navigate that alone or to pay for
someone to accompany you. So I see you nodding. So that gives me reassurance that this is not a new um this is not new information. But I think in order to say that we um truly meet the needs of
our elderly who are disabled and often um don't have income support uh and in order to make sure that our our elder elderly residents are not entirely homebound because of what I've just described. I I hope we can focus on
this. Thank you so much for this. And and my one question was um just you mentioned that the last community needs assessment we had was in 2014 and I thought that the um human services.
>> Yeah. The first in 2014 was a needs assessment uh to the serving the community. The second one was serving the service providers. Serving the service providers >> and that was more recently. >> Yes. >> Okay. Got it. Thank you. Thank you all.
>> Thank you. >> Yes. >> It was very informative. I accidentally turned my mic off. Uh no, I I was actually I was serving on the human services commission when we conducted the first uh needs assessment in 2014.
And so I was very pleased to see what the improvement that was made in some of the areas that was identified. Obviously there's more work to be done, but I think it just highlights the benefits of conducting the needs assessment provided
that we follow through and uh also identifying solutions and that we are willing to work on them. Uh and uh I also wanted to say that uh oh also thank
uh not just uh the three of you but also our human services and health department staff uh the cares members of the cares committee. I see uh we have one member hope and a member of the staff too.
hopefully more are uh uh online and uh and also members of the uh cap and also everyone who participated in the survey. Uh I look forward to what comes next. Uh
translating the findings into meaningful action and identifying new ways to better serve our residents of which I I'm confident that our uh human services and care committee members are are going
to are able and willing to work on that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Leon. Thanks, mayor. I'm I'm following my Mia Mana and I'm probably going to sound a lot like her because we both co-chair uh
this commission cares and we both have uh humility and love for what all of you do. So, with that said, I want to start by saying that this is a great beginning. It's a great tool, but I just want to share with people that this is an assessment. This this tool is to
inform us on what could be next. So let's just take a look at quickly the question of 43% of the people worry about food running out. We know that that's an issue here. And then secondly, you know, we think about internet capability. Well, that might be
something that our uh infrastructure and operations committee want to take a look at. You know what I'm saying? So this is what this report is intended to do. Saboohi, I want to thank you so very much for the hard work that you've done. Ro, same thing. Leiana, you guys already
know we got nothing but love for you. But on behalf of Leticia Fragger and I, co-chairs of this committee of CARES, the entire governing body, everybody, all of us, senior staff and the people of Princeton.
This community needs assessment is more than a report. It reflects Princeton's commitment to listen, learn, and act. I want to acknowledge the dedicated work of the CARES Committee, our human services department, our community
partners, and the residents who share their experiences with honesty and courage. CARES was created to bring together affordable housing, civil rights, and human services into one collaborative body because the
challenges people face do not exist in isolation. This assessment demonstrates the value of that vision. By listening to those who too often struggle to be heard, we are strengthening the human infrastructure of our community and
reaffirming that a caring community is measured not only by its resources but by how it supports those who need them the most. So I'm telling you this is a great report and it's only a start. And
now the question is how will we that you've presented us with this report how will we use it in conjunction with you. So thank you. Well done. >> Thanks Le. Any other questions or comments? Right. >> Yeah. I'd just like to uh offer my
thanks as well to the three of you to the cares committee and to Cap who I think um participated in the process. Um just to follow up on what Leighton said uh this is outstanding. It certainly highlights important needs, some of
which we're addressing, not all of which we're addressing, and many of which we're not addressing at a level that we would like to be addressing them at. So to be a little more specific with the question and this is probably for Jeff and row about what the next steps are um
because you have a finite uh amount of financial resources and staff and I'm sure you would all like to work uh twice as hard if you if you could. Um but when will you sort of have a a plan you know
that that helps us to understand uh what resources if any financial or staff are needed um to meaningfully change uh how our town h how what helps us understand what we would need to do
to lift us up to higher levels than we currently are in the priority areas that you have identified. >> Yeah, I think that um um the one thing we plan on doing at the end of this week is presenting this same presentation to our community partners,
but a not so abbreviated version uh because our community partners are really instrumental in making sure our residents are receiving all these vital services. So, we want to make sure they're well informed. um to Mia's point about the county um they are anxiously awaiting this report as well. So we're
excited to share this with them too. Uh the next thing we intend to do and we hope to you know start this in the fall is really to convene all of our wonderful community partners into the same room. Um, we don't often get to do that, but we do believe like just the
opportunity to build the relationships between our partners helps inform one another so they can help our residents out. Um, those are our immediate steps, but I know that Naomi and I have talked about doing um asset mapping of all of
our social services providers in town and um finding ways to then share with them. Yeah, we have we have a baseline just from the work of the last year of several organizations coming together and sharing what currently exists. Um
what was what was an incredible finding that mirrored exactly the needs assessment was that even um for those of us in the room representing different organizations did not typically know what others were offering. And so therefore, we're not,
you know, able enough to help navigate beyond our own organizations. So that that's something that um having everyone um come together and then and finding a way to continuously be sharing that
practical information. Um there's there's a lot of um specific recommendations, but some more um close one-on-one navigation is something that we're that we're really focused on and helping connect people to some of the
services that already exist. >> Yeah. >> And feedback loops for um sharing what the needs um still are. The other thing I'll add is that while we were conducting the needs assessment, um, we immediately became aware that a
lot of our new Princonians who were so happy to have in our community are not aware of all the wonderful resources that we offer. So, our community outreach coordinator has been making a real presence at all of these new developments um, and trying to engage with the property managers there, but
also the residents and and sharing with them what the resources are. Um on the health health care front, I'll share that um you know different things came to light when it came to dental assistance and and vision in particular. And so health and human services have
partnered with the New Jersey Department of Human Services to deliver free um vision services. And in fact Jeff and I were just at the tonight's vision clinic that ran out of Monument Hall from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. But that's going to be delivered on a monthly basis. Um, we
have Zoo Fall Health Clinic coming on a monthly basis as well. Um, but the list continues to grow. And >> yeah, and I'll just add a lot of that changes based upon federal funding that's provided and um some of the federal insurance that's getting cut.
Uh, a lot of that falls down uh to the locals and that's where Zufall clinics and the recommendations through the needs assessment and having those localized clinics really are what what makes sense. than having parents and kids be able to go to the same clinic um at the same time, especially if you have
um you know, one or both parents are both working. >> Um and then I'll just close with I know there's discussions over you know kind of looking at the goal setting process and you know trying to marry that with budgeting. I think to Brian's question, specific question, you know, the outcome
from those results that you all receive, take that to goal setting and budgeting to see what that actually equates to make sure that the recommendations are successful. >> Just a follow-up question, and I think David may have one. Um, so as you were
talking, I was and I was looking at some of the charts. Um this is a needs assessment that was done over the last year that uh looks at it's a sort of a snapshot of today. Um and in the next 5 to 8 years we're adding hundreds of
affordable housing units. So five and 10 years from now the the needs it may look a bit like this but the numbers are going to be much higher of people who have those needs. And so I just hope that as we plan and work with
our community partners, we also think about uh the needs of the future in addition to the needs of the present. >> Yeah. So I just want to maybe give a little preview of what CAP uh a friendly
Princeton 2.0 know looks like because I I think it really is a model um for the way forward for all of this stuff and I worked on the task force um that put that together has has been working on
putting that together and um I pointed to actually our climate action plan um as a great example because first of all there's a real awareness that the solutions to the problems are
not all governmental solutions. And you've talked a lot about community partners. And I think that that's really key um is to identify like which of these needs are most amendable to government action, which are most
amendable to direct action by uh community partners and and which are amendable to action by residents. you know, it's it's all hands on deck to really address these needs. And then the
second thing is that addressing the need or identifying the needs is a first step and creating an recommended actions is a really important next step. And I think there's some of them that are in this
report, but I think it could be a lot more developed in that regard where you take all of these needs that have been identified and actually come up with strategies to try to address them and then assign tasks to government,
community partners, whoever to try and and address each of those needs. So I think that's the that's the path forward in my mind is to add that level of detail to this report. And then finally
with with the age friendly Princeton effort we've agreed that having ongoing meetings of a steering committee which is going to be uh in the case of that report convened by CAP
uh to check and see how we're doing on a more frequent basis than every 12 years. um which is also something that's coming from the climate action plan where sustainable Princeton is giving us
reports every 3 years or so of how we're doing. Um so you know measuring progress is such an important part of actually making progress. So that's another key factor. Um there I just want to thank
you for bringing up the age friendly because you know that this is a this is a state um a state funded grant and Princeton is actually the the first um in the state to be called age friendly
in 2014 and the third in the country. Um and this recent grant has really given us a green light to redouble our efforts on it. um CAP's um um connection with this I would
really like for it to be useful for as many of these as possible because age friendly is about improving the livability of the community across the lifespan. It is not exclusive to 55 plus and almost all of these are for
community across the lifespan. So, um you know, having these partnerships, these community partnerships with um the different um experts that are already around in the community, you know, that's really something that we're going to um pull together. And as a result of
the the grant, we did um just complete a uh a blueprint that does define these recommendations in more detail. And then and and additional uh it highlights some that we should that we're recommending really that we focus on. And then
additional um and there is a draft action plan included in there. It's pretty rough, but it um it has um you know the the hope that we can step forward with with with uh partners to
make some progress on this. >> Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. I think we're eager to see the uh the draft action plan, you know, when it when it's feasible. Obviously, there's interest and willingness to help up here. Um, and I think a number of us
will probably be following up through row with I know I have a list of questions and ideas here. So, not that we're going to get into all of them tonight, but thank you. Uh, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Sorry. Le I would just like to recognize Asheen Shamsy, a member of the CARES
Committee who was very instrumental in this entire community needs assessment program and portfolio and also Mr. Wayne Slappy who has helped us with our financial needs. uh workshops for vulnerable people. So, thank you both for all the work that you do and are
doing. >> Thank you. >> And I I'm sorry to correct you uh Leon, but it's Arafa Kala, not Afin Shsy. He's with us tonight who you wanted to thank.
>> My apologies, but you know, I was talking about you. I'm sorry. >> All right. Thank you very much. All right. Next up, we have the presentation of our 2025 audit report and David Ganon
is uh on Zoom to uh to join us to go over that. If you looking at the agenda package, um there's quite a few pages that deal with all the incredible detail in the
audit. Uh although I would draw everyone's attention to pages 281 to 285 of the agenda with 285 basically showing that there's no recommendations and no findings of any any deficiencies or problems. And David, sorry to say that,
but I just wanted to jump in right away so people know that we're we continue to be in good shape here. Um Adam, can you bring David into the room or whatever?
So he can chat about this. Yeah. A little further down. Uh David the Danon. Yeah. Third one down it looks like. No. Yeah. Up. No. No. No. No. What? Go up. Yeah. There you go. That one.
Sorry, I'm watching my screen here. I can see what our technology guy in the back is doing. So, I'm not just talking to uh there we go. >> Good evening. >> Hi, Dave. >> Can everybody hear me?
>> Yes, we can. Thank you. >> All right. Excellent. Uh so first I just want to say you know I always like to you know thank the municipal employees um they they really provide excellent cooperation uh throughout the entire engagement. Um we've issued an an
unmodified opinion on on the municipality's financial statements. So what that means we did we didn't take any exceptions to any of the accounting practices prescribed by Princeton. uh and we found that it complies with the reporting requirements as promagated by the division of government services and
overall we found the financial records of the municipality maintained in an excellent condition with really very very few uh if if any adjustments uh and overall that's really due to Sandy Webb and her staff continue to do uh an excellent job. Uh overall the
municipality continues to be very healthy financially. Uh the current fund fund balance at the end of 2025 was $29.9 million. Uh that was an increase of $4.7 million from the prior year. Uh and although the the annual budget
continues to rely on surplus to fund a portion of its budget, the the municipality is able to build back those uh fund fund balance surplus amounts uh with with revenues that exceed exceed budget amounts. Uh namely property taxes
uh exceeded budget $2.8 million. Sewer rents exceeded budget by $2.2 million. Interest on investments exceeded the budget by a million and a half. Uh so you know you guys do a very good job of of building your budget and then each year uh you successfully build
back a surplus that that's utilized. Uh there's an affordable housing utility as well uh in the municipality. That fund balance was $44,000 compared to the $256,000 in the prior year. In addition to that, there's program reserves of $3.6 million uh
which was an increase in the prior year of 2.4. Uh the parking utility fund balance uh increased slightly to $4 million uh from 3.6 of the of the prior year. Uh important to note uh the parking utility contribute continues to contribute
towards uh the current fund fund balance each year. Uh $1.8 million over the last uh several years each year. Uh addition to that, the trust fund actually has a number of reserves that support the current fund budget. Uh there's a number of reserves that are, you know, pretty
healthy over there. Qoid sick leave of $1.2 million, uh construction revenues of $7.1 million, and then sewer trust of $6.3 million. Uh tax collection rate continues to be strong. Uh the 25 tax collection rate was 99.22.
Uh and over the last, you know, five or six many years, uh the township has been able to maintain a 99% tax collection rate or we're very closely there, too. uh overall net debt of the municipality was $22 million uh or 1.88% of equalized
valuation. Uh when you compare that that the maximum permitted by law is 3.5%. Uh so your remaining borrowing power for the municipality is $175 million. Uh in addition to the financial statement audit, we also were required to perform a state single audit that New Jersey
requires uh based on the level of grant funding that the municipality uh um obtains. Uh this year we looked at the New Jersey Department of Transportation programs uh that the township uh has. Uh we've issued an unmodified opinion on
compliance, no control exceptions. uh as the mayor had mentioned, you know, although we we we're on site for about a month um a month during the year, perform a number of tests of internal controls and uh specific compliance requirements that the state requires. We
didn't find any exceptions um to the internal control environment or violations of the statute. So there's there's no corrective action plan that the township that the municipality needs to to take. Uh with that, if there's any questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them.
>> Sure. Thank you. Let me see. Do we have any David? Yeah, just because there's nothing else to talk about, I want to ask uh as a point of interest, you know, when I was reviewing the audit report, uh there's a
paragraph titled adverse opinion on US generally accepted accounting principles and I was a bit alarmed and I read it about three times before I got a sense of what it said. If you could explain a little bit what that adverse opinion is
about, that'd be great. Sure. So there's a presupposition that financial statements are presented in accordance with generally some of the accounting principles or GAP. Uh New Jersey specifically statewide requires all the municipalities and counties not to
follow GAP but to follow a um prescribed requirements of accounting and audit that the state developed a long long time ago. And one of the the benefits of that that accounting is a very uh conservative accounting. Um so you know
if you have fund balance it's supported by cash uh you know if there's unpaid taxes at the end of the year that doesn't further um even though it's acred revenue in a commercial setting uh that doesn't go
towards increasing your fund balance uh that becomes a reserved receivable. So uh it's a very conservative basis of accounting. All municipalities and counties uh in the state require it. Uh but because this is a presupposition that we're going to finance are
presented in accordance with GAAP, we have to expressly state uh that the statements are in accordance with GAAP and then there's additional paragraphs uh that go into why because of the basis of accounting and then pro provides an opinion on that basis of accounting
which is unmodified. >> Thank you. So it sounds like if I had read previous audit reports as carefully as I read this one, I would have seen that previously as well. >> If if you if you went back audit reports to about 1935ish,
you you'd probably see something similar. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Okay, David, thank you very much for joining us and uh we appreciate all the help your firm provides to us. Right. >> Thank you. Have a great night. Good
night. Okay, and just to remind everybody that there is an affidavit we all need to sign related to this. So at the end of the meeting, make sure you you sign that. Dawn has that. Okay, so let's jump to the resolutions. And the first resolution 26199
is a resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton accepting the 2025 audit and group affidavit. David makes the motion. Brian's got the second. Questions or comments? Brian. >> Uh, yes. I never want to miss an
opportunity to thank Sandy Webb and I see that she's on the Zoom and the accountant um noted uh how helpful and professional uh she and her team uh have been this past year and we could say the
same thing for the past 26 years. And um I don't know if Sandy has a perfect record, but you might of clean audits um which uh is really a testament to how well um uh the professional staff and
the elected officials have uh handled the municipalities finances for quite some time. >> Thank you, Michelle. >> Well, Brian beat me to it, but I second that. And uh you know, just thank Sandy. Um it's going to be um hard to uh I
don't think we're going to fill the shoes, but we'll do our best. U we're really going to miss her. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Leon. >> Thanks, Andy. >> There we go. Okay. All in favor, please say I.
>> I. >> I. Next up, resolution 26-200, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the award of a professional services agreement to Aurora and Associates PC for professional engineering services in connection with Rosedale Road, Elm Road,
and Cleveland Lane intersection improvements for an amount not to exceed $121,500. Brian's got the motion. David's got the second. Deanna, do you just want to go in and explain briefly why this is such a great deal for us?
Yes, thank you, mayor. Um, so we are working collaboratively with Mercer County to um realize some benefits of shared services. So, in June, council
had um voted to support a memorandum of understanding with the county to jointly improve this intersection. Princeton um is responsible to fund the design costs related to the project and Mercer County
will um fund the construction and the ongoing maintenance of this intersection. >> Yeah. So, it works well. Very nice working with them on this. Brian, >> uh yes. Um, just to build on what Diana said. Um, for those of you familiar with the intersection, um, there are
definitely opportunities to improve it. Um, I'm sure the design will, uh, be a compelling one and once the improvements are made, that intersection will be safer. And Diana, does it currently comply with safe streets to school? I I
know that's part of why we're doing this. >> Correct. uh we do not have pedestrian access and crossing on all legs of the intersection. So part of this project is
to provide the pedestrian resources which we will then connect to our safe streets to schools project um which includes uh additional sidewalks on the
south side of Rosedale Road. Okay. Any other questions or comments? Right. All in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Next up, resolution 26-201. Oh, so let me 201 and 202 are
agreements, adopt the park agreements uh with the friends of Harrington Woods and the president or chair of their board is here tonight. Steve, did you want to come up and make a comment? I figured this would be a good time. And I'll just throw out there for when people come up, you introduce yourself and
we give you a very generous three minutes. There you go. Hello. >> Hello. >> Okay, because it works. It works. Um, good evening. Yes, I will keep my try to
keep my comments to three mi minutes here. Make it quick. You probably know what I'm going to say. So, um, this evening, the friends of Harrington Woods officially enter into adopt a park agreement to maintain Harrington Woods
and Autumn Hill reservation comprising trails and habitat on a total of 230 acres of town-owned preserved land. These agreements make official the in the intense and sustained work we've been doing at these preserves for the
past 13 years. I have led the organization since its founding in 2013. That first summer, three of us, Kurt and Sally Tazzelar, and myself began clearing trails so overgrown that it was sometimes difficult to tell where they
had once been. Since then, our organization has maintained and improved trails and fought proactively and successfully to subdue invasive species that run rampant elsewhere in Princeton. Just as importantly, we have hosted many
events that build community and connect people to nature on the east side of Princeton. There have been particularly important achievements along the way. In 2018, Princeton helped us save the house and cottage from demolition. Uh in 2020,
when the pandemic forced people outdoors, many came and and participated in the evolution of our botanical art garden. aka the Ban, which transformed the area next to the main parking lot into an oasis for native plants,
charismatic frogs, and coffee. Yes, people began to take our nonprofit seriously when we started serving coffee on the first Sunday uh morning of each month at our popup maze cafe. We installed a gazebo for gathering and
sheds for tools. These structures too have been rescued from demolition. We are grateful to the town for the awards it gave us for restoring trails and creating the Ban. As we've poured countless hours into realizing and sustaining the potential
of Herrentown Woods and Autumn Hill, we have drawn inspiration not only from the many visitors to the preserves whose response to nature and our work uh brings such joy, but also uh to a distinguished couple whom we never had
the pleasure of meeting. That would be Oswald and Elizabeth Vevelin who in 1957 donated Harringtontown Woods as the first nature preserve in all of Mercer County. Oswald Vevelin, a renowned mathematician and visionary, was also
the force behind the acquisition of what became the 600 Acre Institute Woods. We thus view the Vblins as the founders of the open space movement in Princeton. Our efforts to restore Herringtown Woods and the Vevelin House and Cottage honors
uh their transformative legacy in Princeton. We are grateful to those in the community who help us through their support and volunteer efforts and we look forward to working with Princeton council and um staff as we enter into
these official agreements. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Steve. Okay. So, let's uh let's look at the two resolutions. Like I said, first one is resolution 26201, which is a resolution of the mayor and the council of Princeton approving an adopt a park agreement with the friends
of Herringtown Woods pursuant to New Jersey adopt the park law NJSA412-20 for parkland known as Herringtown Woods. And would someone like to move that? Thank you, Leighton. And David's got the second. Questions or comments?
Yes, Slate. >> Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I Steve, I just want to say thank you to you and the entire board for the great work that you do doing and have done over many, many years. I want to just acknowledge the
entire governing body here. I want to thank uh Mark and Brian and everyone for helping us get to where we needed to be with this agreement. uh Deanna, Jim, Purcell, Inger, Rich, Arish, and Trisha.
We could not have got here without the hard work that all of you have done. So, you know, we're we're moving forward now with building community, with keeping nature alive here. And I just, you know, am really happy that we finally got to
this agreement that will be uh a blessing for the people of Princeton. So, thank you very much for bringing us across the finish line. Everybody who had anything to do with this, big or small. Thank you. >> Thanks, Le. Any other questions or
comments up here? Brian. >> Yeah, I just want to echo Leightton's thanks to Steve and to the board and add uh the many, many dozens of volunteers um who are out there working on the trails and doing uh their share to build
what really has become a special community. And in that way, it's it's it's a lot different uh than some of our other parks. And um I had a chance to spend three hours on Saturday hiking a good number of the trails and uh uh walking with one of the board members.
And um it is a really beautiful part of town and they have done exceptional work with the trails and um I wish them great uh luck and success in their future fundraising so that they can uh take on
uh the Evelyn house uh as a next big project. Thank you. >> Anybody else? All right. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. All right. And then related to that is the next one, resolution 26-2022, resolution of the mayor and council of
Princeton approving an adopt a park agreement with the friends of Harrington Woods pursuant to New Jerseys adopt the park adopt the park law NJSA 4012-20 for parkland known as Autumn Hill Reservation. And is there a motion on that? Thank you, Leighton. Is there a
second? Thank you, Michelle. Questions or comments? All right, seeing none, let me just add my thank you to everyone related to Herringtown, friends of Herringtown Woods. Uh, everyone in the past and everyone in the future. Uh, I happen to
walk in Autumn Hill Reservation quite a bit. I should say my walk, my wife and her dogs actually walk there more than I do, but I do occasionally. And it's uh, it's great to be able to use the facilities in town, and I encourage people to to visit both places. Anyway, all in favor, please say I. I
>> I >> Okay, thank you very much. >> Next up, resolution 26203, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton approving a second amendment to the ground lease buying between Princeton and Nassau HKT Urban Renewal Associates LLC for the Park/Plaza
redevelopment area pertaining to outdoor dining on Hines Plaza. David has the motion. Michelle has the second. Questions or comments? I will still say that as far as I'm concerned, the boundary should be the interior side of the trees. It's much
easier to pay attention to where the fence is. And there was actual agreement to that at one of our meetings, but for some reason, we've chosen to use some distance of whatever it is. So,
that's my only comment. Other than that, I'm fine. Any questions or comments up here? Did I ask for a motion? >> I believe >> and you guys did that. Thanks. Nothing else? No comments? That's great. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> There you go.
>> 26204 resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton approving a license agreement buy and between Princeton and DWM Holdings, Inc. doing business as Witherspoon Grill and Christines to allow outdoor dining on Hines Plaza. Thank you, David. Michelle's got the
second. Questions or comments? All right. Seeing none, all in favor, please say, "I." I. >> There you go. >> All right. Resolution 26205, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the submission of an application to the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection for grant funding from the hazardous discharge site remediation fund grant program in the amount of 983,126.36 to reimburse Tune Development Urban Renewal for cost incurred in remediating areas dedicated to the municipality of
Princeton on the property located at 365 Tur Road, Block 74. 404 lot 1.02. Mia's got the motion. Leticia has got the second. So, it'd be great if somebody explained what it is in public
that we're doing here and why we're doing it. Since I have to sign the paperwork, I just want to make sure that we all understand what it is that we're doing. >> I'm happy to explain it. Um, so this is uh the Alice and uh they were kind
enough to um donate a portion of their property to Princeton in the form of a public access easement in perpetuity um and to construct a series of public betterments throughout um that easement
that formed um a benefit for the community and the neighborhood in particular. um in pursuing those improvements they encountered not only on that site but in the entire site a great deal of remediation work that needed to be done.
Um, I think many people know the shopping center was built around 1953 and that was prior to when there were restrictions on what you could dump and where and the bulk of um, uh, that um,
when they were constructing that, a lot of most of it was dumped there where the Alice was built. Um, and so they had to truck a lot of that out to Pennsylvania and it was very expensive and so they incurred additional costs
um rather than um burdening the municipality with additional costs for our portion. Um they have chosen which we very much appreciate to seek state funding for that. And so this basically means that
we are verifying which we have extensively that those costs those additional costs were expended and that in fact these additional funds are reimbursement for the remediation on Princeton's portion
of the property. >> So if I understand what you just said correctly is if this grant wasn't available these added costs would come to us. that case could be made and I think um >> no is that is that accurate or because I I thought there was a cap on what we
were willing to pay initially and so this is over and above that. >> This is over and above that and they could ask for that to be taken out of the pilot money. Um and then Princeton would have to make a decision whether or
not we wanted to uh reimburse them for that. >> Right. we would not be under an obligation to take it out of the pilot, but it could be a question asked of us. >> That would have to be taken up in court and I think we would this has been a good community partner and I think we
would rather not be opposite them in court. So, >> you know, no, I I agree. But I just want to since I have to sign all this paperwork, I want to make sure I fully understand what's happening and I want to make sure the public understands what what we're doing. Um, I'm just a little concerned that
the majority of the governing body really knew nothing about this till we got a memo from one of our attorneys on Friday and the committee dealing with this directly has been discussing this for many, many months. So, process-wise, it's disconcerning. But, David, your hands up.
>> Yeah, I just want to maybe put a little bit of a different spin on this. Um, this is a grant for environmental cleanup that has been funded by the state because they feel it's appropriate for the state to help property owners
with costs associated with that kind of environmental cleanup. It's reimbursement from the state, not from the municipality. We're we're not out a penny uh by supporting this grant application. So, you know, rather than
talking about legal obligations, I would rather emphasize the fact that this is something that is legitimate under state policy and it's um something that we should be
supporting. >> Yeah. No, my my concern is that this seems to be a very one-off aligning of the stars here for this entity, this for-profit entity, and I do not want people other for-profit entities to
think that we're always going to be able to help them pull some rabbit out of the hat to solve a problem with this magnitude. If I if I can just uh also make the distinction this is a grant for
remediation on this land that is uh accommodating a public betterment. There were also cleanup uh requirements on the private property which is being funded by a separate grant that the applicant where the
private property owner was able to apply for that grant themselves without our involvement because it was their private property. So, I think it's a good point that you raise and I think what I would say to other property owners in town who have cleanup uh needs on private
property that they should be aware that the state um supports that and they offer grants for those kinds of things. If any property owner in Princeton has legitimate cleanup claims, um this is an excellent opportunity for them to take
advantage of. Yelle, >> because this grant is specific for public property and this is has the public access easement. So that's why it comes through us. >> Yeah. >> It's an important distinction. >> No, I understand that we have to we have
to act in order for this to happen. >> Okay. >> And and I and I don't disagree with the premise. I I'm just very concerned about the process to get us here. That's all. Any M? >> Yeah. So, um I hope we don't have that many contaminated properties in
Princeton, but there are two other properties which um will be conveyed to Princeton community housing and because they are municipally sponsored 100% affordable projects. Um the municipality is and will be on the hook to perform
remediation and and just to give you a heads up, there will be an agreement coming to council um soon in which um in order for PCH to um be eligible for its funding from the state. uh the
municipality will have to and you will have to sign that um regardless of what the costs are that we will be funding the remediation on both of those sites. So just to give you a heads up um I don't um think that this grant program
will be available for those. So we will be um performing those costs. >> Yeah. Thank So if if there's any objection, you know, there will be the the chance to object to that. In which case, we would not be able to move forward with those sites. >> Yeah. >> But
>> okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments? All right. Seeing none, all in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> There you go. Okay. Next up, resolution 26206, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing the submittal of a
fiscal year 2027 New Jersey Department of Transportation Municipal Aid Grant application, MA2027-pitybrook road improvement project 00595 and execution of a grant contract with the New Jersey Department of
Transportation. Is there a motion? Thank you, Brian. Is there a second? Thank you, Late. Questions or comments? All right, seeing none, all in favor, please say, "I." >> I.
>> Resolution 26207, resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton authorizing a bedroom distribution waiver pursuant to NJAC 580-26.4 of the uniform housing affordability controls. Is there Thank you, David. Michelle's
got the second. Justin, do you want to just tell us briefly what this is? >> Uh, certainly. Uh, I could give a brief summary of my memo from July 9th regarding this resolution. Uh, back in February, the zoning board approved a site plan application utilizing the affordable housing overlay 2. U, uh,
that would allow a 10-unit apartment building, including two designated affordable apartments at the corner of Nassau Street and North Harrison Street in the Jugdown Historic District. All 10 of the units were designed to be two-bedroom units, including the two affordable units. Uh, normally, one of
the affordable units would be required to be a three-bedroom unit due to a requirement that a minimum 20% of all affordable units be three-bedroom units. In addition to a requirement that a minimum of 30% of all affordable units be two-bedroom units, uh, when we only
have two affordable units in a 10-unit development, those numbers become one two-bedroom and one three-bedroom affordable unit. A condition of the zoning board's approval was that the applicant shall seek out approval by the governing body to allow both of the affordable units to be two-bedroom
units. And a couple things separate this application from what we normally see. Uh the first is that there was a compromise between the applicant, Daniel Barski, and a local neighborhood group, Save Jugtown, uh to revise an an initial 15-unit proposal in a way that was more
palatable to everyone, including our historic preservation commission. Uh the HPC did not recommend approval of the initial application. Mr. Barski then proposed to reduce the proposal from 15 to 10 units and separate the new construction from the historic corner
house on the site um into its own building. Uh the HPC then ended up recommending approval of the revised application that was subsequently approved by the zoning board. Uh the second thing that separates this from what we normally see is that there were a couple changes in both state law and
in our municipal ordinance uh while this application was going through the pipeline. The state's uniform housing affordability controls known as U-Hack changed not once but twice since the initial application was made. Subsequently, our municipal ordinance
was changed to reflect a new new U-Hack as part of our fourth round affordable housing requirements earlier this year. And this allows the governing body to approve a rounding down of the three-bedroom requirement if otherwise the requirement would cause undue hardship or be sight infeasible. And the
applicant has provided a letter demonstrating how the unique conditions of the site as well as the particulars of this development support the governing body granting the request to round down the three-bedroom requirement. These unique conditions include the site being in the Jugtown historic district and containing one of
the oldest buildings in Princeton. And the particulars of the development include balancing the AHO2 requirements and the compromise with the neighbors. and uh staff agrees with this assessment and that it would meet the reduction as allowed by our municipal ordinance. Uh I would also note that the municipality
currently has a surplus of designated affordable three-bedroom units and we expect that to continue. So this uh request would not imperil our municipal balance over the next 10 years. Uh and Mr. Mayor, this summary might have been longer than my memo. Um but I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.
>> Thank you. Any questions or or comments? >> Yes. I'd also like to add that um Princeton advocated with the state in the fourth round U-Hack to allow for this flexibility because um the fourth round
U-Hack rules are primarily um designed for large multif family developments um uh not being built as uh as this is known as gentle infill or gentle density
infill in historic neighborhoods. the way that we have here in Princeton. Um, and we would like to be able to comply with our obligation but be sensitive to the unique environment in certain neighborhoods in our town. Um, we were
very pleased that the state granted the ability to give this flexibility to towns. Um, sometimes a one-sizefits-all approach does not work um for exercises like this. And we're particularly pleased that there was a compromise
between um the Jugtown advocates and the developer who um reduced the size of his development um by a substantial amount. So this is a a win for everybody and um
I'm really pleased that we're able to see finally lay this to rest. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Michelle. I just want to thank my colleague Mia Saxs for your leadership uh at the state level on this and many other issues that need
addressing. Sometimes there's unintended consequences when legislators are putting something out in such broad strokes. So, thank you. I know you worked hard. >> Thanks. >> Okay. Anything else? All in favor, please say I. >> I. I.
>> There you go. >> Okay. Uh resolution 26208. Resolution of the mayor and council of Princeton correcting the final payment amount authorized by resolution 26-175 authorizing the second and final change order with National Water Man Cleaning
Company for mini system number 35 sewer rehabilitation project and making a final payment in the amount of 12,85581. Basically just correcting a mathematical error. David's got the motion. Michelle's got the second. Questions or comments? >> All in favor please say I.
>> I. Consent agenda is up next. Three items, paying the bills and couple special budget items. Leticia is moving them in in bulk. And Michelle's got the second. All in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Okay. Public comments for items not on
the agenda. Anybody in the audience, feel free to come up. Just introduce yourself. There's the threeminut limit. We usually do not engage in a debate on anything people bring up, but you're more than welcome to bring up whatever you want. Please. >> Thank you. Good evening. My name is Linda
Oppenheim. I live on South Harrison Street and I want to thank council again for having adopted the the Princeton racial equity impact assessment toolkit, but I haven't heard anything about it. So, I wanted to know where and how it's
been implemented and if any assessment has been made of how well it works. Have there been any changes recommended for the toolkit? >> Sure. Thanks for the question, Linda. Yes. Uh we actually met this week uh the
personnel committee on the racial equity toolkit and we uh plan to roll it out within probably the next month or two. We're going to have a uh group of people uh department heads that will roll it out that will have
continuing conversation now about what the next steps are and exactly what the parameters will be. uh we expect if you know Leticia if if I'm not correct let me know but I think probably within the next month and a half uh we will have
more information on rolling it out uh by department and also the big question that we are trying now to answer and to look at is to what extent will this racial equity toolkit and equity toolkit
um that will combine uh economic social services and all aspects of equity across the spectrum. Is it going to drop down with the departments and with the municipality itself and to what extent will we cover it with regard to policy
procedures and throughout our BCC's. So that is the conversation we're having now exactly how to roll it out and what impact it will have. And if if I can add to that by we meet, we mean working with our administrator who uh heads all our
municipal departments. >> Thank you. >> Does that answer your question? >> Yes. >> Okay. Yeah. Thank you. >> I just want Linda. I I just want to say um we actually coincidentally got an update. We get weekly updates about various things from um Leighton and
Leticia and Bernie. Um last week um and I haven't had a chance to read it through very carefully, but coincidentally we did just get this update and um I um thought it was very promising. Um it was
really thoughtfully constructed. It's clear that they have done a lot of work on this. Um, and it was very exciting to see the the framework coming to fruition. So, um, I just just happened that you came and and I just read that,
but uh, yeah. So, okay. Anyone else in the public that has anything they want to talk about that's not on the agenda? All right. Nobody else in the room? Anybody on Zoom? All right. Seeing no hands up, we'll
close the public comment section. David >> move to adjurnn. >> Thank you. Is there a second? Thank you, Michelle. All in favor say I. I. >> The meeting's over. Thank you all for having attended. Have a great evening.