e e e e e e e bur of Ramsey you ready M yes I'm ready all set okay here we go good evening welcome to
the regular session of meeting of the mayor and Council on February 26 2025 this meeting is also being conducted telephonically the dialing number is 425 436 6365 access code
23563 the meeting may also be viewed on the Ramsey YouTube channel which can be accessed via the burough website may have a roll call please mayor Dylan here councilwoman cusk here councilman gutwetter here councilman kilman is not here councilman
Papo here councilwoman poppy here councilwoman Woods here thank you flag solute please I will ask for administrator Bose to lead us to the flag of the United States of
America and to the Republic stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all the New Jersey public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of all citizens to advanced notice of and to
attend all meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting the public is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act notice of this meeting of the mayor and Council was published in the Bergen record in the Suburban news on Wednesday January 15
2025 okay do we have approval of minutes Madame mayor this is councilwoman cusk I'd like to introduce the approval of the minutes from the work session dated the February the 12th 2025 and I'll second thank you any comments or changes to the minutes not hearing any roll call please
councilwoman cusk abstain I was absent that day thank you councilman gutwetter yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes okay thank you uh Communications yes madame mayor I'd like to make a motion
to file the communications as listed on tonight's agenda I'll second that he any comments on the communications not hearing any roll call please councilwoman cusk yes yes councilman gutwetter yes councilman Papo
yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you um can we have a motion to go out of order for the introduction of ordinances motion to go out of order councilwoman hus I second thank you all
in favor I I thank you okay um councilwoman Woods could you please do the introduction of ordinance 04 2025 yes Madam mayor uh introduction of ordinance 04202 be it resolved that an ordinance entitled an ordinance to amend chapter
34 entitled zoning of the revi revised General ordinances of the buau of Ramsey to establish a new r5c Island Road multi family residential Zone District pass the first reading by title and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage and
adoption at a regular meeting of the mayor and Council to be held on the 12th day of March 2025 7M prevailing time or as soon after as the matter can be reached at the municipal building in said burough and be it further resolved that the burough clerk be and she hereby is instructed to publish in an official
newspaper of the bureau in the manner provided by law a copy of set ordinance together with notice of introduction thereof and notice when the same will be considered for final passage and adoption thank you do we have a second Madame mayor this is councilwoman cusk I second thank you do we have any comments
yes madame mayor I would like to uh explain it a little further this uh new r-5 C Island Road multif family residential Zone district is a rezoning uh pertaining to only block 4201 comma Lots 5 and six the purpose of
the rezoning is to create a realistic opportunity for the construction of an age restricted multif family inclusionary development to meet an increasing need and demand in Ramsey and surrounding communities this particular sites relationship to appropriate infrastructure and proximity to other residentially zoned and developed
properties along with sufficient size allow it to accommodate such development this development would also help to address the fair share affordable housing obligation of the buau the permitted use of the property would be for inclusionary multif family development with age restrictions the
minimum age requirements for any affordable housing income restricted unit would be at least one resident must be 62 years of age or older and for any market rate units at least one of the residents must be age 55 years of age or older the minimum affordable housing component
will be 20% of any units for sale and 15% of any units for rent the area and bulk requirements compare favorably to those seen in multif family zones as compared to Zone r- 5B Island Road which is further down Island Road closer to
Route 17 for example the unit Destiny uh density per acre in this r5c proposed zone is 8.2 while the r d5b has a density of 20 per acre this ordinance is very in line with the current needs and market conditions
for Northwest Bergen County in terms of land use and project development this ordinance has been developed with the bur's planner Joseph Buress of Buress Associates who is one of the leading planners in the area and at this time I would like to introduce him and thank him for sharing his
expertise hi Joe do we should we go up there to maybe just some it'll pick up on the you go to there so that way we can pick have it on the record all your comments certainly um good evening and thank you for moving me up on the agenda
of course thank you um this ordinance as has been indicated is designed to help us meet our fourth round obl affordable housing obligation um we have a rather large number identified by Department of
Community Affairs as Our obligation and although it doesn't pretend it is ordance I will say parenthetically we'll be seeking a vacant land adjustment from that number um but and in discussing the issue with the property owner or the developer U they anticipate
approximately 60 units on the site so we should be able to get minimally 13 affordable units out of that plus possible uh additional bonus credits so you know this works out very well for us
the density is set at 8.2 two units to the acre and I would point out that down the street from the site there's this an affordable housing site Zone to 20 to the acre um but it was quite clear at the very beginning of this process the
applicant wanted to do a townhouse design which would not allow that kind of density and they were very much interested in a very particular kind of development um and it has been indicated for age it's age restricted they are
going going to have all the market rate units at age 55 and above however in order to get affordable housing credits for the age restricted affordable units those units will have to be age 62 and above and that's built into this
ordinance so there's a lot of benefits in terms of compatible density in terms of providing for affordable housing and providing it as an age restricted community so we do not have the concern
of you know the cost impact associated with um market rate units and affordable units to generate Public School attendees thank you have does anyone have any questions for Mr Burgess and Mr Burgess regarding the
affordable housing credits um do we have a multiplier on this because of it's how close it is to New Jersey Transit train station and there will be a multiplier associated with that I have to double check to see if the age restricted multiplier or the transit Village
multipliers is the higher of the two I just don't recall off the top of my head we get to use one but not both okay we'll take the one that has the highest multiplier and we'll apply that okay okay anyone no questions all right well thank you so
much well and thank you we appreciate it and if everybody's wondering this is the old yellow um Farm Farmhouse across from the apartments thank you on island that has that property has been sitting vacant for many many years many developers have
looked at it and so finally one seems to have found the magic combination to make it work okay thank you all right so Meritt we uh we need a roll call yes okay roll call please councilwoman cusk
yes councilman gutwetter yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman yes Council W yes thank you okay do we have a motion to go back into order a motion to go back into order Madame mayor councilwoman c i second thank you all in favor hi thank
you Mr Burgess appreciate you coming out thank you all right take care all right so we're at public comment anyone wishing to address the governing body please give your name spelling the last name and address please speak in audable tone and address your comments to the chair there will be a five 5 minute time
limit per speaker unless reduced because of the volume of business on the agenda please note public comment is your time add a respect and fairness to all there will be no interruptions or questions answered during your time no time shall we see to anyone else and no time shall be Sav for later use any responses may
be given during the governing body's comments later in the meeting or is directed by the chair the buau clerk is the official eke keeper hey there's no one in burrow Chambers here to make public comment hey is there any everyone on the phone first call for public
comment on the phone second call for public comment on the phone third and final call for public comment on the phone not hearing anyone I'm I will close public comment okay can we please move on to the advertisement
hold on make sure I'm not going too fast here okay let's move on to the advertised public hearing for final consideration of ordinance ordinance 03225 live councilman GW uh thank you madam mayor uh this is the final reading of
boance number 03 2025 coordinates to exceed the municipal budget appropriate the limits and to establish a c bank have been brought up for public hearing and all persons interested having been giving the opportunity to be heard pass final reading by title and that set ordinance to be adopted as an ordinance
of the bur Ramsey and be a further resolved that the bur could be and she hereby is directed to a Cy of the title of said ordinance to be published in the official newspaper of the burrow in a man provided by law together with the notice of the date of introduction and Adoption of set
Ordinance do we have a second second n thank you any comment on this ordinance uh Madame mayor if I could just read some uh comments on this we had U brought this up a couple weeks ago when we introduced it uh this a pro former or standard ordinance
municipalities of for New Jersey adopt each year ahead of adoped Municipal budget uh the state allows municipality if they adopt this ordinance to potentially increase their budget Appropriations within cap by up to three and a half% from the PRI years's budget Appropriations this does not impact the
tax levy cap of 2% it deals with the appropriation line items under the state Municipal cap and allows flexibility if in a given year certain line items need to be increased above the appropriation cap or Ramsey may not utilize this flexibility there's no harm in adopting the ordinance and any amount under the
revised allowable at town has will be banged for potential use in future Years thank you now now open the ordinance 03225 for public hearing is there anyone in the public wishing to
comment on ordinance oh that's no this is the advertised hearing final sorry okay once again I will open this ordinance 03225 up for public hearing anyone from the public wishing to comment on orance 0322
25 okay there's no one in council chambers so I will open it up is there anyone on the telephone line who would like to comment on ordinance 03 2025 second call for comments on 03225 third and final call for comments in 03225 not hearing any comments I will
close the public hearing can we please have a roll call councilwoman cusc yes councilman got W yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you I hear by Point Michael seion goie at to the Ramsey
rescue squad consent resolutions thank you madam mayor uh be it resolved that resolution 049 2025 through and including 059 20202 having been considered by the governing body of the B Ramsey and are
hereby passed and approved there are no special permit requests or block party requests receiv do we have a second I'll second that okay any comments on the consent resolutions not hearing any can we
please have a roll call councilwoman cusk yes councilman gut wer yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman poy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you we'll move on to committee and leaz on report s Finance Administration councilman gut
wer he they're going to get tired of hearing from me I don't think so thank you again Madam mayor uh I'm going to do my report tonight um my committee Library board we'll start off with uh Winterfest will
be running this Saturday March 1st from is it really March 1st already thisday it is moving along uh from 12m 3 p.m. in the rear parking lot of the library it's a very popular event for the library
with almost 700 people in dependance last year uh the Lunar New Year celebration was held on February 15th with the lunar Lunar New Year theme activities about7 people attended and the uh entirety of the performance portion of the event can be viewed on
the library's YouTube channel uh the library is now able to provide a homebound delivery service for Ramsey residents unable to get to the library person the library is available to provide books audio tapes DVDs and CDs through this service the library has
recently launched a new digital content service focusing on digital comics and manga for all ages more information available on the library's website and the library will soon make General cosmetic renovations to their meeting room this will allow for improved audio
visual equipment for presentations musical performances virtual orthal talks and more events that space for the Recreation Commission uh winter sports basketball and wrestling all were wrapping up their Seasons but they were well participated this year spring
Sports registration for adult Soul fall is open and the season will begin in early April and registration for volleyball is also open uh the rbsa and Ramy Junior lross registrations are through their own organizations uh the Easter egg hunt in partnership with the Ry fire department will be held on
Saturday April 12th in the morning with more information to follow uh the Ramsey Farmers Market uh Market is open uh this time of year from 10:00 a.m. to 1 pm through April uh there are still upwards of 50 dedicated farmers and food
purveyors each and every Sunday uh the director is planning many interesting events in 20125 once the weather gets warmer uh I was happy to attend this past Sunday and a nice sort of Sunny warmer day and a patrons vengers were happy to to have the market open after
two weeks of closure due to in clate weather uh I think that pretty much incl includes my report for this evening well thank you councilman gut councilman kilman is not here show Public Safety for his comments Mr Bose uh thank you
Madame mayor uh councilman kilman's report uh is regarding the Emergency Services complex currently the Ramsey Emergency Services complex project has been undergoing further review and assessment the challenge given to those design professionals involved is to accommodate both the present and future
needs of the ram volunteer fire department rescue squad and OEM as well as to stay within the feasible budget parameters initially estimated regardless of the current rise in inflation and construction costs this work is near in completion with a significant amount of value engineering
undertaken to reduce the estimated cost of the project the building committee working group including select burrow officials will also complete its review of the updated proposed project modifications in the near term and then present it to the full mayor and Council and the public
once the proposed plan and bid package is complete it will need to be submitted to the State Office of com troller for a review prior to going after it conclude his comments thank you Mr Rose Building Planning and Zoning councilwoman
Woods thank you Madame mayor my report is short this evening I can tell you that the design review board held their meeting uh last evening and they approved the Tropical Cafe Smoothie signage in interstate so go check check it out as soon as they open um I will
have a report on the seniors at my next meeting did not get that report and the board of adjustment meeting this February was cancelled um I would like to congratulate the uh Michael choli from Ramsey rescue squad and I also
would like to thank uh Council and Sarah poppy for helping to coordinate the beautiful Ramadan celebration that I attended this evening and I learned very much so thank you thank you councilwoman cusk thank you madam
mayor this report will provide an update regarding our planning board J Tree commission and Board of Public Works um I'd also like to thank Michael cang goalie for his Ramsey rescue squad service and future service and his appointment our planning board met on the 18th of February there was one
waiver which was approved the March 4th meeting's been cancelled and the next meeting will be March 18th at the February 4th meeting as my report from our time together on the 12th um the meeting that I missed there was a hearing for the Ramsey Board of Public Works monopole the B of Ramsey is
seeking to use a communication facility that is proposed to be built on a property located in MAA and used by our Ramsey Board of Public Works for supervisory control and data acquisition and in addition there will be use for Ramsey Emergency Services Communications
the planning board was charged with reviewing the location character and extent of the project and that the public funds being spent fall within the goals of the burough of Ramsey master plan there were testimony from members of the public during this almost four hourong meeting mayor Dylan and I were
recused the planning board recommended the project to the governing body which is us the mayor and Council the shade tree commission met on the 20th of February the next meeting is scheduled for the 20th of March our vice chair Jim Lewis will be sworn in during
this meeting this year there will be over 40 new trees planted in our burrow our shade tree commission also has a wonderful submission for the Ramsey Journal Spring edition the Board of Public Works last met on the 24th of February the next meeting is March 17th
so we'll all be wearing green that day perr and poly fluorinated substances pasos are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer Coatings and products that resist heat oil stains grease and water there are US EPA posos water
quality limits which impact our water supply h2m our architectural and engineering firm is working with Ramsey water department regarding treatment approaches at our facilities at Arrow Road and for future at Darlington
Brookfield North Central and Spring Street um and those will be portions of phase two um the lead service line replacement our Board of Public Works continues planning and implementing regarding this New Jersey Department of environment Al protections lead service
line replacement legislation this project requires that all lead service lines served by the water system be replaced by the year 2031 and the water quality accountability act from our BPW is due
in March our uh firm h2m our architectural and engineering firm are working on completing it I want to thank our buau of Public Works for their diligence on our roads and sidewalks with ice and snow removal thank you madam mayor thank you want to pass that
back public in governmental relations councilwoman poy thank you see if the phone yells at me again tonight first I would like to congratulate Michael cang goie for his
appointment to Ramsey rescue squad um thank you for your service to our Bureau uh the pool Commission met on last Wednesday they are going to be adding your input is
invalid always happens to you Meredith called it it's always Sarah it's always planned okay so the pool commission would like to add swim team and lessons to the Early Bird pricing this year um
the um early bird price is going to be $500 for two adults and 100 for each add-on child and 525 will be the regular rates um those dates will be announced soon opening day for the pool will be May 24th they will operate on weekends
only until June 23rd um they have a lot of programming already scheduled for the summer so they're doing a great job with that anyone who knows any 15 year olds are older they're encouraged to apply to
become lifeguards they accept all lifeguard applications and those working in the office they're raising the age to 17 their next meeting is March 19th um the municipal Alliance canell
their February meeting their next meeting will be March 24th at Burrow Hall at 7:30 p.m. the next s stigma free meeting will be this Monday March 3rd at 7:30 p.m. at the community center
[Music] um and anyone who's submitting to the ramsy journal the submission date is coming up quickly that is March 7th so you know mayor and counsel if you have any organizations just a friendly reminder to them that their submissions
are coming due um March 9th there will be a new Resident mixer from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 pm. at the community center and that will be with the mayor the council and the police department and we should see Jack there too so something I look
forward to thank you very much that concludes my report health education Social Services councilman Papo thank you Madame mayor uh congratulations to Michael as appointment and thank you for service for the Ramsey rescue I'll start
off with Ramsey is for everyone right uh basketball continues each Saturday at 3 pm at dater school and we'll go through at least mid-march uh on environmental committee uh we had a successful uh star recycling event on February 15th uh with
the assistance of alendale uh thank you to Department of Public Works for their efforts and assistance on for sure the coordination of traffic uh for the event it went flawlessly from 10: to 12 uh next collection will be probably in May uh that that we'll probably have and
then the next meeting for environmental will be in March and lastly Board of Education was last night um hovered educators of the year were announced uh two teachers that got the U uh Awards uh
presentation of the Board of Ed uh data and TI data platforms went over last night so it's was pretty interesting just going and hearing all that and I'll leave you guys with one um announcement they showcase the kindergarten class of
2038 whoa I'll just leave you with that oh my god8 so wow that's my okay thank you that sobering note so my grandson's class will be 2040
oh 40 40 or 41 thank you so much um right so I want to thank Sabina mushak uh for organizing the Ramadan celebration this evening at the Ramsey Community Center it was very
very well attended and very well done and Regina paparo who owns lart actually gave a whole history lesson on the impact of Middle Eastern countries and Italy and desserts so that was
absolutely fascinating so wonderful celebration I thank Sabina for putting it together uh as councilman gut weaer mentioned this Saturday is Winterfest at the library which is a really fun event hopefully it will not rain the weather will cooperate and a lot of fun will be
had by all on the February 18th planning board meeting on the planning board board recommended approval of The Bard ofed plans for the Old State Farm and oldb board I'm sorry board ofed office on Main Street um and also for additions
to the current auto shop building for stem programming it was very impressive um the plans that they presented and it will really improve traffic circulation at the high school especially for drop off and pickup and will'll add some nice to menion outdoor space for the students
to enjoy and I'd like to thank Michael cion Jolie for joining the Ramsey rescue squad um they do vital and important work so I thank him for joining and for going through all the training so that he can become a member that's all I have Road administrator Bose thank you Madame
mayor um a few comments on resolutions on our agenda tonight uh resolution 55 uh was authorizing the submission of the Strategic plan for the municipal Alliance uh as noted in one of the communications on tonight's agenda the Ramsey Municipal
Alliance was awarded grant funding of approximately $4,500 for fiscal year 2026 which starts July 1st of this year in order to receive and utilize These funds the municipal Alliance must submit a strategic plan for approval and this
resolution authorized submission of that plan resolution 56 authorizing the burough to enter into a contract with more productions for Stage Sound and Lighting for the Independence Day celebration the resolution authorizes the burrow to enter an agreement with
more productions for stage rental of two stages sound equipment sound engineers and lighting for the Independence Day event in the amount of $9,750 resolution 58 uh authorizes the extension of the Burrow's outdoor dining term the burrow
outdoor dining period uh by ordinances April 15th to November 1st over the last few years the buau has extended this period to start earlier and end on December 31st this resolution authorizes the 2025 outdoor dining period to be from March 15 through December 31st to
provide extended time to our local restaurants and resolution 59 on the agenda was authorizing a temporary budget amendment for the water and sewer utility temporary 2025 budgets are set at the reorganization meeting at a state determined percentage of the prior
Year's budgets a municipality May however amend those temporary budgets by subsequent resolution this resolution amends a temporary budget for the water and sewer utility to be in in effect until final adoption of full year 2025
budget I have one other item at this time just a note that um the burrow did go out for a bond anticipation note renewal uh that was last week we went out to bid for renewal of our the bond anticipation notes with a one-year term
with the highest short-term debt rating available at Mi G1 the burrow received very competitive bid with five institutions bidding on the issuance the burrow received a net interest cost on the issuance of 2.95% which was more than 30 basis
points lower than any other New Jersey municipality ban issuances bid last week and it was almost 75 basis points below the burrow of Leonia the only other Bergen County Town who also had an issuance last week this low low net interest cost is reflected of the
Burrow's strong financial position relative to other municipalities and our budget timeline uh we are we did the budget presentation our last meeting tonight will be the introduction of the budget and then it will be advertising the public hearing
vote on adoption is planned for March 26 that will conclude my comments thank you B attorney yes madame mayor just a reminder just a reminder that special prosecutor silic has Preferred charges against Ramsey liquor LLC trading is the
Meli Cafe and the hearing is scheduled for March 6 7:30 in council chambers which is a week from tomorrow week from tomorrow okay thank you okay that's all I have Madam May thank you Pearl cler nothing thank you keep it that okay
thank you so much we've already had the introduction of ordinance 04 2025 there's no unfinished business uh new business Mr Bose would could you please give us a high level overview of the budget sure
thank you Madame man uh the 2025 Municipal budget continues to face economic challenges as all household and businesses do the buau continues to see escalating expenses across various essential services this budget is focused on the delicate balance between
minimizing the tax burden and investing in the bureau's vital services and aging infrastructure our 2025 appropriation levels for salary and operating expenses collectively are increasing by 2.04% from last year's levels and they
make up about two-thirds of the total budget the Burrow's 2025 budget is compliant with the New Jersey state appropriation cap and in fact is over a million dollars under the state appropriation cap the 2025 budget includes principal pay down of debt of
2.22 million which is an increase of about a million dollars from 2024 approximately 20% of the principal pay downs from Grants the burough sought out and receive mitigated cost to Residents Ramsey's Municipal debt level remains one of the lowest among the 13
Northwest Berg municipalities and under 10% of what the state allows for a community of our size the state allows up to 3.5% of net debt net debt as a percentage of the equalized valuation of the Town Ramsay at year end
2024 is at 0.296 per or less than on10th of the state limit this increase in PID will maintain the Burrow's strong low-leverage financial position leaving Ramsey in position to utilize long-term debt markets for large Capital
infrastructure projects in the upcoming years the burrow wide County mandated property revaluation which started in 2024 will take effect in 2025 with the final certified property taxes in the third quarter a property tax revaluation
again is a net neutral overall tax impact to the burough the new property valuations create a new net value value taxable for the burrow as a whole and the property tax rate will be adjusted down by the same percentage as the net value taxable goes up this produces the
same tax dollars to the burrow while multiplying the new higher net value taxable times the new lower tax rate Ramsey ranks in the lowest tier of Municipal tax rates in beron County with the 13th lowest of 70 municipalities Municipal tax rate and
the seventh lowest share of the 70 municipalities of tax going to Municipal Services both of these figures are more than 25% below the countywide average Ramsey maintains fa favorable ranking for municipal tax rates debt and surplus
levels with other Northwest burden communities as indicated earlier inflation and certain operating expenses have impacted the budget in addition as noted the burough is more aggressively paying down debt in 2025 to position itself for necessary upcoming investments in long-term infrastructure
projects which will benefit the town for years to come the combination of these items brings the 2025 budget to a collective mun Municipal tax rate increase of 3.95% the budget is compliant with the New Jersey state tax levy cap and is
over a million dollars below the tax this budget meets the objective of adopting a responsible budget in today's inflationary economy while continuing to provide a high level of service to taxpayers and incorporating capital investment an increased Debt Pay down for necessary projects with long-term
Community benefits the full budget document is posted on the burough website along with the municipal budget presentation also a municipal budget brochure will be sent to Residents prior to the mayor and council meeting of March 26 when the public hearing of the municipal budget will be held and
subsequently the budget will be considered for vote on adoption thank you thank you for administrative Rose can I please have the resolution introdu ing the budget thank you Madame mayor uh this is a resolution of the 2025
Municipal budget Ramsey County of Bergen for the year 2025 be resolved that the following statements of Revenue and appropriation shall constitute the approved Municipal budget for the year 2025 in the current fund General Appropriations Appropriations within
caps Municipal purposes 24,1 5,556 appropriation excluded from caps for municipal purposes 5,272 39068 reserve for uncollected taxes is $1 million total General Appropriations
30, 37794 68 less anticipated revenues of 7, 52227 the amount to be raised by taxes for in support of the municipal budget for local tax Municipal purposes 21,2
$1,502 the minimum Library tax is 1,643 58876 for the total to be raised by taxes 22,8 55,78825 th000 the swimming pool Utility Fund
Appropriations and utility revenues are $980,000 include your resolution have a second I'll second thank you any comments in addition to Mr V no not hearing it may I please have a roll call
councilwoman cusk yes councilman gut wer yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you motion to adjer motion to adjer please second second all in favor I
thank you