Call to order. Good evening everyone. The date is May 27, 2026. The time is 6:00 p.m. I'd like to call this public meeting of the Rochelle Park Township Committee to order. Pursuant to the open public meetings act, notice of the May 27th meeting was published on the township website on January 7th and the
Bergen Record and Hail News on January 11th, the hour town on January 22nd and notice the close session meeting was published on May 22nd. Copies of all notices are on file with township clerk and have been made available to the public. Roll call, please. >> Hi,
>> here >> the mayor will be today. >> All right, >> ask another moment and >> here. Thank you so much. At this time, we'll move into close session. Resolution 26-153 authorizes the township committee to enter close session pursuant to the open
public meeting act to discuss matters involving legal issues, litigation, potential litigation, contract negotiations, attorney client privilege and personal matters. The items to be discussed in close session are shared service agreement with Midland School, attorney opinion regarding liquor
licensing, potential contract for forensic audit, and legal advice regarding employee misconduct. May I have a motion to enter close session? >> Motion. >> Have a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed?
>> All right. We will enter close session uh for approximately 60 minutes and we will conduct further business. Will we return? Thank you so much. We are now in close session. >> All right. Can I get a motion to come out of close session? Motion.
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? >> All right. Please join me in standing for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for a moment of silence. >> 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. You may be seated. All right. Up first, we have a presentation. Uh, tonight we have the privilege of recognizing Rochelle Park
resident Devin Kavanaaugh, who was named the 2025 sportsman of the year at opening day last month. While awards often recognize performance on the field, those who know Devon uh best speak just as highly about his
character, work ethic, and commitment to his teammates. Over the years, Devon has earned a reputation as a player who puts the team first, is always willing to learn, and is always ready to step in wherever he is needed. His longtime
coach, Coach John Aiji, described him as a true teammate who is devoted to his team and consistently one of the first players to arrive at practices and games. Those qualities, dedication, perseverance, teamwork, and leadership
are what make this recognition so meaningful. So this time I want to invite Devon to come before us uh to receive a certificate of accommodation from the town township committee and recognition of being named the 2025
sportsman of the year. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> All right, Devin, here's your certificate accommodation. So, on behalf of the township committee, congratulations on this wonderful achievement and we wish you the best of luck both on and off the baseball
diamond. >> Let's take a picture. One, two, >> thank you. >> Parents, want to join us? >> Come on in. >> Whole family. Let's get the whole family
out here. >> Coach, coach, >> coach, want to join us? Thank you so much and congratulations. to say we got it. All right. All right, moving right along.
Up next, we have discussion on the Lots Lane uh sanitary pump station. Uh so tonight, we're considering the award of a contract for the pump station project. The township received three bids. uh and our project engineer uh for this project
specifically Boswell has recommended awarding the contract to Underground Utilities as the lowest responsible bidder in the amount of 7,975,000. Uh the two other bids was Montana Construction with a bid of 9.7 million
and PAC 2 LLC 11.3 million. Um, so if you're just joining this conversation, this project includes the construction of a new pump station. Uh, and it entails new pumps, piping, valves, electrical systems, a scattera
monitoring system, which is this computerized monitoring and control system that allows our DPW to remotely monitor the equipment, receive alerts, and respond quickly to issues. Uh the project also includes the decommissioning and removal of the
existing facility and the project locates a new station outside the floodway because the current pump station is located within a floodway and failure of this facility could place approximately 1/3 of Rochelle Park households at greater risk of flooding.
This project is designed to reduce that risk and help ensure continued operation during severe weather events. This project also uh will be completed under a project labor agreement in accordance with township policy and the bid specs.
Uh to help offset the cost, the township has secured approximately $1.95 million uh through a grant through uh FEMA's brick program and an additional $1 million in state funding uh that was secured last year uh
>> and $100,000 on top of that. Uh last year the township also adopted a bond ordinance appropriating approximately $4.5 million towards this project as well. Um obviously this project carries a significant price tag
but also serves as a reminder of the consequence and cost of delaying critical instructional investments and we know that these costs such as construction materials uh equipment continue to rise and uh projects rarely become less expensive over time. Uh, so
the township will also continue pursuing additional federal funding opportunities through requests like we put forward this year submitted to Senators Kim and Booker and Congresswoman Nelly Poe in an effort to further reduce the burden on local taxpayers. But so far over 36% of
this project is funded by grant money. Uh this project uh has been discussed for many years and tonight the township committee has the opportunity to move it from discussion to construction if the township committee sees it through. So at this time I just open this conversation up for some dialogue with the township committee.
>> Thank you mayor. I' I'd like to um I'd like to sit from the days and put my construction hat on and my engineering hat on for a couple minutes. And I have done some homework on this and I said I would once the roof was done and once the Matthews Field was done and now I'm focused solely on this. Uh I have some
concerns with with moving forward with the way we way we have this positioned. I've voiced this in the past but now I've done some research on it to back up my concerns. uh number one um the 7.9 million is a starting point and we have
to have that concept in mind and the best way I can describe this is everyone heard Frank Rossy come here from from uh Boswell Engineering and share with us from the environmental perspective that they needed to put a test boring in
where the location was selected to put this pump station and the ground is contaminated and it started a whole opening of how much is it going to cost to keep the water filtered as we dump it into into the um Saddle River and also
how much contaminated soil are we going to be at risk moving out of here. Starting at 7.9 million, nobody can put a cap on where that's going to go. And I'm going to equate this and break this down very simply to those of you who own a house. If you have an oil tank and
your oil tank leaks and it's in the ground, it can start out at $10,000. I've seen them go up in bod up to $200,000 where they had to go through three backyards. So on a percentage scale, where does that put us from 7.9
million? That's a big concern that I have right out of the gate. The other point of that is the time. How long will it take to complete that if you have to handle all that contaminated soil and that filtration? So, what I'm looking at and what I'm
thinking of is why again did we move this pump station to begin with? And when I went back and I did did a little digging historically, I I'd been told Well, let me let me back up past before that. I've been told
since I've been on here that the pump station is hanging on by a thread and I believed what I was told and I went and I saw the building and I went through the building. Dave Brown brought me through it and I agree with the the facility, the structure itself, the roof, it's got holes in it. There's
water leaking into it when it rains. It's got animals that could probably get into it. The electrical systems are at risk. And there's a lot of damage possible that's to the to the internal parts of the of the building because of the way it's hasn't been kept up with on
the exterior. But with regards to the pumps themselves, the pumps were replaced in 2009. The pumps the pumps themselves are dry pit submersible pumps which means in the in the event they are flooded and they are
you know underwater completely they're made to operate just as normal as they were if they were dry. So we prevented the risk of having an issue with them by putting these in. The life expectancy on those pumps from the manufacturer Cornell where those pumps are made from
is 25 years. So from 2009, they're expected to be in good service at least till 2034. There is a spare motor on site that is replaceable for either one of those pumps should they be needed. Those pumps
rotate one after the other. They don't both of those pumps are not in service full time. One and then the other. One and then the other back and forth. That redundancy is done on purpose to be able to handle any kind of service or repair on the pump if one goes down.
Now, I agree that we need to get it out of the waterway, but the other side of the other way to do this is to build a flood wall around around the building and to make sure that it remains dry to rebuild and reposition that building to rebuild that structure or to repair the
exterior of the building, put in what we need to put in, upgrade the pumps to newer pumps. by moving the pump station up to where we want to do it and putting three pumps is useless. Three pumps are useless. Our forced main can't handle three can't
handle one pump that we have. So unless we're prepared to rip up our forced main which goes up central a I believe to central to G I was told is where it turns into gravity. That main has got a certain size diameter. You they had originally and I learned this too. I was
baffled both pumps on when they first started this up and they had a big problem with it. They were pumping. The amount of pressure coming out of those pumps was so high it was like pumping right into a direct wall. But one pump running right now in there. They're three-phase pumps and they run fine.
There's nothing wrong with the pumps right now. The generator, the generator is a three-phase generator. I was told it was a singlephase generator. It is a three-phase generator. It was put in when those pumps were put in to control and to maintain those pumps in the case
of a flood or power outage. The generator has few hundred hours on it. It's a diesel motor. It doesn't even have the paint burned off the exhaust on that diesel. For those of you who don't know, it's encased inside of a trailer. And that
diesel that diesel generator is got is a cream pump. It's got nothing on it. But we want to get rid of that and put a natural I understand putting a natural gas generator in would be nice if it were my home to put a nice natural gas generator in rather than a diesel generator so it's piped automatically
and it turns on. But in the past if there's a flood coming we have a diesel fuel reserve that's apparently was prepared for that generator that is still in existence. There's no reason to replace the generator. All right. So we got a three-phase generator. We got
three-phase pumps that have life expectancy till 2034. There is a valve and and Miss Bonov has brought this up many times and she's absolutely right. There's a a valve that needs to be serviced. Without that valve being serviced, you can't control the outflow.
That needs to be done. And I'm not saying don't rebuild the station, but I'm saying let's not move it. And I have some costs to back this up. I've did homework on this. I've looked at other municipalities throughout the tri-state area and I have numbers here. I have
numbers. I'm going to bring them up in a minute. Um, the other thing with this is timing to rebuild the station versus moving the station is a fraction of time. It's not going to be we're not going to be dealing with, you know, if
we have the building, let's say like this. If if you have an addition on your house, right, and you want to put a new addition on the back of your house, you're subject to certain approvals. If you want to knock the house down and you want to rebuild it, your time delay is going to be another 3 months for
engineering reviews, for soil reviews, D reviews. You're going to have all the extra zoning reviews. That's what we're going to face by moving this pump station as opposed to rebuilding it. The structure is there. rebuild it in place. You know, we
asked for what the cost would be or what the cost perspective would be. We can't give you a solid cost from the engineer standpoint because they weren't given that opportunity to do that yet. If we were to recourse this and red, not
redesign, just put in the plans to rebuild this structure and put the put the proper rebuilding size pumps, the proper uh nomenclature on on it, set of architectural plans to fix the roof, repair the electrical, do if we're to do that, yes, it's going to take us a
little bit of time to do that, a month, two months, but it's going to cut down the end product from building from when we start to when we know we can finish 6 months rather than maybe a year and a half with not knowing whether or not
we're going to have soil contamination that's going to push us back even farther. And where are we going to come up with that extra money? You know, it's going to be it. Listen, we never go into something and it's going to be 7. We say 7.9, it's going to wind up. You had estimates up to what?
9.7. We had >> 11 >> 11.3 >> 11. So they're expecting something maybe the other company isn't expecting. But again, I'm looking at for a whole when we look at this, what is our projected? What is
our project? What can we control? What outcomes can we control? And what can we we have no control over once we put a uh put a shovel in that ground? And I even heard Mr. Rossy talk about and be concerned about handing bedrock at 30 ft. What do we do if we hit so what are we bringing blasters in now? My concern
is we have no control on the out. We have very little control on the outcome with that whole soils thing and with the D and where that goes and the time and the amount of money we have to come up with to resolve that issue once we start and I say we don't do that. I say we
look at focusing at rebuilding cut the time down and make sure that we have the we have the outcome control the building exists. You know we talk about structural damage to it. We're talking about raptors that got holes in them that are rotted out from wood. We got that's that's that's
tiny compared to the project of what we're talking about doing for moving it. So, let me turn for a second to some numbers to give you some ideas of other townships and other other locations of what they've done. And I looked for things that looked for projects that
were similar in size, not Edgewater because Edgewater is much much larger project. So, here's a couple for you. Clinton Clinton Township full pump station replacement
reported cost $2 million. Okay. Ocean Township reconstruction and flood resiliency upgrades. So, I'm equating that to us of having to add a flood wall around it to
to keep it dry. $3.6 million. Uh, Bridgewater Township full modern full modernization renovation 3.9 to 4.1 million and I think Bridgewater is much
larger than us. I know they are township to Stafford I mean 800,000 they there's a list and it goes on and on and on. So this comparison basically suggests rehabilitation basic rehabilitation
projects which ours would be other than the floodway the flood wall around it to to contain it would be between $800,000 to $2 million a full modernization replacement 2 million maybe 3 million maybe 4
million flood resilient or FEMA compliant rebuild often push around $3 million This is a far cry from a starting point of 7.9. I know we have some funding in place, but I think some of the funding
we still may have for a pump station, not necessarily the theme of moving the pump, but maybe for the flood wall, maybe a wall around it. We can apply it to that. But my point is we need to control the outcome on this people. We can't have an open-ended statement on this. If we do, I think we're in for
we're in for a serious uh serious issue. So my vote is to move in the direction repositioning with the engineering company that we have. Take those plans, alter those plans, whatever we need to do to alter them to make it work for the
rebuild, the reconstruct. Again, three pumps, four pumps, you can put 10 pumps there. It doesn't matter. You only have a pipe this big for your force main that runs all the way up towards Hackinack. Unless you're ready to replace that, there's no reason to put those pumps in.
not that size, but not saying don't upgrade and replace. I'm just saying I want to rebuild and replace, but be feasible with what you have. That's my take on it and I'm going to stop there. Thank you so much. Anybody else from the town committee?
No, I mean as long as I've lived in this town, I obviously have tons of respect for that and where that comes from. But I have heard continuously it's almost like everybody seems to agree respectfully that this pump station
needs to be we need a new pump station that we're just a matter of time between a really bad storm happening and people's houses and their lives getting turned upside down. Um, again, it's one of those things that I've heard from the
since I've been here, since I moved here in 2017. We need a new pump station. We need a new pump station. And we do have a substantial amount of federal and bonds and funding that's going to go towards it. And it is in a flood zone. I've been told that before. The pump
station is literally you got to get to it by a boat during a storm. And again, much tons of respect for you, man. Um, I just again I feel we're we this project I mean we got to poop or get off the pot
as they say. And I mean at this point we we we I don't want to be the person on this deis that votes against god forbid somebody's lives getting turned upside down if we have because hurricane season's coming.
And I know it wouldn't be done obviously this fall, but we need to do something as far as preparing ourselves cuz storms are only going to get worse. We're only going to have more and more issues going forward. And it's just that we've been kind of dodging bullets the last couple
years, thank God. But I just that's kind of where I'm at. And I really feel that we this we need to get going on this project. What if we explored what he's talking about? Talk to the engineers
about rebuilding. >> We already did. We had another engineer here besides Oswwell and it was questioned at that time and basically gave the same answer. Needs to be moved up. It needs to be rebuilt. The piping
has to go in and question after question the same thing that you just brought up, Matt. And that was another engineer who came out so close to the seven. um even if he tried to rebuild it, I understand what you're saying and I I appreciate it. I really do. But with that being
said, these numbers have come in pretty much the same as last year there. You just keep pushing this down the road. How is this going to end up? How are you going to answer somebody in the public one of a residents when they have sewage in their house? Because I remember ina
happened. They ended up put putting it into the uh Seattle River and then had to be pumped out because of the failure of this is not only this situation there's other situations that have happened. Now you're talking about building a wall. I understand they're building a wall but then you're you're
just you're just pushing the water toward the DPW toward the firehouse toward the pool area. you you're surrounding it with pushing as you're saying pushing a wall bringing it up higher as it was recommended many years ago um to alleviate that
floodway as I put it and by the way I think it was also a question when another uh engineer was here that was thrown I understand by you and questions were given back and forth now I don't even know who it would be okay to be DP approved for being in that flood way so
that was one of the biggest concerns that we talked about. That's a flood way. That's not a flood plane. That's a flood. That means the water is going to be there. Now, what happens with that? >> Oh, I remember that. I asked that question. And I'm going to be honest with you, look back on it. Here's my
opinion. How much longer you going to kick this down the road? Should have been done. These are pretty much the same specs. The only thing that's different in this box that came in a little bit different was the crane, which would be on top to take the pump out. Um, I appreciate you doing all the research. I really do. But I think that
at this point, how much longer and how you explain I don't even know the legal ramifications of that. If we know there's a problem at this station and Sue is backs up at people's houses, who's who's responsible for that? Is there a legal uh obligation on the town
for that? Because we do have a problem. I don't know where that would go. Well, you may have insurance, but if the town already has knowledge of the problem here, um, how does that end up? And how do you answer the residents for that? Sorry. You know, you can't sewage
destroyed your house and the pump station failed. So, this is nothing that I've heard that isn't new. um it's been a continuous thing and I understand what you're saying about what you know maybe look at rebuilding and everything else but even pushing the
water away from it is I don't know if you've been down there to see it cuz I did see it myself when it flooded and it was not it was pretty high water and that didn't work very well. So honestly uh in my opinion let's stop stop kicking this down the road. Let's just keep you
know we got to start moving forward. We have the funding for it. We got it last year. we're okay to move this and that's my opinion on it that we should look into this because this is a 700 what's the estimate on 730day project uh 38 project two years two-year
project with the PLA so I also questioned uh Mr. McInness about the from Boswell. I asked this question and I said why is it why would it take so long and the thing is the time frame was developed based on the fact that the
designs require the driving of pilings to support the structure foundation and the fact that there are several long lead time items in this project. These items include the generator. So we should have a gap to make sure that this timeline is is pristine correctly and
the pumps. The project duration runs from the date of the pre-construction meeting and I believe that would be with with the head of our DPW to project close which would include the completion of a punch list items at the end of it. Uh and that's why I believe it is
because last year you know as Mr. As spoke it it's pretty much the same too except now we got a third one that uh went from 96 to 113 million. Um so it's not getting any cheaper. It's not going
to get cheaper in my opinion. It's not going to get any cheaper. You can see now there's three and uh how much longer are we gonna, you know, try to try to do this and and and I do appreciate it in the research, but on those other towns that you looked in, say Stafford or
other little towns, the other town cities, how many pump stations do they actually have? There are many towns that have one, two, three, four pump stations in them. Some have seven. So I don't know the the statistics on how many pump stations they already have, but to have
one pump station that is not the 100% capacity that it should be is just putting in my opinion putting residents in in an objective situation of let's roll the dice and see what happens on this storm. Let's roll the dice and see what happens on that flood. I'm not sure
if that's the right way to look at it. You know, it's going to take time because I knew I have to do the piping and I understand the soil and the soil was tested. We already have that done. So going forward, could there be some objections to it? Sure. And that's just my my opinion on on this. That's all I
have. Thank you. Thank you. Uh anybody else? >> Yeah, I'd like to read comment. >> Sure. >> Um when you say displacing the water, if we're really worried about displacing the water, we wouldn't build buildings like we built across the street that
would displace the amount that would displace the amount of water that it does. With regards to the pump station, you've been to the building. I've been to the building. How big is that building? >> I don't know. Square footage off top my head.
>> Maybe 20 by 20. >> Maybe. >> So, you're talking about a wall 30 by 30 around there, you're displacing it another 4T. >> But when you have the flood water that high, Matt, and displacing that water, it's got to go somewhere. >> Okay. >> And the DPW is right over there. The
firehouse is right over here. So let let's have Troy here >> with regards with regards to the concern about hanging on a thread. Somebody's got to explain to me what that means. >> You keep saying that it's going to fail tomorrow. >> I don't know >> when it rains. Well, I we have we have
we have heard these comments for a long time. Somebody mechanically needs to explain to me how these pumps are supposed to what is the concern about them feeling? Because I talked to the company that installed them >> and they said absolutely not. So that you said it was done in 2009. >> Yep.
>> The life expectancy on those pumps, they said in good service and this is all they do. 25 years. >> Mhm. >> 25 years. That puts us to 2034 for the pumps. It's not the pumps that I'm worried about. It's the building that we're worried about and the valve that
Linda Bonafes have bought up. >> I understand what you're saying and I appreciate it. But your rebuttal to me is now you're talking about 17 years. So we're going to wait for 25 years and replace it. Then what? At what cost? >> No, I'm saying we don't need to do it on the drop of a dime. We need to be a little smarter about this, about what
we're doing. That's all I'm saying. >> Interesting. >> And we didn't have that opportunity. >> Well, I think that we did have another >> You're right. And when and when we have our representative here from Collier and their recommendations, we recommend to further evaluate evaluate rehabilitation
of the pump station instead of replacement as this should cost substantially less than replacement and time 2 years. So those people that you're concerned about, they have to wait 2 years more for the pumps to
actually be functioning and that station to be fully functioning as opposed to maybe 6 months so we could get them back online with a newer upgraded station at a much lesser cost and do it now. >> I think that I I mean I understand your
point, but I think it was also carriers that came in and also spoke. I I don't remember the gentleman's name that was here. >> It was a representative here. Jordan >> Jordan. Okay. And Jordan was also a question about Halton. Let me let me ask you this question. How much would it cost to move in? He said pretty much in
the same area. >> Well, give me one second. So, um cuz I think I I will open up to public on this issue, but I just want to say I think the biggest disadvantage that we have with going in a different direction
is that we've currently spent $200,000 on these plans. And if we go in a different direction, it's more money on tests. It's more money on plans, and then we end up losing that FEMA grant, which is $1.9 million to keep a station in the floodway. I think that's the
biggest disadvantage. I do I respect everything that you've communicated, and I really do appreciate your research, but I think that's the biggest disadvantage. It's it's spending more time and resources on a different pathway that's just ultimately going to lead uh the pump station to still be in a floodway. uh when we've put all this
work, all these resources into this current project that we've gotten an amazing FEMA grant for uh and we are ultimately going to move it out of the floodway with going in this current direction which I think it should be the priority of this project. Um >> we don't want to miss that either
>> and we and we also are as a community looking to try and limit and resolve the flooding. This floodway by the way where it is it's not hundreds of feet down into the floodway. It is moving from here. You saw where it is, right? Moving from
there to the DPW. >> 50 foot move. >> It's up past up past the DPW. >> And it's not in boat water that you go over your head. If there were, but where it is now, it was pretty flooded down there, >> right? It's But will that reverse
someday? Will they get less? >> I don't know. I I don't have a crystal ball. I can't >> We're hopeful. All right. So, at this time, I'm going to ask for a motion uh to open up to public comment just regarding uh the sedentary uh sewer pump station. Do I have a motion? >> Motion. Do
>> I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? All right. Public comment is now open regarding this topic. Um you have three minutes and we'll limit it to one speaker. You can sit right here, Dave.
Why not? Sounds like it's on. Dave Brown, Roser Park, DVW Superintendent. Um, I I have to just question Matt and I know some of the stuff that you had said and I want to make sure that that I'm understanding
what you said regarding the pumps. Um because I know with the pumps that they do run simultaneously and they do run uh alternating. Um that is definite. There is they do pump um at the same time. We
will when we're in flooding conditions, normal conditions alternating. They always alternate um unless I have uh a problem with one and it's shut down. But they definitely when we are in any type of flooding, high water conditions, I
have both pumps. They have to run. It's the only way I can get uh fluid out of that or the water sanitary materials out of that station. Um one pump won't handle it. So I just just so you're aware of that. I don't know. I have an
idea where you got the information from and I get it, but just so you know. Also, uh, we I mean, you and I had conversations and just, uh, to be pretty accurate, I double checked with Bob because I I think Bob may have been
here. I'm not sure if it was just before him. There were pumps that were ordered. They came in. These pumps that were ordered were they did not link up to the piping that we had. So, they didn't fit
on the flanges for the pump. So, um, what took place that was before I was here. I can't give you that answer. I don't know what took place with those units. Um, so there are there is a spare pump there that was a rebuilt pump. Um, and it's just a head. It's the pump
head. It's not the the guts of it. So, I I just wanted to make make sure at least clarify what I know as to what you had mentioned and just make sure we're on the same page. >> Dave, what do you mean? It's just that it doesn't work at all. >> Yeah. So basically the pump is in in
pieces >> right >> in the dry pit. So you have the top half which is the motor and then you have all the valves down to the volu where the um impeller is. >> Okay, >> which would suck the water. The >> they're all um submersible pumps. So if
something were to happen, they would still run. If uh if the dry side took on water, right, >> too much water, they would still continue to run. That is we we we have to have that. I mean, >> but the other two pumps are there.
>> I don't I I know for sure there's one there. There were a couple others that were still created >> that weren't >> that they they don't they can't hook up to anything that we have in place. You'd have to repipe and and reconfigure piping. do the whole >> not the not the um the force man going
outbound at the uh um at the velute is where all the all the piping connects. So you have the wet side, you have a wall, you have the dry side. The pipe comes in, sucks the material out, spins it, and sends it
through. So where they stack >> Yeah. >> they don't it doesn't match the holes. So the all the fittings came in incorrectly. So I don't know where that fell or who was responsible for that, but those pieces are still there. >> So how is it what Matt was saying is
that it's pumping out to a one main valve. Is that main valve much bigger to handle those pumps? >> The the force main >> the force the force main is is a single pipe that runs runs outbound >> that goes to the BCA, right? >> That goes to the BCA. It it pumps all
the way down Central A to like Matt said to Gulf and then it goes gravity the rest of the way. Um, so in that line, those two pumps, everything is set up. So it's it's like a there's not two separate pipes for each
for each uh pump. It they why they come together and then they go out. Each pump has a gate valve along the way um before and after the pump so we can shut down, isolate and drain the pump and and inspect or uh clean out any of the
problems in there. We also do back flushing through the pumps as well. So the gate valves or I say gate valves, knife valves are being exercised so that they their operation um hopefully doesn't fail. Sometimes they need to be repacked, sometimes they need to be
replaced. We did recently replace one of the knife valves. Uh I want to say it might have been 2020. So there there there are different parts moving parts to this whole station. You know the system
like Matt said I I there's not enough to say about the station itself. It's crumbling. >> Oh yeah. >> There there's So I I mean I hope that clarifies anything. I mean, I don't I don't know if that's so what you meant when you said that, >> but so backing into what you said, Dave,
I when I spoke to Lock Pump about the people that installed the pumps from South Atkins, who are now in Florida, by the way, >> when I spoke to them, they said those are variable frequency dry pumps. So, basically those pumps adjust the volume flow of what's coming in.
So, the very possible reason for both pumps running is to lower lower the RPMs that they're at to get the volume the same volume that you want running two pumps rather than forcing one. >> I'm going to I'm
>> in a rain in a rainstorm. Yeah. >> You're talking a lot of stuff I'm not going to question. >> So, from an engineer standpoint, what I'm trying to tell you is the redundancy is there. You can the system depending on what the material is that's coming in whether it's clear water or dirty water
gray water whatever was coming in those pumps can function in different ways right so they have variable frequency goes up they ramp up and ramp down when you step on an accelerator >> those are made that way so they can handle different types of conditions it doesn't mean that the one pump would not
handle everything that's coming in it's better to move the volume with the two pumps in a rainstorm with the amount of That's the way it's probably set up from an engineering standpoint. However, >> you know, the building crumbling and that you're talking about, we're talking
about wood, shingle, and sheetrock. We're not talking about people. We're not talking about concrete and steel and cement underground. We're talking about what's above, right? You definitely um yeah, you do have infiltration within
the the wet side um from the outside exterior walls that you do have water um filling in. How much? I I I can't put a a gauge on it cuz it's coming through different spots all throughout the walls. >> We said that was that was going through both sides that it shouldn't be going
>> there where the one wall is. Yes. When it gets to a certain height, we have had water coming through into the dry side. Um there I think a a previous hole from whatever. Uh I I I couldn't even begin to guess, but
there there's some spots that have holes. There's not cracks in the wall, but there's a spot there spot that has a hole in the wall, and when the level gets high enough, it's pouring through. my I want to be comfortable sending guys into that dry side when I need to during
a storm and I have 20 foot of water on uh or sanitary material on the other side that I don't want that wall coming down on on my workers. I mean, I'd be crazy if I if I just really didn't care about that. But I I am concerned. It is
>> well in the in the wet side as it fills up you have the level rises. The level has risen that I've seen and I wasn't here for Floyd. I I was in town, but I wasn't I wasn't working for the town. They had the sewage coming up and out of
our main entry point. So, the pumps couldn't handle Dorne Floyd. So, because when they do clog, you need to back flush. Um, and when you back flush the system, you have to shut both pumps off to create that uh to reverse the pump.
you reverse the pump, you blow out the clog, and you fire back up, and usually you're in good shape. So, that's that's pretty much how that part works. So, you run out of space in the wet side when you when that when your pumps aren't
obviously working, then it's just filling, excuse me, filling up. >> So, again, if there were a flood wall around that that kept the water back away, if the water came up that high or when the water would come up that higher, >> I'm not talking about flood waters getting in. I'm talking about sewage water getting out
>> because the pumps weren't handling the flow. >> Well, you're talking about the water rising >> the water rising inside the wet pit >> in it. >> In the pit. So, everybody's waste water fills up and comes in. And if around it is still flowing, it's going to still
flow into the station and the level just rises because if the pump level or the pumps aren't pumping out fast enough or or uh correctly, you're going to slow down the flow going outbound. Both pumps won't be able to keep up and then the level
rises. So inside the building, in the basement of the building, you have the wet side, the dry side. It's like a swimming pool. Just fills up and just keeps on going. during Floyd, it exited the building and started flowing um into the flood waters on the other side. Um
they didn't at that time put a burm around the building which in during my career here I've had to do it more than once. Um and and we've put a 3-ft high dirt burm around the fuel pumps around
the pump station and you know and the guy who was inside there I was delivering his food via for uh backho driving through the floodwaters that were over the front tires and then walking across the the hood of the
backho to hand him the food. So he become he's living in an electrified island uh below grade below the water level on the outside. So I mean I just it's just something I do I think that a new station is going to fix that. It's
not. It's not going to fix the water coming around it. If it moves over, you know, they're building the station up on the other side when with the plans it the station I want to say is going to be another 5 foot higher will be the the main floor. So, you're taking away some
of We don't have to do the burn. Um, does water get in that area? A little bit. Uh, we haven't had any water inside the DPW. That hasn't happened. But that's it. All depends on the flood level. I I mean, I can't predict the future no more than you can. I get it.
But it's it's we're in a point where point I think it's it's I don't know. I I I have to I have to defer to the professionals. I I mean they they know that ins and outs of the of the station of the system. I'm not a structural
engineer. I can't tell you. >> Thank you. Anybody else? My favorite so much to have you. >> Do you mind? >> Please take a seat. >> Again, I was here for when we actually
did have to replace that uh that pump in the station. Um, I was not here when they had the issue with the the the wrong pump that was ordered. I was not even here at all. I wasn't even hired by the town in any position when that took
place. But that the the what's installed there now is a recommissioned unit. It's not brand new. It's not going to be 25 years. I don't think there was a 25 year guarantee on that, but I really couldn't tell you for sure. The other aspect of
it is is that when we what the reason why we went to try to get out of the flood zone again was because of the brick grant grant that you know in order for us to qualify you had to be out of that that that floodway that was a
requirement. Uh the other aspect you were talking about is a men's safety. I mean, I saw myself what you were talking about where there men were actually on the on the back hose and having to drive
to to the pump in order in order for them to get to the person that's inside the building, okay, with with the small BMS that we did have. I mean, the safety issue there, that's nuts. Never should have happened. And it certainly isn't something that should happen in the
future. And don't put any you don't put anybody's life in that kind of jeopardy. I kind of question why since we are having this discussion tonight about the pump station and there was the other issue with the pumps with the
overheating right I know you didn't mention that and we and that was another big issue there was times we didn't know we were going to lose the pumps because overheating and of course they're not running just you know again they're not just running
for a short period of time they're running for a long period of time and and we had no idea whether they were going to survive or not. We were very fortunate that they did. But but the whole point of the matter is is that there's no guarantee and these the units
that are in the ground right now or in this in that station right now the I can tell you for a fact and Dave can back me up on that is that we did have an overheating issue and it certainly needs that's another reason why um you really need to be looking at
doing something different. You spent an awful lot of money getting to where we are. We spent an awful lot of time, a lot of years, not days or weeks. It's always great to have a new idea, but the problem is at what point do you finally say enough is enough and you got to move forward and putting the people in
jeopardy in their homes. It certainly is not something you're you're up there to protect the people and you're also there to protect the money. I get that. But the whole point of the matter is at what point are you finally saying enough is enough? Um, and I would excuse me here.
I would also like to ask why Boswell, the engineer, is not here tonight. You have you have a representative from another engineering company. Why aren't why aren't why aren't they here? And to answer some of the questions that you people have and and when they were here,
why weren't we asking those questions? So, I know you >> was notified to attend this meeting. >> They were notified. >> They were. Well, then it seems like no different than when we had the 911 and the county was notified and they didn't show up either. That's my three minutes. I get
it. >> Thank you so much. >> Anybody else? >> Joe Scarpa. With with all due respect, Matt Chowinsky is not the township engineer. You guys voted to hire a township engineer. These are the plans. You went out to bid at least twice now
on these, right? So, I really don't know what you're waiting for and why you're coming up with things at the last minute. And second of all, I'd like to know what your administrator has done in terms of discussing this with the engineer and with the the finance officer and everything. I'd like to hear her opinion about this project because she's going
to be involved in overseeing this as a town manager. So, I like to hear what she has to say about it. Did she discuss this with the DPW superintendent, with the engineers? She's being paid $140,000. She's going to be overseeing. This is probably the
most expensive project the town's ever done. So, I'd like to know what the administrator thinks about it. Thank you so much. Let me close and then we can dress. >> I get to sit too.
I first sat on the council in 2018. We were told then we need a new pump station. I was down there. I was DPW superintendent until the powers that be had me removed. I pushed all along for this and it just
kept getting kicked down. When we first got told the rough estimate was $2 million. Then it went a little further and it was four. Kicked the can some more and we're at 79.
Um I would have loved to have seen Montana get the bid, but they were $2 million above it. I just I never worked for them. I never worked for the other guy, but it's time to roll with this. Matt, I appreciate all and you woke me up to a
lot of stuff, but I think it's time it's done. And I know unfortunately you're trying to cut costs. We've saw that last month, last meeting. And uh I just think it's time to go. I've watched this. We we did the bidding. We did the bond to
to uh to uh to design it and then there was hel hold back and uh then all of a sudden it started rolling again. I just think it's time to stop it and just award the bid
tonight. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody else? >> You might just have to turn it on. >> Have a seat. >> I think we should just take advantage of this setup right here, folks. I think we've set a precedent.
Andrew Matson, 14 Elorado Court. Um, I live in the in the lowlying area in the flood zone. And ever since I heard about this, I've been definitely concerned and wanting this project to move forward in one way or another because, you know,
you'd hate to think of of, you know, when my house floods, I you know, I know who to call, but when the [ __ ] hits the fan, I don't know who to call. So, uh, that's that's one thing. Um, I do I do know sitting here through through all
the meetings a lot of the concerns. Um, this went out for bid. Um, there were specs in the bid. I would assume whoever bid on this read the specs and that's why there was different bid numbers. And I don't know if any of
you guys went to the the bids to to see that. Um, but I I I just think whoever bid on this job kind of knows, hey, this is this is what this is going to cost because they saw the specs, they know the job, they looked into it, and I think it's a great
opportunity um for the the town is making a good move here because it it's about time. I do agree with that because you you start getting cute and then you you trip over your own feet and then the price of the job doubles and then you feel trapped and you don't know what to
do because it's kind of obvious you made a mistake at that point and then the job doesn't get done. And I think if we look behind us in the rearview mirror, I think there's a lot of things that that happened with um we can make a list but I only have 3 minutes. So I just think doing it right
now is is the best move and it's investing in the community. It's investing in the in the future. And you have to ask yourselves, why is FEMA giving out grants to move things out of flood plans? There has to be a reason. I think the long-term costs of leaving it
in the flood zone and how long is a flood wall going to last and those cost. I just think long term there's other costs that this would save money moving it out of the flood plan. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Anybody else?
>> One more. >> Uh I I I did >> I get run out. >> Well, I said limited to one speaker. >> I I limit it to one speaker. I really appreciate it though. Thank you. >> No problem. I'll do it in my next. >> Awesome. Looking forward to it. Um hearing see no one. Can I get a motion
to close public comment? >> Motion. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I. Any opposed? >> All right. Uh any additional comments from the township committee? Yes. I'd like to make a couple comments to what was been said. When Mr. Scarpa came up
to the microphone, he I I found it interesting that he addressed that the he wants the town administrator to weigh in on something that's has an engineering background you need to weigh in on. And I have that and why you wouldn't accept or why you wouldn't,
again, I'm not representing to be the town engineer, but I'm here to explain and help get that point across. And our town engineer is not Bodwell. It is Collier's. And our town engineer right here under the recommendations in a report that they made in the meeting
that they were here, we recommend further evaluate rehabilitation of the pump station instead of replacement as the cost the the as this should cost substantially less than the replacement and cut down the time immensely. So
again, when we take this project on, just remember when we vote on this, we start, we put a shovel in the ground. It's an open-ended statement for what Frank Rossy from Basil Engineering told us. We don't know what's going to be in the ground and how many tons of
contaminated soil we're going to have to truck out of here. The guys that read those specs, they're expecting a certain amount. You start at 7.9 million. I guarantee in my opinion, I'm going to say that it's not going to stop there. You take an oil cleanup. Everybody's
biggest fear today with the house is what? An oil cleanup. That's our biggest fear right now sitting out there in the ground. We put a shovel in the ground. When do we stop and how do we fund it? And Mr. Davidson, when he spoke about safety, originally this pump station was
supposed to be rebuilt or was it always supposed to be moved from the day you came in? My question is if you were worried about safety and and all that, why wasn't it rebuilt back when you were the administrator? >> Because the township did not want to spend money at the time
>> and the amount of money was >> how many time how many times have I come up here and then spoke about this. >> Thank you, Mr. Davidson. >> I understand. I understand. But public was a safety perspective. Public comments >> safety perspective then
safety perspective then comments public comments closed >> let's keep going keep going if it was a perspective now it's public comment >> when did it change >> when did it change and become a safety perspective that you we got enlightened
now if you were here as the administrator was a safety perspective when those guys were in the hole and you were here why wasn't it done then All righty. Again, the the township committee has the floor at this time. Any other comments regarding the subject?
>> Mr. Mr. I understand your frustration. I do. >> Can you speak to the mic, please? >> Can you hear me now? >> No. >> Seriously, can you hear me now? Is that better? Maybe mine's not working. >> We can hear you. We can hear you. >> Yeah.
I mean, we can go back and forth on this and I understand your concern on it and I do um as far as um you being an engineer. Appreciate it because you've given us a lot of insight on that, too. And asking people, you know, understanding that, you know, the safety part of it. All right. But right now, we
know that this is not and we heard from the head of our DPW. I didn't even know about an overheating thing. That was something I just learned about. Um um and I do know that I >> Excuse me. >> Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. We're not engaged with the public right now, Miss
Damian. Okay. So, I did hear about the overheating. This is my first time of hearing that and that makes a concern also. And I understand I also thought I heard maybe I'm incorrect, but I heard that these pumps were reconditioned pumps that were there. Um I thought I heard that statement. Uh they were
reconditioned pumps. So, if we're going to look at, you know, this kind of money, this project, again, I'm going to say this, has been kicked down the road too long and it needs to move forward, and that's my opinion. So, whatever you guys want to do right now, we can take a vote or not, it's up to the name.
>> Thank you. Uh, at this time, I'll ask for a motion to approve resolution 26-154, award of contract for Lost Lane Sanitary Pump Station. Do I have a motion? >> I motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Roll call, please. Committee woman,
>> yes. Committee woman judge Carllo, >> yes. >> Committee Smith, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Twinsky, >> no. >> Mayor Miller, >> yes. >> Thank you so much, everybody. Uh, at this time, we're going to move on to the 2026 municipal budget presentation. I'd
like to invite CFO Roy Riotano and Township Auditor Andrew Pente to present the 2026 municipal budget. Dream team right here. Good evening. So this evening before you is the budget amendment.
That is all that was speaking about this evening. We are amending the introduced budget that was dictated through the finance committee to us as your auditor and CFO. The township committee has made it very
very clear that $485 on introduction of the budget was not tolerable to the taxpayers or to you. We were instructed no matter how to get the use more surplus, cut more um appropriations to
get the taxpayer um rate down and we've been able to do that. And how did this get done? Township committee has requested additional surplus to be used in the
amount of $33,000. So by law we're going from 1,928 to 2,231035. We've cut the um taxes the amount to be raised by $458,600.
We've cut various line items in the tune of $200,000. We've increased uh the recreation fees, the um access for all by 5,000. celebration of public events. We've added $5,400.
We've cut social security dollars by $9,000. And we cut the group insurance by 37,000. At the end of the day, the total appropriation is going from 16 million 8933 212
to 16,737 612. And with the use of the surplus of 303,000 additional, the tax burden now goes from 485 to 312. You will be voting on that tax increase that you have the
control over. The reval is not your control. It's none of us here. Court ordered. That's where the chips lie, which was $325. Angel, anything else? that that's your amendment. This is what
the challenge committee asked for. Um we're just the number guys and we were able to get it to your number that you you thought is tolerable um under the circumstances. Thank you. Any questions from the
township committee? >> Cory, did you get the county tax? The county taxes committ what? >> School. We had that. >> So you have got the county. >> No county yet. No. >> You're looking for what with the school?
>> The school increase. >> School increase is going to be 324 on the rate. >> 32. >> $324. All right. Anybody else? Any further questions? All right. So, at this time, uh, I'm going to ask for a motion to open, uh,
the public hearing on the 2026 amended municipal budget. Do I have a motion? >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> All right. The public hearing is now open. You have three minutes and you're limited to one speaking opportunity.
hearing or seeing no one. Can I have a motion to close the public hearing? >> Motion. >> Have a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> I. Uh. Any opposed? All right. Uh, all right. So, at this time, can I have a motion to adopt the 2026 uh
municipal budget pursuant to resolution 26-155? Do I have a motion? >> Motion. >> You have a second. Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Committee woman. >> Yes. Committee woman judge. Yes, >> Marina. >> Yes, >> Mayor Tinsky. >> Yes,
>> Mayor Miller. >> Yes. >> Gentlemen, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any correspondence? Miss Kim? >> Yes, >> Mayor. Tonight, I receive uh one correspondence from the OEM coordinator,
Pete Donatello. In summary, he thanked all CERT members and OEM staff for their dedication and volunteer efforts in supporting recent community events and emergency preparedness initiatives including the Memorial Day parade, Maywood 5K run, Rochelle Park Day,
register ready campaign and CERT outreach programs. >> Thank you so much, Gina. All right. Uh, may I have a motion to adopt the minutes uh for close session May 13, 2026 and public session May 13, 2026. Do I have a
motion? >> Motion. Do >> I have a second? >> Second. >> Uh, roll call, please. >> Woman Pichi, >> yes. >> Committee woman Judge Cablla. Yes. >> Committee Men Smith. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Chinsky. >> Yes. >> Mayor Miller. >> Yes. >> Thank you so much. All right. Approval of the agenda. May I have a motion to
approve tonight's agenda? >> Motion. Have a second. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Committee woman. >> Yes. >> Committee woman Judge Cablla. >> Yes. >> Committee Smith. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Chowski. >> Yes. >> Mayor Miller. >> Yes. Thank you so much. We are on to
reports and let's start with our township administrator, Miss Samantha Carpio. >> Thank you, mayor. Good evening, everyone. Uh, I wanted to start with the summer recreation program. The township has been actively actively preparing for
the 2026 summer recreation camp. Uh we received over 10 applications for the camp director position and a final decision is expected to be made within the next week. Uh once the director is selected, we will begin our onboarding of counselors, sending welcome letters
and to the families and finalizing the camp calendar. Currently, we have 31 children registered for the recreation camp. And this year, we were working towards creating a more uh structured program while still maintaining the recreational activities and atmosphere
that our families enjoy. Um, as far as it goes for grant funding, the township was recently awarded a $10,000 sustain sustainable Jersey grant funded through the PSEG Foundation. These funds will help support sustainability and community initiatives. Um, in addition
to that, the township is currently preparing and pursuing several additional grants, including the sustainable Jersey PSENG energy efficiency partnership program, as well as our uh, NJOT municipal aid grant for fiscal year 2027, the FEMA fiscal year
2025 fire grant program to support fire department equipment and safety improvements. Um and we continue to work with our grants uh consultant to aggressively pursue outsour outside funding opportunities including those
that are uh to support the funding of our pump station. Um in addition to that administration is currently working in reviewing and updating staff titles, job descriptions and our entire uh township employee handbook to improve consistency, organization and the
operational efficiencies across all departments. Uh in addition to that, I'd also like to give recognition to our uh local restaurant, El Acadeo Mexican Grill on being honored with the Seo M award uh
which is a recognition by Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs um as they have won the award for best Mexican restaurant in New Jersey. Um the uh business owner has invited all to participate in a celebration tomorrow
that will be hosted at their location at 400 p.m. Lastly, uh the township was awarded 129,000 through the NGO uh DOT municipal aid grant for fiscal year 2026 for road
man uh roadway improvements to Lincoln Avenue and Chestnut Street. Uh, additionally, we are currently evaluating future road programs uh, improvements for West Oldest Street and Fairfield Avenue, including the possibility of installing additional
storm drainage infrastructure to help address standing water concerns during rain events. Um, and that is all I have for this evening, mayor. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Miss Carpio. All right, Mr. Smith, take it away. >> Thanks, Mayor. Um, two quick things. Um,
Rochelle Park Day was incredible. It was a great success. I want to thank all the wreck volunteers, you know, volunteered their time along with every single township committee person who stepped it up because we had a couple of people that were out and again, it was an incredible success. Tons of burgers,
tons of hot dogs were made. Uh, really want to thank everybody for coming out. Our next wreck meeting will be June 3rd, which is Wednesday. Usually it's on a Tuesday, but we're having election day, so it'll be the following day at Hton Hall at 7 o'clock. And America 250, Mrs.
Aichi and I will be at the American Legion tomorrow for our American 250 meeting cuz we're trying to get everything stabilized and ready for our event on July 4th. So July 3rd, July 4th, but we're going to talk about everything.
>> Talk about both. Uh, so we're going to have our meeting tomorrow at 6 o'clock at the American Legion. Obviously, if everybody's always welcome to join. We use all the volunteers we can get. Um, we had a the crossing. We showed our movie. That was a pretty good success.
Hopefully, we'll have a few more people out for the next movie. Um, but uh yeah, I think I'm done. >> Well done. Thank you so much, Mr. Smith. >> All right, Mr. Scarella, take it away. Um, before I forget, Mr. Daddy,
Commander Daddy gave me a flag to give you for 250. If you can use it, if not, he said then give it back and that' be fine. >> You got it. That's great. Dennis is a good man. >> He is. Also on I just want to point out on this agenda, I was approached by the
Gal family after the last meeting and uh we have a street sign that was approved. I talked to our administrator about it for Rochelle and Forest Place and because her house is in between, they asked if it could be another one on um
Forest and Brooks. So that would be between the two houses there and that is put on the agenda for approval announcement. >> Okay. >> So I I speak to Samantha about that. All right. So a couple of things I have here. Uh seniors had a wonderful
Mother's Day uh celebration on May 14th. Uh it was very much attended and it was enjoyed by all. They will be having another meeting on the 28th in presentation from Advictus Pharmacy. The library this Saturday, June 27th, we'll have scoops and snakes. So at 12:00 p.m.
is U Mr. Softy. 100 p.m. is uh the snake uh I guess he's a snake man. >> Snake man. >> Snake man, right? That is coming. Um and you can always look on their website for upcoming events that they have on the police side. I have during the month of April there was 1,425
calls for service our patrol division and detectives continue to demonstrate proactively and seek seeking out criminal activity before it impacts our residents and stakeholders in keeping our small town safe. This extra effort and dedication is demonstrated by the
214 motor vehicle stops, nine arrests, 15 criminal charges and 520 summits issued in the month. Uh the the team is involved in training and education. Um they have uh education for investigation
classes. Uh they uh let me see who is this. Starling Monaco completed the 2-day national child passenger safety certification class which allows them to conduct baby child seat installations and inspections. There was radar updated
training and there was also um the department completed the entire department completed active shooters training at Milan school during the spring break. The detective bureau continues to investigate civil crimes and this month worked on a multi-jurisdictional
task force and took part in the arrest of subjects wanted in connection with the Marian Avenue shooting. Uh they are also part of the human trafficking task force put in place for the FIFA World Cup. Administratively they are preparing for
the FIFA World Cup and possibly watch the popup parties and large crowds that come with these meetings by these meetings with other public safety departments within and outside of the township. They're also preparing for events and crowds that will come to our
local hotel for the celebration for this national 250 anniversary independence day. So that's what I have for now. >> Thank you so much. Uh Mr. PJ, >> thank you. Good evening everyone. For OEM on May 20th, OEM joined members of
the search team and access for all for proactive discussion focusing focused on strengthening emergency evacuation support for individuals with special needs. The discussion focused on forward thinking ideas, practical solutions, and improved coordination to better prepare
and respond for emergencies that may occur. Through continued collaboration and planning, efforts are made are being made to ensure that members of our special needs community are cared for, supported, and never overlooked during emergencies. So, we thank all that have attended to that.
Um on Thursday, June 18th, they'll be hosting a residential and business flood preparedness program at the Roshel at the senior center. The program will be focusing on the impacts of flooding and will help residents and business owners
prepare for, during, and after any flood events. Um America 250 went over. Veterans, I just want to thank everyone who attended this year's Memorial Day ceremony and parade as we honored and remembered the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our
country. Special thanks to our parade committee for organiz organizing such a meaningful and touching event for our community. And congratulations to Commander Dennis on being named this year's grand marshal and thank you for your continued service and dedication to the community. For our fire department,
they had 24 calls for the month of April. uh they've participated in numerous training um evolutions in the month of April. The fire department volunteers also attended township events such as access for all ice cream social the and
the Rochell Park um baseball opening day ceremony and Roshchel Park day. So, thank you to the Roell Park Fire Department and that's all for me. >> Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor. >> Thank you, mayor. um just from the DPW from building the grounds. They received
a new chipper today and the crews already been spent time training on the new equipment. This is replacing the old worn out chipper that he's been talking about breaking down and having issues with. Also, um they were made aware of a manhole in Somerville
um that's starting to collapse. So, we're waiting for a quote to rebuild that. That's all I have. >> Thank you so much. All right. Uh, I'm going to echo some things that have already been said, but I want to start with congratulating once again to Devin Kavanaaugh on being named the 2025 uh,
sportsman of the year. And we're proud to recognize uh, Rochelle Park's young people for their hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship. Always uh, I want to thank the volunteers and everybody involved who made Rochelle Park Day and the Memorial Day parade such a success.
Those were two amazing community events. And I want to echo what uh Miss Carpio said that we have been awarded a $10,000 sustainable Jersey grant through the PSEG Foundation to support improvements to our community garden at Carlock Field. And this funding is going to help
advance sustainability, beautifification, and community engagement efforts in our township. And I want to thank the environmental commission chair, Michael Warren, and the members of the environmental commission for their hard work and helping secure this grant and move this project forward. Uh there's definitely
been a lot of misinformation circulating online about the shared service agreement with Burton County Pox. And I want to encourage everybody to take a few minutes to watch the NBC New York segment that aired last night. It's available on the township website. It's
the very first link that you see and it gives residents a firsthand look at the Bergen County Public Safety Operations Center, the technology it uses, and the professionals who answer emergency calls every single day. It's on the township website. You can look at it right now.
Thank you so much. Uh, Miss Kim, anything from you? >> Thank you, mayor. Um, just want to say the primary election is next Tuesday, June 2nd. Post will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Rochel Park Senior Center. If for any reason you
cannot vote in person, next Tuesday, early voting locations are now open until Sunday, May 31st. Hours are Thursday through Saturday from 10:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. If you are a mail and ballot voter, please utilize the mail and
ballot dropboxes, which Mr. Skino has been reminding everyone so graciously every meeting. Um, the mail and ballot drop boxes are available 24 hours and ballots must be in the dropbox by 800 PM on election night. Ballots left after 8:00 p.m. on election night will be
considered late and not counted. So, please get your mail and ballots in. Uh, 2026 Community Garden applications are now being accepted. Applications are available on the front table over there by the agendas. Can be picked up at the clerk's office or downloaded on the
township website. For more information, you can always contact me or environmental um commission chair Mike Warren who is in the audience with us today. And um just lastly, uh May was police and military appreciation month
as well as DPW uh week. So, thank you to everybody for your um service and dedication. We appreciate all of you. And happy birthday to our mayor. His birthday is next week. So, Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you,
Gina. Mr. Scatino. >> Uh yes, mayor. Just uh one item to report on. As I think everyone is aware, the township has a pilot or a financial agreement with Tuler regarding the uh project on 120 West Pay Street.
According to the financial agreement, every year they have to supply an audit of the revenue they take in because that determines how much revenue they or how much they have to pay to the burrow or the township I should say in lie of the taxes that they're not paying. So our
tax collector required clarification which they refused to provide to her. As a result of that, we exercised our right in accord with the financial agreement to have our own auditor audit their books, which is should take place on uh June 2nd. And hopefully uh as a result
of that audit, all the information that our tax collector requires will be provided and uh any issues will be cleared up. Thank you so much, Mr. Scatino. All right, moving right along. Any new business?
Okay, thank you so much. So, at this time, we're going to open it up to public comment. May I have a motion to open it up to public comment? >> Motion. >> Have a second. >> Second. >> Roll call. Uh, all in favor? >> I. >> I. Any opposed? All right. Public
comment is now open. Please state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes and you're limited to one speaking opportunity. You have the option to uh stand and uh speak from here or take a seat uh at this table. >> I'll stand for this one.
>> You got it. >> I would like to know if the administrator can vote on any item that's on the agenda. Can the ad can somebody answer that question, please? We all know what the answer is, right? Of course, the
administrator does not vote. So, what you also don't know or or you should actually know is I was the one that got the that started the whole brick um um uh grant for for uh going
out to to try to get this funded. Okay. So, that's all that I could do. I made the recommendation have the money's in in a position that we would be able to move forward and and so for me to be accused of not doing something uh I'm
sorry I just cannot accept that. So that's all that I really have to say. Congratul took all these years to get get to where we are. Thankfully this can be done as financially and and as
expeditiously as possible. and so that the residents of this town does not have to worry about the situation in their homes. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Davidson. >> Anybody else? >> That was the other thing, too. >> And I also had to come back here after I
left. I'm sorry, but after I left, I also came back here to help get that that that funding through to the to the to the to the government. So, I I'm sorry. I I just simply could not accept that.
>> Thank you, Mr. Davidson. >> Who's coming up next? >> I guess I'll stand for this one, too. Michael Warren, 181 West Holder Street. Um, I have some comments to make about what transpired in this room past two
meetings. um not so much what the resident's comments were about the shared service. Residents have a right to express that to you hopefully in a respectful way, but they have a right to do so. My issue was the
employees. I really thought the employees, some of them, not all of them, um acted with complete disrespect. Whether they like you or not up there, you were elected to be up there by the people in this town.
going after residents online, no good. Um, other members of the community, going after members online, not good. Um, and I got to thinking about why this
conversation is taking place to begin with. And I started to make a list. And what this boils down to is the money. You brought it up tonight. you all brought that up tonight about the pump station
and I I I'm happy you voted for it. Um, you know, Mr. Davidson and I have known each other for a long time and I know this is a project that's been in the making and I get your concerns, Mr. Trinsky, but I think that the pump station has been neglected for
so long and that's the word I want to focus on tonight, the neglect from previous township committees. even me sitting up there at one point. So I made a list of things that have been neglected
and I named my list no money because that's what I was told. That's what you've been told. That's what you tell the public for all the things the public asks for. And over the past two meetings about the shared service, I'm going over the three
minutes just so we're clear. >> We had employees That's okay. Employees, I'll send a I'll send a strongly worded email. It's fine. Um employees hearing no that you can't
fund something that has always been funded because we neglected all the other things. So, let me go through the things on my list that have not been funded or or have been underfunded.
We have no funding for any kind of mental health initiatives in this town. Even though we proudly display the stigmaree sign, which by the way I paid for out of my own money. Forget those signs. Why? There's no money. No money for speed bumps to address
speeding. No money for flooding mitigation. No matter how minor you think we needed in some areas and more in others, not one dime spent on any kind of meaningful flood mitigation. Not emergencies, not after the fact.
No money for a rain barrel program. No money for recycling bins. No money for parks. No money for youth programs. No money to improve our summer camp. No money for field trips for the summer camp. No money for farmers markets. I
had to run that farmers market with two strings and a tin can and it didn't make a profit. No money for America 250. That bothers me. That freaking bothers me. I know you said your movie night was successful. I helped you guys get that movie. I saw
some pictures. It was not well attended. And that's a direct result of neglect to fund this very important landmark for our country. Not good. Neglect. No money. No money to plant trees. Plenty
to cut them down. And we've had this conversation. No money for community gardens. I'm working my rear end off to get a grant to get donations from Shopright. Thank you, Shopright. To try to get this off the ground. No money for beautifification.
No money to improve our Memorial Day parade. It's the same amount of money you spend since I've been in town since 2015. No money to improve our holiday celebrations. No money for a full-time clerk. No money
for a full-time administrator. No money for a full-time build department. No money for effective code enforcement. No money for a 150th anniversary. No money for access for all. No money for a historical society in this town.
We have one. No money for summer concerts. No money to upgrade our senior center which is so old and dilapidated. Those chairs in there. Disgusting. No money to upgrade the shared room we have with the library. You ever walk in
there? No money to fix a leaking roof. No money for a real sound system in here or a projector so we can see what's being presented. No money for recreation trips for our
seniors. No transportation for our seniors. No money for a pump station until tonight. No money for a website that actually works. No money for a welcoming committee. No money for a real master
plan that was last updated in 1991 until this year. No money for raises for non-contractual employees while they watched the contractual employees get raises. For years, many of the quality of life items that help define a strong and
connected community, recreation programs, shade tree initiatives, beautifification efforts, outreach activities, seasonal celebrations, infrastructure improvements, and other civic investments were either underfunded or received no funding at all. And Mr. Davidson also said it
tonight as well, and he's not wrong. He doesn't get to vote as the administrator. Um, while these services may not be viewed as essential when it comes to public safety issues, on paper they're not viewed that way,
but they are often the very things that make a town feel welcoming, vibrant, family oriented, connected, and a reason that people want to come live here. I do want to say the current governing body, that's all five of you.
You guys have begun to make decisions to reinvest in those some of those areas that I just mentioned in that long list. And I just want to make sure that it's acknowledged that you're doing those things even if people might disagree
with them. That it acknowledges that residents deserve more than simply the bare minimum of a municipal government. They deserve a town that's cared for, maintained, and continuously improved and not neglected. Um, at the same time, you guys have a
have a budget. Can't do all all the things, right? But that's why towns enter into shared service agreements. Towns across all over New Jersey do it because there's only so much we can pay
in our taxes to to get all these things that other towns have. other towns have these. We don't or we didn't. So, I just want to acknowledge the five of you up there for getting yelled at and screamed at. I know people say it's
part of your job is being elected, but the list I read is a very real list. It's long, but I want to acknowledge the five of you are doing the things on that list that haven't been done. And I want to point out, every time the public's
been told no when asking for these things, we went back our merry way and tried our best to get by with what we could do. Volunteering, grants, we didn't come here and scream and shout, make a big deal out of those things like that. We
accepted it and moved on. Um, I did keep making the list though as I've been living in town. A healthy I'm going to wrap up. A healthy community should strive to balance fiscal responsibility with civic pride. Public safety will always remain important, but a truly thriving town also invests in the
spaces, programs, and traditions that bring neighbors together, support families, encourage local business activity, and create a sense of belonging. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Warren. And mayor, I just back up one sec. Let's keep it going and then I close. So, I'd love to hear from you, Dr.
>> Anybody else? back again. Linda Bonapace, 33 Parkway. The one thing that bothered me the most about the pump station was the over it's an overflow and where it goes is out to Saddle River. And this
valve is frozen shut. And one night the pump station did back up. And um uh Dave was on vacation and Mike James
and Bob Davidson were handling it. And what they had to do was grab get get a construction company in to run a line all the way from the pump station with a pump all the way to the river. That's a far distance. And then the problem was mitigated.
Trucks were called in to to bring it. Bob called BCUA. Pumps uh trucks were brought in. They pumped into the truck and they went up into Maywood and dunked in Maywood's system. So, it bypassed our system. Meanwhile, the mayor at the time was
complaining that there was too much money being spent. Do you know if we didn't mitigate that problem fast enough, we would have been fined up the wazoo from EPA. So, it always bothered me that valve never opened. I wanted to go in there with a bunch of PB Blaster, drill holes
in it, and squirt it in. Anyway, um I'm happy you awarded the contract, but you woke me up, Matt, too, in that aspect. But I've worked on hazardous waste jobs where they I was on a job one time, we dug in the ground, the meters went off so bad, they covered it up, and we were
told to get off. And I don't ever know what happened cuz it just stayed like that. Uh probably down the line they did something. But they could test the dirt when it comes out. They'll most likely test it. They don't just ship it out. They'll probably stockpile it, test it, see how contaminated it is and where it
could go. They can burn it. They can dump it in a landfill. Pennsylvania seems to take a ton of it. Anyway, the other thing I want to um a council person was caught on a hot mic trying to get me out of a meeting. Well, if any of you know, you can't.
Case in point, there's a guy that comes into um Pranford and does everything he can in his three or five minutes, whatever he gets. I could come up here and sing in Arya and I can't get thrown out. Case in point.
I'm a resident in this town. I pay a tax bill and irresponsible spending has bothered me from the day I came into a meeting and it's going to bother me till I move out of town. And that's why I got every right to say
anything I want to say up here and to anyone cuz I really don't care. I'm going to look out for my town the right way. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Bonaface. Anybody else? Good evening. Good evening.
>> Dennis Cruz, 60 Lexington Avenue. Um, just to make it clear, I'm not a tree hater. I don't hate trees. So, just want to make that clear, but a tree was planted in front of my property in the exact spot a tree was removed because
the sidewalk was damaged. And I would just like to know who makes the decision where the trees are planted because there are houses on my block that didn't have trees planted
in front of their property. There should be something in the records that that tree was removed because of that. >> The comments and >> yeah, we'll address. >> Yes. Okay. Okay. because uh it just doesn't make any sense that someone was
outside and was able to tell them they didn't want a tree planted in front of their house and the tree wasn't planted there and three other houses. So, I don't understand how it could be planted there in the same exact spot where a tree was removed because of the sidewalk.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Dave. because you're here, do you want to jump up uh for public comment just to share about the process of tree plantings uh especially recently on Lexington and Madison? Sorry to put you on the spot, but >> I was two steps out.
>> So, um what we what we started doing uh trying to be um smarter uh than what was done in the past um we are evaluating the types of trees that are going in. Number one, we're not putting the 100 foot oak tree in a curb strip that's 18
in wide. We're not doing um we're not putting again that 100 foot oak tree or even a 50ft oak tree uh that are underneath the power lines. We're putting the smaller trees. So, we are we're our target, our goal is to plant
smarter and and and try and plant what will work. We're working with our arborist um Liz Stewart. Um the shade tree commission has been a great support to to what we're doing um and helping make a lot of things feasible. Um
that being said, that is only one item that we're looking at when we do this. Uh the next is root barriers. We're putting root barriers in to protect the the sidewalks. Um, not saying that those those smaller
trees can't lift uh a sidewalk slab. I'm sure I'm sure they can. The root barriers are meant to go in and they block the roots from going uh uh underneath the the sidewalk. So, those are the that's the big issue that we're
that we're trying to uh take care of. Um do you want me to address how we pick >> Yes, please. Basically, what we do is we go down a street and again, I'm not sure where you where you live. Um, we will we choose we start at the beginning of the block and
we'll go down. If there's a a couple trees there, we don't plant next to someone else's smaller tree, maybe an ornamental tree in their front yard because our tree may block out their sun. So, we will skip that house. So if we're skipping one and then depending upon the quantity of trees we're putting
in, we we bounce we bounce through that area and we say okay um every four houses we're going to put a tree and that's what our that's how we base our numbers and it will start b and we will skip sometimes six houses because someone else has got another ornamental
tree in their front yard. So we do try to accommodate um as best we can respectfully of people who have other trees. Now, regarding um the locations prior to the planting, um the state
commission, right? You you went you handed out uh the flyers, every house, >> the house sent a letter informing them that a planting is going to occur on their block and contact us uh if there's um a question or concern. And then prior
to uh the planting happening, the contractor, this at this one, this job, we had a contractor um come in. They're required because they're doing the digging. They're required to do uh call before you dig um to make sure there's no uh utilities underneath.
I didn't even touch on the utilities, but we try to we try to address that. We're not planting on top of a gas line or or a water line or your most importantly your sewer line. Um I don't have any plans from everybody anybody's
house from their laterals. So it's kind of a guess work that we do. Um I will look at the house. I'll look for the exhaust vent pipe and kind of judge. Usually that main vent pipe coming out of the roof is going to be my target and where I separate and plant the tree. Um,
in the past and I learned as we're uh taking down trees and we're we're uh stump grinding and we're hitting gas caps and water caps that are planted right smack underneath the tree. Um, common sense would tell you why would you put it there? But meanwhile, we're
hitting it with the machine as we're we're uh you know, grinding the roots. So, in that sense, we we're we're looking. So, we're trying to be again that proactive word, you know, smart about what we do. Um so, that's pretty
much how we how we pick and choose. We did have letters. We had people that day came out to us like I don't want it. And I talked to Mike and and the decision came through Mike as to whether we were going to attempt to make that. If I had
someone else who was willing to take that tree, boom, the tree moved. Um, and unfortunately, we only worked during a certain period of time. So, did a contractor. That's the point of us trying to get the letter out. And I apolog
I didn't I didn't hand them out. Yeah, they were in the mail. They were >> They were mailed They were mailed out. >> We never got a letter. Same street. >> Okay. What What street if you don't mind me asking? >> Oh, let's >> So, folks, uh, let's let's take this one
uh participant at a time and I'm also going to direct you to uh information uh to the Shade Tree Commission's meetings as well. Uh, anything else, Dave? >> No, that's that pretty much covers it. That's what we do and how we do it. >> Great. Thank you so much. >> No problem.
Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> Oh, I think mind meld. >> Andrew Matson, 14 Elorado Court. Um, I will say, not just me, speaking with a lot of other residents in town this spring, seeing the trees start to
blossom and and come to life has been really nice and definitely, as Mr. Warren said, something that builds community. Um, it's been great to see the the investment and the time and and what's come of that in terms of grant money to be able to continue this operation of plant trees. I I fully
support that moving forward. I know when when my street was done, I received the letter that he spoke of. So, I would imagine everybody received the same letter. Um, one thing I did want to speak about also, I have a question and I was hoping the people that would know that, but
maybe you guys can ask the question more officially. Um, with the dispatcher debate that's gone on, there's been people saying that it's could possibly affect our response time. I'm just wondering what is our response time? because um I would imagine the people
making that claim should know that cuz they're they're they're putting a very high importance on that response time. So they should know what the response time is and I would like to know that and then when we get to a point maybe they can compare that response time. Um but if we don't have a response time
maybe they should be directed to give us a response time. I don't know. That's just my thought. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Anybody else hearing or seeing no one, can I make uh can I get a motion to close public comments? >> Make a motion.
>> Make a second. >> All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? All right. Any additional comments from town? I know Mr. Smith wanted to speak up. >> I just wanted to Mr. Warren had brought something up and as somebody who's uh volunteered in this town coaching um
since I moved here in 2017 um well I can just I I will say dealing with the children of this town is a lot easier than dealing with some of the adults in this town. But I will say show me a robust recck department and I'll
show you a safer town. They all go hand in hand. And when we got to beg for money to put kids in programs, you show me a strong wreck program, I will show you a safer town. And these are just facts.
That's all I have to say. Thank you. Anybody else? Uh just want to share out that the next Shade Tree meeting is on Thursday, June 4th at 6:30 p.m. And that meeting is held in the senior center. And what's so great about them is that uh the shade
tree commissioner, Mr. Michael Warren, is there as well as our DPW superintendent Dave Brown. So they can definitely answer all tree related questions as we did pass the shade tree commission uh last year and it's going amazingly and I think that the grants
that we're getting uh uh recently uh speak to the shade tree commission uh being enforced now. Okay. All right. Moving right along. Consent agenda. All items listed on the consent agenda are considered routine and non-controversial and will be
approved by one motion unless a committee member requests otherwise. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Motion. >> Have a second. Second. Roll call, please. >> Committee. >> Yes. >> Committee Smith. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Schwinsky. >> Yes. >> Mary Miller.
>> Yes. >> Thank you so much. Thank you everybody. This was a great meeting filled with progress and I'm honored to be up here serving alongside these amazing people to the left and right of me. The next township committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 10th at 7 p.m. May I
have a motion to adjourn this meeting? Motion. >> Do you have a second? Second. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? >> This meeting is adjourned. Thank you so much. You got