of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all >> everyone can please read the open public meeting
statement >> adequate notice of this meeting of the township council of the township of Roxbury was given as required by the open public meetings act as follows on December 31st 2025 notice was emailed the fact daily record, the Northstar ledger, the West Morris reporter and
published in the daily record. Notice should also remain posted throughout the year on the bulletin board in the main hallway of the municipal building. >> Roll call, please. >> Councilwoman Alre, >> I'm here. >> Councilman Terry here. >> Deputy Mayor Crowley
>> here. >> Councilman Dalippo here. >> Councilman Hall here. >> Council Riley here. Last week, the mayor, Councilman Riley, and I participated in a brief call with the US Department of Homeland Security during which they confirmed to Rockberry
Township that they have purchased the property directly from Delton Industrial and Goldman Sachs. This development places the township in a challenging position under federal supremacy clause of the United States Constitution.
As a result, the local actions such as modifying ordinances or adopting a moratorum would not prevent the federal government from proceeding. United States Senators Andy Kim and Cy Booker have introduced legislation that would prohibit the Department of
Homeland Security from using federal funds to purchase warehouses for the purpose of converting them into detention facilities. Additionally, Governor Cheryl has formerly expressed opposition to the proposed facility in Roxberry, advocating for the protection and
well-being of our residents. Yesterday, Township Attorney Anthony Puko with the New Jersey office at the Attorney General to discuss strategies on how the township and the state can work collaboratively in opposition to the establishment of this facility.
The township has also received a formal letter from the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, the state's nonpartisan agency responsible for providing legal analysis and research to support lawmakers and municipalities.
In it review, the Office of Legislative Services concluded there is no constitutional, statutory, ethics, or common law doctrine that would prohibit Senator Buco's ability to serve simultaneously as a township attorney
and state senator. In fact, there is an express statutory provision and 60 plus years of judicial precedent that support the conclusion that he is permitted to serve as township attorney while also serving in
the New Jersey legislature. To conclude, otherwise would have no basis in the state's constitution or statutes, legislation with ethics rules or case law. Roxberry Township remains steadfast in
exploring every available avenue in opposition to the establishment of a federal detention facility within our community. As we have consistently affirmed, our foremost priority is the safety and the protection of our residents and the resources of our
township. Move on to reports of council leaison representatives council committees and in old business. We have budget presentation. >> Yes. >> Tonight we're going to be hearing from >> I'm Heidi. I'm the tax collector here.
Uh so my preage is pretty short. Um all I do is collect all the money. So uh yes, so my first screen is just showing it's showing the different years in the collection that we've collected um tax rate and then my
percentage of collection you know 97.91 is pretty good after our co year. So uh we're doing good on collections. One of the ways that we do as a tax collector that we collect or ensure collection of the money is is tax
sale which so I put up like for the 2025 tax sale the amount that we collected. Um and it's anything from the previous year we're we're forced by statute to hold these tax sales to collect the
money. Um so that's that. But and then it's just really the expenses in our office which we don't really capital budget. Most of it is like contracted services of like uh our our folding machines and things like that, you know,
bills. Um those are our salaries and like memberships. Those are our expenses. So we don't really ask for a lot of money in our office which is good but but we collected a lot of money in our office.
So yeah, so that's really it for the tax office. wanted to start with good news. >> Unbelievable. >> There's four of us in our office and the girls are great. They're just everyone's really helpful in our office and we get
a lot of compliments on that. of Roxberry and that shouldn't go on that taxpayers Roberry have always been diligent but this is a tremendous compliment to them will come Give us a second.
My name is Kelly. I'm the administrator at the court. Um, my presentation is also fairly short. >> You guys speak a little louder. >> Sorry, I'm quiet. Um, my presentation is also fairly short like Maggie was. Um, we have not really asked for much of an
increase. It's only the mandatory that we need. Um, it's a $4,000 increase that I'm requesting. Um, we have to maintain all of the uh service levels that comply with the administrative office of the
courts. Um over the last five years since co we have increased quite a bit. Um in 2020 we had 4,000 new filings and then in 2025 we had 6,000 filings. So it is increasing every year. Um
key changes that we've had there have been nothing. There's been nothing um personnel wise um contracted services would be the biggest increase. um second biggest I guess um for interpreting services which is required um our
recording system went up small um same with the law books and then finally I we have been monitoring um potential increases for
upcoming years um specifically to to be in compliance with the language access plan. Um, and we're anticipating since the case filings have been increasing every year, replenishing the ticket and special form
complaint books more frequently, lengthier court sessions, more trials, um, potentially more special sessions. And that is all I have. Any questions?
>> Thank you. >> Good job, Kelly. Evening Melanie. >> Good evening. How is everybody? Is there a preference? Do you want water or sewer? >> Water first. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Melanie Mashetti. I'm the engineer, director of
utilities. Um this is uh I I one of the departments I oversee is water, the second is sewer. Um this budget is for the water department. Uh directly under me. Um regarding the water department, we have
one one water supervisor licensed operator. We have a backup licensed operator which is required. That's a part-time position and three uh additional water operators. One individual does have uh just achieved his level one licenses.
Uh the current responsibilities we have three water systems, Sky View, Shore Hills, and Evergreen. Evergreen is a um small water system in the Bergkshire Valley area. Among those three water systems, we have nine public community water wells. Uh we also oversee the DPW
facility. Well, two booster pump stations, uh approximately 291,000 ft of water man, 1,364 water valves, 477 fire hydrants that are municipally owned
and operated, uh approximately 3,312 residential water customers, and approximately 405 commercial water customers. Um I'll start with our water request. This is a picture taken of our million
gallon tank from a number of years ago. And these are what our capital um requests do. You know, in this case, we had one of our water storage tanks which was constructed back in 1970 and uh 1972, excuse me. And uh we
drained it um sand blasted and painted it and did various other water um system improvements. Um, first budget line item is fire hydrant replacements. As noted before, we have 477 township owned fire hydrants. Uh, we have a a line item
request um for replacement fire hydrants. Uh, typically they are the ones that are damaged by uh vehicles, motor vehicle accidents, and we do have a replacement program of older fire hydrants. Um, phase one master plan improvements.
Um those improvements are currently under design by our consultant M McDonald. Um of this of the water master plan improvements include the water system resoning uh which is currently about 90% complete and it's under review by this department amongst other things.
Um water storage tank improvements um uh which include a booster station at at two of our tank locations to increase uh water pressure into the distribution system. Um that layout is also under review and associated with that is
telemetry upgrades. >> What's water system resign? >> So in the sky view uh the shore hills area we have the Benzel drive tanks which are on Denzel Drive. Um from without getting too technical we're that's the highest point of the
distribution system. When you get on to Mount Arlington Boulevard the elevation difference is significant. So you might have minimal pressure in the Benzel Drive area and really excessive pressures along Mount Rollington
Boulevard. So the concept is we're going to take that system and split it into two. We have a um emergency interconnect with an Onita Drive uh with the MUA that was the MUA had constructed that a
number of years ago when they redid their water storage tank. Um The thought is to use that interconnect, have those lower elevation properties served off of a different gradient so the people can uh will have less water pressure um
excessive water pressure on Maline Boulevard and associated streets and then boosting up the pressure um along in the area that's in uh surrounding the Benzel Drive tank system. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome.
Oh, and then the benzel drive tank improvements. Um, so of that um there's two tanks um that are very old. Um we're going to remove the smaller 1 million gallon excuse me uh 100 100,000galon uh water storage tank and rehab the
second tank. Uh the one that's closer in the in the frame is uh the 100,000galon tank. The one in the back is the 215,000galon tank. Uh water meter replacements. Again, we
have 3,312 residential water meters. Um two 405 commercial water meters typically replace 125 meters per year. Um and those are the meters with over 2 million gallons of water. Um or meters which
have um three at least 3/4 of estimated reads. Uh we have seen an uptick in uh because certain certain developments in town over constructed at the same time. So they're all reaching the same mileage or age at the same time. So um
uh we're replacing as many as we can. >> These are the remote meters. >> That is correct. Um a few years back we upgraded the telemetry system for the meters. So um you can use tablet. Soon
as the guys turn on the tablet, they walk out. I mean, if you remember years ago, we used to go door to door to door. Um, it took us like six weeks, four weeks to read everybody. Uh, by the time he walks out the door, he turns on the tablet. We have probably about 2/3 of
the water reads and then he drives through and uh collects uh others. Um, one thing about this program is it gives us um pretty easily ones that are non-reads or estimated
reads. So they can go back um and reread it in the field if it if they miss it and it goes into the billing ID's group. They're great. Um and they'll come up with a list and with the a list of meter repairs like is it a signal issue? Is it
something split? Are the the properties vacant which we now that we see we've been seeing a lot of vacant properties. you know, we're trying to be very proactive about lost water, uh, frozen frozen meters. Um, so, you know, when we
see with these newer meter, uh, meter heads, we can register that you have constant flow. >> Yes, it does. >> Yes. >> I do, Melanie. the water meter replacement. That's just for the Roxbury
water supply. It has nothing to do with the water that's being provided by AWS. Correct. >> Yes. This is only for the inputs inside your home. These are the only these water meters are only for the inside home water meters that are within Sky View Shore Hills and Evergreen water
systems. Our systems has nothing to do with any other water system. >> The purpose of people I don't think they realize. >> Yeah. So, um there are properties that are on New Jersey American. We use their information specifically for the
commercial the commercial sewer bills uh to determine their sewer um their their sewer bill. Um and if there is say a property that's on a well and we do have a handful of them still in the system,
they do have we do require most of them to put water uh meters on their well. They purchase those meters and then we read that information and use that for um generating their sewer bill. All right. Um the next next item is um
POS treatment. This has been on um on the docket for quite a while. Um so this is actually our Ford Road booster station set up in up in um Shore Hills. Um there is a building to the far left
that um it's an A-frame. Um that is the proposed uh POS building. So they're going to it's going to be built so it um marries into nicely into the property itself. Um that's currently under design. Um we
are working on the TWWA permit for the discharge of the backwash water from the filters. Um, but that's one of the items in uh this year's budget. >> So, this will be completed this year. >> I doubt that it'll be completed this
year. The the the I'm looking to get it done this year. Bid this year. Um, we're going for I bank approval and there's going to be an offset in your budget on your budget sheet. You are the I bank. So the goal is to get all of that done this year and then uh get it towards the
fall winter of this year. That's the reality, the real part of it. >> All right. Um vehicle replacements. I know Steve had um uh had a lengthy discussion regarding vehicles. Um this
is RX43. It's currently it's well it's Ford Escape about 80,000 miles. Um it is um nearing its end of useful life. Um and we are looking to replace that with a similar vehicle.
We typically use this for um meter reads um responding to um n non uh service related uh matters in the distribution system. Um Sky View 300,000galon tank. Um this
tank is currently offline. Scope work includes returning the tank to full service, repainting and then adding a booster station. Um the anomaly here is the this tank there's two tanks on that property. Um the 300,000 is a shorter tank. The other tank which is off to
your left, you can barely see portion of it is a 535,000galon tank and um there were no two hydraulic braid lines. So boosters is going to help uh keep the uh water um fresh
within the tank itself. uh work drive booster station. Uh there's a minor um amount of money that's uh placed in the budget request uh for one pump and for one motor. Um it's request to keep money in the budget in case you have a motor goes out. We
can easily uh replace it. They're about um motor is about $9,000 um not including installation. Uh well to wall, excuse me, well to building improvements. Um building itself needs a roof, soft gutters, and a
replacement of the access hatch. Uh the access hatch is for us for the um well driller to access the wellhead itself. Uh water man replacements. I'm requesting um a an amount of money for um water man replacements. This is for
the replacement of damaged water. This is not an annual request. This is um a request to put money aside for these these water man brakes because we do the piping. We do the backflow that comes out of it. We got the road restoration if those if you remember the one uh
water main leak we had up on Lincoln and Conkling last year was pretty significant. Um and that'll help offset rather than putting putting that um m that significant amount of money against the operating budget. If you have a
capital, you can use the capital and um uh it'll just mit mitigate things on the operating end. >> Where would we normally get this >> operating and then the operating we're then we by by if we have one early in
the year um by September we're that we're we're in almost a deficit situation. Okay. So this is a one time you know if you know it we'll keep it on the books. Hopefully we don't have to use it. Um, but if we do, if you
remember on Rogers Drive, what started out being a water man break, water main break, water man break, we ended up doing a watermelon replacement. And in doing so, uh, we had delayed we had to get the money from, um, the capital fund, which delayed paying the
contractor, which causes a little bit of a problem because yeah, he's putting all of the materials, all of the labor out of pocket until we can pass the organs in order to get that uh, paid for. >> So again, yeah, there are offsets. So we won't be kidding.
>> That's correct. >> We won't have to go to capital and our vendor might be a little happier. You can turn it around. >> You can move a little more quickly. >> Yes. >> You could actually show us, right, what maybe your experience has been over the last three or four years
to give us an idea of how you came up with the number, whatever. >> Yes, I can. Um, let me know what you want and or how far back you want to go and I'll pull everything together. >> Okay. >> All right. Uh, water treatment modifications. We had lead and copper
exceedence last year. Um you know our and that was in the first half of last year. Um the second half the water results were uh less than the action level. However, we still need to um review the water treatment um options at
the wellhouses. And this amount of money would be um for us to get a contractor in and do those minor modifications um to repipe uh some of the chemical feed. We're going to move some of the chemical feed in on other portions of the piping.
Um, that's what that amount is for. >> But not new buildings to do this. You're saying a place where you may have a valve or something to put in something. >> So, we have injection points. We might have an injection point here. We're going to move the injection point maybe further closer to maybe the wellhead or maybe we're going to move it further on
back to um towards the discharge side out of the wellhead wellhead. other areas we're we're um we're looking at possibly changing the treatment itself um from a um to that we currently adjust
the pH and alkalinity to a orthoposphate or a zinc orthoposphate uh which um is more efficient in um addressing um the alkalinity and pH of the system >> I assume the state has permit that
>> we're in the process of that before Before we move forward with changing that, we need to get the permits from the state. Operating budget. All right. Uh salary and wages um is consistent with the prior year. Um any salary increases are in accordance with
the previously negotiated um union contracts. Nothing >> 181. >> I'm sorry. that says water. If you're looking at it on your computer all salary and wages again um they are
in accordance with previously ne negotiated union contracts. I didn't put all of the line items from the operating budget in here because a lot of them have not changed. postage will increase because federal government increases postage on an annual basis. >> Twice a year. >> Is it twice a year? >> It's twice a year now.
>> Usually I usually go for January's numbers, but thank you for that. >> Yes, it it will do twice a year from now on. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Have to reevaluate that one in the future. Um water testing. Um this is for
our water samples that we collect on a monthly and bi-weekly basis. Um minor increases due to processing costs. Um we are even though it's not in our required sampling, the D still want us to sample quarterly for POS. They're relatively
pricey. Um and additional uh compliance sampling for lead and copper. Um we take 40 each um beginning half the year and then we take another 40 samples um the second half of the year. electric along with everybody else. We're going to have
minor increases due to the rate increases, their incre rate increases um in plant operations. Normally that is um that is uh consistent. Um however, this year um all water meters at all of our water sources are required to be
tested and calibrated. Uh we're required to do that every five years. um line maintenance. Um that is typically where we put we take um our we charge our uh water service repairs uh water main breaks to um
typically um I'm not looking at any increase on that line item. >> Sure. >> Yes. >> The fact that you know we've had some significant electricity increases looking
204 which basically is I guess around 2,000 more than was extended February 26 2026 with the large increases
is that is that 90,000 at this point? >> Yes. >> Yeah. We we we evaluated it back um and we projected it out in 2025 to the end of the year and I feel comfortable with
that with that number for um for electricity. >> I'm sorry it water purchases significant increase there >> maybe
Yes. So, um, Morris County MUA, we purchase, uh, we do purchase both water from the MUA. Um, every year the MUA includes, um, gives us a rate increase. Um, this year it's a 5.5% increase and over the past five years we've had an
increase on an average of 5.3%. So, every year that they increase um, their water rates, we absorb that uh, that rate increase. haven't changed our water in a while since 2013.
>> Well, I just wanted to make note that the MUA does increase their 5% every year. >> We are so taking is 300,000 gallons a day. We're probably at 330. Um right now the believe it or not the
villages because a good portion of the water um is diver not diverted necessarily but um is um moved up to the villages area. Eventually when those water system ressonings occur, both Sky View system and the short Short Hill
system will be merged into one individual system and we will be able to transfer water back and forth amongst the the systems or the the various pressure gradients. >> But this is the cost of >> this the Mway number is the cost of water.
>> Yes. So I I get that it's about difference when we expended 387. >> It is. It is. Um but um what we're finding is um the mu that the the the villages right
now are using a lot more water than we had in the past. Um our wells are not for that demand. Our wells are not able to keep up at the um peak time. So, we're pulling we are pulling a lot more and I'm hoping and a lot of that right
now has to do with construction water. So, over the past year, um you know, they've been going like gang busters building these homes where they have um I think 54 homes, 52 homes that are currently occupied. They have another 106 that or there 106 that are occupied,
another 53 that are um under construction or some phase of of under construction. >> So this they've been using a lot of construction water for dust for dust uh dust control u >> I'm looking for a decrease
item. I would not want to decrease that line item. Um >> because of that expected to come back down. >> I I anticipate it coming back down. Yes. >> You know, a lot of that also has to do with the landscape um the landscape maintenance in that area. So, as the
properties get occupied, some have um well, a lot of them have sod in the front yard. They are watering um they have to water that in order for it to be established. Um well, one good news is in telephone we will have a decrease of $7,000 as anticipated due to the elimination of
former lease lines um that we had with telephone company. >> You're decreasing that. Yes, I I get it. But there's a warrant that comes >> Wi-Fi. We have a mission system. And of course safety equipment. We have a little bump in the the safety
equipment for new and replacement of existing safety equipment. All right. Um uh water um this is in conjunction with Valerie. Um so just from from a review of the performance of the water system, the water utility reported its strongest surplus position
in 2022 followed by a gradual decline through 25 although the fund balance remains positive. The downward trajec trajec trajectory um indicates narrowing um operating margins and reduced fiscal uh flexibility when compared to earlier
years. We're using additional uh surplus in order to keep the um funds the water utility. So our revenue structure uh the revenue profile that's shown above uh demonstrates an increased reliance on
surplus anticipated and revenue offsets during the 24 and 25 years. Um this shift reflects a growing uh growing operating pressures and a reduced ability to generate surplus um through reoccurring user fee revenue.
So the the user fees that that we're we're um collecting are not covering all of the operating expenses. So um we've been using again additional surplus um
for for the water rates for the water um system budget and the expenditure trends operating revenue uh expenditures excuse me increased materially uh beginning in 2024 and continued upward 2025. The
escalation in cost corresponds with expanded uh service delivery requirements and infrastructure maintenance demands resulting in sustained elevation in the annual budget. Um ever since co the p you know during co the prices or after co the
prices um went up for everything went up substantially and they have not been kind of down at all because they know that we'll pay for it one way or the other. I don't you know not only for the utilities but even for individuals um they know that you need it take anything
down but unfortunately we're not able to cover based on our existing revenue so again we're using additional surplus in order to make the budget worker can go in too sorry we'll throw um you know she'll can
get into additional information on the actual revenue and expenditure side of budget if you need information also driven by the high demand
water utilities are now. So as state requires more and more treatment of the water and that gets more and more expensive that's driving a lot
>> it is um you know we want to provide um as you know the highest quality um and um we and then and we do um and these prices you know you have what's what's being mandated which we which we meet their mandates Um and then the cost
associated with them and then you have the cost that the system is getting older >> um which we we've done uh very personally I think we've done very well in maintaining in making necessary improvements too and I
was 2013 >> 2013. So we also need a more sensible Nothing further on the on the water end. Um unless you want to get into water rates, but we can discuss that on
another date if you don't mind. >> Any questions on the water department? You get to move on. Moving on. All right. Square department presentation
again. also overseeing the sewer department. Um in the sewer department I have a sewer supervisor who is also our licensed operator foreman um who is our backup operator, one laboratory technician and five uh sewer operators
of varying um experience. So we have some new new hires and um a couple that are um that have um a number of years um under their belts. Um our sewer system is uh comp is
compiled of two different service areas. Um the first area is the Ajax terrace water pollution control plant. Um it serves portions of Sakasan, Kenville, Ledgewood, Mooney Mountain areas. Um
this is a domestic treat uh wastewater treatment plant. Um the present treatment process consists of an airrated grid chamber, primary clarifier, clarifiers, equalization basins, rotating biological contacttors, secondary clarifiers, micro strainers,
jet disinfection, um chlorine contact tanks, um deep fllororination, and a posteration uh pond. Um the plant currently dischar discharges um to the upper Lamington River drainage basin.
Our system consists of that two MGD uh wastewater treatment plant, 14 pump stations, approximately um oh just under 400,000 ft of sanitary sewer mains of varying size, material and age. Uh
approximately 32,457 ft of force mane. Uh 5,400 sanitary uh sanitary sore laterals. um 379 uh commercial sewer accounts and 5,186
residential sewer accounts. >> Right. So um everything flows by gravity into the pump station. pump station will um push the sanitary waste um to whatever the receding man hole is whether it's the treatment plant or to
get it over the hill to the next um next set of uh area of gravity sew. Okay. The uh second area is Musk connect authority. Musketon Service Authority is a regional um regional sewer authority
with um a number of municipalities of which Roxbury is one of them. Um this um um waste water from the landing shore hills and Port Morris areas and the westerly portions of Route 46 and the Route 206 corridors um flows to the
Musketon sewage authority. Pom predominantly it is the Delaware basin um that is um that is transferred to that uh treatment plant. Uh that portion of the system consists of two pump stations which are currently under
construction. Those are the villages. Uh 485 individual grinder pumps. These are indivi at individual homes. They are connected to what they call a low head pressure system um which is a smaller scale force main and that um sends it
over to the receiving gravity sword to take it to the sew uh sewage treatment plant. Um that portion of the system includes um 60,986 uh feet of sanitary sewer mains of varying size material and age. um 23,015
ft of blowhead force bang which is um which are the ones that are connected to the grinder pumps um approximately 1,718 residential sewer accounts and 64 commercial sewer accounts. Just a general schematic for um of our
treatment process at our Ajax terrace water pollution control plant. And this begins our shore capital request. Uh rider pump replacements. Um to date we have replaced about 98% of our rider pumps. Um off to the right hand side
there is a table that shows the number of grinder pumps we have purchased per year. Uh so as we purchase them we install them um as they as the grinder pumps fail in the system. Um pumps that are in they fail for one reason or whether it's
seal or when we if we arrive there we just automatically put a new pump in. Um we do take some of the pumps back and rebuild them. Um there is in the operating budget a grinder pump um line item and that's what is used for that um
for that um the rebuild. And the schematic on uh the right hand on the left hand side um shows in general how uh the grinder pumps um the the portion on the right is actually coming out of the house goes into the pump. Um as it goes as you're looking
towards the left that's where it's going out to the sanitary sewer um lowhead uh main. Um these are um the flows and the rainfall uh for our Ajax plant for 2025.
Um our plan is to MGD. We this was a dry year. Um we have an INI program. Um off the top of my head, I'm not sure what how many we've we've predominantly done or completed uh Elen Woods uh north
toward uh Route 10. We've done a substantial portion of the uh Ajax system. Uh but there is more to be done. Um >> the red line at the bottom is the rainfall. The blue line that's is the uh
plant flow. So if you see that little peak in the middle, um probably around May, uh we had probably just under two and a half inches of rain. And you can see the corresponding um lip um in the plant uh
efflu flow. Uh one item that we had um we've had in our uh capital budget for sewer is Ajax mechanical repairs. Past projects funded a lot of pumps. When I went through the the past budgets, a lot of rotary load
pumps, a lot of sludge pumps, um pump motor bearings, dilution water pumps. Each of these pumps are probably 15 to $20,000 a piece. Um it's um it's been used to address emergency clarifier repairs. The picture that you see to the
lower lower right is uh one of the clarifiers. We had the baffle fall off um and we use that line item for those m those emergency repairs. And we've also used um Ajax mechanical repairs for u major generator repairs.
All right. Next next line is um future project landing road bridge sewer. Stand close. Um the uh the last schedule I heard is um April getting the authorization to
proceed to bid every because there that's a federal grant as well. They need authorization to proceed to bid the project. Um all of our comments included on the plans. Um I haven't heard any recent update on that, but what you see
there is in general um a very um wided out version of that. The green line is the MSA um interceptor sewer and those little red dots that you see um on the lower right hand side are the part of the uh sand proposed sanitary sewing to
go across the bridge. The intent is to provide sanitary sewer service to Landing Road um as far down as Landing Road Park and part of that's going to be constructed in in concert with um a development.
Uh rotating biological contact. This is another line item that has been on um in the budget for quite a while. Uh there's 24 RBC units in the treatment train. 18 have been replaced to date. two units um will be starting in next Monday
actually. Um they are the two units have been delivered. Um the con the the lead time is substantial on these. It's like eight months or 10 months for the the lead time. Um but they expect to have them completed in five to five to seven weeks. So the installation is very easy.
They're very quick. It's just the lead time to get the equipment is substantial. Um we have four units remaining. I have um our um consultant working on um the the last uh we set bid specs for the last two units, but the
bid's going to include four in the hopes that maybe the prices will come in and for the million dollars that I'm asking for for these two units, we might be able to get an additional two. It's, you know, we started this project in 2013
and um when we were getting two units, excuse me, we had four units for $800,000. Postcoid, we're now at a million for two. That's that's how much things have increased um over time.
Uh NJIT projects, this is really Yes, >> that's a question. We started this in 2013 when we started first replacement. We're done with the last four. How much time before we have to go back to the first one? >> Probably about another 15 years. I mean, we we I mean um right now we are working
on one of them. In this particular bid, um something must have failed like a either a shim that the unit started walking along the um the shaft and began grinding against the the um concrete um
uh the concrete structure. But these they typically 30 plus years. Um, so that's like an anomaly. There must have been like a shim failure or something. Didn't didn't um didn't hold
um NGIT projects. This is the next phase. Um this is really the placeholder. Um so the two projects that are associated with this NJIT project is denitrification filters and um ultraviolet or UV disinfection to
replace the existing chlorine system. Um untreated domestic wallet waste water contains ammonia. Nitriication is biological proc that process that converts the ammonia to nitrate nitrite nitrite to nitrate. nitrite if if
standards require the uh that the resulting nitrate be removed. One treatment alternative is dnitrification um to turn the nitrate is reduced to a nitrogen gas. Um typically they're done with filters. Um
the full design of these facilities is pending the D's issuance of the new maj. Um that permit application was submitted in late 2024. So I don't want to proceed with that until I find out what exactly we have to treat to what level we have to treat for
excuse me a mobile generator. Um requesting the purchase of a new mobile generator for the S the S utility. Um the existing generators include 11 units that are 25 years old. These are permanent um set units and four units
that are less than 25 years. Um 25 um in the history is one generator requires full replacement and that falls under um a little bit less than um a little bit over 25 years. Um it it shouldn't
have gone that quickly, but these generators now are don't have the life expectancy that the older ones, we had ones from back in the 70s that have that lasted without issue and these newer ones are just not holding up. Um
and then two generators uh required the use of a temporary generator for two months or longer when so our um generator maintenance um contract includes the rental of the unit. So for the two the two generators that we've
had to have um we've rented the cost of this one mobile generator would cover the cost of that rental. So, I'm hoping to to buy one so we don't have to go through the process of renting another generator in the future should we have an issue.
These generators are located at our pump stations. Um, it is not it's not intended to uh take care of the generator at the Ajax plant which is quite substantial. >> Is that generator for when the electricity fails or is this used?
>> No, these are when the when the power fails. um RX54 um I believe you've also touched on this um is our jetack. It's a 20 2018 um Freightlininer jetack. Current mileage is low mileage um but we use it
frequently um we move it from point A to point B and uh take care of uh whatever the blockage or um whatever needs to be maintained. The replacement cost is approximately a million dollars. Um the existing unit is to be transferred to
the road department um to replace our their existing RX19 which has had substantial issues. It's probably off uh off the road um more than it's on the road. So we're replacing one and transferring
this one to uh the public works department. But he got he got a cheaper price. >> He thinks the cost was coming down, but remember this is going to go. >> All right. Um, next item is pond air raators. Um, so at our posteration pond,
um, we have two uh surface airators that sit on the surface of the water and mix oxygen with the waste water. Um, most of the irration process takes care takes place near the surface of the water. The existing ones are about 20 years old. They've hit their maximum life
expectancy. So, our intent is to replace both of those units. >> Moving on to our operating budget. >> Those are at the Ajax. >> Those are at the Ajax >> and beginning of operating is page 186.
Okay. Uh operating um salary and wages um the operating budget is um consistent with the prior year. There are no increase in increases to the salaries and wages. Um currently the union contract expired at the end of 2025 is
currently under negotiation. um Ajax plant which is um the main um main line item for most of the uh repairs and equipment for the Ajax plant. Um no change is proposed to that
line item. We typically expend the entire amount by the end of the year. Um sewer chemicals um an increase is proposed based on the bids received uh we received in 2025. we will see an increase um in the it's primarily the uh
quality aluminum chloride which is um which we add to the system to address uh phosphate or phosphorus in the system waste water. Okay. Sludge hauling. Uh there will be a
$1 per thousand gallon increase in 2026. Minor increase. >> Is that a contract or multi-year contract? >> That is correct. We have uh one more year after this um for that for sludge hauling and then we'll refid it. Um sludge disposal um is for the sludge to
go to Sic Valley sewage aboarding. Um that is also a multi-year contract and there's no change to that. We haven't seen a change in that cost in at least 10 years. >> Correct. >> Uh after well, we'll bid them out next
year and they'll change in 20. >> Uh I didn't include all of the align items for um that most of them did not change in uh in the operating budget. um discharge monitoring reports. Um
is a minor increase based on quotes we received from the laboratory. In general, it's about a $5 increase per test. Grinder pump service. Um this will be increasing slightly only because the price the cost of the parts have increased. Um this line item is for the
rebuilding of the grinder pumps removed from the system. Um the increase is due to the cost of the replacement parts. And the last item I have for that um in this uh operating budget is the MSA treatment cost will be increased by
5.8%. Um it was a lot substantially more. They also use uh their fund balance in order to offset um their in their cost increases, but those increases are due to the uh increased operating costs and
debt service. Um but overall um the store department um is looking at overall 3.2% increase in the operating. So the it started off with the MSA at 5.8%, we're now at 3.2%
for uh that line item. Couple more slides. Um again sore finances um sir utilities exhibiting a financial pattern with surplus levels peaking in 2022 and declining steadily through 2025. This
pattern pattern signals tightening uh financial capacity and diminished cushion um against future cost variability. Historically, the SW utility has covered the utilities expenditures. In the last 5 years, we've needed to utilize additional surplus and connection fees
to cover all expenditures. The sewer utility has been absorbing all of the increased costs from our vendors and other utilities. Um the revenue structure um revenue offsets increase significantly in 2022, excuse
me, 2024 and 2025 to stabilize operations amid rising costs. The increasing dependence on supplemental revenue uh source sources uh highlight structural budget pressures within the utility itself.
And finally, um, expenditure trends have risen substantially beginning in 2024, contributing to o higher overall appropriations and reduced surplus retention. The upward cost trajectory is consistent with broader operational and
infrastructure related demands. Our last um, we haven't had Just as for the public too, um the last adjustment to our shore rates were was um October 20121, excuse me, 2001.
Uh reducing at that time, we reduced the quarterly sewer rate from $150 per quarter to $140 per quarter. And uh we've maintained that all of this time. So I think we're we're at that point.
Do you have any questions? We are completed. I've sent each of you an email on uh fleet recommendations. I know those concerns. So expect to hear from the council you want to join the fleet committee and how you want to do
that. Um but appreciate uh I appreciate everybody um sharing their story. I think there's a lot of good news and I hope you heard that tonight. There's uh there's a lot to be proud of here and I'm glad the public got to hear. There's
>> a lot going on. >> With that said, um we're going to move to the first public portion and I ask the public talk only about presentations if there's any question on that. Immediately after we're going to have the second public portion which will be open for anything. This allows our staff
to go ahead and go home earlier. Is anyone in the public like to speak on on the presentation? Seeing none, I'll close the public portion. I want to thank the staff tonight for coming and going through this stuff. Um, next is introduction of
proposed ordinances. There's none. Hearing and adoption. There's none. Introduction of adoption resolution. There's none. Personal changes, there's none. Communications, there's none. And so we're now to the second public portion. I'll open the sec second public portion to any comments.
Please state your name and address and we will hold everyone to a threem minute time. My name is Susanna Oliveri. I'm from Landing. Since I last spoke, Senator Buco has further solidified his pro ice stance in Trenton, strengthening
Roxberry's residents position that his involvement as town attorney is unethical and non-productive. On February 24th, he voted no on a critical package of three measures designed to protect New Jersey from federal DHS over overreach, further signaling a clear
preference for a pro ICE agenda. As a state senate Republican leader, how can he impartially represent a town that has formerly resolved to not to oppose ICE presence? The simple answer is he cannot and he does not. Last week, Mayor
Patillo stated that Senator Buo is doing a good job. I asked his council, a good job doing what? Being paid to double dip as attorney and state senator. Senator Buco has refused to take any preventative actions beyond advising on an empty resolution. The rest of his
legal strategies were reactive, not proactive. Anyone could have contact any one of you could have contacted the AG. The town manager could have arranged for an engineering firm. Senator Kim and Senator Booker were already aware of our situation before Buo ever picked up a
phone. Senator Buco deserves no credit for taking reactive, obvious steps only after the damage is already done. Senator Buco did nothing, absolutely nothing to prevent this facility from coming to Roxberry. As a member of this council, you should be embarrassed and
ashamed and to put your faith in him. And as a taxpayer, I'm disgusted that you entrusted our tax dollars to pay for his lack of service to this town. Senator or Councilman Riley, some of the speakers here today may call you nimi. I disagree. You are not nimi. You are
straight up ICE supporter. Full stop. You support them in and out of Roxberry. You have aligned yourself with a mega agenda detrimental to our country. As I stated in my email to you, you support ICE. Stand on 10 toes and say it with your whole chest. Instead of trying to wrap your views in a pro- Roxberry
ribbon, Councilman Kerry, when I emailed you, not spam, you replied that as Ward One resident, I should not contact you. When I persisted, I was met with an automated reply designed to block further communication. This is a viewpoint violation under the Supreme Court decision linky versus freed
violating my first amendment right to petition the government. Furthermore, if you are trying to block my emails to avoid public record, you are violating Oprah. For all of you voters, remember actions and consequences. Your lack of actions will result in consequences from rock for Roxberry in the form of higher
taxes, lower property values, and permanent disruption of our infrastructure to name a few. A few years ago, the deeply red Sparta Town Council was flipped over a war warehouse issue. The same will happen here in Roxberry. Unhappy voters that suffered
financial consequences have long memories. When your terms are up, we will reme remember your non-action and our consequences. And we will rally to vote out every member who allowed the Tom Kaine Jr. ICE Detention Center to stay in our town. And on another thing,
March is Women Histories Month. If you're going to recognize it, please don't wait till 4 days before the end of the month like you did for Black History Month. That was a disgrace and absolutely disrespectful. My name is Marissa and I live in Fort Morris. I'm disappointed to see that Shawn is not here today as I know him
personally and he has always attended our block parties. I am here today to tell you how disappointed and disgusted I am with the male council members and inabil and your inability to represent the town. I want you to look at me when I'm speaking and I want you to hear me.
I am your voter demographic and you will not have my vote or many of my graduating class this year. Do you know that I have friends that carry their papers in their backpacks because they are afraid of going from the school parking lot to the school? Is this how you think? Is this how little you think
of your town you're supposed to support? We are your next generation of voters and you do not represent me. Every morning my mother has to tell me to protect my brown friends. They live in fear and I live in fear. And this camp is basically in my backyard. This is not
how you how we are supposed to live or feel. We should not have to know that this year we will not be able to have our doors open this summer. We will have to have them shut because that is now the town that we live in. As kids,
we knew that we were able to play safe outside. And now the kids are scared to be outside. You can't even recognize that the township attorney will never do what is right for this town. He is pro ICE and incompetent to carry out his duties. He should step down. Thank you.
>> Good evening, town council. My name is Cynthia Gallota and I'm a longtime resident of South Orange. I feel compelled to speak tonight because I was struck by what Councilman Riley said last week when he stated that many people in the audience were not from Roxbury as though non-resident opinions
do not count. So I come before you as a fellow human being who wants to place what is happening all across our country in a larger context. This administration is trying to deport 12 million human beings from our country, including
480,000 New Jerseyians who live and work here. The sale of the warehouse in New Jersey does not just impact the good citizens here, nor those residents of the surrounding towns. It is not only about the stress on the water, sewer, property values, natural resources, fire
and police departments. All true, but fundamentally it is part of a massive effort to build a network of prisons to incarcerate those this administration has deemed not entitled to due process or protections. The mayor
read a proclamation last week about Black History Month. I quote, "Roxbury Township will continue to work toward being an inclusive and open community where all people are respected and will actively promote the principles of equality and liberty." End quote. There
is no equality or openness or liberty in the mass detention deportation agenda. It is a dehumanizing system to rob people of their basic rights and dignity and rob them of their community. I searched to see if any Republican
elected official anywhere has spoken out against detention centers in terms of its humanities, but I found nothing. As someone mentioned last week, you are in a difficult position and I understand you are resisting in the way that you
can. Any opposition to this administration should be encouraged. So, I thank you for that. But let's be cleareyed about the enormity of the lawlessness detention centers inflict on our immigrant neighbors. Federal
District Judge Goodwin of West Virginia stated just a few days ago, quote, "The overreaching issue is whether the federal government may employ anonymous agents to seize persons on American streets and highways for civil violations without warrants, without
identification, and without any process before or after. The Constitution does not permit that." End quote. Please honor the oath to the constitution you pledge as an elective public servant. Please embrace the values you espouse
for your township to include all peoples. Please look beyond your township concerns because truly mass incarceration affects each and every one of us here in Roxbury, here in New Jersey, and here in this country. Thank you.
My name is Andrew Sprung, also from South Orange Irish. Um, I'm switching my remarks uh in response to uh to Mr. Crowley's uh assertion or suggestion early on that u that local measures to
try to prevent the uh the warehouse development into a detention center uh would inevitably be pre preempted. U I'd like to share an analysis some analysis by the urban institute suggesting various ways that local measures may be
effective. Uh if you've heard this before, please stop me and I will uh switch to my original remarks. But from the Urban Institute, since 1988, Congress has mandated as a matter of federal law that all federal agencies
quote consult with local officials, consider all of local zoning code, and comply comply with building codes to the maximum extent feasible. U DHS has not been doing this. Um, despite the federal government's
perspective general perspective general immunity to local zoning regulations, some local governments are attempting to use their control over zoning and building permitting to block some projects and others exploring some ways to ensure federally owned or operated
detention centers align with local priorities. These approaches may rely on regulations that are generally applicable and do not quote unquote unduly interfere with core federal functions such as the following. One, focusing on where the in the
jurisdiction the detention facility is located. Zoning regulations that determine where in a locality detention facilities can operate might be upheld by courts, especially if such regulations do not universally prohibit
these facilities in all zoning districts and the concerns about not allowing them in some places are related to the ability of the federal government to carry out its stated function. Two, tying regulations to public health and safety. Regulations that impose
monitoring, inspection, or reporting requirements for detention facilities have been upheld by courts and might be sustained when such requirements are tied directly to public health and safety. Health and safety are real concerns. Recent historical reports
point to overcrowding and unsafe conditions at these facilities. For example, an ordinance requiring fire marshal inspections for high occupancy dwellings might be enforceable as a generally applicable regulation that does not obstruct obstruct the federal
government's ability to safely enforce federal immigration laws. Three, zoning for adequate services and infrastructure capacity. >> You have about 15 seconds. >> Okay. General zoning laws that prohibit development that's not supported by existing infrastructure may be
enforcable by courts. I'll stop there. >> Thank you. >> Elaine Johnson, 183 Birkshire Valley Road, Kenville. Um I've been a Roxberry resident for over 40 years
and deeply value this community. Over time, I've come to know people of many diverse backgrounds and beliefs, most most of whom are decent, rooted,
and invested in this town. Roxberry is a close-knit community, but that closeness can also silence people. Many in the so-called silent majority are afraid to speak up.
not only out of fear of arrest or harassment, but more often out of fear of being shunned by our political leaders or our longtime neighbors.
This pre pressure to conform discourages open expression and protests, making dissent difficult. Our concerns regarding infrastructure are extremely val valid and many have
nimi issues. But the deeper issue is the in inhumane treatment of people and the growing sense of lawlessness. These issues affect the entire
community, including law enforcement, whose authority can be or probably will be undermined. This council should welcome all lawful protesters, including those from outside of Rox
Roxberry, rather than support what amounts to be incarceration camps. This is a moral issue that impacts all of us and reckless discriminatory practices must
be condemned. Thank you. William Angus uh from Hacketttown and former Roxbury resident. At a prior meeting in January, the mayor described many emails he received as spam, even though they were part of a common email template effort, a tactic
widely used in civic campaigns for decades. Characterizing these messages that way told residents that their input was being discounted rather than being carefully considered. Councilman Riley has said more than once that comments he hears at meetings do not reflect opinions he hears privately or the views
of Roxbury residents. It's not clear what those privately expressed views were. The central issue before the town is whether a nice detention center should open here and not the broader issue of immigration policy. If these comments were the former, we assume the same concerns expressed by the
councilman Riley publicly were shared privately. And if the latter, town officials have said immigration policy is not under consideration. And if residents speak on the issue, it's irrelevant. Correct? Either way, there is no logical reason for the councilman to bring this up other than to invalidate and dismiss the views being
expressed here. On two occasions, both Councilman Riley and Mayor Patillo stated their support for the current immigration policy. They did not say that the issue wasn't immigration policy, which would be a relevant statement. Instead, they wanted people to know that the two of them supported the current immigration policy. This
comment was for the benefit of Republican voters of Roxbury to assure them that you were still on the same page and it undermines your credibility with the larger community for whom that message was not intended. With those words, you intentionally create a division within the town by bringing
your personal political views into the discussion. I urge you to exit your echo chamber and listen to other constituents point of view. Town officials such as yourselves who were elected to represent all Roxberry residents and suggesting that anyone here does not represent the
true views of Roxberry are insulting, especially when many speakers have identified themselves as residents. You are still thinking of this in terms of Roxbury's borders. An odd way to look at it considering that environmental issues don't care about town borders. The sewer
issues involve seven other towns and the water issues impact the highlands which provide drinking water to 70% of this state. Every single one of those people is part of this community because they have a stake in what happens and with that comes the right to express themselves here online at a protest or
in emails and phone calls to you. There were also complaints about the financial and logistical strain created by large meetings and protests. We recognize that you did not seek this situation but neither did we. Your financial complaint should be aimed at those who created the situation. And I assure you, those
people are not in the room with us right now. Everyone here would rather be celebrating Taco Tuesday and not Town Council Tuesday. But I promise you, these meetings will be packed. The protests will continue until the threat is gone. And if, god forbid, that facility opens, the protests will
continue. Buckle up. We're not going anywhere. Thank you. My name is Guy Citron and I'm from Tukesbury Township, but I grew up in Morris County. Uh, good evening, honorable council members and deputy mayor. I have two specific matters I'd
like to address regarding transparency and recent reports in the media. First, it has been stated that Senator Buco received a letter from the Office of Legislative Services, which supposedly clears him of any conflict of interest.
Since the senator isn't here, I'd like to put on the record that OS, the Office of Legislative Services, seems to be the wrong place to ask that question. The proper body to advise on the appearance of a conflict of interest due to his
dual roles would be the NJ office of attorney ethics. I hope you will all post the letter from OS to the town website regardless. Second, honorable de deputy mayor, this
past Sunday, the Star Ledger and NJ.com reported in an article that a spokesperson from Dalphin claimed they did not receive a tax abatement uh an offer from the town. I believe that may contradict
discussions that we've heard here. Can you explain where Dolphin is coming from or what they might mean? >> Okay. Uh, if Dalvin's statement to the press was inaccurate, is the town
planning to correct that record? Thank you for your time, consideration, and service. Diana May, 30 Whisper Way East in Ledwood, part of Roxbury. Tonight, I am compelled to address the comments made by Councilman Riley at last week's meeting. He stated that this group
opposing the ICE facility is not representative of Roxbury. For the second time, he felt the need to announce that he quote is not against ICE, DHS, or detention centers as a tool to upload, excuse me, uphold our immigration laws, end quote. Mr. Riley
shared that people have spoken to him privately to express support for the facility. Where are these people? I've seen exactly one Roxbury resident come to a meeting to express his support. Why aren't these alleged supporters going on public record with their names
and addresses like we are? I have seen exactly one counterprotester, but the fact that he held the sign with the word with arrows pointing to his sons on either side of him doesn't inspire me to take him too seriously.
If Mr. Riley is going to make a claim. He should back it up with data. What percentage of letters, emails, and speakers at meetings have supported versus opposed this facility? It's clear that every non Roxbury resident is regarded as irre irrelevant.
They are not appreciated for the time and varied expertise they are offering to protect this town from the countless negative impacts that this facility will have on both Roxbury and the larger community. You should be enlisting their help rather than dismissing them if for
no other reason to protect our precious infrastructure. Despite the lies spouted by some media sources, we do not get paid to advocate or protest. We come here every week because we are astounded by the desecration of our democracy and we are deeply committed to use in many cases
our own white privilege to stand up for others who cannot stand up for themselves. The fact that Mr. Riley feels comfortable stating that the hundreds of people at these meetings and now literally thousands at protests here in town are not representative of
Roxbury is outrageous. Is the numerical majority of this town Republican? Yes. After all, this elected council is 100% Republican. But I have to believe that there is still a difference between Republican and MAGA.
Even as Republicans, as Monga Republicans, in some cases, it is your duty to represent everyone in this town, not just a numerical majority whose political views may or may not align with your own. Take decisive action to do what is truly best for this town,
rather than make statements that you believe will get you reelected. Good evening. Uh David Foot, Lower Bergkshire Valley. Uh I'm also here to talk about Councilman Riley's comments last week. Um where he said that the
group standing behind me isn't representative of Roxbury and the views of the town council. Um and you know the thing is in a lot of cases I think you're right. I mean, I'm not going to, you know, make any uh qualms about it. I'm unabashedly a leftist and a
democratic socialist, and you guys are all Republicans. We don't agree on a lot of things. I'd like to completely abolish ICE. I'd like to open up an American shenan area that allows for visa-free travel and work throughout the entire Western Hemisphere. My guess is
I've got a lot of supporters for that behind me and no supporters in front of me. and all that's okay. But on this issue, this one issue, this warehouse, this facility, it sounds like we're all in agreement.
And that is great. And we're allies. You and I, the people behind me, the people in front of me, we're all allies in this fight. So, I would implore you to please
treat us as allies. and Deputy Deputy Mayor Crowley, when you spend your opening remarks lecturing us about how all of the ideas we've put forward are stupid and worthless and aren't going to work at all, that doesn't sound like you working with us. So again, we're allies
here. Can you please meet us halfway? That's all I wanted to say. Thanks. >> Hello. My name is uh my name is Aisha. from Newton, New Jersey. And um yeah, it looks like you guys are thrilled to be here. Um very happy about that. And I wanted to say that I think you guys are
catching too much flack. I mean, clearly you've done everything you can and uh I really respect that and I think that we should all stop coming to these meetings because you've done everything you can and there's nothing left to be done. So um one thing I will note though is that
uh you may not may not seem this way looking at this room, but uh Roxbury is 15% Hispanic. Um, I'll touch back on that a little later, but um, that I assume more you guys know more than 10 people, so you probably know someone
Hispanic in this town. Um, and maybe you're thinking, "Ah, they're dirty brown people. I don't really care if they get put in a camp up the road from here." But, uh, maybe your grandchildren feel a little different about that. Maybe they go to school with someone Hispanic. And uh I'm sure that you'll be
able to tell them after your uh tenure in the town council is over that you did everything you could to uh keep them their friends from being sent to this camp. Um yeah, I'll note that you guys have repeatedly thanked the
police for their uh presence here and in fact also complained to a local reporter about how much money you're spending on providing security for these meetings. And I'm sure that this man is really well equipped as as far as firepower to deal with the uh over 60 year olds who
tend to attend these meetings. So uh I thank our brave servicemen for that and uh I'm sure that your Hispanic residents will feel very safe uh with them here. Oh yeah. Um uh I'm part of the Democratic Associates of America. Just
wanted to state that we're out here. >> Whoever put the timer on. I'm using ADA in terms of the fact that I have a very bad hand tremor. Please be kind. Thank you very much. Uh Bonnie Rosenthal, round off. Words have impact. Words matter.
Hold on one second. Can somebody hold it? Sorry. Okay. Words have impact. Words matter on the people who hear or read them. Words have power. You have cancer. Thank you to my wife and daughter. I hate you. I
love you. I'm sorry. Thank you. Last week in Tap into Roxbury, Councilman Riley was quoted stating there is a large group of moderate law-abiding Roxbury residents who like himself support the work of ICE. Words matter. Is he stating that the unlawful acts of
ICE are supported? Or is he stating that what DHS should be doing is supported? Continuing, quote, albeit not the AY's plan to use a Ledgewood warehouse as a detainee processing facility. Close quote. Words matter. Is he stating that
it shouldn't be in Roxbury or is he stating it would be okay to have in Randolph as an example? Within the article, these quiet con conservatives do not participate in actions, but they do privately tell Riley, quote, you know, I've had conversations with a lot
of people in Roxbury Township over the last months, and I think that some people think the group is representative of Roxbury. Words matter. This is hearsay and wouldn't hold up in a court of law. Words matter. Does that mean that those of us in neighboring towns
that will be impacted don't matter? The distance of this facility to Randolph would likely be the same distance as to an outskirts area of Roxbury. Mr. Wy quoted, "We know for a fact that there's not enough sewer and water. We don't know what their intentions are ice.
Hopefully, they'll come to their senses. Words matter. Validating individuals in town who are concerned about their sewer, water, etc. The councilman also said Roxberry's volunteer fire and EMS department stand to be overwhelmed by the ICE operation. Words matter.
Validating the fire and emergency departments. Words matter. Acknowledging the police department. Quote, "But when we have these type of disruptions in a town of this size with as much as we have going on in this town, it's disruptive to say the least. Words
matter." Acknowledging that there is too much going on before even having the facility open. We all haven't seen anything yet because if the facility does open, there will be a lot more activity in this town and not for positive reasons. Words matter. Words save lives. Words kill. To all, please
take some time to put yourselves in someone else's shoes and even show some emotion when it comes to the horrific stories you've heard. My words matter. Thank you to the Roxberry Police Chief Ma Officer Shawn and so many others. Your time, care, and respect has meant
so much to me and us. And I'm sure I can speak for others. We are not going anywhere. Caladino, but just moved out of Roxbury, lived there for 5 years. In regards to BUCO, there is a perceived conflict by the public and referring to local government
ethics law, the confidence is imperiled. So, I still ask you to honor your oath by removing Buoco as township attorney. Mr. Riley says this is not representative of the town. I'm asking Mr. Riley to ask your pro ICE community for an evidence-based argument in response to how is this going to benefit
anybody other than those profiting financially. There is a large misrepresentation of what we're advocating for. So, to be clear, we are not advocating for violent criminals to be on the street and ICE is not effectively targeting violent criminals. These stats are from DHS. 400,000
abductions took place last year. 40% or 160,000 had only civil charges. Less than 14% were accused or convicted of violent crimes. That's 56,000 out of 400,000. Less than 2% had murder or sexual assault charges or convictions or
8,000 out of 400,000. These numbers are not acceptable. The conversation would be different if only violent criminals were being lawfully detained safely and without excessive force. But that is not the case. The question is not are we violating human rights. The question is are you okay with violating human rights
and Mr. Riley, every time you say you support DHS, you're putting your stamp of approval on all the abuse and torture and far too often death. We are advocating not only for us, for undocumented people, for you, for your family, and for our police as well
because ICE is a threat to us all. If you're mad about the 20,000 you spent, don't blame us. blame the feds because like you, we didn't ask for this. And if you must prioritize money over human life, think of how much money you're going to pour into response efforts to the crimes ICE will continue to commit
in this jurisdiction. A $20,000 investment in effort to retain a $ 1.8 million annual tax revenue doesn't sound too bad to me either. coming in here week after week to the generation that's supposed to set the example for my generation and begging you to fight the
harm of fellow human beings feels dystopian. It feels backwards. Please work with us, not against us. Um, and yeah, also this is all under the guise of protecting women and children. But if we cared about kids, we wouldn't have just bombed a girl school in Iran the other day. Um, we wouldn't let kids get
shot at in school every day. Um, Donald Trump would be in prison because he raped little girls. Um, we don't give a damn about any of the people that we claim to be protecting. It's all a load of I just want to finish up the time because I guess you still have some left. Um, yeah. Arrest everybody in
the Epstein files now. That's >> Hi, my name is Sierra Wilson. I'm from Bud Lake. I'm going to give you some quotes. And just a warning, these are kind of graphic. Uh, each of these is from an ICE detention center. Everybody he sees has a hyerectomy. Just
about everybody. I've had several inmates tell me that they've been to see the doctor and they've had hyctomies and they don't know why they were go going or why they went. That's his specialty. He's the uterus collector. This is from a nurse who worked in a detention center in Georgia. If you're pro-life, do you
want forced sterilizations in your town? Next quote. I was in isolation. I was basically in this concrete cell. I was stripped naked and in like a hospital gown and they leave the lights on 24/7. That's by a US citizen, an Iraq combat war veteran that was wrongfully detained
by ICE based on his skin color. If you support your troops, do you want this in your town? Next quote. People slept on the floor. We have bugs in there. And they slept on the floor. The cold floor. like pictures that I saw in elementary school of how they brought the slaves
from Africa. That's a worker at a nice detention center. This is the worst place I have ever been in my life. I went from being Karina, a mother, to being number 72176. They did not care about what we felt. They did not care about our names. This
was a mother detained at an ICE detention center. This is a little graphic. I'll just give you a warning. And this is by an ICE agent after he shot Mary Martinez, a US citizen. Quote, I fired five rounds and she had
seven holes. Put that in your book, boys. Next quote. You're on death row. You're like a chicken, right? Waiting to get slaughtered any second. Next quote. I worked there for several months and it was probably day one, day
two that I saw the abuse. I saw people laying in feces, people throwing up, people laying in their own urine. That's a worker at an ice facility. Next quote. I came on vacation for 10 days and they took me into an ICE office. An officer interrogated me for
two hours without my mom. I always traveled with my tourist visa, but ICE used me to catch my mom. And now I'm in a jail and I'm sad and I fainted twice since being here. That's a 9-year-old that's been incarcerated in Dilly, Texas as she was on her way to a vacation in
Disney World. Do you want this in your town? Thank you. >> Um, last week I spoke to you all about >> Give your name. >> Chris Satiro, Mount Olive. >> Thank you. >> I spoke to you all about federalism and this week you throw the supremacy clause
at us. Um, I've studied constitutional law. Senator BO has presumably also studied constitutional law. He understands the supremacy clause. Um, and you're you're throwing the same arguments that the federal government is using to justify these detention centers. Um, it's absolutely ridiculous.
The supremacy clause has a lot of uh exceptions. The federal government bans marijuana. The state of New Jersey allows marijuana recreationally. That's just one example. Um, and in a state like New Jersey that
delegates so much local authority to its local jurisdictions around land use issues, um, it it's it's ridiculous that you're trying to use this to absolve yourselves of any responsibility for allowing this to go through. Um, there's still no ordinances, no resolutions on
the agenda. I presented you with an ordinance two weeks ago that would ban ice from public property. Um the immigrant trust directive does that on a state level for state uh police officers and it has been upheld in US circuit courts. Um you're just you're not even
trying at this point. And there was 1,700 people protesting in your town. There was a future congressional candidate here. There were many state legislators here. Um there were protests uh student led by high schoolers and college students in Redbank uh on
Saturday and in Jersey City on Sunday. Uh Jersey City, I met a 17-year-old girl whose mother was abducted and deported and she was still out there leading protests and speaking in front of people uh with composure, with bravery. I don't
know. I don't know what I would do in that situation, but um that's something that's going to happen here. Um And it's it's just disappointing to see all of you not even trying. So, >> hello. My name is Olivia Do. I live at
30 Gordon Road in the lower Berkshire Valley, which is in Roxberry. Um, I do hope you all noticed that there did seem to be some confusion about whether we represented actual Roxberry residents. So, I did helpfully label us if that makes things more abundantly clear for you.
That's not my main point tonight. However much it angers me that that's something one should even have to do at a town council meeting to get any kind of acknowledgement from the council. But again, that's not where I'm going tonight. Tonight, I want to talk about
an guy named Adolf Ikeman. For those of you who are not familiar with Adolf Ikeman, he was an SS officer during World War II. And his primary specialty was not bullets. It wasn't guns. It wasn't the gas chambers. His primary specialty was logistics. Okay? His
primary specialty was Amazon Prime for humans, throwing them into cattle cars and moving them across Western Europe. Now he went to Nermberg of course and in Nermberg there was the question well why is this guy here? He didn't do anything
directly himself. And of course his defense the whole time was I was only following orders. >> I don't bear any hatred towards the Jews. No, I'm not a hateful person. Why would you say that? I was just following orders. I was just doing my job. So an
author her name was her name was Hannah Arent. She wrote this book called the benality of evil which should ring a bell to all of you if you're fit to be in a government position. However, the benality of evil is applicable in
this situation not because of the actions you are taking but because of the actions you are not taking. The benality of evil is here in this room every Tuesday night when you fail to take actions when you shoot down the only people who are trying to help you with suggestions. It's here. The
benality of evil is here in Roxberry. And lest you say, "Oh, you're exaggerating. Concentration camps, you know, this isn't a death camp." Doc didn't begin as a death camp. Read a history book. Okay? It these things, they develop over time. The situation
snowballs and grows out of control. The benality of evil here is not the actions that you are taking. It is your absolute lack of action. And I stand here today to beg you, any of you, to take a meaningful action that
is more than just pretty words, that is more than just a slogan, but is actually going to help the residents of Roxberry. The residents like me who are here on a Tuesday night speaking out against the construction of a concentration camp. Are you people out of your minds? I'm
only 30 years old. When I was growing up reading about this in the history books, it was long ago. It was ancient history. It can't happen here. And yet, >> I see it here, folks. The benality of
evil. And it is all of you. Thank you. >> My name is Sonali Sa. I'm from Pipany. I wrote a poem. I don't expect a response. When you put your children to sleep at night, will you look them in the eyes and tell them you align with those who would rape them? Will you look them in
the eyes and tell them you are responsible for genocide? Or will you fight to protect them? Will you rise up and do what's right even when it's impossible? session. >> All in favor?
>> Thank you everyone. shirt runners.