All right, with that, I'm welcoming everyone here tonight and I'm going to start the meeting with a short prayer and a salute to the flag. Almighty God, grant us the wisdom to make those decisions that are in the
best interest of all our residents. May the heavenly father of us all bless those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. And may he watch over and protect our service men and women now guarding the
gates of freedom. Commander Kelly, if you would do the pledge of allegiance, please. 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. Not yet. Um, we have to open a meeting. state uh Jessica's statement of publication. >> Take notice that this regular agenda meeting of the mayor and burough council
being held on this 27th day of April 2026 has been posted and advertised in accordance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 public law 1975. >> Roll call. >> Council persons Blum >> here. >> Kesi >> here. >> Novak
>> here. Rios >> here. >> Sarski >> here. >> Zowski >> here. Roll call. We just did roll call. Uh, approval of prior minutes. Council President, >> move the following minutes of the mayor and council be approved on roll call subject to correction. Those minutes are
April 13, 2026. >> Is there a motion? >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council person Zabrowski. >> Yes. >> Blumeare. >> Yes. >> Khesi. >> Yes. >> Novak. >> Dang. >> Rios. >> Abstain. >> Sarski.
>> Yes. This is a special night in the burrow of Seville. We're here to honor one of our own. With that, I'm going to instruct the governing body to uh approach the railing.
And when we do It's with great honor as the mayor of Serville I ask that the honor guard come forward. Sorry, Sean. >> Yeah, you can sit down. We got you. >> We got you. We got it.
>> What else do you want? How about a cane? You can get it. >> No, I got a cane here. Take this. You got two guys with a cane helping a guy with a walker. >> I know he know >> and they're all bosses. >> Sit on the bench.
>> Okay. >> Okay. All right. >> The family gather around in front of the mayor. Finish. You're perfect. >> Okay. >> And feel free to walk around and take all the pictures you >> Thank you. >> Okay.
So, it's with with great honor that the Burrow of Saraveville recognizes us. My dad was a suave head and and uh uh they're fine men, but we recognize Edward Jacobs. The Burrow of Sable
wishes to recognize your commitment to the duty of the United States Navy and the patriotism and heroism shown while serving our country. Your efforts have enriched us generously because a community possesses no greater treasure
than the dedicated service of its people. Airman Kelly. Thank you, Mayor. If you would, I got it. I got it. Um, Mr. Jacobs was with the United States Navy during a naval blockade on Cuba
back in the early 60s. uh he was on a believe it was a destroyer and it was a sister ship along with him and they were running electronic surveillance down near the Cuban waters and uh through their joint efforts uh they forced two Russian
nuclear submarines to service uh which is an impossible thing to do. So, uh, he did that. He, uh, he was honored for that. And also, just to mention, uh, I think last year he was honored by the New York Yankees at
Yankee Stadium ceremonies and deemed the veteran of the game. >> That's right. >> All right. I'm going to I'm going to give this to Mrs. Jacobs for safekeeping. >> That's fine. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hold it for the cameras if you would, Mrs. Jac. >> Let me get out of the way. >> Where are the cameras?
>> Right there. There you go. Right. >> Exit sign. You stick around. Please, a big round of applause. Hey Mike Alberto, why don't want to see if you can lend a hand. >> Why don't we go to him to shake his hand?
>> Take your time. Take time. >> All right. Go to the center right over here and mayor. Mayor, >> it's my honor. A son of Sarah. Thank you very much. You want to speak?
I thank all the people who came out to uh wish to honor me, to wish me the best. Thank you. >> God bless you. And thank you. Thank you for defending the gates of
freedom here in Sarville. >> Thank you. >> And you got a lovely wife here. I don't know if you deserve it, but she's lovely wife. >> All right. Done >> fellas.
>> Thank you very much for >> Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> Come on, Mike. >> Thank you for your service. >> And are you gonna Is the honor guard going to lead? Is the honor guard going to lead Ed out? Take him out, too.
>> Okay. If everyone would please stand out of respect for our veterans. Can you turn around? >> I have a couple of those. Behind the American flag will be behind you. >> Okay. Well said. How
>> you doing, Commander? >> A round of applause would certainly be an honor. Be well. >> Thank you for your death. >> Thank you. Is here. Yes. Then last year and I'll see her this year. >> It's all right. >> I'll see you soon as he makes it.
>> I'll see you in church. >> I'll see you in church. >> All right. >> Plenty of seats up in the front. I just wanted to get up and down. Jessica, >> you want to read? We're gonna go in a close.
>> Go ahead. Just just start. >> Whereas section 8 of this open public meetings act, chapter 231, public law 1975, permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances. And whereas this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist. Now,
therefore, it be resolved by the mayor and burough council of the burough of several county and middle sex, state of New Jersey as follows. The public portion of this meeting is hereby adjourned in order that the governing body may meet in close private session for approximately 30 minutes to discuss the following matters. Turning client privilege litigation personnel.
Following the conclusion of said close session, the governing body shall reconvene the open portion of this public meeting to consider any other matters which may be properly brought before it at this time. The nature and content of the discussion which occurs in close session shall be made public at such time as the need for non-disclosure
no longer exists. This resolution shall take effect immediately. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Call. >> Council persons. Novak. >> Yes. >> Mayor. >> Yes. >> Gissy. >> Yes. >> Rios. >> Yes. >> Yes.
>> Zabowski. >> All right. We're going to go to three. Okay, I'll take a motion to go back into open. >> So move. >> Uh, I got to do >> roll call. >> Council persons Novak, >> yes. >> Mayor, >> yes.
>> Lissi, >> yes. >> Rios, >> yes. >> Narski, >> yes. >> Yes. Under all business, I uh need to receive and file the resolution received from the several planning board following a meeting held on April 15, 2026 finding the amendment to the waterfront redevelopment plan for parcel
J consistent with the burrow's master plan. >> You need a motion. >> Motion to receive a file. >> Councilman Zowski file. >> Oh, second. >> Sorry. Uh council persons Novak. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Rioski,
>> yes. >> Zowski, >> yes. Public hearing on the following ordinances. Ordinance number 8-26, an ordinance of the Burough of several updating and amending the bureau's affordable housing and development fee ordinances pursuant to the amended fair
housing and the new UHAC regulations. Uh, mayor, we need to carry this public hearing to uh May 26. Um, it needs to be referred to the planning board. >> Okay. You need a roll to uh carry. >> Is there a motion, John? Make a motion to carry this until the May 26th
meeting. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council persons. Zabowski. >> Yes. >> Blumeare. >> Yes. >> Lissi, >> yes. >> Novak, >> yes. >> Rios, >> yes. >> Zarski, >> yes. >> Public hearing on ordinance number 9-26, an ordinance supplementing and amending
ordinance number 3-24 fixing the salaries of certain burough officials, officers, and employees for the years 2023 to 2027. >> Councilwoman Novak. >> No, we need to open it to the public. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, I'm going to open uh Ordinance 926 for public comment and questions. Are there any comments on or
questions on this ordinance? There being no comments or questions, I'll entertain a motion. Councilwoman Novak. >> Uh, Mayor, I I really don't want to uh move this, uh, I will be voting no on it. I I didn't I don't really have enough I know that we've had a problem
with Is this in Sam's management? Uh, I just don't know why we have a minimum and a maximum with no real way to get from one to the other. Is anybody going to receive uh back pay on this? I have so many questions. I got like a
list of them. >> Who second on um we still have a motion? Mayor, >> there's a motion. >> Mary didn't make the motion. >> No, I did not. >> She did not. Okay. Who second on FI admin and finance? John, do you do >> Sorry. >> Do you want to make a motion on this?
>> A motion. Uh, I move the public hearing be closed. The ordinance adopted on second, final reading, and advertised according to law. >> Uh, is there a roll call? >> A second. >> Second. Sec.
>> Okay. Uh, mayor, I'm sorry. Um, Councilman Zowski actually has a conflict with this award. So, >> we uh >> Who's third on it? And who's third? Who? >> Leos. >> Alberto, do you want to make a motion on
this? Okay. Then then um just just pull it. Pull it. >> I know. We >> Well, mayor mayor, any of the council members can introduce it. I know we have a practice that it goes through our our committee members first, but if there is
a anyone else that does want to introduce it, they can do it. >> You know what? I would I would ask that this be carried over to the next meeting and we'll have a labor attorney here and they can go over all the all the questions. >> Thank you.
>> Uh is there is there anyone that will make that motion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second on that? >> Second. >> Okay. to May 11th. >> That's good. >> Yes. May sit next >> council persons Novak.
>> Yes. >> Lumare. >> Yes. >> Khesi. >> Yes. >> Rios. >> Yes. >> Sinarski. >> Yes. >> Zabrowski. >> Okay. >> Public hearing on ordinance number 10-26. an ordinance adopting an a an
amendment to the waterfront redevelopment plan for parcel J to provide for the development of an age restricted inclusionary rental housing complex. At this time, I'm going to open the public portion for questions or comments on this ordinance. Are there any questions or comments?
Being no questions or comments, I'll entertain a motion. Councilman Zowski, >> I move the public hearing be closed. The ordinance adopted on second and final reading and advertised according to law. >> Second. Roll call. >> Council person Zabowski, >> yes. >> Blair, >> yes.
>> Lisi, >> yes. >> No, >> yes. >> Rios, >> yes. >> Sarski, >> yes. >> Public hearing on ordinance number 11-26, an ordinance amending the burrow's regulations and licensing requirements for fishing on burrow property.
>> Councilman Klesy. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm going to open the open open it to the public for questions or comments. Are there any questions or comments? Being no questions or comments, I'll entertain a motion. Councilman Kesy, >> I move the public hearing be closed. The
ordinance adopted on second final reading and advertised according to law. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council persons Khesi. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Novak, >> yes. >> Rios, >> yes. >> Zarski, >> yes. >> Zabowski,
>> yes. Public hearing on ordinance number 12-26, calendar year 2026, ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a CAT bank. >> Okay. I'm going to make a motion that this uh that this be carried forward. There's only been one meeting on the
budget and that was an hourong meeting. Um and and I think I think this budget because there were some surprises uh that came up uh needs many more meetings. So Mary, you had one meeting
on this for an hour. So going forward until such time as we can have any semblance of unity on this budget, uh I I would I I don't want to put a date on to when we're going to hear it again. Uh not until there's been enough budget
meetings under your leadership uh to get this thing established. Uh are there >> mayor? Just to clarify though, >> I understand this is not this is not the budget. >> I understand, but it's it's it's a part of it. >> Yes and no. This is passed. Well, I was
going to ask Danielle to explain it particularly to our new people because it's hard for me to explain. >> We we uh put this on the agenda every year. We pass it. It doesn't have to be used. Last year, we didn't use a dime of it. Every single year since the governor
put the 2% cap in place, we are allowed to do this. And then if we don't use it, we can uh you know hold it for two years. Danielle. >> Yeah. >> Danielle, is there any adverse effect if if we wait till we have the budget uh modified more?
>> No, but I would recommend adopting this ordinance tonight because it's supposed to be adopted prior to the adoption of the budget. >> Well, let me see. Is there anyone here who's not going to vote for this? >> I have no problem. >> All right. because I don't you know this budget is is not good.
>> Oh, I know. I know. But this doesn't this we would be >> I understand but >> Oh, yeah. >> All right. So, you're recommending it Danielle as the CFO >> and we're going to have a unanimous vote if that's the >> it's not going to be unanimous vote. I'm not going to vote. >> Okay.
>> I'm not going to vote in the affirmative on this. >> All right. Then then I would ask that this be carried over till we have more meetings on the budget itself and then we'll pass it. Hey, listen. We we have the ability of calling special meetings if we ever find that we're in a position
where we need to quickly enact it. We have that right under the law. Uh so that being said, I I just would ask that 1720 or 1220 26 be uh be pulled for further review and and couple it with
our budget. >> So we're carrying the public hearing to the next meeting? >> No, just indefinitely. Can we do that? >> Well, no. We would have to reintroduce that if we're going to carry if we don't have a debt. >> And if we don't enact it, we can't. >> All right. Mary, any idea when when you
would want to introduce the budget? >> The budget is on the agenda for the next meeting to be introduced. >> Is it ready or I don't want it to be a political football? >> No. I >> public hearing on the budgets listed out. It was already introduced
>> and it's going it's for for you have to have a month in between unlike other ordinanc but are you prepared to have a number of meetings to work out >> a matter of fact part of my uh my report was to ask Danielle if I mean we the
getting the committee together has to be done in the evening it's very hard on the municipal workers everybody's got a million different obligations I was going to say that I would have a meeting with uh during the week and then I could have a meeting with John.
>> You have three people on that committee. >> Yeah. I said and then I would have a meeting with >> John and Alberto afterwards. I mean because it's it's we we had we tried to schedule that meeting for what four weeks, three weeks and we couldn't we
this was the only time that all three of us could get there was for Thursday. I'm going to put the budget under discussion for our next meeting and we'll just have a public public >> and we have to reintroduce. >> Yeah. >> I I got to move it forward, Joe.
>> No, no, no. But we can't just what we'll have to do is we would still keep the because it's advertised and it follows statutory frameworks. So, we have to keep the public hearing on the agenda. What can happen is we can carry the public hearing. >> No, no. I want a workshop. I want a council workshop on the budget for the next meeting.
>> Jeez. Not yet. two years from now. >> Same time as inter we got the public hearing on the budget. >> I get it. I get it. But we'll we'll do it as an agenda item before the meeting. >> Yeah, that's fine. That's fine. >> Okay. >> And and mayor, I would just suggest that if we aren't going to adopt it and carry
this, we just carry it to the next meeting. If if anything happens and the budget and anything gets carried, we can carry it again at that time. But >> you're you're a fine attorney and I I would not be doing my job if I didn't take your recommendation. >> Okay. So everyone be prepared for their
for for their different committees uh that uh to discuss to discuss the spending whatever you're the liaison to be be prepared to discuss it at the next meeting. >> I'm sorry. What did you just say?
Whatever you are the liaison to whether whether it's recreation, whether it's admin and finance, whether it's public works, be prepared to discuss the spending at the next meeting. >> Okay. Well, and they're going to have to get copies of the >> Yeah, of course they are. We had copies
last week. >> Only the finance committee has copies to the best of my knowledge. >> Did you give it out there? >> We'll get copies. It's not. It's certainly certainly. >> And we're and we're going to have a workshop prior to the uh with the whole council. >> Yeah.
>> When are we scheduling that? >> We can do it at We can start it at 6:00 at the next meeting. >> I'm here. Who's here at six o'clock? >> Mary, at some point you got to step up. >> I'm always here at six o'clock. Mayor >> special. We'll we'll we'll do the budget
at six o'clock on the on the um >> we'll have the workshop >> on the on the um >> 2 uh what is it? May 11th. >> May 11th. >> May 11th. >> John, you all right with that? >> Yes. >> Okay. Sash. >> Yeah. >> Irvy,
>> yes. >> Alberto, >> yes. >> Mike, >> yes. >> Mary, >> I'm tickle pink. I've been asking for it. >> Okay. There we go. >> All right. >> All right. Let's just I also need a motion to carry that public hearing to May 11th. >> Is there a second?
>> No. >> Roll call. Mary made that motion. Who? Yes. >> Okay. Sorry. >> My mic's >> um council persons Novak. >> Yes. >> Mayor, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Rios, >> yes. >> Narski, >> yes. >> Zowski,
>> yes. >> Appointments, >> yes. Uh, I'd like to make the following appointments. There are two uh alternate five-year memberships on the Shade Tree Commission. I would like to appoint
Candace Pisac and Veronica Kopka uh to those positions. Is there a motion? >> Make a motion. >> Shade tree doesn't require >> It's just your appointment, mayor. >> All right. Then is there is there a
motion to accept my appointment, John? >> No, we don't need a motion. >> Shade tree is only yours. Like >> traditionally traditionally. Okay. It doesn't matter. >> Okay. >> Okay. Then new business. Introduction of the following ordinance. Ordinance number 13-26, Burough of Seville County
and Middle Sex, Ordinance authorizing a right away use agreement with Gonet Speed for the installation and operation of telecommunications facilities. >> Okay. Uh at this time, I'm going to open >> No, no, this is intro. >> Oh, I'm sorry. That's me. I realize
that. Okay. I move the ordinance be approved on first reading advertised according to law for a public hearing to be held on May 11th at prevailing time. There a second. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council persons Novak. >> Yes. >> Lumare. >> Yes. >> Lissi. >> Yes.
>> Rios. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Zowski. >> Yes. >> Now you got to open up to the >> Okay, I'm going to open up the public portion. How many people are here for the for the um proposed restructuring of Bordontown Avenue under
Route 9? >> Nobody. Nobody. Okay. Okay. All right. This isn't it, but just so you know. All right. Okay. Um,
so let me you we'll we'll you'll you're coming up so and and I'll say it's your turn. All right. So All right. Okay. Um, so that being said, if does anyone have
a question or comment on number seven, which is the the resolutions? Does anyone have a question or comment? There being no question or comment, I'll entertain a motion. John >> Mayor, uh, I move that the public hearing be closed and the consent agenda
re resolutions be approved on roll call vote. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Roll call. Council persons Zabrowski. >> Yes. >> Blueair. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Novak. Um I have I have questions. Uh on
the bill list, are we did we ever settle this with JCPNL? >> No. >> Okay. We're working on it. >> Well, as I as I've explained in a couple of meetings over this, we had what you would like for us to achieve, we do not
have the data to do. There's no conceivable way that internally that we can uh determine what should be withheld from the nominal or from the normal payment to Jersey Central. We just have no way to quantify that. So you could pick an arbitrary
number and we could duke it out in court with them or we can pay them now that we've got their attention. But one way or the other, that bill's now gone unpaid for how long, Danielle? >> Probably 10 months later. >> That's why I asked it. No, I we just I
have no methodology where we could come come to you with an accurate figure. There's just not enough data points to to calculate that. It's just not possible. >> Is is it possible for the the attorney to sit down with JCPNL and maybe come to
some sort of agreement since we can't we never kept a list of all of the lights that were out? >> I mean, basically that that's what this is. We we have no idea. We we passed a resolution saying that, you know, for
lights that were out over 30 days, we weren't going to pay for it anymore. >> But so we're not going to pay for at all ever. >> No. Until they were put back on. >> Yeah. But see, that's the thing. We we had a an ongoing list of what was out. We did not dedicate staff to follow them
around to determine when they were restored. I mean, I could represent to you that we're probably at 98% restoration at this point, but when when they fell in the calendar as far as when they were uh repaired to calculate a true amount to pay, we just don't have
the ability to do that with the information that's available. >> Bo make resolutions. >> We made a resolution. It was unanimous and now we're saying we can't do anything about it. >> Well, no, it's not that we can't do it. We have to pay this bill eventually. We need to decide
Andrew works on this diligent all the time. >> I'm not saying that he's not working on getting the lights fixed. >> He's the guy who's the JCPNL guy in the street. Like he's he's >> he comes here, everybody goes home. He
goes home, has dinner, comes back when when it's dark and works with the JCPO. He's used to be >> very diligent with with getting the lights put back on. I, you know, I've got that. But we're sitting here now. We haven't paid them anything for 10 months. Either going to have to
negotiate with them or pay them their damn money. >> All right. You want to >> You can't just not pay the bill. >> The bill is discussion. Or do you want to >> Well, that was I'm that's part of this >> not the bill is the the budget.
I don't see how that's >> Well, I'm going to move it to to the discussion at the budget to see if we can come to a working conclusion. >> Well, that would require a legal thing and what you're going to have the attorney there, too, so we can ask him legal. >> You can come.
>> Okay. I I also have questions on 15. Uh and and Glenn said we have people here that might be able to explain. >> Yeah, Mr. Jessup here. I believe that's his specialty. I just uh I know this has to do with >> just let him get on the record.
>> Okay. I'm sorry. >> Good evening, mayor, council members. Matt Jessup, McManam in Scotland and Bowman, bond council to the Syville Economic Redevelopment Agency. >> Okay. um some of the questions uh I mean I have a basic understanding
um but I think if anybody's read this they think they're speak they're reading another language because it it it talks about going back to our original redevelopment plan in 1998 and everything else it jumps around and without all of that
prior paperwork in front of you you wouldn't have any understanding. The big question is, is this gonna cost the taxpayers any money? >> No. >> We we have an agreement with they'll be like like when we did Sheffield Muse
when we replaced some of the stuff that they were responsible for then we put a um service charge on and they paid it for so many years until that bill was paid off. Is this kind of how this is going to work? Is this bonding that a rebonding or sayable bonding or is the
the re uh see what is that called? What is their official title? Riverton, whatever their official name is. Are they going to be doing the bonding? How is that going to work? >> Sure. So, I'm not familiar with the example you gave of the project that maybe undertook here, but I think I can
answer the question anyway. Um, the SEville Economic Redevelopment Agency will be the issuer of the bonds. Those bonds are nonreourse to the burough of Seville, which means that the Burough of Seville has no financial obligation from
its budget and from its tax base to make payments on the bonds. The bonds are solely secured by a special assessment assessed against the redevelopment project and paid by the owners of the redevelopment project. That special
assessment is on top of any real estate taxes or payment in le of taxes that they are required to make. So it is effectively a separate charge paid by the developer or ultimately by the owners of the redevelopment project
solely to pay debt service on the bonds and that is the only source of revenue that bond holders can look to to get repaid. I just I just wanted that to be explained because people have been coming out how is this how much is this going to cost the taxpayers and I didn't know how to explain it to them. So that's all the questions I have. Thank
you. >> Mayor before Mr. Jessup sits down it probably and I and I know you want to sit down as quickly as possible and everybody else wants to talk but Mary did raise a good point that this is there's historical significance of this. This didn't just appear over the past
year. This is something that was anticipated at the beginning of the development. Can you explain how that because it's for infrastructure, correct? And and what have you? Uh >> that's exactly right. Uh there is a laundry list of of improvements that are financed uh ultimately with these bonds.
But this goes back, recall that the redevelopment agreement between Sierra and the developer is from June of 2021. That's when it was approved and signed. And that is what memorializes all of the terms of the deal, including these bond terms that we just talked about. That of
course was years in the making before it got approved in June of 2021. And then of course the special assessment agreement which imposes that debt service charge on the development and the financial agreement were both approved by this governing body in June
or in early 2021 and signed in June of 2021 as well. So, Councilman, to your point, this goes back to I mean, I think my first meeting was 2019 maybe on this project, maybe earlier, and I know I was late to the to the party, quite frankly,
with respect to the redevelopment. So, this has been in place, contemplated, and documented by both Sierra and this burrow going back, you know, five plus years now. >> Any other questions? >> No, I'm good. >> Just a quick and vote.
>> I'm sorry. Alberto. >> So you were uh you were talking about the special assessment. Um what happens if the developer fails to pay the special assessment and is the borrow obligated to step in under any circumstance? >> No. So you are not obligated to step in.
The special assessment is a charge against the land assess against the land and the improvements. So, in the event that the b the um developer, whoever that developer ends up ultimately being holding all these different pieces of that development project, if they fail
to pay, the bond holders can only look to the lean that is created by the special assessment. Failure to pay a special assessment is just like failure of any of us to pay our real estate taxes, right? creates a lean. Lean gets sold. Lean gets monetized. That money ultimately goes to the bond holders, but
it is on the bond holders to ultimately enforce that collection process. You do not have to pay any money out of pocket in order to pay those bond holders. >> Any other questions? >> Yes. >> Yes. Need a motion to receive the
correspondence that's listed. >> Receive the file. >> Is there a second? Second. >> Council persons Novak. >> Yes. >> Mayor, >> yes. >> Kesi, >> yes. >> Rios, >> yes. >> Sarski, >> yes. >> Zowski, >> yes.
>> Okay. Um, mayor and council reports, administration and finance. Councilwoman Novak. >> Hi. Okay. Um the budget was introduced at the last meeting and it was really it stuck in a
lot of people's throats including mine uh we had several big ticket items that went up a lot. Uh but the long and short of it is even though we kept spending probably basically zero, you know, the in departments and stuff like that, we
really a lot of these things that we cannot control like um the healthc care benefits and uh overages on the sewer bill and um they came in very very high and also wasn't it pensions also? Yeah.
So I mean I have a few ideas. I know Danielle has been looking at this very closely and she's come up with some things to reduce the amount because right now it's sitting at 0.252 to the average homeowner. That's $300 a
month, excuse me, a year, not counting any increase in state and count uh county and school. So, it it's it's a quite a chunk. Anybody that houses it set to 300,000 is going to get a $600 bill. And of course, if you have a mortgage, there's going to be a
shortfall on your escrow. So, you could be looking at quite a bit of money, you know, increase in your mortgage bills. So, I'm going to work very very hard on it. One of the the biggest problems I have is the um the overage in sewer. Now, sewer bills are usually paid not by
the taxes. They are paid through your sewer bill. And the way sewer is built is it's based on your water usage. Well, homeowners, a lot of their water doesn't go into the sewers, whereas industry, 90% of their water goes into the sewers.
So, the bills, industry actually pays more because the homeowner, you know, is not all of their water doesn't go into the sewer. And by doing it this way, paying this shortfall through taxes, the
homeowners getting kicked in the butt because they're paying for industry. And hell, the pilot people, they won't pay it at all because they don't pay taxes. So their sewer bill will not go up for stuff that they probably use more than the homeowner. And if we try to balance
this bill totally on the taxpayers, it's the homeowner that's going to get screwed. So I want to work very very hard. I would like to see this happened once before. This is not novel. Something happens that the sewer bill is so much more. You know, half million. This was 600,000
800 uh $800,000. It's a lot of money. And I would like to see us in the past what we have done, we have raised the sewer bill so that the people that are using the sewers are paying most of this bill as opposed to every taxpayer
because most of the taxpayers are homeowners. So, I'd like to see and I in the past we usually do this as soon as we figure out there's a shortfall. We do it at the beginning of the year. Uh that didn't happen. So, I'm hoping I mean half a year is better than nothing. so
that we could, you know, take off half of this and that would be, you know, over what about a penny and a half if we could get rid of half of this through sewer bills as opposed to uh because the people with the pilots, they pay sewer bills. So, they're going to pay for some
of this as opposed to the homeowners that don't get a tax break. So, uh that is one of the things I'm going to work on. I know uh Danielle has been working on other things. We're looking at uh what we can
uh legally anticipate in fees and stuff like that, you know, because the more we anticipate, the less taxes we have to raise. So, we'll be working on all of that and I want to thank you for listening to me and may mayor, thank you for the council workshop because I I
wanted that before the the uh budget was even introduced. But schedules being what they were, it never happened. I would like to say thank you to everybody that came out on Aubber day. We had I was shocked. It was cold. It was rainy.
We We were so cold at one point. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore and we started to get giddy. We were We were laughing. We couldn't hand out the trees. We were giving out trees. The people, you know, were so wonderful. And then Elise from the recycling coordinator, she held a uh cleanup in
the park, which she does every year. And you should have seen the kids that came out, the scouts, uh parents. It it was really it it's always wonderful to see, but it was particularly wonderful this year. And also, we have some great news.
The electric has finally been fixed on the bridge, and we will have a flag grazing soon on the bridge. We haven't had one in years because we didn't have a light on it. And uh through the work of our business administrator and 12 different individuals got together and
we made sure that this was going to happen. So maybe Glenn can have some kind set some kind of ceremony maybe before Memorial Day. That would be really great. And other than that, Mayor Progress. >> Thank you. I I would ask that my colleagues
take a look at the audience. They're all here. I haven't seen this many people in in the chambers in a long time. So, it's a single issue tonight and I would encourage absolutely encourage brevity
in giving your reports. It would be very acceptable tonight to answer progress. But if there's something pressing and you need to go in greater depth, I would I would just wholeheartedly encourage brevity. That being said, public safety,
Councilman Blur. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, Sarville, the Serville Police Department is proud to announce that registration for our 2026 Juvenile Police Academy will open on May 1st. This highly anticipated week-long
program running from Monday, June 29th through Friday, July 3rd, offers a hands-on experience designed to introduce our youth to the fundamentals of law enforcement while emphasizing teamwork, discipline, and community service. Participants will engage in
physical training, police demonstrations, team building challenges, and interactive lessons led by members of our department and Juvenile Bureau. Space is limited and will be filled on a first come first-s serve basis. So we encourage early registration.
The link for registration can be found on our Facebook page. I have more but this is more important being that you guys are here. I'm cutting it short. >> Thank you, Councilman. >> No, I'm not done yet. >> No, you're not. No, this is this is really important
because um uh last meeting uh we heard that allowing public comment via Zoom is somehow not legally permissible with reference to public law 2020 C11 uh NJSA 10 col 4-9.3.
I've since I I didn't say anything at the time because I had no idea what was being talked about. I've since uh reviewed both the that law and the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act and that conclusion doesn't hold up. Public law
2020 C11 was enacted to expand access to public meeting during emergencies by allowing them to be conducted remotely. It does not prohibit remote public participation. If anything, it recognizes and enables it. More
importantly, the core statute NGSA 10 col4-12 requires that public bodies provide a public comment period and explicitly states that governing bodies may permit, prohibit, or regulate public
participation. That language is key. It means you have discretion over how the public participate, but there's nothing in the law that requires comment to be in person and nothing that b Zoom or any other electronic method. When I was
walking doortodoor, most of our residents were in favor of Zoom participation. So, let's be clear, allowing public comment via Zoom is not illegal. It is entirely within this council's authority. This is not a legal issue. it a it's a policy choice. If the
council decides decides not to allow Zoom comment that should be stated plainly, but it should not be framed as a legal restriction that does not actually exist. I'm asking the council to reconsider and use the discretion for the law clearly provides to expand
access not limited. Thank you. >> Okay. Um hold it for the next meeting. uh public works. Councilman Rios. >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. Be as quick as possible, but I did miss uh
last uh meeting. So, I have a couple things that I want to go over. Uh first, I'd like to acknowledge and sincerely uh thank the mayor and council for holding a moment of silence in honor of my mother's passing. It truly meant a great deal to me and my family. Uh, my mom was
a longtime servo resident before retiring and moving to Puerto Rico. She's a big part of the reason I'm involved in public service today. She taught me the importance of being engaged and giving back to my community, and for that, I'll be forever thankful.
I also want to extend a special thank you to everyone who sent condolence cards, including the Sarville Republican Organization. Your support has truly meant a lot. I'd like to share a few updates and highlights from around the burrow and public works. Uh first an
update on the veterans flag at the Veterans Bridge between Sarahville and South River. I recently reviewed the work alongside George Goran and Andrew Osga and I'm happy to say that we are finally on track to have the veterans flag properly displayed and illuminated.
After years of it not being shown, it's exciting to see this coming back. literally seeing the light. As we approach our nation's 250th birthday celebration, we are hopeful that the flag pole lighting will be fully
operational by this Wednesday, April 29. This effort has truly been a team accomplishment. I'd like to thank the road department, parks department, public works office staff, the Sarville Police Department, major staff, South River public works, the county road
department, and JCPNL. These men and women have been working incredibly, incredibly hard to get this done. I also want to provide an update regarding traffic concerns along Bordontown Avenue near the Windingwood
complex. Following concerns raised by residents, the Middle Sex County Department of Transportation has indicated that they will be initiating a traffic study at the intersection of Windingwood Drive and Bordon Bordontown Avenue. Uh this study would include
traffic counts, a review of field conditions, and an analysis of crash data and speed surveys. Based on those findings, the county will determine whether a traffic signal is warranted and what additional safety measures may be appropriate. It's important to note that if a signal
is ultimately recommended, it would require a cost sharing agreement between the county and the bureau for design, construction, and ongoing maintenance. We'll continue working with our partners and provide updates as more information
becomes available. Next, I'd like to take a moment to comment on cultural arts. Even though it's not my commission, I have to give kudos where it's due. The summer schedule has been released and it looks packed. The season kicked off with a very successful team night featuring
vendors, a DJ, a video game truck, and a great atmosphere overall. As a father of a teenager, I'm especially looking forward to the next teen event, a globe party on Friday, May 8th. Uh, bring your glow sticks and come
out for a fun night. We're fortunate to have such a dedicated cultural arts team making these events possible. Uh I also wanted to highlight the great work of the Saveville Shade Tree Commission that recently held their free
seedlings giveaway and distributed 250 seedlings completely sold out. Despite a rainy morning, it was a busy and successful event. Following that, they conducted a memorial tree planting at Kennedy Park with commissioners Gerella
Couno Maku and Chairman Writtenhouse. Special thanks to Councilwoman Marary Novak for stepping in to help when they were short-handed. Later that day, another meaningful tree planting took place at the Serville Police Headquarters in memory of Carol Lee Wulmeck. Colombia Bank generously
donated the tree as part of their community arbor day commitment. And I also like to recognize Tracy Weber, the Sha Tree Commission Secretary for coordinating the event and assistant with the ceiling distribution. Kathy Fedorca of the Girl Scouts added a
personal touch with painted rocks and flowers for the Wulmarmac family. Thank you to the Chief John Plumacher for his thoughtful words at the ceremony. And in honor of Earth Day, we would also like to recognize a wonderful community
effort in the Town Lake West section. This past weekend, Anjali Sha, a local resident and freshman at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, took the initiative to organize a neighborhood cleanup. With the help of
23 dedicated volunteers, the group worked together to collect litter and beautify both the community and the surrounding lake area. Their efforts reflect a strong commitment to environmental stewardship and community pride. We also extend our sincere thanks
to Mades for generously supporting the volunteers with empanadas and water. This is a great example of how individual initiative especially from our youth can bring people together and make a meaningful impact. Thank you to
everyone involved. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh, recreation Councilman Klesi. The annual fishing derby will be held May 9th at uh, Kennedy Park for Sarahville residents ages 3 through 15.
Registration will begin on site at 8:30 a.m. with fishing starting at 9:00 and that goes to 10:30. So followed by the awards ceremony at 10:30. So also on May 9th at 11:00,
Sarahville 150year and America's 250year time capsule. This event will take place at Kennedy Park as well. So, I suggest everybody go. It's going to be exciting.
Summer camp registration's now open on the recreation website for Burks Park, sports, science, and pickle ball camps. The farmers market will return on Thursdays beginning May 14th.
Finally, regarding uh park improvements, uh repairs have been completed at one of the boat ramps already. Paving work is beginning at the War Memorial Park Community Garden parking lot. That's where we actually have our uh farmers
market and a walkway paving project at Kennedy Park is expected to begin shortly. So, um, the Little League lights have been, uh, delivered. They're staged over at Little League, so they're going to,
uh, be ready to installed, uh, to be installed any day. The, um, South River Flag Pole. Thank you, Councilman. And, uh, also on the uh, so the Wreck website is um, saravville.com.
They have t-shirts that they're selling for our 150th annivers uh birthday and our 250th birthday. Really cool. $20 each. Uh first come first serve, but they're actually uh
on the website now, so get them while they're hot. Uh Active Adult Center has um April 30th at 10:00. They have innovative uh physical therapy on Friday, May 1st, uh a forever young
social. Uh May 4th at 10:00 a.m. is a uh brain health. And May 11th, uh from 1 to 2 is the uh Robert Wood Johnson bone health and fracture recovery uh
speech. So, um, now on to my final thing. So, I finally, um, I sent out, actually I had the the clerk sent out to our other councilmen a proposal of summer hours for our staff
here at the burrow. So currently the DPW works summer hours, but being in in this economy and uh financial situations being a little harder with their kids being home for
the summer, um I proposed uh summer hours for everyone. And this uh pilot program, which I'm I'm calling it now, will uh be in effect for our burough office staff to align more with this uh
public work summer schedule with the office workers working from 7 to 2. This program is flexible with an um alternative option for the employees to help manage a healthy work life balance
without affecting the taxpayers or costs associated to taxpayers. The same quality services that's expected by the residents will continue to be offered. Um the mayor and council, they they should
have reviewed this by now. And um I'd like to ask now formally if uh put a vote and make a motion and uh see if we can implement this and then at the end of the summer we'll take a survey and see if uh this is something we could
look forward to in the future. >> Second. council persons Khesi. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Novak. >> Yes. >> Rios.
>> Yes. >> Sinars. >> I didn't know anything about this. I don't know anything about it. This is the first I'm hearing about it. I need more information about it. I'm voting no. >> Zabowski. >> Yes.
Okay. Anything else, Councilman? >> That's all for my report. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Mayor, >> can I say one thing? I know you're going to kill me. >> You know, Mary, if you can hold off, I think we'd have a very grateful audience here. >> You take two seconds. >> No, I'll let you do it later. >> Okay.
>> All right. Okay. Water, sewer, environmental. Councilman Sinarski. >> Thank you, Mayor. I have a lot of things on water, sewer, environmental, farmers market, the community garden, but I respect everybody that's been here for over two hours sitting and wait your points up. So,
>> Bravo, >> I'm going to postpone my stuff till the next meeting so we can get through to you guys. >> Thank you, Sash. Uh, planning and zoning. Council President, >> thank you, Mayor. Um, I just want to before everybody gets up,
just to thank you all for coming here tonight. It's great to see a packed audience. I know you have great concerns. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to defer my time to you. >> Thank you, Council President. And my report is progress. With that,
I'm going to change the meeting schedule tonight and I'm going to go to the open public portion, which is where you come up. >> Yes. >> So, to get some kind of order, are there any leaders here? Any anybody that put everybody together or basically
everybody is there a spokesperson? >> Okay. >> Okay. So, you begin by stating your name and the street you live on. >> All right. My name is Edward Hamlin and I uh live on uh Bordontown Avenue, 1133 Bordontown Avenue to be exact and stuff.
I live right on the corner of Bordontown in Kenneth and this is what our major concern is. And uh >> can you use use the mic more? >> Oh, you can't hear me? I'm sorry. I thought I thought I'm >> um I I wrote a couple of notes here and stuff and it's it's got to do with our
community and stuff. Uh I know I know our community of Sville is facing an escalating problem with its tra traffic congestion and the issue has become personal and urgent for many and it has been there has been numerous accidents putting safety of our families and
children at risk specifically on board and town and Kenneth uh at the intersection of Route 9. Uh there are where there are stop signs that no one pays attention to. Uh no left-hand turn signals that that no one pays attention to. uh there isn't uh proper um uh
signage from uh Ernson Road to the Bordontown Avenue interchange where you know uh there's there's too many actions there and I was recommended that uh you know I I started a um a um uh >> what the hell uh what what
>> take your time Ed take your time take your time >> I uh I started a petition that I brought here to the council uh back in July of last year or June of last year and telling the council about this problem side that you know I know it's not uh I know it's not the sharables problem I
know it's the uh New Jersey Department of Transportation problem but the the issue that I'm having right now with the current design that they have with the um www um bordontown avenue interchange.com um the design that they have scheduled and stuff that and I know
it's not supposed to be complete the final design isn't until uh when is it 2029 the final design isn't until 2029 And the current design right now it's it's showing me that my property and house is in jeopardy and stuff of being
taken. They need my property and stuff. >> Ed, let while you're there, Jay, do they have condemnation in their plan? >> Mayor, the concept plan that they have does show the two parcels that they're going to have to acquire. Yes. >> I think this this gentleman's is one of them. And there's the uh uh auto
dealership on the highway that are proposed to be acquired. >> Now, is this is this a soft plan? meaning can we have can we do um some um question and answers down the senior center with charts graphs uh DOT can
bring their engineers >> you can request there's this is actually a public comment period now I believe until early May so that that's what the state is doing online they're looking for comments on >> well what would you guys rather have something down at the senior center like
we just did with the with the battery plant where we there were different stations for different questions, but they had qualified engineers and and construction and power people. >> I I think I think because sometimes you
you ask a question and then you got 10 more questions in your head after you ask the first question and and that question's answered. >> I find it's much better. >> It creates a better dialogue. Would would that work? I I I believe it would work, you know, to to have a meeting
with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, you know, because, you know, it would answer a lot of our questions and stuff. You know, our major concern is with this construction that they want to do. They want to um what do you call it? Close off uh not Yeah, we'll close off Bordontown Avenue and and detour traffic into Kenneth Avenue.
It's a very narrow street. Kids play on a street there and stuff. Kids get picked up by the bus there. They're going to have traffic coming in and out of there. It's just going to be a complete nightmare, sir. Hold on a minute. Okay. >> I gota I I know it's I I can see it's a
very passionate issue. That being said, we're we're going to do our best to get public involvement in this. >> Yeah, we can absolutely reach out through the speaker's office to get that meeting arranged. And I want to assure you that when we spoke last week, >> Yes. Before you hit the parking lot, I
was on the phone with his chief of staff about the possible acquisition of your property. Okay. And as you've acknowledged, it's kind of while every elected official up here is in full support of your neighborhood and wants to have the best possible outcome, this is a state project. So, we have to lean
on our state legislators to represent your interests and your feelings on that. I can tell you that Mr. Lai from the speaker's office was all over it. And if you haven't been contacted yet, you will be shortly. I I I spoke with him over the weekend. It is something they're actively looking at. Uh they
don't want anybody to have their uh property taken unless it's absolutely necessary. So they are working with the DOT in order to try to get those properties excised out of the plan. But we can absolutely set that up with the DOT. So the question I have for
everybody, we we can we can do it generally we do it at night, you know, 6, let's say 6:00 to 9 down the senior center or we have in the past, one of the benefits of sitting up here forever is you have you have a history. Um, we
can do it on a Saturday. Uh, so a show of hands for nights doing it at night and a show of hands for doing it on a Saturday. >> Saturday. >> Saturday. >> Okay. And timewise, let's say 10 to 1.
Does that work for everybody? 10 to 1, 10 to 2. >> Okay. All right. We'll set that up and we'll be there. >> Right. I appreciate that, sir. >> No, no. We're We're all in it together. It's a state It's a state project that
that it's going to have a dramatic impact on Sarville. >> So, we're all involved. >> Thank you. >> Was that for, you know, for you guys to be, you know, behind us >> as you should. As you should. As you
should. Now, before any of you any of you now, unfortunately, you had to wait this long to to get get to your part, but I specifically asked the man, John, if you'd stand up. This is John Mooney,
the publisher and editor of Tap into Ryan Bay, which is the digital newspaper for Sarville, and he would like to talk to as many of you as possible. >> Okay. Big news is our entire street.
>> Borntown Avenue or 10. >> I don't see 15. Where is it? They didn't show up. >> All right. Okay. >> All right. That being said, so Ed, you did the the the the yman's part of it.
Does anyone A lot of times you just need to vent. uh or ask questions or vent and ask questions. Ed, do you have more going on? I >> that's all I basically wanted to say is just just to tell you that, you know, I've been in I've been a resident of SH for 43 years. I've been in my house for
35 years. I've done so much major improvement to the property and stuff that you know I just don't feel like being, you know, getting it thrown out of my house. >> Yeah, we don't want that either. So, we don't want that. >> I appreciate your support and stuff. >> Oh, no. We're in it together. >> Thank you, sir. >> All right. So somebody else I hope
somebody else has wants to vent and stuff. >> Well, sometimes they just want to vent. >> Please come up and >> the lady. Yes. >> All right. So, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go ladies first. >> All right.
>> Yes. Hi, my name is Joanne Hock. Hello everybody. I've never done this before, but um I've lived on Kenneth Avenue since >> Oh, what street do you live on, Joanne? >> Kenneth Avenue. Kenneth. Everybody's >> Kenneth. >> Wow.
>> And um since 1969. So um I've seen the accidents. I've seen the accidents in the gas station when they opened up Parkway thinking that this was a better, you know, put a culde-sac and this is better. But >> it's not better. But it is what it is.
But my suggestion for for now is we all have our ideas on this and if those ideas can temporarily be challenged without having them, you know, put in this big uh roundabout, take houses down, there's simple, we find that there
are simple solutions to what is, you know, on the corner. >> You were there before Bordontown went under Route 9 when it would go over Route 9, right? That was my understanding. No, Rappy was on the force. >> Anyway, okay, I digress. I'm sorry,
John. >> Route nine didn't, you know, have the the wall. It had just a grassy area that was there that >> long ago town just crossed over nine, >> right? Yes, it did. Yeah. >> But anyway, I just came up, you know, thought that if we could if if they
don't accept our, you know, you know, what we just temporarily do it until 2032. When you have the speaker of the house, either himself or his representatives attending this, it gets their ear.
>> Yeah. In 2020, I >> You know why it gets their Do you know why it gets their ear? Because he controls all the money in the state. >> Okay. >> For every department. So, >> who is he? >> Oh, he's got juice. Oh, believe me, there's one guy.
>> Oh, all right. But in 2020, I took a poster board and wrote what they had and what I thought and I rolled it up and I mailed it off and >> Sorry. No, that's what I got back. >> Well, this time it's going to be >> I hope the the group and and our prayer
this this evening was for all of us. So, >> we're all together. >> Yes. Thank you. >> You know, always are. Thanks, Joanne. Next lady. Next lady. Next, lady. >> Hi, thank you for having us. My name is
Judy Stavoski. I'm at 25 Kenneth Avenue. Yes, Kenneth Avenue. >> Just want to put that out there. Um, so I think our biggest concern, like you've you've been hearing the same thing over and over, but um, of course, you know, the two circles being put in, which is
absolutely ridiculous because we're going to be right back to where we were. and the construction that's going to be getting done really will be affecting us the most. Um, you know, coming off of Route 9 and onto Route 9 is our only way of entering and exiting. How are we
supposed to come off of the Parkway to get onto the culde-sac? How are we supposed to pull onto Route 9 when people are going 60 miles an hour? Where are the buses going? Where are the emergency where how are the emergencies going to get down our street? God forbid
there was a fire. God forbid, you know, >> Joanne falls or something, you know, I mean, how how are we Sorry, >> how how is any like how will what's happening here? You know, so the doctor's office building also is at the
end of of the street where it's going to be blocked off. all of their patients, all of their working people, all of their trucks, vendors >> are going to be coming down our street, which is this big, >> right? >> You know, so it's just crazy. And really, I think that's our biggest
thing. And of course, Ed and Carol is also one of our biggest things. So, um, and >> I think that's about it. >> I don't think it's going to take I don't think it's going to take a I'd like to get this meeting done, uh, before the kids get out of school and take patience.
>> Yeah. Yep. Yep. So we'll we'll we'll work our best to get it to get it up on a Saturday between 10 4 hours 10 and be great. >> And that'll be the first meeting. >> If we need a second meeting, we'll try for the second meeting. >> You know, and one thing real quick, I
know you got everyone wants to go, but our biggest thing was just close down the Route 9 entrance and exit. Very simple. Who's the one that's going to be put out? Us. Cuz we got to go all the way down to Ernson. So what? We don't care. It's more safety for us and our
kids and our families and our friends. >> Oh, that's a nightmare, >> right? Yeah. No, it is. But >> okay, thank you for listening. >> We're with you. >> Thank you, >> young lady. Young lady in the black and Okay, come on up.
>> Oh, John Faber, 10th Avenue. I don't understand like if they want to open up the culac for route nine in out right there are so many accidents on route nine right there by that exent station
>> how are we are supposed to get on the block or else out of the block and then how are we supposed to get on from the route nine side the opposite decide to get onto her block. Why? We got to go to South
>> um a South Amboy to turn around or else to get her on the Parkway to try to come back or else to come up from Route 9 then cross two lanes from the Parkway into our street. You know, all of us are going to get killed, >> right?
>> That's bottom line. You know, a lot of when you when you have something that was created a long time ago and then everything's been like a patch and you go forward 75 years, it it it makes it a cluster. >> Yeah. >> Uh and and that's what we need to find a
solution for. >> I mean, we're all taxpayer. >> Yeah. >> You know, we all have small kids on a block. >> That traffic will be out of control on our block because I think the last time
the ladies that lived on the block came about the school buses and the danger of the school buses picking the kids up because they got to pick it up on Bournetown Avenue. Pick the kids up on >> the corner right there. >> Yeah. >> Bordon Town and Kenneth Ed pick
>> right? >> But you know this is crazy for what they want. >> Well, let's see if we can get a solution that works for the most amount of people. All right. Hello, Cassandra MacArthur. A my concern remains within the Hercules
redevelopment plan, the zoning and the permitted use for data centers still remains in this plan discussed last meeting for the Hercules redevelopment plan 2 and the broader Hercules redevelopment plan between Journey Mill Road and Bordontown Avenue.
There are four parcels of land there. 850,000 square feet of connected land being promoted in this realy brochure as a proposed use for a data center development. Uh the zoning states manufacturing
assembly and a data center. Um, so in February, on the 12th of February this year, the Saraveville Economic Redevelopment Agency stated in the transcript for their meeting, uh, the former Hercules
site within the Hercules redevelopment plan has received several inquiries from potential developers. The preliminary discussions have focused on the potential development of data centers or a broad data campus. There are several
developers that have expressed interest and we have made sure that to advise them that we're not looking for warehousing projects. We're looking for data center type development. So despite the overwhelming speed that these facilities are popping up in the
United States, the research is overwhelmingly cautioning against the environmental, financial, and long-term consequential health effects to the community surrounding them. We want to ensure energy bills don't increase more than they already have to protect health
and safety of the residents, conserve our water supply and energy capacities, and have clean air and water. Serville ranks higher in air cancer risk compared to both Middle Sex County and New Jersey as a whole according to the Department
of Health County report in 2022. in New Jersey, Waterford Township, Logan, Philipsburg, and Pem Peton passed ordinances prohibiting the construction and the operation of data centers in their town over concerns about the
infrastructure, the environmental impact, and the quality of life. New Brunswick officials abandoned their data center development project recently. A hyperscale data center could use 3 to 7 million gallons per day. That's as much
as a small town's water supply over a year or the size of Seville over a year. The realy brochure states that up to 4.6 million gallons of fresh water is possible per day for this development.
Gray water is also available. As Councilman Sarski mentioned last meeting that we use 156 million gallons of water a day in April and that's extremely high. Um, it indicates that's due to heavy industrial use and that supply
that can supply roughly half a million to 1 million homes. Serville only has 50,000 homes. We cannot afford to lend 4 million gallons a day to Sarahville's water usage to developers. >> Excuse me one second. That was 156
millions per month, not per day. >> That was the quote from last meeting. >> It's a month. It's a monthly monthly production. >> Okay. Green space is also very important to the residents of Sarahville. The majority of this area being sold is
wetlands. Wetlands are extremely environmentally sensitive areas and their environmental status is critical. They are disappearing at a rapid rate leading to significant wildlife and plant loss and weaker protection from floods. The closest residents to this
area is less than a mile. Residents have reported high-pitched droning in their homes, leading to complaints about sleep disruption, stress, and anxiety. This range is up to two miles from the data center. The noise from a data center not only is highly disruptive to
residents, but it's disruptive to wildlife that could surround the area and the habitats that would be lost to deforestation if this project were to go through. Research indicates that the noise levels exceeding 50 or sorry 85 dB have
significant detrimental impacts on wildlife causing behavioral changes, chronic stress in wildlife and habitat abandonment. Well, because the Sarah meeting was back in February 12th and they're reviewing applications for data centers, where do
we stand today within this Hercules redevelopment plan? I also made a Don't laugh at it. Um, it's a wetlands map from 2020 and I drew the outline of the redevelopment area.
So, I don't have extra copies. I'm sorry if you guys want to see it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Copy for the council. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Any more Kenneth Avenue? Kenneth Avenue.
Yes. Somebody going to contact me in regards to when we're going to have that meeting on a Saturday. >> Yes. >> Yes, we will. >> Do we have your contact? >> Contact. >> We got you. >> We got you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Before Before I get off of
the Kenneth Avenue subject, are there anyone else have questions or comments about this issue? Okay, young lady, come on up. Good evening. I know it is late and we
are probably all tired, so I will keep this very brief. My name is Brooke Helmick. Uh I am a friend and a colleague of Cassandra. I serve as the director of policy with the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. We are a statewide organization and for the last
nine months we have begun researching the proliferation of data centers across the state. And so I'm here because Cassandra asked me to come and share some of my expertise, research and knowledge, not out of a biased stance, but of one of just presenting information about the public health and
safety risks. I also want to clarify that I am not approaching the data center conversation in an attempt to be a lite or to quash economic development. By no means do I want that to happen. However, I do want us to think about and
as I do my work across the state and in uh in conversation with folks across the country to weigh the economic risks against the public health and safety risks. So I just want to expound upon a few of the things that Cassandra said and particularly talk on air pollution
risk. So when it comes to data centers, many data centers run with diesel generators as backup power. That is extremely dangerous for local air pollution and can lead to 200 to 600 times as much nitrogen oxide pollution which is a co-pollutant that comes
alongside greenhouse gases such as CO2 and can severe spikes of nitrogen oxides can lead to asthma to cancer risk to lung failure. So this is really really important for the folks that are going to be living around this facility. And I also want to say something that I think
is not escaping any of us is that air pollution doesn't just stay in the little bubble where it's released. it's going to spread and so you're going to then have implications for the rest of the folks not just those living within one mile. I also want to talk for just a moment about um the water. As Cassandra
said, even a mediumcale data center, which is what we understand to be in the Hercules redevelopment plan, would use 110 millions of gallons of water every single year. And you know, we we've heard people talk about closed loop systems, and I'm happy to go in more
depth on that later, but we've heard about closed loop systems and those opportunities, but closed loop systems, although they would technically recycle the water, still have the risk of spreading POS, also known as forever chemicals. And a closed loop system can also pose risk for Legionnaire's disease
if properly unckempt. So again, still very significant risks. And the last thing I want to talk about is the noise. This is something that we didn't actually anticipate to be a huge issue. But when you think about a data center, no matter its size, it's basically just a lot of computers in one room worring
24/7. Okay? And so what we've heard from folks who are living in near and around data centers is that they feel like there's a fly in their ear 247. Not only is that super annoying, okay, but this is also has risk for health
impacts. If it you reach above the 96 dB of sound, you can have ringing in your ears. You can have tonitis. You can also have hearing loss. So, there are really profound implications for construction of even medium-siz data centers. That being said, there are safeguards that
we're happy to talk through and things that you can do if you did want to do this. However, what we have seen, the most effective way to guarantee no additional air pollution is to not construct a polluting source. So with that, I very much echo Cassandra's point of removing data centers from the
Hercules redevelopment plan, too. And I'm happy to discuss this in more depth at any other point. Thank you for having me. >> Thank you. >> Yes, young lady. >> One more thing about >> I didn't know this was on >> Can you >> Sorry. Again, this is Joanne again. My
husband and I have been watching YouTube videos on these data centers. >> Please look at them. They are. They are very important. They're really bad. >> Thank you, dear. >> Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Taylor
McFarland. I'm the conservation program manager for the Sierra Club, uh, New Jersey chapter. Cassie also invited me. Uh, I'm a Keyport resident as well. I'm also here to urge the council uh to remove data centers as a permitted use from the Hercules redevelopment plan. Uh
the Sierra Club has a robust campaign to really reduce the impacts of data centers, including drafting and lobbying state legislation and more importantly pushing for effective local ordinances that include safeguards for residential areas. Um at this time uh you know we
ask this council to pause and rig rigorously evaluate the cumulative impacts of data center development on our committee's resources. Um evidence from established data center hubs like Virginia reveals a pattern of
unconstrained demand that threatens our water supplies, skyrockets utility bills, and degrades residential quality of life. As we all know, Virginia is ground zero for the data center industry. The Virginia Sierra Club chapter has
published a very helpful study on the land, water, and energy impacts that I can send to this council. Um, the report found that in Lowden County, Virginia, just one county, data centers alone consumed 1 billion gallons of water in 2023. In Virginia, electricity prices in
high density areas have jumped as much as 267% over the last 5 years. More than half, 55% of all data centers in Virginia are located 200 ft from homes. 70% are
within 500 ft leading to noise and light pollution. Like Brooke mentioned, Virginia is also example is an example of what can happen in New Jersey, but provides guidance for towns to instill safeguards and requirements for these industrial facilities so we can really
protect our environment and protect our residents. Compared to other industrial and commercial uses, data centers are job poor. A typical 250,000 square foot facility may only employ about 25 to 50
people, but they occupy large amounts of land, 100 plus acres that could otherwise host diversified businesses, diversified businesses or mixeduse developments that provide significantly more local jobs per square foot. Across
New Jersey, dozens of municipalities are recognizing that existing zoning laws are often insufficient to handle the unique demands of these facilities. In just a few months, several towns have moved to either strict strictly regulate or outright ban data centers to
safeguard their residents. Petan Township became the first New Jersey municipality to officially ban the construction and operation of data centers in February of this year. The town of Philipsburg recently voted to ban data centers as a proactive measure
to ensure balanced development. Harrison Township introduced an ordinance to prohibit AI data centers. Manington Township passed new ordinance to confirm data centers as a prohibited use in all zoning districts. Logan Township and Milville are also recently introduced
measures to block AI data center construction. Removing data centers from the Hercules redevelopment plan is the the first step for Seville. To truly protect this town's environment and its residents wallets, we urge the council
to pass a burrowwide ordinance establishing permanent safeguards for any future development data center application. We'd be happy to work with this council with suggestions, but some of our recommendations are one, a comprehensive assessment. Before any
facilities are approved for construction, the local government should require a thorough analysis of the impacts to agricultural land, which you will hear, local water supply, and communities from increased noise, heat, and pollution. Zoning requirements. Data
centers should not be approved by Wright and residential, rural, and agricultural zoning districts. You should create a restricted industrial AI denis and zoning category that prevents these facilities but being classified as simple warehouses.
Conversion of green space, agricultural land, conservation areas into data centers should be prohibited. We really need to utilize cleaned up contaminated areas and industrial zones for these types of facilities. They should be definitely away from neighborhoods, from
schools, from daycare centers, hospitals. Um before any land use approval, developers should conduct an acoustic and visual impact study. We recommend that these facilities not exceed 55 average hour decibb measured
at the outer wall of the nearest dwelling on non-participating property. This is reference to a Missouri bill. Also with noise buffer, we support a minimum above 1,000 ft buffer between data center cooling fans and any residential zoning district. And I will
will send this to you. Um, mitigation for urban heat island. This is a really big thing in 2026 report based on a University of Cambridge research highlights that data centers are creating heat islands that raise surrounding land surface temperatures by 16.4° F.
Long story short, we ask you to please remove this data center from the redevelopment plan and really provide safeguards for Sarville and Sierra Club along with our co-workers behind me are more than happy to help and and work with the with the town. Thank you.
>> Thank you. As any other questions or comments? Hi, my name is Leticia Williams. Wright. I live on 14 Kenneth Avenue. I don't know if you're taking suggestions, but um there is speeding going around
that on Boingtown Road. I think if they slow the speed down and maybe put speed bumps, maybe that might help instead of doing the circle. Thank you. >> But I don't know if you know if you taking suggestions. >> Well, we have the former chief of police
and the former captain of the police sitting up here. So >> yes, you're you're >> and that corner is like a blind, so you can't really see, but people are speeding going around. >> I never understood why it goes so fast there. >> Yes, >> but it does.
>> So that's my suggestion. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. See, Ed, you have to trim your bushes so they could see better, too. >> Are there any other questions or comments? >> Yes. How you doing? My name is Peter Franco.
I live on Hoprook Lane. I'm a resident of Homeell, Mammoth County. I'm here tonight to talk about exactly what they're talking about with the data centers. Uh I own a small farm in Homdell and uh it's been quite the struggle over the last six years that we have uh purchased it, got it off the
ground, had to deal with contamination of a uh category 1 tributary to the swimming of a reservoir with a uh a wastewater treatment plant. We we finally beat that and then you hear about these data centers that are popping up all over the place. and you
know being only maybe 15 miles from here and uh knowing that what it's like to fight for natural resources just for our farm and uh and with electric bills being so high and uh you know possibilities of drought like we've had two years ago. I know what it's like to
uh deal and and use city water and then when you're drought restricted and you not allowed to water on certain days, we then have to switch to wellwater and when our electric bills are astronomical, my farm makes no money. And uh I shouldn't say no money, it makes some money, but um it's just it's scary to know that it's just another
battle that we have to fight and for a resource because you guys share the same aquifers that that we use the the the mahogy. I know I'm pronouncing it wrong, but it's still a water source that we share and if they're using millions of gallons of water and opposed to what I
use, which you know I need to to to grow my farm, which uh is very important to us. Um you know, I just think it's a concern. Um also that the local farming which basically that affects everything. Electric goes up, water goes up, prices
of uh uh our you know whatever we produce goes up. Uh people don't buy they they tend to you know get the stuff in. Diesel fuel's more expensive. Everything gets more expensive. And then with data centers coming in we feel threatened because of the property becomes more valuable because it's flat
land and if they see something going up over here then they want to do something up over there. And with our town, Homeell, we're no stranger to, you know, we hand out reszoning uh like uh like party favors lately and uh and we feel threatened by it. So, um you know, I
would appreciate it if you guys took into consideration other towns uh especially ours and surrounding farming and agriculture uh and just uh you know, just love the land like we do and appreciate it. And you know, if you guys have an opportunity here to do something else with the property, we would
appreciate it. And and just an instance, we deal with bird migration all the time. A hurricane comes, you can get flocks of geese overnight can wipe out an entire field of rye. You hear about, you know, 90 dB of humming. Birds will migrate away from that and and who knows
over into my area north, south, east or west of here where there is farmland, which we would, you know, ultimately pay for it. And also what the woman over there said about using diesel generators with the the nitrous uh nitrogen oxides and all the pollutants diesel particulate matter depending on which
way the wind blows can travel for hundreds of miles covering crops you know uh all over livestock. It's just you know it's a horrible thing and uh you know I see the way you talk to your residents. I wish we had the same respect from our mayor and your board your panel like you guys do over here.
This is great. You know you're very compassionate. you listen to people and uh again I appreciate the time to talk and uh I I really hope you take into consideration what I'm saying here. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? Being no other questions or comments, I'll
take a motion to close the public portion. >> Moved. >> Uh roll call >> 006. All in favor? >> I I >> Okay. Can I say my one thing now? >> One more thing. >> Okay.
>> All right. So that being said, I I took the public portion from the end of the meeting and I put it here because everybody had waited so long and so patiently and and I didn't want it to continue. So we probably have a bit more
work to do. You're more than welcome to stay. You're you're you're not going to be the police officer is not going to bar you from exiting as did some of the people from Kenneth Avenue. So, uh, we we're just going to continue,
um, the rest of the meeting. Uh, but this was the one part where you can get up and talk about any and all subjects. Mary, >> I'm I'm going to let >> Yeah, she just wanted to add um under uh our recreation event with the fishing
derby next Saturday. So, um, you know, if you don't have equipment, they have, uh, one of our officers, Officer Fiser, he comes out, he sets up a tent, and he has all kinds of poles and nets and
equipment and actually teaches our children how to fish. Um, so I think that was uh very important that we kind of um overlooked in my report, but uh you know, it's a great day for everyone.
Come on out and uh you'll see for yourself, but uh and thank you to everybody who who attends and participates and even volunteers at this event. That's all. >> Thank you, Councilman. All right, we'll
go on to general discussion. Application for social affair permit received from American Legion post 211 to ser serve beer and wine at their Memorial Day picnic on May 25th from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on their grounds. >> Any objection? >> Authorizing the QPA to issue an RFP for
public relations consultant services. >> Line of you to explain this. We're the recipient of a substantial uh federal grant uh to allow us to study and engineer the area of Weber Avenue to create uh flood resiliency and habitat
restoration. Uh part of our requirements having received the federal money from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is that we do need to engage in some very meaningful public engagement on that project. We cannot just uh under the federal purchasing rules arbitrarily assign that to any
particular firm. As a consequence, we have to go out to RFP and make the decisions based on that. >> Okay. Any objection? Okay. Next item. >> Request to travel received from several engine company to attend the Pierce Road Rally in South Planefield on May 28th from 3:30 to 9:30.
>> Any objection? Next item. >> Application for a special event received from Ais Sedar and Community Center to hold a prayer service on May 27th at Kennedy Park from 7:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. >> Any objection? Next item. I need authorization to promote Christopher
base from water treatment plant repairer to water treatment plant operator unlicensed in the water department effective July 1st, 2026. >> Any objection? Next item. >> Similarly, I need authorization to promote Colby Redfield from sewer repairer 2 to water treatment repairer
one in the water department effective July 1st, 2026. Both of these are backfilling from retirements that are coming up. >> Any objections? That being said, uh CFO's report Thank you, mayor. Progress. >> Okay. Uh, borrow engineers report.
>> Thank you, mayor. One item, the Melrose President Park Firehouse roof projects been completed, recommending a resolution closing out the contract and approving a final change order with a net reduction. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh, burough attorney's report. >> Uh, nothing this evening. Thank you, mayor. >> Okay. With that, I'll take the call for
adjournment. >> So, move. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I oppose. Thank you everyone.