Okay. Airman Kelly, are are are you in in Are you ready? Okay. Well, not yet. Not yet. Just checking to make sure you're on the ball.
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. >> [clears throat] >> 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 servicemen 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 the meeting. Stay Jessica, statement of publication. Take notice that this regular agenda meeting of the Mayor and Borough 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. Councilperson Bluemer. Here. Calise. Here. Novak. Here. Rios.
Here. Sinawski. Here. Zabrowski. >> Here. Roll call. Oh, we just did roll call. 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 13th, 2026.
Is there a motion? Is there a second? Second. Roll call. Councilperson Zabrowski. >> Yes. Bluemer. Yes. Calise. Yes. Novak. Same. Rios. Abstain. Sinawski. Yes. This is a special night in the Borough
of Sayreville. 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 Sayreville,
I ask that the honor guard come forward. Sorry, John. Yeah, you can sit down. We got you. We got We got it. No. I got a cane here. Take this. >> You got two >> guys with a cane helping a guy with a
walker. You don't mind using it? I know he doesn't. I know he does. And they're all bosses. Okay. Fine. Okay. All right. Will the family gather around? In front of you, after this.
You're you're perfect. Okay. And feel free to walk around and take all the pictures you want. >> thank you. Okay. So, it's with with great honor that the Borough of Sayreville recognizes a swa- My dad was a swabbie, Ed, and uh
uh they're fine men. But, we recognize Edward Jacobs. The Borough of Sayreville 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. Councilman Kelly. Thank you, Mayor.
If you would Yeah. I got I got it. Um Mr. Jacobs was with the United States Navy during the 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 surface. Uh
which is an impossible thing to do. So, uh he did that. He uh it was it was honored for that. And also, it just to mention uh I think last year he was honored by the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium ceremonies and uh 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. Jacobs. Where are the cameras? Right out there. Here you go, right in front
There you go. Finish the presentation. Please, a big round of applause. Hey, Mike Alberto, why why don't you want to see if you can lend a hand. Listen, Kenny, why don't you go to handicap instead of making There you go.
All right, take your time. Take your time, you guys. All right, perfect. Can you go to the center right over here? And then, Mayor Mayor's right in the center. It's my honor. A son of Sayreville. Thank you very much.
You want to speak, Ed? I thank all the people who came out to wish wish to honor me, you know, to wish me the best. Thank you. God bless you. And thank you.
Thank you for defending the gates of freedom here in Sayreville. Thank you. And you got a lovely wife here. I don't know if you deserve it, but she's a lovely wife. >> [laughter] >> All right. Fellas, ladies
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Come on, Mike. Thank you for your service. And are you going to Is the honor guard going to lead Ed Ed Is the honor guard going to lead Ed out?
Okay, if everyone would please stand out of respect for our veteran. I have a couple of those, Ed. You're Follow me behind the American flag. Can I see the baby flag with me behind you? Okay, we're set. Ready to go, Lieutenant Commander.
A round of applause would certainly be an honor. Be well. Thank you. Thank you for eating, Ed. Thank you. You made us here yes- last year and you made us here this year. It's all right. I'll see you How's your Mexico? I'll see you in church. >> I'll see you in church.
>> [laughter] >> All right. I just wanted to get up from there. Jessica You want to read? We're going to go on 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 Borough Council of the Borough of Sayreville, County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, as follows: The public portion of this meeting is hereby
adjourned in order that the governing body may meet in closed private session for approximately 30 minutes to discuss the following matters: Attorney-client privilege, litigation, personnel. Following the conclusion of said closed session, the governing body shall reconvene 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 closed 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.
Councilperson Novak. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Pleasey. Yes. Rios. Yes. Zanarsky. Yes. Zamarra- Sky. All right, we're going to go to 3:10. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Okay, I'll take a motion to go back into open.
So moved. Or uh roll call. Councilperson Novak. Yes. Lumehr. Yes. Policey. Yes. Rios. Yes. Sinarsky. Yes. Zabrowski. Yes. Under old business, I uh need to receive and file the
resolution received from the Seaville Planning Board following a meeting held on April 15th, 2026 finding the amendment to the Waterfront Redevelopment Plan for Parcel J consistent with the borough's master plan. Need a motion. Motion to receive and file. Councilman Zabrowski. Second.
Sorry. [laughter] Uh Councilperson Novak. Yes. Lumehr. Yes. Policey. Yes. Rios. Yes. Sinarsky. Yes. Zabrowski. Yes. Public hearing on the following ordinances, ordinance number
8-26, an ordinance of the Borough of Seaville updating and amending the borough'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 26th. Um it needs to
be referred to the Planning Board. Okay. You need a roll call? Is there a motion, John? Make a motion to uh carry this until the uh May 26th meeting. Is there a second? Second. Roll call. Councilperson Zabrowski.
>> Yes. Lumehr. Yes. Policey. Yes. Novak. Yes. Rios. Yes. Sinarsky. Yes. Public hearing on ordinance number 9-26, an ordinance supplementing and amending ordinance number 3-24 fixing the salaries of certain borough officials, officers, and employees for the years
2023 to 2027. Councilwoman Novak. >> Now we need to open it to the public. >> Uh I'm going to open 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's second on um I'll second the motion, Mayor. Who's your motion? >> Mary didn't make a motion. She did not. Okay, who's second on uh fin- admin and finance? It's uh Councilman Zabrowski. I am. John, do you do I'm sorry. Do you want to make a motion on this? Motion. Uh I move the
public hearing be closed, the ordinance adopted on second final reading, and advertised according to law. Uh is there uh roll call? I second that. Second. Second. Uh I'm sorry. Um Councilman Zabrowski actually has a
conflict with this ordinance. So we uh Who's third on Who's third? Who? Rios. 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. There is a Anyone else that does want to introduce it, they can do it. Uh I I
You know what? I would I would ask that this be carried over to the next meeting, and we'll have uh 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. Councilperson Novak. Yes. Lumehr. Yes. Policey. Yes. Rios. Yes. Sinarsky. Yes. Zabrowski.
Okay. Public hearing on ordinance number 10-26, an ordinance adopting an 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 Zabrowski. I move the public hearing be closed, the ordinance adopted on second and final reading, and advertised
according to law. Second. Roll call. Councilperson Zabrowski. >> Yes. Lumehr. Yes. Policey. Yes. Novak. Yes. Rios. Yes. Sinarsky. Yes. Public hearing on ordinance number 11-26,
an ordinance amending the borough's regulations and licensing requirements for fishing on borough property. Councilman Policey. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm going to open the open 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 Policey. I move the public hearing be closed, the ordinance adopted on second final reading, and advertised according to law. Second. Roll call. Councilperson
Policey. Yes. Lumehr. Yes. Novak. Yes. Rios. Yes. Sinarsky. Yes. Zabrowski. Yes. Public hearing on ordinance number 12-26, calendar year 2026 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap 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 hour-long meeting. Um and and I think I think this budget because there were some surprises uh that came up uh
need 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 um budget meetings under your leadership to get this thing established. Uh Are there Mayor, just to clarify though, uh uh I understand. I I understand.
>> the budget. I understand, but it's a 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 cuz it's hard for me to explain. We we 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 you know, hold it for 2 years, Danielle? Yeah. Danielle, is there any adverse
effect if if we wait till we have the budget 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 voting. >> Because I don't you know, this budget is is not good. >> I I know. I know, but this doesn't This we would be >> but it's a part of it. Oh, yeah. All right. So, you're recommending it,
Danielle, as the CFO, >> [clears throat] >> and we're going to have a unanimous vote. If that's the It's not going to be a 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. 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 1220 26 be 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
then if we're going to carry If we don't have a date >> 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?
I don't want it to be a political football. No, I >> hearing on the budget's listed at this meeting. It was already introduced. And it's going it's for You have to have a month in between, unlike other ordinances. >> but are you prepared to have a number of
meetings to work out As a matter of fact, part of my 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 her during the week and then I could have a meeting with John >> you have three people on that committee? >> Yeah, I said and and I would have a meeting with John and Alberto afterwards. [clears throat] I mean, because it's it's all we we had we tried
to schedule that meeting for what? 4 weeks? 3 weeks? And we couldn't we This was the only time that all three of us could get there was for Thursday >> going to put the budget under discussion for our next meeting and we'll just have
a public public hearing. >> Yeah. The electric bill 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 cuz it's advertised and it follows statutory framework, so we'll 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. Oh, yes. But in 2 years now. Same time as intro We got the public hearing 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 in the budget and anything gets carried, we can carry it again at that time. >> You're you're you're a fine attorney and
I would 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 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, Mayor. 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, then 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 to them? >> out. We'll get copies. It's It's
certainly It's certainly >> And we're going to have a workshop prior to the with the whole council? Yeah. When are we scheduling that? We can do it at We can start at 6:00 in the at the next meeting. Who is here at 6:00? All right. At some
point you got to step up. I'm always here at 6:00, Mayor. Special We'll We'll do the budget at 6:00 on the on the We'll have the workshop. >> On the on the 26 What is it? The May 11th? May 11th.
May 11th. John, you all right with that? Yes. Okay. Sash? Yes. Ervey? Yes. Alberto? Yes. Mike? Yes. Mary? I'm tickled 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. You Okay. Sorry. Um Councilperson Novak? Yes. Lumeier?
Yes. Lecce? Yes. Rios? Yes. Narsky? Yes. Zabrowski? Yes. Appointments. Yes. I'd like to make the following appointments. There are two alternate 5-year memberships on the Shade Tree
Commission. I would like to appoint Candace Pizak and Veronica Kanapka 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 Okay. Done that. Okay. Okay, then new business. Introduction of the following ordinance Ordinance number 13-26 Borough of
Sayreville, County of Middlesex Ordinance authorizing a right-of-way use agreement with GoNetSpeed for the installation and operation of telecommunications facilities. Okay. At this time I'm going to open >> No. No, this is intro. >> Oh, I'm sorry. It's intro.
Okay. I move the ordinance be approved on first reading advertised according to law for public hearing to be held on May 11th at prevailing time. Is there a second? Second. Roll call. Councilperson Novak? Lumeier? Yes.
Lecce? Yes. Rios? Yes. Narsky? Yes. Zabrowski? 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 Bordentown Avenue under
Route 9? Nobody? Nobody? >> [laughter] >> Okay. Okay. All right. This isn't it. Just so you know. All right. Okay. Um So, let me
You will will 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, I move that the public hearing be closed and the consent agenda resolutions be approved on roll call vote.
Is there a second? Second. Roll call. Councilperson Zabrowski? >> Yes. Lumeier? Yes. Lecce? Yes. Novak? Um I have I have questions uh on the bill list. Have we Did we ever
settle this with JCP&L? >> No. Okay. As I've explained it a couple of meetings over this, we have 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 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? Yeah. It's only That's why I asked it in there. No, I we just I have no methodology where we could come come to you with an accurate figure. There's 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 JCP&L 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. >> so we're not going to pay for at all ever? Not until they were put back on. >> 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. I don't even bother to make resolutions if 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 anything. We just >> to pay this bill eventually. We're going to have to decide. >> well, Andrew works on this diligently all the time. I'm I'm not saying that he's not working on getting the lights fixed. I know that he is. >> He's the guy who's the JCP&L guy in the street light. He's he's
He He comes He comes here. Everybody goes home. He goes home and has dinner, comes back when when it's dark and and works with the JCP&L. He used to be diligent with with getting the lights put back on. I know I've got that, but we're sitting here now. We haven't paid
them anything for 10 months. We're either going to have to negotiate with them or pay them their damn money. All right. >> [clears throat] >> You want to put the bill as a discussion or do you want to >> Well, that was. I'm That's part of this The
bill is the the budget. I I don't see that. 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 the what you're going to have the attorney there, too?
So we can ask him legal things. He'll come. Okay. I I also have questions on 15. Uh And and Glenn said we have people here that might be able to explain some of it. >> here. Hopefully that's his specialty.
>> [clears throat] [laughter] >> I just uh I know this has to do with >> him get on record. Okay, I'm sorry. Good evening, Mayor, council members. Matt Jessup, McManimon and Scotland and Baumann, bond counsel to the Sayreville
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 cuz it it it talks
about going back to our original redevelopment plan in 1998 and 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 going to cost the taxpayers any money? No.
Y- We we have an agreement with they'll be like like when we did Sheffield Mews, 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 are we bonding or Sayreville bonding or is the the 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 may be under took here, but I think I can answer the question anyway. Um >> [clears throat] >> The Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency will be the issuer of the bonds.
Those bonds are non-recourse to the Borough of Sayreville, which means that the Borough of Sayreville 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 lieu 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 bondholders can look to to get repaid.
I just I just wanted that to be explained cuz people were coming how is this how much is this going to cost the taxpayers? >> [clears throat] >> And I didn't know how to explain it to them, so that's all the questions I have. Thank you. And your vote? Mayor, before Mr. Jessup sits down, he'd 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 cuz it's for infrastructure, correct? And and what have you? Uh
that's exactly right. Uh there was a laundry list of of improvements that are financed uh ultimately with these bonds, but this goes back Recall that the redevelopment agreement between SIRA 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 SIRA and this borough going back, you know, 5 plus years now. Any other questions? No, I'm good. Just a quick and your vote? >> Alborno? 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 borough 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, assessed against the land and the
improvements. So in the event that the bo- the um developer, whoever that developer ends up ultimately being holding all of these different pieces of that development project, if they fail to pay, the bondholders can only look to the lien 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 lien, lien gets sold, lien gets monetized, that money ultimately goes to the bondholders. But it is on the bondholders to ultimately enforce that collection process. You do
not have to pay any money out of pocket in order to pay those bondholders. Any other questions? All right. All right. Yes. Sinarsky. Yes. >> [clears throat]
>> Need a motion to receive the correspondence that's listed. Received and filed. Is there a second? Second. Councilpersons Novak? Yes. Wolek? Yes. Pollicino? Yes. Rios? Yes. Sinarsky? Yes.
Zabrowski? 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
departments and stuff like that. We really a lot of these things that we cannot control like um the health 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 cuz right now it's sitting at .252
to the average homeowner. That's $300 a month I excuse me a year not counting any increase in state and count county and school. So it it's it's a quite a chunk. Anybody that houses is 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 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 billed 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 the shortfall through taxes,
the homeowner's getting kicked in the butt cuz they're paying for industry. And hell, the pilot people, they won't pay it at all cuz 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 happen 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 dollars. It's it's a lot of money. Uh 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 cuz 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 cuz 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 cuz 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 Arbor 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 raising soon on the bridge. We haven't had one in years cuz 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 uh 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 still I would just wholeheartedly encourage brevity. That being said, public safety, Councilman Blama.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um Sayreville the Sayreville 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-serve basis, so we encourage early registration.
The link for registration can be found on our Facebook page. I have more, but I this is more important being that you guys are here. I'm cutting it short. Thank you, Councilman. >> No, I'm not done yet. >> not done? >> [laughter] >> 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 10:4-9.3.
I've since I I didn't say anything at the time because I had no idea what uh 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 NJSA
10:4-12 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 bans Zoom or any other electronic method. When I was walking door to door, 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 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 limit it. Thank you. Okay. Um Hold hold it for the next uh meeting. Uh public works, Councilman Rios. Good evening, Mayor and Council. We uh 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 long-time Sayreville 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 Sayreville Republican Organization. Your support has truly meant a lot. I'd like to share a few updates and highlights from around the borough and
public works. Uh first, an up- an update on the Veterans Flag at the Veterans Bridge between Sayreville 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 flagpole lighting will be fully operational by this Wednesday, April 29th. This effort has truly been a team accomplishment. I'd like to thank the Road Department, Parks Department, Public Works office staff, the Sayreville Police Department, Mayor's
staff, South River Public Works, the County Road Department, and JCP&L. This man and woman have been working incredibly incredibly hard to get this done. I also want to provide an update regarding traffic concerns along
Bordentown Avenue near the Winding Wood complex. Following concerns raised by residents, the Middlesex County Department of Transportation has indicated that they will be initiating a traffic study at the intersection of Winding Wood Drive
and Bordenton Bordentown 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 teen 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 glow 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 Sayreville Shade Tree Commission. They 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 Grelle, Cunnio, McCue, and Chairman Rittenhouse. Special thanks to Councilwoman Mary Novak for stepping in to help when they were shorthanded. Later that day, another meaningful tree
planting took place at the Sayreville Police Headquarters in memory of Carol Lee Womack. Columbia Bank generously donated the tree as part of their community Arbor Day commitment. And I also like to recognize Tracy Webber, the Shade Tree Commission
secretary, for coordinating the event and assisting with the seedling distribution. Cathy Fedorka of the Girl Scouts added a personal touch with painted rocks and flowers for the Womack family. Thank you to the Chief John Plomaker for
his thoughtful words at the ceremony. And in honor Earth Day, we would also like to recognize a wonderful community effort in the Town Lake West section. This past weekend, Anjali Shah, 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 Mama Dee's 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 Kaleci.
The annual fishing derby will be held May 9th at uh Kennedy Park for Sayreville 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 award ceremony at 10:30. So, also on May 9th at 11:00, Sayreville 150-year and America's 250-year
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 registrations now open on the recreation website for Burke's
Park, sports, science, and pickleball 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 rec website is um sayreville rec.com. They have t-shirts that they're selling for our 150th
anniver- 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 1:00 to 2:00 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 bureau. So,
currently, the DPW works summer hours. But being in in this economy and uh and 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 bureau office staff to align more with this uh public works summer schedule with the
office workers working from 7:00 to 2:00. 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 can look forward to in the future. Second. Roll call. Councilperson Kaleci. Yes. Kumar. Yes. Novak. Yes. Rios. Yes. Sinawski.
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. Zabrowski. 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. It take 2 seconds. No. Well, I'll let you do it later. Okay. Okay. Water, sewer, environmental, Councilman Sinawski. Thank you, Mayor. I
have a lot of things on water, sewer, environmental, farmers market, community garden, but I respect everybody that's been here for over 2 hours sitting and waiting 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. Yeah. 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. [clears throat]
>> [laughter] >> Okay. So, you begin by stating your name and the street you live on. All right, my name is Edward Hamlin and I live on Bordentown Avenue, 1133 Bordentown Avenue to be exact and stuff. I live right on the corner Bordentown and Kenneth. And this is what
our major concern is that the Ed, can you use the mic more? >> Oh, you can't hear me? I'm sorry. I thought I thought I'm I thought I had my mic >> and I'm deaf. Huh? Um, I wrote a couple of notes here and stuff and it's got to do with our community and stuff. I I know I know our community
of Sayreville is facing an escalating problem with its traffic congestion and the issue has become a 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
Bordentown Avenue and Kenneth at the intersection of Route 9. There are where there are stop signs that no one pays attention to. No left-hand turn signals that that no one pays attention to. There isn't a proper signage from
Ernston Road to the Bordentown Avenue interchange where you know, there's there's too many accidents there and I was recommended that you know, I I started a a What what what I started >> Take your time and take your take your time. Take your time.
I I started a petition that I brought here to the council back in July of last year or June of last year and telling the council about this problem so that you know, I know it's not I know it's not the Sayreville's problem. I know it's the 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 www.bordentownavenueinterchange.com. The design that they have scheduled [clears throat] and stuff that and I know it's not supposed to be complete. The final design isn't until 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 Ed while you're there Jay, do they have condemnation in their plan?
Yeah, the concept plan that they have does show the two parcels that they're going to have to acquire. Yes. This this gentleman's is one of them and there's the 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 at the senior center with Charles Graves. DOT can bring their engineers. The the 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, would you guys rather have something down at the senior center like we just did with the with the battery plant where we had there were different stations for different questions, but
they had qualified engineers and and construction and power people. I think >> 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 would that work? I I I believe it would work. You know, to have a meeting with the New Jersey Department of Transportation. You know, you know, it 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 what do you call close off not Yeah, we'll close off Bordentown Avenue and and detour traffic into Kenneth Avenue. It's a very narrow street. Kids play on the 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 Ed. Okay. No, no. I got a 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 to the speaker's office to get that meeting arranged and I want to assure you that when we spoke last week before you hit the parking lot, I was on the phone with his chief of staff about the possible acquisition of your property and as you've
acknowledged, it's kind of well, 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. Lolli 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. They don't want anybody to have their 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. So we can absolutely set that up with the DOT. >> So the question I have for everybody we can we can do it generally we do it at night, you know, 6 let's say 6 to 9
down at 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. We can do it on a Saturday. So a show of hands for nights
doing it at night and a show of hands for doing it on a Saturday. Saturday? Okay. And time wise 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. 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 Sayreville. So we're all
involved. As you should. As you should. As you should. Now, before any of you any of you the the 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 Raritan Bay, which is the digital newspaper for Sayreville and he would like to talk to as many of you as
possible. Big news in Sayreville. All right. Bordentown Avenue or Kenneth? Okay. All right. Okay. All right, that being said, so Ed, you did the
the the yeoman's part of it. If there's any a lot of times you just need to vent. Or ask questions or vent and ask questions. Ed, do you have more going on? >> That's all I basically wanted to say is just to tell you that you know, I've been I've been a resident of Sayreville
for 43 years. Yeah. 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 getting thrown out of my house and stuff. >> Yeah, we don't want that either. So we don't want that. I appreciate your support and stuff. I know, we're in it
together. Thank you, sir. All right. I hope somebody else I hope somebody else had wants to vent and stuff. >> Well, sometimes they just want to vent. Please come up and vent. The lady yes. All right. So I'm going to go I'm going to go ladies first. >> [laughter]
>> All right. Yes, hi. My name is Joanne Hallick. Hello everybody. I've never done this before, but um, I've lived on Kenneth Avenue since >> street do you live on, Joanne? >> [laughter] >> Kenneth Avenue. Kenneth. Everybody's Kenneth?
And um, since 1969. So I've seen the accidents. I've seen the accidents in the gas station when they opened up the parkway thinking that this was a better, you know, put a cul-de-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
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 Bordentown went under Route 9 when it would go over Route 9, right? That was my understanding.
Now, Rappi was on the force. Anyway, okay, I digress. I'm sorry, Joanne. >> Route 9 didn't, you know, have the the wall. It had just a grassy area that was there. Long ago, when Bordentown just crossed over 9. 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 >> Well, when you have the 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? Cuz he controls all the money in the state. Okay. For every department.
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 face-to-face. >> 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 Slabowski. I'm at 25 Kenneth Avenue. Yes, Kenneth Avenue. >> [laughter] >> Just wanted 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 cuz 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. Right. Um you know, coming off of Route 9 and onto Route 9 is our only way of entering exiting. How are we supposed to come off of the Parkway to get onto the cul-de-sac? How are we supposed to pull out to 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 Fools or something, you know, I mean, how how are we Sorry, Joanne. >> [laughter] >> How how IS ANY LIKE HOW WILL WHAT'S
HAPPENING HERE? JOANNE, 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 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 think that's enough. >> I don't think it's going to take a I'd
like to get this meeting done before the kids get out of school on vacation. >> 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 2. >> And that'll be the first meeting. If we
If we need a second meeting, we'll try for the second meeting. >> You know, and one thing real quick, I know you got I've been wanting to go, but >> [clears throat] >> 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 Ernston. So, what? We don't care. It's more safety for us and our kids and our families and our friends. Well, that's a nightmare. Right? Yeah, no, it is, but Okay, we're with you. >> listening. We're with you. Young lady. Young lady in the black and
Ah, okay. Come on. I'm John Favor, Kenneth Avenue. I don't understand like if they want to open up the cul-de-sac for Route 9. In, out, right?
Are there so many accidents on Route 9 right there by that Exxon station? Yeah. 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 9's
side, the opposite side to get onto our block? Why do we got to go to South Amboy? Um um or South Amboy to turn around or else to get 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 going to get killed. Right. That's bottom line right there. >> you know, a lot of when when you when you have something that was created a long time ago and then everything's been like a patch
and and and you go forward 75 years, it it it makes it a cluster. Yeah. And and that's what we need to find a solution for. I mean, um we're all taxpayer. Yeah. You know, we all have small kids on our block.
Uh uh that traffic will be out of control on our block because our block is >> time the ladies that lived on the block came about the school buses and the danger of the school buses picking the kids up cuz they got to pick it up on Bordentown Avenue. Pick the kids up on
>> On the on the corner right there. Yeah. Um uh Bordentown and Kenneth Avenue to pick up Right. But, you know, this is crazy for what they want to >> Well, let's see if we can Okay, thank you. >> that works for the most amount of people. All right?
Hello, Cassandra MacArthur Ave. And 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 two and the broader
Hercules redevelopment plan between Journey Mill Road and Bordentown Avenue. There are four parcels of land there, 850,000 square feet of connected land being promoted in this realty 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
Sayreville 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.
Sayreville ranks higher in air cancer risk compared to both Middlesex County and New Jersey as a whole according to the Department of Health County report in 2022. In New Jersey, Waterford Township, Logan, Phillipsburg, and Pem- Pemberton
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 Sayreville over a year. The realty 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 Snarsky 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. Sayreville only has 50,000 homes. We cannot afford to lend 4 million gallons a day to Sayreville's water
usage to developers. Excuse me one second. That was 156 million 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 Sayreville. 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 2 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 decibels have significant detrimental impacts on wildlife causing behavioral changes, chronic stress in wildlife, and habitat abandonment. Well, because the SARA 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. >> for the council? >> Thank you very much. Thank you. Any more Kenneth Avenue?
Kenneth Avenue? Yes. Is somebody going to contact me in regards to when we're going to have that meeting on a Saturday? >> Yes, they will. They will. >> Okay. Do we have your contact? >> contact. >> We got you. You got my information? We got you. Okay, thank you. All right,
before I 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. 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 9 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 Luddite 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
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 1 mile. I also want to talk for just a moment about the water. As Cassandra said, even a medium-scale 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 to 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 PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, and a closed-loop system can also pose risk for Legionnaires' disease if properly unkept. 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 whirring 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 24/7. Not only is that super annoying, okay, but this is also has risk for health impacts. If it you reach above the 96
decibels of sound, you can have ringing in your ears, you can have tinnitus, you can also have hearing loss. So, there are really profound implications for construction of even medium-size 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 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. Yeah.
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 New Jersey chapter. Cassie also invited me.
I'm a Keyport resident as well. I'm also here to urge the council to remove data centers as a permitted use from the Hercules Redevelopment Plan. 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. At this time, you know, we ask this council to pause and rigorously evaluate the cumulative
impacts of data center development on our community's resources. 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.
The report found that in Loudoun 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 feet from homes. 70% are within 500 feet, leading to noise and light pollution like Brooke mentioned.
Virginia's 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 mixed-use 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 strictly regulate or outright ban data centers to safeguard their residents. Emberton 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 Phillipsburg recently voted to ban data centers as a proactive measure to ensure balanced development. Harrison Township introduced an ordinance to
prohibit AI data centers. Mannington Township passed an ordinance to confirm data centers as a prohibited use in all zoning districts. Logan Township and Millville 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 Sayreville. To truly protect this town's environment and its residents' wallets, we urge the council to pass a borough-wide 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 right in residential, rural, and agricultural
zoning districts. You should create a restricted industrial AI data center 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 in industrial zones for these types of facilities. They should be definitely away from neighborhoods, from schools, from daycare centers, hospitals. Before any land use approval, developers
should conduct an acoustic and visual impact study. We recommend that these facilities not exceed 55 average hour decibels 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 send this to you. Mitigation for urban heat island. This
is a really big thing in 2026 report based on University of Cambridge research highlights that data centers are creating heat islands that raise surrounding land surface temperatures by 16.4° Fahrenheit. Long story short, we ask you to please
remove this data center from the redevelopment plan and really provide safeguards for Sayreville and the Sierra Club along with their co-workers behind me are more than happy to help and and work with the with the town. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other questions or
comments? >> [clears throat] >> Hi, my name is Leticia Williams-Wright. I live on 14 Kenneth Avenue. I don't know if you're taking suggestions, but there is speeding going around that on Boarding Town Road. I think if they
slow the speed down and maybe put speed bumps, maybe that might help instead of doing the circle. >> you. I don't know if you know, if you're taking suggestions. >> Well, we have the former chief of police and the former captain of the police
sitting up here, so Yeah. And that corner is like a blind, so you can't really see, but people are speeding going around. I never understood why they go so fast there. Yes. But it does. So, that's my suggestion. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you. Sayed,
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 Hopper Lane. I'm a resident of Holmdel, Monmouth County. I'm here
tonight to talk about exactly what they're talking about with the data centers. I own a small farm in Holmdel and it's been quite the struggle over the last 6 years that we have purchased it, got it off the ground, had to deal with contamination of a uh
category one tributary to the swimming of a reservoir with a 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 knowing that what
it's like to fight for our natural resources just for our farm and and with the electric bills being so high and uh the possibilities of drought like we've had 2 years ago. I know what it's like to deal and and use city water and then
when you're drought restricted and you're not allowed to water on certain days, we then have to switch to well water and when our electric bills are astronomical, my farm makes no money and I shouldn't say no money, it makes some money, but 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 Mahagaty. 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
grow my farm, which is very important to us. You know, I just think it's a concern. Also that the local farming, which basically that affects everything. Electric goes up, water goes up, prices of the uh our you know, whatever we produce
goes up. 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, Holmdel, we're no stranger to you know, we hand out rezoning like like party favors lately and and we feel threatened by it. So, you know, I would appreciate it if you guys took it into consideration other
towns, especially ours and surrounding farming and agriculture and just 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 a flocks of geese overnight can wipe out an entire field of rye. You hear about you know, 90 decibels of hummingbirds 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 oxide nitrous and 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, all over livestock. It's just you know, it's a horrible thing and 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 again, I appreciate the time to talk and I really hope you take it 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.
So moved. Roll call. There was your second. I. I. I. I. Okay. [clears throat] >> my one thing now? Oh, 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 we're just going to continue the rest of the meeting. But this was the one part where you can get up and
talk about any and all subjects. Mary. I'm going to let you like Yeah, she just wanted to add um under our recreation event with the fishing derby next Saturday, so um
you know, if you don't have equipment, they have one of our officers, Officer Fisher, 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 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 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. Would one 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 Sayreville Engine Company to attend the Pierce Road Rally in South Plainfield on May 28th from 3:30 to 9:30. Any objection? Next item. Application for special event received
from Masjid Cedar and Community Center to hold a prayer service on May 27th at Kennedy Park from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 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 Two 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
objection? That being said, CFO's report. Thank you, Mayor. Progress. Okay. Borough Engineer's report. Thank you, Mayor. One item, the Melrose President Park Fire House roof project has been completed recommending resolution closing out the contract and approving a
final change order with a net reduction. Thank you. Okay. Uh Borough Attorney's report. Nothing this evening. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. With that, I'll take the call for adjournment. So moved.