This meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law. In accordance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided. This meeting of Monday, May 19th, 2025 was published in the Curry News and Star
ledger and placed on the burrow's website in Bolton board at Burough Hall. A copy of this notice is available to the public and a copy of the statement shall be included in the minutes of this meeting. Mayor Brian Gallagher here. Council members Terresa Bonner is excused this evening. Andrew Ki here.
Glendee here. Randy Pitts here. Gina Stravik here. Roger Verm here. Please stand for the salute to the flag. 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. Okay. Can I have a motion for approval of the minutes of May 5? So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members. Andrew Ki. Epstein. Glen, yes.
Randy Pitts, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Verm, yes. All right. Just a couple of uh reports and notices. uh primary election uh day is June 10 uh 2025 and there is one polling location change in Somerville. Vanir Elementary
School is no longer a polling location and the replacement location is the Somerville Emergency Services Facility at 85 North Gaston Avenue. Um I'm sure folks are going to touch on it, but uh Memorial Day parade is May 26 beginning
at Culver and High Street at the World War I Memorial. Uh we'll be walking down uh High Street to uh Dowy, South Dowy, and uh down South Dowy to Maine uh with a quick stop at
the fire museum. Right, Rich? We're working on it. Uh then uh uh down Main Street to South Bridge, down South Bridge Street to the uh to the Somerville New Cemetery. Um, at 10:00 am we will be having a memorial service at
the Somerville Cemetery. If you haven't been to it, I would highly encourage uh everybody to attend. It's a it's a very moving uh very thoughtful ceremony. Um it's not a long ceremony. It'll only be about a half hour. Uh and uh I would
highly encourage everybody to attend. Um and then obviously uh post that we have the tour of Somerville bike races on on Memorial Day which uh which are always an iconic event in downtown Somerville. Uh proclamations. Uh we have Emergency
Medical Services Week of May 18 through 24 uh with the motto of this is EMS, we care for everyone. And to that end, we do have a proclamation and we do have our squad chief Mike Bigalow here uh
along with representatives. So Mike, I'm going to ask you to come up to the microphone. Um, so Mr. Bigalow is this. Yeah. So, so Mike Bigalow um is a is the squad chief this year and uh his
uh it's in his family blood. It's in his DNA. Uh, every family member in the Bigalow family has been a part of the Somerville uh, rescue squad. I think that's absolutely awesome. So, I first off, would you just introduce who's here? I have my deputy chief of EMS,
Alice Condo, uh, Deputy Chief of Rescue, Justin Bigalow, and my EMS Lieutenant, Lorie Herps. Awesome. Thank you. And thank you for doing what you do every day. Um it's uh it's not an easy thing that you do and uh to take time out from
your families uh on a regular basis and provide for services for our our people here in Somerville is uh it's a nice thing and it's nice to have a known friendly face respond when somebody really needs it and that's a
that's a great thing. So thank you. So um Gina is the liaison to the rescue squad and also a uh auxiliary member of the squad as well. Um so it gives us on behalf of the council great pleasure in providing this to you.
So whereas emergency medical services is an essential public safety service and whereas the members of Somerville Rescue Squad are ready to provide life-saving emergency medical care and technical rescue services to those in need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And whereas
access to quality emergency medical care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. And whereas the mainstay of the Somerville Emergency Medical Services System is volunteer in nature. And whereas the men, women, and cadets of Somerville Rescue Squad
provide over 10,000 hours of community service to the citizens of Somerville. And whereas the Somerville Rescue Squad answered the call for help over 1,517 times in 2024. And whereas it is appropriate to recognize, value, and support the accomplishments of the
Somerville Rescue Squad. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Brian Gallagher, mayor of the Burough of Somerville, recognize the extraordinary efforts of the men and women of the Somerville Rescue Squad, as well as their ongoing accomplishments and commitment to our community, do hereby proclaim May 18
through 24 as Emergency Medical Services Week. We care for everyone in the burrow of Somerville, New Jersey. Thank you very much. [Applause] And Gina, do you have anything you want to say? Well, I have lived with a rescue squad
member for 42 years, so I know what it's like um to have them go out in the middle of the night. Um I know what it's like to have them come home with the cares of the worries of the world and what they just had to do on their shoulders. Um and I know the importance of their volunteer hours. So, kudos to
you all and I'm proud to be part of your squad family. Thank you. Okay. Uh, next up are committee reports. Gina, oh, sorry, Andrew. Sorry. All good. Nothing to report this time. We haven't met. Uh I'm looking forward to meeting this Thursday with the historic
advisory committee. Great. All right. Thank you, Gina. Uh the board of health meets this Wednesday on the 21st, 6 p.m. um over at the county building on Warren Street. Um anyone's welcome to attend. Um bring your ideas and energy. Um I think we have a potential new member joining, so we'll let you know if uh we
have a vacancy to fill. So if that person likes us. Um and um on the rescue squad uh meeting last week, uh I have the report that they have had 114 calls in answered 114 calls in April, 22 fire alarms and attended two events for our
bureau. Uh 337 volunteer hours uh for the month of April. Um again, I always stress the response time as Brian said uh in the presentation. Um you you want somebody that you know or a happy face at your door at the time of your crisis and the response time locally is 5
5.4 minutes. So, um you're going to get some really quick service. Awesome. Great. Thank you, Glenn. Great. Thank you. Uh the environmental commission met here last Monday. Uh and to just report a few things, uh 19 different street trees were planted uh part of our street
pre street tree program. We try to plant sometimes in the spring, sometimes in the fall, sometimes both. There are over 90 people on the wait list. So, if we could continue to figure out how to fund that and get more funding, we'd love to get more trees out there. Uh, also, the community garden is up and growing, uh,
and it is starting to host, uh, events. The Girl Scouts will be visiting there on May 24th. And also, it received a $2,000 grant from Sustainable New Jersey to, uh, help those things and continue to grow there. Uh, our next meeting for the Environmental Commission will be on
Tuesday, June 10th. Uh and then for the tour of Somerville, as already was noted, uh America's largest or longest running bike race. It's the 80th edition of the tour. Uh will be races will be held after the Memorial Day parade and
service there all day long. Uh right on downtown Main Street. Uh the toural committee has been very busy planning it and orchestrating this. Uh they were at the summers at Patriots last week. Uh showed off some of the refurbished trophies which was excellent. Uh, and we will also be meeting with many of the
volunteers this week and uh, helping them organize and plan such this great event. Uh, kudos to Pops and Mark there for helping to host that volunteer meeting. Uh, check out all of the other information and specifics at tourofr.com. It's all lowercase. It has schedules, event details, and lots of
other things. And we are putting an order in for good weather. So that's my report. Awesome. Thank you, Randy. Mayor, I have no announcements for this evening. Okay, ma'am. Roger. Uh just helps if I turn my mic on. Just a reminder uh to uh for folks to
participate in the family fun ride. Um that's every every Memorial Day before the parade and before the races kickoff. It's at 8:00 a.m. 8 a.m. till the uh kickoff of the parade. Check-in time 7:30 right by Starbucks there at
Davenport Main Street. $5 per household. And everybody that rides must wear a helmet regardless of age. If you're not wearing a helmet, you're going to get escorted off of the racetrack. But again, families, come on out, enjoy the family fun ride, stay for the parade,
um, and enjoy the races for the rest of the day. So, we hope to see you out there. Love to have, you know, as many families as we can tour the tour the racetrack and enjoy the festivities. Okay, great. All right, thank you. Um, let's go into discussion items. So, the
first up is the Skip the Stuff campaign. And I don't know, from council. So, we have some visitors from the environmental commission that love to give us an update on the skip the stuff campaign. Good evening. Jerry Dapio, 46 East Main Street. I'm here representing
this the environmental commission um to discuss Skip the Stuff. The Stuff as we identify it is the singleuse accessories that restaurants give out to to takeout orders. And basically it's singleuse
items, plastic forks, knives, spoons, straws, napkins. And what we're asking for is that this be an optin where restaurants don't automatically do it, but they actually give customers the opportunity to say, "No, I don't need
it." And what we're asking for is a resolution from the Burough Council that supports our campaign. The lead team on this is Jeff Jeff Lamour, Sandy L uh Ben Scrota and myself. And Sandy and I
canvased all of the eeries on Main Street and Division Street. We were very wellreceived, very enthusiastically received. Um we crafted a letter that you will have in your possession, you do have in your possession and it explains
what the campaign is. It was addressed to the business owners. There are two QR codes on it. The upper one is for an a survey that we asked the owners to take. Uh unfortunately, very few came back,
although the enthusiasm was face to face. Uh the second uh QR code on the bottom takes you to a YouTube or 59 second uh video that a student did on why we can't why we shouldn't put plastic into the ocean and how to use
it. Well, so actually if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer, but basically that's what we did and that's what we're asking that we make this a resolution and not an ordinance. An ordinance has penalties with it and we
rather and we the environmental commission has decided this would be better as a resolution. Yeah. I and I I I loed the effort the um and I think even before a resolution what I would suggest have you have you had any discussions with the uh DSA the downtown
well Jeff in March I think it was March 3rd he sent uh an email to Olivia and her assistant explaining what the campaign was and if there were any questions that she had. I don't think he had any received from her. Uh, and it it
it was sort of a preamble to before we even talked to any of the restaurant owners, we did that through the uh DSA, make making sure they knew what we were doing. Yeah, I I'm I'm happy to see that it's that is it it is an opt-in. Um, my first blush at it, I my understanding
was that there there was a request for an ordinance to be enacted and and it it uh I don't know that that really was the best avenue. um the the idea that, you know, offering store owners the opportunity to buy into the idea and
maybe use it as a marketing tool. Um and and I think that's that's okay. That's that's a good thing. Um what I would suggest is maybe going to the DSA, one of their meetings first. Um gauging the level of interest from the board at the
DSA because they're really managing downtown and all of the uh the restaurants and the merchants and and those folks. bring it through from them first. Um, and and then let's see what that what that appetite is. Um, I think it's a good idea. I think it's something
that as a as a an optin is is good. Um, not as a mandatory. Well, it's certainly a win-win. It's a win-win for the the restaurants who are very um excited about saving time and money and but not putting all of those things to every
order. And it's certainly an environmental win where you don't have plastic in the landfills in the ocean. It takes hundreds of years for a plastic fork to decompose, you know. Yeah. So, so I would say let's let's build that
interest um from from the DSA and and let's build it through uh the the merchants downtown, the restaurant tours downtown. Um and bring it through the DSA first. And then once you gauge that level of interest, then I would say come back and uh and then we can approach the
idea of a uh of a resolution. Thank you. Thank you. And we appreciate the work of the environmental commission. Thank you. All right. So, next up is the affordable housing. So, this is something that
um we've been working on for uh for a long time. Uh probably for the past eight or nine months. And uh everybody has a very different perception of what affordable housing uh is or should be or could be. Um the state of New Jersey has
defined uh what it is uh and has mandated that every municipality create a uh an affordable housing plan and begin to move forward with that. So, um what we did was we put together a team and uh that team consisted of members of
council, members of the planning board, member of the zoning board, um our planner engineer, our uh affordable housing attorney, um our economic development director, our administrator, and myself. and we met uh weekly over
the past uh eight months uh to begin to define what we saw as the potential for um our affordable housing plan. And what we wanted to do was to create something that was very uh Somerville ccentric. You know, there's a lot of cut and paste
uh ideas out there um stealing from other communities and what they've done and trying to figure out. Somerville is very unique. Um we're two and a half square miles. Um we we look at we've done things a little bit differently than I think a lot of other communities
and we've really defined ourselves uh very differently I think uh uh from a residential perspective from a commercial perspective from a professional perspective recreation and we wanted this to reflect uh what we felt uh was Somerville centric. So we
set out and over the last eight months uh we've developed a very uh thorough comprehensive and uh uh I I think uh a very good plan. Um and I know the folks around the table who put the the effort
into this also feel the same way that this is something that uh that is is most appropriate for Somerville. And that was really our defining uh characteristic of this plan. Um we're going to have this the presentation is going to be broken up into three parts.
Uh Chris Zangaro, our uh redevelopment and our affordable housing attorney will talk about the uh the law uh as New Jersey has it um and the uh the process uh by which we came to this point and then what the benchmarks are moving
forward under the law. Um Colin Driver will talk about our process and what we followed and how we uh we attempted to comply uh with the law. I shouldn't say attempted, we did comply with the law. Um and uh and then Mike Cole, our planner, uh will talk about uh the plan
itself. Um how we got there, how we achieved our numbers, uh what the state's numbers are versus how we achieved our numbers. And then ultimately the goal is how do we how do we provide for those units over the course of the next 10 years or so. Um so
I Glenn anything you want to add to that? Well I just want to say that as these three gentlemen present the plan uh one of the things that I noticed being in all the meetings and listening to different things and reading lots of different plans from different towns is
I I started to look at this as you know that the state has set the destination. you know, that's whatever we need to meet for our affordable housing needs. But what we've tried to do is rather than like setting the GPS and locking into just one route that's going to just take us straight there one way and one
sizefits-all, we've really tried to create multiple pathways that still get us to that same destination and leave the flexibility uh still within that structure. So, I I think um hopefully you can hear that in their presentations as they share the details. Great. Thank
you, gentlemen. if you want to come up to the to the front desk. All three of you and just make sure your microphones are on. Uh council, it's good to be back. Uh my name is Christopher Zingaro. I serve asello me.
Yeah, you got a loose wire, I think. I serve at Reon Coffmanello. We serve as redevelopment council and also affordable housing council for the burough. I was before you sometime in January, early in the winter to discuss the first part of this process. But let me just give you a
brief uh review of how we've gotten to this point in uh this stage of the Mount Laurel affordable housing process in New Jersey because it's very unique among states in America really. Starting in the 70s, there was a a doctrine established that became known as the
Mount Laurel doctrine by which municipalities had to um affirmatively zone create the zoning opportunity for a municipality to uh bear its fair share or to provide its fair share of the regional need for uh low and moderate
income housing. Um that process has been tortured at times um long-winded at times but it has moved there was a uh process in the executive branch by which the executive branch would review municipalities plans um by 2016 that
process had broken down and the courts said we're stepping in. Uh the executive branch will no longer review these plans. It'll come to the court. And in 2016, the third round, which covered a 10-year period from 2015 to 20125,
um, municipalities who believed that they had an obligation because of the their the nature of their town, the demographics came before the court to establish that they had the zoning mech mechanisms in place. There were many municipalities in the state who said we have the zoning mechanisms in place and
we also provide natural opportunities for uh low and moderate income housing. Um the landscape has changed across New Jersey and in 2024 the legislature um passed a bill that was signed by the governor that instead of returning the
process to the executive branch said let's keep it in the courts but let's create a streamlined process by which the courts will assist um identify what your perspective what your obligations are the number of units you have to provide as well as to review housing
element and fair share plans. These are the documents that establish what are the zoning mechanisms that we can provide so that um housing can be created over the next 10-year period. The next 10ear period is referred to as the fourth round. It covers the years
2025 to 2035. Municipalities obligations are to create the zoning mechanisms so that um construction can be can commence by developers who are interested and to create that housing over the a 10-year
period. Uh so where have we that is the that is the uh lay of the law. Where have we been in the last six months? In um in January, the bureau reviewed the non-binding recommendation of the DCA, the Department of Community Affairs, and
determined what its obligation was. In Summerville's case, it mirrored the DCA. The courts reviewed that uh resolution and issued an order saying, "We recognize uh the summer Somerville's obligation for new construction over the
next 10-year period." And uh that date, the bureau has been working on crafting a plan. That plan needs to be submitted by June 30th, 2025. And the way the bill is structured is if you hit every deadline, you retain what's referred to as immunity from bill
to remedy lawsuits, which basically says that we are coming before the courts. Um where in this case, it's a non it's a mediation forum that's meant to keep you out of litigation. And as long as you hit the deadlines and you show a good
faith effort and you put forward a plan, you retain that immunity until you receive a grant of um gr certification compliance that says you have a plan in place. Now adopt it and um adopt any of the zoning mechanisms that are required.
So uh by June 30th that plan has to be submitted. There will be a three-month period in which interested parties can come forward and challenge elements of that plan. uh that period runs on August 30th and after that if there are no challenges over the course of the autumn
the program will review the proposed plan and if it finds that that plan is acceptable it will then um advise the municipality and municipality will then um have the opportunity to officially um enact that housing element fair share
plan and enact the ordinances that effectuate that zoning. Um so that's that is where we're at. Effectively the final date in which the municipality has to act to put all the ordinances ordinances in place is March 2026. So
the process is long but you have to hit each deadline. Um the way we the way that um municipalities are handling this process is the planning board adopts the housing element and fair share plan and there as
long as the council approves. They will then adopt an resolution endorsing that plan and then we'll see how the program handles um review of it. Good. I think that was a great synopsis. Um,
Colin, you I I won't be saying much because between the mayor and Christopher, you've got a lot of information already. Um, the the critical dates, I'll start at the the rear end and work forward. On the 28th of this month, the three of us will be
presenting in detail the plan to the planning board. Um, tonight is a 10,000 ft view more than anything else. And then on the 16th of June, we will come back to this board and present what we
presented to the planning board on the 28th of this month. So it'll be a detailed um explanation of what the plan contains prior to it being sent to Trenton for uh the DCA to review. Um, as the mayor said
and as Chris said, um, we we started late last year and we worked very heavily through this year. Many iterations of the plan, a lot of research. Mike Cole did a lot of the lifting uh because he is the planner. Um
and Chris um and Mike in conjunction developed um 140 odd page document which is some ofvil centric and a a couple of the things that I will mention. We've we've
developed a whoops a one sheet which we will be uh putting on the website right prior to the 28th so that it'll be available for people at the planning board presentation and it'll be available for the council presentation
as well but I just want to mention one thing that is very Somerville centric um how will we obtain compliance over the 10 years, right? We're talking from now through
2035. We part of the plan is what we call an inclusionary ordinance and Mike will talk more about it, but it's burrowwide. It's not just um by a specific zone or a redevelopment area. It is a burrowwide ordinance that says
anyone constructing um new buildings whether it be residential and there's limits which Mike will explain or commercial will be included in making a contribution of some form to the burrow for affordable
housing. It could be an inind contribution. It could be re rehabilitation of existing um not up to scratch housing for one of a better word. Um it could be through
constructing something not on site but somewhere else in the burrow or it could be a combination of all of those things and to be determined at the time of the application and then referred to council. So in instead of just saying
you will add 15% of the units that you're building for affordable housing, we've made it more flexible because there's not a lot of vacant space left in town. So how do we achieve the numbers that have been set for us is to
be a little flexible and understanding. So, um, when we get into the detail presentation, we can get into the weeds a little bit and discuss that, but I think that's the backbone. Um, we will not talk too heavily tonight
about what affordable housing is or what or how um it is determined, but the the numbers are based on um average income, median income for Somerset County. Um, it's set
believe it or not by HUD in in Washington DC and then it's adopted by the state of New Jersey. So those numbers are the driving numbers that for applicability and I think when we
present on the 16th of next month if if you want to follow that line of discussion we can do so then. So I'm going to hand it over to you Michael. Thank you, Cohen. And uh thanks for the mayor and council for presentation. It's I have to say it's kind of weird looking
at myself in the screen. Typically, I'm out there. I'm like, is my head this shiny? That's what we see every day. My head is really shiny. I might have to do something about this. So, anyhow, um we started from scratch on the fair
fair housing plan and the housing element. uh the bureau did not participate in rounds one, two, and three. At the time uh the bureau was positioned and that the the data supported it that under fair market conditions the rents everything it was
happening under free market conditions. Uh that changed in the last 10 years or so. So uh kudos to the bureau who was coming up with a fair share plan. So the housing element was changed and it's remarkable the the most current data was
used which is the 2023 census data. So the housing element shows you the growth that the bureau has done wow in eight years. So the the growth is phenomenal. Uh so that that was done and then to address what's referred to as
perspective need which is just a fancy way of saying what's what did the DCA and what did the bureau accept is how many housing elements that you're going to be anticipating in the next 10 years and that was 74 and then this other term that you'll you're hear the present need
which used to be referred to as the rehabilitation that's not creating new housing that's basically uh sprucing up housing that's challen challenge plumbing, kitchens and that forth and the DCA's number was 103. So to uh the
the fair share plan has to address the 74 number which is to be built and the present need which is the 103 which is the rehabilitation. So to do that, we looked at all what the burrow's done and
did a vacant land analysis and the burrow was very proactive from the 70s and had the senior citizen building which addresses uh basically affordable housing for seniors and then you had the the HUD program, the Sville House uh
housing authority which came out of the 70s too under it used to be called section 8 and so forth. So the barrel has been very proactive. So the plan incorporated some of the items that the bureau didn't get credit for in the past being the senior citizen building. So
the bureau doesn't have a lot of land around to build affordable housing as everyone in this room knows. So with the vacant land analysis was done and basically came up with one parcel of land. So the plan incorporates the
regulations and addresses the uniqueness of the burrow and addressing 22 units of affordable housing for the fair share plan. And the present need was addressed by doing what's called a windshield survey. Now, a windshield survey is
nothing but re looking at every house dwelling in the burrow from three sides and figuring out whether it meets the criteria for needing to be uh rehabbed or a little help. And doing that, the number went
from 103, which is the rehab number down to 27. So, and the data is in that and that was done. So, we have the present knee down to 27. We have the affordable housing number at 22. But
the unique thing to the burrow is in the draft and that we felt the committee felt very strong that the u the ordinance should be in place to show the community what's going on. Even though, as Chris said, technically maybe these
ordinances don't need to be in place until March, but to show to show you where the plan was going, you have the development fee ordinance and which talks about uh developments that are less than five units of housing, four or
less, and exempts the single families and the two families. but it's basically a percentage and that goes into the housing trust fund of the bureau to address the rehab components and for the fair share components. So you have that development fee ordinance which is
burrowwide and then you had the inclusionary ordinance which Colin briefly talked on which basically says it doesn't matter where in the burrow you are if you're creating five or more units that you're going to have an obligation. And the plan doesn't speak
to how exactly they do it other than you're going to do it. You have ultimate flexibility. The developer can do it on site. It can do it somewhere. And I say do it create the affordable housing unit on the on the development. Do it within the burrow or do the payment in loo
which is inordance of the statutes. So you can't have any more flexibility than that. whatever is allowed by the uh the regulations or in the the housing plan to address. So uh the results of the windshield sorry were phenomenal. The
burrow in my opinion being around for 20 years which is young compared to some of the people up there have been 20 years. You're what are you saying Mike? Uh well I'm saying at 20 years uh I've been pointed out to me from both boards of planning and the zoning board that there's people of the generations in the
town that I sit with people that have been volunteering for 40 or 50 years. So 20 years is nothing to to rave about. I'm going to say that. Okay. But in my 20 years a greeny uh I've never seen the burough look so good from a uh
environmental not from environmental but from a uh dwellings the housings looks great. Yes, there's challenges, but it looks phenomenal over the last 20 years. And that number, the present need number really reflects that uh from 103 down to
27. And the trust fund uh will capture the monies for the rehab of these structures. And that's what you have in a nutshell. The burrow looks great. I think the plan really is flexibility to throughout the burrow.
have to deal with affordable housing and it addresses the perspective need which is the fancy way of saying what is the next 10 years which is July of 2025 through July of 2035 what the anticipated growth is and if we don't
get it right it the inclusionary zoning captures it if we have more growth it's captured in the inclusionary zoning which accounts for it so that's the beautiful thing is I don't know if any community has done it this right? Being most communities uh say this is the
zone. We're going to have all affordable housing in this area and you end up with 100% affordable units, which the burough did not want to do. Uh for stigma, spread it out. Every no one gets a free pass from a standpoint of not one zone
throughout the burrow. Whatever the the demand or the need that creates affordable housing will be addressed. So I think that's a beautiful approach because it's equitable throughout the board and of course my crystal ball is always broken. So you don't know where
the development is going to be. You think it you think you know that every we get land use developments coming in that you never thought envisioned. So uh this would capture it uh in the entirety. So that's what I love about the plan is it it's not quotequote
cherrypicking anyone zone and it's all in house. And that's the end of my soap box. No. Ve, very good. Um, a couple of points, Mike. You brought up the one which was the easy way would have been to just take, uh, and put one building up with
with our entire affordable housing need. And for a whole host of reasons, uh, the entire committee felt that that wasn't good. Um, number one on mine was I don't want that stigma. you know, if there's a a young boy or girl going to school and they say where they live and it it comes
with with baggage and and I don't think that's appropriate. Um the we've also taken it a step further. The the devel under the law, correct me if I'm wrong, Chris, this really complies with for five units or more uh for our developers
fee. We've actually reduced it uh and also captured four units or less. Um So, so what happens is if somebody let's say wants to convert a one family to a two or a three family. Um there's a formula
that is has been created by the state which will capture a portion of that value which can then go either they can comply with with one unit uh being affordable or if if it doesn't work they
can u put into the trust fund which would then allow us to administer rehabilitation or development in in other areas. Um, we also we're trying to take a very creative approach to this. Um, and so it's not just structure
structure. You know, the idea is and we we kind of kicked this around was, you know, is there an ability to do tiny homes? Um, which is is kind of unique. Um, and and I we we all think there is. I we we also think that, you know,
depending on zoning and and area and whether it fits or not, but there is an avenue for that. One of the others is the idea of um and I call it incubator housing. Um and it's something a little bit different and I'm going to say for
example, you know, there's there's a single parent who has two or three kids and financially they're just being crushed. They just can't get out. If the burrow has a couple of these incubator homes um that are managed by
the affordable housing trust um we have the ability to pop a family in there for a year for two years. Um to help them get up and get out. Um you don't want it to be a way of
life. You want to be a way to a better life. and and giving somebody that that cushion of being able to um live somewhere so they can start to create a little bit of financial stability in their lives is a great thing. The hospital has a program. It's
called healing homes and most people don't probably don't even know it's there. There's two or three homes that they have right now in Somerville and these are folks that they vet and they have um medical issues as well as financial issues and uh they're vetted
by a team of folks and they're brought into these homes and and they're there for two years and they give them help. They give them guidance, medical care, um financial guidance, um counseling if necessary, uh help them with their kids
and then they're allowed to resume their lives and get on and get out. And and it to me that to me is really what I see as a a path out um to a better life. Um you know, when you when you're talking
affordable housing, there's a couple of caveats. One, affordable housing, the the income levels are much higher than anybody thinks they are. Much much higher. Um, and we'll be going through those at at the at the next meeting. Um, and the second part of that
is, you know, the the idea that for some one affordable unit is way too many and for others 2,000 affordable units is not enough. So, it comes down to what is right for Somerville. And I think that's
what this entire uh committee uh kind of had as our benchmark. Um, and we think we've put together a very good approach to this, a very flexible approach that allows for future councils and future planning
boards to adapt to the needs at that time. Um, it it creates that flexibility. The flexibility creates creativity in how they approach that housing plan at that time. And I think that's very important. You know, we're not we're just not thinking about right
here and right now because that's not proper planning as you know. We have to think down the road what happens in 10, 20, 40, 50 years. And we have to create that flexibility to allow different decisions to be made for different times. And that's what this does. It doesn't take any of the teeth away from
what we've what we've implemented. It just allows how you how you distribute that um and how you account for it. Art, you have anything you want to add to that? Not right now. Right. Okay. The committee did a great job answer a lot of questions.
Thank you. Um, so I'll I'll open up to questions if anybody has any questions for uh for our professionals here. Yeah, I I have a question and comment. I think I I raised this at the last meeting. I am concerned about the equity of the diff the three different
approaches. I think I think they all have value. Um but in terms of the um the the payment in lie of um I have concern about the equity of that over the long-term investment someone
dedicating an apartment for in per perpetuity versus a payment of maybe a a few hundred,000 and how can we equalize that in our ordinance and legislation to make this fair, equitable, and also you
talked about the long term give us the money that we need as things get more expensive to do those rehab jobs. Um because if we take 300,000 now that 300,000 isn't going to go far in 10 years. So I think we have to look at the
the plan that we're we're we're look the ordinance that we looked at last time last meeting and see how we can fix that um for a long-term view and an equitable piece. Well, I think and maybe you guys can address this the and I understand the
question you're asking about that val money value the the financial value. It's tied to 2% of the assessed value. Yeah. The equalized assessed value. But one one of one of the things that we've put into the
ordinance is that we will defer over the long term to the states changing of the regulations. the states give us the calculation of how to determine the contribution.
Um, we know that will change because of the fact you've got a group of people constantly looking at it. Some communities have included in their plan a fixed amount of money for the
contribution. We are saying no, we will take the state's guidance and the state's calculations. So as inflation in fact hits that amount of money will increase. So so it's it's money at the time. It's not so if somebody donates a
dollar now we're using it 10 years down the road. The whole concept behind it is if if money is put into the trust it should be spent. It it should but is it equitable to the value of an apartment over 25 35 years? That that becomes the
question. And then it doesn't mean that we have to follow the state law. We can exceed the state law, surpass it. Correct. I believe, but maybe that's something you can answer, Chris. I'm not exactly sure what uh what the limits over which you can um over which
you can shoot that statutory uh calculation. But what I can say is it's been heavily litigated and that calculation was crafted by the state. Um it's it's very detailed. So it sets a good number of parameters. What I can
say is the money that comes in doesn't necessarily need to go just to new construction. It can over the course of 10 years be used to deed restrict properties, single family homes that might be getting more expensive. So there are ways in which you can use those monies to do um innovative things
that are not just new construction, but can go a long way in preserving existing homes that might be becoming too expensive over time. So, there's a lot of ways you can use that money other than the sort of um hard costs of construction. And well, that part I think I understood, but I'm still
fixated on on the equity portion. So, I'd like to see the math on what's the value of one unit across the street dedicated to low income versus two and a half% of an assessed value of a property. Does am I making sense?
Yes. Round three of the rags is it's got these three pages on establishing the value and it's open-ended is what Colin is saying being the there is a formula in place right now and it talks about
the land value but what Colin is saying is what the plan says is it's open-ended. So as those values go up to your point it's captured in the ordinance already that we don't have it doesn't it's not a fixed number based on
uh May of 2012 understood it's not a fixed number but how does it equate over time right that two and a half% how how does that equate to as I just said before a dedicated apartment complex over whatever the law requires
25 30 years or more so so I and I understand what you're saying But I I think that's the flexibility of this this program that we're creating. It allows the council and the planning board to ultimately determine at that time is it more
uh is it better for us to approach rehabilitation in this instance or is it better to have inclusionary housing in this instance or is it better to do off-site uh construct new construction or off-site acquisition? That's the
whole idea behind this plan that it creates that flexibility for this this body to decide at that time. I was going to say that it's not up to the developer to pick and choose what they want. It's it's in coordination with our agreement.
So, we have to agree to whatever is discussed. It just leaves all those options on the table. But I think the experience is if we don't set the bar high enough, we don't we don't agree or or we get less or we we don't have the money down the road that we may need or
it's unfair to the person dedicating the long-term unit. So it's all about equity is what I'm saying. The last thing I can just add to that is the way your ordinance has been designed the draft that was presented by citing to the regulations. Um it provides a
flexibility. Let me just give you a little bit of context. At the moment the DCA is working on regulations which will govern the fourth round which potentially would address these calculations. So there's a lot of work being done at the very moment that municipalities are working to get these
plans done. There are also regulations being uh drafted by the state. This might be one element that revises those calculations that municipalities would be guided by. So by taking the strategy of instead of setting a specific number
but by referring to the statutory regulations and then also including language that says that you know the numbers would be would reflect any further regulations. you're capturing the potential that the state will craft more
um distinct regulations from 2000 the 2015 round. So you're providing the flexibility that when the state does issue regulations, should they amend the structure that's in place, you'll capture it, municipality will benefit from it um without the need to um open
the process back up. Okay. Any other questions, gentlemen? Thank you very much. Uh we'll see you next week. Next Wednesday. Next Wednesday. Next Wednesday at the planning board. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Okay. Um I'll ask for a motion to open the meeting to the public. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Sorry. Council members, Andrew Kiy, yes. Glen, yes. Randy Pitts, yes. Genus Travoc, yes. Roger Verm, yes. All right. Public
portion is now open. Please state your name and address for the record and please address your comments to me. You're it. Yeah, please. Uh Mark Sanfron. I'm the owner of Pops Bike Shop on uh 34 Main Street. Um I'm
coming to you tonight. Um I was here last year with a with a similar um observation. Uh we had another instance today where nothing is has changed with what I had previously come to you with.
Um I understand during the pandemic because of the uh need for social distancing we let a lot of the restaurants put chairs and tables out on the sidewalks. I understand the need for that. pandemic's over. Um, we for the most part, and I drove up and down Main
Street today just to double check, for the most part, a lot of the restaurants are very tidy. Uh, tables and stuff up against the buildings, sidewalks are very clear. Uh, a lot of them, such as Wolf Gangs and Saver and stuff. Really nice look. So, they can have some
outdoor seating, but it doesn't impede or mess with the sidewalks. We have a couple of restaurants who just are not following guidelines. My son went today to get lunch for the staff and on his way back from courthouse deli, there was
an elderly lady with her daughter who was stopped dead in her tracks because she had a walker. She couldn't get down the sidewalk because there are so many chairs, tables, planters, and everything
in front of a couple of restaurants. She physically could not get past them. I have customers, which is why I came last year, who have told me they will not come to Somerville anymore because they are wheelchair bound. They cannot get
down the sidewalk. So now we're we're putting barriers up to people who have physical limitations and handicaps because somebody wants to put a couple extra chairs and tables out in front of their store and they just don't want to follow the regulations that have been put forth. There are planters in front
of the gas lines which and they're right up against the gas lines. They're almost 8 feet out into the sidewalk. You literally the umbrellas that are there. I'm 5'11 and shrinking daily and when I walk down to get lunch, I am batting my
head with umbrellas. It it's it's ridiculous. I've called the uh I've called the bureau for code enforcement. I asked them to look into it. Gave him my name and number. Said, "You're more than welcome to come on down and I'll take a walk down Main Street with you."
Nothing's been done. Heard nothing from it. I don't understand why we are just turning a blind eye to these three or four restaurants who have just decided the sidewalk is their domain. And when you look into the into their restaurants, they're threequarters
empty. Like if you guys need more space, then go rent some more space. You can't take over the sidewalks. And it's bad. And who do I need to talk to or who needs to be made aware? This is an issue
that is affecting the quality of travel up and down Main Street in Somerville. It's a real issue. Nobody seems to want to I went to DSA. They said they have nothing to do with it. Not their gig. They can't enforce anything. I've called code enforcement.
Nothing has changed. What needs to get done? Who needs to be contacted? It's not that hard. There's literally three or four bad players on Main Street. Any single one of you guys can walk down Main Street and it is massively obvious. But when it starts messing with my
customers and especially those who have handicaps, it upsets me. I've been coming to you since last year for this. What's it going to take? We're getting busier now. We're going to be coming up with tour Somerville. We're going to be coming up with cruise nights. There's all kinds of events that
happen in the spring and summer in Somerville. Sidewalks need to be clear. They need to be a safe place for people to walk down the street with strollers and families and wheelchairs and walkers and everything else. What needs to be done? Who's who's
the person that's responsible for taking out a tape measure and saying you're too close to the planters, you're too close to the to the lamp posts, you're too far away. You're not supposed to have stuff up against gas pipes. Who is it? And why aren't they taking care of it? So, so
once everybody's had an opportunity to comment. I will I will then address. I appreciate. Thank you. Any other public comment? Hearing none, I'll ask for a motion to close. So moved. Second discussion. Roll call. Council members Andrew Kiy. Yes. Glenda.
Yes. Randy Pitts, yes. Gina Stra, yes. Roger F. Yes. Okay. Um, so you did come here last year and I remember and I can tell you the the that week that you came um I'm the guy who went out with the tape measure. Um, I
did it myself and what I can tell you is at that time they were compliant. I I believe it was 3 feet. I think it was 36 in as as the as the uh the route through. Um, they were compliant. Uh, does it creep over time? Probably. Uh
does code enforcement need to go out maybe sporadically? Yes, probably. Um there is a zoning ordinance behind uh all of the outdoor seating. Uh it's it's there and maybe that's maybe the the
responsibility of the DSA is education of uh the restaurant owners uh or those stores that that are having an issue. Um, I also believe, and I'm going to raise the eye of some, that uh the planters that are out there that are in
disrepair need to go uh almost immediately. Um, and the sidewalks because around some of those areas, and I'm very familiar with it, um, are horrendous. Um, and and if if I'm reading into where you're saying that the woman had a
problem, part of that problem is the sidewalk. It's it's a wreck. It's it's dangerous and and one of the things that we have is what we call constructive notice. So if we're aware of it and we don't fix it or attempt to
fix it, uh it becomes a bigger problem. So um I agree with you and I think it's I think so I think the solution is is two maybe three-fold. one. Um, I'll go back out there again with my tape measure because when I show up with the
tape measure and the store owner's outside and they see me looking at something, it it it changes things. Um, it's not as adversarial usually and we're not trying to be adversarial. What we're trying to get is compliance. Um, but I can do that again. Um, and and make sure that they leave that
three-foot gap. uh the second part of it and we're working with environmental to try to to figure out a treecape uh plan, but I think in the short term um and I actually I was eating at one of those restaurants yesterday afternoon and I saw a woman nearly trip uh and go down
and and it's a problem. It's a big problem. So, I think maybe taking the planters out, grading as best we can, putting some mulch down and getting those um as best we can until the the street tree plan comes into full fruition. Um but you know what what I
and I I'll turn to council in a moment. Um uh and and I think it's the enforcement uh sporadically over the course of the summer. Uh because I think I think at the early season it's compliant and then there's a little bit
of creep as you go on. So pretty has it? All right. Um so and I've actually I got to cut you off. Yeah, I got to cut you off and and no and I know
and we'll have a conversation. Um, so you know, I'm just going to turn to council and and those planters that we can identify that are a serious problem. Anybody have an issue with us taking them out ASAP? Well, I think that it's just not taking the planters out
and we've been up and down this this road for 20 years. Yes, we have. And and as the gentleman points out, it's just failure on our part to act. Um, most recently we had a walkability study done. Myself, members of the DSA and the
environmental commission participated in a walkability study. We have the plan. We have options. Richard O'Neal's been here before and spoke about maintenance. There's complete lack of maintenance. So, I've gone round and round for six years on this. Whose responsibility is it? Well, now all of a sudden, it's not
the DSA's responsibility. It's the building owner's responsibility. So, how are we going to hold them accountable? And when are we going to held them accountable colleagues? Because this is us and we have not reacted. We always take the nice way out and we want to
give the restaurant people the the the benefit of the doubt and as you point out it's just a few people but we don't want to penalize anyone. We don't want to endure financial hardship but it's at the ben at the at the demise of people who who need safe walking. And the other
piece is is that we also have the problem, yes, with the trees and yes, with the uneven sidewalks, but there are structural things that we can simply do without tearing up the sidewalk, especially this time of year. And I've suggested these things before. Let's put some benches. There's that that new
store on Main Street that creates these benches. Let's put those in the areas that are uneven so people aren't tripping. Let's do something proactive and spend a little bit of money to to make this work. And if it has to be on the burrow, then I guess it has to be on the burrow because I don't think we're getting the cooperation from the
building owners and the DSA. So, let's make an immediate fix. We talk about how great our town is, but if we can't fix our sidewalks, we're not so great. Other comments? Yeah, if I could. I mean, uh, the encroachment on the sidewalks is not just a problem on Main
Street, but it's happening in other places in other ways. Uh, you know, just people not maintaining their landscaping or whatever it is. It's starting to diminish the ability to go up and down Bridge Street and other places. Uh but uh the specific problem that was pointed out here by the gentleman, I experienced
smacking my head on those uh umbrellas my multiple times now uh walking my dog at night and whatnot and they're still out there when they shouldn't be. Um, I really would welcome the opportunity to come with you when we go around and measure uh so that I can see how the conversations go. Uh, because I'd be
interested in seeing if maybe there is some further revision to the ordinance maybe that we could consider or other actions that would um, you know, um, I'm I'm big on promoting and not punishing if we can, but this is a situation where
it sounds like it's gone on long enough. Uh, and the bad actors are few. uh it's not many. Um so I feel like the uh whatever we can do to motivate them in any type of form to comply with what we need is what we should be considering at this point because cruise night becomes
impossible to walk up and down the sidewalks. I mean I have two small children. It's just not safe to be in the crowd when it's like that. So um it's it's something we should address. So, I'm with Gina on this that there's if the the buck needs to stop here, if people aren't taking responsibility for
it, then let's let's jump in full, you know, let's get all the way in both feet and figure out how to solve this problem because our walkability in town is one of the major reasons most people are here and move to town in the last few years. So, uh if we lose that, then we lose, you know, one of our one of our
trump cards for everybody, every other municipality around us. So, let's let's make it safe. Let's make it easy. let's make it, you know, let's find a solution here that's that's reasonable for everybody but addresses the issue because, you know, again, I've experienced it personally. I've watched
elderly folks have trouble in our town. And, you know, as the as the old planning adage goes, it needs to be good for for, you know, grandma and and the children. Uh, you can't just design a space for people who are ablebodied at all times. So, um, I'd love to be part of that solution with you guys, but it's
it's definitely something that's needs to be other comments. Anybody having a, you know, a specific ordinance that lays it all out obviously legally? Yes. But I also think, you know, you mentioned educational component. I think having a set of standards that is easy
to understand and can be easily distributed every season and as a reminder would be very important as well. I mean, I'm a teacher. They give us the list of what we have to do for our fire code every year. Even though it might be the same list, they don't give us the legal interpretation of or you
know the the legal standard of it. They tell us no, it can't be 13 inches from there. And they give it very plain English so we can meet the those standards and stay safe that way. I think we probably need to do the same thing for the business owners there. Other comments? Anybody? I think we have to remember that previously the DSA did
step in and and Randy can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but they were providing grants and helping business owners to get things fixed. And so the expectation became, well, the DSA will come and save me. And now, as the mayor said, there needs to be an educational
component so that way people comply. We talked about this a couple of meetings back um and we've discussed about at the beginning of every year the sidewalk cafes have to apply to the burrow and they have to sign with the burrow so that we know where the sidewalk cafes
are and there is already a list of what they need to do. So all of that is already in place. It's the enforcement of it and that is where we start out the season as we've discussed letting them know hey you know you have to fix this and then we go from there. I think us,
the bureau, spending money to fix sidewalks outside of businesses, I think that that is an overreach. And I only say that because then what stops it from then we go to, you know, the front of my house or the front of your house, why do
the businesses that then get preferential treatment? We're going to come in there and fix their sidewalk. That's where at this point when we start having these conversations, I realize and and certainly walkability needs to be an important factor in our town
because as as has been stated, that's why people come here. We've been lenient with the businesses at this point once once we have and I think we've already gone over this, haven't as didn't we already notice everyone that needed to have their stuff fixed? That's that's
correct. I was I was I was going to wait for you to speak until I gave you an update on where we're at from the last time uh this matter came in front of us. So we we've noticed them. Now it comes the time where we don't like to be the heavy but if we have
given due process and the most important thing of government is due process. We sit and we say here is what our expectations are. If you don't follow those expectations these are the consequences. If that is the stage that we're at at this point, it is not on the burrow to go and fix people's problems
that they don't feel that they can fix themselves. We have given out what the expectations are. We have made it clear. We have sent out notice. They signed documentation. Now, it is on those businesses to comply. And at at this
point, I I we are a businessfriendly town and that is what we should be. But if we have done all of the steps that we would do with any other circumstance, I think it's is it it's prudent at this point for us to follow through. That is what has to happen at this point. Since
we've done everything that we've as as a council when we had this conversation the last time, those are the things that we came up with. We said we're going to follow these steps. So now it's time to finish the swing. Well, we also said that we're waiting for grants. Do we
have any grants awarded? No, the grant wasn't the grants for public I I if you want I could speak at the end. So So we've got this this great I'm going to try to to collapse this um because we have this intersection of commerce,
accessibility, environmental um uh infrastructure safety and and it's all coming to a head. So, so I think I think we have to while this this is is
vetted out, I think there's a few things that we have to do in the short term. One to to alleviate the immediate is that education because I'm I'm all for compliance um as opposed to just going out and issuing um violations. So, so
it's education of compliance and that's both between Burough Hall and the DSA. allow them uh tomorrow to begin educating folks, the restaurant owners and the store owners, all of them downtown. You know, it's not just isolation. It's it's all
um second then post that is enforcement. Um and it's the consistent enforcement uh identifying a timeline and going um uh to make sure that they're compliant. Um, the third, and this is from the safety standpoint and the accessibility
standpoint, um, I think we need to immediately remove some of those tree grates. Not the trees, just so we're saying, not the trees, because I know that's going to raise a whole lot of stuff. Um, but I I think the tree grates, um, if we can get rid of those
and we can start to even some space out potentially, um, that may start to reduce some of that. We've had too many folks tell us that it's dangerous. We're now on constructive notice which creates a problem. Correct, Kevin? I mean, that's correct. I mean,
obviously I mean in in this whole thing is just so you know is there this has been a very active matter with the burrow and with the council. So, I mean we we uh Councilwoman Stravik brought up the Ridewise uh program. Uh we did take
their we did take their uh study. We had Brian Blute, our enforcement, go out and and put everybody on notice of violation. There wasn't a fine attached with that. It was to fix the items that that appeared in in that in that study.
Those that could fix it did make the adjustments. Um there are several that that's very difficult to fix because they're not they involve the tree grate, the tree, and and other things. They're they're not they're more complicated. The burough council then authorized an
application for $1.5 million about four meetings ago which you approved. Um you also it's a complex application. You also approved Bruno Associates to assist me in writing that. It's due at the end of the month. The DSA is familiar with
it that they have assisted me in some of these issues as well. Um and and the next step would be to for those particular ones that are difficult to do um it does need a a grant. So the
um we did need uh nine well we needed a couple support letters. Councilman Pittz got me the support letters from the both the property owners and the businesses about nine of them shared in the process of of of trying to get those um to get this grant. So, um, there, you know,
there's no one there there's not a property owner saying, "I don't want to help. I don't want to fix it." There it's a little more complicated. They they feel the tree grates are the burrow's responsibility. They feel the trees are the burrow's responsibility. Yes, the sidewalks their responsibility.
The courts have been very clear that commercial properties are the responsibility of the property owner. Right. So that we the borrow and Amy if the burrow if the burrow were to get the grant and and proceed with it the property owners would have to agree to accept the liability after that that
project is complete and they understand that. So it is a little difficult on the more complex ones. The easy ones were done. They if you went out there people brought up pavers and and and they cleaned them up. Obviously in the same time this is happening PSEG is is
digging up you know laterals. So, it it does look a little messy out there, but if you look at the smaller the lowhanging fruit that was done, um it's it's really the bigger, you know, items. Yeah. And and it's and that's where the intersection um you know, if it's the store owner's responsibility or the
property owner's responsibility, they're going to say, "Well, the the trees are tearing up my sidewalk. The trees got to go." And what we're trying to do is to balance that conversation um and and the effort to to fix it uh and identifying. So, it's it's not an easy answer. It's not. So, I think what
we have to do first is let's take that lowlying fruit and and it's education number one. Um, and and let's let's contact the DSA tomorrow. Um, and help them help store owners understand what their responsibility is. Um, second then
on the heels of that would be enforcement and just sending folks out uh on an interim basis or on a on a regular basis. Um, and then three, I think I think we have to identify those uh rates that are causing a serious problem or impeding flow and and let's
just take them out. We've taken them out in other areas and there's been no issues with it. Um it looks better. It it opens everything up a little bit. Um and it cleans it up a little too. So um I think that's uh that that's warranted as well. And as far as as far as I know
we got a little off track with the infrastructure, but the saw cafes councilman rooms correct they they reregister every year and we do a measurement every year. some of those properties um some of the some of the restaurants have not reregistered yet.
Um obviously they usually do so after they're supposed to do so after Memorial Day. Um but but in those cases we've been receiving them in and they go out and measure them. Um and there's no doubt there's you know creep um and and we we'll continue to evaluate that as
well. So thank you for creating a very spirited discussion. It was it was good discussion. It was I appreciate that. Thank you. Um, all right. Uh, item number 10, ordinance for introduction. Uh, ordinance number 2765 is amending
chapter 166-65s, uh, schedule 21A on street parking metered zone to reflect that both sides of Division Street between South Street and Veterans Memorial Drive shall have a three-hour time limit at a fat flat fee uh, of $1 per hour. Um, kind of
self-explanatory. I'll make comment as soon as this this uh comes uh introduced. Um so public comment on item number 2765. Mr. O'Neal. [Laughter]
The stamp cost a dollar almost. Rich So, so uh any other public comment on 27 2765? Okay. Uh motion for intro. Well, you know what? Even before we do a motion for introduction. Um yeah, please. Okay. So, we have a so the
the burrow has a parking committee and we met with the parking committee right now to go to the post office. You're probably paying a dollar anyway or you're parking illegally because the spots in front of the post office were historical meters. So, they couldn't be managed through enforcement because they
require weights and measures. There's one meter out there, one what they sign that says these are historical meters. So, what happens is everybody just parks there all day long for free. basically. So, and I know I just told the world this that you could park there for free
and and so the people that really go to the post office, the truth of the matter is they're either parking across the street because the free spots were taken or they're parking illegally. So, this this came about in in the parking meeting when when we tried to address it
and try to figure out what the issue is because again, we had one meter left that that was historical. I had reached out to the historic advisory commission through Phil Decker because we dealt with this issue 15 years ago when when we decided to punt it at that time
because they were historical. So I reached out to Phil Decker and advised them that that there is one historical meter left. The rest of the block is free which is inconsistent with the entire street. So the thought was to
remove that one historical meter that's left. And the reason there's one left is they get knocked over, they get knocked and and we don't have them to replace. So I offered to fill find a location to put it whether it's in front of the fire museum or
somewhere else that would have some relationship. But having it in front of the post office is doing a disservice to everybody because people cannot park there and go into the post office only if they get lucky just like you can go across the street. Um so the the having
a a meter there that that you know one meter there has and having the rest of the spots empty you know um doesn't have any value. Yeah. And I I mean I I understand the theory behind it and we had this another spirited discussion on
this 12 12 13 years ago and and it was interesting because Somerville was one of I think two communities in the entire country that still had penny meters and and I think that's kind of nice. You know, does it make economic sense? Not a bit. Not a bit. But but it's something
nice. As Rich says, I'm going to drop off a letter and and I go to the post office. There's a lot of turnover there. There is there there's not a lot of people parking in front of the post office for any length of time. Um I I I don't support this. Um I don't think
it's needed. Um I think it will actually cause uh a problem for a lot of folks going to the post office. Um and I know we only have there's only four or five maybe five currently at that location there's
digital meters. Yeah. Yeah. They they snuck up. They're not. Yeah, they're not supported by this ordinance. I mean, they they would be supported by this ordinance. Yeah. And and I think we should we should actually try to find penny meter somewhere. That That's I know you're looking at me like I'm nuts,
but um I I I would just say the historic advisory would probably be probably a better agency to find a historic meter than I would be. Well, I I think there's a better way to handle it rather than creating a dollar an hour meter uh in front of the post office. I I think that
there's something I I I think we need to go back to the table on that one. Is the dollar an hour equivalent to what it is in the parking lots? It's equivalent to what's on the street. Yeah. So the street already has meters on one side, not on the other. So So that's
equivalent to a dollar a dollar an hour throughout throughout the whole district, but right on that same street and and as well as on South Street because there's no historic meters there anymore. So, what if we just did um no or uh post office parking
only 15 minute limit? That's what it is. I mean, that that's an option. I mean, you could and I I I don't think we should litigate it here. I think I think that's an option. Listen, we're we're bringing on a parking consultant as well to assist us with a lot of issues that we have related to parking because the
last time we've evaluated it's been 15 years. Well, yeah. And we're kind of angling towards pay on foot stations and We can examine that in the process. The the you know keep keep in mind I I don't want to there's not a lot of manpower put into parking. So the to enforce a
15minute parking would be someone would have to laser chalk it or something to figure out if the person was there for 15 minutes or or I I don't know how else you would do that other than having a meter that was for 15 minutes. And I think that one of the things we learned
last time was that we had a lot of variety which caused a lot of confusion. So the key was to have a uniform system in place. And these are really the only stragglers out there. Well, I my suggestion would be um let's
let's let the uh consultant take a look at it. Um is there can we just let this fall off? Is there anybody who wants to introduce this? I was going to suggest that. Why don't we go go back to the consultant with it and and see what they come back and bring it back after? Do we have to vote on this down or do we just
let it fall off the table? No. Yeah. Okay. So, we can just let it fall off unless anybody wants to introduce it to bring it to a vote. Okay. Good. All right. Thanks, Rich. Thanks, Rich. Took a little bit to
understand where you stood on it, but All right. Um, ordinance number 2763 for public hearing and adoption. This is an ordinance providing funding for various capital purposes for the Burough of Somerville and appropriating 2,175,800 for such purpose. Uh, these
are various items that uh that the burrow will bond for uh over time. And um do we have any well actually call for a motion for uh to open the public hearing? So moved. Second discussion. Roll call. Council members Andrew Ki.
Yes. Glen, yes. Randy Pitts, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Fer, yes. Public hearing is now open. Hearing no public comment, we will uh I'll ask for a motion to close. So moved. Second discussion. Roll call. Council members Andrew Ki. Yes. Lendon.
Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Ver. All right. And a motion for adoption, please. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members. Andrew Ki. Yes. Linda. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Tina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes.
Okay. Uh consent resolutions. Any to be pulled off for further discussion? 138, please. Okay. I I do want to make a comment on that because the resolution is correct in your in the in the agenda but the resolution number is incorrect
in in the in the document. So just was that your question Gina or No, you had a different one. No. Okay. All right. So, uh 136 is approving tax overpayment refund for 254 Ultimont. Uh 137 is approving the New Jersey Triumph Association to utilize parking spaces in
front of the historic courthouse on August 15th uh from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. 139 is approving the hiring of lifeguards for the 2025 pool season. 140 is approving the hiring of Darius Hernandez as full-time driver labor effective May 27 at a rate of $23 per
hour. 141 is approving chapter 159 for state of New Jersey 2024 recycling tonnage grant, sorry, 25 tonnage grant. 142 is approving chapter 159 from the National Opioid Settlement Trust. 143 authorizing Tie the Town Pink 2025 event
for breast cancer awareness month, October of 25. 144 is authorizing application for funding through the Governor's Council on Substance uh use disorder and authorizing acceptance of the award. 145 is authorizing the Somerville and rescue Somerville rescue squad to install a
oven range at 135 West End Avenue uh burough lease building and waving all inspection fees and reflecting the former range was privately owned and was from the site was removed prior to the lease commencement. 146 is amending resolution uh
25-047 application for a supplemental HDSRF grant for additional remediation activities at the landfill BDA redevelopment area adding a second whereas stating the site will be redeveloped within the specified time located on Route 206 north in the burrow of Somerville 147 is amending resolution
25129 authorizing payment to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority the $500 application fee for a supplemental grant from a hazardous discharge site remediation fund. Adding a second whereas stating the site will be redeveloped within the specified time and correcting the amount to 40,000
$500 from $40,000 for the remediation of certain sections of the Somerville Landfill BDA. Uh do we have a motion? So moved. Second. Roll call. Council members Andrew Ki. Yes. Lendon Eye. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger F. Yes. All right. 138 is awarding
a contract to Diamond Construction with for the 23 safe streets to transit for the burough of Somerville uh New Jersey in the total amount of $241,57566. Do we have a motion? So moved. Second discussion. Uh question.
What is the 223,000 spent on? Uh 241,000. 241,000. That Yeah, that that's the it's actually a road reconstruction project. It's a it's a grant project. And I apologize. as I thought in the document it actually read the read the project but it actually
doesn't. So I apologize on that. The uh and it's not coming to me right now as to what road that is. If you want if you want to say safe streets to transit. So that was a grant program we got. That's a that's a grant. Yeah. So it has to be somewhere near the
train station. Um not necessarily. Yeah. It would be a route to the train station. It could be close proximity or Okay. Or further out. Just shoot me an email when you remember. Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh, roll call. Council members. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glendon E. Yes.
Randy Pitts. Yes. Tina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes. All right. Roger. Bills and vouchers. Oh boy. It's a big one tonight. Uh, it is the second quarter. So, as we are the collector of taxes uh for the burrow, the amount tonight is a
little bit larger than we're used to. Uh but we have in there the uh library uh the library tax which is $165,81983. Uh county which is1,28,9402 open space which is $125,68849. Uh the school which is $6,778,125.
Uh, and the burrow share of uh, the bills and vouchers for this month is $1,715. Sorry, $1,715. Let me do that again. I'm going to get it this time. I promise. 1,715 uh,265.36. It has been a long day. uh
for a total for bills and vouchers for this month um or this meeting, excuse me, of 9,993,815.95. That is my motion to pay bills and vouchers. Second discussion. Roll call. Council members
Andrew Ky, yes. Glenn Deny, yes. Randy Pittz, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Firm, yes. All right. Uh, Councilman Deni, I will ask for a motion for adjournment. I move to adjurnn. Second. Second. Hoping you guys want to
stay. No. All in favor? ID.