I don't see it. Yeah, we're just making sure that we're effectively live streamed. So, I'll wait for the all clear. Okay, good. All right. Please take notice that action will be taken on the following items at the regular council
meeting on Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 in council chambers, Sparta Township Municipal Building, 65 Main Street, Sparta, New Jersey. The time is 7:08. Uh, the regular meeting is now open. All council meetings are now livereamed and
can be viewed at the following link, www.youtube.comwpstreams. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the public and the press on January 10th, 2025 by delivering to the press and posting on the township website a copy of the notice. Madame
clerk, may we have a roll call, please? Councilman Scott here. Councilman Blummedi here. Deputy Mayor Murphy here. Mayor Clark here. Uh, let's all rise and salute the flag, please. And I'll have our VFW start us out. I
aliance 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. Well, I always remark how many talented
people that we have in Sparta and a lot of really amazing people come through these doors for either proclamations or to serve on our boards, but uh tonight we get to honor um a real hero, a real
man of service. And when you know I read uh about Mr. Richtor's um background. It's just amazing. It it it reads like out of a a novel. Um and we we'll get to some of the awards uh in the proclamation,
but it really causes me to just reflect about what service really means. I mean, this is a person who put his life on the line um on behalf of a country, on behalf of a cause that maybe some people didn't even understand, but that didn't matter.
He risked his life. And um you know, it puts a lot of it in perspective. You know, we a lot of people here serve and we're subject to criticism. Um people disagree with us. They may even call us names, but our li we don't our lives
aren't at risk, you know, and this is a gentleman who did it over and over and over again on behalf of his country and really on behalf of a grateful nation. I am just really honored to read this proclamation uh for John Clifford
Clifford Ricker. Whereas it is with deep reverence and profound respect that we gather to honor the life and service of John Clifford Clifford Ricker, a proud Vietnam veteran, devoted husband, father, and grandfather whose courage and sacrifice
both in the line of duty and within his family have left a lasting impact on all who knew him. And whereas John Clifford Ricker served with valor and distinction in the US Army as a major, he courageously defended our freedoms and safeguarded the values we hold dear.
exemplifying the highest standard of military excellence. John served two tours in Vietnam and received many decorations during his military career, including the soldiers medal, three purple hearts, six bronze stars for valor, the air medal with three
clusters, just to name a few. Whereas John and his wife Patricia moved their family to Sparta in 1972 and he became an active member in the community and many organizations such as the Sparta Kuanas Club, Sparta Little League, Bid Brothers and Sisters of Sussex County,
and the United Way of Sussex County. Now therefore be it resolved by the township council of the township of Sparta that we we along with all citizens of Sparta bestow their gratitude to John Clifford Ricker thanking him for his service and his steadfast dedication to his country
where he exemplified courage integrity and devotion which will always be remembered and I'm glad we have members of our VFW and who also served. Um, it's really remarkable to me. Um, I mean,
probably when Mr. Ricker started, he was just a kid. I mean, 19 years old, right? And, you know, talking with his his wife Pat about his second tour where he literally left the hospital bed, it
sounded like, and went to her second tour. and that kind of dedication, that kind of courage. Um, we don't hear about that much, but a lot of our servicemen and women have that kind of courage and valor, and they deserve to be honored,
and it's really a privilege to be able to do this tonight. It really is, and I know his example of character and courage and service will always be passed down to his family members. Um,
because that's in all of you. And if you believe in epigenetics, all of you have that courage inside of you. And I think we all do. Um, you put extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, then amazing things happen. And so, it's a really it's a great thing that we're
doing tonight. I'm really honored to do it, and I'm very thankful that uh our veterans are here to honor it, and I'm also grateful for them for all the service that they've done. And I really I I I implore people to take the time to talk to your veterans. You know, on
Memorial Day, ask them who they're thinking about, who they remember, and listen to their stories because in those stories, you will find such courage, such valor, such humility, things that we just don't see and hear about a lot today. So really, I hope we take this
opportunity to do more um to respect our veterans, to provide for them, to learn from them, and to thank them. So um Pat, could you please come forward and I'll give you this and all the family members can come up too. Here
I come. Here I come. Coming up, too. I'm coming. She just started crying. My arm I Did you Good morning. [Applause]
[Music] Thank you. Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you. Welcome. My pleasure. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys.
I'm on my way to Iran. Are you inspired? There's other ways you can serve, you know. I think it's also amazing that after his tours and after his career was over, how
much he gave to his community. Always. I mean, I just like, you know, you couldn't fault the guy if he said, "You know what? I'm done. I'm just going to chill in the backyard. hard. I'm going to mow the grass and I'm going to just peace out for the next 25 years. But he continued to give and I that's just been
amazing. Always always everyone. Wow. Well, you did it. You're lucky to know him. You really are, you know. Good. How are you? Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
He was still in the hospital. He's like Yeah. I'm just like realizing Yeah. 81. Yeah. All right. On to uh more mundane matters. We have minutes to approve. Um, may I have a motion to approve the March
25th, 2025 regular meeting minutes as presented? I make a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes for March 25th, 2025. May I have a second, please? I'll second them. And I will not be voting on this as I was not at the March
25th meeting. Um, so all in favor say I. I. I. All right. Sounds like all three. uh the March 25th, 2025 meeting minutes as have been approved. Uh next, may I have a motion to approve the April 8th,
2025 regular meeting minutes as presented? So move. Uh and may I have a second, please? I will second. And this one, I don't think Dean was in attendance, so he's not able to vote. Um and all those
in favor say I. I. I. the April 8th, 2025 regular meeting minutes uh as present have been approved. Uh finally, may I have a motion to approve the May 13, 2025 regular meeting minutes as presented? I'll make a motion
to approve May 13, 2025 minutes. Uh may I have a second, please? I will second. Uh all those in favor say I. I. I. All right. Uh the April 8th uh the May 13, 2025 meeting minutes have been approved. Uh, next up, uh, manager Ze, may we have
the manager's report? Sure thing. Good evening, mayor, council, sparter, residents. I usually say both president and online, but I don't see anyone there, so it's all the folks online. Online, the township municipal clerk's office
extends a thank you to our public works department who consistently provides a positive and efficient experience when they are needed, no matter what is required. They also extend a special thanks to Brendan Feldman, Matt Malinaro, and Joe Scalia for their very
reliable, organized, and efficient handling of another election that covers 14 districts in our town. We always hear positive commentary from district workers who work the election, that they were extremely helpful and courteous in preparing the locations for elections.
The time and effort they provide ensures a safe and seamless experience for all the residents. The recreation department is collecting new bathing suits and goggles to help distribute to communities where the children and adults may not have access to swim lessons or summer fund because
they cannot afford a suit. The New Jersey Swim Alliance and New Jersey Park and Recreation Association are working together on this worthy cause with these communities. If anyone is interested in donating the new bathing suits and goggles, they can be dropped off at the
lower level of the library during recreation office hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The most requested sizes are youth sizes five and up. Congratulations to the Sparta seniors who participated in this past week's
Sussex County Senior Olympics on June 17th and overall placed second, taking home seven individual medals. They continue to practice for the Tri County Olympics on Wednesday, September 17th. Camp Saka Jua begins Monday, June 30th.
Staff training and final preparations are being completed this week. Residents can find the Sparter Recreation Program activity calendar for other camps, special events, and workshops on the township's website. Spring sessions of programs are wrapping
up and summer sessions begin soon. With school out for the summer, our Sparta Library offers several cloud library ebooks, digital audio books, summer reading programs, as well as other programs, events, and activities. Please
call them or visit their website at sparta library.com. We have a couple of events in Sparta to announce. Independence Day parade in conjunction with the Sparta Elks Lodge number 2356 is scheduled on Friday, July
4th, starting at 10:30 a.m. on East Shore Trail through White Deer Plaza and ends at Mohawk A School at Dyster Park. Friday, July 11th, kicks off the free concert series at Dystra Park and are scheduled every Friday night between
July 11th and August 29th starting at 7 p.m. The Cultural Affairs Committee does a great job organizing these events. For a complete lineup of performers, please visit spartaarts.org or go to our website under calendar or the cultural affairs community page. If
it rains, the concerts are moved to the Mohawk AB School. Chief McCarrick is unable to attend tonight's meeting and has asked that I read his report in his place. Lead day. On June 9th, our officers celebrated the graduation of our fifth
grade students from Helen Morgan School and Pope John Middle School. Over 350 students and school staff had a fun-packed day with many team building activities, positive engagements, special law enforcement presentations, and more hosted by our officers. I would
like to thank all those involved who made this event possible. A special thank you to our students and school staff for a great year. The police department is hosting its annual Junior Police Academy open for students going into fourth through 8th
grade. It takes place from August 5th through August 8th, 7:30 to 3:00 p.m. Recruits will experience the everyday life of a police officer recruit. They will experience and train in marching, defensive tactics, physical fitness,
CPR, and AED use, crime scene investigations, team building exercises, interviewing techniques, and team competitions. Recruits will also experience demonstrations from accident crash reconstructionists, special K9 demonstrations, bomb squad
and entry team units, and the New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit with a helicopter landing. Our friends from the Center for Prevention and Counseling will also come to speak about the dangers of vaping and other products that are illegal for juvenile consumption. Wrapping up the week, recruits will visit the Mars County
Police Academy where they will be able to observe actual police recruits in the academy. From there, they will visit the Mars County Juvenile Detention Center and finally wrap up a week with a formal recruit graduation. Most importantly, recruits will experience positive interaction with
their very own Sparta Police officers and our law enforcement partners. The cost is $100 per child, which includes recruit gear, lunch, and local ice cream snack each day. The application deadline is July 1st and can be found on our police department's Facebook.
Reminders. With the summer celebrations upon us, the police department would like to remind the public to celebrate the summer responsibly and to not drive impaired. We want everyone to be responsible during their celebrations by having a designated driver or using a car service if you are impaired.
Impaired driving is a direct threat to everyone on the roads. The police department will have extra patrols during the summer months strictly dedicated to DWI enforcement. If you witness someone operating a vehicle impaired, please call 911 immediately.
Before I conclude the report, I wanted to read a letter that I received this morning from um Eric Wilson. Mr. Zep, the reasons for this letter is to commend the actions and professionalisms of Sparta Township Police Department and the Sparta
Township Ambulance Squad. On May 19th, 2025, my father suffered a severe injury to his leg. I called 911 and everyone dealt with from the 911 operator to the Sparta dispatch department to the responding officers and then the ambulance squad were consummate
professionals. They each acted with appropriate urgency and professionalism during what was an incredibly stressful situation for our family. Specifically, I want to publicly thank the following officers and EMTs for their actions and assistance responding to our call for
help that day. Chris Shankstra, CJ Grower Holtz, Tim Lot, Tom O'Reilly, and Lorine Clark. We know that the entire police department often mostly deals with uh the public on our worst days. Working with the Sparta Police and
Ambulance Squad to help my dad and get him to the hospital was certainly one of my worst days in recent memory, and we are incredibly grateful for them. Please consider reading this letter in public meeting. Too often we talk about what's going wrong in our world and this is an opportunity to highlight Sparta's
officers for doing a really great job. Thank you on behalf of the Wilson family to the Sparta Police Department and the ambulance squad from the bottom of our hearts. Sincerely, Eric Wilson. And with that, we'll conclude my manager's report. All right. Thank you very much. Uh may I
have a motion to approve the manager's report as presented? I'll make I'll make a motion to Thank you guys. I make a motion to approve the manager's report. May I have a second, please? I'll second it. All in
favor say I. I. I. Uh the manager's report is approved. Uh we are now at our very first public comment period. Uh and uh the public comment period is limited to items that are not on the agenda. So please peruse the agenda. Uh if it's
something on there that you want to talk about, now is not the time. Uh if you do choose to speak, please be mindful of our five minute limit. Any member of the public wishing to be heard on items not on the agenda. Okay. Uh seeing none, we'll get right to
the expenditures. Uh Deputy Mayor Murphy, would you please read the expenditures for June 10th, 2025? Yes. The expenditures for June 10th are $98,000765.31 cents. Okay. May I have a motion to
approve the expenditures for June 10th, 2025? I'll make a motion to approve the expenditures for June 10th, 2025. Uh, may I have a second, please? No, I read it. I'll second it. Uh, all those in favor say I. I. All right. The
expenditures for June 10th, 2025 have been approved. Uh, may I have a motion to approve the expenditures for June 24th, 2000? Oh, would you first please read them? Please. Uh, Deputy Mayor Murphy, would you please read the expenditures for June 24th, 2025? Yes.
The expenditures for June 24th, 2025 are 6 million $1638 $82.38. Right. Uh may I have a motion to approve the expenditures for June 24th, 2025?
So moved. Uh may I have a second, please? I'll second it. Uh all those in favor say I. I. I. Uh the expenditures for June 24th, 2025 have been approved. Uh we are going to take something a little
out of order. Um it's just a procedural matter. Uh because we are um uh adopting the or uh the budget tonight. We have to do resolutions one and two before we get into the introduction of other ordinances. Um, so I will uh may I have
a motion to uh adopt the uh it's resolution 91, adoption of the municipal budget. Um, and there's a public hearing uh the attachment. So I need a motion to approve resolution 91.
I make a motion to approve resolution 9-1. And may I have a second, please? I will second. Um, and all the all those in favor. Yeah, let's do the hearing. Mayor, could I I make a comment about
Sure. Let's, you know, that's fine. I know we're getting on this and I kind of worked on on this. Um, I just want to read the statement regarding the budget before uh you guys proceed. Sure. Um, thank you, mayor and council. At our last council meeting on May 27th,
we introduced the Sparta Township's proposed 2025 municipal budget. This year, we took an important step forward by having our financial auditor prepare the annual financial statement. This ensures that the numbers in our budget are accurate and based on verified revenues and expenditures from the
previous year. The proposed budget for 2025 totals $31,614,11, which is uh 2.5% increase or $756,775 over last year's budget. The primary drivers of this increase including
rising costs in insurance, contractual salaries and wages, statutory obligations such as pensions and social security, and our reserve for uncollected uncollected taxes. These appropriations are essential to maintaining the services our residents rely on every day.
As a result of these adjustments, the municipal tax rate is proposed to increase from 0.596 to 617. That's a 3.55% increase, which translates to about $82.26
annually or $6.86 per month for the average assessed home in Sparta valued at $372,000,200. Last year, I shared concerns about our past reliance on the township's fund surplus to cover operational increases without raising taxes for six
consecutive years. This approach, while helpful in the short term, is not sustainable. Like last year, we are proposing a modest and responsible tax increase to strengthen our financial footing and rebuild a healthier fund balance.
Before we move forward with the vote on budget adoption, I want to address a concern raised by a resident in past council meetings regarding line item budget transfers. These transfers are standard and necessary practice permitted during the final two months of the fiscal year and the following three
months of the following year. They allow our chief financial officer to reallocate unspent funds to areas where additional support is needed. I wanted to assure everyone that no department's needs are ever compromised in this process. In fact, the more accurately we
set our budget lines, the fewer transfers that are needed. By issuing transfers through formal resolution, we are abiding by the DCA regulations and following best practices. Tonight, we have our CFO, Don Crumpford, available to answer any questions that
the council or the public may have. Thank you for your continued engagement and support as we work together to ensure Sparta remains a well-managed and financially sound community. Thank you for letting me read that statement. Thank you. Thank you. I um just just for
clarification, Don, I would like to say that funds were not taken or can you clarify whether funds were taken from seniors or from another group to just so it's on the record. No, the
funds that you think the funds were not taken from the seniors, the funds that were taken that were transferred from the senior money was as a result of what the seniors are paying us for their line dancing or the aquaerobics in the pool. So, it was the revenue that was coming
in from that. So, we used a little of that to move it over because they had an excess. So, it wasn't funds dedicated to the senior program itself. It was the revenue coming in from the program. and and with the recreation department.
Yes, the recreation department basically funds itself anyway. So when they had they had a little excess funds in there, so that was moved from that with Gene Montano's approval, of course. All right. Thank you. I just didn't want there to be any questions. No, not at
all. Thank you, Don. Question. Um, yes, Don. Um, over the past six years, as as Mr. Zep mentioned, um, taxes have only been raised, I
believe, one time. Is that correct? I believe if you look at the surplus thing, you'll see that it pretty much remained flat in one year. I think the taxes went down. I think you'll look and you'll see that the tax rate went down in 2023, right? But for the most part,
the tax rate was remained flat, right? And during that time, I just, you know, people are going to say, why why is this group raising the taxes? And during that time, the inflation rate went from uh from 2019 to today, 27%. Yes. And we
haven't raised taxes and we've eroded our surplus in in the in the meantime. Yes. that's that's what they were using at the time. The only thing that I am sure of um not being in the position at the time was I know during COVID they
used some of the surplus because residents were losing their jobs and they didn't want to hit them with an increase. So I know for two of those years that was why a lot of the money came out of the fund balance was to help the residents. Thank you. Thank you.
Any other questions from council regarding the budget? So, this budget will help us restore part of that surplus budget by lifting up the your reserve for uncollected taxes. What it's going to do is it's going to generate a little more in for us so that we can start to replace the
fund balance money. All right? So, it's going to be a slow process over say the next two, three years to try to get us back on a good healthy footing. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Just to confirm too, I know there's been some comments in the past that were incorrect
about the surplus and our fund balance being dangerously low or almost zero. It's it's in a it's in a appropriate position now. It's okay. We're just trying to raise it further. Correct. So, after we use what we're doing this year in the budget, you're going to I think if you look at the surplus, I think
we're going to wind up with roughly about $750,000 left in it. Do I am I nervous about it? No. I think we'll be fine. I think we'll regenerate it and I think we'll be okay. We've been lower. So, you know,
and it's used in the beginning of the year and it replenishes itself, right, for the next year. So, so what happens is is now when you raise up your reserve for uncollected taxes to get some of that revenue back in, that revenue will now be used next year to offset your tax rate to try to keep your tax rate lower, but you have to bring it in to let it
roll over into next year. So, your reserve and collected taxes kind of just keeps rolling year by year. Okay. Any other questions? Um, just so I um you've said this before, but I want to make sure I understand it, which is um
the past six years where the tax rate remained flat. The means by which the township did that was drawing down the surplus. Is that right? Yeah. They they use surplus to offset it to keep the tax rate flat. I see. And so like anything, it's like a family that uses savings to
pay his bills, right? That eventually you have to replenish that savings. And at some point in time, if you keep your reserve uncollected taxes somewhere near the amount that you're using out of your fund balance, it should kind of equal itself out. But you had a couple years there that the reserve uncollected taxes
was much lower than what they used. So there wasn't a lot being regenerated. I got you. Um and during this time um our bond rating is is still uh what so far we're still where we need to be because
the bond rating isn't based really so much on what you have in your surplus. It's more on are you paying your bills on a timely basis? Is your debt within what it's supposed to be? Is it not exceeding 3% of your appropriations? So, it really has more to do with that. And
our bond rating is uh it's still rather high for a township. I think we're still remaining right now at uh double double A, right? Yes. Okay, that's great. Yeah. And it's it's it's stayed that way for quite some time, I think. Right. So, um this draw
down of the surplus in no way affected our bond rating. No. Okay. No. Got you. And I think you you identified uh some of the drivers of the um of the increase um and some of it were some of those
just we didn't have discretion over say for example health insurance increase is that right health insurance we didn't really have you know your hands are tied when it comes to that and I just was down in Atlantic City at the conference where they were had a class on how the
um health benefits especially also state health benefits in the next few years are going to just keep increasing. So, more than normal. More that. Yes. Yes. They did a thing. They're saying um prescriptions going up through the roof
from all the goi shots and things like that. So, they did touch on that. Found it interesting. You recall what the increase was this last year to this year for health insurance costs? Just approximately percentage wise. I have numbers, but I don't know if I
have it down into a percentage. If you give me a moment, I know I have some numbers in here, but it did go up quite a bit. 16%. Yeah, I was going to say 15 to 16%. Just since last year, right? Yes. Okay. We belong in a HIF, so we're not as exposed as like the state health
plan. If you're reading that state health plan, they're predicting a 30% increase this this year. Yes. They said within the next three years, they're predicting state health is going to be up 50% more. Wow. Um, also as you listed the items that
were driving the, you know, the budget increase and the and the need for a tax increase, I couldn't help but um notice something that was missing. And I just want to make sure I understand that um legal expenses. Um, that was not a
driver. Uh, am I right for the increase in in the taxes? Is that right? We increased some of the legal profession I'll call the professional service lines in each department. So what we do is we looked at what was spent last year and then we gave you
that and maybe a little more to try to keep we're trying to keep it as flat as possible. So we did increase some of them by a small amount. But as far as like a percentage increase compared to like the the increase that we had in say
health insurance, compare that percentage increase to the increase that we may have had on legal expenses. Which is greater, the health health insurance or the legal? The health insurance is greater. Health insurance is probably greater at the time. But we did increase for what we
thought was coming in for your legal expenses for the year. Got you. Okay. Okay. Well, I I commend our finance department. Um I know it's been uh kind of an arduous process, but um it's better to take the time and get it right
than be quick and get it wrong. And I think that we took the time to get it right. Uh the fact that we're now adopting the best practices. Um I know that is unfamiliar to people. um the transfers and making that public. That's caused some confusion, but I'm
I'm glad that we're abiding by uh now the best practices to be transparent um when monies are transferred from one department to another. Well, we've always we've actually always done it because I have a few years worth of resolutions for budget transfers in my
hand. We've been doing it for years, so we do follow it. Best practices asks you as a survey, are you doing what you're required by passing a resolution, but statute, which is in the budget law, tells you, yes, you can do transfers the
last two months, the first three months, but you have to do it by resolution. That's the law. The statute is the law. Best practices is te asking you, are you doing the right thing? Best practices doesn't dictate to do it. The statute does. best practices is just making sure
that when you do do this that you're passing the resolution to go with it. And I went through today because I wanted to make sure that I had something that I could at least show you that we have done this for several years. So it's not uncommon. Okay. Well, thank
you and um please uh on behalf of the council, thank uh all our uh staff and and you Don for for putting this together and and manager Zep. um it's much appreciated and um thank you for being so transparent with the public about how their funds are being used and
and what the reason is for increases or decreases. So, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Oh, okay. Questions have been answered over the last weeks, weeks and months. Yeah, I've worked a long time on this. All right, so I think we should do this
as a roll call. We have to do it. Oh, the public hearing. Gotcha. Yep. All right. Mikey, how was it? Any Derek's tap into Sparta. I just have a couple quick questions. Thank you, Jim, for answering most of them. Um, one question that I've had is uh since the
board of ed announced their budget, how is it that the average assessed home is exactly dollar for dollar the same as last year? That's because we only had $32,000 in assessed value last year. Can you explain? I'm sorry. I'm not following. was only if you know I can
give you the exact number tomorrow Jen if you want to stop in we had approximately $32,000 in added assessments put on so it didn't change the value okay yeah it was very flat it was yeah and so does that extend to the assessment of the whole town is
that what you're talking I have the do I have the number for you so the added assessments last year were only $ 38,55183 so that did not change your assessed value across all houses and you're saying then the average is minuscule, correct? That's that's total total, right? Not
per house. Okay. And do we have an evaluation of the town? An evaluation on what? What is the value of the the valuation? Total net valuation of the town would be
um it looks to me it's almost almost it's a little over $3 billion. But then you divide that by how many homes you have in the town and it brings you to your assessed value. Right. I just ask because that's a number I usually I have the number if you want if you would like this I can give it to my handout in the
budget that's on the website. Okay. If you go back it's in there page on there. It's in the handout. You'll see it on page six, Jen. Great. Okay. Page six. Thank you. But the to answer your question though, it the rails have been flat. Yeah. there's been very little
growth uh across the board and and the assessed value coincidentally is the same as it was last year. We have an opinion as to why or it just is. I'm not going to answer that. Okay. Um what does that mean? No homes are
being built. Nobody's renovating their house. What does this mean? It means you have limited growth in the town. you haven't l How does that stack up to other towns in the county or in the area? I I'd have to look at that. Yeah, I'd have to look at that. I pay more
attention to here than anywhere else. And um just a question about why this budget took so long to get to the public. Just Oh, the budget. Yeah. What was the Because this year we had the auditors go through everything. We wanted to make sure that everything was
where it needed to be and everything was accurate. So we had the auditors go through everything this year. So it took them longer. So it went the auditors reviewed it after you put the new budget together. They started before they helped me during and they checked it all afterwards. Yes. Okay. Where they
normally weren't included. Right. Right. So this was a new bal you new process. And was this asked for just because you thought it would be a good thing to do or did somebody ask you to do it or I asked for it to be done. I thought it
would be best that most towns have their auditors file all of those paperworks anyway, their annual financial statement and all that stuff. We're one of the few that did not. Okay. So, I was going with let's go with the premise of
all the other towns and let's have our auditors do this. And then Jim, in that budget that's present, and I I'm sorry I didn't get I didn't see it. Um does it also list out some of the um upcoming uh expenditures, the large the big ticket items that
we're going to do? That's coming actually. That's why we're adopting the budget right now. Okay. And that's going to come in a few. You'll have a little more detail around that. It's coming. Okay. They're right there in the handout, too, for the ordinance that are going through for the capital. Okay.
Okay. Great. I think that's everything. Thank you. Um I do have one question. Um and it came up about now are residents tax rates are they based off the assessed value of their house?
Yes. Okay. And am I right? The assessed value is not the fair market value. And by fair market value that means if I went on Zillow and I looked at what my house is worth, that would be more. That would be more. And so if you were to raise the assessed value of someone's
house, that would effectively be tax assessed value, you raise the taxes. Yes. Got you. So the more that comes into the town and the more that we get and uh the more assess added assessments that go on, your added and omitted are the biggest thing. And and this budget
doesn't you know it's it's a nominal change in the assessed value of the house. Is that right? There was no change in the assessed value from 24 to 25. Okay? Because you can either increase the tax rate or you can reassess and have the higher you keep
taxes at the same level but increase the assessed value of a house and you have effectively would have a tax increase. Is that right? Yes. But that's not what we're doing. We're keeping the assessed value the same. Is that correct? What we have to Yes. Our assessor calculated out that way.
Got you. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to clarify that. And we do reassessments every 10 years. Every um the county will county tells us the county tells us when to reassess. It's it's a sizable project as you know. Sure. And so the the county
would advise us on that on when when to reassess, but you're right. Generally I I' I've heard that you have to do it at least uh within 10 years intervals is is a good practice unless usually when the value is 75% or lower of the value then
they do a they'll do a reval. Yeah. They'll tell us they they watch and when it falls below they'll tell you it's time. [Music] Okay. I think we've concluded the public
hearing portion and um we can move on to let's do this it is an important item so let's do it as a roll call vote if that's okay. So madame clerk would you please uh have a roll call uh for the adoption of the budget. Councilman Scott
yes. Councilman Blamemedi yes. Deputy Mayor Murphy. Yes. Yeah. Okay. The resolution is entitled adoption of the municipal budget. Yeah. Mayor Clark, did you say yes? Okay,
good. Uh yes. Uh uh resolution 91, the adoption of municipal budget uh has been approved. Uh next, may I have a motion to uh approve resolution 92, which is a resolution for self-examination of
Sparta Township budget? Could someone explain what this means? We'll do that as soon as we get the first and the second. I'll make a motion to approve 92 resolution for self-examination of Sparta Township budget. Uh may I have a second, please?
I have a second. Okay. Uh why are we doing this? You know what? I'm I'm spoiled tonight because I have my finance officer right here. So, we have to approve it when we do this. And I believe it goes in a cycle where we do two years of self-examination and then
one year when the state reviews it. Oh, sorry about that. I have a big mouth. I thought you could already hear me. Um, we can self-examine when we fall with what's listed in your ordinance as long as we are within
the criteria. One of them being say your tax rate collection is not below 90%. As long as there's no red flags, we're allowed to do this. The governing body is allowed to examine it and we approve it together. Okay? If there were there are things I
actually printed this off in case anybody wanted a copy of this which will tell you the reasons why we cannot self-exam and the reasons we can. All right? But the reasons we can self-exam are listed in your ordinance
or your resolution, excuse me. Um, but to be eligible, it'll tell you that your debt cannot be in excess of 3.5%. Um, your tax collection can't fall below 90%. Um, no operating deficit, you didn't do
an accelerated tax sale. There's a list of items that as long as you fall within there, you're allowed to do the self-examination. It says if you go on what's listed in your resolution says to make sure that you know our interest and debts are
being paid on time. Um we don't have a cash deficit from the preceding year or reserve for uncollected taxes is fine. And with that being said after that the governing body is allowed to examine it and then we are allowed to approve
ourselves. Right. So I can ask so it goes without saying then Dawn and Jim you confirm that the six requirements are met. Yes here. Yes. Thank you. And we got the auditors the auditors thumbs up which to me is the most important. They say
things are good. We're good. And I understand with self-examination it usually goes in the uh three-year intervals and on the fourth year it'll go back to uh the DCA looking at um we're I believe on our third year. So, next year, uh, we probably won't be
doing self-examination. Okay. Though that may change. And so, there it's a three-year cycle. Excuse me. So, it's a three-year cycle, not a four. No, that's what I said. Okay. Oh, you said four year cycle. I thought we're we're on the three third year. So, the fourth fourth year. No, I
think it's two years. Self-exam one for the state, but I'll have to look that up to be I Right. Yes. I think it's two in one. And so, um, if I were to characterize, so your fiscal house has to be in
ordered in order to self-exam, it sounds like. Um, and there are townships that would otherwise um, fall under, you know, within the 2-year period or three-year period, whatever that may be, who still can't self-exam because they have certain red flags associated with
their budget. Um and so um I guess Sparta is not in that situation, right? Correct. Okay, got you. Well, um again, congratulations for um you know, the financial stewardship so
that we can self-exam uh and we fall under the criteria to do so. Um because that is not an automatic uh thing that you can do. It sounds like that you have to have uh a decent uh financial picture before you're allowed to. So again,
thank you uh to our staff um and to our employees who who make that happen. Right. Any other questions with regard to resolution 92? Okay. No. Thank you. Right. All those in
favor say I. You do roll call. Oh, we did. I I I All right. Resolution 92 has passed. All right. And now we will revert back to the ordinary uh structure of our
meeting. Um there are some uh ordinances to introduce tonight. Uh again we will um abide by the the proper practice. As I understand there will not be a discussion about these ordinances simply to read them uh to get
them and they will uh discussion of these ordinances uh beyond what they're for uh will occur at the public hearing. um in 2 weeks or so or whenever our next meeting is. And so, Madame Clerk, would you please read the title of ordinance 2512,
an ordinance appropriating the total sum of 425,000 from water capital improvement fund for funding various water capital improvements or purposes by the township of Sparta in the county of Sussex, New Jersey? Right. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance 2512? I
move to introduce ordinance 25-12. And may I have a second, please? Second. All right. Uh, may I have a roll call vote? Um, mayor, can we discuss this? Yeah. Uh, well, I know it's just introduction and normally we would talk we would when we go to adopt it on the
next meeting, we we can discuss it, but I I just want to give because I know Jenny was interested in this, too. Um, this ordinance outlines capital improvement initiatives for our water utility. For this year, a total of $425,000 has been allocated to support the following projects. uh renovation of
water tanks, procurement of replacement parts, including pipes, hydrants, and fittings, and funding for chemical feed pumps and filtration systems. So, those are are what a lot of the items that are this money spent towards. Uh it it's to keep the infrastructure improvements up,
and uh they all qualify for the capital funding. Uh and that's what this is this this ordinance is about. Does this address the PAS issue? It can. Um, meanwhile, we do have a separate
funding line going on for POS. But, uh, with filtration pumps and all, it's eligible to do that if and when they decide to start addressing that. Anything that comes out of capital improvement, the rule of thumb is that has to have a fiveyear useful life and
be over the amount of $5,000. Makes it come out of capital improvement line. And just one the prioritization of the cap of the improvements uh the water capital improvements uh who determined that priority
it's a a group of us uh the engineers uh the utility director myself uh we're constantly assessing priorities of of what is uh the challenges are for the utility. Uh you just never know. Uh water main breaks happen. You have all kinds of of priorities. And then we do
have a strategic capital improvement plan that we abide by. Um and um we we it's basically a think tank where a team of people put put it together and we're best to to spend the monies. All right. You
Okay. Thank you. Anyone else with with questions on 2512? Okay. Madame Clerk, may we have a roll call? Councilman Scott. Uh, yes. Councilmani, yes. Deputy Mayor
Murphy, yes. Mayor Clark, yes. Uh, ordinance 2512 has been introduced. Madame clerk, could you please read the title of ordinance 2513? An ordinance appropriating this total sum of 2,85,000 from general capital
improvement fund for funding various general capital improvements or purposes by the township of sport in the county of Sussex, New Jersey. That's 2 million. Um, may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 2513?
Can I correct that? That's the amount is 2 million. Yes, I said 2 million. Oh, I thought you said 285. Sorry. No, it's 2,ion85,000. Thank you. Welcome. Okay. May I have a motion to introduce uh ordinance 2513?
I move that we introduce 2513. Uh may I have a second, please? Second. And um before we uh have a roll call uh manager z is do you have any indication of what these capital improvements are
kind of like what you did with the the water capital improvements sort of a prioritization? I do. Okay. This ordinance represents the 2025 capital improvement plan which provides funding for multiple projects and equipment upgrades aimed at enhancing services for the residents of Sparta. The total
budget is $915,000 less than last year, reflecting our commitment to minimizing tax increases. The anticipated expenditures include $750,000 for road improvements and storm water infrastructure,
$450,000 for a replacement street sweeper, $400,000 for parks equipment and projects including the installation of uh pickle ball courts at White Lake, renovation of the Fiser building site at Ingramman Field, 100,000 for fire
department equipment and turnout gear, 250,000 for replacement police vehicles, 35,000 for a replacement SUV for the construction department and 100,000 for the building and grounds department covering facility maintenance and the
town hall plaza renovation project. All capital ordinances are fully funded as part of the 2025 budget and will not contribute to any new debt. Thank you. And again uh just an explanation of the how that determination of those expenditures were
were done the sort of the priority. I mean, there's could be an unlimited amount of projects that the township could want to fund, but how do we decide which ones to fund and which ones not to? So the department heads of each of those departments that I had, you know,
I had mentioned the the the monies to um they'll submit to the finance officer uh usually a six-year uh capital improvement plan and it'll be a projected uh uh you know plan of what they deem would be necessary or needed
for capital improvement. And as Dawn had uh uh mentioned that it has to have a fiveyear lifespan. It has to have certain criteria to to be capital funded. Um, we brought up the police vehicles. We used to buy the police vehicles out of the O and E line because
the cars wouldn't last five years. Well, as you know, we're buying the bigger Taho and we expect to get five years out of them plus. So, we can purchase them out of the capital line and not the O and line. Um, but these are discussions with the department heads and uh I have
to admit sometimes um they're reduced or we we put off uh what we're what we're doing strategically on on the improvements. But um I wanted you all to know this because I know that many times, you know, this this hasn't been uh uh communicated to the council very
well exactly where these monies were going. Uh, so you have a pretty good idea of where we want to go with them, though it's it's not written in stone. Jim, can you just repeat the uh wreck department 400,000? I I caught pickle ball. I missed the other part of that.
Yeah, pickle ball. And then uh the Fiser building uh at we've been wanting to uh address that structure for a long time. Um that was that what used to be a a a snack bar in one front and then storage in the back.
It's very old and run down and um we have to be careful what we do because of its proximity to to the stream. Um but uh it does have a usefulness for uh we can discuss this further, but we're looking at a possible combination canopy
pavilion with a picnic area and um maybe even some minor storage in on the side. Um it it it'll be communicated, but we know that that building needs to be addressed because it's it's an eyesore. Thank you.
All right. Um Madame Clerk, may we have a roll call, please? Councilman Scott. Uh yes. Councilman Blummedi, yes. Deputy Mayor Murphy, yes. Mayor Clark, yes. Uh ordinance 2513 is introduced. Uh, madame
clerk, could you please read the title of ordinance 2514? Ordinance providing the improvement of water supply and distribution system in and by the township of Spart in the county of Sussex, New Jersey, and appropriating $156,964.81. Therefore, constituting proceeds of
obligations of the township hereto for issued. Okay. May I have a motion to introduce ordinance 2514? I make a motion to introduce 2514. May I have a second, please?
I'll second it. And manager Z, could you just give us a brief explanation of what this ordinance sits for? Sure. This is uh actually a little analogous to the transfers that we're all talking about, but it's at the capital level. Purpose of this ordinance is to reappropriate funds originally approved under
ordinance 2320 which was designated for water system improvements. The original ordinance specified various improvement projects w with corresponding budget allocations. Due to the increased need for water main replacements, funds will be redirected from the Germany Flats garage improve
improvements account line to the water main replacement account line. So, we're moving money that was originally allocated for uh Germany Flats garage improvement. The utility director did what he needed to do. He had some leftover funds on this and we wanted to
now re reallocate the leftover funds to um the new capital line for water main replacement and this just formalizes that. So, it's not new money or anything like that. We're just moving existing capital money.
Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh may I have uh I have a question. So this this may go back to 2512, but we're halfway through the year. We are doing this study on the PAS and so and that was to take a year and
so we're halfway through. How are we doing? I will get you a report on that. It's a good you we got lots of stuff going on and that they are I I've seen some invoices from the company Boswell who's doing that study. Um I'll I'll get a stash report for you for the next
meeting. All right. Thank you. And that also reminds me this separately. I know that one of the PAS settlements was I think it received final approval. Um and that we are so I think maybe um attorney dash at some point we can contact the
wins firm and kind of get an update from them about where we stand in light of the recent settlements. I know that was a pretty large settlement in the billions. Mayor, I I'll let you know that they have been in communication with with Dawn and I. Okay. They had Dawn set up a wire transfer. Um, yeah,
they asked me for wiring instructions and Oh, that's always good. He's just um You could just use the mic. Oh, I'm sorry. I always think because I have such a big mouth for them watching. They can they can Thank you. They had already contacted me for wiring instructions.
So, because it was for something specific, I opened it up into a trust fund account. So your 03s are your trust funds account which means whatever the account is labeled for is all the monies can be used for. So therefore I'm putting POS into a trust account so that
that is all it can be used for and nothing else. We we haven't received anything yet, but we're all set up and prepared to start receiving funds and um we're we're monitoring that. And um I I'll also communicate that as soon as I
I get notice that we're receiving funds. Well, that's that's good news. As as someone who does class action, when they start asking for the wire transfer information, uh the case is going pretty well. So, um that's good news. And where are the funds coming from? The class
action. class action suit. Yeah, there's a class action suit on behalf of m municipalities um that have to incur additional expenses as a result of uh the negligent con the alleged negligent conduct of certain uh defendants with respect to
releasing POS into the environment. Um so it's listen it's um it's you know the expenditure is not going to be a one for one. So, I don't want to mislead people in any way that um that you get a one for one for how much it's going to cost,
but hey, it's more than zero uh which you would otherwise uh have a zero if but for the settlement. So, uh we'll take any money we can get uh to offset the expenses that we do have to undergo um to remedy uh the POS problem. As soon as I see it start hitting the bank
account, I'll let Jim know so he can let you know what's coming in. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh, Madame Clerk, could we have a roll call with respect to ordinance 2514? Councilman Scott? Yes. Councilman
Blummedi? Yes. Deputy Mayor Murphy? Yes. Mayor Clark? Yes. Uh, ordinance 2514 has been introduced. Uh, we now have one ordinance for a hearing. Um, Madame Clerk, could you please read the title of ordinance 2511?
Ordinance of the Township of Sparta, County of Sussex, New Jersey, amending the effective dates of Ordinance 25-07, or uh Ordinance 25-08 and Ordinance 25-09 relating to cannabis zoning, licensing, and taxing regulations.
Okay. It's now open to the public for comments on uh ordinance 2511. I thought you were going to go to public birth to the daspores. Um the only question I have is it the language says may or is permissive when it talks about
understanding. Am I am I reading the right one that um until the time after the election um that it's a non-binding that the election is non-binding. So at
that point it may come up. Correct. It's it's not um I think you can't have uh it is a non-binding uh resolution. So it's it's still discretionary. What happens after the um
the uh I guess the referendum uh or the it's really a public question actually. So at that point after the public question it will go back these three ordinances will come back to council about and then
you'll decide how to handle it or I think it has an actual effective date Janu was in January becomes effective does it not it currently reads January 1st it becomes effective. It also says that I believe that the council can all that
day could be amended again. That's what it currently reads. Okay. Thank you. I mean maybe Anie can expl Mr. Dash could explain this, but I was I was under the impression that the reason that it's a
may instead of a definitive yes or no depending on what the public votes is because it's a zoning ordinance and you can't have a yay or nay to a zoning ordinance. Is is am I wrong on that? Am
I right on that? So, I'm I'm sorry. Where is the may Jenny? nonbinding. Oh, okay. Um, correct. That's correct. That the ordinances were in the opinion of the
township submitted uh they were zoning ordinances that were submitted to a binding referendum. And the municipal land use law does not permit zoning ordinances to be submitted to a binding referendum. And so the council uh two
weeks ago or when it first introduced the ordinance decided to put the in in reaction to uh the public input uh decided to put the question as to whether or not to allow the retail cannabis and sported to a non-binding
uh referendum or public question. Thank you. Is that because it was in the TCC zone? it became a zoning uh the the um 25 I think it's 258
was a zoning ordinance. It the principal ordinance that was the driver here was a zoning ordinance. Um and so that zoning ordinance um because it was a zoning ordinance it uh is is not allowed allowed to be
submitted to a binding referendum. regardless of which zone, right? It's just that it 257 addresses zoning and land use. It doesn't matter which zone. It's just that it addresses it. Okay. Thank you. Okay.
Uh any other questions with respect um to the hearing on ordinance 25 11. Okay. Okay, with that, uh, Madame Clerk, may we have a roll call, please?
Councilman Scott, yes. Councilmani, yes. Deputy Mayor Murphy, yes. Mayor Clark, yes. Uh, ordinance 2511 has been adopted.
We are now at the second of Excuse me, Mayor Clark. Mayor Clark, who was the mo who um did the motion to adopt the ordinance? I didn't hear that. Who was who did the first and the second? You know, I think we I think we just went to the puppy first. We could we could redo
the Oh, sorry. That's a good Yeah. All right, let me We'll start over again. Uh, may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 2511? I make a motion to adopt ordinance 2511. May I have a second, please? I'll second. All right. And we'll do the
roll call again. Councilman Scott? Yes. And Councilman Blummedi? Yes. Deputy Mayor Murphy? Yes. Mayor Clark. Yes. And so ordinance 2511 has been adopted. Thank you uh madam clerk for catching that. The public comment period threw me
off. Okay. All right. Next up we do have the second public comment period. Uh this is with respect to the resolutions. Um so anyone from the public wishing to be heard uh please come forward and please abide by the fivem minute rule. All right. Uh seeing no one from the
public, um we will go right into uh the resolutions and uh first we'll just do um a couple of these together. Um these are ones that we traditionally do together. And so may I have a motion um to approve resolution 93, which is a
resolution authorizing disabled veteran cancellation of tax. uh resolution 94 which is ABC renewals 2 2025 2026 uh resolution 95 which is 1-day ABC social affairs permit Sparta Benevolent
Society and resolution uh 96 which is a one-day ABC social affairs permit the Sparta Elks Lodge 2356. So the motion is to approve resolutions 93, 94, 95, and 96.
So moved. May I have a second, please? I'll second. All those in favor say I. I. I. All right. So resolutions 93, 94, 95, and 96 have been adopted. Um, may I
have a motion to uh approve resolution 97, which is a resolution for restoration of energy taxes to municipalities? Make a motion to approve resolution 9-7. Uh, may I have a second, please? Second. And before we end, this was something I
brought up uh at probably our last meeting. Uh, this is a initiative of the League of Municipalities. Um, in the past, uh, we used to be able to collect our energy taxes and then the township could then, uh, use some of the proceeds
from that for its own. The state has now taken that over. Um, and as a result of that, uh, we haven't been receiving our energy tax uh, from that the state has collected. Not the full amount. Not the full amount that we've It's really been a portion. I think I I thought you did
some calculation the last time. I did and I don't have with me the last meeting. We we spoke about it. It's basically the state has been taking a portion of the full award amount and um it's a sizable amount of money when you add it all up. And I believe that when
you went to the conference uh there's uh you know the municipalities have been asking for full re reinstatement of the energy tax rebates this whole time uh because uh they're not getting the full amount because uh Lord knows we can use
it. Um and and that's what this is about to continue to to ask for full uh reinstatement of the en energy tax. Yes. And there will be I think a cataloging of all the municipalities who have passed a similar resolution and so
hopefully um Trenton will listen and we can get some of the money because I I think the calculations were in the uh I want to say almost $700,000. It was significant. Yeah. Yeah. Why did they take it to begin with? On their own projects.
All right. Uh so all those in favor of resolution 97 say I. I. I. Resolution 97 has passed. May I have a res motion to approve resolution 98, which is a resolution endorsing the fourth round housing element and fair share plan. I
make a motion to approve resolution 9-8 for the fourth round housing element and fair share plan. And may I have a second, please? Second. Um, and and this this is a requirement, am I right? And I know this you aren't our housing guru or
attorney, but you do know a little bit about this. Um, this is we're required to do this as part of um our affordable housing obligation with the deadline being June 30th that we have to adopt our uh a fair housing uh element. Is that right? Yeah, that's correct. The
statutory framework adopted by the legislature, right, requires the planning board to initially adopt the plan and I believe that happened on June 18th with a full public hearing on it. Um, the statutory framework also requires the governing body to endorse
the plan and that is the purpose of this resolution tonight. And that was the plan that Katherine Sarmat, she was the principal author of the plan and told about it at the uh last planning board meeting. She did. She
discussed it and I believe it was submitted to the full planning board for consideration with an opportunity for the members of the public to comment on the plan. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Um, so all those in favor of
approving resolution 98, say I. I. I. Resolution 98 has been approved. May I have a motion to approve resolution 99, which is a resolution approving a temporary arrangement between Sparta Township and Hardison Township designating Hardison Township Fire
Prevention Bureau as the local enforcing agency until the adoption of a formal interlocal agreement. So, I need a motion to approve resolution 99. I make a motion to approve 99. Uh, may I have a second,
please? I'll second. And, um, manager Jeff, can you just explain the purpose of this? Sure. So um our fire marshall who would head up uh the fire prevention services uh for Sparta and we also had a shared service agreement with
Byum uh he recently uh gave his resignation for for the position and with that uh we had to go find future fire prevention services. Unfortunately the township doesn't have another qualified fire marsh fire official
actually is the title they use um uh to pick up that responsibility. So instead, we entered into a shared service with uh Hardistan. Uh the agreement is still being ironed out uh with with my professionals and uh next meeting uh the July 8th meeting, I I expect to have a
formal agreement uh which is a much longer term agreement. Meanwhile, uh Haren uh requires that through resolution. We do a temporary holding one so we can continue to provide those services to uh the businesses and the residents uh starting tomorrow.
So, we had no one that was qualified to take over his position. Correct. No one else has the license. You have to have licenses for it. Um, and this is for like, you know, your smoke smoke certifications. Uh, I know food truck inspections every year have to go
through a fire uh inspection. Uh, there's a lot to it. Um, more than you you'd think when you start driving into it, though. But, uh, it's an essential role in what goes on, especially in the fire prevention world. So, um, I do
believe though, uh, Hardest already services several other towns, and I I I'm I'm I'm pretty uh confident that this will work out well for us. from the uh from the resident, it's probably more important for the long-term arrangement,
but from the resident standpoint or the uh food truck, whoever the customer is, um to them, there's no change in fees. Correct. The fee structure will be the same, but the fee will just go to them. Now, thank you for bringing that up. Honestly, they shouldn't see any difference other than uh the contact
point will be with Hardist instead of Sparta. The fees will remain the same. Uh all that is is unchanged. It just passed through to Hardison and then instead of we keeping it, it just gets passed they get collectically. Okay. Exactly. Is this the person that walks through uh homes before the real estate
closing? Yes. Okay. Yeah. So, you have those uh closings. They're very popular. And is there a term of that we have to abide by? So, for example, if Sparta Township decides, you know what, we want
our own fire official. Uh, we don't we want to stop sharing with Hardison. Are we free to do that at any point or do we have to is this is there a certain term that we have to use? Hard it is written in the agreement and uh I anticipate having that agreement to you folks very
shortly. It's it's uh honestly I had our uh insurance risk manager view it for insurance language. Um, but I will have that out to you soon. I know that the agreement that we had with Byum, it was a 60-day uh um notice. You had to give
them 60 days notice that that you wanted to terminate the agreement. Um I'm trying to remember the one with the hardest I believe had to be uh the November of that year uh so they could prepare in the budgets. Okay. So there is language though towards that that
option. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I think the only, you know, the only concern I would have is that um, you know, I hope just as the fees didn't change, the level of service doesn't change, right? That, you know, now we have, we used to have our own fire official, now we're sharing it
with Hardison. Obviously, the person in Hardison has to do Hardison and now Sparta, uh, only one person. So if there is a demunition in level of service, meaning people are having wait times, uh closings have to get delayed, I hope that you'll keep council apprised of
that so that we can reassess whether we want to continue sharing with Hard. I know that has nothing to do with the qualifications. I think the fire official in Harston will do an amazing job. It's just I'm worried about bandwidth. That's all. They actually have multiple officials. Okay, good. Not
just one because if they do they do other municipalities as well? Yes, they do. And by the way, they're picking up Byron. Byron and Byron. Yeah. Okay. How many do they have? Uh, they're doing themselves and they
have three others. Wage, Sussex, and there's another one. So, and how many fire officials do they have? Um, Franklin, uh, I believe they have three, but they may be picking up another one with these added towns. Um I I it'll be
spelled out in the agreement. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Right. Um all those in favor of resolution 99 say I. I. I. Resolution 99 has passed. Um, may I have a motion to approve
resolution 910, which is a resolution of the township of Sparta awarding the bid for the township of Sparta's contract number CN 25502 for well and pump bid for labor and materials to service and
maintain Sparta Township's water utilities. Make a motion to approve 9-10. Uh, may I have a second, please? I will second resolution 9-10. Okay. Uh, manager Zep, could you tell us uh the purpose of this
resolution? Yeah, this is a standard uh award of bid for uh well and pump services. Uh DPS actually is a local uh uh company out of Sparta. Um what they'll be uh um basically is they'll be our go-to professional services when we
need repairs done to uh the wells. We have uh several many pump houses uh with pumps and wells. Um they're versed in keeping them running and and pumping water. Um and this is for all the uh skilled service work that we can't do in
house. We have the option to go out to the professionals. And so they also have a not to exceed amount on this. Uh and um this is just standard uh uh u necessary uh vendor for for the operation of the water utility and it's
a local yes barter based I believe so okay right any other questions with respect to resolution 910 all those in favor of resolution 910 say I I resolution
910 has passed. Next, uh may I have a motion to approve resolution 911, which is a resolution consenting to the treatment works approval permit application submitted for 33 Pine Cone Lane to the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection. I move that we approve resolution 9-11. And may I have a second, please? I will second. And with Yeah. Well, if you could just explain uh the purpose of this resolution. Is that the house? This
is the lot on the corner. Yes, this is the 7-Eleven. But I look at at at Neil and Dean because uh in the beginning of the year when we do uh TWWA approvals, um you guys had said, "Hey, Jim, as manager, you can sign off on the residential TWWAs, but on the commercial
ones, we want to have council resolution for that, which is uh fine." So, that's what this is. Uh the 7-Eleven is a commercial project uh where they're going to expand uh the building out there uh and they're going to install a new septic bed and um Corey Stoner, our
township engineer, has evaluated the plans. He's evaluated uh uh all the work and he's uh given the green light to uh sign uh um the document. Uh but we need a a resolution through council first. And just to be clear for everyone that
we're not authorizing the development there or even the DP's approval. This is just saying our engineer looked at it. It looks reasonable. The applicant can submit to D and D does their whole analysis and their whole approval process and all that. Right. This is could have said better. Okay. And that's
what and they've blocked it off and they've taken the trucks out of there and it's using the building next door as well. Correct. I'll take your word for it. using that. There are four lots there. There's four lots right there.
Existing 7-Eleven and diagonal side is the Sparta Auto Parts. Behind Sparta Auto Parts and then obvious and then obviously the corner piece. So those four pieces all comprise this new 7-Eleven uh 25. I think it's like a it'll be like
a quick check with a gas gas component and a food component, right? That's the one. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not sure how large lots are, but that's it's that 7-Eleven. Yeah. Okay. This is again not anything to do with zoning or lane use or planning board. This is just saying the applicant engineering standpoint, they
can go to D. D is next step. Okay. Yeah. They'll they'll still be subject to separate approvals for whatever expansion that they want to do. That that's not that's not in our purview. This was approved by the zoning board three and a half years ago. Yeah. They keep getting extensions,
right? Yeah. Yeah. They're on their last one. I understand. on their on their last. They're on their last, right? And again, the town manager does this for all residential ones. It's a no-brainer because the engineer is always involved. It's just that we asked if for commercial ones, we can just get a heads up and have this conversation. Yeah.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All those in favor of resolution 911, say I. I. Resolution 911 has passed. Next, may I have a motion to approve resolution 912, which is a resolution releasing the maintenance bond for White Lake
Technical Center, Aaron Way project? I move that we approve 9-12. And may I have a second, please? I will second that. And if you could, what is the technical center? This is a the business building out on
Aaron Way out by White Lake. Yeah. Right. Right there. So the vendor um Aaron Way LLC right they they have uh established their their building their lots all right and when they you know are building their lots and all that they do a performance bond to make sure
that the roads are in good shape that all the the properties in good shape uh according to the plans that they submitted we go out and inspect and make sure that um it's mostly the road stuff that that I care about the Belgium block the storm water drains they're all
inspected um all the requirements according to the um application. All right. That they're adhered to. Is that the warehouse that's building being built right on the corner? Uh no, because this one's been done. This is done. This is why this is like two years
ago that a lot of I believe it is. I I haven't gone out and looked at it, but I I know what this is. Um the engineer has it's it's up to him. the engineer has has signed off on this and said it's okay to release the performance bond that all all the
requirements have been met, the inspections have been done, and we can release the uh the cash bond of $11,316. Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh any further questions on
resolution 9 12? No. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. I have a question on 911, but can we go? We'll we'll finish 912 right now. Ready? Okay.
All those in favor of resolution 912 say I. I. I. All right. Resolution 912 has passed. With with regards to the 7-Eleven, this is back to 911. the the signage on this since we're
doing the master plan and the signage standards have not fully yet been developed. Does that I'm just trying to understand how this works. Does the 7-Eleven plans go up and they can put whatever sign
whatever sign they have approved already or does that fall under the new master plan? That sounds like a planning board question. Um, and so I don't I couldn't I don't know. Um, okay. Yeah. And again, I I think as uh Councilman Blummedi
clarified that this really doesn't have to do with their actual overall plans for the entire lot. Those are all under separate um proceedings that have to happen. One, this even this uh treatment works approval simply has to be approved
by the D. And then I assume at some point they'll come before the zoning board finally and have an approval process for um whatever uses they're wanting to do, right? Okay. Okay. Thank you. Y
Okay. Did we get through all the resolutions? I think we did. Did and we are now up to council liaison updates. Uh and I will start to my right with Councilman Blumeetti. Uh just a
quick update for the business development committee. We uh have several open volunteer spots available. So if anyone's interested, uh please apply online at uh there's a volunteer application online. The requirements are uh we have monthly meetings. The
requirements are that you are a Sparta resident or you own a business based in Sparta. And there's a meeting coming up this uh this Thursday. How many openings? several. I believe there's four. Four, I believe. So, yeah.
Thank you. And um are we mentioning the openings at the Sparta Chamber breakfastes when they occur? I mean, that would seem to be a captive audience uh to recommend and if someone is interested. Okay, we will next month. Okay.
Right. Deputy Mayor Murphy. any council leaison updates? I do. We have um at the senior advisory committee, they had a presentation by a gentleman from Pikatini who also on the same day there
was uh a tour that you could take of Pikatini. He he did that and then he came flying up to to give a presentation. Um it was really quite well attended. It was at the uh fire
department or the old fire department. Um and it was a historic presentation. It was really it was really quite good. Very nice. And the same people you can get on there and go bus take a bus and
they take you through it. And uh he was a not the official historian but provided a lot of information. It was really everybody enjoyed it. It's really nice. Uh the senior advisory committee,
they they run quite a few events and uh trips that it's all done through the parks and wreck. It's they're doing a great job. Uh with that, I have uh
the Rev 250. They're starting to prep for our 250th anniversary and they're going to be conducting they're looking for trivia nights to be held different places with uh all
historical and events and and questions. So, that will be posted online and sent out to the public as well. There will be a uh they'll have a truck in the parade letting people know they're going to
start out with tavern talks and I believe they'll start in January. The crossing of the Delaware reenactment will be done. I believe it was done on Christmas. So, we're going to try and do that beforehand. Um we're still trying to set that up
because I don't think anybody wants to be crossing through the ice if we have it again this year. Um, so I'll keep you posted on that. Um, with Sparta Day, we had a I mean there was a once the
rain settled and it was a a pretty good turnout for the I was there for the Rev 250 and a lot of people came out to have their picture taken and we had Ben Franklin there all dressed in an authentic costume, handsewn. It was
pretty amazing. um for the environmental committee. We had a rain barrel making right out here on the front front steps of the town hall and we had
several people out there making rain barrels which was everybody so enjoyed to capture the rain and reuse mostly from gutters. Um was very interesting. I think they'll be doing it again next year. uh every was one is invited to
Thursday's meeting where there will be a speaker on deer management because the de d came in and spoke um on deer management and there will be a gentleman coming
to speak. Um, Brian Schum is a representative and he's going to see if we can do anything about de deer management, but I don't know if there is I don't know they're quite creatures of habit and
will continue to return to where they have liked to come before, but it'll everybody's invited to come. The council will is all invited as well. Um, also there will be an ec um a speaker for the
e ecological and wildlife impacts of the DP's the forest stewardship and um the principal speakers for that uh will be Sharon Wander and Aml Devidito and a lot of people we had a
presentation of they're doing a lot of in on Sparta Mountain a lot of the foresting of the trees and uh there's a lot of a lot of concern over it. So we're going to have speakers come and talk and give us the other point of views. So it should be
really interesting for Thursday night here. So people should come and and that's July 10th. Yes. This Thursday. No, no, I'm sorry. July 10th. Yes. Not this Thursday. July 10th.
Yes. I think with respect to the July 10th other than the deer um it was we did have a presentation people will recall uh the D came in and they talked about the uh benefits as they were of the what they call the forest stewardship plan. Um and I I thought it
would be helpful um to bring in folks uh ex you know subject matter experts who have looked at those uh issues uh and and and and they may have a different point of view. Um but that's the purpose of which is to give this council um a
comprehensive view of this stewardship program and and so our residents know too as well. So that's why uh we have the subject matter experts um on both the uh ecology and I think the wildlife as well and which were the two primary
issues that the D was addressing in their presentation to us. See from another viewpoint and that's all I have. Councilman Scott, uh, in addition to the, uh, on the
planning with regard to the planning board, in addition to its normal business of, uh, reviewing subdivisions and and other items the past few weeks, uh, we we spent a lot of time on the housing element report and and going
over that. And I I think that uh, uh, Mr. Warner and Miss Miss Sarnat have delivered a very good report. And I think we're in in good shape. I think we've got it in we got it in on time and all all is good.
Um and that's it right now. Okay. Thank you. Um well, Chamber of Commerce is Are they meeting? They don't usually meet. They meet every th uh I'm sorry, the third Thursday of the month, I believe, at 8 a.m. Okay. At the uh
diner. At the diner. And they may be taking a break over the summer if my I recall. Okay. Okay, that might maybe not. But um All right, so mine um the uh we had the Sparta Trails uh met last uh
Thursday. Um we have uh we're in the process of preparing uh what I'll describe as kind of a punch list which basically means what are the you know tasks that we have to accomplish. Um really logistical ones with respect to
the the some of the trails uh one what we're calling the safe school trail which is the trail that would go from the middle school to the high school. Um I had mentioned before that part of that land that we would use is owned by the New Jersey Lands Trust. Um and so we
have to obviously get permission to use it and we have already done a presentation in front of them. Uh they seem amenable to it. Uh they have to come out and to uh see the land that we want to use from them. they will require
kind of a 5 to one swap, but again, we're talking about the land that's kind of swampy land back there. Um, and it obviously has to be land that, you know, they would has some ecological purpose, which it does. So, we don't think that's going to be a huge lift to do that. Um,
there's also a private property owner there that we'd have to work out an easement with. Um so each of these trails including you know one is the um you know Ogden mine trail. Um that's another one that that we want to work
on. Again you have to think of this as even if it's a three mile one mile trail each part of that trail some of the property be could be owned by the county some of it could be owned by a private property owner. So you have to break up each of them has their own kind of legal
um and regulatory tasks that are necessary in order for us the township to get to use them. So we're um still trying to to uh work on that. Um and we will you know when the when the time comes we'll do a presentation. I think that you know we'll also be looking for
you know funding you know grant funding that may be available for this. So there's there's a lot to be done with it, but we're going to stay on it and um I'm very happy with our trails committee. Um we have a very committed group. Um as I've said before, um you
know, Doug Dystra has been just tremendously helpful um with the surveying and and and and contacting the appropriate authorities that we'll need uh to get this done. But there'll be more updates to come as we make progress
on the film commission. We also met last Thursday. Um I had mentioned before that there was a filming done for a trailer um that was done in Sparta using all local folks. Um that is in now the final
stages of postp production. And so we we've been able to um get some very uh outstanding folks to do some of the post-p production here, including um some, you know, Grammy or Emmy award-winning um colorists. You wouldn't
imagine all the work that goes into editing and even coloring a production like this. So we're it's going to be a very high quality product and we hope to have that released uh like a public viewing uh probably sometime in October,
November. Um so folks can really see what um you know local uh film folks can do. Um there are uh some act some interest from um what I'll say probably
best described as indie movies um coming to Sparta. um you know they'll they'll reach out to us. We find out you know what what's involved. We're not at the application stage yet. Um it's mainly just interest. Um but there's also been
interest about bringing a film festival uh to Sparta. So a lot of these production companies um or movie companies will will sponsor their own um film festival. And so there's a like a horror film festival u that is currently
taking place and I can't remember the name of the New Jersey town, but they're looking to change locations. Um so that we're looking in to see if that's possible. Folks may know that our Sparta stage is already the site of the documentary film festival um that
happens kind of like in May, I believe. And um if you haven't checked that out there, it's really well done. So, that's some additional um things that are coming. One thing that I'm looking into is because as I've gone through this process, there's a lot of talented
people. I I just saw a trailer for a um movie that was put on by a local resident. And you know, the issue isn't the talent and you know, how to get the actors, how to get the the lighting, it's how to get the funding. You know,
where does the money come from? And so I want to reach out to the the state and and understand that whether there's funding in place for some of these townships who've become film ready that the state can then provide you know either low interest loans or something I
mean because it is under the opaces of the economic development um the state economic development fund which as we know provides low interest loans to small businesses um I think it would be appropriate to have the state do that so so that some of these really talented
artists uh can just get some seed money um so they can put their talents, you know, uh to work because the issue is, you know, we have the talent really in Sparta right now to put on a very, you know, high quality product uh and production, but you know, obviously that
that takes money and so um figuring out how to do that um is um is something that I want to look into. Finally, um, as a result of some of the film commission work, the county now, uh, uh,
Sussex County Community College is looking to probably as early as this fall is going to offer a curriculum on uh, artificial intelligence set design, so virtual reality. So now in film, a
lot of what you see on the screen is done via computer. And there are uh a few companies that do this um but there's few people that are trained in it. Um they're they're trained you know primarily on the west coast and there's not a lot of people who know how to do
this on the east coast. Um so one of our film commission members um who is um familiar with this industry has um met with officials at the community college and they will be uh probably starting
curriculum as early as the fall and training students on um artificial intelligence and virtual reality set design. And so that will be an immediate way for folks to get a degree in that um and get put to work right away because
as you know New Jersey is going to continue to be a hub of entertainment production. Um I think right now there are 45 active projects in the state of New Jersey. Um the most recent one um folks may have heard is there is going to be a Bruce Springsteen biopic um that
will probably be released uh in the fall and that follows on the heels of the Bob Dylan biopic. So entertainment production is kind of here to stay in New Jersey. So we might as well start getting folks from New Jersey trained and able to work. So um look forward to more on that.
Um other things I was fortunate to be able to present the um distinguished student awards on behalf of the township uh both at Sparta High School that went to Kira Hines and uh at the Sussex uh
technical school that went um to Liam Henry. These are outstanding students. When you see all the accomplishments of the students, you'll be blown away. And just a real um and also got to participate in the graduation and the honors ceremony that
occurred. We have extremely talented um teachers and administrators at our high school. When you look at what these kids have accomplished, wow. Um really impressive and um my hope is that they'll get, you know, go out and go to
college and and do great things, but come back and bring those talents back to Sparta someday. So, it's it's really impressive um what our students have accomplished. And finally, u I did finally get to do the run for the uh Special Olympics. Uh
that was there's nothing like when you see a whole row of kids at Helen Morgan School screaming and cheering and you know making everyone honk. Um so that was a great thing to see. Don't know if I really appreciated having to do the run from Helen Morgan to St. Ciri, which
seemed like it was constantly uphill, but it was a lot of fun. I mean, and that's not a problem for attorney Dash, but um you know, I I don't quite run as much as he does anymore, so it was a struggle, but it very enjoyable. And so with that, that concludes my council
liaison updates. And so now we're on to unfinished. I have I have one more um that I was I was uh very very proud and pleased to give the award to the student at Pope John and Miss Dangler was just
incredible with all the accolades and the be sports and u scholastic. It was just it was really quite a treat and pleasure to meet her and they had a lovely dinner and uh there's quite a few
people there that I knew. It was they've got a lot of uh tremendous amount of students that received these awards different you know from different corporations from different there's there was quite a few um
scholarships awarded and you're right that they bring their talent back to us. will not wait 20 years like some of us did. But no, it was it was really quite a quite a treat to do that. So, thank you.
Thank you. Any other council leaison updates before we move to unfinished or new business? Okay. Um, Councilman Scott, any unfinished or new business? No, sir. Councilman Deputy Mayor Murphy, any No.
and uh Councilman Blumetti. Yeah, thank you. I had two two items. Uh first is I wanted to convey some of you maybe all of you know this already but former it's about the Sparta sister cities. Uh so former councilman Sharella
had contacted the township uh with an update from the Sparta Institute. If you recall the uh there was plans to have the nation worldwide Sparta Institute Sparta sister city
celebration here in Sparta, New Jersey in 2026. Um unfortunately what he what he found out from Greece was that the uh 2025 celebration is canled and 2026 will not
happen in the US. uh it's being combined with the Academy of Athens who's celebrating a 100th anniversary of their organization and they're going to uh kind of run that event elsewhere. Uh also the the Greek federal government uh
is reviewing hosting annual events in other countries. Period. Full stop. Um especially given world events today and what's happening. So all future events of things like that Sparta Institute, Sparta sister cities will be
under the opaces of the Greek ministry of culture. Um so rather disappointing. I I know there was a lot of work from several different people and groups that were looking forward to hosting something here in 2026. Um but that that's not going to be happening. So that's unfortunately the update there.
Uh one last note on that is he mentioned there is a uh a joint they're looking to create a Sparta Net NE a Spartanet uh community and a committee going forward to keep the different Sparta entities around the world connected still but
they're in the early stages and there's no information yet according to the email about um purpose objectives cadence things like that so there is a I guess a chance for us to stay connected somehow to our fellow uh Sparta entities around the country.
Uh my other my other point is only just I haven't said this in a while just to take a moment to thank all of our employees. Uh some are here today and and others hopefully are watching but just for their ongoing hard work and dedication and commitment. I mean, I know we hear a peace meal now and then, people thanking our employees, but um
it's not always easy and um it's appreciated their perseverance and all their hard work u especially as we uh get into difficult topics at times and difficult situations. So, just a thank you to all our employees. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. and
just a um you know an appreciation for former council person um Tierello who you know took a lot of initiative to do the sister cities uh and I know he was you know championed that conference and sound like forces outside of his control
sort of took over um so that's unfortunate but I think my understanding there's still the sister cities initiative will still remain um despite the conference not going forward in America is that right yeah okay Yeah,
great. Okay. For my uh new business, um I am going to exercise uh my prerogative uh under um New Jersey statute 4055D23B,
which is um the ability to appoint a um class one design to the planning board. Um I the class one member serves at the pleasure of the mayor. Um, and I will be um, right now that person um is Robert
Blekeley. Um, and I will be removing him and putting in uh, Burggot Bulier as the mayor's design. Uh, Burgot had applied for a town council for the appointment. And in reading her resume and her background, she has a masters of public
administration, uh also a bachelor of science and nursing, a bachelor of arts and and political science. uh she's been uh involved in Lake Mohawk, the yacht club, the tennis club, some of the environmental issues with respect to Lake Mohawk, but I think also she was
also a reporter for uh the work advertiser for four years and has covered planning board and town council and sort of knows the ins and outs of how these these boards function. So, I think that um I will exercise my
prerogative and privilege under uh the statute and appoint uh Burgett uh Bulier as the mayor's designate uh going forward for the planning board. And so you'll be removing one of the hardest working men on the planning
board uh because of some kind of uh disagreement or something that you have with him. Um, no. I think that uh I found that uh you know without getting into the personnel uh decisions and and the
deliberate process I I found that uh Miss Bulier's qualifications I think would make her very well suited for this position. And so that I think she will make a fine planning board person. And and this is a a is this a normal policy
that where where we can just take people in and out during the year? a volunteer a volunteer that's spending their time mid year just say, "Hey, thanks a lot. You're done." I mean, my understanding is Mr. Blekeley has missed the last two
planning board meetings. So, I don't I don't know. I mean, you may know his level of commitment, but um if that's one indication that that's not really doesn't really demonstrate it to me. Well, missing two meetings doesn't
constitute removal. again the the the class one designate serves at my pleasure um uh without moved as well. Yeah. if if there's if if there's um conduct that I deem that is
not someone that I think reflects the the mayor's uh position and and particularly with respect to how uh we treat our uh township staff, then I will exercise my prerogative to
remove them. So that's what I'm doing. Well, that's quite an accusation. And I guess we'll talk about that offline. Okay. Any other new council uh new business? Okay. And that's not something that's to be
discussed. That's just your Yep. Really? All right, we are now at the final uh public comment period. Um so again, please state your name and address for the record. Uh and please be mindful of
our five minute limit. I have a lot. This is Jenny Derek's tap into Sparta. Um what are you doing about filling that empty seat? It's been quite a while. You had 11 applicants and there's no movement on fulfilling your obligation
as a Faulner entity. Oh, so we we did have an initial round of uh again we did have a fair number of applicants that was winnowed down um to I think six. Uh we did interview three. Uh but you know trying
to schedule these folks over the summer has been somewhat problematic in addition to trying to get all counsel there. But I think the next interviews are two interviews left. One is two interviews left for the eth and tenatively for the 15th. Okay.
Their schedule where their schedules are. So the 8th and the 15th will be the the last round of interviews. Okay. What is the um expectation for C C renewables? They were hired in 2022. We still don't have the solar project
online bringing the promised revenue to the township. Where are we with that? Lord Nugard, our environmental consultant. Um she and I pester the wetland mitigation council. uh they just
assigned a new individual to that council and I am supposed to hear back this week that we will be get getting our general permit that will allow us to move ahead with the actual um um landfill closure and C is is is right
there watching. I mean that in order for them to move forward, we need to do the closure first. Um they're still highly interested. They they've done a lot of preliminary work. Um that that's what I happen to report.
Thank you. Um with regard to the plan that you approved the um low-income housing plan for what black I can't think of what the name is um at the planning board just to bring to your the just to discuss the um proposed or
the draft resolution at the end. It's the last three pages of the document. There are some misstatements made by Katherine Sarmad at the planning board discussion of that plan prior to the
vote. She indicated that uh the that ordinance that the incentives added to the in to the TC zones throughout the town were part of the 2016 plan when in fact they weren't.
What was part of the 2016 plan or agreement was that we would make the continued commitment to uh incentivize low uh low-income housing. I'm sorry if I'm using the wrong words. Affordable. Affordable. Thank you. Um
so she misrepresented that. I asked I gave her a second chance. I said that really couldn't be the case because the ordinance 20-04 that established those incentives for that Z for those zones was built on your
her uh re um examination report, master plan re-examination report um done in 2019 and from that was built the 2004 ordinance establishing
pretty significant uh incentives 80% impervious coverage 10- foot lot line setback lines 10 and 20 foot setback lines uh four stories and so on when I questioned her about the need for that to continue again she said that it was
part of the 2016 plan that we had to have it and I as I just stated that that is not the case and you can even read the language of 20-04 where it does pull in language from the 2016 agreement. Um, so she misspoke
there. Um, it's part of the plan. You already approved it, but the reason for my question to Miss Sarmad at the moment was to ask her opinion as to whether or not those incentives were still needed based on the fact that there was now a set aside for every residential zone in
the township. Can we then strip out those egregious incentives? She said that she had mitigated those and she committed that she
um lowered the available levels to three stories which was true but she also committed that they re that they expanded the setbacks and that was not true. So, while it I understand it's a draft attached to this document, I do
want to um just point out that that um several misstatements were made at that hearing by Miss Sarmad and encouraged that those um incentives be reviewed prior to that
being codified, the ordinance itself being codified, the one that's a draft at this point and u saying that what is what is our township uh relationship with Miss Armad at this point?
She's the town council planner and affordable housing. Um so she stays on as the town council planner for the town council planner not the planning board planner but the town council planner in the capacity right now we needed uh
professionals like Mr. Warner, Miss Sarmad to assist in the affordable housing. Um, so now that that's done, she still stays on when we have a planner. She's on retainer. Um, I mean, she just doesn't go off. I if I had a
question related to affordable housing, I could pick up the phone and speak to either one of them. But in the past, that role was played by the planner that w had the role for the planning board as well. So, I don't know why we have two. I understand for the affordable housing
that we needed to have continuity in developing that plan, but why do we have two planners? That seems like it would cause some friction. Well, her capacity was more in the affordable housing purview, right? And it it still is. Um meanwhile, most of the planning work is
held done by the planning board planner. So is that her her niche is the plan is the affordable housing plan and then everything else will go to Yes. the planner. Yes. Okay. Thank you for that. Now can we can we remove her if we just
you know don't like her just like we did you know we can do planning board members. That would be for the council to discuss. Okay. Well, first I want to say I mean with with not with Miss Armad not being here, I don't think I I can't
comment on um uh what uh Miss Derek said about supposed misstatements. I will say uh with respect to the fair housing plan that was prepared uh by her and uh Mr. Warner. Um, you know, our affordable
housing obligation that went from the DCA went down 25% uh from 400 down to 311. And then my understanding, if I'm right, that due to what's called a durational adjustment, which essentially
is the town's ability to actually provide the infrastructure for affordable housing, am I right that that went down to to about 2.6 acres? Is that uh your understanding, Mr. Dash? The um
yes, for the vacant land, the the report concluded that there would be 2.7 acres of developable land in Sparta using the durational adjustment because of the sewer and sew lack of sewer and sewage capacity. Okay. And that was put in our
plan. Um and so again, it it that winnows it down further. And so that 311 is not a number that says you have to build this as soon as possible. You have to provide a reasonable opportunity. And even that has been diminished further
due to uh Mr. Warner, Mr. Sharmad's work down to 2.6 acres. 2.7 acres. Correct. Okay. So, I mean, you know, whether the necessity of these incentives, I don't know if they impacted our ability
to winnow down the available acreage. You know, whether whether or not those incentives are needed or not, I think the ability to winnow this down to 2.7 acres is is a pretty darn good accomplishment. And so, I will commend her and and Mr. Warner for that.
Yeah, I would agree totally. Yeah, having worked with uh Mr. Mod, Mr. Warner, and the other professionals throughout the process. Um, and Jim was there too. But I don't think we're there to debate that right now. I think that's common knowledge that it was a superb
job um in all the work that was done. But I think a re-examination of whether these incentives are still necessary or not is is probably something we should address. Yeah. Yeah. And there was discussion around that and about changing what's not needed any longer. So that's
okay. Will the new appointee to the planning board will she be working on the minor site plan committee because Mr. Mr. Blekeley goes to that? I think that's every other week and uh takes an immense amount of time. Will that uh will the
new appointee be committing to that? Well, that's the that's if the planning board wants her on there, that that's something that they can address with her. Not I mean, I can't assign her to the minor site plan. Is he taken off the minor site plan committee as well? Was not on planning
board. So, yes. Yeah. And the minor site plan subcommittee has to have as one of its members either the council member that be Mark or the mayor's designate. Let's be crystal clear. I'm not doing it. So, you can make it the mayor's designate.
Okay. Um, and that closes our last public session. Uh, may I have a motion to adjurnn? So, moved. Uh, may I have a second, please? I will second. All those in favor say I. I. I. All right. We are adjourned.