All set. Good evening. This meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 and adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a notice sent to the star ledger the local source and posted in the main lobby of
the municipal building and on the township website. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Please remain standing for Muslers here abroad. Thank you. Roll call. >> Not here. here
>> proclamations and announcements. Springfield 55 plus residents calendar is out for December leaf collection start on Monday, November 3rd through December 31st. Only
grass and leaves will be collected. No branches or sticks. Please keep all leaves no closer than 10 feet from the storm drain or catch basin. Town hall will be closed on November
27th and 28th for Thanksgiving. 2025 tree lighting is next Wednesday. Is it next Wednesday? >> Wednesday. Is it Wednesday, December 3rd, 5:30 to 8 outside of town hall rain will be December 4th.
Mobile shedding shredding event Saturday, December 6th from 9 to 1 at Springfield Pool, 45 Mars uh Road, residents only with no businesses, a maximum of five bags per car.
Bulk pickup is Wednesday, December 10th. Please have all items out by Tuesday evening. All right. Uh, Re Across America is Saturday, December 13th at noon. First Pres First Presbyterian Church.
Uh, 13th annual Monural Lighting Sunday, December 14th at 5 Veterans Memorial Park. Rabbi clinic. >> Uh, >> not Rabbi, not a rabbi clinic. Mr.
>> Rab rabbit. >> Yeah, >> I'm sorry. At uh at Chism Community Center, Saturday, January 10th, 10 to noon. Use back parking lot and enter by ramp close to the playground. Dogs must
be leashed and cats and carriers. Okay. Residents with a garbage and recycling pickup on Thursday will be rescheduled for this week. Recycling will be collected on Friday,
November 28th, and garbage will be picked up on Saturday, November 29th. All right, Santa is coming to town on Saturday, December 6th from 8 to 4. Rain date is December 13th.
Next committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 16th. This will be the last regular committee meeting of 2020. The township extended his condolences to a family of retired police chief William
Chisum on the passing of his brother John Chisum, 78 on November 12th. John Chisum was born and raised in Springfield and retired as a captain of the Elizabeth Detective Bureau in 2010 after 36 years of service.
Um, all right. Public comment on agenda items only. Okay, seeing none reports. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Couple items. I just wanted to make a point. Recycling collection. Thursday's recycling
collection is moved to Friday the 28th. Thursday's garbage is moved to Saturday the 29th. Just so that's clear. I also wanted to comment on bulk. Pickup is 1210. Uh residents are allowed to put out three foot wide by three foot high
by 12 foot long. Uh and it's the following items are restricted. You cannot put out no construction material, no plast, no black plastic bags, no fluid of any kind, no vegetative waste, tires, rocks, stones, etc. or electronics.
So just make sure none of that is in there because if it is, it will not be picked up. Uh let's talk about leaf collection. Again, I just wanted to make another point. We've posted this on the town website site and Facebook where we are. We're currently in zones three and four. Piles with brush of any kind is
unacceptable be passed over. A letter will be left. You have to remove that debris and then we'll come back and collect it at another time. So, just make sure that is is done. Um street renovations. We ended up paving two additional streets in November, Dayton
Court and Lincoln Place for a total of 21 streets renovated for 2025. We also received our DOT grant which we were waiting for, New Jersey DOT for fiscal year 2026
and that's $323,000 and that's for repaving of Lindenav and Wabino. So we'll be doing that sometime next year. I want to talk about the covert replacement down the street on Caldwell. We started
that was started on Monday. I think everybody knows, but actually we have not gotten a lot of push back on it. They did a nice job of making sure it was open by 3:00. They closed the street at 8. They opened it up at 3. Uh they
got a temporary bypass because of the water mane that they're working on. Now, they did run into a problem in in one of the valves. They now have to dig up the intersection of Salter and Brookke and Keeler and Brookke. They're going to dig an 8 by 8 ft pit in order to get down
and replace the valves there. That's going to occur. It's going to start in the next two weeks. By the end of the month, hopefully this phase of the project is completed. We're looking at the county then coming in in January and we're looking at probably two to three
months is their best guesstimate at the moment. But as we get more info, we'll put it out. Don't hold us to that because they're not our dates. Just want to make sure we're clear on that. Um, we did have a letter I wanted to bring up because I know Committeeman Weber, you
brought this up about the um the senior bus. I had the senior bus taken over to our mechanic. Manny went over it mechanically, made sure that everything was operating properly. got a bunch of rattles in it and a lot of it is caused by the wheelchair apparatus in the back.
So, he tried to tighten that up and kind of tie it down a little bit more. But the thing that that he did bring up, he said these buses are hard riding. There's nothing you could do about it. He checked the suspension, the shocks, etc., etc. There's nothing wrong with
the bus. Now, we also have told I was discussing this with a a Miss Anne King. What I I said to her is that when they go on an extended trip where it's not just around town, if we can flip-flop and use the Jity that we use for going
to the the train station, we'll we'll try to give them a chance at at getting in that bus. We do have a brand new van, but I don't think that's going to be convenient for the seniors trying to climb in and out. So, we're going to try to uh share the new bus. So, we will do
that. um our our developments that are going on. We were up at Gome several times this week. We had some issues there again that are being addressed. Uh there was some problems with dirt washing away where the Belgium block and
the paving is. So they've got to actually dig that out and put a new footing in. Mike Disco is going to get that taken care of. Our engineer, so that will be done. Um, we've got inspections scheduled. Again, I don't know when he's going to be ready for
final inspections or CO. We're kind of waiting on him. We continue to stay after him. We're still We've been in court again several times, so we'll continue down that road and do what we have to do. As far as our other developments go, I I think if anybody
has seen Patriot Way, they're closed in. So, during the winter, they're going to be able to work inside. So, they're moving along at a great clip there. And um Scotty's has been demolished. We're talking to the the developer on
that. Actually, yesterday we met with him to make sure that everything has been completed. So, we've got a couple items that are still open. There's a traffic study that needs to be done. A couple other small things, but all in all, he's he's ready to go. So, we're making progress there.
I think that's about it for the moment. Unless anybody has any questions or comments or I'd be happy to answer. >> Good. Thank you. >> All right. Minutes. None. New business.
>> My microphone. >> Okay. We have for second reading ordinance 202519. This ordinance amends the provisions at chapter 4 general licensing of the township code to include provisions
governing redemption amusement devices. >> Have a motion. >> I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance 2020-9 as read by Madame Clark with publication in the local source on December 4th, 2025. >> Second.
All right. Public uh >> public hearing. Anybody want to say anything about it? >> See, open it to the public to the public. >> Okay. I'll do a roll call. Uh Committeeman Kaiser.
>> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Laugher. >> Yes. >> Committeeman Weber. >> Yes. >> Mayor Huber. >> Yes. for second reading ordinance 202520. This ordinance amends the township code to include restrictions on the
distribution of singleuse food service items by food and beverage providers unless requested by a customer. >> I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance 2025-20 as read by madame clerk with publication in the local source on December 4th, 2025.
Second public. Open to the public. See none. Where's the public? >> Committeeman Kaiser. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Laugher. >> Yes. >> Committeeman Weber. >> Yes.
>> Mayor Yuber. And for first reading, we have ordinance 202522. This ordinance amends the provisions of the township code to create the position of operational support specialist police department.
Make a motion to adopt resolution uh ordinance 2025-22 as read by Madame Clark publicized in a local source December 4th, 2025 with final hearing on December 16, 2025. Second
>> discussion. >> This is just part of the table of uh reorganization for the police department. Additional >> position needed but it will be >> time and building with this is yeah this is basically this is creating a position
for which there there are current duties that are being performed but those duties aren't really on any in any recognized title. Uh, so this creates that title and there is already an individual performing these duties. >> Um, roll call.
>> Committeeman Weber. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Laer. >> Yes. >> Committeeman Kaiser. >> Yes. >> Mayor Huber. >> Yes. >> Resolutions. I'll read them off. 2025 282.
If you want any poll, let me know. 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290
291 292 293 294 Uh, I'll make a motion to adopt the following resolutions by consent agenda. Resolution 2025-282
through resolution 2025-294. >> Second. >> Committeeman Kaiser. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Laugher. >> Yes. >> Committeeman Weber. >> Yes. >> Mayor Yuber. >> Yes. um
discussion and action items. >> Uh Mr. Mayor, I would like to approve a request from Kabad of Springfield to hold the 13th annual Manora lighting on Sunday, December 14th at 5:00 p.m. at Veterans Park with a bucket lift and
presence from the auxiliary police. Upon approval, hold harmless and certificate of insurance will be provided. >> Second. >> Deputy Mayor Laugher. >> Yes. >> Committeeman Weber. >> Yes. >> Committeeman Kaiser. >> Yes. >> Mayor Yuber.
>> The only thing I'm going to say about that is I know this week they're starting to have a lot of winds in that, but there it's going to call for winds and I don't know how religious it is in that. >> Yeah. I I mean they'll they'll obviously defer to safety. Um, you know, Robbie's
over there, PD is over there. Like, it's it's it's a very well uh attended and supervised event. I just love how I get the manora on the agenda. It's great. Um, uh, people who realize that we will call it
off if it is too windy. >> All right. Finance. Uh, I'll make a motion to adopt payroll and invoices for the period of November 13th, 2025 through November 25th, 2025 in the amount of 9,153,29424.
>> Second. >> Committeeman Kaiser. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Laler. >> Yes. >> Committeeman Weber. >> Yes. >> Mayor Yuber. >> Yes. We have some correspondence from Westfield addition of ordinance 2025-23
then use of provision of bike bicycle parking and intro of ordinance 2025-24 then use requiring issuance of zone permit.
All right. public comment on any governmental issue. >> Anybody from the public want to come up? >> Come up and talk. Go ahead. >> Uh, good evening. My name is Bruce Jeffrey. >> Address,
>> uh, 52 Milbourne Avenue, Springfield. And I would just like to note um if you need to get in touch with me that's my address 52 Milurn. Um I want to give a little history as to
why I'm here. Um I see there's a chart. You speak into the microphone so we >> Yes. >> Am I limited to the amount of time? >> What >> am I limited? >> Yes. >> Four minutes. >> Four minutes. >> Four minutes. We You know.
>> Okay. I'll be quick. I own four buildings in town. Uh one of which is 223 Mountain Avenue, 518 Milurn Milbourne Avenue, 52 um Milbour Avenue, 246 Mountain Avenue. I got it right. On this building here, uh 223 Mountain
Avenue. I just recently purchased a building over here at 246 Mountain Avenue. Um I have no problem with the park. I'd like to oppose any consideration removal of the street at the traffic light.
Um it will affect my valuation of the building. It will affect my tenants. We have to renegotiate with my tenants. Um they're going to say I took away uh secondary tertiary access. Uh if anybody travels this area about a quarter to three I think is when the school lets
out. Uh there's many residents uh that park I'm sorry there's many uh uh Thank you. Uh the parents are back here along Oakland Avenue. And if you remove the ability for them to access out to um Mountain Avenue, we're going to end up
either my parking lot or the other side which I believe is Waverly. This is going to cause issues with my uh tenants. Currently, my refuge company pulls in this way and travels around backs into the garbage corral. It's going to re it's going to create havoc
with my parking circulation. The trucks are now going to have to travel all the way around early in the morning, disturb all your uh residents coming to the site. Um, and as far as my background in town, I grew up in Springfield. Um, used to be a
bowling alley back here. There used to be a car over here. train tracks going across Mountain Avenue. I lived here for about 30 years. Went to high school, middle school. I know the township township has some issues downtown. I'm not going to address it. When I came into town, I bought 518 Milurn Avenue.
It was mostly vacant. I spent considerable money renovating it. Mountain Avenue was mostly vacant. I spent $100,000 renovating it. Uh 246 Mountain Avenue. I plan on putting a new skin on the building, renovating it.
Very conscious about my tenants. Um, as far as the mix, I do the right thing, maintain my properties, curb appeal, I plow the snow, I put roofs on the buildings, u make sure the landscaping's um, proper, and uh, I would be very very
disappointed if there's any consideration about uh, taking away that intersection. >> We had a meeting How about we sh whatever it was and we asked the public what they want. It was you know we weren't we aren't just going
to say that we're doing this and that's it. We wanted everybody's opinion. >> I was not here. I think you had two meetings. I was out of town. >> Okay. You know nothing is decided. >> I understand that. Um but the best I can without uh lowering up I would like to
discourage the council uh from that consideration. It's just not the right thing to do. >> Can I ask you why it's not the right thing to do? >> I just mentioned three reasons. I could keep mentioning them, >> but that's that's your own personal reasons. >> I think it's a very >> That's not community reasons or township reasons.
>> Well, one is where the parents going to stack the cars to pick up the kids. It's going to devalue the property. >> Is it really? >> Uh, yes. >> My my counters to that I I'll tell you that my counters to that is that kids queuing up in the middle of the street is not a safe issue. Now, now I'm going
to give you a little insight real quick because we did a traffic study on your property and both of them and and and again I I understand exactly what what you're saying, but
in seven days 7 days only 1,000 cars used Oakland. >> Mhm. In four days, 1,600 cars used >> Waverly >> because most people do not want to wait for the light and we find that they're
going out of Waverly like we kind of thought they were. Majority of your people are using Waverly. >> Okay. >> And that then that's a and I I can email you the copy of the study if you want. >> Um, no, I believe you. Um, I've been a a landlord for about 30 years. I have
hundreds of tenants. uh been a broker, commercial broker. Um specializ in store leasing, did a lot of leasing on on the highway in Route 22. I know Springfield. I know retail. This is what I do for a living. Uh we can have a difference opinion, right? I would argue it. Uh your statistics might be correct. I just
know that uh my bank will leave me and somebody tends to complain. Why? Because they can. It's not the right thing to do. No issues with the park, but you're removing a traffic light that accesses the property. Um, it's just not the right thing to do. I bought the building
because there was a traffic light there. I bought the building across the street. I saw an opportunity there to improve it to increase the tax base in the township because when you when you renovate a building and you create value and you can charge a few more bucks for tenants. Um, it's good for the tax base. The
township can now charge the landlord more taxes. It's that simple. I got four buildings in town. Used to own more. I believe that uh what township's considering is just not the right thing to do. Yes, I am biased. I own the building there. I own the building across the street. I moved my office to
Springfield. I'm doing all this for a reason. I used to own a lot of buildings in Milbour. Milbour couldn't get out of their own way. If you remember when they put these sidewalks in and they had all that parallel parking >> I got out of town quick. The township said, "Why are you leaving?" I sold four buildings. I got two more to go and I'm
out of that town. They made they I believe and they did studies a lot of studies. They spent millions of dollars and it all went out the window. Now they put it back the way it was. And if you look at Milbourne, one of the highest per capita uh towns in the state um it's
not Westfield, it's not Summit, it's not Cadam. I mean, look what's around us. >> No, actually I I I will push back on that because if you look at their downtown, you don't think that their downtown is doing phenomenally well? of you I I don't know have you gone on a
weekend when when Milbour standard the restaurants are packed and you cannot get in. So I push back on that. I mean I think your narrative is wrong. The whole narrative that that that that an individual I applaud you to make those investments in your buildings. That's
what you should be doing as a landlord. >> Okay. I agree with you 100%. But it could be better. It could be substantially better. I'm not here to debate you. I just know that Milbourne lacks franchise natural chains whe they want it or not. If you speak to the tenants along Milbourne Avenue, especially center of town, I had
purchased old Wilbur's building. I renovated it. It's not what it could be. It's not Redbank. It's not Westfield. It's not Rididgewood. Springfield, Milbour, and some other towns just lack certain things. Um they have the infrastructure. You have Marsh Avenue. You have Route 22. Where else do you
know in the country has a center island? Route 22 Springfield Union. Um there's nothing else like that for the most part in the entire country. Um but I'm my my >> I think you're I think you're I think you're diverging past where you claim to
to discuss. I would like you to please focus on the Oakland Avenue intersection. Can you do that, sir? Thank you. >> I and I believe your time is running though. >> Okay. Um, I think uh I'm primary here because I think it'll devalue the asset.
Um, I spend a lot of money in town. That would discourage me tremendously. Um, as I mentioned to you before, um, without repeating myself, I'm very conscious of the tenants. I put in the buildings. I work with the tenants. I maintain the properties. You buy, you drive by any one of my properties, um, they're
wellmaintained, okay? I'm very responsive. I have no violations. I've never been brought to court. I do the right thing. I personally believe that that will hurt me when that garbage truck makes that cir umh comes down waving circles around those tenants are going to have an issue.
>> Why would he have why couldn't he just go through your lot on on the side over there on the top >> because they have to back into the corral. >> How does he get in when you say up top saying >> circul it's circulation it's disruptive. Everything seems to work now. I I just
don't understand why it's so important for consideration to close off the street. I just don't I just don't get it. Again, I could be wrong. I've been wrong before. >> I didn't get to where I am in life making more bad mistakes than good mistakes. >> Making good >> We're not trying to make any bad mistakes for the township or for
>> Just giving my opinion. I could be wrong. >> Hear you on that one. And and we could be wrong also. I I completely acknowledge that. >> Also, the building has some some issues. Um the parking in the back of the building is not front parking. in the back and there steps. >> I've been very conscious not to put
high-end I'm sorry, not to put restaurants in there. They have grills. Reason being is they have garbage that they're going to have to take down a couple steps across the parking lot garbage. You're going to have grease trails. It's not like most others. The
asset itself has some some compromising issues. And again, I just ask for consideration. I've not put those types of tenants in these buildings because it doesn't work for them. when we we're going to have another meeting
on it before we make final decision and um just check with the clerk that come and bring it up again or most people will be here. >> Okay, I uh any other questions? No, >> thank you for your time. >> Appreciate your input.
>> Thank you for your time. >> Anyone else for that? Uh before we adjourn, I just want to uh recognize and offer condolences to Rabbi Ha Marcus of uh Congregation Israel. His
father passed away. Um and we as a township wish him a sincere condolence. Um and uh we are with him as a community through his tough time. Uh, tomorrow they'll be having a a shiva
at Congregation Beth Israel from 9:00 till I believe 900 p.m. >> Yep. >> Police department will we're expecting a lot of traffic. You guys will have all that handled for us. >> Appreciate it. Um,
he's a he's a great guy. You know, we're we're very lucky and and I guess most towns are. You don't get into the the business of being clergy if you're not a u >> sensitive caring kind of person. And and
we're we're you know I I've known him for a lot of years and and he's one of the best people that uh one of the best people that I know. Very optimistic on on just everything. So uh we're sorry about that.
>> Condolences. All right. There will be no executive session tonight. We will, but we will not have it. Anybody else anything to say? >> Happy Thanksgiving to >> Yep. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Motion to adjurnn.
>> Motion. Second. All >> in favor? >> I