February 25th, 2026. Further notified by public issued on March 11, 2026. Setting a copy to the newspapers officially designated for 2026 by way of resolution number 2-26. Fing copy of the township clerk's office posting on the municipal building bulletin board. The mayor hereby directs that this statement be included in the
minutes. I uh believe we were going to start off with the presentation, but I think legal counsel had a >> Sure. We're going to do our presentations first and uh we may have to do a legal matter in the middle of the meeting. We'll take a look on the litigation. March uh welcome to everyone to March 16th, 2026 7 p.m. budget and
open session meeting. Township administration president at tonight's meeting are Jaclyn Hashman, our township manager. Doug Rion, township clerk de is not in right now. She's not here tonight. Scott Salman, our township attorney. Mike Ash, our redevelopment attorney. Ron Goodman, our volunteer
cable master. For the public's information, we're currently holding a hybrid format meeting. We have people in person and on Zoom. If our Wi-Fi building has an issue with the Zoom meeting drops, we will aim to retrieve the connection and continue the meeting. If you haven't yet, please sign
up for signed up for web site updates and alerts, please do so now. The township council is having a special meeting on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. on Zoom to continue addressing our fourth round affordable housing obligations. The next budget meeting is
Thursday, March 26th at 7 p.m. here in the council chambers. The scheduled March 31st council meeting has been cancelled. The next regular council meeting will be on Tuesday, April 14th, starting at 6:30 with public portion at 8:00 p.m. Uh we did not yet meet in close session, though we may be
adjourning for a brief uh close session later on in the meeting on a litigation matter. Uh with that, Mr. Clerk, I think we are we have a presentation tonight. New Jersey, >> we have a representative from the New Jersey Film Commission with us. Elizabeth, if that's you, please raise
your hand. There she is. One second. Sorry, I see you, Elizabeth. Sorry. Hello, Elizabeth from the New Jersey Film Commission. I think you should see the ability to share your screen. >> I do. And can you hear me
>> loud and clear, Miss? >> Oh, wonderful. Give me just a second. I'm going to share my screen. Okay. Can you see my screen? >> Yes, indeed. >> All right. Wonderful. >> Are you able to maybe uh rip that into
full screen, my friend? >> Okay, hold on. Yes. Hey. >> Okay, >> perfect. Whenever you're ready, my friend. >> Okay. Uh, let's see here.
Actually, I need to move back. Oh my gosh. Am I still sharing? I'm so sorry. I'm working this. >> It's No, no, no. It's all good. If you want to just share from the screen that you have right now, that's fine. You could do the presentation from what you have right now. If like you're putting
it in presentation mode and it's messing with your view, you could just do it from the screen. >> Can you Can you What can you see right now? The >> We see your cover page. >> Okay. All right. So, um we're going to start here. Okay. So, greetings
everyone. Uh, thank you so much for the time that you um afforded me today and greetings on behalf of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission and greetings to you, Mayor Schwarz and Deputy Mayor Belchure and council members. Uh, thank you so much
for this time. It's a very exciting time in the state of New Jersey as it relates to the film and television industry. We are seeing a lot of excitement and a lot of growth. The state of New Jersey has gone from being North America's eighth
largest production hub to nearly the third busiest location for film and television production. The estimated total instate yearly spend has risen from $592 million in 2023 to $833
million in 2024, which represents a phenomenal 41% rise in production in a year that saw nearly all our top competitor competitors, California, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and Toronto experienced
declines. Employment growth told the same story. The number of crew members hired in New Jersey nearly doubled, climbing from 17,000 in 2023 to 30,000 in 2024. In 2025, the momentum showed no
signs of a slowdown. More than 60 productions were eligible for the state's incentive program, setting the stage for another record-breaking year. At the same time, we've had long-term infrastructure investments that are transforming New Jersey into one of the
premier production hubs um in the world and are set to continue growth in the state's estimated total instate spend. With that in mind, the Film Ready New Jersey program in partnership with the state of New of New Jersey attorney
general's office spent part of 2024 enhancing the program to strengthen New Jersey's appeal to studios by creating greater statewide consistency with our important county and local government partners like you. We expanded the film
ready community program which now includes counties and anyone any town that is interested in the program and we equip you with the tools, the training, the visibility to attract production, support local businesses and showcase
the very best of the garden state on screen. With that in mind and going back to um our qualified spend, we saw a 70% increase from 2023 to 2025. Some of our
large projects included Netflix projects 824, Lionsgate, Amazon, um NBC Universal, and then our estimated total tax incentive pro projects from 2021 to 2025 saw a 41% increase between the
years 2023 and 2025. That's our um that's how that's our macro number. That's our highest level. That's our but how does what does that equate to as far as projects? We me we don't really necessarily track projects by location
which we are continue we are building that that application out where we'll be able to do that but I wanted to give you a little case study here. I'm sure you all heard of happy Gilmore 2. That was one of the biggest projects that debuted um on Netflix last year. It was New
Jersey's single single biggest estimated instate expenditure project. What does that equate to that $164 million that they spent in the state? Most of that was in location fees and rentals. What does that mean? Location fees and
rentals mean like locations like um businesses and um courouses and all types of locations that you can find within a community. Communities just like T-C. We spent um over $8 million in
set design for production meals that um frequented a lot of the catering and restaurants that were in the town. They spent over $1 million. They spent over $1 million for car rentals. Your hotels and housings because when productions come to your town, they have to you have
to feed a crew. You have to house a crew. Um they spend again over $1 million for that as well. as well as ground transportation over $800,000 for police and firemen over $500,000 gas and oil $200,000 security $300,000.
That was one project in the state of New Jersey. And so we're very excited about the opportunities that the film ready program brings to communities and brings to uh communities like T-neck as well as other film ready communities around the
state of New Jersey. Um, just to give you this is our dashboard. I know I have just a little bit of time here, but our dashboard here shows that since the inception of this program, we've hosted about nine workshops. To date, we have 58 total certified localities. We've
approved over 37 um localities just within the last year. And we have about 75 localities that are in the queue that are going through the process right now. You may see that little yellow dot right there. That would be T-neck. that represents uh once we were once we're
able to get T- neck into the film ready program and we we really appreciate the enthu enthusiasm and wanting to partner with us in this program. That's where T-neck is located. You see all these little red dots here that represents um our new localities that have recently
joined the film ready program and so is very much concentrated in North Jersey, Central Jersey. We're starting to spread out into the southern part of the state as well. Uh but we're very excited about um growing our film ready New Jersey program and we I invite you for you know
to ask any questions at this time. >> Yeah. >> I I just have one question. Do you know offh hand what um most municipalities are charging per day if Happy Gilmore paid $18.2 million for a location.
the the proposed ordinance that we have is for $500 a day. Um what what do they normally spend in a municipality >> as far as it well currently our film ready program is designed to bring consistencies to the state of New
Jerseys and its localities that includes municipalities as well as counties. So right now if you were to join the film ready program we have a set fee schedule. That set fee schedule includes what you the cap of what you can charge
as a daily filming fee based upon if a project is a major motion picture, which we define as $20 million or above. Anything that is less than $20 million, you would charge a daily filming fee of $150. If you're in that major motion mo
major motion picture um arena, then you you can charge up to $500 a day. There are some um localities that you may have seen that have different uh daily filming fees right now. Most of those
localities are going through the reertification process. Their their film ready status is up for reertification this month. And so in order to maintain that film ready status, they will be go they're going through that reertification process and changing and
amended their ordinance to align with the film ready programs fee schedule which has those caps of $150 daily filming fee under 20 million and then $500 per day for major motion pictures for $20 million and above. So if we
joined film ready, we could only charge 500 a day. If we didn't and we didn't pass this ordinance, we could charge more. >> Essentially, you could charge whatever you want, but but to be in the film ready program, which has been um our
previous governor, Governor Murphy, uh coined it and said that the film ready program gets you that gold badge. That gold badge has been recogni recognized in Hollywood and in the film industry and they recognize now the film ready program and has been seen as a gold
banner, a gold standard in the state of New Jersey. We've recently heard from several major studios. We do a lot of business attraction with the big five studio studios and other studios as well and they said that they're looking for that gold badge for uh communities that
they want to film in because they know that they're getting consistency. They know that what they're getting when they're coming into a town and they know that there's a framework that's in place where they don't have to navigate uh you know 500 and semide rules as well
as uh varying fees. So the film ready program has really been able to attract um New Jersey and solidify New Jersey as one of the premier filming destinations in addition to our other um major pillars like our tax incentive program and our locations.
Any other questions? >> Okay. Uh yeah, Liz, I just want to thank you so much for coming out and uh speaking to all of us about um how Tina can become film ready and how we can begin to uh prepare ourselves and position ourselves for for all of the
the various studios that have entered into our state and how this program will will make us ready to to be able to attract the types of projects that uh I think our residents and um our businesses can all benefit from. So, thank you very much for your
presentation tonight. >> Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank Deputy Mayor Belchure for spearheading this, but I also want to thank you, Elizabeth, because uh I used to work with Elizabeth 25 years ago in the state house, and she knows the ins and outs of the film industry in New Jersey, and she's an excellent guide when it comes to
anything along these lines. So, thank you, Elizabeth, for your help. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Yeah, I'd like to echo um Mayor Pagan's comments. I'd like to thank Deputy Mayor Belure as well. Um, and also thank you Elizabeth for your work. I think that
this is great. This is great for Tene for an additional revenue source. I think it's great for Tene for exposure and you know it's a lot of fun. Um, so I I I I would like I would support something like this that would help bring in um more opportunities in Tene
for filming. I know Dean used to chase after them as well um and I thought that they were really wonderful. So, I still enjoy Family Man to be honest with you, even though some of the houses didn't exactly appreciate some of the snow. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you so much, >> Elizabeth. Thank you very much. >> Yes. And I would say that in the interest of uh the fact that many of us watched the Oscars last night, I'd like to make a motion that we adopt the uh film ready initiative for our township.
>> It's it's it's right here. It said it's already on listed the end, I believe. Okay. So, I >> happy to sign that later for you. >> Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Elizabeth. Have a good night. >> Thank you, Elizabeth. >> Thanks again, Elizabeth. >> Thanks so much. >> Right. Good. Okay. Uh we'll head into
budget discussion now. After budget discussion, I know the u the budget subcommittee is meeting tomorrow morning at at noon. Meeting tomorrow at noon to review whatever you presented and to start uh chipping that away. And then
after that, we'll head to public hearing or adoption of ordinances to which the public will have time to discuss the ordinances that are on the docket for tonight. After that, we'll vote on the ordinances. We'll go to good and welfare thereafter. A few other housekeeping items, resolutions, and introduction of new ordinances.
But do you want to do close session hour or after the budget discussion? >> Either one. >> We'll do it after the budget. Right. Excellent. So, we're going to take a brief uh few minutes after the budget to go into the side room just on a litigation matter. Okay. Mr. Manager, take it away. Good evening, mayor and council and
township residents. Before we begin the PowerPoint presentation, I want to acknowledge that this year's municipal budget was just as challenging, if not more challenging, than our 2025 budget. The process required us to navigate a number of significant financial
pressures that municipalities across the state are currently facing. As we began developing the budget, early projections indicated that we could be facing an increase in the range of 15 to 18%. Driven by health care costs, rising operational costs, contractual
obligations, and continued demand on municipal services and infrastructure. Recognizing the impact that such an increase would have on our residents, our CFO, auditor, and I have spent many weeks carefully reviewing every department, every line item, and every
operational need. Through that process, we worked with each department to identify efficiencies, make responsible adjustments, and ensure we are managing taxpayer dollars as carefully as possible. As a result of that work, the budget we are presenting this evening
does reflect a significant increase, but it is a meaningful reduction from where we initially projected we might land. Tonight, I will walk you through the key factors that shaped this year's BR budget as we continue to take responsible steps to manage the township's annual budgets for the
future. With that, I will now begin the proposed 2026 municipal budget presentation. Next slide. an overview that as an overview this outlines our budget presentation process. Department heads are required to submit their department budgets in
September of 2025. The CFO and I have a first look at the department's request and if there are any line items that need further discussion, we meet with that department head to further discuss any changes. Our budget hearings were then scheduled the week of November 3rd,
2025. During the meetings on February 10th and February 24th, our budget was listed on the council meeting agenda for public input. Then in March of 2026, the CFO, auditor, and I conduct budget review to further
refine and define where we are headed. The annual debt statement was due and submitted on January 31st. Next slide. The annual financial statement was due on March 10th, which was also submitted on time. Next is in my next is my budget
presentation to council on February 27th or next meeting date which is today. Our budget subcommittee will then meet prior to March 27th to review the presented budget. On March 26th, we have a scheduled budget meeting. Council's introduction
of the 2026 budget is due on March 31st or the next meeting. So since our meeting for March 31st is canled, we will prepare to introduce on April 14th. That being said, the hearing and adoption of the 2026 municipal budget is due on April 30th or the next meeting
which will be May 19th for us. Next slide. Our our 2026 budget is dependent on council determination of the 2026 municipal budget appropriations, fund balance available for 2026,
2025 municipal revenues analysis and 2026 revenue anticipations, state 8 allocations for 2026 and special emergency financing for terminal leave. Next slide. This slide provides you with defining
the following. Appropriations, what the municipality intends to spend on operational costs. Revenues, what the municipality earns through various fees, and the collection of taxes. The rate is the amount of taxes to be raised, the net property valuation. Simply stated,
the tax rate is a percentage of your property value that you are taxed on. Next slide. This slide represents the 2025 tax breakdown. Total property taxes were 193,376,8820. Proposed budget refers to the municipal
portion of taxes only. The board of education and county taxes are separate from the municipal portion. All taxes are paid to and collected by our tax collection office. Taxes are forwarded to all taxing entities bi-weekly and quarterly.
Municipal tax breakdown comparison 38% in 1943 versus 33% in 2026. The next two slides will go over the known impacts on the 2026 budget. Reduction of general revenues, increase
in contractual obligations to employees, increased operating and other expenditure budgets, increases in utility cost, gas, telephone, and electric. Increase in library minimum tax computed via state formula.
Increase in healthcare. Next slide. It is important to note the following increase of $4,251,847 in expenses beyond the township's control. 3.9% increase in salary and wages, 10%
increase in workers comp, 24% increase in capital improvement fund, 9.3% in debt service. Statutory um expenses up 2.77% 8.2% in library state minimum funding
funding 187 76% in health insurance. Next slide. Known impacts on the 27 on the 2027 budget will be onetime revenues totaling 2,300,000.
This is from the cancellation of surplus funds and reserve for payment of debt. Next slide. That being said, the proposed tax rate increase is 9.78%. The average home in Tene is assessed at $628,27949.
This means a tax increase of $485.95 per year or $40.50 per month. Be advised that the tax levy is our budget appropriations minus revenues. Cap bank ordinance must be adopted to avoid appropriations cap
issue. We are still reviewing a possible levy cap issue. Next slide. This slide is a comparison slide describing the appropriations cap versus the levy cap. Next slide.
The importance of the appropriations cap banking. The cap bank ordinance has two purposes. Allows the township to budget up to the permitted amount if needed. Allows the township to carry over unused amounts from the last two prior years.
Adopting the cap bank ordinance does not add funds to the budget and the budget can always be reduced by council prior to budget adoption regardless of the cap bank ordinance. If not adopted, the township may be required to reduce services in the current year or a future
year based upon the cap calculation. Passing the cap bank ordinance provides the township with budgeting options in the current year and in future years. The cap bank ordinance needs to be introduced at budget introduction.
Next slide. Now slide 13. The next two slides will outline how we arrived at the 9.78% tax rate increase. Our original increase was 15% originally projected to be
18.69%. Increased costs beyond our control in the amount of $4,251,847. Reduced capital budget from 20 million to 14 million utilizing 1.3 million in reserve for payment of debt. Next slide.
We will cancel 2025 appropriation reserves to increase surplus by $1 million. There will be a a resolution on the March 26th meeting. Surplus is built in two ways. Not spending complete appropriations, realizing higher revenues than anticipated.
We will utilize special emergency financing for terminal leave in 2026, but have budgeted a modest amount this year for terminal leave to build the trust fund for future years. Next slide. These next two slides will outline the
future impacts on the 2027 budget. Terminal leave may need to be budgeted for in 2027. Added special emergencies, terminal leave 2026 estimated at upwards of 250,000. State of economy costs of goods and
services. Increased capital budget to fund projects. Increased hires assuming retirements in police and fire departments. Next slide. In addition, the following outline future impacts on the 2027 budget. 2027
health benefit premiums, 2027 pension contributions, potential increase in BCUA annual sewer bill, contractual increases, reduction of 2,300,000 in one-time revenues, DPW facility
leased cost. Next slide. This slide displays a chart of the 2026 proposed budget appropriation categories totaling 91,173,439.13. This chart breaks down the following: salary and wages, reserve for
uncollected taxes, deferred charges, capital improvement fund, statutory expenditures, debt service, and other expenses. Next slide. This this slide displays a chart of the proposed salaries and wages totaling
39,668,383.50. This is all of our municipal budget, municipal departments broken down for your reference. Next slide. Okay, this slide will give you a breakdown of the salary and wage increases required by union contract.
Next slide. These are a list of our current collective bargaining agreements. As you can see, all remain settled and I will begin negotiations for the ASME and DPW non-supervisors in a few months. Next slide.
The next four slides are a breakdown of our salary and wages summaries and recommendations. This slide shows our police department currently staffed at 97 sworn officers and no additional hires planned with the exception of backfilling for resignation
or retirement. Next slide. This summarizes our fire department's current table of organ organization for 91 firefighters. Currently staffed will be currently staffing at 87 firefighter firefighters as of May 1st. There were
two retirements also as of February 1st. Next slide. For our Department of Public Works, we are currently staffed at 59 positions. The Tina Community Pool will retain two hires for the 20 from the 2025 pool
season. We also will hire one laborer as of April 1st. Below you will see an overview of the overtime allocation to police, fire, and DPW, which will reflect a 0% change for 2026.
Next slide. For our appropriations and other expenses, this chart will outline the following. group insurance for employees, utilities, contributions to self- insurance fund, department operating expenses, and other insurance
premiums. All of this totals 30,715,919. Next slide. Here we can see a breakdown of utilities showing the BCU BCUA making up 64% of the chart with the next highest being electric at 735,000.
Street lighting at 640,000 and water and fire hydrant service at $617,300. In total utilities, it is $7,937,930. Next slide. Deferred charges. This includes terminal
leave special emergencies, COVID 19 pandemic special emergency 2024 revaluation costs 100 $100,000 for reserve for tax appeals. $100,000 for terminal leave utilize
special emergency for 2026 terminal leave. This totals 1,956,78523. Next slide. Our contributions to the self-insurance fund totals 1,350,000. This is due to an increase from the 2025
appropriation based on claims experience. Workers comps comp claims and proposed settlements to be funded from this line item. Next slide. Other insurance premiums to note include
the PEGIF premium increase of $262,500. The coverage includes auto liability and collision, employment practices, public officials, facilities, cyber security, general litigation and claims. Next slide.
Debt service. Some notations here include increased note principal of $122,600, increase in note interest of $439,200, in increase in the bond principle of $70,000, decrease in the bond interest by $120,000.
That being said, there was a total line item increase of $511,000. 511800 $511,800 or 9.29% in the 2026 budget. Next slide.
For our statutory expenditures, we have some adjustments to note. PFRS increased by $441,364 or 6.17%. Pers decreased by $42,84 or -2.25%. 25%.
The total line item increased 399,000 399,280 or 3.8%. Next slide. Capital improvement fund. Total cost of improvements is 14,62,000.
Capital improvement fund is $73,100. Next slide. What you are seeing here is our estimated re revenues totaling 91,173,439.13 cents. This includes the municipal and library levy, local revenue, surplus,
state revenue, and delinquent taxes. Next slide. Our budget wrap-up shows our appropriations on the left and our revenues on the right with an equal balance of 91,173,439.13. Next slide.
Our 2025 accomplishments include additional revenues from the TE community pool, interest on deposits, 300,000, park improvements, Brooks Park exercise station, Eric Park upgrades, ball field,
lighted basketball court, prefab bathroom, spray park and playground. Bot Park upgrades, prefab restroom near the splash pad, tennis court upgrade. Andreas Park pickle ball courts, Argon
Park tennis courts, and Phelps Park tennis court repair. Next slide. Additionally, we have the following general accomplishments. DPW relocation, upgraded police radio communications,
library renovations completed, fire station 4 remodeled and reopened, composting initiative via neighborhood compost, EV charging exploration, settlement of library union contract.
One moment, my screen just police department landscaping upgrade upgrade and roll call room. Police department recruitment promotional video. Purchase of new recreation van for senior citizen transportation.
Next slide. The next three slides will outline some short and long-term strategies. Sale and/or development of selected municip municipally owned property. Health department accreditation.
Enhance ratables through business attraction and development. Improve infrastructure to attract economic development. Continued redevelopment townshipwide parking lot improvements. Installation of additional EV charging
stations. Next slide. Infrastructure improvements to fire headquarters and fire station 4, I mean fire station 2, I'm sorry. Pedestrian safety campaign efforts, road resurfacing, municipal building basement renovation,
park renovations, and park bathroom renovations, consideration for skate park, continued efforts for a new greenhouse, upgrades to the DPW fleet. Next slide. fee schedule revaluation for court
escrow and recreation, building department permit fees, additional field renovations, sewer and drainage upgrades, community policing programs, code enforcement townshipwide,
exploration of additional shared services and parking meters um a trial period. Next slide. This concludes our 2026 proposed municipal budget presentation. Special thanks to our mayor and council, our
auditor Dan Dangji, CFO Issa Abasi, assistant CFO Aisa Adawumi, and also our department heads and assistant department heads for your collaboration and assistance throughout this annual budget process. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you very much, Mrs. Manager. Um,
so tomorrow at noon, our um budget committee will have their meeting. At that point, we'll go over and see work with the CFO and a round table, see what we can take it down to. Between now and the next few weeks, we'll be reaching out to each other, seeing what number
you're looking for, what number, and what you'll do to get to that number. Um, if you want to talk now, please, by all means. >> Um, I just have two questions. One, is the uh I know a financial statement out. I haven't seen it. I know it was due already. >> Yes. >> Is it because it hasn't I haven't seen it online or it hasn't been sent to us.
Can we just make sure that we get it out? Uh, also, do we have an update on where we are on the sewer billing for this year and how that impact revenue? >> It should be out um this month. >> So, how much are we billing out? Do we know? >> Um, I'm not sure how far Issa got is is
on. Uh, Doug, but is it's just about complete. You mean which year from? >> Well, I guess which year and how much? >> I need him to give us an update on it. No, he's off. >> Mr. CFO
paging. Mr. CFO. >> Hi, good evening everyone. Um, I can get that figure for you, Councilwoman. Uh, but we did have a little bit of a delay in the process. Uh, we should have everything out towards the end of the month. And then I already have
everything I need for 23 and 24 and 25. We just need the analysis done to get those build out as well. I would estimate it should be higher than 21 given that was a code rebound which we brought in about 600,000 if I'm not mistaken but I don't estimate it would be low I estimate it would be between
600 and I would say $800,000 in revenue. >> How many years are we are we behind? >> 22 23 24 and 25 just ended >> four years of sewer billing. >> Yes. Well, technically three because the year just started and typically it takes
uh Violia about three to six months to actually give us our data. So, we have three years to build >> and then after this gets built, are we going to get up to speed going forward and not have >> Absolutely. Yes. I'm looking to at least have an engineer, an engineering firm.
That's how Leonia does it. It would be faster. It' be more streamlined. and the order and I are discussing bringing it to the subcommittee uh the sewer subcommittee simplifying the sewer billing ordinance because is actually very complex compared to other municipalities that do sewer billing as
well. >> Um wait I don't know about the sewer subcommittee but um do we um is that revenue is that revenue built in here or is that extra? >> It can be built in if the bill goes out before we introduce the budget. >> Got it. All right. Thank you.
>> You're welcome. Yeah. Um, how are we going to hit a small business with three years of sewer bill? How is that right to do? >> Well, businessfriendly. >> I can answer that. So, they've literally had three years of not getting build. We
will phase it in to do two bills in a year. The goal was to do one by March and one by September. Um, you know, I take the responsibility on this even though the CFO has historically never handled it. Unfortunately, this has gone through a mishmash in my 16 years of the township of being in the IT department
for some unknown reason. Prior to that, it was actually with the engineer. Then it went to IT. Then it kind of went back to IT and then it went to a consultant. So, in a way, I'm trying to end this. Go ahead. >> In fairness, Mr. CFO actually the CFO
did used to do it and they used to do it um the the first CFO that did it when the ordinance was passed and I'm pretty familiar with this because I was the one who suggested this ordinance um did it based on the original intent of the ordinance. It was later on that the next
CFO decided to do the mishmash as you as you as you described it, which is accurate, which is not exactly the intent of the ordinance at all. And uh I think it was done really poorly to be honest with you. Uh, and now to be able
to to smack small businesses with three years of billing, you know, I don't think anyone would accept that at their household. Oh, you know, someone didn't send me a utility bill for 3 years. Now I got a big bill. It may sound logical, >> but it doesn't.
>> So, we can discuss that with the committee tomorrow for sure. I totally understand where you're coming from and I know it's probably trit and cliche but we've never any of us I think in the room have lived through a global pandemic pandemic that has delayed our operations in this. It is a mishmash. I
do want to be the person to actually fix it once and for all and make it easy. either we do a seasonal um where it's I've lived in towns that have build me seasonally where they say you're at X rate from November through March and then you're at X rate from
April through October. Um or you just do a flat rate. Um you know you could also go after households, but I don't want to do that. you know, we're trying to find the best and pragmatic approach to get the township the revenue it's owed, but also at the same time be fair to small
businesses and large businesses as well. >> So, if I can just state what the original intent was. Um, >> yes, please educate me. >> Okay, a little education. The original intent was that we have these gigantic properties, i.e. Holy Name Hospital that
pays zero taxes, i.e. FDU that pays zero taxes, i.e. Glenpoint that pays the same amount of sewer charge. I granted they do pay a significant amount of taxes, the number one, two, and three highest taxpayer in town. Um, but you know, they
they're they're not contributing anything additional and they've got 776 toilets versus a regular home that has maybe three or four toilets. So the original intent and then there were several houses of worship that were you
know also uh over consuming water right because the way just to educate the residents that are here and watching the way it works is that we get build by the BCUA for the water that goes into the sewer. So it's not what So the idea was
well then if it comes in it probably has to go out. So let's give every single business house of worship even Glenpoint holy name it after you 100,000 free gallons let them whatever and then
after 100,000 there was a formula that we came up with that the first several years really yielded us almost the exact same amount or maybe a little bit less than we're getting today. The only difference is today with the mishmash is that we're putting it a lot on uh
struggling businesses, small businesses um because they happen to end up in a certain block and lot which was not the intention of the of the ordinance. So I would suggest that whoever this u sewer water ordinance uh team subcommittee is
re-review. They can go back to the tapes. I think I shared the tapes with you and I originally um suggested it um and try to come back with something where it's more equitable. It is equitable that Holy Name Hospital that's
got a thousand running uh whatever faucets, you know, should have to pay a little bit more into the source system, especially since they pay zero in taxes. FDU, same concept.
Glenpoint, same concept. But I don't think and even some of the house of worship that that are having heavy running water because they have functions or whatever it is. I don't think we should ever be putting this onto the taxpayers, onto the homeowners. I think they're paying enough in taxes
and they are contributing to the BCUA based on their three, four, five bathrooms that they may have, you know, unless they're running a bed and breakfast. So that's my suggestion. Um, like I said, and I was very private about it because I am a business owner,
but the reality is it's not fair to any business owner in town to to have this saddled on them and certainly not saddled three years because of an oops. That's my comments. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Yes.
>> Uh, Councilman K, I have a quick question. So, I I really appreciate the background history. >> I just have a quick question. >> So, my read on the ordinance, I just want to make sure. So 100,000 gallons, how was it built the first few years that it was supposed to >> based on the we we were told from day
one the way we could do this and back then it was United Water. I don't know what it's called today is Suez, then Viola, then Viola. Back then it was United Water. We were told it's very simple to build. In fact, Maywood is the example that we copied originally. Um
and and and it said just United Water will give you the list of all the people and all the water bills and based on those water bills you can clearly see 100,000 gallons last year. Now if they did 600,000 gallons then we should do
the differential of 100 to 6 which is a 500,000 gallons times whatever the formula that we came up with and boom we came up with a half a million dollars in new revenue. When did it get I don't get how it got >> after like I said the first CFO was interpreting the intent of the ordinance
properly and by the way to to this is not on issa by the way cuz >> he did inherit a mishmashed or ordinance but the first CFO was there to live through the original intention of the ordinance. the second CFO I think did it
okay and then the next person reread how the ordinance should be and then created that mishmash. So yes, the ordinance does need to be cleaned up. Um and we should go back to what really the intention of the ordinance is making it more equitable
for the taxpayers of town because the BCA bill just keeps going up and and it's costing a lot of money. >> Well, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I know it's your ordinance, but I'd happy to work with this on you. >> I wasn't. >> Excellent. Thank you, Councilman. I'm I'm really hopeful that there is some
wiggle room on this budget and that we could get it down a little bit more. But the reason why our CFO is not here tonight is because his wife had a baby. So, I just want to say congratulations to Issa. I know you've been working hard on this budget. You're also the CFO in Leonia, so you're working hard on that budget as well. So, thank you for all
your efforts. Jackie, also to you and the staff. Thank you for all your efforts. But Issa especially congratulations my friend. >> Thank you very much. Okay with that we will before we go into ordinances we'll have a brief presentation on one of the ordinances as it relates to um drainage that
close session. Okay. So we're going to take a brief uh recess. We're going to go to close session on the litigation matter. Do we need a vote to go into close session? Okay. So I'll make a motion we go into close session. We'll do that right in the side room over there to save time. >> Seconded by um Councilman Pagan. >> We need to go upstairs for Danielle. >> No, she's going to call on her phone.
>> Oh yeah. Okay. Cool. Sorry. Uh, this is going to be resolution 156-2026 tonight, mayor. And is there a first? >> First by Schwarz, second by Pagan. >> Councilwoman Goldberg, >> yes. >> Councilman Pan, >> yes. >> Councilwoman G.
>> Yeah. >> Councilman Catz, >> yes. >> Debbie Mayor Belure, >> uh, yes. >> Debbie Mayor Oregon, >> yes. >> Mayor Schwarz, >> yes. adopted. We'll be back in a little bit.
Yes, they are. >> Okay, Mr. Clerk. >> Yes. Me to order. Uh, Mr. attorney. Do you have to introduce or discuss that we went to go to close session to discuss litigation when uh council just came
back from close session with your potential litigation with no action being taken? >> Uh Mr. Clerk, do we introduce you or read the ordinances and then the engineer or the engineer then the ordinances? >> Uh we should read them by title first. >> Is that right, Mr. Training? Title. Read by title then we'll go right to the
engineer. Thank you. Please read them by title. >> Mayor, council public March 16th. We have three ordinances up for second reading this evening. First up is ordinance 15-2026 amending chapter 33 development regulations of the township act to address the requirements of the fair housing act the uniform housing
affordability controls and to comply with the town's round four affordable housing obligations. We have ordinance number 17-2026 adopting a redevelopment plan in furtherance of the redevelopment of block 4905 lots 1 2 and three as shown on the tax
map of township of township of teen act commonly known as 54 west anglewood avenue in accordance with the local redevelopment and housing law. Last but not least, we have ordinance number 18-2026 adopting the Cedar Lane redevelopment plan in furtherance of the
redevelopment of block 819 lots 1, 14, 16, and 17, block 707 lots 1-5, block 705 lot 4.01 as shown on the tax map of the township act in accordance with the local redevelopment and housing law.
That's all the ordinances. >> Okay, Mr. Train. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. There were a couple things that I want to address. Uh, a few things I want to address before um the we open the floor to the public hearing that I think that we think would be helpful public to know um before you before you provide your
comments. First is that um under NJSA 405D-63 which is part of the municipal land use law the township is required to send notices out on certain types of amendments zoning ordinances when we are considering those amend amendments for
adoption. The law also allows uh the owners of at least 20% of the area within 200 feet of the lot or lots that are being affected or that have been changed uh to file a protest petition with the township uh which if uh if successful would increase
the number of votes that are required for adoption from a simple majority this case four votes to a super majority which in this case would be five votes. Um we have received three protest petitions under that law. Two of which are related to the adoption of ordinances tonight for 54 West Anglewood
and uh and for Crossroad and the third one that we've received for 827 Palace will not be heard until until next week. Uh for the first two, the ones for 54 West Anglewood and for Crossroads, while we do appreciate and understand the public's interest in these ordinances,
these two specific ordinances are not subject to the statute that allows for these protest petitions. The third one, the one for A27 Bid Road does. Uh the reason why is that these ordinances that are up for adoption tonight are not
regular overlay zoning ordinances made under the municipal land use law uh like some of the other affordable housing uh ordinances the council's adopting. These two that are up for adoption tonight are redevelopment plans. Redevelopment plans are not governed by the municipal land use law, which this protest petition
ordinance falls under. They're governed instead by the what's called the local redevelopment and housing law. And so the stat the statute that that allows for these protest relations just doesn't apply in these cases. The local redevelopment housing uh uh law specifically says and the citation must
check is NJSA4A12A-7 that a redevelopment plan needs only a simple majority to be adopted. And so that's the process that the council will follow for those stores towards our 827 ballot state come up next week. Uh that one is is because the the protest petition appears to be valid. It is a it
is an overlay zone um that will will be subject to the super majority requirement. So uh as I said there these two ordinances that were considered tonight West Anglewood and Crossroads. Uh two specific uh some specific things I want to address about each of them. Uh for 54
West Anglewood, I was asked to address why in 2021 the board of adjustment voted against uh uh variances for 54 West Anglewood that would have allowed just 20 units and why the township is now considering adopting a redevelopment plan at the same site, 53 units, a lot
more. Uh there are lots of reasons for that, but the short version of what is that what was proposed back in 2021 is a totally different project than what what is being considered now for a few reasons. First, at that time, the developer was looking for a use variance. That was why they were in
front of the the zoning board, whereas now the council is considering a redevelopment plan. Uh, so it's just a different first of all, it's just a different kind of application. Second is, and maybe more most important is that we didn't have the affordable housing mandate that as part of the fourth round back in 2021 that we do
now. Uh, additionally, the project has since added two more lots into the entire project and so now it has more significantly more land available uh to accommodate more units which is why more units are being proposed. Additionally, the surrounding area around 54 West
Anglewood was designated as an AIR an area in need of redevelopment at the time uh whereas this council decided decided last month to desegate uh those other properties. uh so we don't have the risk now of of opening the door to more development in the uh in the area.
Uh it's it's much it's more confined now to these lots. Uh additionally, the proposed project involves widening the road. It involves complying with higher architectural and design standards. They uh as well as doing an analysis to determine whether subsurface parking is
feasible uh to remove more cars from the street from the from the lots. The developer is also committed to creating a circulation plan to prevent parking and traffic spillage into the neighborhood and the developer is now agreeing to do uh more uh underground utility work than before. So which is a
significantly different project. It's a larger project and that's why the 50 why uh why the the council is considering that now. Uh and so essentially the the project is just significantly more developed. Next on um on crossroads a couple things to address. first is about
CSX uh CSX tracks. We've obviously received lots of comments and heard lots of questions about CSX tracks and Crossroads, whether or not CSX has been part of this process, given concerns about whether or not it's going to affect them or not. Uh we've received confirmation that Crossroads has been
speaking with CSX. CSX is well aware of the of this project. They understand that still in a concept phase. they they understand what what is being proposed and the two of them are coordinating. If the council decides to move forward and adopt the the redevelopment plan, the township will also become part of that
coordination effort to essentially act as a check on on the whole process and make sure that everything is proceeding fairly and appropriately. Uh there are certain things that CSX will want to review uh information data that they want want to review as the project develops. uh CSX, Township, Crossroads
are all in agreement that nothing will proceed if if crossroads proposal or current proposal causes any or would cause any issue with the DRAS uh which would require going back to the drawing board. We were all everyone is in agreement on that. Uh and finally on
that on that subject um this this storm water uh mitigation proposal uh that Crossroads has suggested. We've obviously received lots of comments about that. uh as you may have heard before it has been it was initially proposed by um uh by crossroads has
since been reviewed by farani township of engineers next Mayers's engineering our independent engineer that we've that we've hired and so there are some specific things Doug if you put the presentation up that and I would like to just go through quickly to
that that may answer some of the questions that we've uh that we've received over time you go to the next slide Doug So, I guess I'll start by saying that some of the questions that we've gone have been about, you know, the exact route and what, you know, what the where
it uh the exact route and where this the the uh their proposal would go, where it would end uh yeah, where where this would end and so on. So far, if you could just uh walk us quickly through the layout of what's
currently there and and what their crossroads proposing. >> So, currently there is a 36 >> Okay. Currently, there is a 36 in uh uh sewer main going through uh from uh
Route 4 uh to all the way to Beverly. Um and uh we have uh 200 almost 200 gallon 200,000gallon um detention system at Sagamore Park and another
4 by 9 ft um culvert at the uh at the right of way of Beverly parking lot. And then uh when it after the culvert the pipe size increases from 36 in to 42 in.
And then it all goes all the way to American Legion crossover cedar and goes to American Legion drive. And then from there it uh turn make a band at Kip and then to to the to Chestnut uh from that
u um charter school and then from there it goes through the um uh goes to the uh railroad track. uh uh outfall. Yeah. Mhm.
>> Next slide, please. So we did uh do a drone study uh at that CSX um um uh uh uh uh swell and uh we saw that there is lot of uh overgrowth
over there and there is a 48 in uh outfall over there with a head wall and everything but there is lot of uh growth and uh it's an open channel flow and it has a lot more cap capacity than a
closed uh culvert. >> So the I guess the the the main points we want to emphasize on this that uh what is being proposed is what is being proposed by crossroads it's not a full replacement of the of the of the pipeline. Uh it is to add additional
capacity by running parallel pipes uh alongside uh the the current um uh alongside the current the current pipeline right you know in the in the uh in the area of where the where the project is. Uh what that does is increase the capacity. Uh allows the storm water to move more efficiently. Um
it also uh helps us address this uh these flat their flat slope issues uh with the project where currently where uh these parking lots are. So essentially the water gets stag stagnated there and starts to overflow because it can't go downhill. Uh and so
this would allow uh this would give the the water another essentially another place to go while it continues to move down the line. Um and then the last the last point on the on the on the bottom right here about um the the proposed redevelopment, we expect that it would reduce the impervious coverage uh by
approximately 10 to 15%. It would add more green space. And so the uh in in in theory and uh because this still is a proposal that's being developed that this would reduce the amount of water that would even make it into the system. Um so uh so the analysis uh I did study
the uh dynamic uh uh drainage study and um based on that uh uh the additional uh
um drainage will going to increase uh the capacity 15% or 15 uh uh based on uh the proposed improvement to uh drainage
system the capacity of the drainage system will increase 15 over 15% to uh uh what whatever the existing drainage capacity is currently >> obviously Our our goal here and our our
standard here is what is one was what is in the best interest of of of the area T-neck of making sure that it doesn't uh receive any additional flooding of doing our best to mitigate that ultimately we complying with all the the legal standards that are in
place um as it appears now again this is just this is a proposal it is going to need to be engineered and developed further uh the engineers need to actually get in the ground and see how how it would actually Um, but they're required to comply with all of these laws and regulations uh
that that are listed here. If they don't meet those requirements, doesn't get built, then we have to go back to the drawing board as I said because ultimately the woman sitting next to me here Farah here, she's the one who has the has the has the sign off here. If this doesn't meet her standards as the township engineer for the township of of
Tene, they got to come up with something else. They got to come up with something better. And until they do that, they're not going to be able to move forward. And so that's why one we wanted to present this to you, but also I want you guys to for those of you who haven't met Farah, I want you to meet her because she's she's the one she's the one here who gets to Yeah. and gets to say on whether or not this meets all these
requirements or not. >> Thank you, Mr. Attorney. Okay. With that, we're going to go to public uh comments. Uh you have three minutes to discuss these two ordinances. The ordinances that were read aloud, excuse me, by the clerk and just these
ordinances. Is anything else like to talk about? We'll have good and welfare. Uh, we'll have I'm sorry. There's um three orders. Thank you, sir. Um, and if anything else you'd like to talk about, it could be done afterwards. Please be respectful. No hissing, no jeering. If
you need to take a break, please step outside. Uh, we'll start with everyone in the room and then Mr. Clerk will go to Zoom thereafter. Uh, with that, is there anyone here that'd like to comment? Ma, and then Dr. Yuck afterwards. Good evening.
My shirt says I'm a beacon of hope. So I come to you Oh, sorry. I come to you today, as my shirt says, as a beacon of joy. I'm sorry. It says a beacon of joy, but also in a beacon of
hope. Hope that you will listen to the will of the residents when it comes to the building projects. I'm aware that there are always those that have not taken the time to express their opinions about the projects, either for or against. I also know that you may have received emails or other communications
directly asking you to vote one way or another. I can only respond to what I've heard by myself at meetings, both in person and by Zoom. Overwhelmingly, comments have been uh against these projects. The vast majority of comments
were not based on aesthetics, and I didn't hear complaints against affordable housing. The opposite is true. Real interest was expressed by residents in having affordable housing and development. Uh but the sentiment was that the current plan was not the way to go about
it. Many felt that Crossroads wasn't an honest partner, that there were too many questions left unanswered despite this beginning in 2020 and many issues and problems came to light very late in the process and were identified with no
foreseeable solution such as a failed traffic study. So, I'm looking for a beacon of hope that the council will listen to the residents and reject the current plan and look for a better solution with a better partner. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Dr. Young after after she'll go afterwards. >> All right, Dr. Y, you'll go next. >> No, you could go first. >> No, no, you're here. It's okay. >> I am Tracy Carcion. Me and my husband Gerald uh live at uh the corner near the
corner of Chestnut Avenue and North Street. We are both blind. We do not drive. We walk. We moved here partly and and actually in large part because the place where we live is very walkable. We could walk down to Cedar Lane and do
shopping, but it was still pretty quiet in our neighborhood. And I I really don't want to have that change significantly. I I wonder where the traffic is going to go. Are we going to be able to cross North Street and Alma Terrace whenever we feel like it and
walk down to Cedar Lane, say if we want to go out to breakfast or dinner, or is it going to be rush hour and we're going to have to like stay on our block until rush hour clears up? I don't know how this is going to work. Are we going to be able to cross American Legion to go
uh shopping at Stop and Shop, which my husband does all the time. He's very good at it. Are we going to be able to get through the construction for the water man and for the buildings to get to the grocery store?
And then I think it's kind of a misnomer to say that this is a Cedar Lane redevelopment. It's not really a Cedar Lane redevelopment. It's near Cedar Lane, but it doesn't affect Cedar Lane. Just dumping a lot of people next to Cedar Lane doesn't really change Cedar
Lane. Maybe they'll go shopping there, and maybe they'll get in their cars and go zooming off someplace else. I don't know. Or maybe they'll, you know, do what everybody does these days and call a delivery guy. But it doesn't help
Cedar Lane so far as I can tell. And I'm all for affordable housing, but real affordable housing for working people who, you know, people who work in tene or, you know, young people or elderly people who want to stay near their families but don't want, you know, can't
afford a big house or don't even want a big house. And this is not that. This is more like a gift to the developer of all the market will bear with a little sweetener thrown in and that's it. Thank you, Dr. Ys. Anybody
else after Dr. Yuck? Anybody else after Dr. Yuck? After Billy Oct. Okay. So before I had some notes for what I wanted to say, but um I understand that there was a decision recently um filed on I think February
26th, the Meridia decision by the Superior Court of New Jersey allowing a protest petition for a redevelopment plan. So I do not understand why in this case this redevelopment this protest petitions for these two properties um
are not being um accepted by the township. So, that's something that maybe our our attorney can speak to if he's familiar with that decision. Now, additionally to that, I don't envy any of you up there. This
is a tough time. Um, but I'll tell you this. You haven't called out the silent majority here. I've heard about that that there are 41,000 people in Tene. Where are they? Where are the people in
favor of this plan? that the people who are against it have spoken to you over and over and over again. Scores of people if not hundreds of people. And what's interesting,
uh, we've been told, well, people should know about this. This has been publicized. I have to tell you, I run into and meet PE new people in town all the time. Very few. I just met somebody yesterday, as a matter of fact. I went to my gym. and I met this person. Uh we were
chatting. I said, "Do you know what's going on there?" She said, "No, I have no idea. She's been in town for I don't know how many years, 10, 20, 30, I'm not sure." So, I don't understand, you know, why you would vote in favor of something that the community is absolutely against. Statistically speaking, I took
statistics in school. Statistically speaking, you've got two or three people who say we're in favor of it, and you've got a couple hundred people who are saying against it. That's a pretty good sample. That means probably 90% or more
of the population is against this. Now, uh you need to hear those voices. Hear those voices. Listen to those voices and vote the way people who you are representing want you to vote. Thank
you. >> Thank you very much. Lazro any anybody else after him first? >> Good evening council Robert Lazerof Beach Street. The residents of Tene have spoken out
about their bedrock concerns of this crossroads boondoggle. We've spoken out about our concern about the coming flood waters on Bell Avenue in Beverly. We've spoken out about the coming traffic streaming out of the parking garages onto the intersection of
Beverly and Garrison that three weeks ago Kier's engineering design gave a failing grade to. We've spoken out about the loss of the farmers market. We've spoken out that no one wants parking garages and luxury apartment buildings
in residential neighborhoods behind Cedar Lane when we all know that the real problem is the generational awfulness of Cedar Lane itself. We've witnessed in meeting after meeting that hardly anyone in a town of 41,000
speaks out in favor of this project. And the few that do, their biggest reason is fear of being sued. If you can't convince people that something is needed, then scare them into submission. Is that
what Tene has become? No one wants this. Councilwoman Belchure stated a point that hit home for me a few weeks back. This crossroads development is all about renting. It's not about ownership.
by okaying this huge land grab, we won't be adding any owners to T-neck, just hundreds of renters. When Phil Young and I went door to door to speak with folks that live 200 feet from the proposed project last weekend, we met neighbors
in this area in our area who were deeply upset by what the Crossroads development would mean for their quality of life in their back and front yards. But many couldn't sign the petition because they did not own their property, only rented.
Tene favors the owners. This crossroads luxury development doesn't help the many young families who would hope to own a place in Tene. It doesn't help people like my son Kevin and his wife Tyara and their two children who rent in this town and would
love to make that next step to owning their own place. How is this Crossroads development a win for anyone in this town besides Crossroads and a few town council members who accepted the developers campaign donations a few years back?
The few council members who are torn about their vote can make a difference by listening to their constituents and voting no. This is the wrong project to force onto this town for so many reasons.
Say no to fear. Say you will not be bullied by fear of a lawsuit. Say no to crossroads. >> Thank you. >> Chris, folks, he's insist on them. >> There's some seats back there if you want to go
and have any else afterwards. I'll be up. Good evening, Coun. Good evening, mayor and council. Uh, so this is not a popular opinion. Um, I live across the street from the property. I will tell
you tonight you just you should adopt the redevelopment plan. I'm not here saying I'm not going to say here sit here and say that um I want to see a three four-story building across the street from my house but um I will tell you that it rained tonight it rained last night and in nights where it rains
harder and harder we have to move our cars. Yes, we had tanks put up the street from uh on Sagamore that made an impact. We had an event last year where um the flooding was reduced, but we get into another IDA. All bets are off. So,
you adopt this redevelopment plan tonight. What happens? It's not a ticket for the developer to build. You all have a responsibility to negotiate a redevelopment agreement. And in that redevelopment agreement, you all need to look out for your neighbors, look out for your constituents. You have to do
right for your constituents. And you have to negotiate the best agreement possible that considers all of these factors. People are concerned about traffic. Have a traffic engineer review the study. People are concerned about the
drainage about the drainage situation. Farah is great. Bar we FastTech worked on the tanks up the street from our house from from our from up the street on Sagamore. He how they put in a parallel pipe
without running into conflicts is beyond me. I don't know how they do that without running into conflicts. That has to be studied and you you you just you have to really do right by your constituents and neighbors. So that's my
message to you guys tonight. Pass the plan. There's another phase of this. There's another vote that's coming up. And between now and then, please do the best jobs that you can to
make this plan work. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. Mr. Biner and >> good morning, Avi. Good morning. Good evening, uh, Avi Berliner, Tene resident. Um, I hope that I know that my
opinions may not be popular, but I hope that we can at least all admit to ourselves that we all in this room and we all throughout this town want what's best for Tene. We may not all agree what's best for Tene. We may not all agree on how we get to whatever it is
that's best for Tene, but we're all here for the same reason and for the right reasons. And I hope that we can all acknowledge that. Um, as we move on, I will also urge you to please adopt the zoning overlay. Right. This is not an approval of the plan that's been put forth. This is not an approval of any of
the drawings that we've seen. This is an approval of a zoning overlay. And we are required to pass this to move this forward to protect ourselves. We spoke a couple of weeks ago. I actually asked the question, are you aware of any uh cities of any municipalities that have
taken this to the end? Well, many have and many are actually dealing with the ramifications and the fights of not having passed it. in Thomas River. Earlier this week, there was an fight at their town council meeting. wasn't passed. But now there are allegations
that the council members that actually voted against it were in the pockets of the developers because there's no rational reason that they would vote against the plan that serves to protect their citizens, serves to protect their township, but also as Councilwoman G so
eloquently put it, they have a fiduciary duty to protect the taxes and the monies of their taxpayers. I come from a small town in Essex County called West Orange. My parents still live there. They actually are living in a nightmare right
now. Last summer they failed to pass the requirement at the end of June. We did. Tina did to our credit. Not only did they fail to pass that within one week, within eight days they had
lawsuit within 30 days they had their second. These are not theoretical or academic discussions. They're now in almost a year of litigation with no end in sight. And all of the benefits, all of the
concessions that they could have gotten from the two developers that wanted to build, they've lost. They do not hold the cards anymore. They've lost all leverage that they have. But wait, there's more. Because of that, because of the stress on the council, because of
the impact of their budget, they failed to pass their municipal budget until deep into the winter. My parents did not receive their tax bill until after Thanksgiving. But there's actually personal liabilities that came along with that. The state levied fines and
penalties against each one of the sitting council members on the order of hundreds of dollars because they had a fiduciary duty to pass that budget and they were unable to. Please do not punish us moving forward and please allow us to have a plan. Thank you.
>> Thank you, sir. Um Susan Paul, you go next. >> Hi, I'm Susan Mayor. I live on Bell Avenue. I just Whoops. Oh, yeah. I'm short. I just want to say as you consider this
plan and the plans for development here, you really need to think about the scale. This town is a suburban town. We are not Hackinack. We do not want to be Hackinack. We don't want to be Englewood. We want to be Tene. And scale
in terms of development is really important. Uh, we want to be a community of homeowners. We recognize that there are people who are renters and we should make that available for them. We want to be able to have all kinds of people live in this
town, but we do not want this to become Hackinack. Sorry. Uh, thank you. >> Thank you very much, Susan Pollock. Anybody else after Polo? Paula Regoven. I'm a Tenech resident and co-founder of the coalition to ban
unsafe oil trains. Our coalition was founded after the tragic derailment of a train carrying volatile vacuuming crude oil in 2013 in Lamagantic, Quebec. The train exploded like a bomb, killing 47 children and adults and destroying the
downtown. In 2023, a train carrying vinyl chloride to a factory in New Jersey derailed and caught in on fire in East Palestine, Ohio. The dioxin from the burning of the vinyl chloride is the same as that in agent orange used during
the Vietnam War. The health impacts of dioxin poisoning are seen immediately or many, many years later. So, what does this have to do with the Crossroads ordinance you're voting on tonight? On December 9th, a engineer representing Crossroads told us right here in this
room that the proposed plan for dealing with flooding was piping flood waters from north of Cedar Lane under Cedar Lane under American Legion Drive and then out into the swale or drain of the CSX rail line near Kip or Terhoon. His
plan was based on a 25-year storm, not the reality of what we're seeing with climate change now. We had a blizzard with major amounts of water and there's rain and constant uh major storms. The CSX trains carry extremely hazardous
materials. We have consulted with many rail workers and people from CSX management who said that flooding of rail tracks can destabilize the tracks and the trains. It can cause derailments which would cause even more deaths and
injuries in T-neck because our population is somewhere around 4100 not 5,000 in Lamagantic. It would also increase the flooding of the swale at River Road and Elm Avenue in our neighboring town of Bota. They
flood constantly. They were unaware of the original pipe that's going in to the drain and now the second pipe there. They there somebody spoke at the last meeting about that and very upset. It sounds like fear-mongering, doesn't it?
Ask the people of Lamagantic in East Palestine, Ohio if this is fear mongering. Railroad Workers United listed numerous flood related derailments in a letter they sent to you last month in opposition to the Crossroads drainage plan. By the way, we
want more affordable housing in Tene. Self-contained affordable housing such as the veterans apartments on American Legion, the senior apartments on Tene Road. Some council members hijacked the affordable housing issue by throwing in 48 affordable units into their plan for
over 300 luxury units. A reminder that most TX residents spoke out against the Crossroad plan long before the affordable housing mandate. Residents already knew about the excessive traffic and pollution on American Legion Drive in Cedar Lane. I have just a drop more.
The recent official traffic study, which was done during a holiday, rates Garrison and Cedar Lane an F. Adding hundreds of cars to the mix would mean disaster. A G rating would mean it would be good for T-neck if all council
members would vote no on the crossroads ordinance. >> Thank you, Paula. Sorry. Yep. Barry, sorry. Next after Barry. >> Hi, my name is Barry Obert. I live on Claremont Avenue, which is approximately
three blocks north of um Cedar Lane. So, not it's not in my backyard, but it's it's pretty close. Um, when I read the documents, um, well, let me just say first say I'm not 100% sure whether I'm in favor of
this project or against it, but when I read the documents, there are a number of questions that popped out that didn't have answers. And I understand that some of those questions will get answered in the next phase of the project. And and I don't expect them to get answered tonight, but I'm going to read my
questions anyway just so that you have an idea of the kind of questions that I have. One, are the public parking spaces in the indoor garage north of Cedar Lane free? Or will there be a charge for use? If there is a charge that prevents If there is a charge, what prevents cars
that would have parked in the no longer available municipal lots from creating a parking problem on nearby streets to avoid paying the fees. Two, the area designated for the farmers market does not appear to have room for the trucks which the vendors use to transport their
wares or in some cases they sell their wares out of. Where are those trucks supposed to go? Three, will the underground and indoor parking spots designated for tenants and the visitors be free for their use? Or will they be paying a fee over and above the apartment rent to use them? if there is
a fee, what will deter them from creating a parking problem on nearby streets or in the public garage if it's free in order to avoid the fee? And four, if parking is not included for the tenants and their guests, how does this affect the affordability of the
affordable units? Now, what's my point in asking all these questions? To me, it seems a little unconscionable to move ahead with the project without having an without having answers to some of these questions which could be answered by the developer,
especially in terms of whether parking parking fees and and I think that it's a mistake to move ahead without having those answers. On the other hand, I totally recognize the issues with the affordable housing ordinances and the
risks of not having a plan in place at the same time. But I would I would definitely um uh I would definitely suggest to the uh council members that they figure out a way of having the answers to some of these questions and other questions that
were raised by other residents before we move forward. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Barry. Howard be after Howard. >> Howard Rose, 45 year TK resident. Uh I I'm looking at this project and I've been concerned for years now. I I don't
live next to the project crossroads. I but I do rent a store for a quarter century that would be uh just about overshadowed by it being across the street. Uh I I look upon this group of
ordinances as a major impact. It literally what does it follow? It follows questionable areas in need of redevelopment utilization to circumvent what the norm was. Ignoring the master plan, circumventing what that's used for. uh petitions are are given in and
we can find ways of circumventing and twisting and not utilizing the petitions of signatures of people against this. Uh you know this is not sentiment against the project. What you're hearing is almost universal displeasure with it and
it's not time for just a yes or no and a possible abstain. Uh I I I'd like people to take strong positions on this. I look upon this as opening up the ability to have an ugly monolith. I'm consolidating all of what's going on
as an ugly monolith made of granite. And what will happen in the future is you'll chip away at some of this ugly granite monolith because it doesn't comply with certain areas of ordinances that are still in effect. What you will be left with is a
slightly lesser ugly monolith. It's not what people want. It's not what people need. It's not what they desire. You hear us. You're not listening. And I know you have all these other needs that you're considering regarding housing and
and and this and that. Uh you know, there's other alternatives. How did you allow so many years to go by and end up where you are? Shame. Shame. Hey, ma'am. Hello, I am Chastity and um I live on
the corner of Hillrest and Elm Avenue, which is the um last block in Tene right before we get to Bagota. And that area in the past year alone has become so heavily populated um especially with
beod residents being told to park on the teen side um because they cannot do overnight parking there. So our blocks in that area are full. Um, I have a child that goes to the Tina Community Charter School and in the mornings and
um, afternoon pickups, it is ridiculous to pick up and drop off your kids. So much so that sometimes police presence needs to be there um, just to control the the traffic. Um,
I agree with the affordable housing because unfortunately, you know, I grew up here in Tene. Um, and on my own, unfortunately, I cannot own my own home in TEK cuz it's too expensive for me. So, I agree with the affordable housing.
But just an building in that area would just cause too much chaos. Um, Cedar Lane itself has become ridiculous with the city-like double parking, the illegal U-turns, with no police around to give any citations of any sort,
pedestrians being hit on Cedar Lane all the time. Um, I just think it would really cause a traffic issue. Um, most of us pick T-neck for a reason. Um, I know I love Tene for the beautiful
diversity and for the suburban living. We don't want to live in a city. If that was the case, we would move somewhere else. Um, we want a suburban life, not buildings being built here, there, and everywhere. Um, that's not what we're
here for. We want homes. We want residents. We want kids to be able to walk in the streets, not deal with cars coming in and out, um, rushing through. So, as much as I agree with affordable housing, I do not agree with any of
these buildings going up at all. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Good evening. Anita Gazan, Tina President. So, I'm uh very disappointed to hear that the petition has been declined because the area in question at 54 West
Anglewood is designated as area need of renovation uh redevelopment, whatever it is. Um this sends a message to the residents. This sends a message to developers that um you can come to Tene,
you can buy property, you can purposely deface it to drive down the value and uh through certain minations allow for designations that are not subject to regular laws and uh the fact that the
the council has allowed it is very disappointing. Um, as other residents stated, it is a shame that we're in this position after so many years of clear need for affordable housing. I do applaud the council members who asked questions about the developments. Um, my
questions are how many of the proposed units in the um residences are truly going to T-C residents who are in need? how many are going to be going to outside um you know uh newcomers as
opposed to serving the needs of of our own town folks. Um I do agree that there needs to be some measure of of uh remediation there, but to do so at the expense of the um residents who have been um Tene residents for decades, many
decades, and who have paid taxes here, who've put roots down in the town, who have connections with the community is um disheartening to say that the needs of the developer um are more important than the needs of the residents. and
you're doing it at the expense of the people who live there is very very disappointing. There are issues in the area. Um I will speak about 54 West Anglewood first. There are issues with the area with density. Um the uh council
did mention that this is a new project because it's in the designated area in need of redevelopment. But frankly, the area is physically the same area with the same density with the same population there with the same traffic issues, parking issues that people
experience daily. um the property owners and the renters in in the small apartment houses uh across from the residential areas all have to contend with the fact that there is no place to put cars. We contend with
the fact that there are cars parked in areas when there should not be allowed and it's rife for accidents to happen and the town has not seemingly had any resources to address those issues. How will the town address an additional
influx of the population? How can the uh town address the lack of resources? Are you planning for additional resources uh for the safety of the residents there? >> Thank you very much, ma'am. Shaz. >> Hello. I live in Chestnut right by
American Legion within 200 ft of the development. So tonight, a narrative of fear is being used to bypass a narrative of facts. We're being told that if we do not reszone American Legion for the Crossroads Project right now, Tene will lose its immunity and fall victim to a
builder's remedy lawsuit. This is simply not true. Compliance is not capitulation. Today's deadline requires Tene to adopt a housing element in fair share plan. It requires us to identify suitable sites. It does not require us to approve a specific dangerous
development. We maintain full legal immunity as long as we present a plan for affordable housing units using v viable alternatives like Glenpoint State or the plan that Esther Sandoff uh presented. Immunity is not a shield to
protect the town, not to not a trap to force us into a bad deal. The pro the plan also does not provide an option for new home ownership. Second, there is an engineering fatal flaw. We cannot ignore the Kio's engineering review. This isn't
a minor to-do list. It's a warning of infrastructure failure. The proposed high velocity drainage system risk scouring the CSX railbed. If you approve this, you are knowingly creating a targetrich environment for illitigation.
You aren't just facing the developer. You are facing or and inviting lawsuits from CSX, the Burrow of Bagota, and all of us, the homeowners whose basins will flood because we chose to bypass safety instead of detaining storm storm water.
Third, there's professional mismanagement, backloading of risk. From a project management perspective, the project is being handled backward. Deferring utility studies, traffic counts, and land appraisals until after approval is called is backloading the
risk. You're being asked to grant a massive zoning uplift value to private developer before you even know if our sewers can handle the floor or what our public land is actually worth. This isn't a strategy. It's a giveaway of
taxpayers equity. Number the finally, the traffic data fails the most basic ITI standards. It was conducted on a holiday. It literally ignored the 974 students in six nearby schools that define the traffic patterns
of this neighborhood. to approve 1,045 new daily car trips based on a holiday study is a breach of your duty of care to the children of this community. Council members, a builder's remedy is not a blank check. Courts cannot force a
town to approve a site that engineers have documented as a safety risk. Do not legislate out of fear of a developer. Legislate out of a commitment to the facts. We can meet our housing obligations. We can keep our immunity and we can protect our residents, but it
simply doesn't have to be this plan. I urge you to lead with courage and vote no. >> Thank you very much. >> Anybody else? >> Hi, uh Lori Ledmer. I'm a resident of Tenic. Uh you just you said it all but what and but what I'm going to do is I'm
gonna say how many people here want the development stand up >> address address us not it's not a seminar >> people who are here who want the development stand up and how many people who don't want the development stand up
stand up stand up the >> this is so address Council, we're not we're you're addressing us. You're addressing us. Please, >> I'm visual. >> We're not creating. >> Address us. >> Address you. >> You have two minutes. >> Okay. You could see that there are you
and you have heard over time and time and time and time and time and time and time again. No, very few people very few people want this project.
People want um affordable housing. People want things to make sense. The the study that was done that um I don't remember your name, I'm sorry, about the
flooding. So what you know we that was good. There was an expert. Where's the expert about traffic? Where's the expert about the students that would be where is that? There's no reason to push this through now. And no and no was scare.
There was a scare thing that happened right before. There's no reason. Slow it down. Do it well. We we want our we want T-C to be a model
again of a community that does it well with affordable housing with development but not development that that the people don't want you know I mean really how many times
have the really I mean I I I hardly know what to say it's so obvious and and yes, have courage. You know, that's that's what's lacking in this world.
Have courage, please, folks. >> Thank you. Anybody else after him? Dr. Powers after, please. >> I want to exhale. Good evening,
everyone. I was actually online listening to this making lunch. I'm sorry. My name is Nicole Stanley. I am a resident of Teneck. I was actually in the kitchen listening to this online making lunch
for my children who attend the community charter school. We live on Grace Terrace.9 miles away from the charter school which means he doesn't qualify for the bus. And you may say, "What does that mean
for us today?" Because we live.9 miles away from the bus, he would walk to school. Currently, I drive him because he's in first grade and the traffic turning corners,
not to mention when there's snow, when there's trash pickup. Now I ask you, would you want your child walking 0.99 miles past this building with all the additional cars, not to mention the drop off at the community
charter school? That's also a whole another issue. Now, I want to get to a real life situation. My husband and I chose to buy in Tene to raise our children here in the family community. 3 days after we
closed on about December 30th, 2023, again, I live on Grace Terrace, we had 28 inches of water in our beautiful new home that we just closed on. So, naturally, what do I do? I call my realtor. I call the lawyer and they say,
"Sorry, it's your house. You're stuck with it." So, what's the next thing I do? I call the town engineer. Surely, someone must have an answer to this. And the town engineer was very courteous and she said, "Sorry, you have to hire your own engineer. It's your problem."
So, if this development continues and two years after this happens, people start to get 28 in of water in their backyard and someone calls the town engineer and says, "How can you help me?" What will be the response? The response would be, "Sorry, hire your
own engineer." You know, I ask you to think about your constituents. Think about the people that live here. Think about your child that can be walking 0.9 miles to get to school just to learn.
I believe in affordable housing. I think it's the right thing. I just don't think that this is the right project. So, take a moment, go inside, have the courage, and speak for the people. The people have spoken. Thank you. I yield. Thank
you very much. Uh Dr. Powers, please Chuck Powers, T-C, I'm very disappointed tonight in the fact that we apparently hired as our township attorney an advocate.
I didn't hear a single word he said tonight that was not in favor of a one one part of what is the larger piece of the stories he was talking about. Let me give you an example. He said it was a it
was clear that the anything that was in an AINR doesn't have access to the protest petition that two communities near these facilities have gathered.
and he failed to tell us that there was in fact a major major case down south in New Jersey which said no ANRS are can be done and pulled back into
tougher votes by protest petitions. Why didn't we hear from that Mr. Attorney? We have the misinformation about what's going on with the immunity question is
another major example by virtue of the fact that led by Mr. Sammon this council tabled something and then introduced probably although probably illegally a
new a new ordinance which it can't actually pass adopt until the 24th of March. And the major judge overseeing these
issues for TENK said on the 4th of March that if Tene misses on any of the of the six uh agreements that it had partially made but had not completed. if it didn't
complete them by tonight and you don't have any opportunity, you no legal way you can pass the one that deals with 827 T-neck road tonight, which means the immunity question is off
the table. It's gone. And we didn't hear that from our attorney tonight in describing the situation that we are in. I happen to know a lot more and I think most people in this town with the exception of four or five about 54 in
West Anglewood. No, it's not true that there was there was one lot that went to three to allow for going up to 55 units on that small piece of property over by Maris Sue. I actually cross-examined the
planner who advocated it and the planning and the board of adjustment said too damn dense. No, we should be saying the same thing. Thank you, >> Dr. P. Next. >> Hi, good evening everyone. My name is Ted Finkelstein. I've been involved in
the development of housing in New York City for the last 35 years for low-income, for disabled folks. And not everybody wants housing built in their community. And I've been to at least 100 community board meetings. Rockus, screaming, yelling. You see them on the news. I've been to a number of meetings
here. I only see one side representing either. We're the freaks of this town. You guys are not listening to the represent the people of this town. Where are the people? Where's the Like I said, I've been to all these meetings. There's 80 people on one side, it's 50 the other side. Here it's one or two people. I
know we're not freaks. And if you guys are representatives, represent the people of Tene. The people of Ten do not want this as it's constituted now. And I've never developed with a developer that's only developing residential housing for the first time. Something so complex as this. It it's it's almost
laughable. So either you're showing disdain for your community of Tene or you're just not listening. It's one or the other. Please do the right thing. David. >> Good evening. Sharice Mars Tyus. I have been a resident in Tene for over 35
years. I live on Chestnut. I have had the blessing of watching my father come into this hall and fight for what is now the lowersized Walgreens. I have an aging mother that went blind two years
ago in one eye. She casually and very delicately walks across from the other side of Cedar Lane to Walgreens to get her medication carefully. I have been able to in multiple im
emergencies including the passing of my father get to my mother in less than a minute. I am a property manager for a building in New York. I represent the owner. I represent the tenants. I understand both
sides of the coin. But I also know the facts. And none of us here can deny them. Emissions causes dementia. It's a fact. I am an aging woman. There's enough toxicity around us that
is already causing dementia. We don't need more. It is a fact that NASA has projected that there will be approximately between by 203 to 5% increase in temperatures. That's a
fact. It's a fact that there is a projection of 10 to 14 in increase in rain in that time period. That's a fact. There's a fact that this has been a
community that's prided itself for as long as I've lived here in doing what was right by its residents. That's a fact. We've prided ourselves on diversity. We've prided ourselves on caring about the issues at hand. We've prided
ourselves on hearing the voices of the people. I am a Tene resident. I am proud to be a teen resident. I will not be able to say that if I continue to see our representation make decisions that are not on the behalf of the
people. I am living in a time where I am watching carefully, a nation of bullies, a nation of people making decisions without the people's voice. Please do not let that be Tene.
We have a moral dilemma and I'm asking you all to make a decision tonight considering this moral dilemma affects all of us, you and us. Good evening. My name is Anika Trinidad.
I have been in TK about 19 years now. We moved from Manhattan, which everybody already knows is super duper busy, because we wanted our children to grow up in a suburban area. We chose homes and we didn't even care about the taxes which are ridiculous because we wanted
that feeling. We wanted our kids to go out and play in the street. Now they're older and they're in the high school. One graduated, but they're still out and about. I watch my son go skateboarding in the parking lot by Stop and Shop that I think is on where they were trying to
build. The kids play there. They skate there. I watch Never Alone have events there. But even more so with having kids in the high school. We had a board event meeting the other day about oversized class. When we came, I think it was like 1 to 16, which I used to brag to my
friends about in New York. Now we have 37 to one in one class. I wonder what is going to happen with all these additional buildings, right? There's going to be so many additional children. We have the drop offs. We have parents. It's just going to be crowded. traffic
lane. Uh, Cedar Lane, that's something else I used to brag about. I'm from Washington Heights. Double parking was the thing, right? You knew it. When I came here, right when I came here, there was none. I would call people and be like, "We don't do that here. This is
TK. Teen is a model town." Now, I literally see these cars double parked up and down Cedar Lane. Like, I'm on 179th in St. Nick. It doesn't make sense to me. I didn't come here to feel like I'm living in Manhattan. I didn't come, my family did not move here for that. We
came here for fresh air, to look up and see the sky, to see trees, not another concrete jungle. Hackinack is fine, how they're doing it. Anglewood is fine. I don't want to see that here. I'm on Kent. I can't even
imagine what Stop and Shop is going to look like or anything else. So, I just hope and I hope that I'm not speaking in vain because I mean I'm new to this, but it seems like people have been fighting this for a long time and no one's hearing them. So, I truly hope it's not in vain and I hope at the end
of the day you stick to the integrity of what this town is supposed to be and not what you think you want it to be. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Anybody else? Good evening. My name is Enid Valo Justine. I'm back again. I'm a parent um
resident of Tina and also a board member at the charter school. Um so I'm back again um to ask for information that has yet to be provided about traffic, about safety, the drainage, about, you know, the noise and the impact, environmental impact that's going to happen in the
area. obviously particularly related to the school because I my children go there and I'm I serve that community as well. Um but it's just um you know hearing a little bit earlier about the plan um and the studies you know it sounds more to me like it's just like oh
everything is going to be okay we're going to find a way to make it work but that's sort of like closing your eyes and just kind of like feeling around in the dark like oh we're going to make this work. It's not an answer honestly. I I think you want maybe people want to hear that but it's really not an answer. I think when you're coming about
projects like this, you know, people want real concrete information, data, science, at least from my perspective, I think that's one of the most important components in decision-m and big processes like this. Um, and so I'm hopeful that this will come about some way because this is what the community
deserves. Thank you, Cong. >> Anybody else in the room after Mr. Son? Anybody else? >> Alan Stone, Teneck resident. I don't live near any one of these proposals, but I still feel I need to speak up. As
a member of the planning board, I had the privilege of working with a number of you in developing the 2024 master plan, which reiterates so many of the considerations that have been in master plans for decades. Um that represents the views of those hundreds of people
who participated in the process and the several hundred people who submitted their input online to maintain the residential character of this township in an overwhelming basis to keep multif family zones in multif family zones to maintain separations
between those zones to improve our business districts and to improve traffic circulation. Neither of these proposals do any of those things. Uh 54 West Anglewood did appear before the board of adjustment
and along with Dr. Powers, I had an opportunity to speak to a much much smaller much less dense project with a little bit more land. This is significantly more dense. Against my my calculation was 88 units per acre.
Something that is consistently that is completely outside the character of this area. I had significant concerns and I expressed those concerns uh at the planning board meeting when we were looking uh at that plan and I still don't see how it meets that. I'm really
really bothered even just by the title of ordinance 182026 which is adopting the Cedar Lane Central Business District Redevelopment Plan. The one thing that this ordinance in no
way, shape, or form does is to improve the Cedar Lane Central Business District. As a matter of fact, it makes redevelopment of that central business district almost impossible by giving away land that could have been used for other purposes.
We've known about these changes for well over a year. Uh in November 2024, I had the opportunity at the League of Municipalities to spend several hours in sessions in working with folks from the Department of Community Affairs to go through those details. And yet we find
at every point in time that we have to act because there is a gun at our head. There was a gun at our head in June. We had to pass a housing element and fair share plan. There was a gun in our head tonight. But again, the gun is at our
head because this township council has failed to element to exercise its responsibility to plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail. And this is exactly what's happened. We
deserve better. Maybe those who are going to vote yes are going to argue because we have to. But we didn't have to have this plan. We could have done better. We should have done better and you need to accept your responsibility for that. Thank you.
>> Anybody else? >> Good evening. Um Dana Williams. I'm American Legion Drive. So it's right in my backyard. And I just want to take a moment to thank everybody here on the council for hearing everybody out. Thank everybody for being here and making your
voice known. Um I want to especially thank um Miss Goldberg and Miss Belchure because one of the last meetings I listened in on Zoom, you guys uh stood and took a stance um in opposition
based on the poor development that you saw in the plan. And so I want to uh applaud you for that because it takes a lot of courage as everybody has said here to go against the grain. With that being said, many are called but few are
chosen. And so you have been chosen as our council for the people to represent the people to be brave for the people. And so I hope and pray that the decisions you make will be for the people. That's it.
Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Nice. Okay. Uh seeing all the hands, we will turn it speaker. Okay. Is anyone else like to speak afterwards before we go to Zoom? Is that okay? >> Hi, my name is Jenny. I'm a business owner and my family has been um property
owners for over 20 years. So, I humbly say that we kind of do have some um insight into like kind of the history just looking at what we've observed throughout the years. Um, I can only speak to my experience, which is
somewhat limited, but I think a pretty good overview of Tene. Tene, we love Tene. I've been here coming in and out of Tene um, for since I was a very small girl and I can say that the traffic in
here has noticeably been terrible, very congested. Um I remember when the neighborhood kids would be like again skateboarding um on West Englewood Avenue. I don't think that is a very sensible thing to do nowadays. Um so in
the beginning I was definitely for affordable housing. I definitely um am always going to be for that. However um recent information has brought been brought to me and I don't think this is a very practical project. So I have
spoken with my mom and my dad who um w may give me even wiser words and even they have um brought concern. They are concerned about this project. At first I was told 40 units were being added. 53
units is way too much. There is literally no no space for those cars. Even in the municipal lots there there's a new one since we've um we've started doing business and they're always full
and I don't think it's because um there are customers going in and out. These cars are permanently parked there and I think it's for the residents fine but I don't think there'll be any way for to reasonably
squeeze in more people. So, I really don't think this ordinance should pass. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, sir. >> Nick Lento, I live in Cliffside Park, but I've been coming to this town to shop and have fun for at least 30 years. So, I love this town. I love the
activism, the quality of it. Uh, it would be horrible to see it go the way of a lot of other places in this rich area. It would be a shame given these things that have been said here. I can guarantee you that if you guys keep this thing on the on the on the greased skids
that it's on now, apparently you're going to wind up with more and more and more and more people in this town realizing what's being done to them. And the more people who realize it, the more upset, angry, and dissatisfied they're going to be with all of you because you
are elected officials. You're not kings and queens. You may have gotten a few dollars in campaign contributions, but so the what? You know what I'm saying? This is either an a manifestation of some kind of severe incompetence or stupidity or I hate to say it,
corruption. IT MAKES NO SENSE. NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE. Your your your failed traffic study should by itself disqualify this thing from happening. Your lawyer sounds like an attorney for the developers. I love your engineer. I just talked to her before. She's a
wonderful, intelligent, nice lady. But let me tell you something. CSX is not stupid. They know that when water runs down through imperous surfaces, it's going to collect and pull somewhere. Making the pipelines bigger doesn't change the fact that there's less places
FOR THE WATER TO GO. Unless you dig some kind of major trench somewhere with millions of gallons, as time goes by, those railroad ties are going to be undermined by the water. It might take two years, three years, 10 years. But it
it's just physics. It's obvious that's what's going to happen. CSX is going to do, I hope, if they're smart, they'll have their own engineer, their own studies because this increases the probability of one of their trains becoming derailed. I admit it's a small
probability over the next five ten years, but if it happens, the liability to your town is enormous. Does your insurance company know what you're doing? Why don't they? It's it's in the interest of the insurance company to have your whole policy be underwritten
to a higher degree of liability. That's going to cost you more money, a lot more money. Now, maybe the insurance company is stupid. Maybe CSX is stupid. Maybe the people of this town are stupid and don't and won't won't care about what you're doing to them. I don't think any of those three three things are true. I
got 25 seconds. So, what I'm going to say is this. It's in your own best interests as public officials TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE HERE. THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO DO THIS. DON'T DO IT. ENOUGH SAID. >> THANK YOU, SIR. Anybody else? Go ahead.
Uh seeing no other hands, we will go over to Zoom. Mr. Clerk, take it away. I'm going to step out and leave M bringing in Liza Fernandez. Lisa Fernandez. Sorry, Miss Fernandez.
>> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Loud and clear, Miss Fernandez. 3 minutes. >> All right. Thank you. Good evening everyone. My name is Lisa Fernandez. I am a Tene resident and a mother of three students at Tene Schools. I am also a TX small business owner and the president
of Tene Road Business Community Alliance and the chair of the parent organization at the Tina Community Charter School. If that doesn't tell you enough about how much I care about this town and the families who call this place home, I don't know what will. So, I'm listening to this meeting and what struck me the
most honestly is literally what the gentleman just spoke about, the possibility of a trail derail derailment. That literally put my heart in my throat. I currently have a third grader at the charter school. And he said what was like 5 years or so from
now, that put him in what, 8th grade? That still does not account for the mom that I just met at the bus stop who just gave birth to her baby who has her kindergartenner in the school which means that her new baby is going to eventually be a student at the charter
school. This puts hundreds the school currently holds over 368 students I believe that does not account for the staff that is in the building. This puts over 400 people at risk just in one building. This is not accounting the
fact that this train literally runs through the heart of TX passing homes. My girlfriend lives on the other side of the train. Businesses, the supermarket who who've been there forever. This this
this build is not a good idea. The water I'll go back to the water. The business that my husband and I run is is a water business. And trust me, when a a pipe bursts, water goes everywhere. Water will always find a way. Water will
always find a way. And if God forbid, cuz Jesus is king, but however, if God forbid something happened to the T-neck area specifically where this is getting built, like the gentleman
just said, it is it is not going to be good for the town. It is not going to be good for the people. And you members at the table right now, you know me. I am not sitting here trying to badmouth anyone. I also, like the lady who just
spoke, I too came from the city not very long. Lived there during college years, had my kids, wanted to raise them here in Tene because I love Tene. Please don't build this. I yield my time.
Bringing in Ron Schwarz. Ron Schwarz, whenever you're ready. Ron Schwarz, whenever you're ready. Next up, he's not ready. Next, bringing in Judy Destler. >> Okay, I just got unmuted. Doug, can >> hang on, Ron. We got Miss Distler going
up first. Okay, Judy Distler, Tene resident for 58 years. Um, I worked for the board of education for 25 years. And I should add that I brought you the school vacation program which allowed working parents to
leave their kids in good hands when nobody else was doing it. Also co-founder of the film festival. I've been around a long time. I once got an award for being a Cedar Lane shopper. I think when I retired, I have to say
Cedar Lane is an ugly embarrassment. I would say it's definitely an area in need of redevelopment and I believe that the Crossroads project would only make things worse. Few other comments before a couple of questions. We were told by
our attorney that affordable rents would be about I think you said $500 to $1,100. I looked it up on AI which says that averages in Bergen County are $1,100 to $3,100.
Esther Sandoff says, I'm quoting her, the affordable units in unsubsidized mixed income projects only have to be affordable to households earning 80% of annual medium median income, which I
believe is roughly 109,000 a year for a family of four. This translates into a two-bedroom apartment renting for 2,725 a month at 30% of gross. These are the affordable units. The market rate units
will probably rent for at least 3500 if Hackin Sack is a good comparison. Uh the questions I have, what will happen to Stop and Shop while all of this is being constructed? Will
we lose the only supermarket we have in town? The other question, Cedar Lane, I believe, is a county road. Do they have any say in what's allowed to be built along that area? That would be the
parking garage and the apartments along Garrison, I believe, facing Cedar Lane and going to Beverly. I don't want to repeat everything else that's been said. I agree with all of you who have said that we shouldn't do
it. I believe we should not do it. And those young people who think they're going to be able to move into these affordable units, I think you'll need an allowance from your parents for a long, long time. Thank you, >> Ron Schwarz. You are free, sir. Thank
you for your patience. Please unmute, sir. >> All right. There we go. Okay. Thanks, Doug. Listen, Lisa wants to uh have three minutes also after I'm done. Is that okay? My wife is with me. Hello.
>> Oh, sir. Sir, I'm just checking with the group here. Yes, that works just fine. Thank you. >> That's good. Okay, so um >> three minutes, Ron, whenever you're ready. >> Okay, thanks Doug. Ron Schwarz, Tina Coowner for 45 years. I just want everybody in the audience to understand
that there are two obscene anti-democratic things happening tonight. Number one, after all the questions that have been raised about the water remediation, about the flooding remediation for years and after your the town's own engineer said this
is not a workable plan being presented by the developer yet, you present something on by an engineer 10 minutes before the last vote to finally approve this ordinance the to the public. Public has no chance to respond to this at all.
no chance to corroborate whether you really have discussed this matter with with CSX. That's obscenely anti-democratic. Number two, I've been living here 45 years. Lisa and I have been both been living here 45 years. We've never seen
three protest petitions being presented to the council over the last week. People went and got signatures from the affected homeowners, the people who are going to be the most affected by this massive development. People signed protest petitions and presented them to
the council in three different petitions. This has never happened before in my view in the history of Tene. Yet you reject them because your attorney says you should reject them. Phil Yuck presented a case to you. It just was decided at the end of February.
I don't know why the council doesn't understand that or doesn't know that that a court permitted protest petitions in a area in need of redevelopment. You should have looked into that. You should have been aware of it. This vote should be five votes in
favor or it should fail. I am really really upset that this council is not accepting these petitions. If you were worried about litigation before, you're going to get it now from these people who are most affected, who signed these protest petitions and are ready to take
it to court. So, if you're worried about litigation, you just bought yourself into litigation. Thank you, Doug. Lisa, now would have next three minutes, I hope. >> Well, I'm not going to take you right, >> Miss Lisa. Three minutes whenever you're ready. >> Okay. I probably won't take three
minutes because I've spoken before and I've heard many people here speak tonight and I don't want to repeat what everybody else has said. There are so many issues here that were presented as to why this development should not go forward. I don't need to repeat that.
What I do want to talk about is representation here and democracy which Ron just talked about. We represented here. We represented you to represent the people of Tene and the people of Tene have spoken loud and clear for
several years about this project. Now, I know there are three council members up there who have been pretty clear that they're pro-development. They want development in this town. Some have said they want this town to look like Atinac. So, you have said that and you were
voted in and people know where you stand. But there are other council members here. council members that Ron and I worked broke our backs basically supporting, giving money to, working for. And some of those council members came to the to the site of
Crossroads and looked at the plans and swore to us that they were against this development, that they were against Crossroads and they would not vote for it. Now, now because of fear, fear of builder's remedy, some are saying that
they have to vote for this because they don't want litigation and builder's remedy. And somebody talked about courage, courage versus fear. And actually, I think some of our council members are succumbing to fear by an
attorney who sounds like he works for the developer. He is not pre presenting both sides of this issues. That makes me really angry. I just want to say I was one of those people who was not has not been adamantly against development in this area. But I now am really really
angry at what I'm seeing here and the disregard for the people of Tene. The lack of representation for those council people that we voted for, not only voted for, worked hard for, gave money to their campaigns, said they would absolutely not vote for this project.
And now they're saying they're voting for it because of builder's remedy. We are committed. Ron and I just talked about how much we would contribute to a lawsuit. There are many others who will. There will be litigation. We will fight this. We will fight this in court and we have a lot of ground to do that. That's
it. Thank you. Sam Pasner Sam Pasner, you're up three minutes. >> Hello. Uh Sam Pasner, TAC resident. I want to preface this speech by saying that I support affordable housing. Increasing affordable housing is not only the right thing to do, but it also
improves our community, boosts local businesses by increasing foot traffic, lowers resident tax burdens, and allows young residents like me to stay in town. I support multif family development and believe we need more around town. Yes, including in my backyard. It is not despite but because of my beliefs in the
benefits of affordable housing that I rise to object to the handling of the crossroad project and the danger it poses to the residents of Tene. Our community benefits when people of all backgrounds feel welcomed in our town. But the young families affordable units seek to provide units for should not
start their time in our community with flooded homes. The businesses that multif family units support cannot grow if traffic prevents people from reaching them. and lots suff suffering from flood and floods and pollution reduce net revenue for the town through decreasing property values and increasing services.
This council is put in a bad situation due to fair share housing, but it is a dilemma of its own making. The council has seriously procrastinated its affordable housing obligation. As a college student, I empathize with those who struggle with procrastination, but
the fair share housing doctrine is 40 years old. The town council should have seen this coming. Given the lengthiness of the zoning process, waiting until the literal last possible day to meet our affordable housing obligation is
irresponsible and anti-democratic. Rather than allowing the threat of builder's remedy to tie the hands of the town's leaders and residents, the town should have begun identifying areas to propose development for fair share housing, identifi identified problems with development, and ready the project
for shovels in the ground a decade ago. That way, the coun the town could have begun smart development as soon as obligations were announced that would allow us to actually build beneficial affordable housing. In 10 years, when the next round of affordable housing is
released, let's make sure we're better prepared. Future units should not endanger existing homes and businesses. Climate change will make flooding and other environmental hazards worse, not better. Multif family housing, when done smartly, helps everyone. Unfortunately,
this project does not live up to that potential, and we need to do better for the future. Thank you. Bringing in Shelly. >> Good evening. Can you hear me? >> Loud and clear, Shelly. Three minutes. >> Great. Good evening, everyone. My name
is Shelley Warell and I am almost a 60-year resident of Tene. Believe it or not, I am totally against the redevelopment of 54 West Inglewood Avenue. I live in very close proximity of this possible redevelopment. Earlier
tonight, a gentleman mentioned widening a road um for this redevelopment, and I'm just wondering which road is he talking about. Also, he also stated that there are two additional lots that were acquired. I'd like to know which lots
those are. And again, I ask, where will all the cars of these new residents park as well as their guests when those guests come to visit all of these residents? That's all I have to say, and I just hope that the council
reconsiders. Thank you. >> Bringing in Wenita, >> can you hear me? >> Loud and clear. We needed 3 minutes. >> Thank you very much. Hello, I'm Wanita Brown, Tene resident. I am all for affordable housing.
However, how affordable will this truly be in the end? New young people thinking that they can afford this, they're in for a shock because they won't be able to afford it. And why in the world would the elected
officials of the council vote for something that the majority of the residents are so totally against? It makes no sense that our town is being turned into an area that most of us
didn't move here for. Speaking for myself, if I wanted to to have apartment building facing me, I could have stayed in the Bronx. But I moved to Tina because I wanted a different feel for myself and for my children. Thank God my
children are no longer here and they told me they won't be coming back. In addition to that, I'm so afraid being a senior, I'm so afraid that trains carrying hazardous materials will put my life in danger so much that there's no
escape for me. Because if it goes in the air, I can't run from it. I'll just be breathing it. Please, please, please do not vote yes for this because you're not doing us any good. Us being the
residents of Tene and you all live here. You won't be doing yourself any good either. Thank you very much. Have a good night. >> Bringing in Andrea. >> Hello, my name is Andrea Belmont. I'm a TK resident. I am a
I I am a mother of a high school student at Tene High School and also a mother of a student at the Tene Community Charter School. And I have issues with both um developments with Crossroads and 54 West
Englewood. Uh I'll start off with 54 West Englewood uh being that it's in my backyard. Um, I came to Tene for the community feel, just like I have my kids at at the school. And the idea of having
um my backyard having a fourstory building um is not um conducive to the the community feel that we have right now in Tene. I am all about uh affordable housing. I just feel that
there's certain areas of the town that that can be for and it's not um in front of houses, next to houses, and behind of houses. Um and there was another caller that called in, Shelly, um in regards to parking. Um and that's another issue um
that I wanted to bring up. Um especially when there's snow emergencies and and cars cannot be parked in the street. So, if you put up a four-story building um and all you have all these people parking um their cars, where where are
the residents supposed to be putting their cars if they can't put them on the street already? Um on the other side with the Crossroads Project, um I have my child who's at the charter school and um on a good day it'll take me 15
minutes to drive there. I've noticed that traffic since I moved here to the town in 2013 um has gotten harder and harder um during um uh rush hour and
what's going to happen when um this this development um is created? What's going to happen with with with traffic? We already have issues when it comes to dropping off our children safely at the school. so much so that now we have um
streets blocked so that we're able to draw for uh our kids and I would like to have that into consideration and I would hope that the people on the board on the council will say no to this development for both developments 54 Anglewood and
Crossroads. Thank you. >> Bringing in Alicia R. Alicia. >> Yes. Hi everyone. I'd like to um thank everyone from the town that has speak spoken so intelligently and passionately
um about um this project and why it's so important for it to not be developed. I just wanted to focus on one thing in relation to both of these developments, the one at um American Legion and the
one on West Anglewood. Um so first of all I've lived in Tene my entire life which is o almost 55 years uh that I've been in tene and I want to know why we are moving forward like a freight train
with these projects that are not really taking into consideration um the betterment of our downtown commercial areas. To me, it seems like we're just checking off the boxes and dealing with uh
returning favors and we're not having a big picture view of what will make Tene more livable and more enjoyable and make the downtown areas prosper. So, we have spent so much time talking about this development plan without
really hearing anything about other development options such as the one that was presented by Esther Sandro that really focuses on uh a big picture look at what would improve Tene's downtown
area. I grew up in T-neck. I remember really enjoying walking down there, having ice cream at Bishoff's, going to the movie theater, going to Louise, getting a magazine at Rocklands. T-neck
Cedar Lane area is not an enjoyable place to go anymore, and I really would like it to come back. I yield my time. IVJ, please state your name for the record. >> Sure. My name is Isaiah Vallejo Hojesty,
reside um on in Bennett Road. Uh have two children at the charter school. Um both of whom were born in Holy Name Hospital. So they're T-neck through and through. And I heard a lot of people mention Builder's Remedies.
And I know that 8207ro would not be approved by tonight. So at least it was my understanding that the builder's remedy is there already, right? And that the passing of these ordinances and I ask council if he can meaning the attorney if he can clarify this. The
passing of these ordinance will not affect builder's remedies because they're already there because the council, the town council has delayed uh the results of A207 Road now three times. So, it's not that the council
voted against it, it's that they delayed it. And so, now the building's remedy may be already here. At least that's my understanding. Um, I also when it comes to the attorney, the attorney is supposed to represent its client, which is the town council.
But I've read the contracts. I've heard the arguments here. And I got to ask, what is what is the attorney doing? Because it seems like to me, every contract is in favor of the developer. Every single one that I've read, the
council, the town has the power. The people have the power. They put you guys in power to make decisions on their behalf, not on the behalf of the developers. So, I'm just confused as to
why we would seed so much power without getting anything back. Thank you. >> Bringing in lords. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Lordes Milan and I've been a resident here at West Forest Avenue for about 11 years
and I have two sons that go to Tene High School. One is a freshman, one is a senior. Um, my main concern with these projects is the strain that is going to have in our local infrastructure. Um, I moved here from Riverdale, New York, which of course in New York City
will feel like the urban suburban kind of situation there, where we had a lot of very private homes, but then we also had the towering buildings. And I have to say it did put a strain like in in terms of where we would get our food from, our medical services, our
emergency services, but it also put a strain in our educational um infrastructure. classes are always burdened with way too many kids in the classroom which then makes our resources very scarce and based on what I see with my kids at school currently in high
school. Like I said previously, the classes are way too overcrowded. So adding all those new units will not bring so many more kids. So I would like to know if there's anything in place in terms of how you're going to address that if these buildings come to be.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Clerk. Anybody else? Seeing no other hands, this or hearing is now closed. Um, Mr. Attorney, before we go to any comments in the council, did you want to address any comments? >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Um, so three
things I want to address. First is 54 West Anglewood there. Anglewood, there was a question about what street would be widened and what lots were added since the 2021 uh use application or use variance that went before the zoning board. Uh the Mercuro Street is the street that the
redevelopment plan would require to be widened. Uh block 4905 lots one and two are the two lots that were added since then. Previously was just lot number three. Um which approximately approximately double the size of the of the property. Uh second was a question
at the very end about uh the fact that 827 uh palisade is not is not being adopted tonight. It's not being adopted until the next meeting at the I'm sorry. What say? Oh, I'm sorry. Tro. Yes. Sorry. Um 820 827 road will be adopted
at the next meeting. Um and not this one. Therefore, whether or not we're already subject to a builder's remedy uh lawsuit. Um there are a couple distinctions u between this there a couple reasons why why that does not just immediately evaporate immunity. The
biggest part of it though is that we are substantially compliant that we are making progress toward the adoption of all the ordinances uh uh by by hearing that for adoption of the next meeting. It's already been deemed consistent by the planning board. It was introduced um
and so therefore we're we're on on the path. If the council were to reject uh either of the ordinances that that are being considered for tonight, it's fundamentally different position that we're in because then the ordinance is just dead and there's no replacement and therefore there's not there's just no
compliance. Um, the last thing I want to address is a couple of comments that we received uh regarding the protest petition, specifically an allegation that there's this decision in another court involving uh Meridia, which is developer um that says that the protest petition uh statue applies to a
redevelopment plan. Uh so, first of all, that is an unpublished non-presidential case from Tom's River in Ocean County. The reason I did not bring up that case is because it does not say anything at all near what was claimed that it says. Basically, in that case, the Tom's River Township Council repealed a
redevelopment plan, giving the uh without giving the developer, Meridia, notice of their plan to do so. The court explicitly held that repealing a redevelopment plan as opposed to adopting a re redevelopment plan, which is what what the council is considering doing here, when you repeal it, that is
done under the municipal land use law, not the local redevelopment and housing law, because it is a reversion to the zoning laws that are uh otherwise in effect. And so because of that, because it's under the municipal land use law, the notice and protest petition statute applies. Court though explicitly said in
uh in their decision, and anyone can look it up, it's Meridia versus Township of Tom Thomas River, explicitly said that adoption of a redevelopment plan, which is what we are, what the council is considering doing tonight, is not subject to uh the protest petition
statute because it is under made under the local redevelopment and housing law. And that law specifically does not include the protest petition language like the municipal land use law. So in response to those comments, it is absolutely incorrect to say that this this other case for case says that a protest petition is valid when it comes
to adopting a redevelopment plan because in fact the case specifically says the opposite. All I have mayor, >> thank you very much. Any council members before we entertain any motions like to speak? Go council Gilbert. >> Thanks Mr. Mayor. Um give me a minute
please. I um I remember the first time that I sat in Margaret Baker's living room and it was I remember the first time that I sat in Margaret Baker's living room. It was after a council meeting and I decided to go to her house and knock on the door. She opened the door and welcome me in and I saw the letters from the township. I mean and we
took a walk. I saw the tower in front of her living room and the sun is blocking her living room light. I've heard people say, "Oh, she can move into the apartment building. Why should she?" I heard her I heard she chose to buy her house there in an in an in an industrial
zone. She chose to buy her house, the house that her husband grew up in across the street with a massive setback. When she realized what was going to happen, she reached out and said, "Okay, move the entrance to the parking garage so traffic doesn't back up onto four and
have a little store inside so people can get milk and lottery tickets." I promised I wouldn't let that happen again in this town if I elected. even got a pizza for coming in third for that. I sat in this room on the night that the holy name the holy name vote took place after some of my colleagues
gave their word that they would not vote on a zoning ordinance without a deal for the hospital. We all know how that turned out. Something about cards. If I am not for me, who will be for me? When I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, then when? There are some meetings you just remember. State Street
redevelopment hearing at the planning board, the 4905 uh redevelopment hearing as well. I heard every single every single one of the single family homeowners come up and say, "How are you declaring my home an area in need of redevelopment?
Graham Place, Mercer Terrace, 54 West Anglewood, 44 West Anglewood, 40 West Anglewood, 32, 26, 22, 20, 18, Orchard Streets, Graham Place. Single family homes were declared area need of redevelopment. Ebony Beauty Supply,
Reggae Kitchen, Blimpy, a municipal parking lot, Leaseco and Elsa's Beauty, Blackowned Businesses, small businesses, all tenants. And they didn't get their notices, their landlord did. How do I know? I personally went door todo to each and every one of them that right after that
um together four council members undid almost all of those lots because together we worked together to rise for T-neck 54 West Anglewood Avenue is still part of that area in re redevelopment that is my red line and that hasn't changed I drove past Anita Gasman's
house I'm sorry if I said your name wrong I drove past a residential neighborhood with very low apartment buildings and single family houses. I will not vote to make her the next Margaret Baker. I realized what an injustice was about to come to the council agenda then. So I
called Councilwoman Romney Rice and Henry Puit and I spoke to them on the phone for two hours as we went through the property owners and what had happened. Yes, it was denied by the board of adjustment and then some property transfers happened and then it went to the for redevelopment. Tene Road
is not for sale and neither is West Anglewood Avenue. So why wasn't Cedar Lane put on that housing element and redevelopment plan? The public has a right to know and I'm asking too. Mount Laurel doctrine is about affordable housing and it does not allow the towns to say no go live somewhere else. The state does not want the affordable
housing all in one place while richer white collar towns pass the buck. I believe that applies to municipalities as well. Why is every single one of these properties except for Regina's and Crossroads in the Northeast? This was a failure to plan, but not by our attorneys. So, please stop blaming the
attorneys. We are the governing body. We are your elected officials. Hold all of us, all seven of us, accountable. It can happen to them and it will happen to you. Thank you, Phil, and everyone who stood up for everyone else. I hope others do the same. Regarding Crossroads,
the night crossroads uh settlement agreement uh was walked in, Ron Schwarz famously grabbed a copy off the table because there was one available then and held it up and he hasn't really stopped talking about it since. I have read that plan maybe a hundred times. And the redevelopment plan has a
very specific requirement for phasing. Phase one, construct building C. That's the parking garage on Beverly Garrison where the 100,000galon tank was supposed to go across from Phil and and Chris's house. This allows there to be no business loss to Stop and Shop or their
parking lot during construction. Two, the Buddhist Center improvements reconfigure stop-and shop parking lot and execute the land exchange. It is not until the Buddhist Center is demolished to soil that the American Legion drive parking lots gets transferred. And we have heard Crossroads themselves say that the Buddhist Center has a five-year
lease. So that's five years down the line. I do have no idea about what's going on with the Beverly Garrison lot though, however. So please, I hope no member of this council moves that up. Phase three, the American Legion Drive lot and last one, phase four, is the south end of the Stop and Shop lot. I've
also heard Stop and Shop knows they're they're working with us. Do they know that when seven parallel pipes are built that thanks by the way for confirming everything I've been saying in this PowerPoint that the American Legion Drive and Garrison lot will have to happen at the same time that their parking lot entrance will cause business
disruption because we how else are you going to do a seven parallel pipes at the same time? This is violating the phasing. You can't do this in spurts. Forget the traffic study. Has anyone asked the county about potentially I don't know ripping up Cedar Lane because it's got to go under Cedar Lane 2. Yes,
I do have a fiduciary responsibility because in 2022 there's a settlement that says the parties must cooperate in good faith to establish a staging plan that eliminates the impact to the supermarket. I may not have voted on it, but I still serve T-neck. The 2026
settlement agreement passed 52 on January. The parties shall at all times abide by the stop and shop agreement with input from stop and shop as to the draft redevelopment plan and ensure that the participation and agreement in the redevelopment plan. Abide by the stopand shop agreement. We're not doing that.
How is anyone going to go get to the supermarket with this plan when they can't do option A or B? Oh yes. So I am voting no. I will not violate one settlement agreement with a gun to my head when we've been told for four years that we can't get out of this and we have to uh follow the 2022 settlement agreement only to not have to do it now.
Chris, I'm sorry. You were at that meeting with me in January 2020 January 2025. The engineers were explicitly told do not do anything that will push the drainage downhill. You are my constituent and I will have I will continue to fight for you. But so was Shenaz and Tracy and the this just
pushes the water at a greater velocity downstream into an untested pipe. >> Council, >> thank you, Mr. Mayor. As always, I want to thank our residents for coming out tonight and telling us how they feel about these projects. As some of you know, I will be abstaining on the West
Anglewood project due to a campaign contribution I received a couple years ago from the developer. and I will be voting no on crossroads for at least five different reasons, but I'm only going to talk about two of those reasons tonight so that we could keep the meeting meeting going. Um, number one,
it is so very unusual for a municipality to provide 2/3 of the required land for a private project for a private developer. That's a lot of public land for a private project. And that will always bother me because despite what
some people think, those parking lots are assets. And whether those parking lots are empty or not, those assets serve our community. Number two, one of the most important parts of this job is listening to the people you represent, our residents. And I've been saying that
a lot these past 5 years. You have to listen to the people you represent. I'm a big believer in that. And I hear our residents loud and clear on Crossroads. So, I will continue to vote no on crossroads. Thank you, mayor. >> Thank you very much. Um, Councilman Gats
and then >> Well, can I just ask the attorney again to remind me about to educate us about the builder's remedy and what this means? Just I forgot what what you said to us last time. Um, if we decide to
vote no and then the crossroads goes to court, can you articulate exactly what this builder's remedy means? Sure. So, uh, what does builder's remedy mean? So, a builder's remedy lawsuit is a challenge
to the, uh, to the township's ability to control its its zoning. uh because the township has under the uh fairer housing act uh failed to uh provide uh sufficient reasonable development a reasonable opportunity for development of affordable housing within within the
township. Um the way the law is structured is that we have we have the these deadlines basically to take the um take the timeline of of adopting this uh these these ordinances out of our hands and force us to comply with it. And so
what the courts essentially are saying that is if you don't comply with this, you don't adopt these affordable housing ordinances, uh then you lose the right to control it because uh the state as a whole uh and in certain regions and and
each region within the state uh is has such a overwhelming demanding need for affordable housing that that's you know that's that's why they why they've uh imposed it. So if our um immunity is challenged uh uh and we don't have we
haven't complied with the statute then the the court basically takes the zoning out of our hands and puts it in the hands of what's called a special master. Special master is essentially the someone that is hired by the court to decide our zoning for us. Uh the only thing that they are really looking for is affordable housing units and where
where they can be wherever they can be built um however they can be built uh with whatever it takes for them to be built. Uh, and so if that means taking a small lot and building a large a large large building on it to get those affordable units, then that's what the that's what the court would allow. Uh,
if it means uh uh breaking up over uh multiple projects all all over town, that's you know that's that's something that the court would look to as well if there are specific developers uh that are that are applying uh uh for it uh for with specific projects. So, um, if
that happens, you know, the the risk is always with these, uh, with builder's remedy lawsuits that the, uh, we get they get the the zoning that we just voted down, it's approved anyway, except not by us, by the court. The, uh, they allow we have to the the municipality
has to pay for the at the attorney's fees and soft costs of the developer. um sometimes you have to pay for the um uh for for other costs as well as well as a special masters uh essentially as a a thank you for making us do this anyway. So um that's that's the third with the
builders remedy lawsuit. It's the only one I'm aware of uh where municipality won uh it was my own hometown of Scotch Plains back in 1985. I'm not aware of any other municipality ever winning a builder's remedy lawsuit. Uh, and that's, you know, the the risk is that you just essentially lose your right to
control your own zoning. >> So, just just so that I'm clear because there was a little noise from the audience. you said that it goes to a court, the court makes the decision and then the zoning that we just if we decide not to support it um gets passed
anyways but without us having any controls whatsoever as far as height I think one of the residents spoke they said think about the scale right and and by the way I am listening to every single resident here and I am sympathetic
to the residents that live next to the project. No one wants to live next to an unknown. We don't know what it's going to do to the neighborhood. Um, you know, that's that's the in the mind of the person living there. So, I am sympathetic. I'm I'm even understanding of the people against progress that are
against all these different developments no matter where it is. And by the way, they are some of them are the same ones that were against the charter school for those representing the charter school here because they were here standing against the charter school. And I was I know because I was a big supporter and I am still a big supporter of the charter
school including a donated library. Um but I do want to talk specifically not about the fact that you know I'm not looking to be a hero to this room. I'm looking to be doing the right thing for the residents of this town. And one thing I know for sure that
is whether you like your elected officials or don't like your elected officials or have things to say about elected officials. Every single person up here has the best interest of Tene in mind. They just may have different ways of getting there or different ideas. And I
will tell you that and I work with every single one and I don't agree with everybody up here all the time. But I will tell you that one thing's for certain. the council, the planning board will do a much better job protecting the
residents in this room than some court that doesn't have any flavor or understanding of our community. And the one neighbor that I do want to highlight is Chris Brown, right? Not because he's not going to be invited to any barbecues
this summer of his neighbors. That's a fact. But because this is a gentleman that is directly affected by almost everything that was discussed. He was directly affected by the flooding. He's directly affected by these buildings.
He's directly defel affected by the development. But for his day job, he eats, breathes, and sleeps this work. and he understands that concept that the court will not
protect you like your elected or your statutory boards. And so while he probably has to get escorted out of here at the end of the night, he is certain. Okay, come please.
Okay. Okay. He is speaking from his firthand knowledge and understanding of the realities of the reality. And the realities are as the attorney said it as
a not acting in his professional capacity but as a resident who is being affected said it. It's better for us to make this decision. So I'm not torn. I'm doing the right thing even though it's not the popular thing. I'm doing the right thing tonight by voting for this.
Even though the residents that are living in the neighborhood are not happy, the people against progress are not happy. Okay, I'm going to be supporting it. Okay, I'm going to be supporting it so that I can do the right thing for the neighbors today and in the future as
well. So, that is my position. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much, Council G. So, >> by the way, I didn't know if Lisa Schwarz was talking about me that she was money. No, she didn't give me money, but I I didn't know she was working so hard to get me elected. So,
>> I want to thank Lisa Schwarz publicly if that if she was talking about me, I appreciate it. Thank you. How you running? >> Um, Councilwoman uh Councilwoman G, please. Thank you. >> Sure. Um, may I ask a lawyer a question? Can one of some of the feedback I've gotten from residents, first of all, I've been fielding calls from residents
all week, text messages, calls, emails. Um, so thank you for your enthusiasm and for reaching out. But one of the questions I had was, well, we have ideas for other places that affordable housing can go. Like, why can it go on second story of the, you know, businesses on
Cedar Lane or why couldn't it go to the Glen Point area? Can you just share why with the time constraints like why that's not feasible right now? >> Sure. So, the at this point what the courts are looking for is they're looking for developers. They want to see actual development. um they want to see
not just not just theories or not just ideas for where development could could potentially be. They want to see actual uh projects that have a realistic uh likelihood of uh of being of being developed. Um and so if we at this you know at this point with the you know the
time constraints that we have if we go to them and say look we have this idea of you know maybe we can change the zoning around here or change the zoning around there. we have this idea it's going to be contingent on getting a developer over here or it's going to be contingent on, you know, condemning some other property or something like that and taking over by the township. The
court just aren't interested in in in in theory in those kinds of theories at this point. just uh you know, lame phrase. They would love to see it because they want to see more affordable housing, but they would they aren't interested in to the point that they're going to that they would allow us to substitute out a uh an actual developer
who uh uh who is who has a um uh a a a plan, a proposal for what they what they can do. Uh uh and so it just at this point is not something that we can go to a court and say uh you need to let us off the hook with this developer.
>> Thank you. Um, so many of the comments I heard today are ones that I agree with, right? I believe development should align with our master plan. I believe residents should be heard and represented. I believe development should not be rushed. I also want to acknowledge the deep concern that many residents have expressed. People care
deeply about the future of our town, about traffic in the area, about our schools, our infrastructure, and just the character of our community. Those concerns are real and they deserve to be taken seriously. Um, some people even talked about the fact that their kids attend the nearby school. My kid also
attends that nearby school. He is a first grader at TE Community Charter School. So, those concerns are not abstract to me. They are personal and I share the same hopes for a safe and thriving environment for all of our children. Unfortunately, today in this situation,
we do not have the luxury of unlimited time. We are facing a statemandated deadline to comply with the fair share housing guideline and we must make a decision within that framework. In many ways, it feels like we're between a rock and a hard place and there is no option
today that will satisfy everyone. This vote is about keeping the township in compliance. It does not represent a blanket approval of every aspect of these projects. I want to say that again because I feel like a lot of people who spoke have spoken like this is a a blank
check to the developers to do whatever they want. No, these plans are not solid yet. We are just reszoning these areas. This does not represent a blanket approval of every aspect of these projects. Rather, this allows the
township to retain control and maintain the ability to negotiate with these developers on any future projects in Tene. And I think Chris Brown said it best. We have to do our jobs as your representatives to ensure that we are getting everything that you need. And
that's what we plan to do. Many people spoke today about courage and fear. And I've heard from many residents who feel strongly about this issue and have have urged me to reconsider my position. I truly truly appreciate every single call, every single email and text
message. Um, and everyone who spoke tonight, that level of engagement shows how much this community cares about our future. When I ran for office, I believe that those who supported me trusted me that I would make thoughtful decisions
based on the best information I had available. And that is what I'm doing today. My decision is not based on fear. It's based on my understanding of the facts of the law and what I believe is the most responsible path forward for the township.
Sometimes leadership means making difficult decisions even when they may be unpopular. For me, courage is doing what you believe is right even when it's not the easiest path. So, I acknowledge that acknowledging that I'm not taking the easiest path and it breaks my heart
to make this decision, but I truly believe it's the best one for the township. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Councilwoman Deut. I just want to start by um reminding everyone that you know um Tene we received a um an award for um the best
master plan. The uh 2024 master plan was um recognized by the state as um as a exemplary u master plan. Um, and shout out to the 18 months that it took our residents and and our planning board and
our council uh that spent an awful um large amount of time. Um, one of the things that it it pretty much uh speaks to is that you know my understanding and I always kind of like feel this and that is when we speak about development,
development is not just brick and mortar. Development is economic development. It is looking at our businesses. It's looking at the vitality of our township. It's looking at things that um that are not high density uh just high density development. That's
one that's because that's one of the reasons why when I first came into office, I looked at ADUs and I said, "Hey, this is an alternative way in which we can find housing." And um the adu ordinance did pass. And it is I believe that the the state is crafting
new ideas um as it pertains to ADUs um as alternative um housing. Um but one of the things that I just want to underscore is is this T-neck is Tene. We comply as a as it pertains to affordable
housing with every date, every document that DCA requested of us. We did this. It wasn't like we said, "No, we were not going to comply." It wasn't like we said, "No, we're not going to live up to our affordable housing obligation." It's
it's not like we are some of our neighboring towns that have made decisions not to live up to affordable housing only because they're concerned about lowincome people and brown and black people living in their community.
That's not us. We complied with every date, every single obligation. And that's why we're sitting here today because of the fact that we know that in uh we we all feel like we because we want to comply, we h we feel as if our
backs are against the wall. So I always believe that it's important to analyze every single pro uh uh site or every uh single project based upon the strength of the project itself. Our master plan calls for lowrise. We said specifically
three to four stories. We went through the northeast when we had my colleagues wanted to put five stories. We said no, let's let's take a floor down. And we've did that. We ddesated an AINR, something that had never been done in this town
ever, you know, before. We uh we we basically said we want to keep the residential character of our town. we want to make our uh keep our t or make our town walkable that we want um to improve our business district but
crossroads missed the mark on this as far as I'm concerned and I will not vote in favor of it because it's not our best work it is not what we can the best things that we can do in terms of making our u largest business district vital so
I I will not be uh voting for that one thing someone said is about why didn't we do this before? Affordable housing is a 10-year round. We we just finished the round three. We're in round four. We're in this for another 10 years. So, yes, can we do
things proactively? Yes, we can. And I I encourage my colleagues for all of us to put our heads together and figure out ways in which 10 years from now, whoever's sitting in these seats won't have to go through what we're going through. So I I I sit here and I say
that there is things that we can do that can improve upon uh development, but there are things that we are obligated to to protect our residents. So that's an obligation that we have. So when we looked at 54 West Anglewood, we we spoke
to the developer. We asked that that developer came out with one lot and he and and he turned around and bought three additional lots. that developer basically is looking at uh sub uh surface parking and that's something that you know we we
we have control over just like Councilwoman G says we have control over it but if we are expose our town to build a remedy we have we lose control we lose control so that's the the limit
that I mean listen you this I I've gotten calls and text messages about being afraid I'm I'm not afraid of these people. I'm afraid that what we the decisions we make will harm our residents and harm our township. So that's why we're sitting in this this
dilemma right now. So I am not in favor of cross uh crossroads, but I am in favor of West Anglewood. I believe we've done things and we can continue to do things to work with that developer to make that development compliant. So that's how I will be v voting tonight.
Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor. in Oregon. >> Just to piggy back on that a little bit, um I think that's with all of our developments, not just with that development, but every development in town, including Crossroads. Um we do
have the responsibility to make sure that once we move on from this redevelopment plan and we move on to the the redevelopment agreement that we make sure that we protect you with that without voting for the redevelopment plan. Now, we're not protecting you. And
as much as you um are all passionate and most of you are respectful and you have come together as a group to let us know exactly how you feel, it is my feeling that and my responsibility to make sure that we protect the town going forward.
And by not voting for this um if this does not pass tonight, both of these agreements, I think we're we're putting the town in a very very precarious uh position. But um I give you my word if I'm here once um we get shovels in the
ground I will make sure there is no flooding at the charter school. There is no train derailment or anything that would excuse me um that there is um no possibility of of um flooding by the train and a train
devel uh derailment that the farmers market does stay um and continues to serve the town. So, um, I will be voting yes. >> Thank you very much. Um, I'll make my comments brief. First of all, I apologize to my deputy mayors. I've been coughing and sneezing all night. I'm
sorry about that. Um, I'm just going to address a brief brief two brief comments. Howard Rose made a comment that there was so many years went by. How do we let this happen? At the same time, someone else said, "Slow it down." 100 State Street was a perfect project
derailed by people in this audience. A midb block wide block full of apartments 67 units amongst thousands about 18,900 units would have surrounded this and people in this audience voted it came
out to about 16 meetings including at the high school they protested in Dunkin Donuts parking lot that's why we're here 1515 C road going back to about 2008 small condo project I believe that was also people came and protested against it Avalon
people in this audience came and protested against. I'm happy to hear some people think it's a great project now. Every single project put forth, including Glenpoint that was brought up tonight. People protested. So, do you want to know why we're here? We have a This is one of the most Democrat
legislators in the country with a governor. It was a Democrat. Some even say progressive. They signed this legislation because of decades of people in this state, in this town, in this room, protesting every single project.
I'm not against development. I'm just for a smart development. No, you're not. You're against every single development we put through. So, stop being a hypocrite. We got more projects coming up the next 1 2 3 10 20 years. There will be more projects. And when you come up here and protest protest those
projects, don't be alarmed when round five comes due in 10 years from now and we say, "How do we get here? How do we get here? Why are they forcing us on us?" That's why. So when a project comes, take it for the merits, not just because you're against every single
project. And with that, I'll make a motion for ordinances number 16, 15, 17, and 18 of 2026 to approve. Is there a second? Second. >> Second in Oregon. Uh, let's do roll calls individually, please. >> On 15. Councilwoman Goldberg.
>> 15. Is the blanket 20% set aside for >> Yes. >> All right. Yes. On 15. >> Counciloman Pagan on 15. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman G. >> Yeah. >> Councilman Catz. >> Yes. On 15. >> Deputy Mayor Belchure.
>> Yes. On 15. >> Deputy Mayor Organ. >> Yes. >> Mayor Schwarz. >> Yes. On 15. 15. Roll call, please. >> On 17. >> I'm sorry. 17. Roll call. Councilman Cats, you're recused. >> Oh, good. 17. Councilman Goldberg.
>> 17 is 54. West Anglewood. I'm a no. >> Councilman Bean. >> 54. >> 54. >> Councilman. Sorry. Councilwoman G. >> Yeah. >> Councilman Katz.
>> I'm abstained on that. >> You're recused. Apologies, sir. Debbie Mayor Belchure. >> I was forgiven. >> Uh for 54 West Anglewood. Yes. >> Debbie Mayor Oregon. >> Yes. >> Mayor Schwarz. >> Yes. On 17 18. Roll call, please. This
is Crossroads. >> Councilman Goldberg. >> No. >> Councilman Bean, >> no. >> Councilwoman G. >> Yes. >> Councilman Catz, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Belchure, >> no.
Deputy Mayor Oregon. >> Yes. >> Mayor Schwarz. >> Yes. >> Adopted. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. Uh meeting is now open. >> Okay. Um >> yeah, let's do recess.
Can I get a roll call on a fivem minute recess, please? >> Everyone's in favor. >> Everybody's in favor. Fiveminute recess. >> Is someone calling me? Where? And we are back. Thank you very much. Uh time for good and welfare. Your chance to speak about anything on the
agenda. Not on the agenda. Anything on your mind for three minutes. We'll start with people in the room and then we'll go to Zoom. Anybody here like to speak? Dr. Y. Okay. I want to thank you all for voting. What? Oh, am I in the mic? Is
the mic working? Yep. Okay. So, Phil Yok Bell Avenue, you know that. Um, I want to thank you all for voting what you feel is the right way. That's what you're, I guess, elected to do. Um, so we move on to the next phase of this. Uh,
I'm still concerned about Well, first of all, I want to thank thank the the township manager for for the leaves were finally cleared out um in Books Park. I'm not sure about Sagamore cuz I I went to work today. So, I but I saw the men working in Books because that place was
never cleaned last fall. Um, so I'm glad that that's done. I don't I don't know about I I I also spoke to to um the manager about trash on uh and leaves and stuff on on um on Garrison Avenue by uh
by Veggie Heaven on the side of Veggie Heaven. That was a mess. I don't know if that's been cleaned up yet, but there's a mess all over town. And I really think, again, I spoke about this the the other day. I really think just having the the um environmental um commission
have a clean Tina cleanup day. We shouldn't have to have a cleanup day. The town should be clean and it's not clean. You know, the street sweepers come along and they pick up most stuff, but there are things that are bottles and things of that sort that the sweeper just misses. Or they go around cars that
are parked, so there's stuff under the cars. But there's stuff on the sidewalks. I I was in at Sagamore Park. There's a basketball court. There's a there's a garbage can on either side of the basketball court. I didn't count, but it looked like there were a dozen
bottles under the bleachers and in front of the bleachers there. Bottles further into the park. And I don't know. I know that the the DPW I I hope when they when they go and cut the grass, they stop and pick up all this debris because if they don't, it's just going to get chopped up
by the lawnmowers. There's little pieces of plastic all over the And I see that, too. I see little pieces of plastic strips from from from from cups and stuff. Now, we should be proud of our town and and I don't know who's doing all this littering. It's certainly not me, but I'm cleaning it up. I'm picking
it up all the time. So, you know, I don't I I really think we need a campaign uh to to to for people to be proud of our town. I think probably we need a campaign in the schools to teach the kids um not to litter, especially in the high school, because a lot of the
stuff that I see is stuff that probably kids are dropping on on the ground. So, you know, I don't know what you can do about that, but I would like to see something like that happen in this town. I remember people used to throw stuff out of cars all the time, and they do it now, too, because that's in the streets.
Um, but when I was younger, there was an anti-litter, a national anti-litter campaign, and suddenly all that stuff seemed to stop. So, we could do better here in Tene with that. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Anybody else know how to speak? Mahu and then Dr. Power.
Thank you. First of all, good evening. Um, still a beacon of joy. Um, I just want to say first of all, I appreciate you voting
your conscience. I um and and and the hours that are in the thousands I'm sure that you put into working on the council. I am I volunteer for the Tene
International Film Festival and I'm on the Chryree Advisory Board and with my health and my responsibilities at home I'm overwhelmed. I can't even imagine what you have to do um for your work
here and I I know that well I can't even imagine I can't understand half of the things you have to vote on so I can't imagine how much it takes to be able to do that but I do want to ask that you also show consideration for us when we
come and we bring up objections and we are also acting in good faith. when we bring up objections that, you know, we've done our own research. When I bring up objections, I've contacted, let's say, New Jersey Transit and they don't know of a project
and they're telling me we don't have the resources for something. I'm not against progress, but you're you're labeling us as against progress or people who are against every project. No, not necessarily. We're bringing up things
that are actual concerns that we have. um whether it's a concern that there maybe won't be enough uh room for a farmers market or that we're concerned that when you say, "Well, it's going to all be worked out later, what if it isn't? And what if the what if the
concern that we have is an actual valid concern?" In our minds, it might be. But when you label us, it doesn't make us feel good. Just the way you don't want to be labeled, we don't want to be labeled either. I'm not against progress.
I'm not I would just like to be I would like it to be done a certain way. Maybe it's not the way you want it to be done. Maybe I have opinions about you know the way I think things should be handled. Maybe it's not something you agree with. Maybe it is something you
agree with. Maybe I I have different facts than you have. But it doesn't mean that I'm against progress. Maybe I think different things should be cons taken into consideration. Maybe if we spoke we could compromise on something but labeling it I don't think
is ever the way to go and I think that should be taken into consideration when especially when things are getting touchy. I I just think that um it should be civil on on both sides. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much Dr. Power. Anybody else afterwards? Okay. Mhabi. >> Um I am very very much for progress as it was defined by the master plan of the township of Tene last January and
February. I fully support going about both the housing and the development process in precisely the way in which the planning board laid it out. And those I would argue that you're against the progress that was defined by the master plan. Mr. Mayor,
I was very disappointed when I think that Councilwoman Gee, I think that she was asking a question about which she wanted an answer. And what she heard from our attorney was
about the least articulate description of a really quite straightforward situation in which the town now sits. There is no way, as clearly laid out in
the March 4th decision by the judge overseeing the GF, this part of our the fourth obligation that says if they don't get it all done by the 16th in an hour and a
half, if you don't get it all done in an hour and a half, you can't get a certificate immunity. Therefore, we're in for a run with
developers builders remedy. We can't avoid it at this point. And Mr. Attorney, you should have been clear in your response to Councilwoman Gee's question to you that
that is the situation. We can't get there. In an hour and a half, it's gone and we're in for it. And you guys made the decision to table the the ordinance and propose a new one, which you didn't
do legally, incidentally. And uh it's time that we get better articulation. I have read the case down there from Thomas River and your description of it is far different than
I want I would have given Mr. Attorney. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Power. Mr. Orman, three minutes, please. Let's not do the four-minute routine. >> Paula Reggoven, um I'm so disappointed that the protest petition
was rejected. Honestly, I couldn't understand. I'm I'm intelligent. I could not understand why the protest petition was rejected. Um, just a little bit about the
crossroads plan. There's some of it that's such Okay, I'll I'll be polite. So bad. So, some of the is like reorganizing the traffic flow. And that's kind of funny to me because I live in that area. And
there's not exactly a way to organize the traffic flow. You have to have trucks that go to Stop and Shop cuz that's a supermarket. They have to get there. They cannot go through all our residential streets, Lynen and Elm, and
they they can't um they're not even allowed to. So, I'm not too sure how you're going to do this reorganizing the traffic. You you you want to sit in the traffic in the morning going trying to get from American Legion Drive onto
Cedar Lane, right or left, and it's impossible. But where are you going to send those cars? They're not going to go down north to River Road or I I don't know where you're going to send them. There there is not a real way to
organize that. So that part of the project is going to collapse. It's going to collapse. You've got the nursery schools over there. You've got the two elementary schools there. That's real traffic that is not going to go away. And adding hundreds more cars is just
there. There's just no way. So that whole thing is a bust. That's not going to work. Um climate change is real. We almost had a tornado today. My kids didn't have my grandkids didn't have school today in Virginia because of the tornadoes. Right. Climate change is
happening at a faster pace. A faster pace. And the flooding that you plan to put into the the um the drain the fancy word the swale um that's going to flood the tracks. Especially if you look at BOD where the
tracks and the swale are almost even. It's going to be a disaster. The flooding down by Elm and River Road is already a disaster and adding more. We're going to get sued. So, we have a a another lawsuit on our hands from uh
we'll have a lawsuit from BOD and perhaps other towns. Um, I'm concerned about the fact that two council members got a campaign contribution from uh some somebody at a high level of uh
crossroads. I'm concerned that the the study to turn our area into an AINR um was done by Crossroads the developer. >> Anybody else afterwards? Alan >> Obby Berlin Tene resident. Thank you. not on the day to my eight fellow
residents who are actually still here. There's usually about 65 67 seats and I meant what I said before and what I've said in the past, right? We are all one team on team here. We all want what is best. We may not always agree on what is
best or how to get there, but ultimately we all want the same thing. And thank you for staying here. for good and welfare, which is really not supposed to be an open mic night to air our grievances. It is not the festiv season anymore, but should really be about speaking about the good and welfare of
the community and hearing about what our fellow residents, neighbors, friends, and those not yet friends have to say and share. And in that spirit, I I will add a number of things. First of all, congratulations to the Tene High School boys and girls varsity basketball teams.
I don't know the last time this happened, but two weeks ago on Saturday, we hosted back-to-back sectional championships. Unfortunately, um they were not victorious. Um but they were splendid seasons, both ranked very highly in the state. And this past Sunday, congratulations to the FDU
women's varsity basketball team who actually uh uh who actually uh won the championship, the NEC championship, finished back-to-back undefeated NEC seasons and are now going to the NCAA tournament. Uh that's uh for their respective tournament. So, thank you
very much and have a good even please. Anybody else afterwards? >> Alan S, Tene resident. There's a there's an old joke in the law uh that if the law is on your side, you pound the law. And if the facts are on your side, you pound the facts. And if neither is on
your side, you pound the table. The tell here on this township council that neither the law nor the facts are on your side is when you start attacking people against progress. when you start attacking people who were opposed to plans that were made in the past.
I wish that those who had supported those proposals that passed this evening had expressed their justifications for why these plans were good for, why they were positive, addressed not just some of the flooding concerns that the
township attorney had represented, but also addressed the quality of life concern, the traffic, and I I wish I had heard that. And I and I think it it really is a is a sore point to really be be trying to attack people uh who I
think are out here as as Mr. Boliner said in good faith for the betterment of this town and I think we can do better with that. I was a little bit disappointed uh to see some of the budget um and some of the discussion about the budget and I think the discussion this evening uh about sewer
taxes is really I I've been asking about sewer taxes for years. I've been attending budget hearings uh and asking the CFO for years. I've been sending Opas for years, where is this money? Um I am horrified to learn uh that there is
600 to $800,000 per year for 2022, 23, and 24 that has been paid out of the pockets of taxpayers because bills could not be sent. Whatever issues existed,
these had been festering for 3 years to not have bills sent out. In December, we were told that we shouldn't send out the bills because it's going to be hard for business people to be paying bills over the holiday. It's St. Patrick's Day
tomorrow. Um, is there what holiday is going to come up that that we shouldn't be sending up bill? Why have taxpayers been footing? We're balancing this budget down to just under 10% by cancelling $2.3 million again in
one-time uh cancellations and a million dollars in cancellations um of expenditures that can't be used yet. We are we are running out we're borrowing money. Uh it was really disappointing to see $511,800 in increased debt expenditure uh
categorized as something that was out of the township council's control. debt is 100% in this township council control and the rising amount, the $6 million that's going to be covering debt and debt service is a real burden on tax. We
can do better. Let's really participate with our resident >> much. Anybody else? Sure. >> Just a few seconds quick on the uh the film thing, the start of the evening. Um sounds wonderful. the hotels and the
businesses that sell the food, you know, the larger businesses in town will do great. My concern is that the smaller businesses that will be impacted by the disruption will be hurt. So, I don't know to what extent you guys have the ability to try to ameliate that for
those small businesses. Uh just a just a thought in your heads. Um my primary reason for objecting because I I apologize for the intensity of my remarks. um is the concern for the future safety of the people who live in
that vicinity in the general area. When if God forbid even 10 years from now, if the remediation is not handled properly and those railroad ties do get undermined and not properly maintained and tested on a regular basis, it
increases the probability of a derailment. You could see from the shirt that I'm wearing, but I've been active on these kinds of issues for decades along with Paula and uh Mr. Powers, Chuck. Um it's it's a real thing. The the the laws of New Jersey cannot stop
the laws of nature, physics, chemistry, biology, that's all real. Global warming is real. There's going to be more water in our air and on our land in the future. I'm going to I'm going to just one last thing. I don't know how much time left. One last thing is that I would This is not a done deal as I
understand it. Maybe I'm wrong, but you guys still have power to use your ability to try to force the developers to do everything that they need to do to improve the safety. Make the ditch where
the water goes deeper. How much time left, sir? >> Oh, sir. >> Okay. Oh. Oh. Oh, okay. Well, so and also you could question your insurance company because if they determine that this project increases the possibility
of a disaster happening when they figure that out, and they probably will. The insurance company's not dumb, they're going to raise your rates if they're smart. And the same thing for the the um the the traffic study that failed. The stuff that Paul erased, those are real
things. That's not our imagination. Those phenomena are real. the quality of life for the people in a neighborhood is going to diminish and this will turn eventually, stop yawning, this will eventually turn into a political issue for all the ones that voted uh against all the ones that voted for this. And it
in closing, it seems that the only real reason rationale for voting for this amongst at least two or three of you is that you are afraid of the uh the repercussions of being sued. I think you might have won that suit based on the merits. Enough said. I appreciate your
courtesy. >> Have a good night. Um, assuming no one else in the room, we will go to Zoom. Mr. Clerk, actually, we make a motion to extend the meeting by 15 minutes. >> All in favor? Mr. Clerk. >> Keith. >> Keith Kap.
>> Hello. Keith Kaplan, Tina resident. Uh, two very quick points to the issue dour. Look, if you want to get something accomplished, you work with other people. When I was on council, I wanted to get various things accomplished. I
couldn't always get people that I sat next to that, you know, people in the crowd might have thought were ideologically aligned with me to vote for certain things. I went to other council members. You get it done. You count to four, you pass it, you move on. the people that have been against
progress. You can like or dislike the phrase, but I have never seen this group of people as a specific group come and say, "Let's work together to figure out how to make this a better building." They've been against because it's not
smart development. They've been against because of various reasons. Figure out a way to count to four. That's all you need to do. Uh, the thing I really wanted to mention though is when I was on council, we created the SDL system and I really liked one aspect of the
system because you can click on it, schedule appointments and it gives you three dates that are available. The uh clerks will pick one and presto, you get an appointment. And I tried it a couple times and it worked and it worked great. But the last time I tried it, it gave me three choices. I picked them and it the
response I got back was, "Sorry, all three are no good. The only one we're available for is one that wasn't good for me. The purpose of the system is that it enabled the residents and the staff to work together autonomously
and free up staff time. Um, I hope it's not indicative of a larger problem, but I know, you know, from the past that somebody really needs to mine the store on these issues and make sure that the system is being well utilized. It's a a big boon for residents if it works
properly. And I just wanted to mention it. Hopefully, it's you know, just a glitch. But, uh, you know, going forward, I think, uh, it would be, uh, behoove us to make sure that these kinds of programs get a lot of attention, even though they don't necessarily show us
very flashy. Thanks very much, Sam Passner. Hello and uh thank you again for letting me speak. Um I was really shocked when members of the council mentioned that those who spoke out as opposed to this
project, the projects tonight, some of the projects tonight were against progress in our town and against development in general. point out first of all that the only people tonight who spoke about actual benefits to development whether they be affordable
housing allowing people into our communities or business benefits or tax benefits. The only people who spoke out in favor of progress during this discussion giving actual tangible
benefits were against these projects. There may be people in this town and in all towns who are genu who are genuinely opposed to all development and selfishly guard the town using whatever excuse
they have in front of them. However, many people genuinely do support development and support progress and want multif family housing, including myself, who have specific objections to projects which would
destroy people's homes and derail trains and destroy our environments. Calling this against progress, against development generally, is fundamentally both misleading and false. and it is
offensive to those who genuinely do want our town to build better. This insulting attack against all people who have specific objections to a project is
quite rude. Also, there was a mention by a pre previous member of the public that the budget tonight increases the debt of this town. As somebody who anticipates to live in this town for decades and wants to build my roots here, learning that the p that the public services of
this town are going to be burdened by debt is of serious consequence to me. We need to get our fiscal house in order. We need to be able to have balanced budgets or else the taxes that aren't paid today will be paid by me when I
grow up and people like me, the kids of people in the town today will be paying those taxes tomorrow because of unbalanced budgets. We need fiscal responsibility and we do need smart development, not no development, not no
government services. We need smart government services and smart development. And those who pretend that people's intentions are bad because they want things to be well thought out
are just trying to get something not well thought out or at the very least are misinterpreting the signals of the members of the public. And true dialogue, true representative democracy is about understanding what the intentions of the public are. Because if
we do want smart development, you should talk Thank you, Sam. Your three minutes were up. You ever need to speak to counsel, email him at councilj.gov. We have Andrea. Andrea, >> sorry, I'm still online. I just wanted
to say that um I'm a little bit disappointed that, you know, some of the positions that I'm against are being voted in favor of. This is a small
town, small community, and you know, there's big ideas, and I really wish that, you know, other areas of the town could be looked at for these types of developments and not, you know, where we
are. Um especially with traffic on on Cedar Lane. Um driving, you know, to the charter school in my backyard. You know, every year our taxes are going up. And this
year specifically, our taxes have gone up exponentially. And I just want to say that regardless of those on the council that I did not vote for,
we see you. We hear you. And we will remember exactly where your votes are when it comes to the next election. And that's all I have to say. Thank you. >> Okay. See no other hands. Good welfare
is now over. Anybody else want to respond to good welfare? >> Really quick, I just want to invite uh Phil, there's an environmental commission meeting tomorrow. Um and they do the community cleanup. So if you want to join us on Zoom tomorrow night um 7:30, the township website, uh Hild is
great at that. Um and I just would like to just ask that my colleagues respect the residents that come here. Even if you don't agree with them, they deserve our respect. >> Anybody else want to speak? I just want to say that um thank you for residents
for coming out and for calling in. Um you know uh we are we do have a affordable housing crisis in our state and in our nation and um
we have to address it and um I just want to I want to also say that um there is uh it's important that we proactively uh look at things there are things that we can proactively do um such as um
convening um u advice from um New Jersey Transit um you know I think that's something that we really need to do on a regular basis even if it's every 3 to 5 years um just to really kind of like speak to if we're speaking to having hundreds of units coming into our
township we absolutely need to talk to um New Jersey Transit. So, uh, there are things that I think we can proactively look at, uh, doing that's going to only help us, uh, in this round and beyond. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Anybody else? >> Good.
>> Thank you, u, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out. Thank you to those who stayed in the room. Thank you to those who stayed on the on the call. I I hear you. Um, it, you know, I and we deeply respect you. Or I'll speak for myself. I
deeply respect every single one of you. Um, we may not always agree, but I think it's important that we do listen and we hear from you, and I will always share the reasons why I vote the way that I do, and I hope that you respect and appreciate that as well. Um, I just wanted to just reiterate that we do
deeply respect you, and um, you know, it we are we should be so grateful to have such engaged residents. Um, and that that's, you know, what I love about Tene that everyone cares about this town. That's the one thing I think we all have in common. So, thank you. >> Thank you very much, Councilman Dre. See
no one else. Mr. Clerk, we'll turn it over to you for the minutes, resolutions, any bill list. >> Uh, we're going to be pulling 155 tonight. I hope to present that to council. That's our resolution this evening. I hope to present that to council on the 26th. We hope to present
that to council on the 26th. Uh, and we do have indeed five sets of minutes. I would love a motion on >> Okay, I'll make a motion to approve the five sets of minutes. >> Second. >> Seconded. Bean. Roll call, please. >> Counciloman Goldberg, >> yes. >> Councilman Begon, >> yes. >> Councilman G, >> yes.
>> Councilman Cass, >> yes to all the minutes I was present for. >> Awesome. Deputy Mayor Belure, >> yes. >> Mayor Oregon, >> yes. >> Mayor Schwarz, >> yes. >> We'll be pulling resolution 155. And we just have two quick ordinances to introduce. Please read them into.
>> We have ordinance 21 revising the township code as to commercial and movie filming and ordinance number 23 amending the township code to revise no parking restrictions on Gowway Place. >> Motion approve both.
>> I make motion. >> Councilman Goldberg. Um wait any no on the film I have a problem with the um the noise issue and yes on the Galloway place. >> I'm sorry that was >> no on the first one and I
>> no one filming yes on Galloway. >> Yes. Right. That's right. No one film yes on Galloway. Sorry I don't have it in front of me. >> Councilman Pagan. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman G. >> Yes. >> Councilman Catz. >> Yes. Deputy Mayor Belchure.
>> Absolutely. Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Oregon. >> Yes. >> Mayor Schwarz, >> yes. >> All introduced. We'll see him in April.