The Titan Falls Burl Council being held April 21st. This meeting is hereby called to order. Would the clerk please read the open public meeting statement? >> Pursuant to section five of the open public meetings act. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by posting on the Burrow of Titanfalls
official website and the municipal building at least 48 hours prior to the meeting and filing with the burough clerk all on November 10th, 2025. >> Thank you. May I ask the clerk to call the role? >> Mr. Allessie >> here. >> Miss Buckley
>> here. Mr. Nice >> here. >> Mr. Periq >> here. >> Mr. Nessie >> here. At this time, I would like to invite everyone to join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> There are two sets of meeting minutes for approval this evening. May I have a motion to approve the March 16th, 2026
special meeting minutes and the March 17, 2026 regular meeting minutes? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Mr. Allesie. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Periq. May I have a roll call? >> Mr. Allessie? >> Yes. >> Miss Buckley?
>> Yes. >> Mr. Nice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Periq? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nessie? >> Yes. The next item on our agenda is reports. We'll begin with Mr. Fallon, our interim business administrator and CFO, will present the 2026 budget.
>> Great. Thank you, Council President. I'll let Dan uh dim the lights here. Thank you, Council President, and good evening, everyone. I'm Tom Fallon, the Burough's Chief Financial Officer. Thank you for joining us tonight. On be and on behalf of the mayor, I am pleased to be
presenting the 2026 municipal budget. Next to me is the Burough's engineer Tom Nef, who will be presenting the capital section of the budget. If you're watching on YouTube and would like to follow along, you can access a PDF of the presentation on the bureau's website
homepage at www.tintonfalls.com under news and announcements. So, we'll get started with the first slide. The first slide is a pie chart which shows what percentage each entity represents of all the tax dollars that
are collected. So if we we start at the upper left hand side for every p or for every dollar that is is paid in taxes 23 cents goes to fund the local municipal budget. One cent goes to fund the municipal open space tax. Three cents
goes to fund the fire districts. 15 cents to the county, 38 cents to the elementary school budget, and 20 cents to the high school budget. Next, next slide is the same pie chart
just with the uh municipal portion exploded. the local municipal budget and municipal open space budget. Those are the uh taxes that the burough controls under the budget that we are going to discuss tonight. So what does a resident get for their
24% um that they pay in taxes? They get essential services, which are all of our infrastructure and roadway improvements, police and public safety, public works, solid waste removal, garbage uh and
recycling disposal, engineering and planning, public health services, the court system and justice, tax collection and distribution, property assessment, registar services, zoning code and housing enforcement, emergency notification system, and curbside
recycling. Then also quality of life services that the burough provides. The burough parks of course recreation programs, the playing fields, open space acquisition, open space maintenance, affordable housing, historic preservation, and funding of our our
burough library. So the results of the 2025 operations as it pertains to our budget uh the Burough of Tinfalls budget structure continues to result in a positive position in available cash and reserves
adds to our ability to stabilize the tax rate and whether any economic downturns. The percent of fund balance held in reserve remains strong decreasing modestly from 35.42% 42% to 32.26% of the following year's total budget.
The bureau regenerated 91% of our fund balance utilized in the 2025 budget. We exceeded our revenue targets by 27% aiding in the regeneration of our surplus. The 2023 through 2026 budgets combined
have over 1.6 million remaining under the 2% levy cap. that equates to approximately 2.7 cents on the tax rate. Those are property taxes that could have been levied by the municipality. Um, but under the law, under the levy
cap law, but we did not uh levy those taxes, the tax collection rate remains strong, rising slightly from 99.14% to 99.33 uh which allows for the stability and the the appropriation of the reserve for
collected taxes. The 2026 budget structure generally it's an overall the budget is overall a fiscally sound and responsible plan. There's no gimmicks or structural imbalances within the budget. It provides the necessary funding for all
municipal services and for continued and increased capital investment in the burough's infrastructure, parks, and equipment. It also allows for the regeneration of a majority of the surplus utilized. As far as the revenues go, the bureau
continues to be conserv conservative in our revenue projections so as to regenerate surplus utilized. Regular state aid remains stagnant for the past 17 years at 1.5 million. On the appropriation side of the budget,
total operating expenses have increased by 5.44% a result of continued budgetary pressures in the group health insurance appropriation. Exclusive of health insurance increases, operating expenses have increased a
marginal 2.42%. Total budgeted salary and wages a component of operating expenses expenses have increased by 1.42%. Debt service remains stable under the bureau's aggressive debt management plan. Total budget appropriations have
increased by 4.69 and the bureau continues to employ a hybrid strategy for its capital needs. We appropriate all non-road capital improvements directly in the budget and authorize general debt only for road improvement programs. This strategy has
resulted in reduction in the burough's net debt and in long-term borrowing costs. I'll get a little more detailed on the next slide, but this is a summary of the revenues in the budget. The top uh line is state aid. As you can see, state aid
has remained the same uh in 2026 as it did in as it was in 2025. Municipal revenues are somewhat flat, um decreasing by a small amount, $9,800. Delinquent tax receipts are down 100,000. That just means we have less
delinquent taxes from 2025 to collect in 2026. We're utilizing $550,000 more in our fund balance than we utilized in 2025. And we'll discuss that a little bit more on the next slide. And
the amount to be raised by taxation will increase by a little over a million dollars or 5.6% um for a total increase in revenues of 4.69%. 69%. The 10-year average increase in the amount raised by taxation of the bureau
is 2.6%. So over the past 10 years, the bureau's averaged an increase of 2.6%. Which is less than the 3% average in the consumer price index over that same time. Beneath that is the assessed values uh
taxable. So those are our our taxable ratables. They've increased from 5 bill578 million to a little over 6 billion or 421 million which is 7.56% of that $421 million increase. $81
million of that increase is due to new assessments and $340 million is due to increases in existing assessments based upon market value adjustments. Beneath that is the municipal tax rate. Based upon this budget presented
tonight, the municipal tax rate will decrease from 32.4 cents per $100 in assessed valuation to 31.8 cents or six uh 610 of a cent or 1.85%.
So 1.85% decrease in the municipal tax rate. This is a pie chart of where the burrow's revenues uh come from. The the top uh right corner is our our
surplus. We we're anticipating util utilizing $5.8 million of our surplus. That's about 55% of of what we have available, which is slightly more than the 48% we utilized in 2025. The burough surplus remains historically
strong at 10.5 million and the additional surplus being utilized this year is acting as a tax stabilization revenue to partially offset the increases in health and pension benefit costs is important obviously to maintain healthy reserves for cash flow
maintaining a strong bond rating which reduces our borrowing costs and protection against economic downturns. The next revenue section is local revenues which is the million695 or 5% of our budget. That consists of various
licenses, fees and permits, uniform construction code fees, court fines and costs, interest and costs on taxes and deposits and commercial garbage fees. Below that is the state aid a million508
that accounts for 4% of our revenues and that revenue has remained stagnant for 17 straight years. In 2009 this revenue was reduced from 1.9 million which funded 9% of the bureau's total budget
at that time to the current level of a million 508 which only funds about 4 and a.5% of our budget. So over the last 17 years, although costs of goods, services,
personnel, you know, continue to grow, state aid has not grown with it. The piece below that is shared services 310,000 or about 1%. The burough receives approximately 310,000 from
Eatontown under a shared service agreement for municipal court services. The other large item beneath that is other special items of revenue which accounts for 11% of our budget. The that consists of our host benefit
agreements with the county uh Maza and Marpal mainly the county cable and fi franchise fees hotel occupancy tax operating grants and the long-term tax exemption agreement with Bell Works.
Delinquent tax receipts 2% counts for 2% of our revenues and those are 2025 uncollected taxes that will be collected in 2026. And then the big piece of the pie is the amount that we're going to raise by taxation under this budget which is 59%
of our revenues which is a slight increase from the 58% in 2025. The amount to be raised is 613,000 less than the amount allowable by the state 2% levy cap for 2026.
This is historical municipal fund balance. It shows a positive and stabled fund balance trend from 2020 to 2025 due mainly to responsible budgeting practices and policy decisions. Just another way of displaying burough
fund balance. The first uh bar in each in each year is our fund balance amount at that year. The second bar is the amount we're utilizing in the budget and the third bar is the amount that we're
leaving um that we're not utilizing essentially. And as you can see, the trend's been fairly positive. that use a little bit more, a little bit less in some years. This year, we're utilizing a little bit more to help stabilize property taxes.
Non-utilized fund balance as a percentage of a budget. Another way to to present it, as you can see, it's down a little bit in 2026, but still very strong uh because we are utilizing a little bit additional fund balance this year. But the more non-utilized fund
balance you have on hand, the better we're positioned to manage emergency and any unexpected economic issues and to stabilize municipal taxes. It's a summary of appropriations. This is a summary of uh
major cu of major categories compared to 2025. So at the bottom you can see total budget appropriations have increased by 4.69% from the 2025 budget. Total salary and wages have increased by a marginal
1.42%. That increase is comprised primarily of contractual salary and step increases and offset by some retirement savings this year. Other operating expenses exclusive of health insurance have been
held to a marginal increase of 3.71%. And as discussed earlier, health insurance has increased by 21.7% leaving us with a total operations increase of 5.44%. Capital improvements directly budgeted
have remained stable at a million55,000. Debt service remains stable. Statutory expenditures have increased by 4.37% due to increases in the required state pension payments and the reserve front collected taxes has increased marginally
by $56,000. This is a pie chart similar to what we did with the revenues but this is the other side of the equation. This is the spending side. This is the appropriations. our appropriations are within the state budget uh cap limits.
The we could start at the bottom at the the department of public works which I will say before I I would also like to mention that the specific function costs like for public works do not include the benefits for those functions as those
are budgeted as required under a separate appropriation. So we could start with public works. That accounts for about 14% of our budget and that includes our streets and roads, our sanitation, our mechanics, buildings and grounds and and
uh our community services act. Next to that is public safety accounts for about 23%. police, police dispatch and 911 through the Mammoth County, emergency management, aid to emergency medical services, fire presention, and the
municipal prosecutor are within that employee uh group health insurance is above that accounts for about 14% of our budget this year. And this appropriation has increased by 838,000 from the 2025 budget appropriation.
The bureau over the past couple of years has continued to explore and offer more cost-effective health plans that are beneficial to both the employer employee and employer to reduce costs in this area. This appropriation is net of the
million1 million10,000 um that our employees contribute towards those health insurance premiums. Insurancees other than health are above that. that 3% of our budget. That's our liability, workers comp, unemployment insurance. And that's remained
relatively stable over the years with a minor increase uh for this year. Land use, UCCC, and code enforcement makes up about 2% of our budget. That's the Department of Planning, Zoning, Housing, Code Enforcement, and our Uniform
Construction Code Inspection Department. General makes up 8% of our budget. That is the appropriations that provide general services. Administration, clerk, mayor and council, finance, tax collection, tax assess assessor,
purchasing, law, engineering. Next to that is the reserve for uncollected taxes which is 3% of our budget and that is a statutory amount that we need to appropriate for uncollected taxes to ensure that our cash flow ensure cash flow to meet all
tax requirements to our other entities. Since we collect all the taxes for the counties and the schools, they do not need to appropriate um a reserve round collected taxes, but the municipality does. Debt service is next to that.
That's 8% of our budget. It's stable with a slight decrease of 23,850 from 2025. Of the 2,494 350 in debt service, 2,ion20,000 of that is principal payments and 474,000
is interest costs and an additional 200,000 in principal payment on open space debt is being appropriated through the open space trust fund. Debt service remains low at approximately 7.7% of our total budget appropriations.
Next to that, capital direct capital improvements is 3% of our budget. Those are directly funded cash um capital improvements uh that that are in our budget which will be discussed later under the capital section of the presentation.
And the other uh 1% that's just other types of appropriations that we have. That's municipal library funding, accumulated leave compensation payments, length of service awards programs for our EMS, storm water management, and operating grants.
Shared services is below that. That's accounts for about 1% of our budget. We have uh three main shared services. The bureau receives two of them. one from Mammoth County for our dispatch and 911 services. That's reflected in the public safety section of the pie chart and we
received from Freehold Township Health Services which is reflected under our health and human services. We also provide one shared service for a shared court to eat in town which is those expenditures are is what is reflected
under that uh part of the shared service part of the pie chart. Uh but is also offsetting revenue of 310,000 for that service. Social Security, that's 3% of our budget and that's our the burough
portion of our social security payment. Pension costs are 9% of our budget are 2,991,000. That includes the police retirement system of about 2,60,000, the public employees retirement system of 916,000
and 15,000 for the deferred comp retirement program. It's a total increase of about 147,000 from last year or about 5%. In 2013 in 2014, these appropriations
totaled about a million 380. So over the past 12 years from 2015 to 2026 the total impre total pension appropriations have increased by about 146% or a million611538. These required contributions are
calculated and provided to the bureau by the state of New Jersey pension system. utility expenses and fuel. That's that's all of our that counts for 3%. That's all our regular utilities including including street lighting and
fuel for vehicles. Court and public defender. I think that's self-explanatory. That that's our court and our public defender um departments. Parks and recreation accounts for 3%. That's our division of recreation and maintenance of parks. and also some
maintenance and improvement costs are also provided for it through the open space trust fund. Then you have the last piece there, the health and human services. That's 1% and that consists of the health services provided through a shared service agreement with Freehill
Township and also our animal control services. This is our net statutory debt uh from 2014 to 2026. It's a pretty impressive chart. The burough has reduced net debt by over
eight million dollars or 38% from 21.37 to 13.23 million. This equates to an average reduction in net debt of 678,000 per year over the past 12 years. And as a result, the bureau is paying almost a
half a million dollars less in interest annually today than it paid 12 years ago. This was achieved by modifying the capital and debt management strategy strategy whereby the bureau invests more than ever in its infrastructure and capital needs but funds a much larger
percentage in cash in the operating budget and not by the issuance of debt. This will be further discussed during the capital budget presentation. Plans are to reduce net debt by an additional 4 million over the next eight years.
So, our our credit rating, the Burr received an upgrade to our credit rating uh in 2020 to a double A1. And we received affirmation of that rating in August of this past year, August of 2025. A double A1 is one notch
below the highest and best possible rating of AAA. As you can see, Moody's had some very nice comments on the bureau's bureau and its financial management. And obviously having an excellent bond rating helps the bureau obtain lower interest rates when going
to market to issue bonds or notes which in turn reduces our total debt service requirements in the budget. Municipal tax rate. This is a bar graph indicates a decreasing municipal tax rate over the past eight years including
the 2026 estimated municipal tax rate. The municipal tax rate is down by 17 cents or 35% over the last eight years. Tinton Falls has the third lowest average residential property taxes out of the 53 municipality uh 53
municipalities in Mammoth County. It's our municipal open space trust fund budget. This budget uh shows actual revenues and expenditures for 2021 through 2025 and the proposed budget for 2026.
Our municipal tax rate is 2.25 cents per $100 in assessed valuation and that was approved by by voter referendum. That rate does not change yeartoear. It always stays at the 2.25 cents. Uh for 2026, we're going to start the year with
about $113,000 in that trust fund. The tax levy will be about a,350,000. We also anticipate receiving 2,250,000 in the county acquisition grant for the Carney Farm. So we'll have total
revenues of about 3,615,000. And below that is our expenditures of that trust fund. We do utilize some of the trust fund to maintain our open space um our open space areas through our department of public works. About
$140,000 in salary and wages is is uh utilized there. We have some other miscellaneous expenses in maintaining the parks and open space areas. And then below that uh we have the acquisition of open space property of $3 million. So
that acquisition of the Carney farm will be done all in cash and grants. So we won't be issuing any debt to acquire that farm. We're doing it all through the open space trust fund. And below that is the debt service um that we are
paying on our open space debt. So utility budget the sew utility budget uh from 2025 compared to 2026 it's very stable. Uh the total budget last year was 5,371. This year it's 5,3 386.
You can see the uh most of the appropriations have re uh stayed pretty stable. The capital outlay is up 200,000 which which uh Tom will discuss more during the capital budget presentation. But the sewer is in very good financial
shape. It's you debtfree and it's self-supporting. Capital projects overviews. Uh the 2026 budget aderes to the 2023 revision of the burough's long-term capital debt management plan that allowed for an increase of 70% in road in
infrastructure funding over a 10-year period. The plan proposed to maintain a stable total annual debt service budget appropriation, fund approximately 20 million in road improvements, and red reduce reduce net debt by an average of
$500,000 per year or $5 million over that 10-year period. Under the revised plan, all non-road infrastructure capital items continue to to be appropriated and paid for in cash without incurring debt. Total planned capital program in 2026 is
9,749,000. It's consisting of 8,971,000 in general improvements and 778,000 in sewer utility improvements. We're making use of a,73,000 in direct cash operating budget capital
appropriations. We're very proud to allocate that cash within the capital improvement sections of the current and sore operating budgets. These cash funded investments help reduce the need for future debt issuance and f further strengthen the
bureau's financial position. This is a a schedule of our our capital program for the year. Tom's going to uh provide more information uh but I'm I'll just review this uh briefly. The the top
of it is our road, sidewalk, and storm water improvements for this year. See, we're doing some covert improvements for flashing beacons, will shower drive outfall repairs, also pipelining, and some drainage, inlet, curb pieces, and grates. So,
a,761,000 for road, sidewalk, and storm water improvements. We are funding that with savings from our last two road improvement programs. uh the the projections, the estimates of the costs,
the actual costs came in significantly less than what we had appropriated. So, we have these extra funds on hand that we're going to utilize in this fashion and we will not be authorizing any any additional debt for that. Under the open
space acquisitions, you have the Walls Park development, which Tom will get into more when uh he discusses the capital program. And then we have the acquisition of the Carney Farm, which it's a $3 million acquisition. It's going to be funded by $750,000 in cash
from our open space account and $2,250,000 in grants. This is our other miscellaneous acquisition improvements under our capital program. These are all cash funded improvements that are directly
budgeted in the um operating budget. Acquisition of a sanitation truck, assalter attachment, improvements to buildings and grounds, refurbishment of a brine truck, a utility card acquisition, acquisition of two dump
trucks for DPW, acquisition of bur DPW trucks, and automated refuge containers. So, we'll be acquiring about a, $110,000 in equipment, again, without issuing debt. The last uh part of the section of of
this chart is the sore improvements. See, we have about $778,000 in sewer improvements all being funded in the operating budget. And with that, I would like to turn it over to the burough's engineer, Tom Nef,
to review the capital program in more detail. Thank you. >> Thank you, Tom. up on this slide, you'll see that over just the last couple years, really two and a half years or so, we've been able
to obtain uh over $4.35 million in grants. Uh if you go through the list, you'll see there's quite a variety of amounts and projects. Uh everything from the standard DOT municipal aid grants that we aim for every year. Uh we're
able to get close to half a million dollars for Rucker Drive for the last two years. Uh we have some DCA grants that are relatively newer over the last couple years. We've just started getting those grants. Um everything from
recreation improvements to public safety improvements uh throughout the municipal complex. Uh you'll see we have at the top the biggest grant that I'm aware we've ever received. I didn't do a full deep dive
research, but at least in the f last 15 years or so, that's by far the largest grant for Carney's farm. Um, big thanks to Mammoth County for assisting us with that grant for $2.25 million.
And then some smaller grants uh were able to get, you know, we'll go after anything that we can get. We got the sustainable Jersey grant for the environmental resource inventory uh which I know is moving along nicely. We got a D stormwater grant to develop a
GIS mapping program for all of our storm water. We're just about to start the application for um community forestry management grant. Had to think about that for a second. Um we haven't submitted yet, but we just had a
meeting for that one. That's to develop a forestry management plan for the burrow. So again, this is just, you know, more money that we're able to get that offsets what we have to collect through taxes from the residents. Uh so getting to some of the specific
projects, um biggest one is typically the road program, as Tom mentioned a few years ago, we started doing instead of every year smaller projects, we do one large project every two years. It typically gets us better prices just
based on the volume. Uh gets us better contractors. It avoids projects over overlapping and more disruptions to the residents and businesses. So for this year um with the 2026 road program, it was actually funded in 2025
and designed. It was just recently awarded to PNA Construction and we'll be looking to have a pre-construction meeting in the next couple weeks to get this project started. You can see the full list of the roads here. We have all of Rucker
Drive. We have Locust Grove Road, West Park Avenue from where we stopped last year. Last year we went Heritage uh to Shaft. Now we're going Heritage to Hope Road. We have Oakdale Honey and Brook Street neighborhood. Sheila Drive,
Silver Crest and White Birch Court, Shay Lane. Um, and then down in Park Place, we have Garrison and Williamsburg area, those streets. And finally, we have Woodland Manor. So, here's just a couple pictures of
what we're looking at. Uh, these pictures, I'm not going to lie, are actually from last year, so it's I'm sure it's even worse now. Uh, we have Rucker Drive is what we got the DOT grants for. Uh this is West Park Avenue by the Parkway overpass. You can just see
there's trenches everywhere cracking DPWs trying to do what they can uh as much as possible doing pothole repairs but really needs to be repaved. Uh Oakdale Drive and Honey Lane. You can see this neighborhood streets are cracked, depressions. We're actually
going to be replacing all of the concrete curbs out here as well. uh because those have settled and cracked. They have a lot of issues. Rever Garrison, those neighborhoods over by Park Place. Um you can see there's a lot of standing
water. We're going to be doing under drains in those neighborhoods. We typically do uh drives up the cost, but it helps keeps the roads dry, the lawns dry, and prolongs the life of the asphalt because there's very high ground water out there.
Uh next under pedestrian safety or sidewalk category, uh we're going to be looking to do a couple more of these rectangular rapid flashing beacons or RFBS as they're known as. Uh we started making a push for these throughout town where possible a couple years ago. Uh
the first one we did was at Ainson School on Sycamore. We worked with the county on that one. And then most recently on our own, we did uh at Wardell Park and also down at Essex Road near the outlets um for everyone walking
all the way down from the apartments up on Pine Street down through Seabbrook down to uh Soldier on so those residents can cross Essex. We have since gotten some requests for flashing beacons at the other schools in
town. Uh first one we got a few at the middle school and then we've recently gotten requests at Swimming River School as well on Hansav. So originally we thought we would only be able to afford one and then we just found out recently that the county is starting a new
program where if it's on a county road like these are the county will actually take the lead in designing and installing it and we just split the price. So we're essentially getting two for one if we can do these. So we'll have to go through you know, the county's process and, you know, be stuck
with their schedule a little bit, but you know, we'll be able to get um two instead of one. So, we'll be working with the county in the near future to get the ball rolling on that project. Uh drainage is a big push this year. Um we had started some of these last year
uh with the permitting processes. Um Pine Brook Road drainage pipe repairs. This is just a long stretch of old pipe that has cracked and we're going to look at lining it instead of replacing it to save some money. And then a big one is
this Warell Road cover culvert replacement. Uh this is one that we designed last year and just got through D permitting finally. This is uh the large culvert on Wordell Road a little north of um the intersection with Shark River.
There's been a lot of potholes out there settlement. You'll see sometimes it's spray painted. Uh that one is out to bid currently. So we'll be looking to award that project at one of the May council meetings. Uh here we have Wilshshire Drive outfall
repairs. This is something we discovered during a routine inspection. Um the pipe is an old corrugated metal pipe and the bottom is just completely corroded and rotted away. Um in turn led to some
erosion and then the head wall to collapse into the stream. So this is a big project. We've done them throughout town before. We've had some on River Edge, some on Parmley Road. So, this is a big project, but obviously it's needed to protect the the slope there and the
houses at the top of the hill. Also, uh we're going to start doing a drainage inlet upgrade project. Uh typically, we replace the drainage inlets when we pave a road, but D has set a mandate that by the end of 2027,
they all have to be updated. So, the upper right corner is the old style. Um, big opening in the curb piece, big streamflow crates they call it. Then the bottom is what we have to do now. Sorry, Mike. Um,
uh, they call it the bike safe grate, you don't get your bike tire stuck in it. If you're driving over it and the main thing is between that grate and the grate on the curb, it keeps the waterways much cleaner. Keeps all the debris, soda bottles, garbage, everything out of the drainage pipes and
streams. Uh this is the library. As Tom mentioned, we found some savings in prior road jobs. So we are able to have some funding for this project. Um this is what we are looking at. We had submitted for a CDBG grant last year. We
did not get awarded, but we were like just below the the cusp. So, there's a chance we could still get some CDBG funds for this, but if not, um it does look like we have enough funds to do this. So, we'd be reconstructing the existing parking lot on the south side
and I think adding one space there. Um just leveling it out, cleaning it all up, adding some new walkways. And then the main thing is on the north side um in just the open space area adding 11 new parking spaces on that side just
because we hear constantly that there's not enough parking for different events at the library. Uh moving on to park improvements. This one is Walls Park. Uh this is another one that was started last year. were hoping to get it into construction last
summer, but we unfortunately have been hung up going back and forth with D for a year now um on permit issues that we have back and forth. But we do think we are um getting through that now and we should be able to get the permits this
year and get this awarded later this year. So, just as a reminder what this project is, um, walking trails throughout the property. Um, it's just under two miles, I think, if you include the different cutthroughs.
There's going to be a fishing platform at the pond. And then up in the front area, uh, will be a parking lot, restroom building similar to some of the others we've done, and then, uh, a nice
little tot lot playground kind of a farm theme to match the old farm use of the property. Uh for those who don't know, Walls property is at the south end of town. Um this is Shark River Road here and
Wardell Road here. Uh it's just under Ma Mazer's property to the north. Uh, Car's Farm. Tom mentioned this one. This was a huge win for us. Uh, it's about 13 acres. It is surrounded to the
west and south by the burrows Hakoxin Park, some residential to the north. Um, again, we got 2.25 million in grants. Um, total $3 million acquisition. So, we're just in the due diligence phase of
this right now, hoping to close uh sometime this summer. most likely. And the main goal here is just to not build town houses. Um so at some point, you know, maybe we'll do a playground or something, but right now we just wanted to protect it as open space.
And finally, we have sanitary sewer. Um standard stuff that we we do every year for the most part. Um Squankham Drive pump station upgrades. This is one of the the last older ones uh that needs to be modernized and upgraded. Continue to
do the INI study, which is inflow and infiltration to make sure we're not getting groundwater or rainwater into our sewer system that we then have to pay to treat at the treatment plant. Um we want to keep out as much ioni as we can just to save costs.
Various pump station improvements. This is miscellaneous stuff. A lot of it is going to be done by DPW inhouse. things like roof repairs, new doors, um new lights, new vents, minor upgrades like that. And then
acquisition of a mini excavator is just to increase uh efficiency of DPW staff. Sometimes I have to do work by hand that takes a while. That can be done much faster or have to rent this equipment or try to borrow it from another town. Um,
so we're going to make this purchase just to save money and time in the long run. And I think I will turn it over to Tom again to wrap it up. Thank you. So the timeline for the the rest of the budget tonight would be the
introduction of the budget after the council votes to introduce. The budget uh will then be posted on the bureau's website in whole and in summary. And uh you need uh 28 days between the introduction and a public hearing. So
the public hearing, which is when that the public can come and ask questions or or have comments with regards to the budget, will be held on uh Tuesday, May 19th at that council meeting. And then hopefully uh adoption of the budget at
that same meeting. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Fallon and Mr. Nef with your presentations. This is the one presentation that I send to as many people I know uh because it it entails everything of what the burrow does for
the residents here and all their questions usually can be answered with your presentation. So, thank you very much. Before we move on to the next items on our agenda, we're going to take a quick 5m minute break at 8:20. evening. Uh, picking up with reports
beginning with Mr. Nefer engineer. Do you have any more? >> I have no further report. >> Thank you, Mr. Nef. Our mayor, Mayor Clay. >> Yes. Thank you, council president. just going to my report right now. Um
let's see. On uh April 8th, uh I had the opportunity along with Councilman Allessie uh to speak to the Tintinfall seniors um at St. ants helm and it was a very large and very lively group that had a
number of questions and uh I was very happy to be there and hope hopefully to be invited back another day. Um then on the opposite end of the spectrum on the 15th
um I um well I'm leading up to the opposite end of the spectrum. My apologies. Um on the 15th uh myself and Mr. Beth attended the mayor meeting uh just to have some updates on what's
happening over at uh Fort Muhammad. And um as I think most people are aware uh most of what's happening doesn't really involve Ditton Falls in the way that involves Eatontown and Oceanport. Uh but still good to be a part of the
discussions. Um on the 16th um I had the best day ever when I was able to um present to the entire first grade and then the entire second grade
at Aerson School uh for New Jersey local government week. Um uh the uh the librarian uh Lauren Gormley uh assisted me and we did a um reading called If I
Built a Town. And um the kids had the most amazing suggestions for what they thought should be present in our town. And it was very enjoyable. And I must say I've never seen so many well- behaved kids. I'm used to high school.
It's a whole different ball game. Um on the 18th it was our uh little league opening day and um uh little league uh baseball and softball and uh I had the
exciting uh honor of throwing the first two pitches and um it really was a beautiful celebration with a parade and a banner contest and many thanks um to the coaches to parents uh to our police
department, our DPW and the fire departments. Uh all so much work goes into that day and it's apparent uh when you're there. Um and then uh yesterday
um I did a podcast with uh a local group uh their their name is More Than Capable and it's actually a a program uh uh uh for adults uh uh who are
um special needs adults and uh it's a program post high school and they actually have developed a podcast system and I believe the police department is going to be the next interview and um they did a little interview and uh it
was really great. Um so that was pretty amazing and uh today uh myself and Mr. Halen and the chief participated in a call with um the county uh to get more information on
how we uh can spend some of our opioid dollars and um specifically what ways we can use that within the community uh for it doesn't have to be solely opioids for prevention, for education, and for
deterrence programs. So stay tuned. There'll be more to come on that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mayor Clay. Next is our director of law, Mr. Starky. >> Uh, thank you, Council President. I do not have a report for tonight. >> Thank you. Our clerk, Mrs. Hutchinson.
>> I have no report this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on to council reports, beginning with Mr. Allesie. >> Thank you, council president. Uh, just want to thank our burough professionals, uh, Mr. Nef and Mr. Fallon. That was fantastic. um make it very easy to
understand for all of us. Um and it's a lot of hard work done behind the scenes. So, thank you very much. As far as the planning board goes, tomorrow there's no meeting tomorrow. Um the next meeting will be next month. And that's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Allesie. Miss Buckley.
>> Thank you, Council President. I'd like to start by echoing uh the thanks for Mr. Fallon and Mr. Enough. Can't see Mr. Fallon over there. Um, but thank you uh for an excellent budget presentation. Um, I also try to share the presentation and refer to it multiple times throughout the year when residents uh
ask questions even just when is X-road being repaired. It's all there. So really really thank uh thank you guys for that presentation. Um we have I'd also like to echo the thanks for uh Little League opening day. I was happy to participate in that again this year. Um so fun seeing all the kids
uh with the banner contest all excited. Um, so that was a wonderful morning. Um, and uh, finally, our Earth Day, uh, celebration will be this Saturday at Sycamore Park from 11 to 1. Um, 11 to 2.
Thank you, Ellen. Um, all are welcome to stop by. Uh, please stop by for as short, as long as you want. It'll be a great day. That's all for my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Buckley. Mr. Nice. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. Uh, yes. Uh, I'd like to thank everybody
that worked on the budget. It came out beautifully and is understandable. And I did take a picture of it. So when I'm asked by others how we pay our taxes, it'll be give me a good reference to let them know exactly how it is. On uh 411,
I participated in a class through Rucker's power and duties of municipal governing body. And um I was involved with the Little League parade which was beautiful. I haven't uh been to a parade except for driving a fire truck, but
this time I was able to be on the other side of it. It was a great presentation and the recreation department as well as putting on a great show. Also, the next zoning board meeting is on 4:23 at 7:30 here Thursday night. And
one last thing would be to uh don't forget Memorial Day is coming quickly. Uh 5:25 and it'll be 11:00 a.m. on Sycamore Park. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Nice. Mr. Freak. >> Thank you, Council President. Uh f first
I want to echo um congratulations to Mr. Fallon and Mr. Nef. I uh I know how complicated things can be in town and you did you guys did a phenomenal job of simplifying a very complex and complicated budget and it speaks volumes to your efforts
when uh we've upgraded our credit rating. Um looking forward to the next upgrade to see when you guys get to all the way to the top. Um lovely to see the surplus continue to grow and uh it's it's great to hear that we have one of the lowest tax rates in the state. Um
with uh current events uh I also attended the little league league opening parade and also participated in it. Uh, I want to thank the legal little league and softball uh organizations as well as the wreck and the DPW for doing
such a wonderful job as well as um the police uh for for supporting um all the efforts of the parade. It was a wonderful day and and everyone in town just seemed to enjoy it. Um it was our my first parade and and uh I could definitely see why uh our town is so uh big on little league and softball. It
was was quite enjoyable. um in with updates from liaison uh from the Crawford House and historical private preservation committee. I attended the a panel discussion of revolutionary politics. U it was titled what would you
do in 1776 on April 15th is uh quite engaging. They did a fantastic job of getting ex panel experts to speak uh along with our very own Linda Zakaro of uh the the Crawford House. Um upcoming events at the Crawford House are which
are part of the 250th celebration of of the nation. Um include uh in May uh second and third a weekend at Old Mammoth. Uh the Junth celebration at the Crawford House on June 13th and we are in the process of planning a trivia
night u which will be themed around the 250th celebration uh for sometime uh in the latter part of June in town. So, I'll share that with with everyone as that becomes available um solidified. And uh that's all I have. Thank you,
Council President. Thank you, Mr. Periq. And as for myself, I'd like to reiterate the comments made by Miss Buckley about Earthfest today. Uh excuse me, this Saturday on the 25th. This isn't just an event. It's a statement. A statement that Tinton Falls cares about its environment, its neighbors, and its
future. So, what can you expect? There's something for everyone. There will be an educational outreach with booths and exhibits, a park trail cleanup so we can give back to the green spaces we love, and a poster contest for our young artist environmental champions. Also, raffles, giveaways, local vendors, and a
kids corner packed with trivia and and prizes to keep the little ones engaged and inspired. This is an event made possible through the hard work of the Titanfalls uh Department of Public Works, our environmental commission, the green team, and the New Jersey Clean Communities. So bring your family, bring your neighbors, and come uh and have
some fun. It's uh again this is Saturday uh from at Sycamore Park from excuse me from 11 to 2. Moving on to ordinances. There are two ordinances on for
introduction this evening. I'd like to remind the public that when an ordinance is introduced, there is no public discussion. The public discussion for the following ordinance will take place when it is up for final consideration. With that, may I ask the clerk to read the title of the first ordinance,
>> 2025-1546, ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank. The public hearing will be held on May 5th, 2026 or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached on the agenda. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to
approve the introduction of this ordinance? motion. >> Thank you, Mr. Nice. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Buckley. May I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Allessie? >> Yes. >> Miss Buckley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nice?
>> Yes. >> Mr. Periq? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nessie? >> Yes. May I ask the clerk to read the title of the last ordinance? >> 2026-1547, an ordinance amending section 5-6 of the Burough Code entitled pedaling.
canvasing and soliciting. The public hearing will be held on May 5th, 2026 or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached on the agenda. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the introduction of this ordinance? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Mr. Allessie. May I have a second?
>> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Periq. May I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Allessie? >> Yes. >> Miss Buckley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Periq? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nessie? >> Yes. Moving on to ordinances for final
consideration. There is one ordinance for final consideration. We will hold a public hearing with comments being limited to three minutes. Comments may only pertain to this ordinance. May I ask the clerk to read the title of the ordinance, >> 2026-1545,
an ordinance amending chapter 5 of the burough code entitled general licensing to confirm the burough's status as a film ready community. May I have a motion to open the public discussion on this ordinance? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Miss Buckley. May I have a second?
>> Second. Thank you, Mr. Periq. All in favor? >> I. >> Is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this ordinance? Please remember to state your name and town for the record. >> Ellen Goldberg, 90 Glenwood Drive. Um, I'm just not familiar with what this is
all about. Can we have a little explanation? >> Sure, >> Mr. Starky. >> Uh, yes. Um, there's, uh, New Jersey Film and Television Commission is a state, uh, entity, and they work with
any production companies that want to come into New Jersey. Netflix being the big example, but there's a lot of smaller examples, and they will go to the commission and say, "We'd like to go to a town where that is film ready, which means um, we know what the permits are going to be. We know what the
timeline is going to be. We know when we can film, where we can film. Everything is already set. And the idea behind it is to make it simple, easy for production companies to come into town. Um, we're going to have lists of, uh, you know, um, restaurants, list of dry
cleaning, list of local hardware stores, places they can go, you know, when they need things. So, everything is sort of packaged together so they can come in. This ordinance is modeled on actually it's identical to the model ordinance set forth by the film and television
commission. They it's sort of a one-sizefits-all. If you want to be on their list of a film ready town, one of the things you need to do is adopt this ordinance and it sets out as I said the licensing, the time frames, the the fees, all that. Um we are then going to
be film ready. There's a number of other towns that already are film ready. We're now on the list. So when a film production company comes into New Jersey, Tin Falls is one of the places they're going to come to shoot. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Turkey. That was a better
answer than mine. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Um Frank Matulla, 43 Lennox Drive, Tinton Falls. Uh, I guess along the same um question about this film ready status, does that also um limit how uh
residents could uh potentially pedal their properties for use? >> Do you know? >> I'm sorry. What was the question? how how the town would does it also sort of dictate how residents can have uh studios potentially use their homes for
shoots or anything or >> um I I the way the the answer is yes homes can be used for filming um this ordinance doesn't change zoning to allow things aren't allowed but it but we've been told by the film and TV commission
that is uh fairly regular that they may come and and shoot for a day in a in a house that they choose or maybe a couple houses um on a street, but it it's not changing the zoning to say this part of town you can film in and this part you
can't. Um so it's you know I think more generic than that. >> Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. >> Any further comments or questions? >> Hearing none. May I have a motion to close the public hearing? >> Motion. >> Thank you. Mr. Allesie. May I have a
second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Nice. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Are there any council members that would like to comment on this ordinance? >> Um, yeah. I think this is a great idea. Um, this is it says we're reaffirming because I remember we did this already,
right? So, this is just is it a requirement to reaffirm every periodically or like did the regulations change or something? The >> there the there were changes to the model ordinance issued by the Film Television Commission. >> Okay. Um I honestly don't know why but um so it's to adopt their amended
ordinance in >> Okay. So even if you're already film ready basically to keep that status you've got to redo this. >> Correct. >> Got it. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> I just want to make a comment. I think it's I think it's great. Um I think historically we're looking at the 250th
anniversary of America. We just celebrated the 75th anniversary of Titan Falls. And I think the generations to come to be able to look back and potentially movies filmed here and potentially the the the house that they grew up in, uh the restaurant that they grew up going to, uh things like that. I
think historically in the future it's going to be uh it's going to be great for Tinton Falls. May I have a motion for adoption? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Miss Buckley. May I have a second? >> Second. Thank you, Mr. Periq. May I have a roll call, please?
>> Mr. Allessie? >> Yes. >> Miss Buckley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Periq? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nessie? >> Yes. We will now move on to public discussion. May I have a motion to open the public discussion?
>> Motion. >> Thank you, Miss Buckley. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Periq. All in favor? >> I. Before we begin public comment, I'd like to remind everyone that the procedures are outlined in the public comment section of the agenda. When you
come up to speak, please clearly state your name and town for the clerk. You will have three minutes and all remarks must remain respectful and follow the rules noted in the agenda. At this time, I would like to ask the clerk if any public comments were submitted prior to the meeting.
>> There were none. Is there anyone from the public who would like to make a comment or a question? You can come up to the podium. Miss Goldberg, long time no see. Ellen Goldberg, 90
drive. Um, thank you very much Mr. Fallon and Mr. Nef for your presentation. Question uh about the library to Mr. Nef. Uh, I think you said 11 parking spaces on the
northbound side. Um, does that mean they're going to be taking down those beautiful trees? >> Yes. Um, I'm sure we can find somewhere else to to plant some new trees. Uh, we get bombarded regularly from the library
and from residents that there's just not enough parking anywhere out there, especially when the school is holding events also. And that's really the only space to add parking anywhere near there. >> I'm on the board of the library. I understand and I realize that there are
times when it's really hard to park there, but you know how I feel about trees. Um uh and then the RRFB, the crossing. Um so there's the the crosswalks that are
there, but now we're going to get the flashing >> signs. Correct. Is that what you're saying? Okay. And and is there going to be a button that you can push to cross? >> Yeah, if you go over to Ashinson School uh or if you were down at Wardell Park, it'll be the same thing as what's out there.
>> Okay. Yeah, good. Um and then um I'm not sure who to address this to. What is the status of the Carne Farm right now? >> Um >> currently it's being preserved uh for open space with no plans in the future right now to do anything with the
property but preserve it. Okay. But I I mean, where are we at as far as the transitioning to the to the town? >> Yeah. So, we are in what we call due diligence. You know, we've adopted some resolutions uh at past council meetings.
We're working with the county on their necessary paperwork. Um just today I reached out to Mrs. Carney's daughter about setting up. We have to do some site inspection, some environmental studies out there just to make sure there's no no issues. you know, we don't anticipate any. We've all been out
there. Um, but we have to go through the process, especially because we're getting the county funding to bring in a consultant to do a survey of the property and these environmental studies. So, I think once those are done, which are, uh, scheduled to start on Friday, uh, we should move pretty quick.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um, and then the last thing I wanted to present on behalf of the environmental commission, uh, we had an ERRI presentation at the Crawford House a week ago, um, on the weekend
and, uh, it went very, very well. Uh, we would have loved to have had more people there from the community, but uh, the presentation itself was excellent. And I want to publicly thank Tatiana Pinto Wenda and Barbara Colberg for all of
their efforts that they continuously have put into this ERRI project. Um, and I'm not sure if Miss Buckley had announced it, but we have our next environmental commission meeting on Thursday at 7 o'clock.
>> Thank you. >> Would anyone else from the club like to speak? Yes. Frank Matula, Tin Falls, New Jersey. Um, so I I it's it's interesting that we have an ordinance uh uh for pedaling, canvasing, and soliciting because that's kind of my my question or my comment. Um
I guess over the weekend um well let's start with around CO time I started noticing people driving >> I started noticing people uh driving around our neighborhoods uh because I had spoken to other friends um in and around the town um asking people if they're interested uh in selling their
vehicles for instance and so this weekend I got a a notice attached to my um to my mailbox and and not that I'm I'm concerned for theft but I'm wondering if if there's been any concern or any um uh history of uh people walking or driving around and asking
people if they want to sell their vehicle. It seems like I'm getting bothered by the same individual. I have actually a phone number they left uh a card attached to my mailbox. Um and and again, I don't mind if people are interested in buying something and they're aggressive in in a respectful way to kind of put themselves out there
to to ask if someone wants to sell something. But I I I've just kind of noticed it's it's been a little more common and in my neighborhood in uh the Lennox Drive area where I live. Um and I'm just wondering if there's been any connection or association with this kind
of behavior with thefts because when I was a kid growing up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, there was something similar going on, but it was connected eventually to uh people coming in from Newark and thefts. And I'm just wondering if there's any concern behind this or you know if you guys have heard
of people doing this in your parts of the neighborhood. That's pretty much it. >> I have not heard any correlation but I will find out some answers and see if we can find some. >> Yes.
>> Hello. Good evening. Teresa Beach uh Plum Street in Titan Falls. And I just want to say uh this is my first meeting. So thank you. Everything was presented very well. Um but also to say thank you to Mayor Clay. My granddaughter is in uh
Miss Rof's second grade class at Aerson and she brought her certificate home. It's on the refrigerator. She just had a marvelous day. So thank you, you know, for opening up some new things to her. >> A thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anyone else like to speak tonight? >> Hearing none. May I have a motion to close the public discussion? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Miss Buckley. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Allesie. All in favor?
>> I >> Does any member of council have anything to add this evening? >> No. We have one resolution to vote on separately this evening. May I ask the clerk to read the title of the resolution?
>> Um R26-079 introduction of the 2026 municipal budget. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to approve this resolution? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Miss Buckley. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Nice. May I have a roll
call, please? >> Mr. Allessie? >> Yes. >> Miss Buckley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Periq? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nessie? >> Yes. Now, we will move on to the consent agenda. Are there any items any member of council would like to be removed or
voted on separately tonight? Okay. Hearing none. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Mr. Nice. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Periq. >> May I have a roll call, please?
>> Mr. Leie? >> Yes. >> Miss Buckley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Periq? >> Yes. >> Mr. Nessie? >> Yes. >> Motion carries to adopt consent agenda. >> This concludes today's business. May I
have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. Thank you, Miss Bupley. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bri. All in favor? >> I. >> This meeting is now adjourned at 8:46. Thank you to all our attendees for participating and or uh participation in
orderly conduct this evening. Please exit the courtroom