Moving on to sorry for the technical interruption. We are moving on to the township managers report. Just for the public watching we didn't conduct any business while the outage occurred. Mr. Hall. Thank you mayor. Um I will be
brief. I'll give a quick summary on my report. Uh as far as the pool utility uh goes, the 2026 pool financials remain strong uh family memberships total memberships um are both ahead of this
time on the calendar in 2025. Uh also the non-resident memberships have sold out and uh the additional 25 referred memberships have been claimed and upon adoption of the ordinance will be uh payment will be collected uh from
uh those additional members uh sponsorships has uh exceeded $51,000 at this point and the preseason concert has been sold out. Um again it's a lot of positive news on the pool financials. Additionally, the pool marketing
committee met on May 8th. Uh the 2026 marketing remains ongoing uh both through direct marketing for the pool and indirect marketing for a number of the uh existing um special events that are upcoming at the pool, whether it be the preseason concert, the upcoming pickle ball tors
uh tournament or any other special events. Um the marketing committee is also beginning to focus on 2026 data to help strengthen marketing uh for the 2027 pool season as well.
Uh regarding wastewater, uh the township did receive bids for the Derwent sanitary sewer trunk line repairs. Uh those are part of the capital budget for introduction tonight. Uh an award recommendation will come at the uh
following meeting. Um, additionally, the uh the I bank uh continues to move forward through the review of the UV disinfection system and the microscreen projects. Regarding drinking water, our Fairview Avenue well project should be mobilizing the first
week of June. Some minor delays in materials that were to be delivered to the site, so there's a slight delay in their mobilization, but they are expected first week of June. Um, additionally, the contractor at the Clarish dry pump station will be remobilizing crews on Wednesday. They
have approximately two to three weeks worth of work remaining. Uh, and they are coordinating those um those efforts. They'll be remobilized Wednesday and remaining on site through the duration of the project. Um, regarding the Peekman River Bank
stabilization, we did receive earlier today the final uh performance bond uh I'm sorry, the maintenance bond for the contract. We'll have a final processing and close out of that contract at the next meeting. That should come with a an overall reduction on the original
contract award. It should be a approximately a minus $12,000 change on the final contract value. Uh, Lynden Avenue is continuing to proceed as well. The, uh, request for trees are due back this Wednesday. Uh,
upon final receipt of those tree requests from the residents, uh, each of the requests will be reviewed for adequate um, spacing for tree plantings and the tree plantings will be scheduled immediately thereafter. Uh there will be a change order for the Lynon Avenue
project associated with some of the additional tree removals and then some of the additional tree plantings as well. Uh dot uh dot Terrace after Glowway and Summit Road are expected to begin construction on or about the week of June 1st.
Uh the Fairview Avenue and Personate Avenue signal by the county I know is currently underway. Uh we had a good uh Boswell and and uh township manager's office had a good discussion with the county this afternoon. Uh I do understand that the uh Fair View Avenue
uh person avenue signal uh should be complete in uh the very near future. We will be bringing Boswell uh into speak to the council regarding a couple of traffic items including uh the person avenue um uh roadway orientation. uh
that is preliminarily scheduled for the June 8th meeting. Uh Everfield is also ongoing. Uh there are some miscellaneous items that still remain to be constructed. Those should be going on through the next two weeks.
Uh that includes the completion of the playground, the installation of the playground safety surface, the batting tunnel surfaces, uh the dugouts and the shade structures for the dugouts, um uh the the flag pole, a number of other uh minor items as well. Uh but that project
is ongoing. Uh the maintenance of the field has begun with the uh uh the grass uh professional. uh that is uh coordination of a contract that was awarded at the last meeting in addition to a special um consultant who is uh
also managing the uh oversight of the turf itself. Um we will have our professionals here tonight for the 251 and a half Grove Avenue redevelopment plan discussion. Uh that will come later on in the
agenda. We also have our professionals on the Bloomfield Avenue streetscape which will be presenting shortly on the final concept for the Bloomfield Avenue streetscape project. And then uh regarding if uh last update is on a couple of the building facility
projects, uh the roof project is complete. We received over the weekend the final warranties and the maintenance bond for the roof project. That project will also come with a con uh contract credit uh reduction of uh just over
$100,000 reduction in the final uh contract value. Uh the town hall window and repoint thing project is also complete. We're just waiting for the final paperwork. Hopefully, we'll have a close out the closeout documentation at the upcoming meeting. Uh and we also will be scheduling uh solutions
architecture to come in to speak to the council about the facility audit that was prepared uh for all of the township's facilities. And then the last item for the facilities is the town step town hall front steps have been replaced. Uh there's some additional minor concrete work at the DPW building,
but those front steps, if you noticed uh earlier tonight, they have been replaced um to remove the damaged ones. Uh that concludes my report unless there's any questions from the council. >> Nope. >> Sorry, Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Mr.
Mayor. Uh in here, Kevin, you're talking about the feasibility study for uh the Monontlair interconnection. >> Yes. >> I know on the capital we we have the the Cresmont Road being redone. Is that interconnection going to interfere with that if we don't have that study done? And
>> so the um the the interconnection should be completed first. >> So we uh >> we should not authorize an award of contract on the paving until the feasibility study and then the any interconnection is actually completed at least the pipe work and the underground
work for that interconnection. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um, and then having said that, I will then pass the meeting over to Jim Laauo from Strand Engineering so he can present on the Bloomfield Avenue streetscape. And apologies, uh, Mr.
Krauss is unavailable this evening. He had a last minute emergency that came up. >> Dr. Laauo, welcome. >> Thank you. Good to see you. >> Mayor and Council, um, we're going to pull up presentation. I'll go through.
>> Sorry, I lost it. >> How's it feel to be back in Verona, Jim? >> Uh, it's always nice. >> All right, coming. If we're lucky, we'll get the horn to blow for you, you know, during the meeting and then you'll really remember I wrote them wrong.
>> It's about a two-hour presentation. No, >> we turn the air conditioning off, but Miss Als will talk to from behind. You won't even know what I don't know if I can bring it up without >> you want me to We're good.
>> All right. Got it. >> Yeah. To the council. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Uh so I'm here to present uh our conceptual designs for the Verona Streetscape project. Uh we've
been working with your uh core uh professional team of Kevin um and um we've uh been meeting probably consistently for since the October. Uh we've attended several uh town meetings
uh several town events basically for Halloween uh the u fair in a square. uh we've had uh working with Lisa in reference to having a website available to ensure that the the public is uh aware of all the projects that the
project uh uh aspects of the Verona streetscape. Uh we feel that we've uh the important part was to have the public outreach assuring that the design concepts were well vetted out uh through all your committees uh meeting with individually with the council and the
mayor uh getting uh touch points from um chamber of commerce uh your police and fire all those aspects that are critical for a safe and uh viable streetscape design. Uh again we are strands engineering uh and we're partner with
narrow hill. Uh next slide. Uh we have a series of site analysis basically looking at every uh corner every block within uh our uh project limits. Uh moving from Caldwell down to Montclair. As you can see here there is
no in no consistency in reference to the block uh lengths. a lot of their the uh streets are uh teeing onto Bloomfield Avenue. Not a lot of cross streets. Uh the inconsistencies is throughout uh you
know Verona uh Bloomfield Avenue. As you can see here, we evaluated the uh driveways uh in deep red. Um there are a lot of cutthroughs within Verona. We had brought this up uh early in our investigation. Uh we looked at the lights uh and their spacing. We looked
at the existing tree canopy understanding that there are some voids, understanding a lot of the tree canopy was basically stunted due to the tree pit size. Uh we looked at the lighting and we seen spacing between 100 ft to 45
ft, sometimes even 25 depending upon uh the location. Um next slide. As you can see here from the north side to the south side, we took an evaluation understanding that uh this inventory allows us to come up with a preliminary
budget. Uh we did look at some preliminary numbers. We are well within the budget of this project. >> We have a Can you hold on one second? This presentation is not going through on the Zoom. >> It's not what going through on Zoom. >> Not they can't see it on the Zoom.
Share your screen. >> That's what you're saying. Go back in. It's an evening of technical difficulties. Yeah. >> Okay. They can see it now. >> Okay. Thank you. Sorry about that. >> It's okay.
>> Just continue. Just continue. >> Good. Thank you. Uh again, um this is the site analysis and existing condition plans. Uh segment two as discussed uh throughout Bloomfield Avenue. We noticed uh uh many uh uh driveways throughout
Bloomfield Avenue and we want to address these as we go through the concepts. Uh next slide. >> Getting there. There you go. >> We're good now. Sorry. >> Sorry. Uh, next slide.
Segment three. Also, as you can see here, as you start going into the uh uh the downtown area, there is uh many parking uh um meters that we wanted to eliminate. It's just uh just inundated. A lot of them are either working or not
working. There are QR codes on them now. Uh we'd like to have parking kiosk. Uh we're looking to have a parking kiosk per block, per side, north and south, allowing for uh anybody that uh parks to have easy access. Uh next slide.
As you can see here in the the blue, there's again through our evaluation and analysis many park meters uh that just uh is inundating the uh the streetscape right now in reference to that buffer. Uh looking at uh the town center, uh
there are driveways again coming into to Bloomfield Avenue. Again, um this is critical for safety and we're going to be looking at that and addressing it within our concepts. Uh next slide. As we move forward towards uh Verona Park, as you can see here, a lot of the
trees are within the park proper and not a lot of street uh streetscape trees uh along this section. Uh we'd like to enhance that with possibly by incorporating some flowering trees along Verona Park allowing the uh larger candy
trees to be a backdrop for some of the flowering species. Uh as you can see again mostly uh parking meters throughout uh lighting is uh sporadic. Uh the Cobra lights as you can see are in the larger yellow is alternating and
that is specifically for the county road of Bloomfield Avenue to assure proper lighting is uh available for the uh vehicles. Uh next slide. This is uh moving towards the end of our project. Uh this area is kind of devoid
of trees. So we're looking at this area to enhance uh with some additional plantings. Next slide. And as you can see here again, a lot of uh uh T-Roads onto Bloomfield Avenue. Uh some could be potential uh hazards
depending upon how fast uh people are coming into that intersection. Uh and again, many uh driveways within the Bloomfield Avenue. Uh next slide. Uh so we we looked at the actual uh rhythm and vertical elements mostly
being trees uh light poles and uh the cobra lights uh to get some kind of rhythm in reference to as you're moving through as a pedestrian or as a a vehicle user uh the uh the feel and the rhythm of the Brona streetscape. So we
took a look at the and we analyzed this uh next slide. So this is just diagrammatic. Uh this is our proposed as you can see here. We took a study in reference to where there was existing trees and we felt where we could have uh proposed trees to have an
increase in uh symmetry in reference to the Verona streetscape. Uh looking at where you had uh existing uh lights, we'd make sure that some of that symmetry was also within the lights. Uh looking at the cobra heads, they ran diagonally. So that rhythm we wanted to
sort of match that rhythm. Again uh this is a diagrammatic uh uh concept of where we felt these elements could be placed. Also we looked at benches at this point uh at a schematic level looking at trash receptacles looking at where uh parking
kiosks could be. Uh we took a look at uh the GIS and we created this line work. We are still looking to have a survey of uh the entire Bloomfield Avenue. Uh I feel that that is a scope that's necessary and I think that's being brought through to uh the mayor council
for uh approvals. Uh next slide. Uh we were able to take take the line work to pretty much uh a good understanding of where elements are. Uh the analysis allowed us to determine which items needed to be removed. uh
looking at your asset management of what uh which is a a good uh uh you know whether it's needs to be removed or saved. Uh this allows us to determine um again a pretty good estimate and the amount of new trees you'll need. Uh
looking at the lights you'll need. Um as you can see here the rhythm starts to increase in reference to having trees adjacent to each other to have a little more symmetry as you're moving forward Bloomfield Avenue. Uh next slide. You can see here again uh the tree
installation uh infilling with the existing canopy uh allowing for a more uh full uh canopy throughout the uh Bloomfield Avenue. As you can see here, the cobraheads does, you know, in the yellow uh does ride run diagonally along
Bloomfield Avenue. uh inserting some of the lights that are between some of the driveways uh to allow for uh a nice r of them as you go through Bloomfield Avenue. Next slide. You can see it uh very readily here
where we're increasing the the tree canopy. As you can see here, a lot of the lights are adjacent to each other causing that symmetry. Uh and there that rhythm is going to be very prevalent as we move forward with uh Bloomfield Avenue. Right now it's just very
sporadic. Uh next slide. Same concept. Uh next slide. And next slide. So we took the concept and uh look at looked at the actual aerial. Uh this
actually shows you where uh facilities are, where there's parking lots, where there's uh voids. Uh and this just gives you a better understanding of the rhythm and the design concept. Uh we'll go through these slides fairly quickly. Uh
as you can see here, we're adding trees and the lights. Again, same design concept, bringing it to a new level in reference to understanding the rendering, allowing the public to get a good understanding of uh the new trees that were planting uh existing trees that exist and where light poles would
be uh placed. Uh next slide. Next slide. Next slide. Okay. Uh now the design vocabulary study. uh design vocabulary is critical to the aesthetics of the overall streetscape. It could give character in
reference to color and texture and rhythm. Uh so we felt this was really important. We worked closely with with Kevin, Michael, and Alisa and also all the committees assuring that everybody's input was uh heard by our professionals. Uh we're going to go through a series of
uh design vocabulary and then our recommendations at the end of this presentation. Uh next slide. So when we got first uh the original presentation that we brought forward uh we felt that the existing concrete uh sidewalk is
intact uh I walked it again this evening and it's definitely in in great shape. Uh I looked at the width you have plenty of width to expand the uh planting buffer and your streetscape elements. Uh in reference to existing having it soft cut and expand it uh that allows for us
a to have a nice clean buffer to allow these design elements to be placed. Uh next slide. Uh we came up with uh two color op two uh paving options that we felt that was most prevalent in our discussions with the mayor and council with our
discussions with the committees. Uh looking at two specifics, one being a uh linear uh stone composite PA uh and in more of a monotone gray. Uh the other one is a little bit more traditional
looking at clay brick pavers. We're not going to go for a concrete paver or something that's synthetic. We want a true clay brick that shows the character of Verona to have that uh more upscale uh feel to it. Uh next slide.
>> Um go back. >> Yeah, sorry. So, in reference to the we felt that uh right now there is uh you have granite curbing along the entire length of Bloomfield Avenue which is outstanding.
It's in great shape. Uh and they're long lengths of granite. We would like to enhance that by having a granite band on the concrete side when we saw cut it. Uh this will allow for a uh a nice uh uh edge when we saw cut and have it
cleaner. Uh we had brought this up to the mayor and council and I thought uh everybody really felt that this was a plus. Uh this shows the uh granite edging with linear stone composite pavement. As you can see here, the gray
tones uh along with the granite uh match fairly well and very nicely. Again, a little bit more modern tone. Um and next slide. This would be the vocabulary of that. Uh basically the granite edging along with
the linear pavement uh having a crushed stone. Uh I know there were some concern concerns in reference to the crush stone, but that would be placed under the stainless steel uh tree grates. The stainless steel tree grates would be uh basically uh holding down any of the
gravel. So there would be no real wash out. uh by expanding the the tree grade uh spacing uh we'll get nice positive drainage with within this uh uh within this streetscape buffer. Uh next slide.
So now in reference to payment type clay bricks uh we looked at uh two different types of clay clay bricks. a more mixed clay brick that has a muted color which gives it a little bit more uh historic feel to it uh but still has a nice uh
texture. We don't want something that's blaring of red and that's just too uh too kind of uh loud I guess would be a good word to say. Uh next slide. Okay. Uh go back. So this is again a
muted brick uh with less of uh the toning in it. Uh these are these joints are going to be a little tighter, a little bit more refined. Uh next slide. So we looked at the granite edging with the clay brick pavement. Again, this is
a very uh uh sophisticated look in reference to the streetscape having the two granite bands uh side by side with the brick. Uh and this is uh something I feel feel that is in context with
Verona. Next slide. We're looking at the running bond uh being perpendicular to the sidewalk. So, you know, the the actual alignment is a lot nicer. You get this nice spacing and rhythm. Uh this is the design vocabulary
we're looking at for the clay brick pavement uh with a more uh brown crush stone. Again, we feel the stainless steel trade grade is uh cons would be consistent uh in this design vocabulary for the surface at this point. Those are
the two options. Uh, next slide. And this is a rendering of those two options. Uh, the linear stone composite pavers with a granite edging and the clay brick pavers with the granite edging. Next slide.
Again, as we insert the uh tree grates, these tree grates uh are readily available. They could be custom cut uh to ensure that uh you know the tree trees are placed accordingly. Uh we're looking at uh multiple plantings within a tree area instead of a single. Uh it's
just allow allow for a larger canopy for Bloomfield Avenue. Uh next slide. Trash receptacles. We looked at various amounts of trash recepticles. Uh we're looking at uh these furniture street streetscape furniturees to be more objective
uh as an object. Whether in architecture or landscape architecture, you're always looking at form. uh whether it's a square, a triangle, or a cube, you don't want to go walking down the Bloomfield Avenue and see a trash receptacle that looks like a trash recepticle. Uh but
still it functions as a stress receptacle, but in a distance it's just an object within the rhythm of the the streetscape. Uh there are different types, some being where you could actually have a perforated side. Uh and some that even the second one you can have that as a perforated side as well.
Uh next slide. There are many options. Again, something that is more uh looking like a cube or a rectangle instead of a trash receptacle. Uh next slide. Next slide.
Uh street lights. Uh we looked at many street lights throughout our uh conceptual review. Uh we went with something that's a little bit more more ornate and architectural. understanding that there is a base uh a mid and a
pedestal. Uh this this allows um basically uh the hierarchy between uh something having a stable at the pedestal and then uh you know a more skinnier post and the lumer itself. Uh there are several lumers you can go with a larger one or a smaller one or having
a side extensions. The lower two that don't have the side extensions are a little bit more modern. Uh we feel that the top two is more towards uh what Verona uh has in character. Uh next slide. Uh the bench types uh we went through
many uh discussions in reference to the bench. We don't want a bench to look like a bench, right? We want it to be again an object within the landscape having certain certain level of rhythm, having a certain level of form. Uh this would allow also for safety. Uh if there
is a uh potential errant vehicle on the T- road onto Bloomfield Avenue, uh this would prevent uh any kind of uh allow for some crash protection on Bloomfield Avenue. We feel this is a safe option. Uh and there are two types that we're
looking at. One, one that's more solid and one that has more of an open feel to it. always looking at uh materials, stone, steel, uh and wood, keeping them natural, uh keeping them uh more durable in the long run in reference to
longevity. You know, these could last anywhere between uh 20 to 25 years easily. Uh next slide. And again, uh the solid types, there are many options that we could choose from and they are readily available. Uh next
slide. Uh the open ones also are readily available as you could see here. Next slide. Uh bicycle racks. Again, we don't want to have a bicycle rack that looks like a bicycle rack. Uh we wanted to have some
level of form. Again, taking a circle. Uh it's objective. It's has a certain level of artisticness to it. Uh as you're driving through, yeah, you it's just an object. It's just it's a form that's uh pleasing to the eyes as you're
driving or walking, but it doesn't look like a um bicycle rack. Uh as you place them side by side, it adds a certain rhythm. Uh and we feel this is a nice addition uh for that function. Uh next slide.
Uh the plantings uh we feel that planting is going to be important for the Verona streetscape. planting is going to add color and variety throughout the seasons. Uh we understand that uh Verona does have a uh baskets within your lights and that you do uh
feel that's important for the for the residents and are willing to put that uh level of effort into the uh uh beautifification. So, we feel that having some level of flowering vegetation, whether they're uh uh perennials or ground cover, um and these
are all durable native species, uh I'd say about 50 to 60% of them are within the state tree commission's list and we'll work closely with them. Again, this is conceptual and we'll make sure that uh you know, we meet those expectations as well. Uh next slide.
In reference to the shade trees, we're looking at uh more substantial shade trees that will get a little bit larger instead of the gallery pier pairs that are on the streetscape now. Uh more towards the oaks and more towards the maples. This will allow for a more pristine uh growth. Uh if you allow this
space for some of these larger shade trees, they will grow to a nice length, nice height. Uh right now I'm seeing uh calibers about like 3 to 4 in not even 6 in for some of those street trees. Uh and we'll make by expanding the buffer
we'll have room for these shade trees to grow. Uh in reference to flowering trees where there's areas that we can insert uh flowering trees along the uh the Bloomfield Avenue to add to that rhythm. Uh it's just going to add to the
aesthetics as well. Uh next slide. uh looking at a rendering where you have a single tree and the impact of a single tree compared to the next slide. If you had multiple plantings in one area, uh this could be uh three specific
one species of uh of shade trees. It could be uh three species of uh a flowering tree, but this allows for uh greater impact and reference to your streetscape. Uh next slide. Next slide.
Okay. And this is our recommended design vocabulary. I'd like to stay at this slide slightly a little bit longer. Uh we are looking for plantings and flowering trees. We feel that that's critical. Uh again, I think if you this would be part of your decision making, but we feel that both species are
critical for the the viability of Bloomfield Avenue. Uh we're looking at a more solid type bench. uh looking at uh you know materials such as uh wood, stone uh and steel. Uh we feel that uh this gives us a little bit more uh
substantial bench type uh that's might be a little safer uh from errant vehicles. Uh this is uh instead of a a uh more light bench. Uh the trash receptacle that we're looking at is one
that is just pretty much a cube. uh as we put it into the landscape, it will kind of just disappear within the rhythm. Uh we feel that we could either have perforations on this as well to have a design. Uh but it doesn't look like a trash recepticle. Uh but it
functionally it works. Uh the banding that we're looking at, we feel very confident about adding the additional banding. Uh we're looking towards uh having uh a mix molded uh brick. Uh we feel it adds character to downtown
Verona. It doesn't uh show that it's a brand new kind of pavement type. It doesn't shine out like it's orange. Uh it's going to be toned down a little bit matching a lot of the aesthetics of the brick they have in town. Now uh the gravel type we're looking for a brown
gravel. Uh so the tones will be matching uh as we move forward with the stainless steel. Stainless steel matching some of the gray tones of the granite. Uh we feel the bike rack and the flat the uh uh light poles would be black matching
the trash receptacles. Uh you for the utilities of uh the streetscape again we're looking at uh parking kiosk uh talking to your uh police department uh and traffic department. Uh they feel they want to incorporate safety sticks
uh and they could be incorporated in key areas where there are violations of reference to lengths of parking. Uh so this is a design vocabulary that we'd like to bring forward uh and Kevin supports this. Um Michael uh supports it and we'd like to bring this forward for
a final acceptance. Um again there are other touch points that I want to bring up. Uh next slide. So this is a rendering uh showing that uh design intent. Uh it's very clean, uh very refined. Uh has a you know nice
character to it. Uh it doesn't look like um it has some form and function. As you move forward on Bloomfield Avenue, the rhythm will be uh critical because you'll just see uh lines of uh benches
or or linear elements along with some uh rectangular elements with some circular elements as well. architecturally and landscape architecturally it works really well uh using multi- uh placements of trees uh also adds value
and again we'll work within the uh um the uh town and the chamber of commerce in reference to where these key aspects should be placed. Uh next slide. Uh so we worked with uh Kevin and Michael and at least in reference to the
alleyway design presentation. So knowing that uh the alleyways are key aspects to the public parking uh we took we have right now uh two alleyways that are critical. One that's adjacent to the Chase Bank which is a little wider uh
right now it's paved uh in brick uh with some adjacent planting and the other alleyway is a little bit more narrow. Next slide. Um, and that is a little bit more narrow and level of design there might not uh
it might just uh warrant uh some additional touch points, but we'll go through some of the design parameters. Right now, we have a uh a public artist that is a landscape architect on our team. Uh she does a lot of public installations. Also, we have a recycled
artist uh on our team looking at these two spaces. Uh next slide. Uh these are some of the inspirations of the alleyways. Uh we're also looking at Verona Bloomfield Avenue for some of these touch points. Allowing some of
these artistic touches within Bloomfield Avenue is also going to add value. Whether it's uh having some of these artistic elements uh along where there's a basket or on the lights uh uh or adjacent to the pavement or a specific
paver type. Uh we feel that adding these artistic values uh will add to the uh character of Verona. Uh could be done accomplished by lighting uh can be accomplished by uh canopies uh or side uh uh elements. These elements could be
either plastic, metal, uh wood uh but uh that's where we're at now for these alleyway ideas. Uh we're always looking at bigger picture first and then we'll start to basically uh cue things down a little bit. Uh, next slide.
In reference to uh the alleyway, I know that this is a bold uh gesture. Uh, but uh we feel that if we have something that is attractive that is from Bloomfield Avenue that leads us into the back parking area. This is by the Chase
Bank. Uh that entire wall is visible. Uh right now this could be uh made out of uh uh wood. Uh could be made out of steel panels. It could be a a fabric type. Uh but we're looking at uh some kind of uh uh gesture that allows for
the community to have uh some level of art within this uh this space. Uh we're looking at water as a a uh element. Uh go back one uh >> sorry one more.
>> Oh sorry two more two more forward. Uh again this is another option. Uh again this is against uh the Chase Bank. Uh these could be wood slots. Again uh breaking that uh that roof line is going to be critical. Uh this is fairly easy
installation. These could be either wood slots uh you know undulating along the wall uh at different uh depths along the wall. Uh if you look at the some of the elevations, it could be uh giving you just a sense of color and rhythm. Uh
next slide. Uh for the other alleyway that we looked at, we're looking at as more of a canopy. Uh the canopy could be straightforward in reference to just putting uh you know wood slots across it. We feel that we could add interest by having uh it look like you're walking
beneath uh the water. Uh pools of water, whether there's trickling uh or pools of water where there are little drops uh allows for that light to trickle through into the alleyway, allow for some shade. Uh in the evening, we could add lights on this as well. Uh so as you walk
through it, you'll get a dappling light uh as you're walking through the park uh to the parking areas. Uh next slide. Uh we're looking at QR codes as examples. uh talking to Alisa and uh
just in reference to the history of Verona, we want to ensure that we have some of that captured in whether it's in a website or bringing it forward in uh any kind of connection point where a QR code could lead you to a history of uh a building uh whether it's the bank Chase
Bank uh whether it's a historic site uh in reference to the uh uh civic center uh or anything that's Verona park uh being a Homemstead Brothers Park, things like that adds value uh as uh people are
walking through the streetscape. Uh next slide. Uh these street these uh QR codes be could be branded uh looking at some of our Q points in reference to our artistic uh inspiration. Uh or they could be more historic. uh looking at uh
you know where we have uh uh the river, we could add a QR code just stating that we have that restoration uh for that river bank. Um and this allows for people as they're walking by to understand that there actually is a river in that area and the work that was
done for that uh project. Uh next slide. Uh the civic tree location. Uh we had uh a um a vote in reference to the town and we got a lot of responses. Uh we feel uh
next slide. Uh we feel that the tree belongs where it is, right? I think it's just a it's a great location. It just shows presence and reference to the avenue. It's not
too forward where it's forcing you into the avenue. It allows for uh pictures to uh go beyond, you know, the tree itself to catch catch that U-shaped of the historic buildings. Um right now we're looking at working with Kevin and his
team uh to ensure that we have the budget to have a pristine tree that's wellmaintained over the course of 3 to 5 years uh and have that uh survive. We don't want to purchase a tree at a larger scale and have it die. So within
our specifications in our uh uh bid package, we'll assure that there's maintenance included within that uh purchase and that could be uh long-term to ensure that happens. Uh we feel this is um throughout the discussions throughout the uh town. This was the one
that was most uh prevalent in our discussions. Uh the other two were kind of vetted out. Um, and this is where we're at now. Uh, next slide, just some renderings. Uh, we also understand that there is a,
uh, subregional safety improvements program for the intersections that the county had won. Uh, next slide. This is for their fiscal year 2006 2026. Right now, there are four intersections
that are included within uh this project limits. This will allow us to circumvent some of that cost to this project. Uh we're looking at a savings between probably 300 to 400,000
uh depending upon how much of a savings or uh that we could have for the county to do this intersection work. uh we'll have to assure that our contract uh documents are vetted out so that the county can move forward with their work.
But this will be a huge savings for this uh for our grant uh to allowing uh our funds on this project to move forward a little bit more. Uh next slide. I think that's it. Um uh talking with Kevin, we feel that this
we want to bring these concepts forward. Again, we're always going to be meeting with uh with Kevin. Kevin and his team uh approved this plan and our recommendations and we're bringing forward for a final vote so that we can move forward with uh contract documents
towards our final phases. That's all I have. >> Thank you. Questions, comments for Dr. Lang, Councilman Roman. >> Uh this is a question both for you and for our town manager. Um, one of my least favorite things are overhead utilities and uh that's prevalent in a
portion of the uh work area basically up from the eastern side up to the park. Um, I don't know if there's anything that can be done to reduce the impact of any of the existing overhead utilities. Uh, particularly I know Verizon is doing a program to start uh decommissioning a
lot of their copper network. Um, I don't know if it's possible to do anything about the drops that cross Bluefield Avenue to serve a a individual building. Uh, if there's anything that can be done to reduce this visual clutter uh throughout downtown. Fortunately, the majority of downtown is all underground
utility, but there is a little bit of this area that is not. >> What we what we could do is uh I'd say uh the middle of downtown doesn't have any overhead utility lines and which is great. Visually, it's just outstanding. uh as you head towards uh Monontlair, I
think a lot of those are still uh you know poles with a lot of utilities. Uh we're taking a look at the entire um uh streetcape and having it accessible, >> right, with uh with pavers that could be
taken out, uh tree grates that could be removed. If we want, I could we could talk with Kevin a little bit more. Maybe we could drop some conduit, which is cheap, >> uh into these uh into the the length of it and then allow for just some pull points
>> for the utilities to drop. I think it's uh you know, with the savings of the intersections, I think that's feasible. the actual cost of actually doing it would be not within this budget, but if the county or if uh you know the power
company had that kind of program, >> it would make it easier for them to you know pick up on that, >> right? I mean conduit is relatively low cost. Um, back when I used to live in California, there was a town that over the period of about 20 to 30 years, they
had a a law requiring the provisioning of conduit uh from any struct new structure, remodeled structure out to the street edge and eventually used it to remove all of their aerial utilities uh just, you know, playing the long game. >> Um, but that would be something I would
hope and if nothing else that we could at least do some sort of an inspection and cleanup of what's there. Um, I know it's a a really big deal to get, you know, high voltage lines underground and so that may or may not be feasible, but I'd at least like some attention, you know, paid to what is there if we're going to make this level in of
investment in the streets. If you want, we could take a look at uh the actual specifications that the utility requirements are >> uh and we can sort of insert at least portions of it at least for this. I know that we'll have cost savings in reference to these uh intersections and
uh we work closely with uh Michael on the grant. >> Uh I think I had mentioned this to the mayor and council. The budget is a nice budget. >> We're looking at uh 3 million for the entire uh quarter. >> Uh so I think uh we could look at that
as a aspect that would be a long game like you had mentioned. >> Okay. >> Other questions, comments? Councilwoman McGrath. Um, thank you. I have a bunch of questions. So, what exact and this may be more for the township manager. So, what exactly is the decision-making
process? So, there were a couple of things like for example in slide 51 recommended design vocabulary. What is the process? We are signing at some point. We need to vote on this. So the um the the presentation tonight is the
final concept recommendation from both uh administration and from strands engineering based upon the feedback from the collective feedback from council committees public. Um if there are any uh requests to uh go in a different
direction with any of these design decisions uh the the ask would be to hear that from the council. So that way Jim and his team can move the project into final design. >> So you say that I I understand that but like we just met with neighborhood
traffic and safety. So like they haven't seen this plan. They haven't seen this presentation. Ne neither has shade tree. So they were consulted early in the process but they need to be updated and allow them time to comment. In particular, Shay tree will absolutely
want some time to comment, especially about the civic center, but also the placement along Bloomfield Avenue, the neighborhood traffic and safety committee. I saw that you added bike racks and and that's appreciative, but the exact locations, they may have some comments.
>> Yeah, of course. >> Yeah. And so they haven't gotten so I think all those partners where we got feedback they do I would like to I mean I'm not saying to give a long period of time but at least two weeks for them to review. Some of them won't be meeting in
that time but they should be providing feedback back now that this is more of like a finalized plan. >> Yeah. So the design process allows for that feedback. Right now we're just in concepts. Uh for for me to add a >> uh
you know bike rack any place at this point is still conceptual, right? We don't have a full full survey yet. >> Uh we're still looking at you know turning and uh uh sight lines for a turning vehicle coming out of a driveway. You know, should there a tree
be there or not be a tree? You know, so those are things that we'll look at specifically in the next level. Uh right now it's just it's just schematic assuring that uh these designs aesthetics uh work within the mirror >> this page. >> Yes. >> And then with the art piece can you what
are we what do we need to approve? >> So I think just for that uh that you're allowing us to look at that a little bit more forward >> forward >> right right now I don't think uh originally was not part of our scope. We feel that uh the street alleyways are
critical. It allows us to have something different than the streetscape. Uh it's almost like a standalone element and could be a gem within Verona and just allowing our our team to vet it out a little bit more. >> And with the art in the alleyway by
Chase Bank in particular, who So you're talking about putting these slots up, but does the bank or the property owner need to sign off >> uh for so right now the alleyway is owned by Verona. Uh, so it would be anything that's adjacent would be the building. We'd have to get sign off for
that. For Chase Bank, we feel that that being a more of an institution, it might be a little bit more to gain some traction on that. Most of our installations, it would be probably on the on that other property. Uh, or we can just have stansions off of the
floor. Right. So, we're always looking for options at this point uh in reference to the approvals. >> Okay. And then finally on the civic center tree, the shade tree commission is, you know, obviously going to have um some some thoughts on the proposal. I
will say that the survey was flawed. They were very unhappy with the survey because they have concerns about a new tree planting, the viability of a new tree being planted in the exact location. So I think that the details
there are going to matter. Yes, of course, the public wants the tree to stay in the same spot. Um but if that was easy to do, we would have done it by now. So I think you know that that those details just really need to be worked out um and you know obviously the
appropriate arborist consulted. So I think those are my comments uh for now. But it's exciting to see where this is going. Um and as you said obviously a lot of hard work and I do appreciate all of the meetings because we've been doing
this for quite some time. So, thank you. >> Other comments, Deputy Mayor. >> Uh, thank you. Uh, thank you, Mr. Lao, Dr. Laauo, uh, for the presentation. Uh, have you just a couple comments when it comes to the artwork, I think we should
stay away from wood because obviously it weathers. As far as benches, I like the steel and stone. Uh, wood on them can be switched out every five, six years, so it's easy. So, there there it's okay. about artwork. I guess we could change that every five or six years, too. Uh I
noticed in some of your slides you do have some curb bump bumpouts on some of the major roads like that that second line further out was another Okay. >> curb bumpouts. Uh >> we we did look at those and we did we meet with the county. >> They are not saying that they are not
feasible. >> Uh it would just have to be approved by the county because it is a county road. Yeah. uh but they are open to it as long as we show value. Uh we feel that uh the areas that we looked at uh the sightelines are uh viable where it's not
you know blocking anybody turning. Uh we feel it's viable in reference to adding more green infrastructure to the uh to the uh to downtown. Uh also in reference to having more shade trees within that area. >> Uh but we'll have to vet it out with the county.
>> Okay. And the reason I like this the stone and steel as far as the benches go, I just I worry about the snow in the winter when the plows are pushing up against it. So I think that's a better better idea as far as material goes for them. >> Uh I noticed on your last slide it
showed seven spots where the county is redoing their lights. So looking at that, they're not doing they're doing traffic signals. They're not doing every one. So like Malvin, Park Avenue, uh they're not doing those traffic signals
there. My my only worry is >> only the ones that were were stated in >> Okay, maybe we should talk to the county and see just about Park Avenue because we have two big developments going up right near there. So I'm wondering if maybe we can revisit that with them. Uh,
and then as far as driveways go, uh, I know we talked about there's a couple spots in town, corner lots that used to be gas stations that have three driveways. >> Was there any talk about, and I know I discussed it with you, about eliminating a driveway and getting more parking?
>> So, we uh, talked with the county and we're going to actually take a look at the actual application for their driveway widths. Got it. Uh we feel that throughout the uh historic uh you know turnover of property I'm pretty sure those driveway widths have expanded uh
and we could look at recommendations where driveway widths could be uh narrowed based upon the original application uh along with uh being eliminated depending upon the present usage of that property. Again, we'd have to talk to the property owner and see
how they're relatively being used right now. >> Okay. And then one last comment as far as the the pavers that we use. Is there a choice of maybe a larger paver instead of 4 by8s like something bigger only because I see when PS&G comes in it'll
be easier for repair work to get done when you have less pavers to put into an area. >> Yeah, we could look at that. I think as long as we they're going to be uh permeable anyway, so be on a sand base again with a you know stable foundation uh allowing the soil to percolate through. We'll have to do some perk
tests to assure that water does seep through. >> Yeah. >> Uh but they could be removed without having them to be uh you know broken up. >> Got it. >> So thank you. Thank you again for your time. >> Anybody else? Any other comments? >> I will close out then. Um I first I
appreciate all your work on this. I know that you were taking feedback from a lot of different groups. We're not going to make every everybody happy um with everything, but I hope that everybody participated will see that this is a really nice design. Um
my only comment on this slide is the trash cans. I'm wondering I think you showed a slide previously where this same kind of can came in like a like a wood tone
>> Yeah. receptacle. I was thinking that with all of the other design elements with the brown stone and the pavers and all that stuff, I'm wondering if that might be a better design option because this is really the only black design element and that they're actually going
to stick out. Um, and I know that the whole purpose was so that they didn't stick out as trash cans, but they're going to be very visible as trash cans if they're this reflective black steel. So, uh, just a a thought on changing
that to one of the other the other options. >> Yeah. So, it would be a powder coat it. So, it could could be any color at this point. So, we could pick a tone that's a little bit I think it still needs to be uh darker so it kind of fades um into the landscape, but it could be more of a brown tone.
>> Yeah, just something that it's not as >> trash cany uh right there where it's just sticking out. Um, it's the only thing I think that undermines the the design. Um, as I said, not everything that I necessarily were my preferences ended up in here,
but I think the design is is overall good. That's just the one thing that kind of sticks out as something I would I would change. >> Okay. >> Um, and then on the art pieces as well, I think there would need to be a very separate approval process for that. >> Yes. >> Um, some of these designs, I'm not sure.
Yeah, >> just looking at some of them how well received they would be. Yeah, we just wanted to give you the splash at this point to know that there is uh possibilities. >> Correct. >> Yeah. I just don't want it to I want that to come back here. Yes. with some proposals, a couple different options
that that we could determine based on on that, get some feedback from the Chamber of Commerce specifically because, you know, um but I would definitely think that we should have that come back separately and obviously that's an additional expense so it would need to
be wasn't in the original design um plan for this. So, just something else to throw in there. And even if there's possibility of putting out a contest where we open it up to a bunch of, you know, public artists and put on a
contest with some kind of theme. Um, and see if we can get some submissions, other submissions that we like for that. Um, I think that would be kind of fun. It would bring the community together. Um, and we can get a lot of different things there. So, just a a thought on that. Um,
but on the on this design, my only other comment is on the sidewalks. I know we talked about keeping the sidewalks. There are parts after the county um did some work on the roads. When they put down new concrete, they
did not match the design that was in that is in the concrete already. It's like it looks like they because I walk as we talked about I walk my dog up and down Biffin Avenue and everywhere in town um every day and there just some
parts where it looks like they tried and it's just like they didn't try hard enough maybe. Um but I know that some of that they're going to have to dig up again for the traffic light project. >> Um so I'm hoping that maybe we could pay a little more attention to that um and
ask for their help in matching that pattern. Okay. Um because otherwise I think that it would be if that can't be done I think it would be behoove us to match that pattern otherwise everything's gonna look unfinished. >> You know just a >> just a thought on that. Um and my only
other question because I know it'll come from the public is um do we have a conceptual idea Mr. O'Sullivan of of phase two where we go beyond park? How many years are we thinking? because some we we
stopped at park where the town center is, but some of the original streetscape or the last iteration of it continues. So, we're actually going to have a very distinct line where we have the old streetscape and the new streetscape. Um, and some of
the the stamped asphalt and stuff like that is crumpling. And so, I think people will start to wonder, especially when this is installed, when the next phase is going to be. So, uh, to answer that question, I know, uh, Jim and I have had some discussions about the
general $3 million budget that was, uh, included in the grant application. Phase one would be the first million and a half. So, the total length that we're looking at, uh, is actually both phases one and then also phase two.
>> So, then the future phase would actually be moving into phase three. And effectively we would be looking to once we've selected the final design vocabulary, the final elements, it's a matter of just um going through the final surveying and and design work for
those additional phases. But those would presumably come on an annual basis to continue to expand each year and those would be capital requests before the council each year. >> Okay, great. Um All right. any anybody else? So
should we can put this out to a couple of the interested groups and just see if anybody has any glaring issues. I think it's important that if if we send this out to the groups that they watch Dr. Laau's presentation instead of just sending them a PDF because I think that
is really important that needs to be a you know criteria for providing some comment as well. that they should watch this live to understand how this all fits together because the PowerPoint itself doesn't necessarily provide all the context that our engineer did. So I
will uh I'll work with Dr. allow on getting any final comments incorporated so the presentation can then also be shared with some some general speaking points to those interest groups uh with the ultimate goal uh allowing strands to
move into the final design because uh our our grant for the streetscape project does have I believe it's a an overall two-year uh project timeline >> so we are anticipating and hoping to be
out to bid this summer. Uh so we can go through the design uh the final construction phase winter through spring and summer of next year uh on this phase one element. So we will look to move forward those u those
touch points with those interest groups so we can go into final design. >> Dr. One more comment. Uh just cuz I know when we talked uh and it was really we talked about uh just to be because I know I agree this should go to the committees at least for maybe they can form a quick subcommittee and talk about
it but uh when it goes to shade tree uh we talked about can you just clarify we weren't we talked we can't we know we can't put it right in the same spot. Weren't we going to move it forward a little bit? >> So we're looking at uh in the same spot
>> at this point. uh we're going to look at uh looking at the tree whether it's uh really dead and dying or it's just growing out of its lifespan right as trees start to grow they start to thin out uh naturally it's not a you know a
colar kind of tree so a lot of the inner branches start to die out so it doesn't give you that true form of a holiday tree uh so we feel that it might be healthy but it's just not going to serve the purpose of the community uh we feel that uh by purchase. There are large
nurseries uh that are able to purchase a nice large tree. It's just that the expense of purchasing it, you don't want to lose it in the next year. That's just bad optics for everybody. So we want to ensure that if we do purchase a tree that comes from a replicable nursery and
that it is viable for the at least the next five years and that would be incor incorporating uh maintenance uh fertilizing uh any kind of tree care as part of that uh service. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. >> We feel that's the probably the best
means forward to have a you know a nice uh tree in the short term. But the point was like I I totally understand you don't want to plant a tree exactly where the other one is, but even moving it say 15 feet forward. So you're in a totally
different location. I mean to plant a tree, a sizable tree, you're going to need a a large piece of equipment. So it's going to be pretty easy to dig out the stump of the existing tree. Yeah. But I'm just saying like just for clarity. I mean an an expert would probably
>> be able to obviously opine on this a lot better. But to move it 10 feet forward isn't a big deal, >> but it would be a lot healthier location to put it rather than right over where the existing one is. >> Uh as long as I think we uh take out most of the root system, I think we should be okay. >> Okay. >> But I agree with you.
>> Yeah. >> Thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. >> And Mr. Svin, anything else for your report? >> That's all. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, on to council member reports. Deputy mayor M. Be a little bit brief. Uh there is a
parks and wreck committee meeting tomorrow night at 7 at the community center. Uh on Thursday at noon uh also at the community center in the fireman's room, the chamber of commerce is having a lunch and learn and they've invited uh and they've accepted the zoning official
and uh an architect who is a member of the chamber and they will discuss there will be discussing uh if anybody has a business that wants to move into town or has an existing business and looking for the rules and regulations of what you
can do and not do as far as zoning goes. Uh so it's it's an educational hour uh in the fireman's room Thursday at noon till one. Uh D and since I've commented during the
year on uh a neighboring development, I am happy to say uh after the 31st meeting of the West Orange Planning Board, the uh construction building development of 496 units at the top of
uh Cunningham Drive was denied by the West Orange Planning Board meeting last week. uh which is a huge positive for the town of Verona because they had an access road for emergency vehicles coming out on the top of Howell which I feared in the future may be an access uh
regular road. So uh good news for all of us that and there was other ramifications of you know storm water and such but I was happy to see it denied by the West Orange Planning Board and that's all I have for today. >> Thank you and just thank you for your
work on that. I know you attended so many meetings and uh and also our planning board and environmental commission chair Jess Pearson who attended so many wrote letters spoke um and of course the council joining together to also contest issues with
this development um as well through uh legal proceedings I had opportunity to go to some meetings but you went to all of them uh so thank you for that it all matters um and we'll be watching it closely for sure thank you >> Councilman Roman I'll just to echo those
comments on uh the uh defeat of that development. Um that was a very concerted effort um by a lot of people. We had members of the public that were very well organized and uh represented themselves well in this uh a lot of residents in West Orange as well. Same
sort of thing. And I would also recognize the deputy mayor has been a tireless advocate for that neighborhood. um and uh he put a lot of time into going to all of those public meetings and doing the best he could to represent the township's interests. So my congratulations to all involved. That's
uh definitely a very positive outcome. And uh given the uh time in the evening, I will end my report there. >> Thank you, Councilwoman McGrath. >> Thank you. Um the shade tree committee uh met last week and they were reviewing extensively their um recommended trees
uh plantings for the township. their recommendations are shifting based on their new analysis that's in their community forestry plan. Um and so uh they were spending substantial time on that. The neighborhood traffic and safety committee also met. they will be
reaching out to the town manager on some a few follow-up items uh related to the complete streets policy and they spoke extensively about summit um and the upcoming changes that personnet and changes that that the police department is considering regarding overnight
parking um and I just want because we won't be meeting before then I want to remind the public that on uh Tuesday June 2nd there is a primary um for uh the election this year. There's several
positions on the ballot. Um early voting starts uh the day after Memorial Day on Tuesday the 26th um and runs through um uh May 31st uh Sunday May 31st at the
Verona Community Center. All the information is on um the ethicsclerk.com website and I do encourage people to vote in this year's primary. And that's my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Holland.
>> Thank you. Um I'm looking forward to Memorial Day coming up um this weekend. I know that we had several parents of uh children in the music program come to our last meeting. And so I do just want to recognize all the work that the music
um that the kids in the music program are putting into preparing for that parade. I also want to recognize all the scouts and the other civic organizations that are going to participate. Um I know it's not the longest parade, but it is
filled with a lot of enthusiasm. So I'm looking forward to it. I also want to acknowledge that the MYAK committee will be having a meeting that week as well on Wednesday night the 27th. We are um in preparations for the pride cere uh
celebration which will be taking place on June 7th. I believe that's the same weekend that there's a sidewalk sale um in town as well. So really celebrate Pride um and go support your local businesses. Um, and so I do just wanted
I did just want to acknowledge those as well as recognize that we do have our resolution on this evening for gun violence awareness day which I do think is really significant and I just wanted to acknowledge that as well because we did have some residents express some
concern in that at our last meeting. Thank you and that concludes my report. >> Thank you. This time I'll open for public comment on any matter any member of the public wishes to bring forth. Madam clerk, could you please read the public participation statement?
>> Anyone from the public wishing to speak on any matter? If you're attending by Zoom, please raise your hand by pressing the raise hand button on your monitor. If you're dialing them by phone, press star 9. If you're attending in person, please raise your hand and be acknowledged before approaching the lectern. Once recognized, clearly state
only your name and township of residence into the record. You're not required to provide your street address. However, if you do, please note that these meetings will be posted on the township's YouTube channel and addresses will not be redacted for any purpose. You'll have four minutes to address the council.
There could be no cross dialogue during this public portion and after everyone wishing to speak has been heard, the council may address your comments and or questions. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Seeing no public comment, I close public comment and we will move on to the
hearing adopt amendment of ordinances. I'll hear a motion to table ordinance H1 as this has not been discussed yet at the planning board. Make a motion. The deputy mayor moves to table ordinance uh 2026-
10 >> 10. Is there a second? >> I'll second that. Seconds by Councilman Roman. Madam Cler, could you call the RO, please? >> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes.
>> Councilman Roman, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Macko, yes. >> Mayor Tambboro, >> yes. >> Mayor uh H1 is tabled 50. >> Thank you. The next item on the agenda is ordinance 2026-17 on second reading. Madame clerk, could you please read the title of this ordinance into the record? Adopting the
redevelopment plan for 251 and a half Grove Avenue redevelopment area, block 1201, lot 12. >> Thank you. Would somebody move the ordinance, please? >> So move. >> Motion is made by Councilman Roman. >> I'll second. >> Second is by the deputy mayor. This time
open for public comment public hearing on ordinance 2026-17. Same public comment statement applies though you can only comment on this ordinance. Okay. hearing none. Our experts are here. Does anybody have any questions or
did you want to just give a brief update? S >> um I actually was just going to summarize the memo. >> So when this uh when the ordinance was introduced uh I think April 20th um uh there was a recommendation made to not
uh convert an attic to inhabitable space. So we made those edits and then uh the planning board had certain comments which really made a lot of sense. Um for example to uh you know um
to to be very uh to remove any ambiguity when it came to like providing central air. Uh basement shall not be permitted. Um and then also uh to strengthen the language because some of that uh site is
within a flat plane area. So that way to ensure that you know the building remains at 45 ft and uh also to uh the engineer the developers engineer had also recommended that we specify front
property line which um I had discussed at the April 20th meeting. So, that's about it. Um, and I'm happy to take any questions. >> Any questions for Miss Siobhan? You're off the hook, Sam. Thank you. >> Thank you. Have a wonderful
>> Jamie. Anything to add? >> Thank you, M. I'll just quickly add that u after the adoption of this tonight, everything that is required to be done is done for the fourth round and the judge will then be moving forward with the issuance of our final certification of compliance.
>> Wonderful. That was a long road. Thank you, Mek. >> Thank you, everybody. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Any council discussion? Madame Clerk, would you call the role, please? >> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes. >> Councilman Roman, >> yes.
>> Deputy Mayor Mackoy, >> yes. >> Mayor Tambbor, >> yes. >> Mayor 202617 passes 5 to zero and um it will be posted legal notice on our website. >> Okay. Thank you. The next item agenda is ordinance 2026-
18 for adoption. Madam clerk, could you please read the title of this ordinance of the record? >> A bond ordinance providing for improvement of the municipal pool facility in by the township of Verona in the county of Essex, New Jersey, appropriating $100,000, therefore, and authorizing the issuance of $80,000
bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof. >> Thank you. I'll move the ordinance. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second is by Councilwoman McGrath. This time I open for the public hearing on ordinance 2026-18. Seeing no public comment, I close public
comment. Any council discussion? Just looking forward to seeing the new all the new things. Uh madam and opening day is coming up Saturday. So big big day. Nobody mentioned that in their reports, but opening day is coming up. We'll have this furniture of the season.
very very excited all the improvements. >> One happy fan in the audience. >> Yes. Uh we we'll name we'll name one of the benches after Jan because she's the only person here. >> Madame Clerk, would you uh call the role, please? >> Councilwoman Holland,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, yes. >> Councilman Roman, yes. >> Deputy Mayor Moy. Mayor Tambbor, >> yes. >> Mayor 2026-18 passes 50. It will be posted on the legal notice page of the website according to law. >> Thank you. The next item on the agenda
is ordinance 2026-9. On second reading, madame clerk, would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record? >> A capital ordinance appropriating 67,500 from capital improvement fund for the various improvements by the township of Verona and the county of Essex, New Jersey. >> Thank you. Would somebody move the
ordinance? >> So moved. >> Motion's made by Councilwoman McGrath. Is there a second? >> Second. Sexed by Councilman Roman. I will open for public comment on the public hearing on ordinance 2026-
19 at this time. Same public comment statement applies. I close public comment. Any council discussion? Deputy mayor. >> Quick. Uh Mr. O Sullivan, can you just explain for the public uh we have sidewalk repairs of 25,000 and catch
basins for 25,000. >> No specific locations. Those are part of the annual catch basin and sidewalk maintenance repair program that uh the public works department manages. U those are based on highest priorities and and
worst condition basins and or sidewalks. Um additionally the basins are cleaned uh approximately a quarter of the basins are cleaned annually and we work through each neighborhood. So we are on a more or less five four or five year cycle throughout the town.
So that addresses the uh the highest priority needs. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Madam clerk, would you call the role, please? >> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes. >> Councilman Roman, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayo, >> yes. >> Mayor Tambbor,
>> yes. >> Um, ordinance 202619 passes 50 and it will be posted on the legal notice page of the website according to law. >> Thank you. The next item on the agenda is ordinance 2026-20 on second reading. Madame clerk, would you please read the title of this ordinance into record?
>> Water and sewer utility capital ordinance appropriating $113,000 from water sewer utility capital improvement fund for the various improvements by the township of Verona in the county of Essex New Jersey. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Would somebody move this ordinance? >> So moved.
>> Motion is made by councilwoman Holland. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second is by Councilwoman McGrath. This time I'll open for the public hearing on 2026-20. Same public comment statement applies.
Hearing none. I close public comment. Council discussion. Hearing none. Madam clerk, call the role, please. >> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes. >> Councilman Roman, yes. >> Deputy Mayor Makavoy, >> yes. >> Mayor Tambboro,
>> yes. Mayor uh 2026-20 passes 50 and it will be published on the website according to law. >> Thank you, madam clerk. The next item on the agenda is ordinance 2026-21. On second reading, would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record?
>> Amending chapter A575-7, Verona Community Pool Membership and Other Fes. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Would somebody move this ordinance, please? >> I move the ordinance. Is there a second? I'll second the seconds by the deputy mayor. This time over for public comment.
Public hearing. Seeing none, close the public comment. Any council discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, would you call the role, please? >> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes. >> Councilman Roman, yes. >> Deputy Mayor Mackoy, >> yes.
>> Mayor Tamuro, >> yes. May there uh 2026-21 passes 50 and it will be published according to law. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. The next item on the agenda is ordinance 2026-22 on second reading.
Would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record? >> Amending Oh, an ordinance to amend ordinance 2026-26 pool membership fees to increase the number of non-resident memberships. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Would somebody move that ordinance? >> So moved. Motion's made by the deputy
mayor. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Second's made by Councilman Roman. This time we'll for the public hearing on ordinance 2020 6-22. Same public comment statement applies.
Hearing none, I hereby close public comment. Any council discussion hearing? None. Madam clerk, could you call the role, please? >> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes. Yes. Councilman Roman. Yes. Deputy Mayor Mack. Mayor Tambero. >> Yes.
>> Mayor uh H72026-22 passes 50 will be published according to law. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. On to ordinances for introduction. I'm going to move an amended version of ordinance uh I1 that strikes line J to be
considered on a separate bond ordinance or bond ordinance in the next meeting. Uh the reason being is is that uh that's a a um ambulance for the Vonal rescue squad. Previously both Councilwoman McGrath and I uh were conflicted because
you need four votes and we were both conflicted. Uh the doctrine of necessity applied. Counciloman McGrath no longer has a conflict. If we keep these this item in this ordinance and I could not vote on the other uh $4 million of capital. So, um, I'm moving the amended,
uh, amended version of the ordinance that strikes line J, but that'll be on at the next meeting for introduction. Is there a second? I'll second that. Second is by the deputy mayor. Council discussion. Okay. Hearing none, madam clerk, would you call the role, please?
>> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. >> Councilwoman, >> yes. >> Council Roman, >> yes. Deputy Mayo, >> yes. Mayor Tamura. >> Yes. >> Um so I one will be number 2026-23.
Um will be published when public hearing will be held on June >> 8th. Sorry. >> Okay. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is ordinance for introduction on I2. Madam clerk, would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record?
a bond ordinance providing for various improvements and purposes for the water sewer utility in and by the township of Veron in the county of Essex, New Jersey, appropriating $2,725,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $2,588,750 bonds or notes of the township to
finance part of the cost thereof. >> So we move this ordinance, please. >> So moved. >> Motion's made by Councilwoman Holland. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconds by Councilwoman McGrath. Any council discussion? Call the role, please. Madame clerk. >> Councilwoman Holland,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes. >> Councilman Roman, yes. Deputy Mayor Mackoy, yes. >> Mayor Tamburo, >> yes. >> Mayor, I too will be number 2026-24. Um, it will be published on the website according to law and public hearing will be held June 8th. >> Uh, fantastic. Madam Cler, could you
just read the >> title >> the title of I1 into the record because I don't think I asked you that. a bond ordinance providing for various capital improvements in and by the township of Verona and the county of Essex, New Jersey, appropriating $4,563
therefore and authorizing the issuance of 44 $4,442,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof. >> Thank you. And that'll be ordinance 202623. All right, moving on to our consent
agenda. We have uh two sets of minutes and nine resolutions. Does anybody need anything to hold from the consent agenda? Uh the special meeting um not >> said you were absent on it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> He was not present. >> There was not present the person. Yeah. He wasn't present at the time the meeting was called. >> Yeah. So you were present listening. I was listening in but >> Oh yeah. Yeah, I think >> I was I was dialed in.
>> Okay. Present. >> I just want to note that he was just at a line he was present at >> Okay. >> 6:35 or whatever. >> Okay. >> And that's fine. >> Okay. >> On the roll, he was not present. >> Right. >> All right.
>> Okay. Um All right. Somebody move the consent agenda >> as amended. >> So moved. >> Motion's made by the deputy mayor. I'll second it. Now it's time for public comment on the consent agenda items. Same public comment statement applies.
Hearing none. Close public comment. Any council discussion on the consent agenda? Hearing none. Madame clerk, would you call the role, please? >> Councilwoman Holland, >> yes. >> Councilwoman McGrath, >> yes. >> Councilman Roman, yes. >> Deputy Mayor Mack, >> yes.
>> Mayor Turo, >> yes. Uh, mayor L1 through L9 will be numbered resolutions 2026-12 through and including resolution 2026-15.
>> Thank you, Madame Clerk. We have no agenda this evening. We do have the open burn ordinance. Mr. Sullivan, did you still want to talk about that with your deputy not here? Um, I think the ordinance as it's drafted, it's been recirculated. Uh, it was a cleaned up
version uh that simplifies the process and the review. I know the town attorney was helpful in in drafting and making some of those edits based on prior comments from the council. Um, I don't know if there's any additional comments based on what's been discussed. Um, or
if you'd like a a further summary explanation on the changes from Mr. Loya. any issues? This is the updated version. >> Yeah, I I have a question. >> Councilman Holland,
>> thank you. Um, I appreciate what you've done by trying to streamline it. I think there's a little there's an opportunity that you can add a third point under B that just specifically states that it shall not apply to recreational fires in
a fire pit. There was language similar to that in the prior draft. Um, but it included that chimney and uh stack language. I think you could take that without limiting it to chimneys and stacks because a lot of recreational fire pits don't have that. Um, and then
it can be more clear. I do appreciate that that you've tried to limit it so it doesn't apply to split firewood and small branches used as kindling, but I I I think that there are going to be some residents that that would take comfort in having it spelled out that that fire
pits are not included. >> Sure. So, what we can do is we can add it doesn't like you said does apply to recreational fires in a fire pit um that burn material not prohibited by this ordinance. Yeah. Yes. >> That was going to be my comment to add that. Thank you.
>> That works. That's right. Uh yeah, just yeah, that doesn't burn anything prohibited under section A, part A or whatever. Any other questions? May >> I just want if I may, that I we um
changed the title to create a new chapter so that it's more easily uh found by residents. >> Okay. Well, there's nothing like adding 168th chapter of the town code. That gets me more excited. Thank you for that.
Um, does anybody with that change have any objection to this being on first reading at the next meeting? >> So be written, so be done. >> Um, this time we'll open for public comment on any item any member of the
council wishes to and public wishes to bring forward. Same public comment applies. Miss Sales, you're up. I haven't Janelle's Verona resin. Haven't sat here all all this time just to say nothing. I am so looking forward to Memorial Day this weekend, the pool
opening, all these things that I'm hearing. New management, uh the Zumba class at night. So, it sounds really exciting. All these new members, I hope the tables get as soon as possible. Um, you know, just that thank you everyone
for all the time everyone's put into making it as successful a venture as we all hope it's going to be and looking forward to to to everything. Hope the weather stays warm because I hate cold water. On that note,
>> thank you, Miss Als. At this time, I'll close public comment. I just remark that I appreciate your comment and it's I I can't wait to see you over there. uh on my inspection tours. I I do want to thank Mrs. Prrisco and the entire community services team for for their
vision. Uh Mr. Shore and the recreation advisory committee for their vision. They've put so much work into getting us in a in a good position. Um, I'd like to thank our town administration and our and Lisa Northre, our PIO, um, for their
work, especially with the all the sponsorships and changes and and all of that. Um, it really was a team effort. And I would like to thank the council for recognizing that it it was time that we uh that we fix this and and I look forward to seeing the membership numbers
increase as we approach that day. Um, and uh, I hope we have a great opening day. All right. Uh, well, we passed a resolution to go into executive session. We will not be taking any official action. So, we'll have a short executive
session and we will see you in a couple weeks. Thank you everybody.