basically causing some of the issues. So all of that was going on um pretty much from January through the summer. We did a first uh presentation in July and then continued to gather data uh from the system and then compiled everything,
finished the model and then uh came up with like a water quality um issues and alternatives recommendations. Uh so that kind of brought us to the end of the year, very beginning of uh end of 2025, beginning of 2026. Um and now we're here
to do the presenting. >> Sure. So summary of this slide at this scale impossible for you guys to read. So looking at it in the context of this room apologize for presenting it to you in this way. In essence, this gives you a lot of detail in context for spending
about about a year and a half essentially characterizing the nature of your system, its problems and coming up with the most efficient way to try to iteratively solve it. Okay. >> So if we could please advance to the next slide.
me. >> Uh, yeah, that one's you. >> Sure. Sure. >> Okay. So, again, Karen and I work collaboratively on problems of this kind. And the first thing to understand about water distribution systems in general and in particular the water distribution system that serves the
burrow is that they are often very old. And they it's difficult to begin to imagine because most folks that have a job, work on some other subject that is not this particular piece of expertise really have no reason to imagine the
materials of construction, the configuration or the conditions in which these pieces of infrastructure serve. So, it's a little difficult to start to have the conversation, but long story short, like almost all infrastructure that serves communities, they're composed of physical materials that tend
to age and degrade over time. And there's kind of a common sentiment that I think that's held by everybody. I am, for instance, the water engineer in my own town. um serve in a community where my wife is a teacher and everyone feels um rightfully empowered to ask us
questions about the condition of our systems as you all might with your own elected officials, folks that work for you. What the heck is the condition of the system? Uh are we working on it to make it both safe and palatable to drink? So your system has a variety of
different construction materials, some of which are older. And for the six the the the sections of the system that are characterized by older metallic pipe, those pipes tend to and this is intuitive once you begin to think about it tend to corrode over years or decades
of service. Again, this is not just typical the Waldwick system. This is every system in the developed world. So on the time scale of over 100 years, these have been the typical materials of construction essentially anywhere that modern water distribution systems have
been constructed and put into operation uh essentially with water that's available either from the ground from groundwater sources or from surface water sources. Again, your system is incredibly typical of let's say the aging and the water quality conditions that come from aging as a result of
systems like this being in service on the time scale of decades or sometimes even centuries. So what you are seeing at the macro scale essentially is the results of long chronic exposure to corrosion and and and this is significant
in recent decades really in recent years there have been many many changes at both the federal and state level to the way that systems like yours and in particular the way that Waldwick is operated. So you have seen decisions made by your leadership and by us as your consulting engineers in various
cases to consolidate the way that sources are configured, the way that they're pumped into the distribution system. We're going to get into a little bit more detail on that in a minute. Again, at the systemwide scale, what that does is effectively changes flow
patterns in the system. So different experiences that you might have had for water quality at your tap, at your kitchen sink, in your shower, what have you, could have changed over the course of years again or decades as the flow patterns in the system have changed.
That was one of the big motivating factors that caused us to advise the bureau that it might be a good idea again as you're to me when you're attempting to manage a system like this. The best approach is to think how can I most effectively spend the limited resources that I have to get the most
reliable, safe, and in particular um let's say non-offensive tasting water. Water that essentially is clear, predictable, and plentiful. So we essentially looked at the background quality of your water, modeled the
system and came up with an array of different solutions essentially that will take let's say the burrow from the current situation that it's in right now through a series of iterative steps that will allow it to it again that's really the correct word to step by step improve
the quality and predictability of the quality of the water in town. Could we advance the next slide? But beforehand, just so you know, the image of the pipe is a stock image. So >> it's a stock image. So just figured I'd clarify that. >> Right. Right.
>> Um, okay. I I'll jump in for this one. So essentially, I'd been working with Mike for several years again on the compliance part of it. Um, mostly um just kind of looking at water quality, samples that need to be collected, how to address things. Um so when these uh
issues started coming in, we had had some chats through 2024 um before starting an official program in early 2025. Uh but Waldwick was tracking some of the air the complaints that were coming in because obviously enough people were lodging the complaints uh
through the latter part of 2024. Um so they did set up a system. They provided us with some data and you know this was something that was in the first phase of work but taking a look at those to throw them on a map and just try to see um
what kind of pattern was they. So that was like one of the initial um things of looking at water quality data, water main break data. Was there a connection? Um and uh again unfortunately uh didn't know what the screen would look like,
but uh it shows like different uh water main complaint uh issues um through the throughout the system and where they were maybe a little bit more clustered. So aside from knowing the configuration of the system, we tried to get as specific and pointed as possible about
understanding where there were negative behaviors in the system frankly so that we could focused on spending our energy let's say again the most efficiently on characterizing existing problems and coming up with ways to solve them. Um so if we could please advance to the next slide. >> Yep.
Um so in in moving from essentially a two-dimensional picture of a system like this into actually having a model that works um let's say duplicating the system digitally in three dimensions and also coming up with ways to characterize it behaviorally. We went through, let's
say, a significant amount of effort with the folks who are professional water system operators that serve your system. Um, and used our own staff of engineers to come up with characterizing data both for the way that flows occur in your system and for the behaviors of your sources, your tanks, and how they
interact together through the system of controls that let's say largely automate the behaviors of your system. And again, the reason for this is not just having a model. It's so that we when we look at the existing behaviors of the system and in particular suggestions for how you
might spend your money which frankly every dollar of it in a situation like this is precious. Our objective is to know with some degree of certainty ahead of time what the future behaviors of the system are going to be again so that we can mitigate essentially unintended
consequences and focus on solutions that are going to solve problems rather than essentially solving something and creating another problem. So again, the objective of having a model like this is so that we can look at what if scenarios ahead of time and understand the likely
behaviors of the system downstream of the suggestions that we make both for changes to standard operating procedures and to potential improvements to the system if we got to the point where those suggestions were ever made. Next slide, please. So this slide sort of just says the same
thing there. There's a little uh maybe we dive a hair too deep into sort of the nerdy depths of how um of how model creation occurs here. And suffice it to say we we the best summary of this is that we spent a pretty significant
amount of time um building and calibrating the model according to the industry standards. So that aside from the exercise that we're doing now, it becomes an asset and a tool to you later. So that when you are doing this, of course, you're solving problems in a way that is actually characterized by the configuration and behavior of the
system. But as you consider capital improvements in the future, as every system in the state is compelled to do, not just you, you actually have a basis for evaluating how they might behave. And again, to me, the objective of a system like this, aside from safe, reliable water and consistent, reliable
compliance, is knowing that you're doing things most efficiently. So when we compose this, we tried to make it useful as a future tool as well. >> Yeah. And that future tool then can be like if there's a change to the um system of a different source, changing
sources, um changing um like adding new houses or new uh basically new customers. Um how does that affect the flow? So that this model has a dual purpose of taking care of looking at the water quality issue and trying to
understand that but then also for future planning. >> Yes. Yes. The the the frustrating but but sort of the reality you admit about any infrastructure system like this is that it's always in a state of flux. It's always evolving or degrading in some way. And even if it's not, the system and the people that it serves
themselves are always changing in some fashion their behaviors. So it needs to be inherently flexible. So Karen's spot on in her description. If we could please advance to the next slide. >> Lots more data. If you wanted to get really into it, if anybody was fascinated by data, we could show you
the degree of calibration and how we got to getting the system to behave again in a way that is predictably a mimic for how your system physically behaves in the real world. We can probably skip this and keep on going. Yep. >> There's going to be a couple more slides like this that basically say we pretty
darn sure that the model behaves in its digital format almost exactly as it behaves in the field. Um again, this is just a good good uh piece of information in case anybody was wondering. There are five active groundwater sources in town. Um and uh that that's uh one of those
pieces of information that not everybody has a reason to know. Um but they are uh well monitored and maintained by your in-house professionals. >> Yeah. And at the time of this actually one of the well there there is another one it was all flying so we went we had to go with the data that was available from uh their system operations so we
downloaded >> system always in flux. So let's move to the next slide. >> Um okay so uh little little visually busy for you to see at this scale but looking at those two side by side if you stared at it long enough it would be
like one of those comparison puzzles that you get you know get put in front of you as kids. you would eventually see different details jump out. And the point of this is to indicate that there was a fair amount of effort put into the theory of how your system would behave, which is represented by the picture on
the left, as opposed to the actual behaviors of your system, which is represented by the picture on the right. This slide just sort of visually validates the fact that calibration was done. And it was significant for calibration to occur here mostly because of what we discovered about the behavior
of pipes in the system. And that in turn really really more accurately characterizes how water flows in the system in terms of volume in terms of the activity of different wells on a day-to-day basis and in particular flow pathways because when you are addressing
and potentially suggesting that a given entity spend money on correcting the behaviors of a given system or potentially to clean or replace certain pipelines. It's really kind of critically important essentially to understand how water flows through it, especially for a system of this scale.
You guys are not particularly a small system. Um, and uh, understanding the macroscopic behaviors of a system like this is the key to getting it right. Again, pointing back to if we were going to make suggestions on either changing standard operating procedures or making
some fixes to the system, we wanted it to be in an informed fashion. want to quickly do the colors like the >> basically what that tells you about the >> Sure. Sure. So if you were to look at this slide in detail and anyone in this room is we we produce these on your behalf. Um so the colors essentially
scale the roughnesses of the pipe and the best way to think about it is that the greater those roughnesses and this is counterintuitive the values in there that means the smoother the pipe. So for instance on the right hand side which is the picture you should pay attention to that is how the system is actually
calibrated those darker blue and green pipes are considered physically smoother than some of the older rougher pipes throughout the system. Now that might say to you if your pipes are characterized as red or yellow well do I have problems in front of my house? Am I worried about water quality? The answer
is maybe. Um, it is one of the beginning indicators or telltales for us as professionals to begin to figure out where we might concentrate not only on where evaluations would occur, but where potential sources might be for rusty
water at say your kitchen tap or in your shower or what have you. >> Okay, so let's continue. Okay. So, having developed an understanding of how the system is configured and how it
behaves, I want to sort of begin by cheating and telling you guys the conclusions that you're going to see in the last slide. And that is that for consulting engineers like us or geologists in in in Karen's case, when we look at the
systems of this kind and we look at potential failure modes and we look at what's going wrong, we see rusty water. we see water that may be let's say um have the have the potential for optimization. We begin by looking at the simplest solutions that you can
accomplish with your own forces and that cost the least amount of money to resolve because we are attempting to grasp at the lowest hanging fruit first. Again, our recommendation to you is to to look at those simple solutions, solve those simpler problems, check those
boxes, and then move on as you begin to understand system behaviors to the more expensive, the more exotic, and the more complex solutions. So very intuitively the first recommendation that any consulting engineer particularly any civil engineer will make for maintaining water quality in a system like this is
something that you are already doing from a behavioral standpoint but stepping up the frequency and the intensity of it and that is using hydrant flushing to blow off strategic locations in the system. Now there's when you begin to think about it, there's a very intentional methodology
or intent behind that and that's to raise the velocity in the system to the point where for some of your mediumsiz pipes or larger pipes, you're achieving what is known as scouring velocity. So you have pipe, let's say for argument sakes, it's six or eight or maybe 12 in
in diameter. A lot of flow has to be achieved through a pipe like that in order to scour sediment up from the bottom of the pipe and potentially break off the corrosion that you saw depicted maybe in a little bit harsher sense than is accumulated in most of the pipes
around town and begin to essentially flush those areas of the system that now experience the most regular and profound discoloration. >> And it's a standard tool that twice a year, right? usually like spring and fall a lot of systems will do that and
the idea is again to move water um during different flow periods of the uh throughout the year. So summer more flow in general more people using water in general especially up in this area. Um so this kind of allows them to make sure that there's not like some uh dead end
type areas or areas that maybe don't see that much flow is to make sure that you're cleaning those out. So that's kind of a standard tool >> and and and with acknowledgements for public safety. So not during periods of predictable freezing and certainly not during periods of extremely high demand
in the summertime. Um we can make recommendations to expand the scope, the frequency, and the intensity of these flushing programs. If it turns out that the licensed operator and superintendent in the system see improved behavior in the water quality that we see when we're
flushing and that and that we sample. Um it is also possible uh based on best practice in the industry and this is an approved technique that's used by not only in New Jersey DP but it's used uh essentially everywhere in developed countries in developing um truly sort of
the upper end of scouring velocities for systems like this is that especially when you have a model such as we've developed for the town you can come up with and we have begun to execute a model of this system that allows you to strategically closed valves and
induce very high scouring velocities in the system for areas of pipe that are considered more problematic but also are characterized by enough wall thickness and physical integrity to take those higher flushing velocities. So again, the second option here is a more
intensified and and let's say situationspecific version of flushing that can be used to achieve some very intentional velocities and really scour the system to the point where not only sediment is being moved but potentially where tuberculation again that's the technical term for
corrosion inside pipelines of this kind where tuberculation is being broken off and carried out of the mains. Um okay so those are the those are the two solutions. I want to give you some idea of timeline because when someone comes to talk to
you about this I believe and and Karen and I have have spoken on this subject at length. I believe that the that the right question is well when is this going to occur and how much money is it going to cost and um are there risks
associated with it? So, uh, of course we welcome these questions from council, but we also welcome them from members of the public. Understanding the dozens of situations where we've made these recommendations, what we would encourage the system operators to do is to
accomplish these early system specific. These are essentially enhancements or changes to standard operating procedures in the winter and the spring running up to your highest seasons of pumping and demand. And that's when we recommend that you sort of take a break. Um the
water that's available to the system at that time is probably a touch too precious to be using essentially for flushing. And we believe that the months through this coming spring are probably sufficient to characterize essentially the end points of when these
practices will be effective for you. Um, not only that, when you perform flushing of this kind, it doubles as testing and moments for data collection for both us and the system operators and gives us the opportunity to look and say to
ourselves, we have more data for our model. Number one. Number two, we have information about water quality that suggests where we might move on to another deeper set of solutions. So, if we could please advance to the next slide. I just want to note that uh
the burrow is currently um and has been doing number one for the um vocational flushing. We've been working through that process with the uh water department >> and we did take uh the output of the model and came up with something that was a little different and systematic and provided that to Mike and I think
that's going through the fall and into the spring. So, as you're seeing all the alerts on the uh hydrant flushing, part of that is um working with the new recommendations that came out of the um the model and then just to see how that varies compared to the way they did in
the past. >> Yes, I'm sorry. I characterize that as if it was future tense. You're you're right. That that is in fact a current practice and number the the first option flushing is an ongoing practice that essentially has been part of system SOPs
in perpetuity. Yeah. >> Um again the uni unidirectional flushing option is used in special cases. So once you get a good sense of the water quality results that you anticipate seeing from hydrant flushing and unidirectional flushing, it's possible
to develop an understanding based on that and some of the system information that we have about construction of various pieces of the water distribution system to come up with places where we would recommend either pigging which is essentially an industry term for mechanical cleaning of the interior of
pipes. That is where we can use mechanical swabs, typically rubber or metal, occasionally ice. Some folks are that may have some industry experience are familiar with the notion that the pigging operation is sometimes, but not always, accomplished with blocks of ice.
Um, regardless, each of those operations, however they're configured, have the same intent. The idea is to clean the interior of pipes that still have enough physical strength and mechanical integrity to stand up to that operation. So that rather than dealing with the chronic problem of water
quality being bad, flushing occurring and a temporary solving problem and then you coming back to the same problem, pigging in essence renews the interior surface of the pipe. Now um there is another version of that that is
essentially inducing unidirectional flushing in specific lengths of pipe using a portable mechanical pumping system. It is as if you are introducing the possibility and that's the fourth solution up there that you're you're introducing the possibility of
unidirectional flushing at a velocity that can't be achieved simply by special valving configurations inside the distribution system. Um so each of these techniques is significantly more costly than um going ahead and simply using
flushing. Again, the first two solutions are not free, but they are available to you as a function of current essentially staffing and employees within both public works and and the water distribution system. These solutions use contractors and typically cost on the
scale of tens of thousands of dollars. Now neither of us would ever be cavalier about institutional budget but in the scale of municipal infrastructure projects that is a relatively lowcost solution. It is certainly cheaper let's
say by comparison than cleaning and lining existing water mane and certainly cheaper than replacing water mane. But those are the solutions that sometimes systems get to especially when their water distribution systems are characterized by age or by chronic u
corrosion as we've observed in some parts of the system. So again to sort of marry this with our original theme. We're moving on here with our third and fourth solutions at essentially interim steps that cost you some money but will not represent radical changes to the
municipal budget. We would not consider these for instance capital improvements. We would just essentially consider these operational investments in cleaning and optimizing the system. These are also very mature technologies. They're used essentially everywhere in the United States and frankly all around the
developed world. So there's not a ton of risk introduced to the system. The only risk frankly is spending some budget in achieving a little bit better water quality. >> Next. >> Okay. Very good. >> I'm sorry. I thought I heard somebody asking my name. So
moving on from from those solutions where which are kind of essentially to meant to clean or optimize what you have already, there's a moment where we would say to the system superintendent and to folks in leadership functions within the
town. It's probably good to pause here and ask if it makes sense for us to mobilize a contractor or potentially public works forces to go to strategic locations in town and perform the dual functions of what is known as test pitting and pipe couponing.
And what that means from a practical standpoint is using the data that we have from flushing, from sampling, from analysis and saying to ourselves, all right, here's where the rubber meets the road. there is a serious enough concern in let's say a half a dozen locations
around town where we want to characterize two things. We want to go and verify our suspicions and take a look and see if the corrosion is as thorough um and as chronic as we think it is. And in addition to that, we want to go and sample and find out what the
condition and thickness is of the existing pipe walls in the system. Is the pipe very old? Has corrosion robbed its wall thickness in material so much that operations like pigging that we had discussed before um
pumping unidirectional flushing the so-called NOAZ solution um would those be effective or would those potentially risk a main break if we can convince ourselves that there is enough reliable pipe thickness we might recommend to the town because it
is relatively the more efficient solution that a cleaning and lining program be undertaken in a few different locations in town. For places where the corrosion is equally bad, but there is so little wall thickness that we don't trust the pipe integrity. In a few situations, we might recommend that the
town adopt essentially an amendments to it to its capital program and consider the possibility of replacing some water mane either with new ductal iron or potentially with plastic pipe in accordance essentially with state and national regulations. Again, those are
the kind of decisions that we would come to through a consensus with your superintendent and licensed operator. And the objective would be simply to give you the longest and most predictable service life into the future with the least water quality problems. >> Okay. And just throwing in here also uh
New Jersey D came out with uh what they call water uh water quality accountability act um where looking at water manes is part of that. Um, and there you are supposed to be looking at having a replacement plan for 150 year
>> change, but they also realize that some of the older stuff maybe is holding up better. So when we say older, sometimes that doesn't mean like it's not like, uh, this one's this is the oldest one. We're going to dig it out. That might be in better condition than something else.
So that would be part of that spot checking based on what we're seeing. it would be to take a look and maybe it's not the oldest pipe in the system that needs to be changed, but something else. And I think most people can kind of figure that even like with any home type
of repair, it's like might not be like the old stuff, it's like now you can't destroy that. But this newer thing I got, I'm going to throw it away already. Like so, but it's looking at it and again making sense because >> it's not our money to spend. And I'm not being cavalier on that, but that's
always part of that focus is understanding that it's part of the rates and paying into the thing to make the best choice for the burrow and water system. >> Right. So, so to sum up, um, our recommendation to the bureau is going to
be to continue with its current flushing practices and to work with us to identify places to intensify them over the remainder of the spring. Using the data that we collect toward the end of the spring and over to the over the summertime, we plan to make a set of recommendations for potentially either
intensified flushing for cleaning and lining and in very selected places for potentially two to three true pipe replacement projects. Again, that would come with the mutual advice of your water system superintendent and of course your business administrator
because we would want to be very careful and sort of targeted in how we make use of that which was kind of the ultimate solution and therefore the most costly and time intensive. >> Nick, >> more simple graphic for everything he
just said. Yeah, we we could have spared you the last half hour and just showed you this slide. Um, so so this is this really is kind of a good summary and again our objective on your behalf is to be very rigorous from a technical standpoint and
to know enough to have a constructive conversation frankly with any of you about the condition of the system, any questions you might have about your own property and try to be as constructive and useful on your behalf as possible. Then knowing and looking ahead because we have solved these problems in the
past attempt to give you and your leadership essentially a tool set that allows you to achieve what most people think of essentially as the best bang for your buck. How do I solve the easiest problems first with the least resources and focus the the bigger resources that I have on the true
problem areas of the system? This slide essentially says what I just said. We have a tendency to do that, >> right? Sorry, we jumped ahead. >> Um, so the objective essentially in taking the analysis that we've performed to date and sort of the road map that we
have for you is to use this year to implement our solutions in a step-wise fashion that is very careful and measured and always allows you essentially access to what we're doing. We're totally transparent and these techniques while they sound like there's comp complexity and and we focus
essentially on the idea of iteration and taking small steps. They reflect the industry standard for characterizing and solving problems of this kind. And again these solutions or this solution set or tool set is used everywhere in the country. Um especially for systems of
this age, complexity and material composition of the pipelines. So that I think essentially completes our conversation, our presentation. Um, again, we're very grateful for the opportunity to come in and present both
to elected officials and and to residents of the town. Um, and I I'll make one last point. Sitting in situations like this, you may feel, all right, I've just digested a lot of information. We're of course available to answer any questions that
you have. Now, we're also available to answer questions that may pop into your head at 3 in the morning. Happens to me all the time. I wish I had been able to ask that question. We work for you guys. So, >> 3 in the morning, call his >> Thank you, Pat. Thank you, Karen. U if
we could start with the council on some questions and then open it up to the public. Thank you. >> We started a couple of these projects already. We've been working on some stuff. Mike, would you mind just explaining what we've done so far and how you feel about it? What's going on? I don't want to put you on the spot, but >> you're you're the one that we go to at
all times. >> So, so far we have started implementing our flushing program that you guys recommended. >> It's up to everybody, I guess. Uh we started somewhere in the beginning of January. >> Of course, weather has been
>> of course weather has been uh a problem with all the snow and the ice, and we're not going to be flushing when it's below 32 degrees out. So, we've been starting, then stopping, picking up where we left off, but we're I would say relatively
about halfway through our flushing program right now. Uh, and I've seen less complaints in in, you know, in my opinion, than we have in the past. So, the flushing program you guys implemented was more of a directional
type flushing. uh no valve closure but we have been again with H2M's recommendation uh directional flushing on getting the water that is discolored out and you know keeping the fresh water
in. So that's basically what we've been doing so far. In the past two years, we've done probably about 35 valve replacements overall in town uh amongst many water main brakes and other
uh road preparation for paving. We always make sure that the uh valves are replaced, hydrants are in working order. So we try to prepare for the future for that. But uh we've been very busy in the last two years for trying to improve the water
quality and the condition of the system. >> So >> you feel confident in what we're doing? >> I'm very confident in what we're doing. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> I have a question. >> I know there's a hotline that's been set up for people to call in when they're having problems. What's the data on
that? That's You said things have been getting better. Have there been less calls? So, we've actually um transitioned a little bit internally on where those calls go. They're directed now down to the water department directly. Um Mike and I speak uh daily. And uh the calls
and the emails that we were receiving in larger numbers um really have fallen off. I'd say in the past six to eight months, we really have um gotten calls here and there, but uh you know, water department will go out, they'll assess the situation. If there's anything that seems to be outside the ordinary, uh,
they may address it, but, uh, most of them, I don't want to speak for Mike, but seem to have been, you know, related to the iron that that's presented in the water. >> Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. >> One good thing to maybe start doing is let's log so that, you know, percentage
decrease, tracking KPIs on how many we're actually getting. If we can log how many complaints or questions come in by email or phone call, we can start logging that and present data to to the town. >> Yes, the form is still on the website. So people for the most part have been
using that form which logs it and then we're able to share it with H2M. So it's a form on the website and it'll ask for the pertinent information, your address, your information, uh where you live, when have you noticed a change in either smell, taste, or just uh visually. Uh
but otherwise if we get a call we're putting that into the form as we're speaking to residents. >> For me uh the most important question uh color is important, staining people's homes is important, staining clothes is important. Um can any of you talk a
little bit about the water safety itself and what people are consuming, bathing in, brushing their teeth with and all that stuff. Uh I know we send out our water quality report all the time. I just like for people to hear directly from us as to that quality.
>> Sure. So the important thing to understand about the water quality in town is that >> microphone please. >> Thank you. >> So sorry about that. I pick this up. >> The important the important thing to
understand about the water quality in town is that it is consistently and predictably safe and reliable to drink. Um, I just it's that's that's a fair complaint to make and I've I've heard it made um several times. If council
president, if you're comfortable with me um getting into slightly deeper explanation, the federal and state safe drinking water acts are set up in such a way that they're composed of two different categories broadly speaking of contaminants. The first one is so-called
primary contaminants and they have to do with acute and chronic exposure to different forms of essentially threats to your health where exposure to some toxin or a microbiological contaminant could predictably threaten your health.
It's ironic in the sense that almost every animal in including human beings has a tendency to measure the safety of water by its aesthetic characteristics. How it tastes, how it looks, how it smells. And it's not unfair for people
to think in those terms. But the reality of it is taste and odorcausing compounds and the visualizing compounds that make water either cloudy, red, or brown are almost always characterized by what the state and federal government calls
secondary contaminants. And almost always, as in the case of Waldwick system, they have to do with the presence of dissolved metals. You're probably pretty darn familiar with that at your tap. It is incredibly and sort of challengingly characteristic of older
systems which is why in some sense we just went through the litany of explanation that we did because it's easy in some sense to understand how to solve a problem like this. You can essentially replace the entire distribution system but there's a frankly an overwhelming cost associated
with that. So we try to be surgical in our recommendations and step to the point where those let's say recommendations to either rehabilitate the system or replace it whole in certain very problematic places actually make sense from both an operational and
monetary standpoint. So to summarize the water is predictably safe to consume but it is discarded in certain places and it's valid for folks to have complaints about that. Our role and our our service on your behalf is to try to stepwise
find ways to solve that and make it less and less of a problem. >> No, excuse me, ma'am. Ma'am, you'll have an opportunity to talk in a minute. We're going to have the council talk first and then we'll have everybody come up >> and that way you get the right. >> Yeah. So, going back to the hotline
complaints, are the old complaints that people made previously, have they been followed up on and we understand if they're remediated or they are not? Because I don't know if less complaints is truly less complaints. >> So, those complaints as they come in um
are data is the data point data set for H2M as they were looking at the system part of their overall evaluation in the past year. Uh to Pat's point, um while there is potentially a a visual issue or a smell or a taste issue, uh it's not an
issue that the water department can necessarily go out and fix on the spot. It happens to be a side effect of the water and the system that we currently have. That's fair to say, Pat, >> that that I'm sorry, I'll speed up that that is correct. >> So So it's not like less complaints,
right? It's still the same amount of complaints. It's not like it's been fixed. uh if by by if by by asking are there less complaints um there can be less uh less of a tendency maybe for folks
they've already reported it so they may not be reporting it again yeah >> um but that data is not lost that's part of the evaluation that H2M has done in the past year >> okay I also think that the less complaints also does indicate that you know the flushing programs are starting
to work and things like that so yeah new new complaints Right. So, as we flush um directionally um from one side of town to the other, that's the program that Mike was just referencing. There may be times when uh they're flushing in your area where you may wake up one morning and you notice a
big difference as they're flushing through your system. It can be something that you uh might notice for the, you know, 24 to 48 hours until that area is flushed. >> So, during that time, we may get a call and Mike and I will talk and he'll say, "They're right on that street. that's
what they're noticing at the time and by the next day we tell them run the cold water they do it's clear and then they're good to go. So, I wouldn't say that those are standing um issues, but just related to the program that we're running. >> That's all right. The website has like
where where they're going to be flushing and sorry trying to talk loudly because I know I don't have the right right. The burrow does send out Nixl notices and there's a standing uh message on the website so people you know when they log in they can tell exactly what part of town that the water department is in. I
I think would probably help in tracking going forward is what I started talking about earlier and when we have a complaint or a question there's a status on that remediated open >> still existing so that we can start to
report on percentages right so if we can go back into history we have the log of everything that's been reported on that website we should have water department follow up on those and say is your issue remediated. Now you have a scoring
mechanism to say of the 50 issues that were reported in September of 2025 you know 25% of them have remediated other 50% are still open and whatnot. So we can start to show progress with hard data to folks instead of anecdotal.
>> Yeah that's the type of data that you can get. That's exactly what I was saying is data is really important and that helps you with your modeling that's always changing as well. So, I don't know which one of you to ask this question of, but could you speak a little bit more about the metals? People
hear metals and they get freaked out and you know what metals are we talking about? Sure. Thanks. Um, your wells are all um basically tapping bedrock. Uh, so there's the natural minerals are in there. So, when we say
it's metals, um, it's just naturally occurring compounds. Um but the way the the way it's categorized is they call it metal. So it's things like aluminum, burillium, barerium uh and they all have uh an MCL and then the secondaries are
like iron and manganese um and then those have uh what is a recommended li like upper limit sometimes lower limit but mostly upper limit um in New Jersey. Um, so then that's something else that uh tries it basically if you have too
high of iron, too high of manganesees, then they may require uh treatment on that. Um, but then to Pat's point, like those types of compounds are probably more if you're tasting or smelling, um, that's what it is. Um,
I'm going to jump in. So Karen just gave a very comprehensive answer and I'm going to be more pointed. Um, in our study of your distribution system in particular, overwhelmingly overwhelmingly and I by this I mean everything else essentially is a rounding error in comparison. The metals
that you are likely to encounter in your drinking water are iron and magnes. And that is characteristic of almost every public water system frankly in New Jersey. Um, again, the important part for your awareness is to understand that both the federal government and the
state recommend that they be regulated as secondary contaminants that their presence in your drinking water at the concentrations that you experience, even when they discolor your tap water, have no health effect on you. It's irritating. It stains your laundry. It
stains it can stains your plumbing fixtures. And again, there's there's a very valid point in attempting to solve it, but you should not be worried about it from a health effect standpoint. Okay. >> Now, we do have Mike has a secretary down at the DBW. She could help out with
monitoring all that stuff. >> Oh, I plan to send her an email tomorrow. >> Uh, you know, when she gets in in the morning and she sees any complaints, she right away tells Mike. Mike's for to Tatiana and we'll keep a log for it. >> Yeah. I'll make sure that she gets us all the current stuff. Um so that and
again to what Pat was saying before um the next steps would be to start like looking at specific parts of the system having that information then kind of helps that we factor that in so to get the the most recent information on that. Um and also even though we talked about
iron manganesees and that um Waldwick sampling uh under the drinking safe drinking water act they meet all those requirements. So there might be certain areas, but the system as a whole does uh is compliant with all the safe drinking water act uh compounds.
>> Okay, next question. I'm I'm going back in my notes while why you guys were talking. So I'm going to go back to the beginning. Um in my mind, right, when I look at this timeline, and maybe you can't comment, and then maybe it's just me looking at this. Seems to me we had that water main break in June 2024. Then
RP FAS uh remediation kicked in and after those two things we saw the the big spike in complaints happened. From your experience, and maybe it's just a hunch or a guess, is that related to what happened to the system? All that
trauma from the water main break, which was pretty large for the town, and the PAS changing directions of flow because we're shutting things on and turning things off and introducing the media into the system to filter things. Does that all contribute to the change that
everyone saw? Um, I'm going to start by saying yes, that was considered and that was one of Mike's first thoughts. Um, also and then working to flush out if there were pockets of that. Um, we did look at the water chemistry before and after the POS. Didn't see anything
really significant that the addition of that treatment changed the chemistry resulting in the changes that we saw. It did seem to be more um flow velocity related from what we were able to tell. I assume you're going to say more
>> just just just more of the same. And so there's two different components to your question. The first one has to do with aquatic chemistry and the other one has to do with physical behaviors of the system. So, just to reaffirm what Karen said, it's our professional opinion that it really did not radically change your
water chemistry, but it did change the immediate flow patterns and downstream of that changed your priorities in terms of which wells came on and off first. And as a result of that, you very likely see different behaviors now than you
did, let's say, several years ago. Um it is an ongoing multivariable problem to manage one of these systems. And um our objective in doing this modeling is to make it more predictable so that as
we iterate, as we log those complaints and we see them occur again and again in more predictable locations that we drill down on them and essentially use, let's say, more intense and more effective solutions to go past the point where
we're just cleaning them every so often. And eventually we get to the point where we do away with them. >> So is it typical like on a street where you might have one resident who has really brown water and then a neighbor or across the street not have it?
>> It's not typical, but it occurs often enough that we consider it to be a predictable behavior. And here's what it often comes down to. It's difficult to think about the complexity that goes into building a system like this, but the system itself,
and your superintendent can attest to this, is not perfectly level, nor are there drainage points everywhere in the system. Which means that let's say on a given street where the topography changes from high to low, and there are
interim, let's say low spots or bellies in the pipe, it's not only possible, but typical that sediment collects at those points. And if your particular water service is tapped at a location nearby one of those, you might experience, let's say, a higher than usual frequency
or intensity of discoloration. Now, that being said, when we read and log these complaints, we're also logging that data. One of the more useful tools associated with having
a hydraulic model like has been developed now for the burrow is that we can look at that information and correlate those typical causes and say one of the tools that we have at our disposal maybe is not necessarily windmill replacement. Maybe it's changing the location of this particular
house's tap. Little less money pursues maybe the same outcome. A lot of residents are doing work on their homes. If you do work on your home, you could change your pipe your pipes in your in your house itself. Would that have any effect of of
problem? I know it comes from us, but >> it has the potential to, but typical typically that has more to do with the water quality parameters that are associated with your service piping and the of course intuitively the piping in your house. Um, it's unlikely to change
the behaviors down the road for the system. But it's a valid question. >> I wanted to also note, I believe both of you have been part of this conversation before in logging the complaints that one of the questions I believe we ask or we talk about is whether or not there is a whole um home filtration system and
how does that potentially mask an issue that some residents have on the same street and others may not be noticing. So I know Karen has discussed that before and it's an interesting point that um you may you may hear us ask if you are calling to report an issue. >> Yeah. Yeah, and that's something that
just in general water uh doing some of the the sampling through required sampling um that's definitely one of the things if we see a change um in water chemistry or water quality or something, one of the first questions is did they do something different in their house
that's causing the change from their tap rather than assuming it's coming from the system. So yeah, that's that's definitely and um yeah, I mean there there are a lot of different types of systems out there that do different things. Um but of course none of that
can be controlled by the water system, but that's a question that gets asked. Um whenever we see something that changes from like a sample to a sample uh where you're using uh customer services for certain samples is why did that sample? Um one example um I can
give for another system we worked for is uh they had a specific location for total colform and then you also have to measure then the chlorine residual that keeps the water safe uh suddenly went to zero the chlorine and turned out they put a type of system in their house that
took out everything. So they have to actually they can't use that as a diagnostic for their system anymore because that's not representative of the system because of how constrictive they went with their um water treatment system. So just again all things that you're always thinking of at 2 o'clock
in the morning. >> Still have a couple more. I'm sorry. >> Um so looking at different recommendations we're talk you talked a little bit about the pigging and then no dees pumping. Yes. >> Desk pumping, >> excuse me. Um,
>> so that's based upon the remaining thickness of the pipes if it'll hold the higher pressure, a machine going through there to push through the material, right? >> Like a, you know, if I was going get my arteries cleaned out and for a heart attack, >> you got it. >> Right. Same type of thing. Correct.
>> Putting a stent in and and drilling through like a rotor router. >> Perfectly analogous, >> right? So, how do you take the hydraulic study and turn that into can those pipes handle it or you have to do a sample in that area to see? >> So,
>> is Mike going to be digging up water pipes if you start doing this and have a water man break and pull his remaining hair out? >> Very valid question. Um, in almost every circumstance where we recommend a picking operation, we also recommend a line item that includes selective
couponing and sampling of the pipe ahead of time to give you at a nominal cost essentially some degree of assurance that the operation can move ahead in a way that's reliable and won't result in water main bras. >> And we do do that proactively with water main bras. We are generally taking a
coupon so that we have some samples of areas that we know um have been affected. Um so so and and we it's it has been a very positive experience for us to interact with your system professionals. So we understand that you all have those capabilities. I mentioned in the context of the contract itself
because in some sense driving the system is different from having to maintain the system. So we offer it as an option or make it as a recommendation that can be included in the scope if it's useful to you. >> Okay. And then just as a follow up on that, you said potentially lower cost
for a little bit of water quality increase. Did you really mean little bit or is it like marketkedly better for that investment? >> What I mean by that specifically is that it is the behavioral equivalent of
brushing your teeth. It can be effective, especially if you were regular about it, but there's an opportunity cost associated with that. And um it amounts to effort and money, time spent essentially making a minor
disruption to municipal behaviors in a given neighborhood. And there is a benefit analysis and it doesn't have to be too complex that goes into saying for a given pipe given its age and physical condition maybe you are in some
circumstances throwing good money at bad. And what we would recommend in situations like this is for let's say for argument sake two dozen candidate locations that we develop a simplified matrix and say where are you investing money most correctly so that you're
seeing market reliable water quality improvements rather than just fractional improvements and in some sense wasting your money. >> Okay. And my last question I promise for now. >> Okay. >> Um so you said you're going to finish the the flushing program that we're doing right now. You're going to let the
system rest, go through the summer with all the usage, and then in the fall have a recommendation for are there specific hotspot areas for pigging or no desk uh or water main replacement. That's kind of your plan for remainder of this year.
>> That's our objective. And um if you care for me to elaborate, I do. It's it's our opinion that doing pipe work on systems of your scale and complexity is typically not the best idea during the summertime simply because there's so much demand associated with the system
and we'd rather not disturb it during its periods of high demand essentially intentionally introduce another risk. Um in addition to that the summer would give us enough time enough predictable time to reliably plan out where your money is best invested. In other words,
given the problems that you're experiencing right now, we would not recommend that you treat this truly as an emergent condition. Rather, it's a situation that you've experienced for a long time. It doesn't represent a true acute threat to public health. So, it's something that you can afford to take
the time. Again, being subjective about it, this is your system, but that you can take the time to plan very sort of smoothly and then go use your resources the best you can. It's our opinion as professional engineers that sort of the best timeline for that would be to use
the summer essentially for planning and use the fall going into essentially the cool weather of this year for execution. >> Thank you. >> And then the hydrogeeologist kind of person has to jump in also. Um New
Jersey is still under a drought warning. So that would be another reason not to um go too crazy with a lot of extra water use is in the summer when you're already trying to meet demands. Um and that's something that we're continuing to watch, but the the D still has not
lifted the drought warning. Anyone else? If not, we'll open up to the public. Anybody from the public? I'm sorry. >> I know. Anybody from the public would like to ask uh Karen and Pat any questions? you just come to the
microphone and give us your uh name, please. >> Come to the microphone with your name. >> Okay, get up. >> How you doing? I'm Mike Adell. Um I've been in contact since July of 24
and uh sorry. Um I'm just asking what were the real samples of the water from houses? Has the DPW or your company done actual samples from people's homes, faucets,
hoses, anything like that? >> So, >> some >> some >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Some in the height of it. Um to confirm that um exact to confirm our uh thought that it's like iron mag is exactly what was in there. Um
>> so this so this is all based on your model of what you have done over the last year and when when I so my personal thing is complaints may be down because we have complained and then we say this is the
model we come out in fe in fall it goes to the summer so I think people have complained it hasn't gotten anywhere um I said back in oto October of 24, maybe
two men go around to the certain areas and say, "This is your sample. This is your sample." So, are we taking full uh actual real life samples of people's homes when they complain or are these graphics just for people who are
complaining? So, like the red the I know it's the thickness of the the pipes and everything. Are we actually going to the house? And I know that's impossible to do for the entire town, but for some of us, I know my house was sampled um in
July of 24 and you saw the discoloration back then. Have we done that to any other home in Waldick? >> Maybe one or two. >> Yeah, I was so so the from a practical standpoint, the answer is no. But
there's a reason for that and that is that most characteristically the worst water quality samples occur in immediate flushing from the distribution system. And when you get into an individual
home, the behavior of water quality tends to be a little bit erratic unless you are very disciplined about taking immediate first draw samples and putting those samples through a series of analyses as
you would let's say comparable to the samples that we would that we would extract from the water distribution system itself. In other words, by let's say largely concentrating on the distribution system, the samples that we get from flushing, we're hoping to be a little bit more rigorous and
conservative. And by that we mean cover a greater area that might be characterized by individual houses. That being said, we do have the body of complaints and the logs associated with them so that when folks call in and provide anecdotal evidence, we take that information very seriously. In other
words, anyone that takes the time to make a call to a municipal agency has typically experienced, even if they can't characterize it with numbers, water that they don't consider visually acceptable. And we take that as a serious indicator that there is a problem in that particular at least
associated with that particular tap and possibly as an indicator for the other services around it. Mhm. I'd recommend just maybe real life samples from a hose, random times, two guys from the DPW
a week. You could do a lot of houses, I think. I mean, you know, just taking I wanted to do it on my block specifically in October of of 24. I wanted to take two clean buckets and and go to everyone's house. And I did it to my immediate area. I wanted to take my my
daughter's red wagon, put two buckets, and honestly just knock on their door and do it. I think that could be a to back up all of this information in in the models and everything like that. Um that's a big ask. I know. Um I know you
took us a coupon from Walav. What is that a result that we'll get now or later or fall time? Is that >> There's a lot of similar that picture. >> Yeah, I was going to say um
>> so our recommendations are coming more in the fall time. >> Uh no, I think what the what we're going to do is aggregate the information that we have now and discretion of mayor council and administrator. We would be happy to engage in essentially a
workshop with interested citizens to talk about the outcomes that we'll get both from the additional and let's say intensified flushing in the spring and where that's going to take us in terms of potential recommendations. If at that time there's an agreement that we could benefit from some additional data
collection, we would be happy to include that in the data set. But only happy, we'll intentionally make use of it. In other words, your recommendations will be taken seriously and they'll be included before the analysis starts so that we don't end up going down some path and ignoring the information that's
important essentially to the outcome of you and your neighbors. >> Okay. >> So, from a timeline standpoint again, so you don't walk away with something that sounds subjective or anecdotal, I would say that we're talking about essentially May, >> potentially June. Go ahead.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the other thing, too, is when you're going house to house, I'm going to pull this out of the floor. Um, is is um we need to like we could set up more of a call it a standard operating procedure type of
thing on that sampling because if somebody has a tap that's been off for 4 months, you're not going to get something representative in that first draw versus um like, you know, flowing water. um if it's off because of frost
um versus frostfree like there are a lot of different variables. So I think we that would should be thought through with um Mike and his crew in the burrow to make sure that we're not collecting data just for data. And look at the two of us, you know, we love data. Um but
the but realistically we want the data to be able to be thought through and make sense and to be able to rely on it. So, um, again, see what Mike's with the different flushing, how that works, what
improvements he's seeing compared to the way they used to do it. Um, continuing to get complaints and obviously people sitting here, I would say if you're like, "Oh, yeah, I still have the problem, but I haven't reported it cuz why bother?" I would say go ahead and report it again where you're sitting
here, you're listening, you're obviously interested and then we get a fresh batch of you're still having an issue and what that issue is. >> I I think he asked about the sample. Were you able to make a comment on the sample that we took from what we have?
>> And you're saying make a comment specifically on the condition of the of the pipe coupon, right? You're not talking about a quality sample. more >> uh it was it was fairly characteristic of a of a highly tuberculated metallic pipe. And so what your suspicion would
be that it's internally corroded. It has a a a lower service diameter and essentially is a good candidate either for cleaning and lining or potentially for replacement. That's correct. Would it be wise to to look at this and
and the lowest number take some samples of those homes? Because have you taken samples of these red streets in real lifetime or is this just theoretical of height roughness? Is are these
correlating with complaints and and not only complaints but actual real life samples? So for sure we have sampled water quality from those pipelines. We have largely again to to make reference back. It is most typical in situations like
this that we will see more conservative and by that I mean worse quality sampling from the hydrant at different points in a distribution system than we would inside a house where the low velocities give that water the potential to be quiescent sometimes for hours and
maybe might give us a false sense of security about the water quality in those places where your understanding of the chart is correct. the pipe is the roughest and therefore the intuition is that there's the greatest likelihood for corrosion. So we're trying to be
conservative about it. It's not that we're avoiding going into houses. It's that we're trying when we sample water to make sure that we get good water that's actually characteristic of what's flowing in the pipes. >> So roughness might not necessarily mean cloudiness, the rust and all that kind
of stuff, >> but it's a fair place to start. Yes, it's a good it's a good indicator. >> Okay. Yeah, that's my >> Okay. >> Sorry, I almost fell over there. >> Good.
>> Good evening. Uh my name is Gary Payton. I'm a six-year resident here. This is the third municipality I've lived in within the uh county of Bourbon. Two of the prior ones are very similar and this is quite different in terms of
water water supply. I lived in excuse me I lived in one of Monroe New York. The village there is all based on those people who get water supply public water from wells.
and some hills, not too many in the village. Uh, Mala is very similar with lots of hills. We have very few hills here. Hills really runs quicker down pipes in hills
than it does here. I guess the highest place I've seen here is up in Wyoff where we have the the red and the blue wells. So when you talk about cleaning and recording, first recording,
do you actually record where the people live on the street on the main street or as we have here because we're level and we have lots of little lakes and ponds that we don't have elevation and we
don't have high natural water flow. If you could record that information on each complaint, I think it would help you understand where the problems are. Are they on the main pipes or any of the side streets?
And I live in one in Tamaran. It's a dead end. There are a lot of dead ends here. You ride along, you see signs, no outlet. Do we know if that's where the problems are with the people's quality of water or or coloration
or is it on the main surface where you have higher speed water? >> Was it a couple questions for you? >> Okay. Um I'm I'm comfortable initiating a response to that. So I'm going to I'll
respond if you're comfortable with I'll give a response to your last question. >> Yeah. which to me sort of encapsulates everything that you just described. And it is correct and true to expect that the lowest velocities in water
distribution systems everywhere, not just in Waldwick, would be the lowest in dead ends. That being said, Waldwick has intentionally made a program to eliminate dead ends where it can. Part of our analysis has
characterized water quality and the dead ends that exist here. And some of our recommendations will have to do not so much necessarily with replacing just the most corroded pipe, but by eliminating those dead ends by creating looping.
>> Mhm. >> And therefore creating two directional flow and giving your system operators the opportunity to more reliably flush those pipes. >> Okay. Well, well, thanks for that answer. I just bring up my history of the other two municipalities
and we never had water problems and I served on a council up there for many years myself. So, I just bring it to you. But I think you need to very much collect the information as to whether they are in a dead end or they're on a main thoroughare.
And you'll have certainly more volume flow on the main fair than you do in dead ends. All right. Yeah, I mean basically the >> for the people who call in one of those questions that gets added to that that database's location. So we are able to
then plot it where it is on the system. Yeah. >> Um >> basically we did have a map difficult to read but um a lot of that was actually the the complaints were not necessarily clustered around dead ends at that time.
U but definitely we can like reassess and see if there's any standard or uh you know to the point of wall understanding that that is an area as now they've moved on with a lot of other enhancements in
their system they are focusing on things like trying to address that so that way they don't have that stag is >> yeah right now on my street we have about five or six fire hydrants and they clean them out but I would expect all the bad
stuff to come down to the end which is where I live but I don't have any problem with my water. All right. And the more you know about the type of pipe it's going not necessarily the composition of the material but is it flowing or is it running and
depositing and backing up. All right. I I just would like to make comment. We thank Mike. He's helped us with a couple water manes. He's been very very positive. Thank you Mike. I think I'd like to not every dead end
has a dead end on the water pipe, right? >> Say that again. >> Not every dead end street Oh. >> has a dead end. >> No. >> So, a lot of them have already >> dead end and a dead end. >> Yes, sir. >> Hi. Uh, Russ Anderson, 28 Bonner Place. Been here for four years. Love the town,
by the way. Um, and if this was discussed in the July meeting, I wasn't attending, so I I may be asking a question. It's already been answered. Given the fact that iron and manganesees are endemic into our water system, is there an objective or quantifiable goal
as far as the water quality is concerned or is it just general reduction to well to safe standards which it sounds like we're already there at safe standards? >> Yes. So there are objective and quantifiable goals. Um the federal government sets a standard in New Jersey
the state agrees with it rather than having reduced it in any way. Um, from a numerical standpoint, both of those regulatory agencies look for.3 milligs per liter of iron as an upper limit and 0.05 milligs per liter of maganesees as an upper limit. Now, from the standpoint
of the sampling of your sources, you're reliably in compliance with those numbers. The problem essentially, and particularly our focus on iron here, is that many of the older pipes in your system have either were installed this way or became this way over time.
Essentially, they begin to be car characterized by unlined interior surfaces. So, it's very easy to intuit it. Corrosion, especially on the time scale of years or decades, can expose drinking water consumers to additional iron between be above and beyond what
you would see from your sources. And so, our objective in talking about everything that that we've discussed here today is to try to come up with first inexpensive essentially standard operating procedures that reduce that in a reliable fashion. But then when we get to the point where we identify the
likelihood that those operating procedures aren't going to do anything anymore, make recommendations to either clean and replace. >> Okay. >> Okay. Um and we've been talking I mean those are obviously as you described them secondary contaminants. >> Uh what are the concerns regarding primary contaminants in our system? I
know that it was mentioned that there was a POS remediation back in uh 24. Mhm. >> Um, are there current primary contaminants in the system that you're focused on or has that been eliminated? >> So, I'm going to be differential to your licensed operator, but my understanding is that your primary concern is only PAS
in terms of primaries at this time. >> Yeah. And all of and basically the treatment that went in on every single treatment plant and source uh has brought that to below detection and it continues to be monitored to make sure that it continues to be effective. >> Okay. >> Did you want to add? >> Okay.
>> Sums it up. Okay. Um but yeah, basically um again there there's a litany of different compounds and sampling frequencies. Um and Waldwick follows that and stays within the regulations. Um and and basically uh again like the
POS treatment, it does reduce it um to below detection um removing that threat from the drinking water source. >> Thank you. want to touch on testing is done weekly in some cases, quarterly, monthly, yearly. We have an extensive
testing uh program that Mike runs uh because we're required to. So, um it's something that's done all the time. >> Yeah. And it's it's a combination of um basically for PAS for example since we're talking about that um it make sure
that it when it comes through the treatment before it goes into the system that it meets requirements but then there's operational uh samples that then also can be done just to make sure that he there it's ahead of any changes any maintenance that needs to be done to
make sure that that continues to be uh meet all the safe drinking water requirements. Well, thank you for all your contribution to the town. We all greatly appreciate it. >> Anyone else? >> You're welcome. >> My name is Margaret her and I live on a dead end, but I don't have water issues,
but I do have a question. You said one of the um remedial actions we could take would possibly be lining pipes and you mentioned that we be lining with plastic. I've read studies or I've heard about studies that have said that pipes lined
and it's PVC pipes that um that it's dangerous because it releases microplastics into the water systems and we already have enough microplastics floating around in our bodies and in our systems. So can you address that?
>> Absolutely. Um, so plastic is only one of the potential lining methods that's available to a system of your scale and size. Um, and I the the correct answer
um for someone who's analyzing materials and potential risk is that the health effects the chronic exposure health effects of microplastics are not informed enough in the academic literature for us to express an opinion on your behalf. In other words, we would never based on the information that we
have available to us attempt to either argue with you about the validity of that concern or attempt to allay anyone's fears. There's simply not the correct data set to to deal with that. But that being said, there are several
other alternative technologies in terms of material of construction that are readily available that wouldn't radically change the cost of a cleaning and lining operation if we moved ahead with it. So from a practical like a categorical standpoint, it's still a valid option for you to move ahead and with consent of mayor and council, we
could intentionally avoid plastic as lining material altogether. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Good evening. My name is Laura Litchell. Thank you for the presentation. I have a quick question for people who are out there who have the water filtration systems. when you're flushing and and
this I guess ties in with all of the complaints that uh have been uh voiced to the mayor and council when you're receiving all of the notifications from the residents of all of the complaints and such and then you're flushing and I appreciate that you're going to follow
up with them. What advice do you have for the people who have the water filtration systems? My daughter currently has one. She's supposed to change her filter every I I want to say it's every five months. And she's changing it every two months now. And
the amount of sludge that's coming out of her water filtration system is astronomical to me. And she has small children. I'm concerned about the iron levels. I'm concerned about the sludge and you know the to any possible toxicity that's in the piping. So if she
potentially if her area she's in district 4, if her area gets flushed, she should see a decrease in the amount of sludge that's in her filtration system or would that be true or would she expect more? Or is anybody testing
the sludge that's possibly coming out of these filtration systems to see if there's any toxic chemical? Well, I don't want to say chemicals, but what's in the sludge? >> Sure. So I want to make sure that we're very
careful about how we state this advice because it is really difficult especially in a public forum to express accurate information >> has fallen on deaf ears and they have children and elderly people and want
clean water. So, and and again, this is this is why I'm going to say that we use extreme caution and let's say humility in making these recommendations because >> I'm a drinking water consumer in my own town. We live on NL wells. I have three kids.
>> They've gone from being toddlers taking baths sometimes in red water to being teenagers who complained about complain about it once a week themselves to me the water engineering town. And um so I say that we
recommend exercising caution in using whole house filters or especially filtration systems with some degree of complexity because accurately and reliably maintaining them >> is a job that is very difficult for individual consumers and individual
homeowners. Now I'm making no comment whatsoever on the competency or due diligence of you and your family. I'm sure that you are taking the best care of your own systems that you can, but sometimes it is very difficult to estimate whether or not those systems
are retaining more, let's say, secondary aesthetic contaminants than you might otherwise be exposed to. If you were willing to run, let's say, your bathtub or your kitchen sink for several seconds to several minutes before you start to make use of it.
>> Mhm. Right now, what you are doing is filtering because, as all of us do, it's natural to react to discolored water in a way that says that's not safe to use. What I'm saying is that based on every measure that we have in accordance with
state and federal rules, there are no no detectable primary contaminants in your drinking water. which means by association there are none accumulating in the the sediment and metal sudges again essentially rust when I say metal
sledges that are accumulating in your whole house filters therefore it might be again and this is a choice that you're going to individually make with your family it might be more advisable to simply bypass the system
and flush tolerating the ambient concentration of those metals that occur after the flush rather than living with the potential slugs of that sediment and/or dissolved rust essentially that could be experienced when the filters either
become saturated or small components of that particulate break off and find their way again either into your cooking water or into your cleaning water. It's again I acknowledge having dealt with this problem many dozens of times that that is a dissatisfying solution to hear
from a professional consultant. >> Yeah. The greater and again this occurs on a time scale of months. The greater solution will be for us to look downstream to problem locations potentially like the one that's characterized by your connection and looking for more permanent solutions. So frankly you do not have to operate and
maintain or feel that you have to operate and maintain a whole house filter. >> But get getting back to my original question though I should see less sediment after a flushing. >> You absolutely should before. >> Yes. >> Okay. And and my second question is for all the iron levels and all the numbers
that you were just sharing with the public is that relative to adults or does that take into account children as well? >> That takes into account children and immuno compromised populations and again not to sound repetitive. Exposure to those dissolved metals, dissolved rust
essentially feric oxide iron. >> Yeah. >> Has no known health effects either acute or chronic for any of the service populations in town. Mhm. >> It's a pain in the butt. It stains your laundry. It stains your fixtures. And it tastes funny. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it.
>> Very good. >> Anyone else? >> Is there anyone online who would like to ask a question? Please raise your hand. Pat Karen, thank you very much. Mike, thank you very much for being here. And We look forward to discussing more stuff
with us. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. A lot of iron. You're supposed to Okay, the report of committees on the mayor's report. Just a couple of items. Uh on Saturday, I attended an Eagle Scout code of honor ceremony. Two
brothers from Waldig were received their uh Eagle Scout awards for different event, different things they did uh for for the community. Also on Thursday, I attended the environmental committee and also was at a presentation of flowers and different types of growth that you
could do in your homes. Uh the environmental committee chair will is here. He'll probably do an in-depth report uh under new business. And that's all I have to report. Financial administrative committee, Mr. Martinelloo. >> Um thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll hold my comments for introduction for later.
>> Thank you very much. Fire and police protection committee, Mr. Brennick. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, u just a couple items here in the fire department. Uh fire department respond to 18 calls this month uh for a total of 69 this year. We're in the process of doing bloodbor
pathogen and right to know um which requirements. Um our new ladder truck has uh has completed the pre-construction meetings. Um, and the replacement truck should be into our burrow somewhere at
the end of this year, Octoberish. Uh, that's all I have for the fire department. For the police department, um, we're going about things a little differently this year. Um, working in conjunction with the new police chief. Um, I've got some items to report to the
public. um underneath the um the detective bureau, for example, uh during January and February, the detective bureau was active in cases of fraud, ID theft, uh patrol assists.
They processed approximately 30 requests for uh um Oprah um in January and actually 66 in February. So, their hands are kind of full there. under patrol activity. The patrol responded and conducted
investigations were necessary for DUI, uh domestic violence, medical emergencies, motor vehicle crashes, um juvenile incidents, um a large number of motor vehicle stops
for different assorted reasons. Um, I'd like to thank the chief um for getting together with myself and the burough administrator and supplying this data for us. And I hope that we're going to be able to uh in the future. I hope
that we're going to be able to uh tailor that a bit more so more information can be brought out u through this day to the public. I believe that they have you folks have a right to know um what's going on in our burough and I
will supply that as much as I can. That's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Public safety committee, Miss Windgate. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a quick update from the meeting last Monday that I attended. I gave them an update about
the Girl Scouts project that we heard about a couple weeks ago, and they were very excited. They offered their help. So if um we can communicate that to the Girl Scouts if they do need any help. Um so I gave them their schedule and I'll continue to update them on that project.
Um the um as far as wallback news, there's four new members that were onboarded um as drivers. Um they were training the last time. And then also they reinstated the youth squad for the high school for
any students that do want to be involved with WVAC. Um and then again one more time I'll just say that they're still looking for volunteer EMTs. So if you know anyone that is interested please reach out to WVAC or myself. Um and then
I did go to the board of ed meeting. Would you like me to give a quick update about that as well? >> Sure. >> Sure. Um, unfortunately the board of ed meeting and the WVAC meeting were the same night. So I wasn't able to finish the board of ed meeting. I had to run off but um a quick from what I uh was
able to say for um the students gave an update of all their accomplishments. Um there are midyear reviews going on for staff at this time. Um some college announcements have started um for seniors which is exciting and also um
some staff for the trapagen for trapagen were there to give a a presentation on the um staff wellness program that they're doing at the school there which is exciting. Um and then also a quick update for Trapagen
um um parents and students. It's dress up day on March 31st um for the schoolwide book that they're reading the great catnapping. So don't forget to send your kids dressed up for school. And that's all. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Recreation and
health committee, Miss Smith. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Well, as I mentioned last time, there is a ribbon cutting ceremony that is going to officially open the Lions Club playground. And Tatiana, I'm going to steal your thunder so I can actually
announce a date. Tatiana and I worked very closely with everybody's schedules to make sure that people would be there. Uh so it is going to be May 2nd um in the morning. Uh most likely 10:30 or 11. So um mark your calendars. Uh bring your
kids. We're doing it pretty much while baseball um the young ones will be down there. The three-year-olds will be finishing up on their stars program and the younger one T-ball kids will be coming in around that time and we want a lot of kids down there to be able to
rush through that ribbon cutting and start using the um the playground. So yeah, >> yes, absolutely. So that's in in process. Um, Access for All is involved in helping plan this event and uh, yeah, we're really excited to officially open
the Lions Club playground, which has been, um, from what I saw from the report, a lot of grants involved in being able to get that playground u adapted for people of all different types of disabilities. So, we're really happy about that. Um, other than that, I
mean, I just want to, um, wish all the spring sports good luck now that we had a couple of really warm days and we got rid of the snow. Um, I think, you know, a lot of the fields, if they are turfed, they're probably in pretty good shape. If not, they're going to need some cleanup from the DPW, but I had a son
who went through baseball for 12 years and we never started on time because of because of the field conditions. But I wish all the spring sports teams best of luck this season. Thank you, mayor. >> Thank you, Building and Grounds Committee, Miss Erica Drake. >> Thank you. Starting with the pistol
range, the project is close to completion, expecting to be operational by April 1st. The air balance testing is underway and the new circulation system is already operational. That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you, our burrow administrator. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I will reserve my
comments for the introduction of our burough uh budget this evening. >> Thank you, bor clerk. >> I have no report. Thank you, >> Attorney. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Real quick, uh, with the help of the planning board and the council, everything with the affordable housing for the fourth round has now been approved and
submitted to the court. We're just awaiting the final consent order for the judgment of compliance and repose. We don't anticipate any issues. So, that's all I have to say. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> We're not going to close. >> No, no items for closed tonight. >> Thank you. Consent resolutions and resolutions of the governing body. Be a result that the following
resolutions herewith listed by consent having been considered by the governing body of the Burough of Wald are hereby and approved. 202699 approval of consent. 2026100 approval of minutes regular and budget meeting and close session meeting of March 10th, 2026.
Policy votes A. Wald Tennis Camp requests to use one court at Veterans Park from July 6th to August 14th, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. B. Superstar Senate tennis uh requests to rent two tennis courts at
Veterans Park from June 2nd to August 27th on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 7:00 p.m. at the cost of $1,500 per court. C. Wald Football Club requests to hold under 12 practices Monday through Friday 400 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Games
Sundays and the dates are listed and times are listed. Um you don't need me to read those, do you? Thank you. D uh resolatory requests to hold a block party on October 10th from 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. with Smith Street to be closed between West Prospect Street
and Bonner Place with alcoholic beverages being served. E. Waldick Education Foundation request to hold a townwide garage sale on April 25th and 26th. Rain date is May 2nd. Um and request for those participating to wave the fee. They would like to hang a
signed banner on Route 17 crosswalk. a signed banner along Route 17 by the Waldwick Sheridan Avenue exit route 17 north and from April 24th to 8th April 25th with the rain date of May 2nd. Participants permitted to display garage sale signs on their property with
removal by April 27th or May 3rd as stated in their March 11th letter. Waldo Community Alliance requests to hold the annual car uh show event on Sunday, June 7th from 9:30 to 3 with a range date of June 14th as described in their letter of March 5th. Waldo Community Alliance
requests a waiver of fire inspection fees for the food service providers in connection with the WCA annual car show June um 7th rain June 14th. Uh 2026101 authorize the special close session meeting on Tuesday, April 14th at 6 pm.
2026102 approval of social fair permit for the Wald Community Alliance annual car show. 2026 103 cancellation and refund of taxes block 136 lot 9. 2026 104 emergency resolution to extend the 2026 temporary budget. 2026 105 approval
of TRA appropriation transfers and 2026 106 payment of vouchers. >> Do I have a motion and a second to accept? Motion by Andy, second by Joe. Anyone have a question? >> Just touch on a few of them. I can, Mr. Mayor. Uh the first um policy vote
you'll see there about the Waldo tennis camp request is one that we're excited about and asking the um have spoken to the recreation committee about. Uh there's a summer tennis program that was um in town several years ago and Mr.
Mark Sinclair who ran that program at the time along with his brother has approached the burrow to um discuss bringing that back. It was a successful camp. It was a nice opportunity for residents over the summer to be able to sign up their children to take tennis lessons um you know here right here in
our in our very own town for some people being able to walk to to uh the lessons. So, we're excited to be able to bring this back. Uh would like, you know, the council's consideration on it. Uh dates and times are there. Uh they are early morning uh use of the tennis courts. Um
for about a uh about a fiveweek period. The second policy vote uh regarding the tennis request is one that the bureau has approved uh the past uh two maybe three years from Superstar Tennis. it's um it is at a cost to the program that's
coming in to offer lessons. And uh C is another request that the council has approved in the past uh for usage of the Veterans Park uh field for practices for um those children who are under the age of 12. And those dates and times are
specifically stated in the request that you have before you. >> Anyone else? Clerk, please take the role. Mr. Brennick, >> yes. >> Miss Coldri, >> yes. >> Mr. Martinelloo, >> yes. >> Uh, Miss Smith, >> yes. >> Miss Wigg,
>> yes. >> Okay, we have no public hearings. We have introduction of ordinances. Would the clerk kindly read ordinance number 2026-03? Ordinance number 2026 number 03 calendar year 2026 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget cost of living
allowance and to establish a cap bank pursuant to NJSA 48 colon 4-45.14 >> motion and second in order to pass this ordinance on first reading and at that advertising local legal newspapers required by law setting a hearing two weeks from tonight's meeting or soon
thereafter as the matter may be reached. Do I have a motion in the second? By Joe, second by somebody, Courtourtney. Um, anyone have a question on this? What this is is that all we're doing is uh doing the the cap bank uh to make sure
that we're in compliance with everything. We do this every year. It's a standard procedure that we do. Anyone else? Clerk, please take the role. >> Mr. Brennick, >> yes. >> Miss Sarah Drake, >> yes. >> Mr. Martinelloo, >> yes. >> Miss Smith, >> yes. Yes, Miss Winky. Yes.
>> Okay. Introduction of the 2026 budget. Okay, forgot. Sorry. Wait, turn off the Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This evening, the council is introducing the 2026 municipal budget. Uh, this presentation
will follow the slides that you'll see um on the projection screen and um any questions along the way can be answered by myself and uh council um men Martinelloo as well. You go over to the first slide, Kelly. So, a little
background on our budget process and the timeline for this year. In October, uh we began our administrative preliminary budget meetings. Those meetings um were intended to uh look at where we were
ending 2025 and what that meant for the start of 2026. In November and December, as we do every year, we had department budget meetings with uh department heads individually. So that uh included the fire department,
the police department, the fire prevention office, the clerk's office, the finance office, and then administrative uh meetings as well. And the intent of those meetings was to get a handle on where again we were ending the year and um look at start to look at
the adjustments and the needs for 2026. So the opportunity to look at what um we needed for the following year and opportunities to cut where we might have had uh opportunity to do so. We knew that this was going to be a difficult
year. And so the mindset as we sat through all these meetings with the department heads was to take a look at our numbers very closely. And uh I commend all the department heads who came to all these meetings because they all came in, they all understood the assignment and um we worked together as a team to be able to get to this point
this evening. In January and February of this year, we began to prepare the draft budget. Again, not an easy process and uh one that takes a lot of attention to detail uh administratively and then with
the finance committee um meeting weekly to talk about what uh was before the council and how to move forward. In February and March, uh we had a a firm council uh finance committee review of the budget before that went over to our
auditor for review. uh when it goes over to the auditor, it comes back and there are several different things that we look at um in terms of where the budget lands and what adjustments need to be make made at that point. Um and then we
are at the budget introduction this evening and in April there will be a public hearing and the adoption of the 2026 budget. Next slide. The proposed budget for 2026 is $17,50,999.
And if you go to the next slide, in comparison to 2025, we were at 16,658,431. The dollar amount increas $3925 568 for a a percent increase of 2.366%.
That just gives you an idea of of the comparison. So, how do we come up with an operating budget and how do we get to that amount and how do we cover that $17 million? We start at the top. The state aid remained
um firm and the same at 2.4 million. That covers 14.7% of the burough's budget. That portion of the budget, as everyone can can see, is uh essential and crucial
to the municipal budget. Uh so we were, you know, uh waiting anxiously to hear what the state was going to do and if any of that would be cut or not. Um, of course we would always be happy for an increase, but um, we were happy to say that at least uh, we didn't lose any of the state aid.
Going over to the right, the revenue fees collected uh, came in at about 1.9 million making up 11.4% of the operating budget. And then on your left, the taxes 10 million 366 and
that's the largest portion uh, that covers the operating budget at 60.7%. And then at the bottom, the fund balance. So what is left is the lever that allows us to balance that budget. Um and so this year's budget will be uh
utilizing $2,250,000 and that'll cover about 13.2% of the operating budget total. Little more more detail on the history of our fund balance. Uh I know the finance committee has touched on this at prior meetings and um you can see there
the different um amounts that we were at at the different points in time going back to 2021 and where we are uh or where we landed in 2025. So we have a b a fund balance of 5.4 million at the end
of 2025. And then on the previous page uh you can do the math but uh we're using another 2.250 2550 million for 2026 and that'll get us um further down in our fund balance. >> And Tat just like to add there. So if
people are just doing math u taking 2.2 and you would say okay I have 5.4 I'm going to take 2.2 off that. That's my new number. Not really. Right. We talked about the last few meetings. Um some portion of that gets put back into your surplus when you either don't use things
or you have other excess revenues that are generated. So last year we burned rate around 900,000 um from that surplus balance. So if we continue that trend then you kind of get an idea of where where we would be in 2020 seven at that
point. And uh also for folks doing math right on the slide before that is set back one slide. Um, Kelly, this portion, this 10 million that we're talking about taxes collected is the municipal portion, right, that we're talking about for our operating budget.
Your whole tax bill is a larger piece of that that goes to other uh destinations, board of education, county. So, this is our municipal portion of that. So, that'll be a little more obvious in another slide that we're going to see in a couple minutes here.
>> Yes. to your point, what we're discussing here this evening is the municipal budget, not related to the county's budget or the board of education budget. >> Also, just to clarify for anyone that doesn't know, fund balance and surplus are being used interchangeably a little
bit like it's called fund balance, but um Councilman um Marinella said surplus, which is the same thing for those of you that don't know. >> I didn't know before joining council, so I just wanted to clarify. >> Thank you. The next slide will tell you the history of our fund balance. And so the amount
that uh we used each year uh again to Councilman Martinelloo's uh point in 2021 where we're just under 2 million um where we're ending um in 25 is 2.25 million. You'll see that there is a decrease in uh the usage of the surplus
from 25 to 26. Um and you'll see at the end what uh you know what that means for the overall rate. But in the preparation of this budget, that was something that was discussed and considered in um you know an opportunity to reduce the usage
of the fund balance that we were using to balance the budget. >> Yeah. And just to add to that further, uh many towns in the area have surpluses. Some towns have no more surplus, right? So we do have a surplus to continue to use for at least the
short term um at this burn rate. But this is the first time that the auditor is is signaling that we have to make sure we're looking at this a little closer um in terms of our expected usage which is why we also took a a slight uh attempt at using a little bit less
surplus in this budget for this year. Um but there has to be offset to that which you'll see shortly. >> Next slide. Important to note some of the major appropriation increases that we see from last year to this year. Um much of what
we deal with here on on a municipal budget level uh can be comparable to what uh residents are dealing with you know in balancing their own finances at home and increased uh you know costs of of uh the bills that they're paying. We
also feel those increases. Um so essentially what you see here is in most cases um these are the bills. These are the ones that we're paying that we really have uh very little option to uh negotiate or to um decrease or to choose
not to pay. These are just uh you know required cost of doing business for the municipality. Uh the highest number at the top you'll see there is our police department uh salary and wages. I will note that we are currently in contract negotiations with the PBA, but uh we're
looking at a budget increase of $336,000 uh to that line. Our employee group health insurance uh same thing that we know many residents are dealing with. Uh that increase for the burrow is $226,000.
We had a rough winter. Um, and that snow removal line uh definitely needed to be increased after the uh this the few large storms that we had. So, we we see just right from from the top uh a $50,000 increase from last year to this
year to be able to pay those bills associated with those storms and then leaving enough for um you know any potential earies to know that we might get in the the fall or early winter of 2026. Our DPW salary and wages are also set by
uh contract and so that increase is $39,000 from last year. Our legal cost uh went up 38,000. Collectively, some of our utilities um went up $35,000. Our recycling contract uh is set by contract
$30,000 increase from last year to this year. Social Security 27,000. Our solid waste collection also set by our contract at $18,000. And then our general liability insurance uh saw an increase of $18,000. So uh we are
looking at a total of $817,000 in uh budget increase from last year to this year in those lines specifically. >> Yeah. So then those doing math you'll say well first page you said there was an increase of $392,000 for your budget for this year which is
2.3 uh%. These are the lines that went up. There are other lines that go down right? So you do the math. We're only showing you a snippet here of the major cost drivers of what the budget increase is. There are other lines that um we reduce in the other direction to offset some of these.
>> We we did have some decreases uh that came our way uh but not uh necessarily to balance uh all the increases that we had. And so when we went in to look at the budget department by department, that's where a lot of our decreases uh come into play so that we can try to
keep that number as flat as possible. Next uh slide will just help you visually take a look at what the tax breakdown is for a uh resident here in Waldwick uh using the 2025 average numbers. We don't have the county uh numbers yet. So, we went ahead and just
gave you an analysis on uh what 25 looked like at the time. Um the your overall uh uh bill was divided by 20% your municipal tax 11% Braen County and then 69% for the Waldick School District
and um so on an average assessed home which is 565,000 in 2025 that went up to 567,000 in 26 slight increase um an average tax bill of $12,967
was split uh Bergen County getting about 1,400 of that. The Walt School District getting about just right under 9,000. And then the municipal uh budget, which includes the library cost uh to the to the uh municipal budget at $2,500.
Um and that that dollar bill there just kind of gives you an idea of of how your dollars are split when it comes to to paying those taxes. Next slide. So, our 2026 budget summary looks like this. We're at about that $17 million uh budget introduced amount. The
increase from last year, um which we stated earlier is 392,568. The assessed value of your homes uh went up to 567,000. And so in order to be compliant with the cap uh the appropriation cap, there are
different um levers and different buckets that we put these numbers into. But we need to be compliant on our uh appropriations cap. We are compliant with our appropriations cap. We wouldn't be able to present this evening if we weren't. And so, uh, once we become
compliant, the, uh, tax increase to the average assessed home is going to, uh, be $23247, uh, for the year, and that breaks out to be about $19.37 a month.
Going over to the water department, our budget um, stayed relatively flat. we did have the same cost increase uh increases across the board that we have on the operating budget. We feel those also on the water budget. Um and so to that point, you'll see an increase of
about $186,000 from the previous year. Um and that is, you know, uh again looking at the budget from last year and made cuts where we can uh so that we feel comfortable enough that we can operate the the water utility, uh but
without a major increase. Um any point that you like to make on the water? No. Okay. So that is the uh introduction of the budget. Uh we will have um the public
hearing like I said at the next meeting. Um there will be uh you know if council has any questions now or any comments >> if you want. Um the public hearing will be Tuesday, April 28th. >> Right. Tuesday, April 28th will be the public hearing on the on the uh the
budget. >> The council can ask questions. >> Sure. >> Comments, questions. >> Okay, I'd like to go. Um, so first I want to acknowledge that Joe was dealt a very difficult hand this year with the budget concerns and he's been raising this issue for years along with myself
and Councilman Richie. Um, I also appreciate the thorough process that everyone went through to get this budget presented. That said, the outcome of this budget is not acceptable to me. This is just not a 10% tax increase. It's about the fact that we have taken no meaningful steps to prevent similar
increases in the years ahead. To me, that's not sustainable. So, for that reason, I'll be voting no on this budget. And we'll do the same for any future budget until we begin to actively address the underlying issues. I believe we should be setting clear appropriation caps, forming a redevelopment committee along with a formal resolution to
support those efforts, finding ways to bring in non- tax revenue, and working with our auditor to bring transparency and a firm timeline to decisions around the water utility budget. To me, we can't keep covering rising costs on the backs of the average taxpayer. It's not responsible, and our residents deserve a
long-term plan, not repeated short-term fixes. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joe. >> Yeah, I just want to make one comment on that. Right. So I think we said at the last meeting it's not sustainable to have continual 9 10% tax increases for
sure. I think at the last council meeting um I said to to the entire council I think we need to all be in agreement to look at additional ways of bringing in new revenue. One step was taken last year in approving the redevelopment plan on Harrison Avenue.
There are steps that need to happen before that construction can begin. our legal council, our planning board, our uh buildings inspectors are working with the developers to start that project, but that's going to take time before we
actually see dollars come into the town. And I think uh we council members also have to look at what other um plans are coming in. I think we're all very picky about what um we approve. I we already rejected at least one plan um on another
property down near the train station. And I think that we also have given our feedback to the planner on what we want to see at that next property. And I think once the planner comes back, we do need to be aggressive in going after what else we can do because it's not
going to be a quick fix. We're not going to get dollars into the municipal budget next year. Um it just not doesn't happen that quickly. So, I do think we I think speaking for everyone on the council that we are in agreement that we need to
look for um those ways to do it. We need to do it responsibly. Sure. But we do have to commit to new sources of revenue, including redevelopment, including looking at what I said last time when we were here, I want to have a timeline um on the potential use of our
asset, the water system, as a source. Is that the right answer? I don't know because we don't have all the answers yet on the financial analysis. So, we need to hold our um partners that we hired accountable to deliver those resources to us and from what's Phoenix. Um so, I'm really interested in seeing
those numbers and what we can potentially utilize our asset for there. And I think at least speaking for myself and other members of the council, we are committed to looking at other sources of revenue. Unfortunately, this year, um, I am
unwilling to sacrifice, um, $19 a month for the public safety in terms of services, in terms of what we do provide, um, for our residents. So, um, that's why I'm supporting that increase for this year. I don't do that easily.
And uh we look at every line on this budget and I think I said a couple meetings ago when you look at the hard costs that are in that number of $17 million things like salary and wages, things like health insurance which are passed to us from the state from the
government there. We basically run the town on $2 to3 million on everything else. Our employees need to be paid. Services need to be uh rendered to all of you to keep you safe. And those are things that we do very seriously. So, uh, I'm in agreement with Councilwoman
Sarapola on taking aggressive measures to bring in new redevelopment. We have to do it responsibly and we have to do it the right way and everybody who is doing development in our town has to follow all the rules and has to do it according to all the guidelines that the administrator puts out.
>> Anyone else? >> I'd like to echo exactly what Joe just said. There's difficult decisions. he's been preparing everybody who's been listening in for the last six months since I've been sitting on this deis that there were going to be difficult decisions that were going to have to be made. I want to also echo what Andy said
at the working session we had on Saturday that this is a patch. This is not a 10% increase um every year for the next six years because that probably would be illegal as what show was saying, right? So this is a temporary patch. It's also to the 20% of the
municipal budget, which is what we were just showing. It's not a 10% increase across the board for the taxes that you're paying. So, I support this increase. >> Mr. Mayor, if I >> sure may.
>> I also I also agree with everything that's been said here, folks. I don't like to raise taxes. I live here, too. But the bottom line is that we have to make that number in order for this this borrow to run.
I also agree that we need to look down the road. And for that reason, I say we don't have a choice in the matter. We have to look down the road because if we don't, we're going to run out of money sooner rather than later. We have to do that. It's incumbent upon us to do that,
to look for different ways, not just additional sources of revenue, but the way I figured it is, you know, you find additional sources of revenue or you cut your expenses or a combination of both. Excuse me. Um, but something certainly
does have to be done so that there's a policy and a procedure in place down the road that will prevent us from getting in the situation that we're in again. will never happen again. How do you do it? And I'll be honest with you, I don't know.
But at least I'm willing to look and find a way. >> I don't think nobody likes have to have their taxes raised. And I think everybody here is uh in the same situation that something has to be done now and we have to do it right away. Uh
we tal I talked about this with the administrator. I mean, there's other ways to cut, but then again, we'll have to cut people's salaries. I mean jobs and to cut people's jobs is not what Waldick tries to do. We try to not do that at all. So this year there will be
an increase. Uh and hopefully next year we don't have to have an increase. We should be able to come up with ideas to um bring more revenue into the town. Um a lot of people are saying some of us do not like redevelopment. That's not true. We like redevelopment as long as it's
for the betterment of our community and our residents. And I think moving forward, as everyone's been saying, we have to keep an eye on redevelopment, make sure it fits Waldwick and not fits somebody else's pocket. So that's uh what it is right now. and uh you know
we'll have to just move forward uh and work with uh everybody with uh getting everything changed in regards to setting up all these committees and everything that I keep on hearing that I don't do or I I don't do this or I put someone on it that doesn't want to be on it or someone's on it that they should not be
on it. Our administrator is the one that sets up the committee for me and when she's ready to tell people about committees, she will let everyone know. But I look at it this way. People are always saying that the mayor and council have to be very transparent. We have to be transparent and I think we are. My feeling is any committee that's being
set up moving forward is not made up of four three people so we don't have a quorum. It's going to be made up of all six of us and myself which would be seven and it will be a meeting in which the public comes to because the the interest is the public. The public will come to our meetings even if we have to
have meetings on a Saturday or an extra meeting here or there to bring up a topic. the president should be able to be here to voice their opinion. So if you think you're going to have a meeting with three c three council people, I don't think you're going to have that. You're going to have it with the whole council because we are all in this together.
>> The other thing we we need to look at too and I've already um talked to administrator about this as well. Any new contract that comes up, garbage, whatever it is, we need to look at with uh an open mind. an open mind meaning do
we look at other shared services do we look at reduction of certain things do we look at caps on certain services to reduce cost every contract that comes in here that's not salary wages and health related we have to look at um in a go
forward manner and guess what every community around us is going through the same process so we do have similarities with other towns what we don't have is some of the ratables that a lot of other commun ities around here have we don't have Pamas we don't have ma we don't
have those uh complexes where we get extra tax revenue that's not the way although is built and designed >> since we're all here as the mayor just proposed I think that we should be meeting regularly to discuss the budget issues moving forward I understand that at this point we can't change it for
next year but it needs to start now for the future >> absolutely >> I agree >> yes I agree >> it will all we're all in this together >> I don't think there's any disagreement on that. >> So, let's get the next meeting scheduled. >> Absolutely. >> I just want to echo as well that um
Councilwoman Smith and I went to trainings down near Trenton and this is happening all over the state. So, it's definitely not unique to our town and while we don't want to have to raise taxes um you know, going forward as everyone said that we're going to look
at different ways to bring in revenue. um and we all support smart redevelopment and none of us can snap our fingers and make that happen for this year. So unfortunately this tax increase and I just want to thank the administration and Mr. Martinella for
doing this budget um looking at it really closely. was very um timeconuming and so we do appreciate it and you've looked at everywhere to cut expenses and so I do support this increase for this year but again I do support the
redevelopment and other ways to bring in revenue >> and I think you also have to remember that we're also listening to the to the residents and just last year we added two additional to cover safety at our schools that doesn't come for free right
those that has to come from the budget somewhere So, we're listening to our residents. You want additional traffic safety. Our police officers are fantastic in this town. They do a great job of keeping us safe. We want them to be out there in public and doing traffic and doing everything else. We have to give them the resources and technology
they need. So, that comes at a cost. Our DPW does a fantastic job. We do a lot more in-house than a lot of our neighboring towns. So, that means we need more people. Maybe some people don't think we have enough people to plow snow in in the end in during a a foot and a half blizzard,
but I think they do an admirable job with the staff that we have and the amount of work that we ask them to do. Um so without um that budget dollars, we can't provide those services to you and we have to look at other ways. Um so yeah, it's it's a tough tough situation
to get through. So, >> even the mayor's association has been talking about uh shared services with other towns and uh I've been speaking to the administrator about it also that uh there's a couple of towns that approached me and said to me maybe we should look into garbage, we should look into this, we look into that. Unfortunately, right now we can't do
anything with our garbage because we have a contract. So, once the contracts are up, like you said, we could start looking at other ways to save money and keep the money in our pockets. Anyone else? Motion in a second, Miss Kelly. >> Need a motion and a second for uh
>> a motion and a second is in audit to pass this or audience on first reading. >> It's just a resolution. >> I'm sorry, the resolution. Motion to second. >> Motion by Joe. Second by Andy. Clerk, take the role. >> Mr. Bick, >> yes. >> Miss Sarre, >> no.
>> Mr. Marinelloo? >> Yes. >> Miss Smith? >> Yes. >> Miss Wate? >> Yes. >> Okay. on their unfinished business. Anybody from the council have any unfinished business? >> I'm sorry.
>> Sure. busy. >> Sure. Anybody from the council have any unfinished business? >> Nope. Any new business? Yes, sir. >> Just one item. I'd like to um thank the Wal High School um baseball team. Some members of the team came down last
Saturday to help me uh put up the nets down at Burough Park um for the baseball season. Those those boys played on those fields and now they get to help to maintain them. So, uh, um, Chief Seafford and I were down there, um, directing traffic, telling them where to go, how to climb a ladder, how to put
carabiners on, uh, wires. It's a good, uh, community service for them. I thank them for their help. It saved, uh, the volunteers a lot of time this past weekend when they did their field cleanup. So, thank you to the Waldo High School baseball team for coming out to help us last week. >> And if you noticed on the right hand side of the room, we have some posters
there. That's given to us by given to us by Crescent School students. They gave it to the police department, fire department and to us and we have it here to thank and we have the board of head president here. Would you thank them for us? We appreciate everything that they do for
us and it's nice to be told that we're liked. Anyone else? If not, we have it open up to the public. Anybody from the public would like to comment, please come to the microphone. State your name only, please. >> Good evening. Uh, thank you. My name is Jim Shehy. Uh, Miss Sarah Cold Drake
asked me to come tonight to follow up with some questions about the Waldo Robotics Club. >> Thanks, Jim. So, I put out an email to everyone. I'm sure you all saw it as I've been talking with a bunch of you about the issue of getting them a space, a permanent home for the Waldo Robotics Club. So, they came to the last council
meeting. It's a fantastic program that I think we should be encouraging as the burrow. Um, and I I believe Jim answered a lot of our questions. So, I think Councilwoman Smith, you were asking about 501c3. So they have that status already. And just want to put it out
there that we can all discuss this as you know we give the grad ball the DPW building, we give the baseball and softball fields to that association tennis courts. I feel that it would be beneficial for our bureau to help this
team out and you know open it up to as many residents as possible. So hopefully we can ask Jim any questions and see if we can help them with the new space that Kelly and Tatiana cleaned out at the um Burough Hall. >> Thank you. Uh yeah, I just want to
reiterate we are completely nonprofit 501c3. No one's making any money. Everybody's a volunteer. Um and another point uh that I I didn't want glossed over last time I was here is regardless of whether we get a space or not, the
club will survive. and exist and thrive in a small form. Like my son will have a club and coach Christina and coach Mike and Jen, their kids will have a club. What we're trying to do when we're coming here and asking for a space, it's to grow it and expand it to all the kids
in town, as many kids as possible. So, I'm I'm not here for me. I'm I'm here for the town, really. >> Yeah. I think of it like the swim team that we have at the Walden Pool, right? Like why can't we give them a space and say it's the Waldo robotics team? They're not asking for money. They're
just asking for a space that we already have. >> So just to be clear, uh you do have a space. You have two spaces that you're currently using for the meetings. >> Yep. >> And you've been into one here already, right? >> Right. So uh we have spaces on a limited
basis um >> weekly. >> Yeah. No. And I want to be clear, we appreciate everything the town's done and like I said, in the current form, we can continue as a small uh group with these families and, you know, a few
other families. What we're looking for is a space we can have access to on a regular basis, daily basis, and so we can open this up to hundreds of kids instead of 50 kids. So,
>> we don't where are we putting I'm not sure I understand what the request is for where we're putting >> let them we can't let them use that that space that we have at the >> permanent home right just like the baseball has >> I think that first we need to understand
that on Mondays there's court no one can be in this building particularly children while court is in session so that's on Mondays Tuesdays we have council meetings. We can't have kids here while we're conducting business. Wednesday's planning and then
alternately uh zoning board meetings. So that's why Thursday and Friday were perfect for and at the time you were very happy about that. And so it's we're kind of taken aback that you are not now happy. >> No, I I appreciate everything
>> and to boot I just would like to add this. So, you're supposed to be in the room at the top of the stairs, yet I'm finding Legos in this room. And that's kind of a problem because this room is off limits. >> No, we we have we haven't had a Lego
session yet. We we we've been here twice. >> Okay. >> I mean, this I don't I don't know what to say. We haven't even had a Lego session here. >> Um I'm I'm sorry. We appreciate everything. This isn't about me or my son. This is about expanding this for
the town. So, uh, I don't I don't want this to go the wrong way here. >> I apologize. Really? >> I think it did. >> Really? >> We didn't even know you were coming. >> I sent out an email there to everyone. >> I'm sorry. >> I sent out,
>> right? And we couldn't respond to you because we were told by the attorney you broke some Well, >> what what does that have to do with me making a comment? >> I'll take back what I said. get back to um because I talked to you a little bit about the schools. Um so and I was going
to I was thinking or I wanted to ask you you did can you just clarify have you gone to the schools or what's the situation with having it as a school program? >> Yeah. Um, so I've talked to the schools. I've talked to various um members of the school board.
>> Uh, and there's not really uh a space that can be used um on a regular basis, unfortunately. >> Yeah. Um, and I I think one of the beautiful parts about our club is that the parents are willing to do this for
hours, multiple days a week. And not that, you know, teachers don't want to do that, but they they can't they can't give up that amount of time. And we have parent volunteers that are willing to do that. And they're just looking for a space. And I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor. I have no idea that I offended you by coming.
>> I apologize to you. >> Um, but >> I'm just we're just trying to see if there's a space. Uh, that's all. And I'm sorry. I I appreciate the twice a week here. We're just looking to see if there's something else so we could expand it. >> She should know to put it on the agenda. We've never done this.
>> Okay. >> So, I just think this >> a public comment, guys. >> Yeah, it's >> by you. I would just say this >> how >> I like the idea that we're trying to get we're trying to get this club established and growing. >> Yep.
>> Okay. Um and I understand all the good things that you're trying to do and I support that. >> Thank you. The problem that I have is that I don't know where to put you with a lock and
key that's just yours for a,500 to 3,000 square foot as you as you suggested at the last time we had building a room. I just don't know where that is. >> If if I may comment on that, that was
the ambitious plan in the future for that that type of space. this space over here. I'm not sure what the square footage is, but that's perfectly sufficient for what we're doing at the moment. >> If we had access, >> so what I'm trying to say to you, I think, is that we are trying to help
you. >> Thank you. >> As town, but we have to help you within the confines of what we have to offer. >> Understood. >> And that's all I'm trying to say. I do appreciate everything that you're trying to do to help children better understand
technology. I love technology. Yeah, >> I'm old as hell, but I love technology. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Is it Tim? Tim. >> Jim. >> You guys are a 501c3. Have you tried fundraising? >> Oh, yes. >> Yeah. >> Yes.
>> So, because that could be a possible source of revenue to be able to get a space. >> Absolutely. Um, fundraising is difficult. We we've we've had a you know a handful of events and we have raised money that's helped us to buy equipment.
Uh but spaces around here are expensive. So um again at this point the options are really we we stay as we are which is fine and my child and their kids are fine. um or we
raise uh the rates of running the club to astronomical levels and that it's going to put us in a situation where a lot of kids can't do it that might want to do it. Um or the third row, you know, third
uh path is that's why I'm here. Maybe there's a space that um we could use more regularly. We definitely want to give you a space. >> There just is not the space available at this time. >> Understood.
>> And I've only been on the council for a few months, so that's just my general understanding at this time. We all would love to give you a space. >> Understood. >> But we just might need more time. >> Thank you. >> Just working. >> I did reach out after your last meeting uh to the United Methodist Church and they said I think they spoke with you
already. You went there. Yeah, >> I have something. But they there was a fee involved with this which I mean I can't control that. I can't tell them you can't charge it. >> No, I got it. >> Yeah. >> Um, thank you. And, uh, just for the record, we have never set foot in here
with the kids. So, and we haven't had a Lego meeting here. We've had a robotics meeting, but there were no Lego pieces involved. So, uh, there was some stray Lego from somebody else. >> Sometimes they just show up, right?
Yeah. So, thanks. >> I just want to add on. I'm the uh I co-founded the club with Jim. When he said, "Hey, let's go check this thing out in Jersey City. I got some kids." I said, "I had a minivan." I said, "Let's go and do it." And it's awesome. And the kids, their faces lighted up and
everything is awesome. I just wanted to mention uh answer a couple of questions to make it clear. Uh we have absolutely thrived on the support of the town already. The ambulance building was a great start for us. Uh but we learned from having uh one of our teams, I think you may have heard from the last
session, one of our teams made it to state championships. Uh during that process, we learned that we were doing a lot of things uh poorly at the ambulance building, having to take everything down and then take it back out again. We were losing a lot of time. like a lot of time the kids could be learning or doing
stuff was just spent te putting up all of the the mats and the challenge pieces and then taking it all back down again. And so we were we basically just moved that one team into uh a parents house and we got so much more done by just
having a field that was set up and we didn't have to take down every time. Uh so that's really what it is. It's not about that we haven't had space is that we haven't had that kind of space where we can just leave things set up. And I think when we were originally talking about the space here, we were going to work with the days of restriction, but we were told we couldn't leave things.
We thought we could leave things and then later we were told we couldn't. So that's really the issue. If we could have a space, it doesn't even have to be all seven days a week. We will work with whatever you can give us. If there's simply one of these spaces where we can leave the things in place so the kids can just come start working on the
projects, start, you know, diving into the coding and the problem solving, that would really do a lot. If not, frankly, the club is going to die when uh Jim and my kids graduate. That's it. Because if we don't get something going that's on a town basis, the parents that are here
will either move to another town that already has support for this kind of thing and I can throw a rock and hit a town that supports this project and this one hasn't so far other than the limit we raise so far. Um, you know, or we're just going to give up at a certain point because it's it's a lot to do as parents
with we're not getting paid anything. We're spending a lot of our time and we have a lot of parents that know coding and are volunteering the if I put a price tag on uh the volunteering that this club uh generates uh you know you'd have to have a big line in the budget for that. So I just wanted to uh make
that clear in case it was un unsure why we were asking for what kind of space we were asking for. >> Yeah. A follow up to that. Right. So 99% of our organizations in the town are volunteer- based, >> right? baseball, football, soccer,
whatever. All of those are are are run. Basketball, wrestling, football, they're all run by uh volunteers. They're all run by raising dollars to spend on facilities. Uh baseball has an enormous enormous P&L for uh maintaining the
facility down there. Um in terms of electricity, water, maintenance of fields, paying for landscaping, all those things, which the town does not support. So I don't know if you know that or anybody else knows that. Right. So other programs do the same and they
have to pay for field usage at the board of education. That doesn't come for free. So basically zero programs in the town get anything for free >> and and we're willing to pay an amount for the space >> who thought that there were certain programs getting a free ride. Nobody
gets a free ride because uh everything costs money. Just so I understand a little bit better, the requirements for a facility for the program, which by the way I do support and I love and I think Waldwick having a great STEM program would be awesome. I think it should be closer
aligned to the schools personally. That's my personal belief. I heard from last time sounds like you guys think you can do it better than what the school can do and maybe that's part of it. I personally think it should be more aligned to the school program. That's my personal view. From a building
perspective, I assume you need heat so that in the winter you can be there. I assume you need Wi-Fi. I assume you need tables. I assume you need electricity. I assume you need running water. I assume you need bathrooms for kids to go to >> heat, bathroom, and electricity. If we
don't have the other things, we'll make do. >> Right. So, I can't put you on the baseball field and say, "Go do electronics." Correct. I can't even put you in the in the baseball snack stand because there's no heat and there's no bathrooms in the winter time. So just looking at the facilities that we have available to us, I don't know where that comes in. If I put you at the garage of
DPW, I don't think we have running water and bathrooms in in the in the winter time. So I I don't know where that building is. >> I mean, the space that we have here that we can use on Thursdays and Fridays, if we can leave stuff in it, that we can make it work. We would do the best we could to make it work.
>> Is that an option, Tatiana Kelly? Could they leave things set up and and be restricted to Thursday and Friday and maybe Saturday? So the issue with um the ambulance corp and leaving things there is that we have seniors there multiple times a week doing their programs and um
the coexistence of the two of them in that room did become a concern because there were Legos that were being left on the floor and we have seniors doing aerobics and as you can understand we want the safety of both groups you know to be kept in mind. Um and the room up here was um a project that we thought
would help um supplement so additional days which we offered Thursday and Fridays but it's a space we ourselves as a burrow as uh administration are limited on where we can hold meetings um and there are other groups and organizations that ask us for meeting
spaces we have committees um through the bureau that um are restricted to meeting here in this council space which isn't really a great space for them to meet. And so the idea was that that room could become another um equivalent to what we had at the ambulance corps. And so um
it's difficult to say that if we have tables and chairs set up for other groups to be able to use that room and they're full of the robotic club um you know projects that it becomes difficult to then offer that space you know and we have a need for it. Um I'm not saying that there's a hypothetical need. I'm saying there's a need for spa for
meeting space and for meeting rooms and you know this is a working administration office every day. Um we do have you know we put on uh webinars and and um and meetings for our council for I'm sorry our employees. So there is other potential for other groups to use
the room and uh so you know we we thought those I think you have three days in the ambulance core you have two days here. Um that was to Kelly's point why we're taking it back. While we can't tell you that here's a key to a space that's permanently yours 247, um we feel
that we've offered as much and and even above what we've offered uh Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts in their meeting requests as well. So, um you know, it's it's a balancing act. We we have to um be fair and and available to all the residents who need that space. Um, and I'm sorry
that's not the answer if that's what the council is looking for, but I just um we we don't have a space that's carved out for 247 use by the robotics club at this point. >> And and and to that extent, if there was a space to to the council president's point that was maybe a little rough
around the edges, but had some of the basic needs in place, the club themselves would be happy to spend time and money and resources to refurbish the space to make it what we needed to be. you know, we just need a place that we can make our own. And if it's, you know, uh, a thousand square feet in the back
of a DPW storage, but it has heat, then we'll make do. Like we, this is a scrappy team and we'll do what we can. The point that why Jim and I are here is our kids have what they need. They're getting the education that they deserve. I want to make sure the other kids in this town are getting the education they
deserve. and and that's coming to a certain extent uh to other people's points that that should be coming from the schools. I agree with that. That's a different meeting on a different day that I will attend at some point to make that point. Um but as far as the club is
concerned, we had 40 kids last year with 10 coaches and the only way that happens, you're not going to get 10 teachers that all have to get a stipend in a school to run the club. like it's just you just can't you imagine trying to do baseball uh and with just teachers like you'd have a very hard time
fielding enough people to put that up. So while I would love to work more closely with the school system I know they have their own restrictions on school spaces and needing to have staff and faculty uh you know tied into that and how many different background checks or other things we have to do for
parents to get access to those spaces. So, as for the moment with the number of kids that we have and and I think we can still handle a little bit more of who we have, uh, we want to keep it as a club. >> If there's no other questions this morning, thank you for your time.
>> Hi. Uh, my name is Jennifer Dvalu. I am Mike McMahon's uh, wife. I am a coach uh, with the LEGO club. uh my three kids are in it and um I think there's a little bit of a misunderstanding what we mean by make it our own. Um so if I may
just paint a word picture for you, right? Um we need these massive tables to be running these bots on and we have been pulling them up and down the stairs of the ambulance building, right? And so I think like at its most basic, we need
a stable space to hold these giant tables. And that's the very basics. That is the that is like it would it would it be great to make it look like some superhero HQ for the kids and decorated.
Yeah, sure. But like that is the really very basics um that is needed. I also wanted to give a little bit of context. Um, so our season runs from around August until depending on if a team how
far a team goes. Um, kind of the winter. Now, we've never made it to world, so I don't know what that looks like. Um, but our, uh, we ended before the winter last year. Um and uh something else that we have been working on sort of under the hood so to speak as we build this car as
we go um is the offering of um after school support and other programs that kids who might not necessarily be interested in Legos or robotics um can really um find valuable and can be supported by in our community. Um, and
not just that, um, this is one of the best ways to introduce people, uh, introduce kids to tech because part of it is not, it's not just Legos, it's not just robots, it's not just coding, it is, um, history, it is looking to the future for science, it is problem
solving, it is public speaking, and it is teamwork. And so I think, um, I never like walking away from a meeting without sort of a constructive um, way to move forwards. And I think the first step is just knowing um that we have the support of
the council and that we have an open relationship to converse and that we have the banners that the the the school makes for the police or we have sorry the being mentioned that we as
volunteers came and we saw we conquered we you know helped the uh GRAD project reorganize all their stuff and that is really forget that bells and whistles cuz that's what we come with. That's what we know um how to do. That's what
we're asking for. And on top of what um Mr. McMahon was saying about uh the relationship between the school and and the club, uh we've been working at this for 2 to three years um with basically um it's
I don't want to take up too much more time because I know it is the evening and my um my ADHD meds are wearing off. basically uh we know how these uh these companies that run this like to run it. Um that is what we offer. And so even if it does wind up merging with the schools
after my kids have graduated from high school, um that is what Mike and Jim and Christina and I and all the other uh coaches have that um is why the school can't just kind of pick it up and run with it is is literally we have the
relationship already. We have all of the paperwork filled out. we have all of the administration done. Um, so I just hope that that is a piece of enlightenment. Um, not necessarily a brag. Maybe it's a humble brag cuz I'm pretty sure that my husband did most of the paperwork with Jim and um, another uh, lawyer friend of
ours. But um, that's about it. Um, if there are no questions, I will go take myself away from this microphone. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, I know I'm a fast talker. Also, I'm from Pamas, so I felt a little bit called out, but
>> you're fine. >> Anyone else from public? >> Mary Mulaney, whose mic is way too high. Um just wanted to ask if it's more of a suggestion that um today on ABC News
Channel 7, there was uh a lot of talk on the news about car thefts in uh Bergen County, but they highlighted Waldwick, New Jersey, which sort of perked my ear because I live here. Um, and I do know
uh someone who was uh one of the people affected by that um by a car theft uh rather recently. Um, and I just wanted to say that I think if it's hit the news on ABC, it might be good if perhaps
something comes out um from the town so that there's no um fear or no, you know, craziness or no crazy thoughts that go on that everybody's car is going to get ripped off because that was not what the point was at all. We'll reach out to the
police chief and see if he >> Yeah, I think maybe something that could go out on one of those one of those many >> computer things that you do. >> Yes, we will. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mary. >> Anyone else?
If not, do I have >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Sorry. >> Laura Lichol. Um, I usually I usually watch the council meetings at home because I'll get a good workout in or what have you. But there was something that was said at the
previous meeting that really bothers me and I really wanted to bring it to your attention. Um, the Bergen County the Bergen County Utility Authority and the smell that we're about to embark on in the summer months that I feel that even though we've been smelling it for 50 years doesn't mean it's acceptable
today. And I'm just curious as to the shared services agreement that we have with the Bergen County Utilities Authority if we have any air studies as a part of the contract. Um I do believe that the VOCC's, the hydrogen, the ammonia, and the grit stations. Um
really I think that we deserve the people deserve to an answer. I guess we deserve an answer because we've been smelling this for 50 years and I for one think that it shouldn't be going into the 51st year. And um I truly feel that the mayor and council uh hears about
this frequently. It's all over Walduk United. Everybody talks about it and for us to have to call the Bergen County Utilities Authority. You guys represent us. You guys have a contract with them and we the little guy are going to lodge all of our complaints with the utility
authority. But where are you guys in all of this? Similar to where we're taking complaints for all the water. Is there something that we can do whether it's the environmental commission, the board of health to involve them to champion getting the smell under control in the summertime? Because I don't buy 50 years
of smelling it. It's getting worse. Oakland was recently added as a town and with all the increased development and housing that's going up, it's going to increase the volume, which is going to increase the odor. and we're in March now and in the in the summertime I pray for a windy day for it to quiet it down.
So, and I live on Smithfield Terrace and it's coming that way and it's all the way that's maybe about a quarter of a mile, you know, or a tenth of a mile from uh the way the crow flies. So, are we looking at our shared services agreement with them to do any sort of
testing? I've looked for D reports on the utility authority. I've studied it. I know the water is going into the Hocus Brook and and um you know I've looked at the years of how many more years they're going to be the facility has the grit
station and and the reservoirs and things like that and I'm just wondering if I'm Joe Nobody resident doing that. How is the c what is the council doing this year to fix this problem?
So I um at the last meeting uh Councilman Richie talked about a meeting that we had with the utility authority. It was the the mayor, myself, Councilman Richie, and then uh two representatives, the gentleman who runs the facility and then um a higher up in the utility authority. And um there was a resolution
passed at the last council meeting uh bringing the council together uh unanimously to have the the authority address the smell issue. and the uh the stand that they took collectively as a council is looking at the potential
health risks associated with the smell. >> And so that conversation started with them directly. The resolution was then passed. It was shared with all of the um local, state, uh county and federal representatives uh also. And um you know
to your point on reporting since we don't control what happens there, the reporting must go to them. And so we encourage everyone that is as you smell it, you call. They ensured us that the same uh process that they had in place when this began as a a heavier
conversation a few years ago is still in place. And so they need to know when the report comes in for the smell so that they can track exactly where it is, what it was, and what in their facility might be going wrong. Was there some sort of breach? Um you know, they need to be able to investigate that. We as the
bureau can't investigate that. It's not our property and and we don't own the authority but uh you know >> but we're their customer though. We're their customer. They have a responsibility to us. >> Yeah. Absolutely. So that relationship um has been there. The mayor has been um communicating with the authority for uh
quite a while. I don't want to speak for him but um you know part of that meeting was how do we move forward? And so there were some conversations on some studies that they have committed to uh to doing for the burrow to um address that smell. And is that going to be communicated out to the people that these particular
studies are being conducted so that everybody can put their mind at ease that the air that they're breathing is actually not going to put toxin in their body. >> So the meeting was just a few weeks ago. We haven't heard back yet that uh you know which study exactly they'll be doing and what the time frame is and
when we get more information on that we will definitely share that with the public. >> And who's if you don't mind me asking uh who's the council liaison to the authority? >> It's Councilman Richie. He's not here today. >> Okay. So, okay. >> I just I feel I feel bad for him because I know everybody can just say, "Oh, I've
been smelling this for 50 years. They're not going to give you an answer." But I don't buy that anymore. I have grandchildren and I have myself and I'm elderly and there's people around town with compromised immune systems, etc. And I just it's just unacceptable to me that we're embarking we're walking into another summer and we people can't even
go to Matthews Diner without smelling it in the back. And I feel bad for all the people who work there who can't even take a break because they walk outside and you just want to you just want to vomit. The smell is so bad in the June July time frame. It's really not fair. >> I just so you know that we've been in
contact also with the governor's office. I made a contact with the governor's chief of staff. She she spoke with me. They sent us an email to send to the sewer authority to let them fill out to get grant money to do some projects to help us. Mhm. >> They sent people out there. I don't
think they were happy that they people went out there. Also, I met and I uh I'm in contact with the uh chief of staff for the EPA >> and they've been also guiding us and telling us how to do things and every time we have a meeting like the meeting we had in town hall, they know about
what we did. So, they're keeping an eye on them also. >> But, but it's great that you're doing all this, but how is it being communicated out to the public? >> Well, we're wait what we're doing now. We we just started. we just started and what we're doing is we're waiting for them to come back with some results of what they're doing >> and and the um
>> as soon as they do under my Councilman Richie's report, he will report to you and to all of us what's going on >> and he has been to that point. He has been reporting every meeting pretty pretty regularly. >> I mean, I I truly believe that something similar. I'm not I'm not I'm not trying
to increase the budget, believe me. But Waldick United is a is a great forum for everybody. I remember Nicole McNamera used to put um messages out to everybody recapping things and I think that a lot of people if you have the masses who are really upset about the water we're drinking and the air that we're
breathing maybe a recap would be nice. I'll put it out there. I don't really care. I mean I I truly believe that people people are talking about it and not everybody as you can see the town of Waldo can't come to a council meeting. I I admit that I watch it online, but I think people really truly deserve to
know. And if there's appropriations, you were talking last week about an appropriation. Uh Josh Godheimer coming, you know, he he wants in on our town, so let's leverage him to fix this problem. It's an election year for him, too. >> I reached out to him also. >> Yeah. So, I just
>> just waiting for everybody to come back and just tell us what's going on. But I think the attorney >> I just want to I just want to address one. The the sewer authority is not an interlocal. It was founded years ago in the 50s as an interlocal between certain member municipalities. However, there
was extensive litigation in I believe it was the late 70s early 80s where they have now reorganized. They are an independent municipal utilities authority that we are just a customer on. >> But we have a contract with them. >> No, we have no say. We get a bill from
them as a customer. >> So, but we're a customer of theirs. >> We're a customer just like all the other towns are customers there. There is no ownership interest or oversight or anything. The oversight for the local utilities authority is at the county and
the county has the appointment powers and everything over there. But I just want to clarify that because I know there's a misconception out there that we we as a burrow have some type of say in all that. All we can do is make the complaints and we can put pressure on them, which the council has been uh
adamant about with uh with numerous resolutions and things that we're working on. >> I I truly believe that this needs to be communicated out to people because I'll I'll champion it myself. I don't want to be the squeaky wheel, but I just don't want to smell it anymore. >> You know, I don't even want my kids to
come over to my house because I don't want them exposed to it and they live on the, you know, up uh in district 4. But it's just really I mean for me it's what you know and little kids whatever baseball field whoever's walking across from food emporium. I feel sorry for
whoever's going into Boston Market because do they really have an idea of what they're walking into and what customers I used to love to go to Boston Market but I would never go in there summertime because it's such a turnoff smelling that going into an establishment and maybe that's why some of the businesses here are really
challenged with the location. But I appreciate your time. Thank you. And also uh Laura just Councilman Richie did push them on a different tactic too because they measure and report on acute um sickness and illnesses and acute percentages of toxins in the air. So
Councilman Richie pushed them on chronic uh exposure and pushing them on different limits. So >> the ammonas, the VOCC's, the hydrogen, all of that. Yeah. Yeah, produced EPA reports and many reports to them which is what they counter what mayor was talking about earlier that they have to do additional testing to provide those
to us because Mike Council Richie pushed them hard on that topic. >> Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> If not, do I have a motion to >> I'm sorry, two more people. >> Hi Ted, can you hear us? You need to
unmute yourself. >> Can you unmute yourself? >> Hello. >> I'm online. Thank you. >> Hi. How are you? >> I'm here. >> Very good. Thank you for listening. I just wanted to compliment Kelly's assistant, Melissa, because we
had a problem with a dog running around the neighborhood which would not allow the mailman to deliver mail because of animal interference. Uh Melissa Hlet, uh I called her and
her, but I also wanted to mention it at a council meeting because she did a very good job and thank you for listening. >> Thanks. Appreciate it. >> Anyone else? >> Anyone else? Do we have a motion to adjourn?