This meeting is being held in performance with the Sunshine Law. Notice of time, date, and place has been furnished to the Bergen Reckon in Rididgewood News. Notice has also been posted on the bulletin board of the administration building. Clerk kindly take the role. >> Mayor Gordano >> here. >> Mr. Brennick here. >> Miss Sarakola Drake >> here.
>> Mr. Marello >> here. >> Mr. Richie >> here. >> Miss Smith >> here. >> Miss Winky. Everyone kindly rise for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley
and justice for all. Let us have a moment of silence for all worlds and all vet across our country who have given the ultimate sacrifice to save our country some never returning home the land that is free. Pray. >> Dear Lord, we start this meeting asking
for your guidance and wisdom. May we find unity and fairness. We ask them to reflect our wishes to assist the burrow in all their endeavors. Thank you in his name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Good evening everyone. Before we begin our meeting, like we've always been doing, uh, look to your left, look to
your right, look in front of you, and look in back of you. Say hello to your neighbors, and say hello to everybody. >> At this time, we're going to have uh Phoenix Advisor do a presentation for us about a pilot program. This is a educational um or an informative uh
program or presentation that is being done. After they finish after he finishes his um talk, the council will have uh questions and answers questions for them. Anybody from the public after the council's uh ask their questions. Of
course, the council will have an opportunity to ask questions also for the representative from Phoenix. Everything will be addressed to the Phoenix representative. Thank you. I'll be as quick as possible. I know it's maybe not the most exciting topic
in the world. Uh but thank you very much for having me uh this evening. So my name is Brian Morris. I'm with Phoenix Adviserss. Uh so we're a financial consultant uh working with a number of entities uh across the state uh on a number of different financial concerns. Uh pilots of course being one of them.
Uh so I wanted to come uh just give a brief overview about pilots. Generally speaking, uh these numbers and this information I say is just kind of sample illustrative purposes only. It's not tied to any specific project or anything like that. So in short, what is a pilot?
It's a tax abatement tool that's in the bureau's redevelopment toolkit to help spur economic growth and help get projects done and built that otherwise would not be financable. they might be financable because the interest rate
environment is too high. The rents um they uh can't be as high as they need to be to support the costs. Uh the construction costs are high. Obviously, we're coming out of COVID. What you heard about all the time was construction costs are skyhigh. Um now, you know, the rents have caught up to
that, but again, it it helps get projects done that otherwise cannot get done under a conventional tax scenario. So pilot stands for payment in lie of tax. So it even though it's called a tax abatement, the the the developer, the owner is still paying something. It's
just a negotiated value instead of your traditional conventional property taxes. Uh it's generally on the improvement portion of the property only, the land portion or the land taxes. There's certain caveats under the law, but it
can either be subject to taxation as it normally would be or uh exempted as well. And that depends. It's on a per project basis up to the burrow. Um the amounts due under a pilot are just are a municipal lean just like
conventional taxes. If they don't pay, you can foreclose on the property uh just like anyone else not paying their taxes. Uh generally tax appeals are not permitted. So it also helps uh under that um uh give you uh leverage against any tax appeals. Uh there are two types
of pilots. There's a long-term uh tax exemption law and a short-term. So a short term is like if I build a new addition to my house, I can ask you for a five-year uh payment. So I would pay as a percentage of uh conventional taxes
0% 20% 40 60 80 and then 100% it would be over. So, that's usually used for smaller improvements or additions, things like that. The long-term tax exemption law uh offers the bureau a lot more flexibility to help shape the
project the way that they want, the way you want, unit density, types of affordable units, unit counts, etc. Um, and it could be for as much as 30 years, although we've certainly seen them as short as 15 years. Um, maybe a little shorter in some specific instances.
Uh most of this what I say is going to be about that long-term the 30-year uh pilot. And of course kind of why we're here is the municipality really needs to evaluate the costs and benefits, the pros and cons of embarking on any pilot project.
Um so as I mentioned the purpose is to help projects that otherwise cannot deliver the financial returns that are needed to uh get financed. So oftent times in uncertain markets uh or if there's different macroeconomic things
going on like I mentioned before um it's difficult for these projects to attract private investment. It's obviously relatively risky especially if you could buy you know look at the stock market treasury bonds what have you. This is a much more speculative asset so it's
going to command higher returns. Um, the other thing with the conventional taxes is just the uncertainty around those taxes. We like to say, you know, it generally goes up 2% per year or what have you, but you really don't know. Um, so when you're a bank looking to lend on
a project for a 30-year horizon, you need some certainty that that developer is going to be able to repay that loan over a long-term horizon. And the pilot lets you do that because um we'll get into in a little bit, but you're structuring the payments as a percentage
of their revenue rather than a fixed tax obligation that could change, you know, year-to-year uh without any ability to project such change. Uh the other thing too I always like to say is that it's really a partnership between the bureau and the developer or a developer. um if
they do better, their income is higher, the pilot payment gets higher. Conversely, if they're a little slow, not leasing up or the project's not getting off uh the the right foot as quickly as you'd like, they're not fixed uh saddled with that fixed tax
obligation that would essentially force them into immediate foreclosure. Uh it gives the project a little bit of a runway to kind of get off the ground and become successful. I'm not going to spend too much time on this, but I can if you do have specific questions, but the bureau can also issue
redevelopment area bonds to help a project to help uh fulfill a shortfall in the capital stack. That's usually issued for specific purposes like if there's big infrastructure, public infrastructure costs or other things. If for example, if you they want to add a
nice public park to the project or what have you, um we can go into a little bit more of that, but typically you don't see that. um with every pilot. Uh so the pilot can be calculated under the laws two different ways. 2% of total project costs. I will say that that's generally
a prohibitively high pilot um and has kind of fallen out of favor in the last 10 or 15 years. Um so the mo more common way is a percentage of their annual gross revenue. So if they um you know make a million dollars, 10% is the minimum, the pilot payment
would be $100,000. uh 10 10% is the minimum under the statute. There are some exceptions depending on the affordable housing or what have you. Generally speaking, 15% or so uh 15 to 20% is probably the higher end of that range. Um but it is a
negotiation based on the financial metrics and and the bureau's costbenefit analysis. Um if the land is not exempted, you they receive a credit against the land tax. So they are just paying the pilot. So um they would still pay the land tax but receive a credit
against it so that the pilot is the only payment that's going out. The municipality keeps 95% of every pilot dollar. 5% statutoily goes to the county. Um there's also I I mentioned earlier that 20 40 60 80 um percent of
conventional taxes. There's certain phaseins of those over the 30 years as well. Um so in addition to fiveyear you get that those phase in down it's really downside protection. So if their revenue for some reason is significantly low in one year you have that percent of taxes
to act as a backs stop to make sure that there's a floor. Uh the municipality also collects a 2% administrative fee to help um supplement any finance office or tax collection extra. you know, it it's not exactly as easy as just billing your
taxes, which go through, you know, admins or whichever system you use. There's a little bit more leg work in billing the pilot. Um the municipality may also uh negotiate upfront community benefits, whether it's a upfront um payment towards again a burough priority
like a park or or something else and that's all subject negotiations. Um so uh on uh the presentation that I provided there is a proforma sample proforma just so you can see the difference between a pilot and conventional taxes. Um but again it's
it's just showing that under the pilot that relief provides the returns that warrant the investment and under the conventional taxes it would not provide sufficient returns for someone% administrative fee. Take out the 5% to the county. There's the land tax credit
if the land is still uh taxable. So for in my hypothetical example, the developer uh made about $2 million per year. The pilot was a little over $200,000. You took off those items, added back the admin fee, and the net to
the town was about 155,000. So there are there is some calculation, you know, that needs to occur each year. um when you're looking at it. Uh one of the larger uh things that we look at in terms of the cost benefit analysis uh is
the impact of the project uh from the new residents it produces as well as potential school children that it produces. So again, this is why it's important to do a thorough cost benefit analysis because you need to uh be sure that the revenue you're the additional
revenue you're collecting is sufficient to offset any potential negatives. So what I will say with respect to residents and municipal costs generally find that to be pretty low uh most towns are already built out with adequate EMS
you know fire police etc. you know, if if this if the project was on the outskirts of town somewhere where people don't typically provide such services, perhaps that would have a little bit bigger of an impact, but if it's in kind of the downtown city center, it's
unlikely. It's already being, you know, serviced by EMS, fire, police, what have you. So, it's likely that it would not have a large impact. Um the school um situation can be quite variable. Um number one uh is we found that the
number of school kids produced by newer rental units is not as high as you would typically expect. Um in the presentation I included an example from a 120 unit project based on the applicable multipliers uh from a Rucker uh study
that they did. Uh the 120 units produced about 20 kids, right? So a lot of times you say 120 units, they'll have two kids per unit. So that's 240 kids. You know, it'll it'll overburden the school system. That's not necessarily the case. It's oftentimes a lot lower than you
might think. But again, you have to go through the exercise and look at the potential cost of those students. What I will say is the school budgets, I don't know how familiar everyone is with that, but it works different than the town budgets. Your budget is a ratebased budget where you set the tax rate and
apply it to the assessed values of uh what's in the town. The school budget is a budget-based levy. So they say, "Our budget is $50 million and they just spread it across everyone. So they do not gain or lose a dollar by the pilot
going into effect. Even though, as I mentioned, there's no carve out for the school district to collect any of the money uh from the pilot. Um, you know, we typically use the cost cost of classroom instruction as a benchmark for
this municipal or excuse me, the school costs. That's the actual variable cost of teachers, supplies, what have you. It omits a lot of the fixed cost from like the schools and the administration, what have you. Um, but even that is usually typically fairly conservative. It doesn't really account for economies of
scale. You know, if you add five kids to the school, it's it's unlikely that, you know, there'd actually be real cost. Um, so it all depends on the the orders of magnitude. So just overall in summary, you know, the the benefits of the pilot is really that it provides a predictable
revenue stream to the bureau that could be earmarked towards future capital projects. Uh, it can be used to supplement future property tax increases. It's just a it's a long-term stable non-ax revenue which um, you know, I know you mentioned some about
talking about the budget tonight. you know, things like that are really helpful in in budget uh preparation on the revenue side. Um the pilot payment typically results in more revenue to the municipality than conventional taxes would be just because the bureau's share of taxes is usually about 25 30%. Uh it
can serve as a catalyst for new development in in areas that need revitalization. Uh it allows for greater flexibility during the negotiations. Like I said, you have more input on the types of units, uh the density, uh how the project looks, etc. Uh there's ongoing transparency. The developer
under this um pilot law has to provide you with project cost certifications, annual audits, etc. So, you're kind of a part you're as I mentioned a partner and you're you're seeing that information. And then finally, uh I talked about the community impact payments, upfront payments, guaranteed minimums, on and
off-site public improvements. So there's all kinds of also other non-financial uh benefits as well. Um so that is a very quick high-level overview. Um so I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide any other information you'd
like. >> Brett, one of just the developers max. >> Uh correct. there is a statutory net profit calculation that they are supposed to include in their annual audit that will show that. So if if they do exceed that profit then yes the the
money would come back to them. >> Thank you for your presentation. It was very informative. >> Sure. >> So first question, what makes a bad pilot? Right? There's so many there's things in the in the news that Hackinac has a problem or this town has a problem with their pilot. What makes a bad
pilot? Uh I would say not not dedicating the correct resources to the evaluation of the cost benefit and going through those motions as I mentioned. You know even if you don't think there's any impact to the municipal budget it should be explored and looked at. Even if you don't think there's any impact to the
school it should at least be explored and looked at. And then I also think a lot of times when in the past, I don't think it quite happens as much now, but the developers would just, you know, not to say anything wrong bad about developers, but they're obviously uh in it to to make as much money as possible. They'd come in
with a proposal. You know, that the town wouldn't necessarily go through the the motions and just say, "Yep, that's fine. We want that project developed that maybe left money on the table or something wasn't properly vetted that, like you said, years later kind of comes back to the surface." Um, so I I really
just think just scrutinizing it, you know, talking about it, doing that analysis is really uh really makes a huge difference. >> Yeah. Just to follow up on that, like we always talk about in my old job, FUD, fear, uncertainty, and doubt. You have to remove those things when you're
starting a project, right? The fear is schools are not going to be funded. So you already said schools can be funded. The doubt is where does that funding come from? So if I was just collecting taxes on that property, some portion of those taxes would be directed to the
school. So now that they're not earmarked for the school, it goes to the town. >> I'm still paying that money. So it may reduce the amount of money that I'm making on the pilot because I have to still pay the school instead of paying it from the tax that was on that
property. But in the end based upon that calculation we have to look at what the benefit is. Is that correct? >> Uh yeah I think um ju just a clarification on the school point. So if you know just using round numbers if the property currently is paying the school
you know $50,000 in taxes and then it goes away under the pilot. It's now zero. They're not losing that 50,000. It's just being spread across the rest of the tax base. However, the bureau is then getting this influx of new revenue
which should stabilize taxes, you know, potentially reduce or not go up as much as they would otherwise. So, I look at as a taxpayer, maybe this pocket's going up, but this is going down and you're net your net equal or net positive theoretically. So a way to look at it is
if my cost would have gone up and I needed to pass that along to the taxpayers by increasing the tax to pay for the school. >> Right >> now I'm offsetting that by non- tax revenue. So I don't need to raise the taxes to continue that same payment for our friends at the board of education.
Uh, right. And that's and that's what I was saying before with the budget with the with the non-t tax revenue is having that flexibility, you know, really helps a lot in the budget process because it's it's again it's revenue that you're collecting without just raising the taxes on all
all the residents and businesses in the town. >> Sure. >> Thank you so much for a really great presentation. There's been a lot of misinformation about pilots and I think it is really important from an educational purpose that um you know we
hear about it. >> I do have one question. It sounds to me like guard rails have to be put in place in any kind of pilot negotiation to make it work. Am I kind of correct in assuming that? >> Yeah, absolutely. And the statute's designed to offer multiple, you know,
prongs of the analysis. So, like I said before, there's the percent of their revenue, but then there's also the percent of taxes as the floor. You know, we always try as a firm to negotiate as many of those prongs and guardrails, like you said, floors and things like that as possible to protect, you know,
the burrow in because, you know, we'd like to think every project is going to be a huge success and hopefully they all are, but right there's sometimes there's ups and downs, there's co times, there's things happen, right? So you need to make sure it's really striking that good balance where there's enough flexibility
going back to kind of the lending return side on the developer but then also making sure that the bureau is not getting short changed in those stress test scenarios as well. That's exactly what I was thinking about because obviously we know we don't know what the financial picture is going to be in
general going forward and I'm thinking of it just as a resident you know somebody can't pay their taxes there could be like a two-year grace period or whatever it is so if they tried the pilot um you know the developer tried to do something like that and extend out a payment because they're having
difficulty I think something would have to be built in correct to avoid that. >> Yeah. So I mean there's a couple things there. I mean, under the law, you it just like any you get to take a municipal lean and foreclose on it. They don't pay just like any taxes. You can also work out some arrangement, right,
if you so chose. Um, but there's but there's a lot there's different, you know, different >> different ways to structure that. Thank you. >> One more. Um, so you talked about some different parameters like upfront payments and things like that. Um,
generally payments start coming in once the uh owner is making revenue on the property. >> Correct. >> The upfront payment is something you can do in addition in part of the negotiation. >> Uh, yes, you can. And you can also there's different thresholds or timings
of when that would become payable. So, you know, again, just hypothetically, let's just say you negotiate a $100,000 contribution to the park, you know, next door, hypothetically. Um, you know, you could negotiate certain times when that comes in, right? Like maybe a third of
it comes in when they sign the agreement and the and the council passes the ordinance approving it, and a third comes in when they pull the building permit, and a third comes in when they get the CI or or something like that. So you can structure it so that there is some benefit that the bureau can see
ahead of time because your point is is very important in that you you negotiate this, you sign the agreement and then the developer has to go get the financing, build the project. You know, you're looking at potentially two or three years, probably two years in a good economic environment. Then what if
something happens again downturn? you know, we can't we have to kind of going back to what you're saying before, you kind of prepare, plan for the best and or uh plan for the worst and hope for the best, right? So, you just have to make sure that there those guard rails in there because um you know, it could
take five years, right, for the project to get done and you know, you don't have a control over that, but through the negotiation, you can try to you know, get something uh ahead of time or or some other benefit, you know, to the borrowing.
Did you have any questions or follow? >> No, I think >> Yeah, likewise. Um, I guess I didn't say anything wrong from a legal perspective. We got slapped from behind. >> Is there anybody from the public that would like to ask Brian some questions
about the pilot? If you could just kindly come up, >> state your name. >> Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, honorable a payment in taxes. Do I correctly understand that as a like a tax
abatement, a concession that the payments would be less than the normal tax rate? >> Okay. So we are talking about a development going into Bergen County, one of the top rated counties probably
in the country and giving somebody a private entity money to build a private development and we are going to give them a tax abatement. >> Am I understanding that correctly?
>> Uh yes, but I'll I'll add two caveat. Number one is the the the whole purpose of the pilot is essentially to help clients in something that's otherwise not and that's part of that due diligence and
cost benefit analysis before analyzing the project to ensure that the level of pilot is required. So we look at it that way the pilot is
more Then the real conventional tax, >> but then there is no liability to the burrow for services or other infrastructure to accommodate something that did not happen. And I would posit to the council that in Bergen County
where housing is at a very short supply and if I remember correctly, the average housing unit in Waldwick is worth about $700,000. I would be very interested in some hard
numbers about why we would be contemplating a tax concession. I have heard some statements about possible third-party revenue from decisions that people who would inhabit this project would make. I hate dealing with
hypotheticals because the actions of third parties are completely out of my control. And for those honorable members who know me, you know I hate things that are out of my control. So I would be very curious in seeing
some hard numbers based on previous experiences here in Waldwick. I mean Waldwick station was built and I do not believe there was a tax concession of any kind to that development. Can
someone on council confirm that? after they started construction and so it was not required. >> So there was no pilot for Waldwick station if my memory serves me and you all probably know better than I do. The
original D Martini property, the old lumber yard that base this project is sitting on was sold for $3.2 million at the start of the project. Does anybody have that number? Probably
not off the top. I do believe Waldwick Station was sold last year for $39 million as a completed project. I would suggest that a tax abatement
to a private project is something that should be looked at with the most acute judgment. I am very uncomfortable with people postulating hypothetical expenditures
from a population that does not exist to make up a tax shortfall from a tax abatement. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Jim Schultz, 52 Harrison Avenue. Uh,
have you ever had any pilots where they've defaulted over time picked up the property? >> No. Um, I've worked on pilots that had but in every instance that
the lending bank has stepped in to make a because they first they on top of the bank. So 99
and they maintain the same contract. Uh Mr. Martinelli asked you about if there's ever been a pilot that went bad and you set up the course benefit analysis. How does a course benefits analysis go bad? I mean it's two people have to input data.
>> No, it's not the cost benefit analysis that it's just they just accepted offered or they you know agree to things that they fully understand in the moment. Yes. It's not that the cost benefit but that's
>> okay. But the state says you have to do one, right? I think for every pilot there has to be a costbenefit analysis. >> You're supposed, >> right? But I think the state says you have to >> because supposedly you have to. Okay. So they
>> it's probably different if you bring in a financial advisor to do it versus just let the developer show you one. >> Correct. >> Right. So you we want to we already contracted with somebody to help us with that >> very important analysis before we make any decision if we're losing money at
the town we couldn't do that right so we have to negotiate a good deal for us >> that's for the developer >> because my fear would be the entire like the sewer the water everything taken into agreement and looked at it from that uh the administration fee so if
it's 95 and five is it 97 and3 or what is that 2% % come from? >> Uh, no. So, it's it's it's uh it's an addition. It's 2%. So, the it's 2% of the 95. So,
>> it doesn't Okay, perfect. That's I was hoping it's 102. Very good. Uh, and I think everybody here probably knows, but the Senate that bill 1807 in regards to pilot programs now have to include the school districts.
>> Uh, so that legal stuff, but I believe that that's >> okay. >> So with that Oh, do you know any So you you don't know anything yet with this? >> I'm aware that's happening, but it's not
So going going forward with this 1807 they mention or who who would we discuss this with that because there's some questions I would have with the 1807 and how it affects the pilot program you're looking at. So would that be >> um yeah I mean maybe you could submit
the question. >> Okay because it has to do with the base because that 5% goes away then >> so I I just that hasn't been approved yet by the state. So you talk about how we have no idea if
that's actually passed the legislature the Senate be signed at all. It's proposed but you know >> probably change it past >> it could Yeah. Right. >> Can I just respond? >> But if if we're to do a pilot, is it in the
best interest to wait till this goes through? Because it's instead of that 5%, it's now based on a per pupil cost. >> If you would wait, you'd have no idea if that's ever going to be approved. >> It could take 10 more years to approve it. >> A new governor, you have, you know,
legislature and assembly, the Senate assembly that's still feeling things out. Who knows how long how many bills get introduced and never never signed into laws. >> Is there any way to find out the status of it? Is it close or because it's
>> I don't think it's anywhere close >> because it's a big difference >> between I mean now they're looking to pay a per pupil course. Now I just question there's a line in here that says it's based on the commissioner of education. I hope that's the same number you get in the annual report card.
So, I mean that that's a big sum now. You're paying for every student that's going to be in that housing with that, >> right? Yep. >> It is. >> The last update I see here, it says that the bill was introduced on January 13th. Uh there was action taken on February
5th to refer to the state budget and appropriations committee. They estimate the percentage at 25% of completion. So it's pretty far away from completion at this point. >> I mean, do we have a timeline for the project?
>> No one's even submitted a request for >> So it hasn't been submitted. So the longer we wait, the better off we may be because again, there's a difference between 5% and if it's $22,000 per student. >> I just wanted to see what we can get out of the negotiation. That's kind of where I'm at. >> Okay.
>> All right. >> Yeah. And just to reiterate, everything I said was hypothetical. It's not based on any specific project. So, it's, you know, obviously, like I said before, when if and when a project comes, we'd have to do all of that very, you know, to to the prior commenters's point, all
of that resource, the hard numbers, you know, all of that analysis. >> Okay. >> Um, prior to >> and one last the the revenue that you speak about, is that based on 100% occupancy or >> uh typically based on 95%. There's usually a 5% vacancy allowance. >> 90% then there is no payment or it's
reduced. How does that work? Uh no, you'd get you if it's if the pilot's 10% you'd get 10% of the revenue whether it's 100% vac uh occupied, 90% or or 10%. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I have a quick question. Um thank you
for your presentation. Um do you have any information about like surrounding towns or other pilot programs or is that out of your >> uh Sure. Yeah. Um, not well off the top of my head, but I could, you know, if you had a specific question about one or
just generally speaking, you know, I could certainly >> maybe how popular they are or like what which way towns are kind of going leaning towards or the trend is the trend more to have these pilot programs or is there any information? Um, you know,
I I don't know if I could, you know, make a general statement to say I mean, there certainly are a lot of them. I don't, you know, I don't >> maybe could you provide some examples of how they were structured maybe in an email after >> Sure. >> after the fact. Would that help? Yeah.
>> Yeah. Something like Allenale Hocus >> similar towns to us in geographic and demographics and population. >> That would be good. I know Wood Cliff Lake just recently had excuse me one had as well.
>> Okay. Yep. Absolutely. Can follow up. >> We have a question from a resident in the audience. >> Stay there. Is it allow >> at least mo um do you need my address? I don't remember what you said. Okay.
you have it. Um, so you were talking about the hypothetical number of 120 units. >> Mhm. >> That would produce possibly 20 students. So, World currently pays about $13,000
per student. Um, regular. If you have a special need, I don't mean regular as in a regular student. I'm talking about regular tax rate, but a special needs student would be probably double that, if not more.
So, if the pilot program doesn't necessarily provide to the school, right, in a set number, we're talking about 20 students. It's maybe approximately a classroom
size. I'm not I don't have kids, but I'm guessing that a classroom is anywhere from 20 to 30 students. Um, but 20 students would be $260,000 a year per per that. How do we make sure that we
get that revenue to the school to provide what is needed? >> Uh, yeah, great question. So number one is all of that would be an anal a detailed analysis that would occur. Um
so but based on your hypothetical example >> based on your hypothetical example. >> Yeah fair enough. Um so number one is I would go back to the point where the school is a budget based levy. So if the school says we got 20 new kids so we
need to increase our taxes to pay for those children. They will collect every single scent that they need regardless of whether or not there's a pilot on this project. Whether it's vacant land, a pilot, or paying full taxes in again a hypothetical scenario, they would get
the same amount of money. It it's not impacted. They strike their budget and they collect every penny. The town collects it on their behalf. And actually, the town bears the risk of people not paying their taxes. They have to pay the school 100% of every dollar
they request. So >> So you're saying that the budget for the school portion is separate from the pilot or is that >> Yes. Yep. Yeah. They're complet. >> So you're going to have the pilot which is going to pay for all the other
services the town provides. Correct. >> Uh yes. And then the school portion is a separate budgetary number that will be collected separately on an annual basis based on how many students come in.
>> Uh so the the the pilot itself has no provision to provide the school with any revenue. >> I understand that. >> Right. But the school budget just like they normally tax today after the pilot would tax the same exact way. So if their budget goes up, they just tax
more. Now, the idea being, yes, they're taxing the residents more because the costs went up, but the pilot by virtue of providing the bureau with more money. It's the kind of the example of the one pocket versus the other. >> But actually, that's providing the
bureau with less money based on what we would get tax-wise. So where would that deficit come from if needed? would other people be have their budget raised, their taxes
raised to make up that deficit? >> So, so the pilot, just to be clear, is always going to increase the revenue to the bureau because what you're comparing the pilot against is a vacant piece of land >> which could be sold each
>> if it's owned by the burrow. >> Both of these are hypotheticals, right? So, you're saying hypothetically it's vacant, but hypothetically it could also be sold. So, >> h it's currently vacant.
>> Underutilized, currently vacant, >> right? >> We have this project that could bring in revenue and get a tax abatement >> or we could do something else with that property and also make money. So, >> uh but the burough doesn't own the
property. No, I understand. I I know we don't own the property. I get that. >> The calculation would be right now, how much tax revenue does that piece of property bring into us? It brings in >> $67,000 >> $67,000 we get from that piece of property right now. >> So, if we were able to generate
>> a million dollars >> million dollars of property, that's a big benefit to the town, right? But we don't we're talking about hypothetical numbers. We have to look at what we're what the development is bringing in in revenue. They have a number, right, that has to be looked at. And then we have to
do a calculation. We're talking about $67,000 that we have right now compared to we could bring in a million. >> So $67,000 is based on the current >> current properties that are there right now. >> Which are not being used, right?
>> Well, there's a few houses there, right, that are there. Some of it vacant land >> that is not built on. >> Yeah. So those homes are pretty old, right? >> Right. >> Yeah. So, >> so even if somebody were to knock them down, build a new house, you're saying >> we're going to get $20,000 for a new house, if they built four new houses,
there it's 80,000, >> right? >> Simple math. >> Simple. >> So, it the development it has to be a calculation of how much we think we can get from >> um the payment. >> Well, I just, you know, I just want to reiterate what Joanne said is that
>> well, it has to be met, right? We need to really consider We really need to consider We really need to consider how muchion >> how much and how long the tax abatement would be. So that's really >> I think >> the concern is how long will it be and
how you know we don't want a 30-year abatement, right? That's too long. I >> I'm sure we'll we'll make it very public what you know what the negotiated mile is when we get there. Um, I think we want a a good deal, but we're not they haven't even asked for one yet. So, I
don't want to start negotiating against ourselves. Uh, >> so they haven't asked for one. So, that part I don't think people are clear. So, >> so all this is hypothetical. >> Yeah. And I apologize for the the hypothetical leads to a bit of an abstract conversation, right? What if this? What if this? What if this? So the
intention was just to kind of present the the process, the idea and >> and what if they ask for one and what is it going to involve and what are we going to get or not get from it? >> And that's the thorough costbenefit analysis looking at the hard numbers presenting a similar presentation but
with hard facts and you know to hopefully answer >> hard facts are really good. >> Exactly. And just to clarify one thing in your example of 120 units, uh this is a 44 unit uh project. So I think the estimate is like six kids, not 20,
right? >> Yeah. So >> depending who moves in, it could be. >> Yeah, maybe. >> You know, you can't you can't figure out >> how many kids are going to be born. >> Tomorrow, a family with 10 kids could move. >> Exactly. >> I've got 10 kids. >> You could sell it pretty fast for
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Sure. Anyone else from the audience? >> Just really quick, you sorry if you had already said this, but I assume there's at least a minimum payment that they would have to make. >> Uh, yes. So, >> that into the pilot,
>> right? So, the minimum percentage is the 10% that I that I've mentioned. So, 10% of their revenue is the statutory minimum pilot uh payment. Now, there's also, like I said, other floors like the 20 40 60 80% that phase in over time.
There's also just a statutory definition that they can't pay less than you were collecting prior to the pilot. So, like in the in the absolute worst case scenario, they build this thing and just nobody moves in, >> you're at least getting what you were
getting before, if not more from these other tests. >> Yeah. >> And you are still getting the taxes, the add more taxes on the land. Right. >> Just one just one gate. I'll send you a website. It's a listing of all the pilots in Bergen County.
>> So it it shows you where they are, how much money they what they pay, and how it's distributed. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> I have one >> I have one other question and I'm not sure it's another hypothetical. So, if we want to go hypothetical on top of hypothetical, but why have these pilots
become so much more, at least I've seen um increasing in frequency? Is it just that municipal budgets have been um affected by inflation by all the increase in expenses? And
>> yeah, I think it's a combination of both things. So, the towns, uh, you know, I think there's there's pressure, like I was saying, to find non- tax revenues, uh, and really there's not a lot of them out there, right? Um, and then number
two, coming out of CO, the construction costs increased dramatically, interest rates increased dramatically, lending restrictions from banks have increased over time, not just from CO, but just in general. Um, so and then it
goes back to the to what I was saying before too is if you could buy a US Treasury security, you know, and at a time it was higher than it was now, that's risk-free return. So if if I could make four or five% doing that, if I'm putting $20 million into a
speculative real estate, I want to make 15%, right? At least the risk return calculation. So that necessitates uh and just in New Jersey property taxes are generally pretty high um comparatively. So it's it's just that all of that factors into that model and
that developer proforma and the independent financial analysis that shows the need for that um pilot in the project to make it successful going forward. >> Thank you. >> Sure. >> Sorry, one more question. The percentage of the calculation is that based upon
gross revenue, net revenue, somewhere in between >> gross >> gross. Thank you. >> Anyone from the audience? >> Okay, Ryan, thank you very much. >> Thank you all. Appreciate it. Thanks for your time. >> Thank you. >> Next up will be the public hearing for
the 2026 Greenacre Land Acquisition, 197 White Corp Avenue. Okay, tonight is our public hearing for the 2026 sorry Greenacres land acquisition grant for 197 Wikov a we purchased this property in 2024 with 980
for passive recreation that has restricted uses which means we can't have any indoor facilities permitted are permitted on this property. This is 3 acres uh total with 197 WF being 2 acres which is block 136 lot 6.02.
Um, we are seeking the maximum funding of $700,000 with a maximum of soft cost for $20,000 and if awarded we will use those funds to pay down the principal. The bureau went ahead and had already purchased this property and so we're kind of doing
this whole process backwards. Um, and Greenacres is willing to work with us on that um, and have been really great. Our short-term plans for this property um, the two leases will end in May uh, in the summer. the front h the the house um
that you see on Woff will be demolished. Um the property will be graded, seated, and we will install the uh sign which will dedicate the park as the Wagner Beley Park. Our long-term plans um grant opportunity for park development through
Green Acres um and Bergen County. So there's a there's a ton of grant opportunities out there from both of those. And so we will use those to um once we figure out exactly what we're going to do with the property, we will um go ahead and apply for those grants. Um I want to thank the residents who um
answered the survey online. Um based on the survey results, um this all-inclusive park um may include um a walking track or path, uh seating, shaded areas, a gazebo, a water feature, garden, and small community playground.
Those were the main responses that we got from uh the survey that went out. Um I'd like to open these comments to the council first if anybody has any comments about the um the planning incentive land acquisition grant. >> Okay.
>> What about the my favorite park? >> What about your what? >> My favorite park that you didn't mention. >> No, I'm not mentioning that part because I'm not mentioning that because it wasn't mentioned in the surveys. >> But you can mention it. Go ahead. I'd like to see a dog park. We have a lot of
residents have dogs and I think it'll be a nice area for people to go and meet and say hello to each other and let the dogs uh share each other's friendship. >> Okay, I will add that to the list. >> The other thing I would like to add to the list, which kind of goes with community gardens,
>> access for all, we've already talked about community garden with raised flower um beds >> so that people with even not just people with disabilities, but people who can't get down on the ground. >> Sure. to plant that to have a few of those as well. >> Great. Good idea. >> I think it's a a great plan to have
there. I think it's great for the community to offset what we're also doing downtown with the redevelopment, having new green space for the town to enjoy. I would love a dog park. Thank you. >> My dogs would love it and I heard Mayor Tom offered to be the poop scooper.
>> I'll even buy a dog. >> Yeah. So, that would be great. >> Great. I just want to add that a community garden would be nice. And if there's going to be a garden, perhaps a place to compost, >> okay, >> could help with the garden. And I've also heard other residents express
interest in a dog park, too. >> Okay. They didn't do the they had they didn't do the survey, but that's okay. I'm adding it. Good. That's good. Anybody else from the >> survey will be open uh the remainder of this week. So, if any other residents still want to um hop on after tonight's
meeting and add um you know, voice what what their uh opinions are, that would be great. >> Now, what's the next step? >> One more point. I know we have a lot of um Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts that come to do community projects. Maybe we could reach out to them once we get the run like running and see if they can help us with things. >> Yeah, that'd be great.
>> Eagle Scout projects, silver award projects. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Flower beds and things like that. Those are not that hard to build. >> Someone made a bench, too. That was fantastic. Exactly. Yeah. >> I think once we start doing this, you're going to see a lot of residents come forward and want to get involved.
>> Anybody else from the council? >> Going to close the council's comments and open >> close the council's comments and I open it up to the public. Anybody from the public would like to comment on what was just said by our uh clerk?
>> Nope. I close the coun the public's comments and ask for a motion in a second. Motion by Joe, second by Katie. Clerk, you when you get up here, you can take the role. >> Don't run. >> We need you for the P.
>> So, this is resolution 2020 202671 authorizing the submission of an application to New Jersey, excuse me, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 2026 Greenacres Program for planning incentive land acquisition funding for 197 YOP A. And who was the
motion? Motion by Joe and Katie. >> Joe and Katie. Okay. >> And you take the role. >> Sure. Mr. Bren, >> yes. >> Miss Sakola Drake. >> Yes. >> Mr. Martinella? >> Yes. >> Mr. Richie? >> Yes. >> Uh Miss Smith? >> Yes. >> Miss Wingake? >> Yes. >> Great. Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much.
>> We'll continue with um reports of committees. First under my report. Um last week we accepted the resignation of our planning board chair Nel Benti. uh she has uh resigned as of uh last
week. Uh we are moving up Mr. Frink to fill her unexpired term as a class 4. And then we also brought up James Schultz from a alternate two to an alternate one. Also, um I just want to thank the residents who
might have been a little inconvenience with all the snow that came around this day yesterday. I know a lot of uh talk was all over the place. Um our DBW did the best they could under the conditions. We had a lot of snow and I
want to thank the residents for being very patient. Some were not patient, but I could understand that it's hard. You have to, you know, clean out your property, get your get your get yourself in your car and leave. So, I want to thank you all for what you've done and how you uh handled the situation, which
was really hard. A lot of towns in the area were hit hard and some towns weren't hit hard, but I think we survived it and it'll continue to have the snow taken out of our area. Financial administrative committee, Mr. Martinella.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, tonight we continue with our budget uh introduction. Uh, just to review from last U council meeting, there's three components to the structure of the budget. You have the general budget which we'll talk about at our next meeting which covers day-to-day
appropriations, salaries, operational cost. Uh the second portion which we're going to speak about tonight is the capital budget. These are funds infrastructure projects, buildings, roads, equipments uh through bonding. And then the third piece is the water utility budget which has its own set of
general appropriations and and capital which we'll discuss at our next uh meeting. So for a capital review last week we had uh another meeting to to work with um our finance committee and there is a uh fairly significant
increase in the overall budget which we're going to talk about uh next week and we had submitted that to our auditor for review on the uh cap and tax calculations. Once we get that back we'll review it with the finance committee and look forward to our next council meeting for uh introduction of
that. Tonight, we're going to look at the capital expenditure for 2026. Uh reminder to everyone, when we do a capital budget, we do have to set aside a down payment for a portion of that. So, whatever capital we do um approve, we have to pay a portion of that upfront
to fit the budget. Uh you will see that there were many requests made and we are recommending that the council limit the capital expenditures to roughly $2 million, which is in line with what we did last year. This includes a a list of roads recommended for paving in 2026.
And as a note, this is already filtered down to account for the reduced amount available. Um, these are the roads that are in most need of repair. Our DPW superintendent goes around and does a great job of providing us a list of those roads and spot on that estimate of
how much it would cost. So, we kind of already filtered that list down to what we think we can fit in our budget for this year. Um, and that $2 million budget we're talking about, just for frame of reference, just a few years ago, our capital budget was around 5 million. So, you can see we more than
have the capital budget to to make room for other things that we need to do. There are some very important items on here. Uh, we heard from Chief Seaffort a few weeks ago talking about the request for the police department for the new body cameras and Axion equipment, which
is sorely needed. There's also a bunch of requests from the DPW which need to be addressed on equipment that is desperately in need of replacement. And there's also some capital requests from the fire department um that we're we're trying to get into the budget. They also
had a request for a a a new fire truck which replaces two existing units that we have. Uh we're asking Councilman Bren to to head up a committee with the fire department to work together to look at long-term planning. nothing that we can commit to for 26, but uh definitely
something to look at with them. Councilman Brenica has agreed to to work with them on that. Um right now, we also continued our conversation with the CFO on our surplus reduction. We had another year where our surplus was reduced and we had uh information when we're looking
at our bonding that that continued reduction of surplus has a negative impact on your overall credit rating. Just like you or I where we're going to apply for a credit card, if my debt is too high, uh I get a higher credit limit. Um so that would affect us long term, too, as we continue to to bond our
our debt. Um also, there's a question about grants. As you know, the burrow contracted with Bruno Associates last year to do our grant writing. Grants are a big portion of how we fund projects within the town. Um and one thing to keep in mind that our administrator talks about, a lot of those grants are
matching funds. So when we go out and ask for funds from the government, we actually have to put up the same amount. So it's not just free money. You have to spend money to get money. Um which is great. And other sectors start giving a status report to folks about uh what we have in process. So currently there's
grants submitted and pending approval of $286,000. We have grants under administration, meaning approved and looking to close out paperwork of $688,000 and awards closed since Bruno started tracking is $83,000. Uh there's also
five other grants that are in application process right now and we're working with them to look at congressional grant opportunities. So, just to wrap upcoming schedule next week, we're expected to get preliminary numbers back on our cap and tax percentage increases from the auditor and we'll continue that preparation of
the operational budget and our uh March 10th meeting will look to present the initial operating budget and water budget to the full council. Tonight, we'll talk about capital during uh later with uh administrator. That's it. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you. Fire and police protection
committee, Mr. Bren. >> Uh thanks, Mr. Mayor. I'll be short. um since last we ran uh last we got together was 18 calls. Uh fortunately there were no calls during the snowstorm. We were prepared for any
emergency but thankfully that never took place. Um that's really all I have tonight. It's going to be a long enough meeting. So >> thank you public safety committee. Miss Winggate. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um this is a quick
update from me too. I spoke with um WVAC uh President Lucas and he um was working with the fire department as I mentioned last time. So they're all set with drivers and they're just in the process of training them and um but they are still looking for EMTs. So if anyone is
interested in becoming an EMT or knows anyone that is interested, please feel free to reach out. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Recreation and Health Committee, Miss Smith. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. uh board of health doesn't meet until April. So I will
report back at that time and the access for all committee schedule has been released. Their first meeting is March 9th. So I will be attending that meeting as well and then I will report back after that. Um the other thing I wanted to mention, one of the residents last
time had asked about the barn in Midland Park and whether our our youth from Waldwick would be able to use the barn for some of their activities. So, I know our administrator had reached out to the person who was in charge there at the
barn and asked that question. And they are having an open house for people on April 11th from 11 to 1:00 p.m. And if anybody is interested in the camp, the summer camp, which our residents, our
kids have been able to attend, they can go. Um, and they're also if there's any questions, they can be addressed to the um to Tatiana at the bureau, our burough administrator. As far as I don't think we've negotiated anything for being able to use it on some
do >> um so uh I've spoken with the um the barn coordinator Kathy Lamont who's will speak with the administrator in uh in Midland Park to talk about the request from our residents and allowing our youth to be able to use that barn. They
have a pretty extensive time frame. They're open Monday through Friday from I think 10:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. where residents can come by and use um you know their facilities. Um so I communicated to them that the request from our residents was if they would consider having our um youth attend even
at a nominal fee. And um she said that it's it hasn't been the case in the past, but she would definitely pass it on uh to the higherups to see if that's something that they would consider. And also the what she also said was that any student that goes there has to be accompanied by an adult. They just can't
drop the child off and pick them up when they tell you. It's going to have to be they really do a good job there and you know we're going to see what they say. They're going to get back to us. >> That's it. >> Okay. Public works committee. Mr. Richie.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don't have a whole lot to add except to reiterate, thank you to the DPW for working long and hard. It was uh it's been a long time since we've had uh one storm like this, I think, let alone two back toback. So, the logistics are are a challenge, but I think um yeah, I thank
everyone for their patience, but I think we did a pretty good job. I I drove around to other towns as well. I thought, you know, by and large, we did we did a a great job. Um so, you know, hopefully we don't get more snow. I'm really I'm really kind of uh hoping for that. Um and this won't be a
conversation we have to have again, but uh but if if if we do, I think we'll be ready. Uh as Joe mentioned, uh there'll be a number of items on the capital budget uh that we'll we'll review infrastructure uh projects um as well as
uh purchase of equipment. So we'll uh I'll hold my comments until until we get to that section. Thank Thank you, Mayor. That's it. >> Thank you. Building and grounds committee, Miss Heracola Drake. >> Thank you. Starting with the pistol range, the project is looking good and on track to be completed by the end of March. The police department um the
lighting replacements mentioned in my last report have now been completed. And finally, the new meeting space at Burough Hall project is being finalized and we are just waiting on painting the room. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Our administrator. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I will reserve my
comments for uh later this evening when we go over capital budget. >> Kelly. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just want to report or just a reminder that uh, April 8th is the deadline for the change of party affiliation declaration forms for the election for the primary election.
Um, we have issued 699 dog licenses to date. And just a reminder for those who have licensed their dog, they need to come pick up the dog license um, at Burough Hall in in our office. Uh, there's a free uh, rabies clinic in Wyoff on March 21st from 1 to 3 p.m. at
the DPW garage, 475 West Main Street. Thank you. >> Thank you. our attorney. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. No report this evening. >> Okay. Are we going into close? >> Yeah, we have one item for close for potential litigation, but no action will be taken when we come out. >> Okay, great. Thank you.
>> Consent resolutions and resolutions of the governing body. Be resolved that the following resolutions here with listed by consent, having been considered by the governing body of the Burough of Woulder, hereby pass and approved as amended to include resolution 202682
202672 approval of consent 202673 approval of minutes amended regular meeting December 16, 2025 regular and budget meeting and close session meeting of February 10, 2026. policy votes. U Melissa >> Arenos,
>> thank you. Request to use a billion A on June 20th from 3 to 3 p.m. to dusk for a graduation party with alcoholic beverages being served. 202674 authorized renewal of Waldwick's accident and sickness policy for the Waldick Fire Department OEM and WVAC.
202675 authorizing approval of Waldick Volunteer Fire Department bylaw amendments. 202676 award an open-ended professional service contract to Valley Health System for drug and alcohol testing in the amount not to exceed $5,000. 202677
appointment to the green team 202678 authorized cancellation of taxes block 162.02 02 lot 13 202679 approval of appropriation transfers 202680 uh payment of vouchers and 202682
authorized redemption tax lean 23-00635. >> Do we have a motion in a second to accept? >> Sure. >> Just wanted to touch on 202675 the authorization uh authorizing approval of the uh fire department bylaw amendments. Just want to make a note
that this is not um have an impact on the uh budget. This is just uh talking about the uniforms that'll be worn at certain times. >> You stole my line. >> I'm doing you a favor. >> Why don't you finish up council?
>> No, no, you go for the camera. >> Do I have a motion in a second? Motion by Mr. Joe, second by Mr. Andy. Anyone from the council on the question? 202674. That's a standard. It's our insurance policy that we have for our police, the
fire, and the EMT. Then also 202676 that is the random drug testing that we do every randomly with our DBWs. We're using another place to do it. And this is all standard housekeeping that we're doing. >> Anyone else? Clerk, please take the
role. >> Mr. Bick, yes. >> Miss Sarak, yes. >> Mr. Martinelloo, yes. >> Mr. Richie, >> yes. >> Miss Smith, >> yes. >> Miss Winky, >> yes. >> Okay, we don't have no public hearing. We have no introduction of ordinances. We have unfinished business which is the 2026 municipal budget discussion.
>> No, we're going to do it now. Oh my god, >> tiny. I'll read it for for all. >> All right. What you'll see on um what I've um shared with the council. Um and I did make it a little smaller so you
can have it all in one spot. Um but I can email this to everybody afterwards so you can look at a little closer. On the lefth hand side, you'll see the list of general capital projects that uh the bureau approved uh last year and uh the grand total that was uh bonded for those
projects, 2.27 uh million. And on the middle in the middle column, you'll see the proposed general capital projects for 2026. So, I'll I'll take you through them. Um, Hudson Avenue is a project that uh the
burrow's been um talking about for quite some time and we've uh worked on obtaining grants over the course of the past few years and have broken up the project into different phases. Uh this is phase two of Hudson A, which is the actual paving and some additional work
uh to be done. Uh the construction uh cost on uh the Hudson A uh project is $690,000 with an additional $134,000 charge uh for cost uh estimate from the
engineers. So that total project um is $824,000. we've been able to offset that project um by two NJ DOT grants that we've received over the course of two consecutive years and that total is
322,199. So the project in uh this year uh capital budget would equate to $52,000. Any questions on that project? Uh we had some um big playground improvements uh last year. Uh no
proposed playground improvements for this year. Uh it is something to consider moving forward as we look at Burough Park. We do have three uh different areas with uh playgrounds. Um and so the the thought has always been that uh we'd start with the old Lions
Park and then potentially move over to the Emily Rice playground on the right hand side. Uh I'm sorry uh to the playground on the right hand side. Um but that is not in the budget for this year but uh something that we will be talking to Bruno associates about um
regarding any funding through grants to start preparing for that down the road. Uh next move on to acquisition of IT equipment and various other projects. We have some switch upgrades that are being recommended by our IT consultant. Um so
that that uh is pretty low this year 21,000. We did a large uh purchase of new equipment in 2025 both for our police department, our administration building and our DPW. And so this year is just really um sort
of phase three uh of what we've been doing these past few years and getting everything updated and secure. Moving down to road resurfacing, uh you know, this is a a program that the bureau invests in every year. So, in addition to Hudson Avenue, there is a
list of streets um that have been recommended by our superintendent uh that need to be addressed this year. That um total cost and we looked at the list. We were able to uh eliminate a few
of the streets uh just in terms of of cost and uh you know and financing for this year. But um grand total is 227,000 being I'm sorry 247,000 being offset by three prior years. So we try to uh
estimate estimate as best as we can every year. But um we were fortunate in the sense that the past three years we've uh had an overage on what we were bonding for those projects and we can apply them to this year. So that that would bring our out- of pocket um for
this year to $59,000. Uh moving on to >> just Tatiana that al that gets us that section east of Route 17 where the grid is and then uh over by the Malcolm P um pumping station where we have a lot of
uh a lot of our heavy equipment coming in and out of there which has done a lot of >> uh you know damage to that road there that kind of a lot of the areas that the residents have complained about over the years or or brought up and that ties into what we're doing on the Hudson on part of that grid there. So I think it's
a great um set of roads to do for this year given our capital that we have available. >> It includes correct it includes all the cross streets on Hudson in that area. So that whole area will have been completed entirely which is uh a nice way to to complete the project. Malcolm and Duncan have had a lot of work. We have a lot of
utility locations back in that area. So they've taken a beating the past few years. Um and then you know those would be included. I'm sorry. Uh, just to adjust my total, $286,000 is our estimate with an offset from the three previous years of $227,000.
>> Yep. And we also have a bunch of paving going on in the town from the county. So, a lot of our major roads will also be paved this year. So, it'll be a lot of paving going on around the town uh when the warmer part of the year gets here eventually. >> Yes, the the county has a pretty robust uh plan between 26 and 27 on our main
roads, county roads. Uh moving down to DPW. Uh we've have some substantial requests. Uh the councilman mentioned before uh you know equipment is an important function of the DPW and the tasks that they're doing daily and what they're accomplishing uh you know in
town. And so we look at these requests. We acknowledge that they are uh they come at a higher cost uh but they are essential to the department. Uh the first uh request was for a Caterpillar wheel loader. Our current one is in need of replacing. That comes uh with a price
tag of $345,000. Uh just to get my notes out on that. Our current loader is a 2012. Um and the anticipated life on a piece of equipment like this is uh 20 years. Uh so this
would uh put us in a good position to have a uh a big piece of equipment like this that would be reliable and um would last with with the department for quite some time. The uh additional piece there is the snow plow pusher. That's an additional
uh function that the that the CAT can perform. Uh that's an additional 40,000. So we are looking at a total of 385,000. The DPW is also in need of a uh new truck with a body plow salter. Uh that
comes in at 311,500. The current truck that it's replacing um is I believe a 2013. I have Mr. Woodour here. Um and that truck uh would be once we update that truck, our fleet
will look um and and hopefully perform well for several years. So, we're we would be in a good position overall fleetwise with that replacement. Um, the current one is in our parking lot ready to be auctioned off at some point this summer. And, um, you know, the the
burrow anticipates that with our old CAT machine and the the current uh truck that we have that we'll be able to get um some money on on auction for those uh pieces of equipment. So, that would be the plan for those that we're phasing out.
Any questions on uh equipment? Okay, moving on to ADA ramps. It's uh this is something that we've been putting in the budget for the past several years and this is in preparation for the roads that we are planning to uh pave in the future. Uh you know, in
being compliant, uh we are looking at ramps that need to be updated around town and so our engineer and uh Mr. Lour are able to identify looking, you know, to 2027 what roads we think will be paving and uh the work that we'll do
ahead of the paving so that the ramps can be updated. We did put money into the budget last year on traffic devices. We still have a portion of that money left. Uh it is something the DPW and the police department have been working on. So, uh,
there is no recommendation for this year to put that in, but I I I anticipate that's something that we can continue to put in every other year just to stay, uh, up to date. Those are, um, that equipment can be expensive and, um, something to just keep in mind moving forward. Theriping, we put this in every
year as well. This year, um, the recommendation was about 25,000. We did not utilize our entire account last year, so uh, we're offsetting that amount. That's where you get the $17,000 from. Um, this is just, you know, in line with the the paving that'll be done
throughout town. Uh, then you'll see there's some items under DPW and fire as I get into um the other sections that are highlighted yellow. Uh, the burrow has um what's called a um a surplus. I'm sorry I
didn't print that that part for you guys. um a a capital surplus account which allows us to take some items that might be uh of less uh cost and put them together uh so that we can fund them without having
to go out and bond for them. Uh so the intention is to take some of these uh lower uh price tagged items and put those together so that it doesn't um go against the bonding amount but would allow us to do you know some additional work. So, when you get into DPW, they
have um a fuel management system that is in need of repair or I'm sorry, in in need of an upgrade uh that is uh essential to the function of all of our vehicles, whether it be um you know, police department, DPW, any uh vehicle
that's uh burrowowned. If that system is down, uh there's no ability to get fuel and that obviously will pose a problem. So, um, we've kind of extended the life currently of the fuel management system, but the upgrade, uh, is being highly recommended for this year. And then
there's a garage door upgrade that's needed at the DPW facility. You'll see that listed as well. Any questions before I go on to fire? >> Yes. >> The highlighted the highlighted areas, are they netted out um, in the total or
are they still in there? >> No, they're out of the total. And it just didn't print that line for you guys. Yep. But I'll get you that amount. Um it's about $58,000. Um that'll, you know, be take, you know, that's not allocated there. Uh so we go over to fire. Um there are some reoccurring um
items, line items that we put in every year. Turnout gear, uh PPE being one of them. So the PPE um equipment uh recommendation is 25,000. The uh fire department has a fit test
machine for face pieces that they use. Uh it has reached end of life and being recommended that we replace it. Uh you'll see that's listed there at 12,600. And then the NOX boxes that we have around town uh which assists not only fire department but also our fire
prevention office. Uh we've been funding this uh through capital the past few years uh in different phases. This is the last phase of the Knox box having uh all the buildings around the burrow updated with this uh with this technology which has been helpful to um
you know everybody who who is servicing those locations. Fire suppression system uh remains uh about the same that we do every year. $8,500. Communications uh is a new line for this year. You'll see there at $20,000. That
would allow for the fire department to replace any radios that fail. We currently do not have any backup radios for the fire department. Uh those are costly. Uh so at about $9,000 each, that would allow for up potentially up to two
new radios if the need um you know is presented in 2026. Again, with capital, we don't lose this money. So, um, we can kind of start to build a little nest for, uh, you know, for the purposes of just being responsible and having having that available to the to the fire
department if needed going forward. Radio upgrades is a one-time, uh, for this year, we'll say it's a one-time upgrade of um of the U for the radio system. That'll be at 25,000. So, um you'll see that some of those items are
being um allocated into the capital surplus and the other um gets you to the 70,000 that you see on the on the total for fire. Uh police, I'm sorry, fire did have u two additional requests and um those are
pushed to the column on the right for potential uh 27 uh capital items or beyond. Uh, as the councilman mentioned before, a rescue engine um was was discussed and while the bureau doesn't have the ability to to make that um
commitment in this year's uh you know, capital project uh accounting, we can um start to look at potentially some options moving forward. Uh but that'll be done through a committee that'll be set up with uh Mr. Brennick, who will be the the point of contact for for the
council. And then there was a request for a uh chief's vehicle, which is actually the assistant chief's vehicle uh for replacement. Moving on to police, we had uh Chief Seafford here several weeks ago to talk about what Axon is and the uh upgrade
that this would provide for his department in terms of bodywn cameras, tasers, uh and just the processing of the information that uh that they have in their department. This is costly. This is a five-year buyin with a fully
bonded amount this year, $414,000. Uh that would cover the cost for the next five years. Uh we did check with our auditor uh and we did u unfortunately even though Axon was able to uh give us yearly payment options. We did have to bond being that it is a
capital uh project, we had to bond that full amount this year. But from a cash perspective, we can delay the payment at 0% interest. >> Correct. >> Over the five years. So, >> correct. They've been very uh willing uh to to work with the department. Um and
it's it's uh it is their only request for this year from the police department. >> Yeah. And we talked about a lot of those benefits being cloud-based environment. It's going to reduce the time that the men have to do to produce those body camera images to uh various requests. So
definitely an an upgrade that is well needed. >> Thank you. And then uh we do have u a request and it was on one of the prior year um I believe list for a standby uh gas generator at the uh police
department. The one that we currently have is end of life. Uh knock on wood. It's it's still plugging along, but uh we do want to be prepared so that when that day comes, we're not surprised and we've got it available. that's a $130,000
um price tag to it. There is potentially a savings of $25,000 that we for a piece that we may not need. Uh we don't know that quite yet, but um we would budget for worst case scenario so that we can make that improvement at the at the police department. uh that is you know
obviously overall um it connects the police department and the burrow uh yes in the administration building in the case that we lose power. So that is our our main source of backup. That brings us uh any questions before
we just talk about final numbers? >> No. And council members, you'll see on the right column that U administrator was talking about. There's a there's four maybe five items if we have to talk about another one where we're suggesting as the finance committee we push those
off in talking with uh superintendent Ltorii and the finance committee on the fire department items. Those are the items that we're looking at at pushing off which get us down to around that 2 million number. Uh we were even questioning maybe the 25,000 up at
the top for the admin building security enhancement. Maybe in fact just doing that um because it's not a big expenditure, but improves the security around the the complex here and gives us more and in this world just the cameras of having people coming in and out of
the building uh make our staff feel a little more safe. Thank you. >> Um I will be sharing this with the council and uh you know any feedback otherwise or questions as you uh look at you know into it further. Happy to
answer any questions that uh anyone has. >> Yeah I think there's one other item too. I don't know we we talked about it last week the the sewer items that we were talking about which are not part of the the water budget. >> Yes thank you. Uh there are some sewer um projects that uh we were discussing as part of these preliminary uh meetings
with uh with Mr. Lour and um their sewer station improvements uh one of them being at Woodside and Derby and the other being um on Sheridan and um those hard costs are close to or or over $500,000. Um, one of them would require
engineering cost. Uh, so making this u a pretty significant project. And the idea and the thought there is for us to uh reach out to the I bank to see if we can pursue some sort of uh loan through the I bank for these projects so that we can relieve that off of our general capital.
>> Yeah. that some of the benefits of going ibank like we did when we did POA there's potential to get remediation or to get some forgiveness on some of that um if we do our uh paperwork correctly and the the government is is kind to us um those sewer improvements are very
important as I've learned from from these meetings that's a separate system than your water system so that's why we don't include that as part of the water budget um and if we had a catastrophic failure of one of these things we'd be having a major mess in some of our residents homes and getting ahead of
that and doing necessary maintenance is important to maintaining the the health of our residents and and the health of our systems. So looking at other various financing opportunities is very important to making sure this this budget kind of works for us. >> Yes.
>> Anyone else? >> I just mayor can I just double down on something Joe said earlier which is uh I really think we we we we ought to keep repeating it. Um, it looks like a lot, but uh I think if you go back four years, we were spending more than twice as much in capital uh every year. So,
we've really sharpened our pencils as a as a mayor and council. Um, and we're going with kind of the the bare essentials here um in these times. So, I think this is a great I think it's it's really exciting that for I think going on three or four years now, we've been able to maintain this at about two
million a year. So, uh gives me hope that we'll be able to continue that for a bit longer. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you everyone that participated with this.
>> Okay. Anybody from the council have any new business? Nope. Okay. Public comments. Anybody from the public would like to comment, please come to the microphone and please state your name only for the record. >> Good evening. My name is Jim Shehy.
Thank you for your time. My son Jack is a middle schooler here in town. Uh he's been building computers and 3D printing for years. These are just projects that we did at home and we're looking for something more. And we're looking for something that every
kid in town could have access to, not just ones who were lucky enough to be able to do it at their house. So about two years ago, we went to a robotics competition and what I saw there was incredible. Uh quick thinking, teamwork, high-end mechanical and
electrical engineering. The kids were coding uh to fix problems on the fly. And I remember thinking, I want that for my son and I want that for Waldwick. So I went home and that night I just made a Facebook post and I just said,
"Would anyone in town be interested in a robotics club?" And from that one post, we got one team last year. This year we had five teams and 40 kids. It exploded
through the help of amazing parent volunteers. Our club teaches programming, basic electronics, engineering, 3D printing and design, and more. And we also compete annually in the first robotics competition. This is hands-on
STEM. The kids are learning. This is working. Uh, for example, sorry, I was nervous. I forgot to bring this up. Um, this is a robot that the kids designed and 3D printed themselves. It's all
unique. Uh, started out drawing on a piece of paper and ended up designing it and printing it themselves. Uh, they put cameras on it, motors on it, a computer, and they can control it with a cell phone or a computer and it even has an AI module on the front. It can identify
objects um, autonomously. Uh this is the level that our kids are working at. These are Waldwick kids. Uh this season, in just our second season, we competed in the Donbosco Robotics Tournament. Uh we had one of our teams won the event and three of our teams
beat the Donbosco sponsored teams. Uh at the regional tournament, multiple Waldwick teams won awards and one of our teams advanced to the state tournament from there. Uh these are Waldwick kids coached by parent volunteers and they're competing against well-funded school
programs and they're winning. Uh and it's not slowing down. We're expecting to grow even more next season. Uh we could even expand the program beyond where it is now. Right now it's mostly fourth through 7th grade, but that's just because that's where the kids are that uh um the kids are the
coaches. But we could expand to younger kids and all the way through high school. The demand is there. The issue is we have uh limitations with our space. Um the honest truth is that if we can't get the space issue addressed, we're going to have to turn
kids away because we just don't have room. This is an all volunteer club. No one is making any money on this. It's just parents who care deeply about STEM education and the opportunities for Waldwick kids. We are truly grateful for the space that
the town's already given us. Um, but to be honest, twice a week is not enough and that's all that's available at the moment. The successes that we've had have created growing pains. Um, and what we need is we need a dedicated room where we can leave equipment set up. We
can build our competition fields and meet daily like the strongest programs do. We have a real chance to do something special here in Waldwick. We have incredibly bright kids. We have extremely dedicated parent volunteers. and Waldwick could become a real
powerhouse in STEM and robotics. The foundation's there. We just need a place to work. The town invests heavily in sports and we absolutely respect that. But we're not asking for a new turf field. We're just asking for regular access to a room, a place where the kids can keep
building, learning, and winning for Waldwick. If you help us, you're not just supporting the club. You're investing in the future of Waldwick kids. Thank you. I received your email over the weekend and I voted to Tatiana. I know you're working with the ambulance call. You
have days there. I know that there's a room available here for maybe two days. >> Yes, sir. >> Um otherwise, you know, we we have to look look at this. I mean, we just got over a snowstorm, so now we're going to start figuring out what's available. might maybe reach out to the school or
reach out to other schools in the area to see if they have a uh a place to accommodate you. The biggest concern or the problem might be is just to take a room and just have it left the way you want it to be left. Like we can't do that unfortunately here because we have we rent out all our rooms here
>> and like you you see at the ambulance court >> for you to set it up and take it down. It's it's a pain. >> It's a lot of work. >> It is >> and we miss out on practice time obviously. Yeah. But uh you know as I said uh you know Adiana and I the administrator we we talked about it briefly this afternoon and you know
we're going to give us some time to look into seeing what we could do. >> Okay. >> It's got to be you know a lot of the different schools around here. You got 7-day event this you got all these schools. Maybe they have an area that we could maybe reach out to them and uh see if they could help us. >> We've done our best looking on our end
and there's just nothing available. We've tried to keep the program and we we lost money the first year. We try to keep it as inexpensive as possible to keep it accessible for everybody. We the only options that are available that we could keep longterm would be renting a
space when we that money that's cost prohibitive. Yeah. >> Yeah. Let give us some let me you know sometimes when you have the administrator and the mayor call somebody up it goes a little bit different. >> Not saying that they're going to listen to us but you never know. Yeah. Yeah, >> but you know, give us, you know, let us
talk about this a little bit more. On Friday, I'm going to be in town hall. I'll be talking with Tatiana about this and uh, you know, we'll make some phone calls and see what happens. >> Okay. >> You do have the room here for the two days, but then again, it it can't be he's going to be putting it up and then
taking it down because we we do we do have to rent it out to other organizations that want the room. Unfortunately, we don't have that much property to do all this stuff. And you know, you might be thinking about the uh that place on White Cliff Avenue, but we cannot build anything there. We have to
have a gear mark toward the parks. It's the only way we're going to get our money and funding. And we don't have like a rec center. We don't have anything like that here, but you know, as I said, let us let us look into this for you. >> Okay. I uh I appreciate that.
>> And I have your email so I know how to get a copy. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, guys. Quick question for you. Um, are you guys affiliated with any of the school program at all? I mean, I know we have a STEM program in the school. We just built the, you know, fantastic facility up there and all this stuff. >> No.
>> Have you reached out to them? >> Yes. >> I at this point I've seen um Glenrock's STEM program. They've invited us there. They've worked with us. I've seen um Northern Highlands. I've seen Don Bosco STEM
program. I have not seen Waldwick's STEM program. Um I've reached out >> to Principal Carol or Principal um >> Well, my son's in middle school, so I've I've Yeah. And uh and he's great. He's been very supportive of our of our club.
Um and uh but there's the program is not where it should be uh in Waldwick schools. Um, and frankly, even if the school wanted to be more involved, the really successful programs, they meet
like a they meet like a sports team, right? They meet every day of the week. Um, what we're doing having it as a private club, we meet anytime, anytime the kids are available. And so like especially towards the end of the
season, we were in that gentleman's garage and then basement and then office for about a month straight every day. And that was the team that would went on to states. Um and so that's great that we can do that. We could do that in like, you know,
little instances, but uh not every team can do that. And so you have one team that goes to states and they're meeting every day in somebody's house because they have the room. and other teams don't and they're meeting at the ambulance building once or twice a week. Um
the school if the school was involved it would have to be treated like a sport to be as successful as it should be and to offer the kids what we want the kids to have. It can't be >> like what they do with the esports program that they have there. >> Yeah. It can't be once a week. I mean, my son Jack is in the he just went to
the STEM club meeting today, coincidentally. And they're gonna meet once a week and they're gonna make a car that runs on a mousetrap. Mousetrap. I mean, that's nice, but like this is really cool. >> That's >> um >> what space how how much space do you
need? What size? >> I mean, so you could just leave everything, you know, go in and come out. I mean, at least uh a room that could easily handle What do you think? What's the square footage? This is Coach Christina.
>> Uh I think we've been looking at spaces between 1500 and 3,000 square feet if we want to actually do it right. Uh this is if we want to continue into uh this is if we want to continue into high school competition. Uh the high school competition is much bigger than
this. Legos is easy. We can fit Legos in this. Uh, we can fit Legos in our basement. We cannot fit high school competition in our basement. >> How about does it have to be here in Walford space? >> We'd like to keep it a Wald club. >> It I mean, we're open at this point.
We'll take what we can get. >> Um, and just to kind of pull back a little bit, we would take anything at this point, right? We take a room that could fit two folding tables, honestly. And then with the goal
of growing in the years to come, but immediately I mean we are we need we need a room and I hope that's not too much to ask. >> We'll try we'll try hard. We can try. I mean I we can't guarantee you anything
but I'm we're going to look around. >> I mean I have some people in other towns. I have a couple of friends that own warehouses. >> I'll see what what could be done. >> Thank you. >> It doesn't hurt to ask. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. I'd like to congratulate the coaches and the young people. I've been
following your success. Very impressive. Very impressive what you've been able to do with such limited um budget and space and resources. But uh I again you guys are doing a really good job and hopefully we can find a space. >> Thank you so much. I appreciate it. >> Thank you.
>> Thanks, sir. >> Anyone else? I was supposed to meet that young man about four weeks ago. My name is Ray Cruz. How are you? Thank you all for surviving the storms. Um I'm actually here not to complain about anything or
say anything other than see your beautiful faces and say thank you to three specific people in town. Um, as many of you know, I set up the uh snow angel program, I don't know, six years a six years ago, something like
that, uh, to help our most vulnerable residents. Sorry, I'm just getting over a, uh, illness, so my voice is a little off. Um, in that time we've had in the beginning
I would say four to five volunteers that go around town during snowstorms or and help out, you know, a list of people that really need help. The DBW does do a great job. And for those listening, yes, I am the Walwick United uh admin.
Calm down. Uh, you know, the DPW, I'm out there at 2:00 shoveling or with my machine. DPW's out there. They're they're I see them on my cameras all night long coming through these streets. They do a great job. Uh,
and uh, despite equipment breakdowns and and all of that, I wanted to take a take a moment to say thank you for all they've done. We've had two historic storms in less than three weeks, three or four weeks apart. Uh I think they've done a great job to keep us uh moving forward and the fact that new
emergencies were called uh in the past storm was uh I think that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. But specifically um in those six years there have been three specific people who have been constants.
Uh in this particular storm I injured my left shoulder. I really couldn't go out there as much as I could have, but uh I'm going to name these three people and I posit that one of you goes out there and uh maybe makes a resolution to honor them, bring them up here and uh let them
know how much for the past six years I've been very appreciative, but also the people who are silent, bedridden are as appreciative to uh to to them. uh Richard Rowski who from what I understand uh is coming back to WVAC
right so to help WVAC uh I uh I met with the Volvac team uh couple weeks back to help them on a different project Mayor Jordano that I'm working on with them but uh Richard Rowski no less than uh I would say five
or six homes this past storm did on his own I couldn't go out there and help him out but it was just us Um, I don't want to hear anybody laughing, but yes, Anthony Caciola over the past six years, he has been a constant.
Uh, regards all his uh busting of you know what online. Um, he's he's got a heart of gold. He's out there helping his old teacher, helping out people he went to school with. uh pretty much every time he goes out there and tries to shovel somebody out,
it's like, "Oh, I went to school here and I and that that lady was my math teacher. That lady was my English teacher." Uh you know, and um these people have cancer. They have uh other ailments that just limit their ability to actually do something for themselves
and their kids are away, right? So, this is these are the types of people that we get on this list. and then Sharon Lee who with her kids goes out there and and makes them shovel pretty much anybody's house she runs into. So these three
people uh are a shining example of what Waldwick is all about. Um not just because of the service that we get from great people like you guys as well as the DPW and everybody else behind me here who do it either as a volunteer
service in a job but also do it because this is the right thing to do. We always get the same question. Why are you doing this? They try to pay us because when I get old, I am getting old, right? I'll only shave because I don't want to look like Mr. Bzong's here. Uh but the only
reason we do this is because we always want it to be paid forward. Hopefully one day somebody's going to shovel my my driveway. Someone's going to do something really nice for me. But ultimately, we know that that that kindness is missing a lot in this in
this day and age. Unity and Wick united is all about bringing people together for the things that actually matter. And so my request is for anyone on the council to take up a resolution to honor these three people for the past six years in their years of service.
>> A resolution. What I'll do is I'll reach out to you and after we finish our budget and pass it, we'll talk. >> Awesome. Thank you. That's all. >> Yes. Young man. young man. Oh jeez. Uh Dan Mau, Wald Board of Education. Uh I would just like to invite you all to the
board of ed meeting Thursday. We will be introducing our new uh superintendent of schools. And I would just uh I know Mr. Wator is here. The board of ed would like to thank the DPW because of their work over this past weekend. We were able to have a delayed opening today where towns our size were closed. So we
appreciate it and it saved us an emergency day that we could use at a later date or in the future. So, thank you, Mr. Otori, for your work. And, uh, >> got to thank the wife. She's more important. >> No, I I I get that. I trust me, I get it.
But, uh, it's just sad that what went on over the weekend on the internet. That's just >> It happens. >> Yeah, I know. It happens to me a lot, too. But, I I get it. But, it's just not not what we're about. I think, uh, >> that's the righteous. >> We We need a little bit better on that. And Mr. Richie, we look forward to
sitting down on the pilot program. >> I would love nothing more. We're waiting for it. >> Someone has to ask us first. >> We just We don't want to work on the hypothetical situation. We rather you get your your stuff in order than get back to us. It's it's easier that way for us. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anyone else? >> If not, I have a motion to go into close. Motion by Joe, second by Mike. >> No decisions will be made. Thank you very much.