Cookie Monster, you always feel like February 2nd, 2026 of the township of Washington Township Council. Adequate notice of the meeting was given in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act by the Township Clerk to at least two newspapers on January 8, 2026. And this meeting has been posted on the township bulletin board, electronic
message board, WCTV, and on the township website. Please notify the municipal clerk for any disability requirements necessary for attendance at township council meetings. The fire exits are located through the double doors to your right and through the door on your left. Please silence all cell phones at this time. If you are unable to attend the
council meeting in person and would like a topic to be addressed at a council meeting, please visit www.twpofw washington. us contact us tab. Click on mayor and counsel. Send email to contact all council members at once. Could everyone please stand for a salute to
the flag? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat]
>> Roll call. >> Councilman Casio >> here. >> Councilman Sears >> here. Councilman Elman >> here. Councilwoman BZ >> here. >> Council President Denna >> here. Let the record reflect also in attendance Mayor Kalawari, Township Administrator D. Carlo, Township Attorney Bailey, and Township Clerk Wowski.
Payment of bills. Resolution number 26-167. Authorized payment of bills January 16 through January 28, 2026. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Mr. Alman, you good? >> Yes. >> Roll call.
>> Councilman Casio. Yes. >> No, he kind of got the responses. >> Councilman Sears, >> yes. >> Councilman Omen, >> yes. >> Counciloman Veles, >> yes. >> Council President, >> yes. >> Uh, tonight we have a police appointment. Police officer Jamie Dory, oath of office to be administer
administered by Mayor Peter Calamari. >> Thank you everyone. I don't think I need the mic for this. Um, it's my pleasure to introduce Jamie Dy to the Washington County Police family. Uh, thank you mayor and council for allowing us to do this. Thank you to her family and
friends for uh being here. Jamie uh came to us through a a pretty extensive process started last year and uh she was number one. So that's why she's here today. Um put her best foot forward and we're happy to have her here. Jamie attended Keen University for four years
where she earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a minor in technology. She began her career in public service in 2018 as a 911 dispatcher with the Clifton Police Department, answering a call to service her community in times of need. In March
of 2022, she took the next step in a law enforcement career when she was sworn in the Essex County Sheriff's Office. She went on to attend and successfully graduate from the Essex County Police Academy. For the past two years, Janie has served in the patrol division, demonstrating dedication,
professionalism, and a strong commitment to public safety and community service. We excited to welcome her to our WTPD family and look forward to her serving this great community. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> I
>> I Jamie Dardy >> do solemnly swear or affirm >> do solemnly swear or affirm >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. that I will bear true faith >> and that I will bear true faith
>> and allegiance >> and allegiance >> to the same >> to the same >> and to the governments established >> and to the governments established >> in the United States >> in the United States >> and in this state >> and in this state >> under the authority of the people >> under the authority of the people >> and that I do solemnly swear >> and I do solemnly swear >> that I will faithfully
>> that I will faithfully >> and partially >> impartially >> and justly perform >> and justly perform >> all the duties of the >> all the duties of the police officer of the township of Washington Police Department >> in the tactic of Washington >> in in the township of Washington, >> in the county of Bergen, >> in the county of Bergen. >> In the state of New Jersey,
>> in the state of New Jersey, >> according to the best of my ability, >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. >> So help me God. >> CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] >> YEAH, we had to. It's getting cold. That's why nobody has a camera. >> Get everybody in.
[laughter] >> [laughter] >> Is anybody watching? over there. Super >> of course. Thank you everyone. Good evening everyone. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. PSA for February 2nd, 2026. PSA tax
collector quarter 2 taxes are due February 2nd, 2026 with a grace period to February 10th, 2026. Payments received after February 10th will incur interest charges. If you completed a PAS-1 tax relief blue booklet application last year, the state will begin mailing the
2025 booklets directly to you beginning midFebruary. If you filed online last year, expect a postcard from the state outlining details for 2025. You must submit a paper application or file online every year. It is not a oneanddone submission. PAS-1 booklets
for new applications should be available in the tax office by mid-March, early April. Please be reminded that if you are 65 plus, you must apply for the anchor relief program using the PAS-1 application. If you are under 65, the state will mail anchor notices in the
summer. Construction has begun on the new DPW building at Town Hall. With this construction, the DPW yard will now remain closed on Tuesdays for household debate, debris, and recycling drop off. Residents may still drop off items on Saturdays between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Please note, during the
hours of construction, there will be limited parking to the east side of Hudson Avenue. 2025 animal license renewals were mailed out in late December. Please note, the $5 late fee began on February 1st. As part of their efforts to identify lead service lines in our community, Violia
Water New Jersey has continued with meter tech to assist with in-home inspections of water meters to determine if your home is served by a lead service line. Please be advised, inspectors will be knocking on doors in an effort to schedule the appointment as a followup to letters that were sent to your home.
The police department is aware of this. Please visit our website for further information. The warming center will be open during extreme temperatures from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the senior center. Before entering, please stop at the police desk to sign in. Our next council meeting will be held on Monday,
February 23rd, 2026. Thank you, everyone. At this time, the report of the administrator. Good evening, council president. Good evening, council. Uh, thank you. This is my followup from our January 19th council meeting. Uh, page one is the
updates. If you can just keep page two um is for our discussion on the DPW followup for uh later in conference. There are no resident or council follow-ups from last meeting. However, I do have several updates. The township has received our $15,000 grant
reimbursement for the 2023 recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities grant. As a reminder, a township has applied for this same grant for 2026. Your remedial excavation of contaminated soil at 450 Pasc Road has been completed and Beckmire Engineers is preparing the
demolition plant. As a reminder, township funds were not spent to remediate the contaminated soil and we have a grant to demo the buildings. This evening, administration requests the council's approval for a resolution to apply for the 2026 NJDCA local recreation improvement grant. If
awarded, this grant will reimburse the township for funds requested in the 2026 capital budget for ADA improvements to Memorial and Clarkfield. Request is for 175,000. No matching funds are required for this grant. As a reminder, the
township received the NJ DOT grant to resurface Ridgewood Boulevard North in 2026. The grant total is 230,37,528. We plan to begin the 2026 road program once the 26 capital budget is approved by council. Eight additional roads are
recommended to be resurfaced in 2026. These roads have been added to the 26 capital budget request and are identified as Chimney Ridge Court, Gabaldi Place, Harrison Street, High View Terrace, South Chestnut Street, Walnut Street between Ridgewood and
Bergen, Persian A and Horizon Court. The final documents have been submitted to NJ DOT in order to receive our final grant reimbursement payment for the resurfacing of Koolage Avenue. And thank you, Council President. That's my report. >> Report of the mayor at this time. >> Yes. Good evening, Mike. Evening,
council members, residents. Um, I had an enjoyable night this past Saturday honoring the service of now former fire chief Zack Myros. It was a privilege working with Zack during his two-year tenure. As chief, he consistently represented the department with distinction both within our community
and beyond. I want to thank all the departments involved for their cooperation and accommodating our seniors at the firehouse twice a month for a few hours while renovations at town hall are underway for the new DPW facility. Everyone involved cooperated effectively
to ensure this arrangement works well, especially as alternative venues would have been a costly expense. It is always my pleasure to work with and accommodate our department's requests when possible, just like they did with me on this one. Starting March 1st, a new law requires
municipalities to post their public notices on their municipal websites. Nothing in the law presents prevents a municipality from choosing to publish a public notice elsewhere, but at a minimum, the public notice must be on the municipal website. Since I believe
the state has not educated the public enough on this new law, I have asked our departments to put enough money in their budgets to continue to publish the public notices in their usual places through June 30th. We are working with the library to put an educational piece in their next newsletter that will be
published before June 30th and gets mailed to all the homes in town to better inform them of this important change. Recreation news. The 2025 2026 basketball program season started in January. Thanks to all the many
volunteers who are helping out this season. The 2026 Falcons lacrosse program. Registration opened on Friday, January 9th, and ends on Friday, February 13th. If you are interested in volunteering with the lacrosse program, please contact Dan Scooi via email. A
background check for all volunteers 18 years of age and older is required. The fun with art and fun with cartooning program registrations open on Monday, January 26th and ends on Friday, March 13th. The men's over 33 softball program
registration will open on Monday, February 16th, and end on Friday, April 3rd. Police department news. The department completed the promotional process for captain, lieutenant, two sergeants, and two corporals. Officers completed their defensive tactics
training. The department also worked with the other departments in managing the snowstorms that took place throughout the month of January. Fire department news. For the month of January, the department responded to multiple odors of gas calls, fire, and
CO2 alarms, plus one runaway furnace. Two hours into the new year, the department was called for mutual aid to Paramis for coverage during a working house fire. On the 17th, they were called to Emerson for a fire alarm. As part of mutual aid, our department was
covering Emerson, covering Fort Emerson while they had an event. On the 18th, the department responded to a residence for a chimney fire. The department knocked the fire down and checked for extension. Residents are reminded to have their chimneys cleaned annually
prior to their first seasonal usage. On the 28th, the department was dispatched to a resident residence that had a lithium battery fire. The fire occurred at 2:00 a.m. and it was quickly extinguished by the residents. They reported it to the department at 6:00
a.m. due to smoke and smell conditions. The department responded, checked for any hot spots, and vented the home. People are reminded to call these incidents in immediately. The fumes from a battery fire are highly toxic. The department has the training to deal with
these situations and is on call 24/7 for all emergencies. Again, they welcome the seniors who are now holding their meetings at the firehouse while the new DPW facility is being built at town hall. A fire call came in as the meeting started, but the safety procedures that
were proactively put into place worked as designed. [cough] They [clears throat] want to remind the residents to shovel out hydrants on their property. Every minute counts during a fire and it is also a town ordinance. DPW news. The few the crews finished
leaf collection. Holiday decorations around town were taken down. Street sweeping was scheduled for January 19th, but had to be postponed due to the snow. Crews responded to snow events on January 18th and 19th. The week of the 19th was then spent clearing snow and
ice from the streets. Crews responded to yet another winter event on January 25th. The balance of that week was also spent clearing ice and snow from streets. Crews utilize the dump truck to remove excessive snow from various locations. The department has been operating from
the Bethany site for a month. I am happy to report the location is working well. Zoning office. There were a total of 25 zoning applications reviewed for the month of January. Library. January was a busy and chilly
month. In addition to having the air ducts cleaned and repaired, they offered a number of exciting programs. Teen paint nights, puzzle competitions, chess lessons, ma jang, and their first reading buddies program where older volunteers work on reading skills with
elementary schoolers. Check their website and newsletter for details on some great specials coming up in February, adult watercolor painting class, teen bingo, toddlers jiggly wiggly program, kids endangered species program, and so much more.
Municipal Alliance. They have set up the footprints for life anti-bullying program for the third graders and are working on anti-drunk driving pre-p prom programs at the high school municipal court. 79 total traffic tickets were issued in J I'm sorry in December with
54 from the Township of Washington Police Department and 25 from the state police. The court collected $4,883.74 in revenue to the township. uh public affairs um events are still being worked on for uh our residents
appreciation weekend. Uh so uh please check the website as from what I'm hearing we have some new and interesting events this year. That concludes my report. Thank you Mike. >> Thank you. Report of the council, Miss Veles. >> Thank you. Um so mine is short. I want
to thank the different departments, the DPW, [clears throat] police, fire, and ambulance for all the work and time that they gave to our snowstorm on the 25th. Um, it was a pretty hefty storm and I saw them come by several times. Um, they
were all out there working really hard. So, thank you for all the hours that you put in to keeping the town safe and functioning. On Saturday, as the mayor said, I also attended the fire department testimonial dinner. I want to
thank um the outgoing chief is Zach Miros for his leadership and dedication to the department. It's been a pleasure working with you all these years. Um and congratulations to the new chief, Frank Ayello. I wish you the best of luck in your new position. As well as a
congratulations to the 2026 fireboard officers. Thank you for giving of your time to our community. be well and be safe. And that concludes my report. Thank you, >> Mr. Sears. >> Uh, thank you, Council President. Um, Superintendent Dance Caderei and myself
attended a class down in Ruckers University on native plants that the governor has signed um into um a policy. Part of it is to deal with our water base, watershed. Um I'm writing up a
proposal to present to the planning board and to the master plan. Um these type of plants now have to be incorporated into um development of uh any housing. Um uh the class was
excellent. We were there from 8 until 3:30. Um and also we got um 5.5 CEUs between us which kept our uh forestry grant and our forestry protection uh
stable in the township and that's all I have at this time. >> Thank you, Mr. Se. Mr. Cassio. >> Yeah. Again, um I attended the fire department dinner the other night. It was a wonderful event. Um everything's been said. The only thing
I'd like to recommend to the um DPW is when they put snow on a corner where there's school, you shouldn't stack it so high. I know they have some difficulty displacing the snow, but it does put an undue burden on the people that um are on a main thoroughare. So
again, hopefully they can come up with something uh a little bit different when this place is snow on corners. That's the report. >> Thank you, Mr. Alman. Yeah, I just uh would like to compliment the DPW on the work that they did uh
with the recent snowstorms. Uh you know, I had the opportunity to uh log on to social media and one might get the impression that uh there was no plowing in town or certainly in certain parts of
town. Uh again, uh we anonymous posts. I had the opportunity to speak to Mr. D. Carlo to uh determine how many actual complaints came into his office. uh and uh you know
thankfully uh there were uh a limited number probably could be counted on one hand and uh I don't uh you know I don't think uh the reality or the uh what is depicted on social media
and discussed on social media reflects reality. Again, if you have an issue in town, uh council, the mayor or administrator Carlo would be a good route to see the resolution of that. Uh
you know, is uh we're here to serve you and I think uh we tend to do a good job, some better than others. Uh and uh and I include myself in that obviously.
uh in the better than others. Uh but again, I think uh if there is an issue uh the fastest course of action is to uh identify or reach out to one of your elected officials or the administrator.
That would be it. Thank you, Mr. Um I guess a lot's been said already by the rest of council and the mayor. Uh thank you for the invite to the fire department uh dinner. Uh, thank you for all the service of all the firemen, new board, old board, and the old chief and the new chief. It's been said already.
Um, DPW, fire, ambulance, um, police, great job in, uh, getting everything prepared for the storms that went through the last few weeks. Very much appreciated in, uh, keeping our town safe. Um, also, uh, baseball and softball registration is open without a
late fee until Valentine's Day the 14th. So, from PE preK4 to 8th grade, there's programs for all the children, both boys and girls in township, uh, to play baseball and softball. And our opening day ceremony this year will be on April 18th, 2026, beginning at 900 a.m. Um,
that concludes my quick report. Oh, one more thing to add. Um, uh, like Mr. Alman has said many times, the anonymous poster is on Facebook. Uh just to set the record correct and not the anonymous
posters incorrectness, the 2025 assessment townwide was required by the county of Bergen tax office. It was not a request. It was a requirement that either we performed it
ourselves or they would perform it for us and bill us a one-time $650,000 to $800,000 bill. the the everybody sitting on this deis with the uh administration's help from the tax
assessor um she's been wonderful in this issue so far determined that it would be in our best uh interest of the township to perform the assessment ourselves and hire our own assessment company the assessment company was vetted they do statewide assessments they're not a fly
by night outfit Mr. D Carlo made sure they had all their credentials. Um, you know, they they do this all the time. They're they're not doing this from the seat of their pants. Um, so, you know, to set the record straight, it was a requirement. It was not a, you know,
like let's just determine, let's just do this townwide 100% assessment arbitrarily. It was a requirement. It hadn't been done in over 10 years. and it was either do it ourselves or it happened forced on us by the county of Bergen tax office which then they would have controlled the whole assessment. So
that's that's my closing statement. I don't think I said anything incorrectly, right ladies and gentlemen? >> But I know some of the Facebook anonymous posters have totally said the wrong thing. So I just wanted to set the record straight. >> May May I just add to both your comments? Um Mr. moment. I appreciate
you bringing up social media because it has become just a a source of misinformation. So, I appreciate both of you clarifying and the administration >> was constantly updating the website on
the storm on the assessment. >> I think people need to get off the unofficial pages. Yes. >> And go to the website or the official pages for truthful information. So, thank you gentlemen for bringing that up. >> Michael, if I could just add one quick
thing in about anonymous also. Uh, occasionally, I know I get anonymous emails. I'm sure the council does also. We don't respond to we we Yeah, but we would like to respond to your concerns. So, please attach your name to it if you're bringing up a concern. We want to get back to you. So, you know, we're not going to treat you bad or anything like
that. We appreciate your comments, but you know, you don't give us the method to get get back to you. So, please do. >> Yeah. We can't respond to them because when they're anonymous, they don't give you an email response or a phone number to call. Correct. So, >> I think everybody on the day does a good job when they do get an email, whether it's directed at them or to the council
president or to the mayor, we respond within 24 hours >> um when we can when we have the information to respond. >> So, moving on, approval of minutes. Regular meeting February 18th, 2025. Conference meeting February 18, 2025. Budget February 24th, 2025. Budget
meeting March 10th, 2025. Regular meeting and conference budget meeting of March 17, 2025. Budget meeting of March 24, 2025. Budget meeting of March 31st, 2025. >> Regular and conference meeting of April 7, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> So move.
>> Second. >> Roll call. >> Councilman Casio, >> yes. >> Councilman Sears, >> yes. >> Councilman, >> yes. >> Councilwoman BZ, >> yes. >> Council President, >> yes. Approval of minutes, regular meeting and conference budget meeting March 3rd,
2025. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Councilman Cio. >> Yes. >> Councilman Sears. >> Yes. >> Councilman. >> I'm recusing myself as not present at the meeting.
>> Counciloman. >> Yes. >> Council President Senum. >> Yes. >> Uh Miss Wowski, can I abstain and not rec? >> Yes. Abstain. I was going to say it would be better than Muse. >> That's Is that okay? >> That's okay. They're used interchangeably. It's fine.
>> Public hearing open space trust fund park improvement program memorial field. Motion to acknowledge what's in our packet. >> So move. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> I. >> I. >> General public comment period limit to five minutes. Do I have a motion to open
the public comment period? >> So move. >> Second. All in favor? >> I. Seeing no one in the audience, do I have a motion to close the public comment? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> At this time, uh, I'd like to Mr. Swisser is on Zoom for us. I'd like to
suspend the agenda and have, uh, Mr. Swisser provide his, uh, response to the council's uh, questions regarding the not to exceed amounts for the zoning board of adjustment engineer and the planning board adjustment engineer compensation that we discussed last week. >> Motion to suspend. So
>> second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I >> Mr. Swisser. >> What's M? >> Thanks for having me here this evening. Um just real quickly starting out with like a a background on what the not to exceed amount is about. This goes all
the way back to 2017 where the state of New Jersey realized that there was a disconnect in some of the laws that they have between the administrative code and the uh uh the actually the got find my notes here for a second. the NJSA, the state statutes.
So, the administrative code is calling for the uh basically there missing my mark right here right now. Sorry about that. I've got it right in front of me, too. It's sad. It was a change in administrative code that affected the manner in which
uh certain contracts are awarded. And the reason they did it is because the rules involving the encumbrance of funds per the administrative code did not mess with the rules awarding contracts per the state statutes. The NJSA required that the award spell the nature, duration, service, and amount of the
award, but it didn't say what the amount could be. In other words, it could be $100 an hour. And that was the real disconnect because at the same time, the administrative code is asking the CFO to certify the funds to a written certification. So if there was a resolution of award that said $100 an
hour for instance for attorney, engineer, whatever it might be, the CFO did not have the requisite information to do the certification. And they did this obviously to make the two laws work together and they also issued a local finance notice that kind of talked about
the fact that this by doing it in this way provides a greater transparency ensuring that the public can more effectively monitor the cost of contracts being awarded. and it was kind of a big deal when it came out. Uh, this goes back obviously a number of years ago. So, we've been working with our clients to try and get them to be in
compliance with this. Last year was our first year in Washington and we noticed that you guys were not doing that. And so, we had a good conversation with administration and we covered it at the exit conference to talk about moving forward to do this. Uh, obviously there were some questions that that were
involved with some of these awards. So the background of it is pretty straightforward, okay, in terms of trying to get these two laws to work together and to improve transparency. Now you have specific questions on some of the awards and I'm open to answering those questions right now.
>> So So we're saying we're setting the rate to not to exceed at 145,000 I believe, right? That was what was in the uh >> 140 140 or 140 140 I'm sorry. There's no there's no guar where does it state in the in the resolution that there's no
guarantee that they're going to earn 140. That's so that's where my disconnect is. >> Great great great question and it's interesting. So, getting prepared for this tonight, I went back and actually looked at the local finance notice uh that was issued back in 2017, and it
reads, [clears throat] "For the benefit of the public, a contract resolution award may contain a caveat that displays the maximum dollar amount is based on a reasonable estimate of the goods or services required over the contract term, and that the local unit is not obligated to spend that money." And it's
interesting, okay, this came out whatever it was now, eight years ago, whatever it might be. And all the resolutions that I see in my other clients, we do whatever it might be, 80 85 uh municipalities. I've never seen this language in a resolution.
Okay? Because your point is very well taken. And I and I've had situations particularly when the law first changed, I had clients pushing back. I'm giving the impression to the public, yes, spending this money. It's legitimate. Okay. And I've had clients really push back on it, which is which is okay, by
the way. And I would refer them to the state. They would call the state. The state would basically reinforce that this is what they want you to do. Uh but I do think that maybe it might be something that you could do. And maybe I might even start suggesting to some of my clients, I'm not an attorney. I'm an auditor, right? I don't tell you how to
write your resolutions, but it is kind of interesting. I can share this local finance notice with Mark and maybe that is a way in which you can accomplish both goals. And it's hard because particularly when you start talking about attorneys, okay, it's very hard to predict what you're going to spend. Um,
and they they in this local finance notice, they also go into doing an historical evaluation of what you spent over the course of time, adding into it whatever current issues are going on. But it's never going to be perfect. Okay? Bearing in mind, and I had this conversation with Mark, that you can take a stab at the dark and say,
"Listen, I believe that the note amount will be X, okay? $100,000." when you get to August and you've already spent 90 then you may be in a situation where administration has to come back to the governing body and get further authorization.
Uh it's it's burdensome uh to administration to the finance office as in in many cases you end up with multiple resolutions because you're taking this guesstimate as to what's in there. But as to your point, maybe adding that language at the end and I
again I will share this local finance notes from 2017 with Mark so we can have that and maybe that accomplish the whole goal. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions for Mr. Swisser? >> Well, don't we budget for these two lines?
>> Well, aren't they? But they're escrow amounts, so that's why we can't. Right. Right. Mr. switcher. These are all these are all coming out of So how do you so how do you how do how do we arbitrarily come up with the 140 is that just like hey worst scenario that's the most we ever ever spent or >> we did that based on last year
>> yeah you you guys are are really kind of cutting to the quick because there was a question somebody had mentioned about the budget and I got some smart allocated remarks from some of my clients okay the not to receive amount is the budget okay we'll do whatever you'd like to do but then they would
bring up the planning and the zoning board escros which even more complicated. >> How do you really know what's going to happen there? And I I actually asked the question, this goes back a number of years ago, they didn't have necessarily a specific answer to address those two particular appointments other than the
fact that the law is what the law is. And as we kind of know, sometimes they write these laws and they're not considering every particular situation. Um, so again, you do your best and perhaps adding that caveat at the end uh will make sure that that the public kind of understands. We're just kind of
taking a shot at this to cover ourselves. Again, the law was, and I've been doing this for just a few years, that at the end, you'd have this appointment, it' be for $100 an hour, and nobody, including the the council, the governing body, didn't know what they were committing themselves to. And
that's now going to be transparent and it's going to be in theory incumbraable against the records. >> But see, that's where I I I have that's where my disconnect comes in because we don't know where we're going to spend because the applicant is posting the escrow. So, we don't know because we're
not spending the applicant is spending money by going in front of the zoning board and the planning board. And the only time the the the council or and the administration would see a uh a bill would be if we have a deadbeat applicant who is, you know, doesn't pay their
bill. And then, right, the professional say, "Hey, you have a deadbeat applicant in your town and he or she didn't pay their bill." And I expect now you because of the law there's another law that says hey township you're required now to pay that bill even though you didn't agree to it.
>> Yeah. No and I have that scenario does occur from time to time. But it does. Yes. >> Your your your point is very well taken and I don't know that the state really kind of gets it because again you're getting right to the heart of the matter in as much as how do I encumber that
money? Okay. When you're talking about the budget, it's pretty straightforward. And there are additional rules if you really want to dive into the administrative code for special situations like you have right now really because you don't have a budget yet. Okay? So, >> but we're not budgeting we're not
budgeting 143. It's a completely different matter. And again, I I can I can do this for you and this again I I I went down this road. It's got to be, you know, a year out from when this came out. and they asked that specific question to division and
if you would like I will do another email down to them and share the results of that email with you I can do that as well u but again I end up getting pretty tur responses from them in terms of this is the law this is what you have to do and they're not maybe considering uh the
subtleties uh between like an escrow and the budget >> okay now as of are we are we the only town that you perform a audit that doesn't have this right now do all your other municipalities that you >> I I won't I won't speak for all of our
towns. Uh I'm I'm responsible for probably maybe 25 30 of the engagements that we do. And in my jobs, I'd like to think that all of them have that. >> Okay, it's a fair answer. And again, it's it's been this this this kind of compliance over time, okay, to come up
with this is a fairly large change that occurred and it took me a couple years in some of my towns to kind of and again there's push back on it. And so I would like to think by right now that I have everybody on board with it. They may not be thrilled with it, uh, but they're on board with it. So again, you should be
able to visit other towns and see as well samples of what they're doing. Again, the the the not to exceed amount language is what's basically commonly used. If you look at the law, it's going to use the word maximum uh what does it
say? Maximum amount, maximum dollar amount is what it says in the in the law itself. But if you look at the resolutions that you see across the state really, um you you'll see that that language not to exceed is used. Um, so again, and I'll tell you what, I I
appreciate you folks bringing it up. I'm going to I'm going to take it upon myself to send an email down and and I will share that with administration and they can get it back to you guys as well to see what they say and then who knows, you know, sometimes they do these laws and maybe they require amendment as well. Uh, so I will I will run that back
up to flag pole again and get that get the results of that back to you. >> I just have Mr. >> One other question. What uh so it's a resolution. It's, you know, five votes and it's done. What's the burden that is
being placed on the uh finance office within uh the township, you know, to adhere to that? So, are are we doing this already? Are we monitoring this already up in the finance office and this is just sort of codifying something
or is there an additional reporting or accounting burden that is being placed on them? >> I'll I'll tell you what, you guys are are doing very well tonight. Uh the Edmonds accounting system that most municipalities use, you guys use Edmonds. I would say they probably have
an 80 to 85% share of the municipal financial reporting market out there. There's a couple of other smaller vendors out there. To my knowledge, there is not a separate area in Edmonds that can kind of track this. And so, you are responsible. There is a burden,
okay, for these contracts that we just did to track them and make sure that we're not exceeding these things. You're supposed to be setting up an encumbrance for them, but I've seen situations in places where, and it goes right into what we do for audit, right? One of our audit tests is we will go in and look
for items that are over the bid threshold, okay? and make sure they were awarded by resolution to the governing body and to make sure that they don't exceed the not to exceed threshold. Okay. So when you ask the question I I think that it does put an additional
burden on the finance office as it does also for the clerk's office. I mean just think about it if you're most of your contracts are awarded at the beginning of the year. Okay getting back to the budgeted ones and not necessarily the planning board ones. Yes. Um, and you can only certify what you have in your
temporary budget, which used to be 26.25%. I think they just bumped it to 35%. That you can you can just do in your temporary budget. So, you have to do that reszo. And then in theory, you're going back again, okay, and do another certification once the budget is adopted. Okay. So, there's when this
first came out, there was a lot of push back on it, whether it's worth it, okay, you could take that up with your local legislators. Um but yeah, I think that there is an additional burden on the finance office. >> Well, doesn't that burden always exist? Shouldn't all the escrow accounts be shouldn't all the escrow accounts based
on your audit be tracked? So, >> separate separate question. The escrow accounts are tracked separately >> individually. Correct. >> Individually tracked. And interesting little point where you talked about uh deficits. It can occur from time to time. And believe it or not, legally you
can actually go you don't stop the project. you continue to charge the escrow even though it's in a deficit and then you're supposed to recover that within a quote unquote reasonable period of time. But yes, the escros are tracked individually. >> Well, I've seen meetings be canceled because of the deficit in escrow. >> You can you can you can do that and
again this is another one and I could probably dig it up somewhere for you that there is a local finance notice. Yeah, >> they're they're very big on us making sure that you don't overexpend money except for this particular case. And I don't know why that that is >> and I'm sure that if the local rule is that you have to have it,
>> you can do that. >> Anything else for Mr. Swisser? >> Mr. Roman, anything else? >> No. Mark, >> thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Swisser. >> Not a problem. I will follow up on that that situation with the division and I will get the answer tomorrow.
>> Can I ask you one last question? Absolutely. >> Would you be able to maybe figure out who your best client uh resolution you have and send it to our administration so we can look at it? And uh >> I I I I Well, you're asking me to choose who my favorite child is. Uh but at the
same time, I will do >> Well, they don't have to Well, they don't have to know. Only we'll know. >> I will redact I will redact the name. >> Yes. There you go. Perfect. >> I will get that over tomorrow. >> Who it is? >> Yes. But we want to put that in. >> Yes. So, thank you, Mr. Mr. Swisser,
>> thank you. >> Very good. Have a good evening everybody. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Bye. >> Going [snorts] back into the regularly uh scheduled meeting. >> Resolutions consent agenda. The following items have been determined to have unanimous consent, the council only enacted in one motion. Should any item
require independent consideration, any council member may have such item removed from the consent agenda. >> Would anybody like either items removed? >> You might want to go back. He just mentioned that there's no ordinances. >> Oh, I'm sorry. There there are no ordinances tonight and there are no adoptions of second reading and there
are no introductions of first reading. >> Thank you sir. >> I'd like to talk about both of them. >> Sure. So we'll do them individually. So resolution number 26-168 support opposition of S4736 bypassing the local planning process. Do I have a motion? >> Some move.
>> Second >> discussion. >> Yeah. So I generally don't have an issue with this with one exception the uh you know uh the accessory dwell
dwellings. I don't know if we've come to a conclusion in the planning board and in the master plan. Mr. Burgess is here. He might have an opinion. Uh but uh I do think that's something that
uh should be possibly considered in the town. Um so uh >> to prohibit accessory dwellings? >> No. To allow it >> to allow it. >> To allow it. >> Okay. >> My opinion.
>> Uh >> so you would like an accessory dwelling allowed on a property? >> Yes. >> Of what size >> to be considered? Well, I think it would have to be determined by the governing body uh with input from the planning
board, but uh I don't I'm not against it. Uh I do feel that, you know, it presents an opportunity for people to stay in their houses longer. Uh for people to uh multigenerations to
possibly live on a piece of property that they've had in their family. So, I'm not against it. Uh, so I would just call that out. Uh, overall though, you know, the removal of, uh,
oversight of the township's planning or zoning, uh, I am I don't support. So, I support this, but I do think that we should, uh, at some point have a discussion on accessory dwellings. >> Thank you. Thank you. So, any other
discussion, ladies and gentlemen? >> Well, um, isn't the the point that you shouldn't have oversight on it, which the state would mandate that there is no oversight? >> There is no oversight. Yeah. >> So, I don't think you can and I and I fully appreciate what Mr. Alman's
saying, you know, um, but I think the way that it's written is that you'd have no >> no no sight, no no no recall at all. You know, it's either all or nothing. And you know, if it's all or nothing, I'd want to I would think the town would want to be in control of its own destiny, right? Yeah.
>> Before you know, I go put two bunkies on my property. >> Right. We don't want we don't want that happening. Um and everyone else would do it. So, you know, again, I understand Mr. Alman's um concern and >> I think it's some concern is something
that needs to be discussed, but not as part of this opposition right now. when the township loses or any municipality loses its its own destiny, then I haven't have an issue with that. That's all. So that's my two cents. >> Inflation. >> I share your two cents.
>> Any other discussion? >> Nickel. >> No such thing as a penny loafer anymore, my friend. That's a quarter. >> Councilman Casio. >> Yes. >> Councilman Sears. >> Yes. >> Councilman Omen. >> Yes. Council WZ.
>> Yes. >> Council President. >> Yes. Resolution number 26-169 authorizes submission of the application for fiscal year 26 local recreation improvement grant LRI in the amount of approximately 175,000 memorial field improvements. >> So move.
>> I'll second it. Discussion. >> Yeah. My only question is uh this is for ADA access. I I believe >> yes access improvements.
>> So haven't we in recent years like the last two or three had uh ADA improvements at both of these fields and what else is there? Were they not sufficient? Or are there additional
ones we can take advantage of? Or are there other fields or other facilities where we can, you know, avail ourselves of these grants? I think the only complete ADA parking we have at a field is at Clark Field because it takes you right out of
your vehicle onto pavement and you have paths all around the area. at um at Sherry Field, the parking spot is there, but it's difficult to get from the spot to the ADA ramps that we've done in years past which aren't 100% complete
around the whole field yet. And the same thing at Memorial, we have spots, but then we don't have a ramp to get the ramp's not, you know, I don't think it's ADA compatible yet. >> I thought the ramp I thought that was the last one we approved with the spots and the ramps to >> but they're not all connected.
Okay. >> Does does this include playground equipment as well? >> I believe so. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Any further discussion? >> Roll call.
>> Councilman Cassio. >> Yes. >> Councilman Sears? >> Yes. >> Councilman Alman? >> Yes. >> Counciloman BZ? >> Yes. >> Council President? >> Yes. Motion to adjourn to the conference agenda. >> So move. objective. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Next meeting of the township council will be on Monday, February 23rd, 2026,
beginning at 7 p.m. Sign up for Nixl 07676 to 888777 key code TWWP of Bergen. >> All right. Under conference agenda under administration 2026 budget. >> Yes. Uh thank you, council president.
Very quickly, uh the mayor and I hope to have hope to have had the budget books to you uh this evening. However, I just received the AFS um from Lurch Vincent Bliss today and I have a scheduled uh meeting uh with him tomorrow to go over it. That will of course help me with all
the appropriate revenues and assure that we are well within the appropriation cap and the levy cap in order to uh hand the budget over to the council. Um the mayor feels confident probably getting it in your hands by the end of next week. We don't want to wait till the the
following meeting because it's three weeks away from tonight. Um with that said, we wanted to see if the council wanted to start scheduling the meetings or you will have the budget books well in advance of the 20 what what's the next meeting? The 23rd.
>> The 23rd. Um, so you know, we wanted >> We could have a limited agenda and start the budget on the 23rd. That's always time to review it. >> Is that okay? >> Start setting the dates. >> Well, we'll have we'll start on the 23rd with a limited agenda and then we'll set
the dates on the 23rd and move forward once we have all >> You could just set the Monday dates and if something changes to cancel it. >> I'd rather wait to see it and see what we're looking at. Please, if everybody's okay with that, let's look at Well, Monday the 23rd, we're going to have it on the agenda to start the budget, right? Yep. Everybody ahead of time.
>> Yeah, we'll have enough. Right. As long as we don't get it on the on the 19th, you know, like that's not going to happen. >> No. Right. >> Okay. >> DPW construction update. [laughter] >> Yes. Thank you again. Very quickly, if you can go to page two of of what was given to you from me that was included
with your uh the meeting updates. you know, I had um told the council I would give you periodic updates and review of expenditures and uh I will be updating the website, you know, some at some point this week. You can actually go to the back side of this page. This is um
this is our capital line that you guys uh graciously supported in the fall to give this >> the 8 and 1 half x 11 that should be 11 by 17 so we could read it. >> Huh? Is it the 8 and 1 half by 11 that we
don't >> on the back of Mark's record? >> I see it. >> I'm looking at the 8 and 12 by 11. I can't read. >> So, this was the auxiliary account. I believe we funded it with 150,000. Most of it was, you know, cancellation of old
ordinances. Uh we did not borrow any new money for it. Um if you go to page two, all every all the expense on page one you're already aware of and it's up on the website. So, if you go to uh the $15,000,
that should be like the third entry down PO2600116. I needed to encumber $15,000 out of this line. We're not expecting to exceed it or come close to it, but we had to hire a third-party
inspection company to do, I guess, what we'll call special inspections outside of what our building department would normally do. you know, was kind of explained to me the concrete because they do they do testing on the concrete uh and things like that. >> What do we hire, Mr.
>> Um it's it's actually NV5 is the name of the the >> NV5 NV5. If you look underneath where it says one open >> NV5, Inc. We got a couple different proposals and the architecture architects assisted and uh this company
um was the best with pricing. It's all different prices. um you know depending on what you get it's like allocart essentially. Um the next if you go three up from the bottom so PO2600206
for Montana construction $24,780. So there is a storm water pipe that runs parallel to the northern boundary of our um property. That would be the property line with a valley. Before building a full $4.5 million
building on top of it, we wanted to make sure the it was structurally sound. We had to have it video videoed and there's a section towards the most easterly end which was the end of it um that is not infrastructurally sound. It's it's
broken up and there's some holes in it. So, we looked into couple different options and I had to fix it. And Montana Construction is being hired outside of the bid because we got a potential change order quote
for about $11,000 more. So, this option was the most fiscally responsible. So, Montana is going to repair it um from the east end inward. It's like a it's like a lining. So rather than go
from the DPW site and dig down um and dig up the earth to replace it, we're going to go with the uh just as appropriate, but just the least expensive. Um the I don't want to say
the bad part is obviously I needed money to encumber that firm. So if you remember the bid was like 4,933,000. out of that 400,000 of it was contingency. If we did a monetary change order, money would start deducting from
that contingency. But because we have an incumbrance system in the state of New Jersey, I can't, you know, use that money for out of the 4933 to pay for other things. It has to be put aside for the potential. It has we had to start a
PO for what the bid award was. So again, rather than going the change order, which would be about $11,000 more expensive, we're doing it this way. The last uh expense is they're both together. It's two different um line
numbers, but the same PO. It's uh 2665 and 2860, which was a total of 5525. We had to move the pole that the buyer siren is attached to. So if you could picture where it was, it was a little north and east of where the
ambulance building is along the property line with the val valley. The burm was holding that in place. The burm is now being taken out and we're making it level again. So that pole was not um I want to use the word planted. It wasn't
installed deep enough. So we had to move it over a few feet and drill a new hole. So there was a cost for that. And of course, doing it with Hamill Electric was cheaper than doing it through Premier. Um, so again, that just to the
recap, the three new expenses. Um, we have not tapped into that 15,000 yet. There's obviously no structure there. Uh, Montana should be um performing the work this week and the poll was moved last week.
I'm not asking for extra money, but as you could tell out of the 150, we only have 33 left because of the money that's encumbered for the whole building. So, I'm hoping again there's there's I don't want to call it a surprise, but um you
know, unknown expenses. So, um I have about $33,000 outside of what was encumbered for the building. and uh you know if you guys have any questions um but that should that keeps you kind of up tod date with everything that's going on as far as the progress on the bill.
You know unfortunately last week there wasn't any progress because of the foot of snow um but every two weeks we do have a construction meeting with all the uh you know the high rollers that are involved in the construction effort with this um and that occurs every every
Tuesday. >> Is the fire siren active right now? >> Yes. Yeah, it was down for about an hour. They had to disconnect it, make the wire more to taunt once they moved it closer because the electricity comes off of the ambulance belt. >> Okay. >> Just every other Tuesday, I'm sorry, but
just one question. Um that pipe that had to be realigned, was it discovered when they started the work or >> It wasn't discovered because they
started the work. It was discovered because again they you know said before we build a building on it, let's see the integrity of the pipe. So again not uh
not directed at you. I don't know where it should be directed uh you know our engineering uh our architect but you know that building we've been talking about
it for five years probably longer. Uh it's going there. That pipe has probably been there at least those 5 years. I mean again uh
it there are unexpected things but I guess this you know if we were going to build it there and we know that the pipe is there should we have checked it or accounted for it before? And I know
there's not an an answer that you can give, but it's just a bit frustrating that, you know, now we're looking at, you know, uh this expense that was unexpected that's going to eat into uh the overall cost or contribute to the
overall cost. I do I understand where you're coming from and I figured you know that would be a question but um you know working with these professionals they they are they did try to account for you know everything and unfortunately as you said
things will pop up and um I certainly could have put it through as the change order but we were going to waste $11,000 just to do that. So I I know where you're coming from. But, you know, hopefully there isn't any more. If there is more, it's not that many.
>> Okay. Any other questions for Mr. Carl? >> Uh, the next two we discussed with Mr. Swisser. Uh, Miss Bailey will probably get some information from the administration on how to amend the resolution, right? Um, and once we'll once we get that, we'll hopefully have it in time for our next meeting and if
it's amendable to everybody, we'll act on it at the next meeting. Everybody okay with that? >> Yes. Uh, under councel we have nothing under ordinances of legislation or financial miscellaneous. We have a review of outsourcing of police dispatch. Mr. Roman,
>> can I just ask that this be kept on as a reminder? I mean, we have >> any update yet on this, Mr. Terry. Mayor, >> yes. Um, the administrator and I and the chief and the captain uh went up to Bergen Countyy's dispatch center uh this afternoon. Uh, met with quite a few
people up there. uh you know we we have had a lot of exchange of information, questions and answers uh and they will be getting us a proposal shortly. Now how about the company that now administers our 911? Are we getting a proposal from them also? >> Um I want to see where this one comes
first because I figure we can kind of use this as the the I I'll say for my part the learning experience so we're not going through it with two vendors at the same time. >> I'm just saying we didn't go we didn't go with the county for 911 for some reason. Right. So, we went with we went with the other agency.
>> Correct. Yes. >> So, shouldn't we ask this other agency? I I can't think of their name right now. >> Northwest Northwest. >> Shouldn't we ask Northwest for a proposal? >> We we will be. Uh, like I said, the county said we'll have the proposal within the next few days. Uh, and then at least my part to educate myself will
have been done and then I'll reach out to them and go through the same exercise. >> Any additional questions? Anyone on this? Mr. Alman, anything else? >> No, just uh >> I'm sorry. I expect to have all the numbers for the budget. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> You know, there is a capital expense in
the budget uh for uh a backup site, correct? >> At the firehouse. So, >> you know, if we can address this and come to some conclusion, it may allow us to redirect resources or not.
>> Agreed. >> Anything else, ladies and gentlemen? >> Um Yeah, I I have a question regarding the the closed session with conflict of interest. Um why is that enclosed and not open?
>> Um in my view it involves potential litigation and if you'll permit me to explain what I mean by that closed and then if you don't come back out. >> Is there uh litigation at this point? >> Potential. >> Did someone file a suit?
>> Nope. >> Okay. So it's anticipated >> potential litigation and it's my opinion it it belongs in closed. >> Yeah. >> Is there so I I think Mr. Your
predecessor uh >> Mr. Paul >> I can't remember his name. >> How could you forget Mr. [laughter] That was a Okay. You're being sarcastic. >> You know Mr. Per I think one of the things he stressed is that there's always potential litigation. people can sue for anything,
>> right? >> Um I guess the question is uh in your view is there a probability or a high probability that it will result in a litigation? >> Um sitting here today less so than a
week or two ago. A week or two ago high or medium. Um which would involve the issues I'd like to discuss and closed. the time that has passed it's less so but certainly airing on the side of caution I think it belongs in closed
session I'll be happy to explain in detail what I mean by that >> well I would just uh >> so if we need to come >> reserve the right to come back out >> yes so we'll we'll we'll make the announcement that we will come back out of out of closed if needed to uh discuss it
>> is that okay with that I'm >> okay with that >> all right close session resolution number 26-17 70 fair share housing update in a conflict of interest. The township council anticipates that an open session will be necessary after the discussion. Motion may maybe may be may
be necessary. Motion to enter into close session. >> So move it. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Let's give Ricky a couple minutes to shut the cameras off. Everyone wants to take a couple minute break.