ready going to call to order the meeting of the West Windsor Township Council for March 24th 2025 Can you please call the role allison Gawas here Gvers here Mandel here We here Whitfield here And
have we adequately noticed yes on January 17th 2025 to the Times in the Princeton packet filed with the clerk of the municipality posted in the West Windsor Township Municipal Building and on the township website Please stand for the salute to the five British people
Thank you And for our first order of business topic of priority consideration uh we have Helen Rankin who's going to give her Shade Tree Commission briefing to the council Helen if you'd like to introduce yourself and give the briefing please Thank you
Good evening I am Helen Ranken chair of the West Windsor Shade Street Shade Tree Commission Thank you for your time this evening As I summarized three can you um get in a little better to the microphone the lady got it So you have you have to get in closer to the microphone or it's not going to get recorded Lift it up a
little bit or Yeah Thank you Yeah Okay Yes Let the drama both build Thank you Is that better um a little bit better Okay good Okay great Thank you Good evening I'm Helen Ranken chair of
the West Windsor Shade Tree Commission Thank you for your time this evening as I summarize three aspects of the commission namely our past activities in 2024 activities we are currently planning and long longer term goals that
members will be spending efforts in 2025 and 2026 Before I move forward I would like to uh acknowledge my fellow commission members and volunteers Vice Chair Ellen Clancy
and Secretary Frell Mixon as well as advis advisor Mike Shuitt You may note according to our enabling language we are currently we currently have two vacancies and we are hopeful that those seats will be filled sooner versus
later What happened in 2024 well we spent many hours developing new language into chapter 170 trees on public and private property Specifically in consistent with state regulations the revised chapter now includes language on
tree replacement requirements for the purpose of storm water pollution prevention We started out we started out determined to produce not only the clearest of language but the best ordinance in the state I believe we we
accomplished those two goals and as you know the revised chapter 170 became effective in late October of 2024 That work for chapter 170 also included the development of an application form and a list of trees and
plants that are encouraged and discouraged from being planted within the township In 2024 the township received seven tree removal permits only one of which was denied In 2025 thus far
three exemptions were processed and five tree removal permits have been submitted Details on those permit applications and exemption requests can be found within the township's engineering department Additionally we held our annual Arbor
Day celebration and supported the township at its annual community day Commissioner Commission members completed several courses and seminars to improve our understanding of best management practices for trees and possible blight
issues and remediation techniques In 2025 the commission began to author minutes for each of our meetings Members take turns in drafting the minutes before the next meeting This extra effort on the part of the volunteers
saves the township that work and ensures that we are effective in approving minutes in a timely manner Moving into 2025 we are currently planning this year's Arbor Day celebration which will
take place April 26th at the Ron Rogers Arboritum Again we are currently holding an art contest for elementary and middle school children An invitation to the event will be sent to the mayor and council members within the next few days
We thank you for your attendance in the past and we are hopeful that you will be able to join us again next month At this year's event we will also be dedicating the tree that was planted in honor of Mr Slinn who was a previous chair of this
commission as well as very active in various community organizations Additionally the commission will again participate in the community day should such an event be scheduled later this year Further into 2025 the commission
will be addressing discussing and proposing changes to our enabling ordinance to approve upon its language Two such ideas will be included to require the chair's report to the council on a yearly basis as I am doing this evening and to have language
regarding the election of an official vice chair We appreciate the mayor and council are considering for the first time a budgetary line item of approximately $3,000 for the operation of the Shade Tree Commission members
have been generous with their time as volunteers and have also spent out-ofpocket funds for various required seminars and conferences and various items to support Arbor Day and community day Moving forward we are hopeful to meet our continuing education units this
year with the financial support of the township Tree City USA is a program that does not need detailed discussion but to state that we continue to have that title and designation and the commission is
meeting states NJUFF accreditation It seems that Bamboo has become the topic of conversations with a handful of municipalities across the state Some towns are looking at adopting strict planting ordinances and with
steep fines while other municipalities are looking at more holistic approaches to manage this invasive grass The Westminster Shade Tree Commission will study the bamboo issue and will propose language that is both reasonable and enforcable in our town As council
president Randelle recently noted in a Facebook post our township bamboo is already a discouraged plant Yet perhaps more language is warranted Finally and what will take up most of our effort with this year is our
work on updating enhancing and enhancing the township's community forestry and shade tree master plan This plan is specifically listed as a responsibility of this commission and we are dedicated to developing the best plan possible One
aspect that we will be tackling is including specific language on the proper maintenance of street trees in the t by township employees That maintenance section will be developed in conjunction with the department of public works and will include a schedule
for maintenance much like we have a schedule for yard waste cleanup Far too often the township spends money on new street trees only for some to fail within three years Just drive around the town We all see broken guard
rails broken branches and dead young trees Those conditions should not happen In closing and on behalf of the members of the Shade Tree Commission I thank you for your time this evening We look forward to your attendance at our
Arbor Day celebration in April and we look forward to robust conversations of enabling enhancing our ordinance discussions on bamboo and the community forestry and shade shade tree master plan as we work on those items
Thank you very much Thank you Helen If you'll stay for a little bit um we'll see if there's some comments around the table Um anybody want to go first thank you for all the work that you do and the whole team's um commitment to this very important issue Thank you
Thank you Thank you Alan Um I think bamboo definitely needs a discussion because um that keeps coming up every every every so often I think that's a I know in my neighborhood there's a bamboo
issue happening between four four houses because it has spread to four different properties now So yes thank you I'm the liazison to the shy commission Um so you do do very good
work You worked very very hard last year on the ordinance tree removal ordinance Did did great work and I think we consider it one of the best in the state So u thanks thanks for all that hard work and to all the committee members who contributed Um we put the money in
uh we haven't introduced the budget yet but there there is a line item that's new this year for money for the Shade Tree Commission because there are certain obligations um you know to get continuing education units or you know and all that So so we're moving forward
with that Um I think it's good with the public street tree maintenance and also informing residents when there's a new public street tree put in front of their house what are they're supposed to do with it how how often they should water it or or let the township know if
something's not going well with this tree growing properly So uh I think that's good that the commission is looking into that Um what else and the minutes right that's that's
something this this year that that um we we said with all the boards and commissions um that they're public meetings and there should be minutes So thanks to the all the members for doing that too Of course It's great great group of people Thank you Alan Thanks
Your obviously your passion and dedication for this over the years is uh truly appreciated So it should be commended for the work that you do So we're very supportive So thank you Thank you I thanks Ellen Thanks to you and all the members uh of the committee Um your role
is even more important now that Dan has retired because Dan used to do a lot of those stuff Uh and I'm looking forward to your guidance on the bamboo because that issue occasionally comes up and I know uh once it takes off it never does And thanks for continuing the Arbor Day
It's not not only important for Arbor Day but I enjoy really the kids participation and uh how how skilled they are with the painting It's it's really great to see So again thank you very much Thank you Thank you all for your support Thank you Thank you Helen
And yes as Linda mentioned um that line item was there It's um going to be going into the budget that we'll be voting on So um that's that should I would guess I can't promise Obviously we haven't voted yet but at this point that's in the
budget I'm excited that you're looking at the bamboo because that's something that's for years and years I've uh hoped that we could do something about Um I I think if you you were referring to that post where somebody was saying
"Oh this is a this is a benefit for the environment." And it's no no Um it's um very very invasive And I know it's something that um you know we're not going to go chop everybody's yard but we need to have some control over because
it does go into other people's yards and it does uh it's not just something that's restricted to your own property Um and I was very thrilled to see that we have a list of trees that we don't want planted and trees that we do want
planted as a guidance for people and as an updated list Uh that looks like a very doable very good list And when people do ask these questions we have something to point to them And as I as I do tell them legally we can only
restrict those trees when it comes to replacement trees under the ordinance But when you're putting in a tree why not put in a proper tree uh you know regardless of whether you're forced to and we're um try I think we should have
people see that list as a suggestion uh regardless of when they're doing the planting or why and the maintenance point Linda went into detail on that but having some sort of um maintenance on
both new and existing trees that is a little bit more uh laid out and um planned I think it'll be a big benefit to our our whole uh structure of of street trees and so so thank you very much for everything you're doing and um
I think we all appreciate that and please thank the whole committee for it I will Thank you very much Thank you Thanks Moving right along I'm going to open public comment uh 30 minutes uh three minutes per person and anybody
like to get up and speak dave and uh please give as you well know your name and address David Paris to 07 Washington Road in Pensac As I think all of you probably
know by now but I felt compelled to comment Saturday night we had a road rally that went right through Ben's neck Uh a really thunderous amount of engine noise no mufflers and nearly as I could
tell I had my hearing aids out was went to bed I could still hear everything outside Um my son Tim his mother-in-law lives with him next door She was terrified There were a lot of children
and a lot of pets that were terrified too It was constant It was not a race but it was a parade It went on for about half an hour And uh as I've told some people I got over that fascination with
engine noise when I was in high school That was in the 1950s I'm not sure what this revival has been I don't know what the legalities are and I also don't know if anybody local is involved but I did want a
conversation to be started about this The police tell me that they did respond and it was within a reasonable time Uh the the complaints I think were quite numerous because my wife Susan was
following them on Facebook and they all recorded it in as it went The police told me they did disperse I don't know if they went somewhere else and started it again but that's possible I don't think this is the kind of thing we want But as I said I know I
don't it's not necessarily illegal to simply be out on the road particularly if you're having an impromptu parade On the other hand this is a very undesirable situation Washington Road where I live has very few sidewalks It has
pedestrians all day because there were commuters who walked to and from the train This was dangerous for them And uh I think we need to start a conversation as to what can be done to prevent incidents of this kind Particularly as I
understand it there may even have been a staging area in the public parking area which was next to the train station and that probably is subject to some regulation So I did want to bring it to your attention and uh perhaps some discussions can ensue Thank you Thank
you Thank you Dave Okay Anybody else wish to make public comment seeing none I'm going to close public comment Um
mayor you'll address that Okay Carrie please Good evening Um we have several updates tonight Um the senior center bus is currently um all transportation is currently
suspended um when we're working to get the bus uh service back to all of our residents and we hope to have that very soon Um the senior center is also still hosting on Tuesday mornings a ARP free
tax service and appointments are required and to contact the senior center cat uh for the health department cat license registration and renewal is due at the end of April Um the fee for
cat licens is $7 for spayed cats and 10 spayed neutered cats and $10 for non-spayed non-neutered cats Uh renewal of cat licenses due by April 30th every year and information is also on news and notices and the health department page
[Music] Um I know it was mentioned already but um the Arbor Day contest um is the applications and submission of artwork is due by this Thursday March 27th
um for K through 8 for the Township Arbor Day um student art contest and the theme is what the trees see and more information on the website So if you haven't started it yet you can get that in by this Thursday
Um public works is in zone 4 today for brush and leaves and on Saturday May 10th public works will be hosting their uh spring cleanup day And more information on what is accepted is on the website and as it gets closer we
will provide more information on that as well Mercer County Improvement Authority is hosting a document shredding event coming up on Saturday April 12th from 9 to 12 It is in Trenton at 641 Broad Street in lot 4 and a maximum of eight
bankers boxes for that is accepted Um and they have also their hazardous waste and e-waste uh collection on June 14th at the Dempster Fire Training in Lawrence Township
A reminder that annual burglary alarm registrations are due on March 31st so the end of this month and you can register with the police department records division It is a $25 fee to register your burglar alarms And failure
to register a burglar alarm system annually may result in a late fee and or fine And you can do that again at the police department in the records division You can do it um in person or you can mail the information and download the registration
form And that is all of the updates we have right now Thank you May thanks Uh Mr Paris uh the people who were doing car racing were from out of out of West
Windsor They were not Westwinds residents The police did break it up They did issue few tickets to the people and robe it out We are hoping it's only a one-time occurrence and not they don't come Hopefully with the tickets they won't come back next time So it's not
just that they will shoot away some some people were issued citations So I did talk to the chief and the current regulations are sufficient to prevent something like that from happening again But those were those kids came from out of town I mean we know where they came
from but not from Weston So we hopefully that was just one off Um u I did talk to the uh Mercer County Chief of Staff about the library Mercer County Library Uh he is uh going to give
me an update I I didn't get a chance to check my email today but he did assure me that uh Westminster Library will be done before uh there are two other libraries in this year's budget I think Lawrenceville and something else He did assure me that ours will be taken care
of first because we it's leaking Um we continue to press uh the county for early voting and Andrea has been helping me and going to meetings Uh their uh commissioners meeting is coming up again
this Thursday We may go Um the question is they did they did I did go to the uh uh election commission meeting and they they passed a resolution supporting our request Um they did confirm that they do have the machines One of the questions
was whether they have enough machines available They did question they have enough machine Uh the question is the state pays county for only seven voting locations and uh uh we are willing to
work with the county to try to get more money out of the state but if the state doesn't give then county has to make the hard decisions what to do but uh the discrimination against west has to stop I mean uh West Windsor has more registered voters than both East Windsor
and Princeton Uh they have bigger population in both East East and Princeton And far more people in West Windsor voted last November's election than East Winsor and Princeton and that too without having a voting location in
town Um potentially if we had early voting location in town those numbers would have been even bigger Um and I I didn't write down but I do have numbers of how many West people went to East Winds and voted and how many went to Princeton and voted So there's no reason
for the county not to not to provide a senority voting location Um and they have to figure out how how they will do that So we will continue pushing and use every means necessary uh to end this discrimination but uh we will have a
voting location this November [Music] Um and lastly uh the fair share housing uh the show continues Um we did have a mediation session with the fair share housing center Just to refresh the
memory our number was uh 392 Uh they came up with a number of 489 Um they in the mediation session they uh agreed to reduce it to 480 um without challenging any of the sides that we had taken out
of our um our uh plan So we did ask them how did they come up with the number and they didn't have the answer where how they come up with that number We strongly suspect they are doing reallocation which means they are taking some of the units that are not being
built by other towns and assigning it to West Windsor And we do I mean the judges have um the retired judges have indicated that that's not allowed by the um by the um legislation passed A4 legislation passed So we do have a
session tomorrow with Judge Jacobson Um after the session she will make a recommendation to uh the judge who will finally rule Judge Lai Um so we will we will see what how the um how the uh
session goes tomorrow The league has been very helpful The league has been there are roughly about 158 towns who have who have challenged the uh DCA number The league is holding twice a week sessions Um I believe uh there's
one tomorrow So Tuesday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday uh so that we can learn from each other's experience Um but different judges have indicated different things and uh some towns have only fair share housing center challenging some towns have uh the
builders challenging and we believe the builders shouldn't have any say in this matter because they haven't followed the law but again I mean it's entirely up to the judge how how they rule I mean builder shouldn't be even in the shouldn't be even allowed to attend the
hearing since the law clearly required that they have to if they disagree with our law they have to provide a number and a justification for their number and they have clearly not done that So uh we will see how the session goes and how
judge Jacobson rules and then decide what our next action is I mean the sad reality is this is practically of less value since when we come up with our plan in June uh it will be a different number and the whole
charade starts again Um in the meantime you will see there's a $100,000 allocation for uh uh affordable housing u related legal expenses So um that's that sad reality in in in New Jersey uh
that you waste money on lawsuits rather than pro providing affordable housing Um and I I will comment on website There's a website discussion in the agenda So I'll I'll wait till that comes up to provide my comments So thank you very much
Just ask a clarifying question I heard you say that they provided no justification of the new number and they didn't challenge our um allocations at all Uh the the builders didn't challenge our allocations The builder's position
is the DCA number holds for every town Yeah Well that's not right That's nonsense But that's their position Housing air housing center didn't we kept asking how do you come with 480 number right See we have challenged on
two fronts One is equalized equalized uh assessments are wrong because they use two different years for two different numbers The judge seemed very interested and then the mediator or the person appointed by judge seemed very interested We did explain to her what
the mistake is Um and the fair share housing center to date has not told us how they come up with that number 480 number We think it's because of the reallocation from other towns Trying to figure out how to bring the total number up total number up But recallocation is
not in the legislation Yeah it's not in legislation It's not Yeah we shouldn't be responsible for other people's affordability And the way they're doing it from the way I understand it is they're not giving it to everybody just whoever said "Hey there was a problem
with my numbers." So which which is totally makes no sense because you absolutely have a right to correct um mistakes in the numbers So they've arbitrarily not only said that the law says this but that the only people or the only towns that have to
worry about it are towns that had the nerve to ask for corrections in their numbers So hopefully that kind of thing gets tossed but it's New Jersey So um thank you Yeah
Thank you All right Um administration's done Can we'll move on to council member comments Martin would you like to go first quick comments I just want to say everybody welcome to spring Obviously spring is in the air But with that um comes the walkers joggers bikers and as we know in our community we have so many
of those So I just want everyone to be very careful and cognizant as drivers Uh looking out for the kids looking out for those who walk and and and uh biking throughout our community And the same thing with those who are avid walkers and bikers do the same Uh just wanted to thank everyone from the township
township departments who uh made budget presentations uh requested uh considerations from council regarding the department budgets at our budget session meetings earlier this month I know it takes a lot of work to go through that and go through everything for the benefit of the residents So I just want to take time to thank our township our administration and all the
department heads uh for their presentations Thank you Thank you Martin Linda Yeah Good And talking about people who are out there on the road um you know when there stop signs you got to stop I've seen so many people that have turned this into some sort of option in
their head They're not even giving the the appearance of slowing down They're just going right through Matter of fact they they go faster Have you guys seen this too sometimes they go faster Yeah So please please just just stop at
the stop sign Be aware there's children there's uh adults there's people on bikes and we don't want to see anybody get hurt Um so I joined um last week uh I was with the Wester Little League President Heather Sanchetti and and some
of the younger softball players uh last Thursday uh Prianka Caul and uh she's graduated high school South and she's now attending uh Harvard University and she's on their uh women's softball team So they were playing Princeton this
weekend and they wanted to come a day early so they needed um a field and they uh wanted to go into the indoor batting cage at community park So uh the little league you know allowed them to do that and um some of the younger um softball
players got to meet them and um they signed some some balls and some programs and pictures for the kids So they they they enjoyed that very much And uh that's Sonia Well I'll just add u with spring um with
what Martin said like we have people um out and about now Spring track season has started and the high school students do practice on the roads They do run so please be careful Um stop signs stop for the buses When the buses have blinking
stop signs I've seen people not do that Um no turn on red means no turn on red So please do stop Um I've been honked many times I um I'm stopped because it says no turn on red or stop here on red
and people want me to move So please please please look at these signs Um there was a discussion happening um um at the traffic light by high school south where we have new um signs for no sign on red uh no turn on red And I was
when I was coming here today I actually made it made a point to see if I can actually see the signs I can there the signs are placed on all four corners on your like you know you can actually really see it You don't have to look up
at the light It's right on the poles So people just need to abide by the rules and laws and signage Right Thank you Sonia Jen Few things um was at the West Windsor Board of Ed meeting which I'll talk
about in more detail during the our recording time but I wanted to just shout out and give a call out is that in this meeting the uh board of ed passed a resolution affirming their DEI position which um I think was a courageous and
committed um and the right thing to do It ties back into some of the budget decisions that they had to make Get into more of that later Um but I also went to the meeting because I wanted to do a little plug because um the next day I was speaking at High School North's
belonging day and I wanted to do a little plug for belonging day in DEI which I didn't really need to do because that entire meeting was DEI in space But um I did speak to um probably about 60 high school students over two sessions Um I was invited by the High School
North GSA Alliance and um it was just great to see the turnout to that event They probably had about 40 different speakers on all the different affinity groups that they the students have Um so it's great to see so much engagement
with our young adults and future leaders there Um also last week there was a um a public meeting to talk about um the concept and the benefits of rank choice voting which is becoming a more um
popular topic across the state Um currently the state statutes do not permit any any type of rank choice voting um anywhere even if a township wanted to have it It's it's unlawful And
so there's a there's legislation that has been introduced and there's a movement to to try to get the state to pass our legislature to pass um legislation that would allow towns to choose which is a process through a
referendum It's not just arbitrarily decided but at least to give towns that choice Um right now nobody has the choice Um so I think it's a it's a really interesting topic that I would encourage all of us to like learn more
about because I think it's um something that we might have to to deal with in in the coming years That's all I have Thank you Thank you Dan Um and with all the thing about stopping on no turn on red I do also
want to remind people that it's uh weather's getting really nice people are still out walking at dusk and when you're wearing dark clothing it's really hard to see you So um you know please wear light clothing wear reflectors wear
lights if it's going to be dark Um people nobody wants to hit anybody and the more you can do to be seen the better better out we'll all be Um this um this week I'm wearing my Meals on Wheels t-shirt Um I have every last few
years I've been a Meals on Wheels Mercer County Champ during the month of March Um where I got to go out with one of the volunteers for the day and uh go to about 10 different homes delivering uh hot meals in West Windsor Uh if there's
anybody who's looking for a volunteer opportunity I get people all the time like "Well I'm not sure what time I have and if I can and maybe I can do once a week." uh this is this is a really good opportunity because they are very flexible with what you can do and I and
it's really um wonderful to see sometimes sometimes these people the only person they see pretty much all week are the meals on wheels deliverers So the the amount of um happiness that you that you get from from the clients
that uh are helped uh is really very very worthwhile So if you do have some of that little extra time this is this is a very worthy organization Uh these past few weeks I did go to science fairs at Dutchneck School and Village School I've also met
with several robotics teams in and out of the fairs Um this is one of my favorite things to do to see how our uh students in uh in our district uh come up with original ideas and and want to learn science And I think that's uh
indicative of of our district of our families here and uh everything we can do to encourage this love of science and this interest in science regardless of what career the kids might want to take eventually is very positive It's also
been some Holly events including the dancing in the dark at the West Windsor Arts Arts Center Sonia and I were there So I want to thank Shiovani for organizing that I think that was a lot of fun And uh lastly on that um there
was a senior center birthday club that Hamanda Guptter has organized at the senior center Um both Hamont and I were there Uh was a lot of fun Um I got to wear a birthday hat Yeah I was a little embarrassed but um and um it's a it's a
monthly event so you come whether or not it's your birthday I think you sign up for it It's a few dollars And uh so if you if if you're a senior and you're interested um do do uh go to the senior center and ask to sign up for that It's
open to all seniors We've completed our three budget work sessions over the last few weeks If you've missed them they are on YouTube right Ellison that's correct That's one two and three One two and three on YouTube If you want to get yourself ready the introduction is going
to be coming I guess at the next meeting Yeah And uh then there will be the hearing on it in May Uh so if you want to uh know uh you know we cannot you can get the numbers and the budget numbers and the uh sheets and stuff online but
if you want to see the discussion and uh listen to our staff talk about why we need these various capital and and operational um improvements and um keeping the lights on and regular regular things that we spend money on I'd suggest that
you go on and uh you know look through some of our YouTube um presentations and you'll learn something I want to thank the bicycle and pedestrian alliance for having Dan Benson speak um from the county on road and safety improvements on county roads and speaking on the
county and adding to what Hamont was saying um back in February our council unanimously passed a resolution asking for West Windsor to have voting equity with the rest of the county by having an early voting location in town Um we've
presented there um Pamont did a good job at the board of education I'm sorry at the board of elections Uh they agree There seems to be general agreement that this is the right thing to do Um Robinsville passed a resolution agreeing
that the place in West Windsor would be good for them because they don't have a location either Um Allison's been doing yman work here um you know talking talking to the people at the county uh everybody agrees that this is what
should happen The people um and during the last election a lot of people were disappointed confused because we did not have a place even close to here Um and between Robbinsville and us we're probably forget how many people in Robinsville but we're probably over 40
45,000 between the two towns Um that uh that there's an entire area where there's really a um voting desert when it comes to early voting Uh if you look at a map So I really hope that this happens and we're going to do everything
in our power to make this fair Um and um now it's up now it's going to be up to the county but uh any thing anybody can do as far as writing letters or emails or calling the commissioners
uh that would be appreciated too Okay Thank you Alison I have two announcements Okay Be on the lookout um for the annual Memorial Day parade participation form Uh this form will be on the website um April 1st and the
parade is scheduled for May 26 So more information will follow We're asking anyone that would like to participate to fill out the form Um it's will be available in the clerk's office or online Please uh return it uh in person
email uh by May 16th Second announcement is um candidates for mayor and township council this year The m municipal election petitions for the mayor and two township council seats
will be available um starting April 1st Um anyone interested is to email me Allisonian the township clerk um at a sheen westwsorwp.com um or in person or by phone 6097992400 I'm an extension
225 Uh information I this all this information will also be posted on the website and sent in a blast at the end of this week Um I'm asking for information such as your full name as you want on the ballot home address email address and telephone number Um so
any other information uh please contact me Um let's see And that's going to be on the eblast by the end of the week right yes Um planning for Friday Yeah And then April 1 they will be available um
uh to be requested by me Okay Okay Thank you Ellison Public hearing Okay 2025-02 an ordinance to amend and supplement chapter 168 traffic and parking of the revised general
ordinances of the township of West Windsor to add chapter 168-20.1 scheduled no parking zones Okay I'm going to open the public hearing Is there anybody who wishes to speak on
2025-02 no Seeing none I'm going to ask for a motion to close the public hearing Salute Second Do we have a roll call gawas yes Chvers yes We yes Whitfield yes Mindo yes And now can I have a
motion to adopt 2025-02 so moved Second Gawas yes Gvers yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Mando yes Thank you Moving on to the consent
agenda Agenda bills and claims please Does anybody wish to pull anything no Can I get a motion to approve so moved Second Second Roll Whitfield
Yes Manda Yes Okay And recommendations from administration and council clerk 2025-R081 authorizing the refund of health insurance payments 2025-R082 authorizing the mayor and
clerk to execute a shared services agreement with West Windsor Plainsboro School District for educational and governmental programming for the township media channels and streaming services for the period January 1 2025
through December 31st 2027 for a total not to exceed $18,18820 2025-R083 authorizing the chief financial officer to increase the professional services contract for the law offices of Müller and Valley PC for
affordable housing legal fees $100,000 2025-R084 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute an easement modification agreement for 24 Milbrook Drive 2025-R085 granting reservation of
additional sewer capacity for the Princeton University project known as Ball Baseball Ballpark PB24-08 at the Lake Campus 2025-R086 authorizing the business administrator to purchase hardware
software licensing and support for replacement of the municipal network infrastructure system from SHI International Corporation a date contract vendor $112,93361 2025-R087 authorizing the business
administrator to purchase HP toner from SHI International Corporation a state contract vendor $14,000 2025-R088 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional services
agreement with Van Clee Engineering Associates to provide provide engineering and land surveying services for the proposed roundabout at New Village Road Village Road West Baxter Place intersection $131,500
2025-R089 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional services agreement with Van Clee Engineering Associates to provide engineering survey and design services for the Woodmir Way roadway resurfacing project $55,000
2025-R090 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional services agreement with Van Clee Engineering Associates to provide engineering survey and design services for the project known as Canal Point Boulevard retaining wall repair
$15,944 2025-R091 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute change order number one with Earl Asphalt Inc for an increase of $389,11.65 for the Southfield Road and Southpost Road sewer capacity improvement project for a revised total
amount not to exceed 5,113,4743 2025-R092 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute change order number one and final with Institute for Technologies Inc formerly Standard Pipe
Services for a decrease of $75,657.50 for the DNR Canal Interceptor 48 in diameter sewer spot repairs and manhole rehabilitation project for a revised total amount not to exceed $787,242.50 2025-R093 authorizing the mayor and
clerk to execute a professional services agreement with US Athletic Fields Inc for the project known as Street Street Tree Removal and Stump Grinding Winter 2025 $26,280 2025-R094 authorizing the mayor and
clerk to execute a professional services agreement with Protective Paving LLC for the project known as FY2023 Park Grant Trail Resurfacing at West Windsor Community Park $231,27427
2025-R095 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional services agreement with Center State Engineering ing for construction administration and observation services for the project known as trail resurfacing at West Windsor Community Park
$9,500 2025-R096 authorizing the business administrator to purchase replacement of network firewall equipment for the police division from Staret Solutions Inc $17,090
2024-R097 authorizing the business administrator to purchase the replacement of domain controllers servers for the police division from Staret Solutions Inc $29,640 2025-R098 authorizing the mayor to execute a use and hold harmless
agreement with town Hamilton Township for use of the Hamilton Police Range as an alternative training location for the West Windsor Police Division 2025-R099 authorizing second quarter 2025 emergency temporary appropriations
which requires a twothirds vote of the full membership of the governing body for 15,171,163.75 Does anybody wish to pull anything no Um Allison one of these does require four votes Correct So should we take
that out just as a um just to be sure i would suggest yeah let's take that and and uh just go to 2025 R98 and then we can vote on that separately Okay So we'll do a motion to approve 2025- R081
through 2025-R098 Can I have a motion salute Second please Second Second Roll call please Gawas yes Chvers yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Mandal yes And now on 2025
RO99 can I have a motion to approve second Gawas yes Jivers yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes And yes Thank you Okay All right We have no ordinances And now I'll open for
additional public comment And then we don't have anybody so I have to open Somebody could run in Somebody can run in here Um and um I will close public comment and let me do council reports
first and then we will do our website Okay All right So for council reports why don't we start with Dan Sure So the u as I said earlier the board of ed met um the the primary mo purpose of the meeting was to introduce um the 25 26
budget uh and the uh the focus of this meeting was uh really about our our DEI programs and why they're so um pretty much integrated into the entire model that
our school functions It's in our mission statements It's in the goals and objectives there's programs um specifically targeting because the whole model of our school district is that we teach every child you know no exceptions Um and one
of the reasons for affirming this and they actually passed a resolution uh which is posted on the website so you can go read the whole thing um is because from the purpose of a their budget discussions they're looking at a worst case scenario where um they're
making an assumption that they will lose all federal funding um as a result of what we're seeing um in Washington with the um elimination of the department of educ education and the concern about what kind of funds the feds are going to bring to the state
which could then jeopardize So they're taking a worst case scenario view to say it will be zero So that's a couple million dollars likely they have to make up Um and they've been very sort of um you know
they run a very tight ship over there and and um are able to make up some of that gap using u mechanisms um similar to our um our our um municipal fund balance They call it a fund reserve and
a variety of other revenue streams and changing some of the um the cost structure they the the the bottom line at the end of the day looks like it's going to be roughly a five five plus change in the overall budget which is on
the high side Um but they're fairly confident that only a small fraction of that will actually impact um property residential property tax owners that a majority of that is being made up by um their fund reserves and other funding
mechanisms um they won't know what that exact number is until much further in the process when they know exactly the number of students and the allocation between Plansboro and um and West Windsor Uh but I felt that it was really
important to issue this um resolution because it goes hand inand to the decisions that they're making to to maintain the integrity of our our education system here something that that and I can't speak for everybody else but I fully support
and I think it's it's the right thing to do Um and yeah one question Sure Um the township cannot recognize revenue unless it is guaranteed So they should know whether they're going to get the money or not get the money before the budget
is approved Is that true the money for from the from the Fed any any revenue the township let's say XYZ is giving township revenue we cannot recognize it unless it's guaranteed right right so
must same rules must apply to the school district so if they're thinking they will lose 3.5 million 2.5 million whatever million x dollars they should know it before they approve the budget otherwise they can approve the budget yes so the revenue that they're taking
in from the federal I mean if they if they're saying that they will lose federal grant they should get a letter from federal or state I mean that's why our budget is till the last problem is the timing of the I mean this happens every year I mean we wait till the last
second because the state doesn't tell us what our state funding is right that's the whole reason why you don't get tax rate We are not trying to hide anything We don't know because the state doesn't tell us or the county doesn't give us their budget So the same applies but
they have to know that number before they can approve the budget We have to know the number before you can approve the budget April April 29th is their budget hearing right yes And we have the uh meeting with the board of ed on April 29th Yeah But that that day usually they
vote on the budget The budget is done by then It's just a day too So right the question is do they know for sure by have they received a letter from the federal or the state that they are losing X grand Good question So I don't know if they've actually Yeah that's why
I asked you because next meeting you can ask that question That's a good question to ask whether that's that's that's exactly why I asked you that My understanding is that they're making the assumption that they're not getting it So they're planning in worst case scenario And when I talked to Dr Adhold afterwards about it's like well what if you actually end up do getting it yeah
Um then that just goes into the into the reserve and they could move the but then it's the same I mean you take it out of the reserve they have the reserve same like we have the we take $10 million out of reserve right it's the same game then they can take it out of the reserve and put it in the reserve next year but that
shouldn't affect the tax rate then correct because the revenue is still the same exactly the same so if the tax rate is 5% that's something else that's causing the I haven't looked at the budget couple of people called and asked me I said I didn't get a chance to look at the budget I will look at the budget
before that meeting so that 5% that I mentioned is not the rate that's the increase in the overall budget it's a something like a 5.1 or 5 to 5.2 into increase in the budget of which I understand something like 1% of that or
not one that there's a 4% are from other increases and about 1% is from this hed hedging about the federal government but they can increase the budget all they want as long as the revenue increases I mean one year our budget increased by
10% two years they have tax yeah it's not no it's not as long as the revenue increases and there's the tax impact will be minimal because the county is going to raise taxes the same amount like last time It's going to be high I mean that I know Yeah My main my
sort of main talking point especially when we talk to members in the community is for people not to get alarmed when they see a 5% increase in the school budget because they're going to think "Oh my goodness my taxes are going to go%." And that is not the case Um and I've even seen some people put Facebook
posts out there sort of implying that and I've asked them you know I've asked them actually to take their post down because it wasn't really an accurate reflection and we don't want to create these inflammatory remarks and get people upset about something that's not really going to happen right so And and
they're um able to do this I understand without a referendum because they have uh the same as we do the the whole cap thing They have money left in the cap and then there's also some extra money that is given for inflation and then some of that money I think is uh is
health related a lot of it So so they are not in a situation where it requires a referendum from the way I understand it which which I think would make it a totally different situation if now everybody was arguing over a a referendum on the budget and there was
some chance that it could go down that way So um Okay Okay That was it And you understand that if they do wind up where they don't have an answer and um they wind up having to leave that
there and then get that money then instead of spending it they will put it into the fence Right Which would be not I would be nice to hear that officially come out and and say it So ask Yeah we can we can ask them on on
the 29 on the 29th We we can we can ask them to officially come out and say that Thank you Thank you Dan for a very detailed report Um okay let's move along to um Sonia
Um affordable housing has not met um this month Um and emergency management council meets only once every um couple of months So that meeting was done in February um which I had reported upon Um um the parking authority met on March
19th Um the police reported that um last month they responded 16 different times um at the station Um daily parking has gone up um since 2024 about this time
around but the permit parking volume has gone down So I think the theory is people are not commuting as much or they are using more for um daily parking as opposed to permit parking So right um
there was a long discussion on the um bus depot project um the if if everything goes as to their timelines they are hoping the project would be done by um by late fall um this year So
their their goal is before winter if that project should be done Um so which would make that that area look much nicer I think uh right now the first step is the uh remediation and the
demolition of the buildings Um I think um they need um a agreement between the township and uh parking authority So I believe um they are working with engineering to get that done there's an agreement for right of way or something
that has to be done So they actually expect by winter to have that project started with all that going on Yeah So I think uh they're very close to um filing for there are two different grants um for this project I think there's one timeline there One is in April due in
April and the other is in uh July the deadline So they're working towards that Um and then the once the demolition is done it's I think the timeline as of right now is like towards fall to early
winter is when they're looking at the project to be completed Okay Thank you Okay So Linda uh the shade tree commission will uh meet this Wednesday March 28th at 6:30
p.m in room B in the municipal building Uh they mentioned there was mention of bamboo um earlier this evening So that is listed as uh one of the topics on the agenda Yeah I saw that I'm all excited Right So it'll be interesting It's a lot on
the agenda Um and as Carrie mentioned earlier Arbor Day artwork um from the K8 students is uh due this week What the trees see is the topic And uh oh I also attended the uh science fair at Village
School uh earlier this month And uh it's amazing how prepared our students are uh and also to discuss their their projects um with members of the public So it's yeah we're proud of all that they do
Thanks Martin Sure Uh human relations met last Tuesday Um they're in a full discussion to have a community cookout with the recreation department Obviously this would be one of the first overall community cookouts with the absolute goal of bringing the community together regardless of political affiliation As
they've said culture ethnicity background or economic status Uh the cookout will be based solely uh like I mentioned on comm community communal togetherness unification of our residents Uh a date has not been set but I will let everyone know Thank you Did you say cookout you mean so there's
actually going to be flames and stuff to cook on yes All right Oh hey Oh nice Nice Okay All right Um bring microwaves No microwaves No No
Okay Marshmallows Let's Let's do some mores Um okay Yes um environmental commission met and one of the main things they were looking at was um the number of points and the various projects that we had that are related to
sustainable Jersey and um Dan Delbulski was there and we went over the uh list of potential projects uh what people can do to enhance some of the projects Um I got a couple assignments out of finding some
pictures Um and um we're uh look like we're well on our way to um a good reertification again this year So uh part part of the advantage of doing this is that we um we work more on the projects and we take a look and see how
we can enhance them as we're going going along as we come down the home stretch Thank you All right Um we're now going to go on to the website discussion Um so before the council starts with our discussion I was hoping
to get a um little background on why we're doing the website and also um a little bit about what's what's been done so far and then we'll get into some of the council suggestions So um she'll give you a little update and then I'll
give my second same Carrie will give that background and then you'll say something Thank Thank you Carrie Go ahead Um so the current host of our website City Connections is in the process of retiring and that um so they're shutting
down their business and they will continue to host our website until the new one is up and running But that is the reason why we have transitioned or are in process of transitioning over to a new host and um design So the current
status is um I know I've provided uh the screenshot of just the template of the layout Um so that's where we're at with that We are currently working on the sitemap of it and now with the feedback
that we received from everyone we can take those things and try to revamp whatever is on the site map to really incorporate that and then whatever we wherever we get to the next step um hopefully be able to provide you better
updates on the status of it But I think we'll take all of your feedback and incorporate it and see what kind of actionable items we can do um to be able to make sure that we have the best website for our residents and
take those things into consideration Um currently our IT staff is out of the office um and out of the country So as soon as they get back we um will be meeting to get a further update on that Okay And that'll be like a couple weeks
or something coming Yeah Our huge IT staff of one is visiting India So I was going to say our big staff Yes Yes And our other half of the staff was out of the country too previously So um but
I think that the items that you provided are super helpful So um and I think I know how I use my own township's website and those are the things that I get frustrated at too So that's what I keep thinking So a lot of things are the same things that we were thinking about as
well So thank you K Mary did you she she she gave you reason why we are doing it and uh the old company has kindly agreed to support us until our new website is up and running Um um
again my whole philosophy is give us actionable ideas I mean some of you have given us many of those things we were going to do anyway but those are good ideas and we will try to implement as many as we can If we can't implement it
I'll try to explain to you why we can't implement it or why we don't want to implement it from philosophical point of view Um just for example online reservation for parks it appears very easy mayor Um I would like to give the council a chance to kind of like discuss
the ideas before No no I'm just giving you philosophical example I'm not going to I'm not going to comment on any ideas right now I'm just saying some ideas we may not implement because there are operational issues and that is one example the operational issues that we cannot that's the idea you've already
given So you give us all the actionable ideas we will implement as many of as possibly can Um but I I don't want to have a philosophical discussion because at the end of the day I don't really know what
you want out of it So okay Um what I'll do is we'll go around and everybody can kind of just give a little bit of the highlights of the of what they're looking for and then we can have a little bit of cross discussion on it Linda you want to go first for this
well looked at some of the um websites Carrie that you had mentioned and all Um I guess one of the things it seemed to be a common thing for for several of us was like um have a pay bill online section Um so it's clear you know like
where where they should go you know maybe it's online you know it's online section and then it's like or taxes or permits whatever it is Yeah Yeah And a a lot of other um websites seem to have that Um any sort of maps section maps
for tax parcels tax assessment zoning deeds and records is useful um as much as possible so people don't have to call and ask if they can get it on the website That will you know be more efficient Um I've saw a few how do I
sections that help residents um navigate the the website in a timely manner Um a few of them had that It's it was called quote how do I dot dot dot uh complaints and suggestions I think that's something
another common thing um for people I mean we do things for for potholes but what about other complaints in other areas and and maybe even suggestions as a positive thing not just a complaint you know Yeah
Um I saw on one website out there section on how to um review our website in another language So that I saw that only on one but I put it in here since we're very multiultural here Uh in a section
on weekly construction traffic forecasts including road closures with an emergency map So that that would be have to be something that engineering um give you know the most recent updates could be weekly updates it could be you know daily updates uh but people are always
kind of um looking for that and just uh visual appeal um on the front page Um there's an awful lot of information that's there and and it's just uh a lot a lot of news notices and all So
um maybe put all that in in one section as opposed to like you know a long list like this It's a lot Police department I mean they they have their whole department too You could you could um you know police I think we already have
one where you can click on and put that information in there and people can go directly you know into that So very very comfort I friendly and user friendly um
in my sports facility we'll we'll see a million customers this year and we're continuously working um on our website um but like I said we'll have so many people coming to my job through the front doors but there's so many
important things actionable items um ter terms of user friendly and I friendly I think is very important to a website so I won't go into so many details cuz many of my council colleagues have already written out so much stuff that I totally agree with but I think just uh in this
era that we live in now so many people are looking on their phones they are looking on desktops and they just want to be able to find things um I I would say in a term with the quickness as opposed to having to navigate uh through so much to find what they're looking for So I think this the key thing for me is
just user friendly and eye friendly is very very important Thank you Martin Dan Yeah So I think the common thread of all of our comments is that we're all looking at ways to digitize or automate
um functions that we're that we that people do all the time uh and just to make it easier for them Um the the I recognize the challenge behind some of that is that the website is just the user interface So digitizing or automating a function does require
changes on the back end on the administrative processes It might be process engineering It just doesn't happen magically just because you have the website there Um so I you know recognize that there's that you have to kind of figure out what's um what's feasible um in in the time frame So I
think what I would like to sort of see is that I I don't see this as like a single event that happens This is to me the beginning of sort of a a continual improvement process as we continue to bring um more modernized service
delivery um to our to our residents um it we can't do everything at once because that would be way too overwhelming for for the organization being the administration and the folks to actually be able to do that So there has to be
some um view of what sort of that long-term plan looks like and what are sort of the key functions and services that we want to do over the course of time And that's why I kind of asked for like you know what is what is the functional requirements what does the
design plan look like and that's not that's a living document right that keeps changing Um and it gives us the opportunity to also evaluate the success of how it's working Um evaluate what you know maybe we rep prioritize things as
we move along the process But I think it's really important um to do this from a and my guess is that the organization based on the fact that they have a pretty large portfolio of integration points um and you know many other
websites down they understand user centric design They understand um you know sort of modern modern website design Um it's not just about a place where people go to get information It's 2025 These are
applications right and and they you know looking at their sort of service portfolio they include like the options to do um what Linda asked for to be able to automatically report stuff with some
geoloc tagging They have all that stuff None of that stuff is free right everything has a price tag to it Um what I don't have a good feel for is sort of what we're committed to at this point what is sort of our vision of how do we see this playing out in the next couple
of years um it would be nice to sort of see maybe a a roadmap of sort of the different modules that we think would you know make sense um because I think there's a lot of opportunity here to really improve the experience for our
residents but also improve um the way the organization functions I mean this it I'm talking a little bit about diversity Um you know we have an incredible diverse set of people up here and if we wanted to get deep into
recreational facility management Martin has that in spades right and if we wanted to talk about emergency services I'm sure Sonia and others could jump in there So um I think I've demonstrated that I'm a fairly humble person I don't
like to brag a lot but this is what I've done in my career for the last 30 years is to help organizations transform and innovate using digital technology and it's not about the technology it's about the
underlying business processes that are needed in order to support the technology so I think if we think of it that way um we could be successful in what we deliver and part of recognizing what is going to be success successful is knowing what we're asking for So I
get uncomfortable when when we when I don't see sort of what what we expect to get back because then how do you know you are successful in in the project if you don't have it well defined up front So it doesn't you know everything doesn't have to always be wrapped up in
perfect but um it would be good if we get a sort of a better idea in the terms of like a road map of what we expect to see some of these functions some of what we've asked for I think are you know organizational things the way the website looks um and those are probably
fairly easy things it sounds like K's probably thought about most of them already and those are all all good things and maybe this first phase is truly we're sort of in a position where we have to move to a new website And so this wasn't instigated because of a desire to change things It's really the
first step is because we have a a need to change vendors but it also creates this opportunity for us to do something bigger and better and more valuable Um so that's a little philosophical but I think um I think we're going in the
right direction I think it'd be just helpful especially since we're using public taxpayer dollars to do all this to get a sort of a more clear roadmap of what it's going to look like So thank you Thank you Dan Uh Sonia
Well I don't want to take too much time I think uh my colleagues here have uh mentioned pretty much everything One one one thing that I keep going back to is when we um if somebody opens up our website and if there is a actionable
item for a recent action like let's say reminder for um the um the alarm permit right so maybe a pop-up window like this is the deadline or something like that if there's an emergency and we could um
road closures and like you know just make it easy for a user to just get that message right away as opposed to digging into uh you know the update section where you have to go down like five pages You have to know it's there too
You have to have seen it before to know that it's on the third page Exactly So I I I feel like if there is a immediate actionable item if that could be something I think would be very helpful um uh for our residents that's something
that um always bothers me Um so and I think there we among all of us we have gone down our wants or hopes for the website but at the end of the uh day I think we just
need uh user friendly easy uh website right so yeah anything we can digitize um online bill payments reservations I I know I think parks and parks reservations probably is going to be difficult
But if we can make it a little more easier as opposed to people only the only way right now is calling the department to see if those dates are available or if even if we can have a calendar that shows what days are
available for booking if not online reservation at least the availability portion you know things like that or even something saying that we rent the parks and which sites are rentable which we don't actually have right Now yeah To
start with yeah parks are available for rent People only think about Mercer County Park but we do have few parks in our town that you can rent you know the pavilions and other parks and can use that income They can certainly we've
miss we've missed out on some income I think cuz and I think we used to have that I remember there used to be a way where you could at least look and they would say here's this is and here's the price So I'm not sure what happened with that So I'm hoping that that should be a quick fix That should be a quick fix they could
put on the current website I think I think it just fell off at some point Anything else Sonia like some one of the wants that I have is like you know if we could have a mayor's corner council's corner maybe
some sort of um thing that we can rotate and have some some of our messaging and to our residents or could be and then that could also go out to our residents as a newsletter
Yeah Yeah Um I agree with a bunch of stuff here Um one thing I do want to put in here and it's not directly with the website is I think we really should have a town app Um most people want to use
their phones Um and one of the things is say you're reporting a pothole somebody being able to stop take a picture of a pothole that's even got a it's got a geo uh address on it send it in right away
and know exactly where it is and what it looks like Um you really need a mobile you really need to do that on a mobile app And I think there's a lot that can be done on a mobile app um directly rather than having somebody go to a website and then try to fill it in in
these tiny little uh things So that's a that's separate But when we're designing the website we should think about if we have an app how is that going to going to fit in um I think we should there's there's two two different things in this
website One is communicating to the town and that would be reporting your potholes uh uh saying that there's some issue at a particular corner uh report and all the all the different kinds of reporting even paying your bills and
that's you communicating into the town and that's one direction and I think there needs to be a central way to do that and a very standardized so that when you're reporting to one place you're not told to send an email with a description and another one you're
filling out a a form something else you're filling out somewhere and from what I've seen looking at the show you know at the New Jersey um league show various pieces of software that are around there are ways you can
standardize to some some way that it becomes one of these twoclick processes takes you less it takes you two clicks to get to where you have to go and then where you are There's a fairly standard form You don't have to know what department does it You don't have to
know why You don't have to know the name Um you don't have to write the entire council and copy the whole council because you want to sign fixed on a road somewhere You send it to um to the to a manager who then sends it to the right
place Uh and that can be automated in various ways down the road Um and then it gets acted on and then there's some provision to tell the tell the person that made the request uh what the status is at any point Uh
send them a status that we've gotten it send them a status that we're working on it and then send them a status that we've taken care of it Um and that could probably get automated as we go along And I think as Dan had mentioned it's it's actually a whole system It's not
just a website It's it's basically buying the system that gives you that power because right now there is a lot of steps I think for things that are getting a plugin that we can do Yeah there are apps actually that do that
already Andrea Yeah I know that's I've talked to these guys and I've had people dying to give me demos of it but um so there are so there are ways that we could become much more efficient Now I know I know there's the issue of we that
doesn't give us any more people in DPW to take care of it but it it it gets it into the queue and and as part of that you can even assign a triad or assign a um um you know which thing is more important Obviously if a sinkhole opens
up that's a lot different than if there's a little pothole on a on a culdesac So so you can you can even uh have this put in something or other So it gives people an idea of which which thing to work on first and it becomes part of your system So and that and
that's the communication that way and that's and that's kind of one type of basic type of communication which is we're calling them complaints but it's essentially maintaining the system and then the other thing is getting information out I I want to go and I
want to know if there's going to be a council meeting and how where do I have to go for that um if I I could go to the calendar but now I have to look through the calendar and find it or is there an easy way so so we need a better calendar system and we need a better uh system of
informing people uh like Sonia Sonia was mentioning about downloadable something not like when you and it put in a notification something that either notifies you or if you want it'll put it onto your Google calendar or whatever Um
and then the other piece of information that I think people are interested in is the real time Um coming to a council meeting every two or three weeks and seeing what's going to what zone somebody's in and where they might be in two weeks is is okay but it's not super
helpful Um there should be some form of somebody goes on there sees direct puts their address sees exactly not only what zone they're in but where when it's expected and in real time where are they and that would be something that would have to be calculated and there are
several several uh things that that I mean I can I right now if I order a sandwich on uh on Door Dash I can follow the Door Dash driver I don't think we have to get into that level Um but somebody should have an idea Is this
happening in my in my neighborhood this week and even hey maybe it's tomorrow I better get out there and throw those leaves out there Uh and and there's five or six things in the town that you really want to know Is is um you know is the waste uh not being picked up
tomorrow is is my when's the leaf pickups there's maybe five or six things you could probably find that would need that kind of of ability where somebody could go and check and check on that Um M I really want some kind of a township
newsletter but that that's more a matter I mean you could put that on anything You put that on the back of a of a they still make milk cartons Um but and real-time road construction information that so that somebody could look at a map and see where is the construction
today in West Windsor and what's going to block them off and what time they they they should try to avoid it and that could probably be just some sort of an interactive map It could be based on various current map systems and instead of having all these different little nicks allow this and somebody says this
road and somebody says that and maybe tomorrow Um because I think we've found a number of times when the roads were blocked We weren't really sure if it was blocked one way two way So something that's in in a real time that does that
And I know we've made this really really extensive here between all of us Um but I think we could start on some of these uh on some of these improvements and I think we're all kind of on the same page what we're looking for this to
ultimately turn into and maybe what could be almost a quicker fix um when when there's a new website and then and becomes a lot more available and visible and and stays visible Uh one one posing document There's a there's an
announcement there's a document it doesn't really go in any of the little boxes and then you we I'm not even sure if it's on there still or somebody pulled it off but it but you can't find it again and it's something that was an announcement on something you'll want to see again And so I'm suggesting that you
can sunset some of these If it was a yes you know tomorrow this road's closed and the tomorrow's over and the road's open you can sunset that and say take it off But a lot of other stuff you would like to have the capability of finding it And that's um my soap box on on this Does
anyone have any other No it's just I think we all had good ideas We're all on a like similar playing field of ideas and what what we want But but uh my question now is is it's budget season We we've concluded a lot of budget discussions and this has sort of come up
either through budget or or tonight Um and and do we have enough money to do some of these ideas i don't I don't know if these projects are a few thousand 10,000 100,000 I I don't know I mean we don't know yet but we want to do a lot and I
don't if there's um time to put enough money in the budget to do these things this year Otherwise you're another year out and we're working on this now Doesn't mean we can do everything at once but like to see some progress on that
I mean I think that's a well that's a fair question to answer first maybe and then you can yeah I mean if you uh enough money to do everything we haven't first decided what everything is so I cannot answer we have everything to
do see the first task as as just to uh use some of the comments that uh some of you made uh as as she said the Main purpose is that they told us we are shutting down If they shut down tomorrow
we are in big trouble because we don't have So the first task was to move over the website and improve it as much as we possibly can during the move over We are not trying to redesign the entire business process I mean if it was a big
tech company they will start with okay what do you want to achieve go back redesign the business process and then do the website That's not the intent here The intent is to first move the website improve it as much as we possibly can accommodate some of the
things that you do and then continuous improvement as you talked about We will go doing continuous improvement right we may be able to we were never the aim is never to do 100% of what everybody expects because that will at at no more
than impossible after a certain point It's a law of diminishing return you end up spending far more money than the uh result you get So at some point somebody has to decide that okay those two things we can't do but you can live with it
right again some of you talked about emergency and you want live update I mean what you consider as emergency we may not consider emergency if a road is closed for 1 hour and you say no no no I want to know that very minute we may sing no big deal you go there like
yesterday new village roads was closed I went there no big deal I didn't get upset how come you been posted on the even if you had posted on the website I may not have looked at the website before yeah the this the poll snap right
it's a pen so I went there I looked around no big deal so again what everybody looks it as emergency may not be true emergency I mean when people complain about roads and stuff the police will always tell me that's one
hour a day is that an emergency people can't manage one hour a Okay So real time garbage collection and real time for um leaf collection Those seems to be getting I wrote down several things It's a it's a great idea to put
leaf collection this week right or leaf correction next week Then nobody has a right to complain that I didn't know Right And maybe people will stop putting their stuff out No three weeks ahead problem we find is people put it the day
after you pick up right and it's there for four weeks but now they don't have the excuse like I didn't realize they don't at least have an excuse so I did write down several good things several great suggestions that we will definitely implement and they will have an immediate feedback for us like leaf
collection next week quick I mean I look at this as quick wins right and so when you create the new website it immediately has these handful of new features there might not be you know right and then you and preventing slicing bread or anything Some of this information is already available on
recycle coach Got it Got it Well recycle coach doesn't isn't a real time update Yeah But at least general idea when it Yeah It basically is a calendar and so to answer Linda's question right now we don't need any money If we need money if
we need to get more software or stuff we will come and ask you But right now we don't need to change the budget Well some of some of the stuff we've asked for it's almost a matter of you want to change your process and then once you've got your process then how do I make the website reflect the process too uh you
can't you know you can't change the website and then expect the process You you find out how the process can work the back end and then you create something so people can easily use a new backend So that's that's a little more futuristic Yeah And and that may be one of the continuous improvement Once we
have the website up and running we may say this works it better this way We may change the process and then change the website That will happen and and that could lead to more efficiencies overall at some point in the next in the next level of stuff But I mean again my
request and suggestion is pass the suggestions like that Let pick up next week Great suggestion We will make sure that it's not currently on our website Right you may not get minute to minute that your truck is coming in 30 minutes that you're not I don't think
they need that kind of I'm telling you right now you won't get it I mean it's I know it's technically possible but it's not worth it No no but that's FedEx does that I know I told you my sandwich come Well I usually get a whole dinner but still right the minute the guy when he's
going to take the picture in front of my house That's that's the that's the example of love diminishing return I mean that additional investment is not worth in my opinion So that we won't do But you know this even even down to the weak level of yes I know it's going to
be thection because it's you know it's a delay thing again I mean you can continue sending suggestions It's not like you send one you may come across something tomorrow you say I missed that right we're not sending any there's no
cut off I mean you can continue sending suggestions we'll continue when Lal comes back we'll start restart the process and she will keep continuing to update you and uh we will go as along and two months from now you can schedule
another session to discussion based on where we are and we will go from there Could you comment a little bit on the nature of the contract we have with them is it is it basically this conversion and then a maintenance mode or is there
an additional opportunity for them to introduce new features or functions i can um there is uh it's a redesign design and then um I think in three or four years is another redesign
that they can roll out as well But it's continuing to be able to grow the website as well So it's not just a design and then they're out They're support us and any of the apps or their CMS They will support all of that We
wanted to add something Obviously there's it's more right But there are certain things that are included but we want to make sure that we get all the information that's currently on our website and then make sure it's working and doesn't have dead links or Yeah Yeah
And that one click or two clicks to be able to what zone are we in or you know because that's what I'm looking at on my website Oh I have twice a year leaf pickup So I want to know what monthset is it again and I don't want to have to go seven
pages in to find it So that's I'm with you The moment you are third and third click you lose you then I'm already on to another website The view is that you shouldn't have to know where to look to find something If you have to figure out where to look then you've already lost the game And and the more we can keep
some of the stuff consistent so somebody doesn't have to do one way for one the the more it's um you know becomes automatic how to how to reach us and how to do do things for us because right now I mean we have people who just assume that you have to write the whole council
and the mayor if you have a problem with your garbage pickup or something and that that's you know it's because somebody's frustrated obviously and yet it winds up taking a you know a lot of time and by the time it gets to the right place So you know anything that
can help that um would would be good people It shouldn't be a learn it shouldn't be a huge learning curve for the residents It should be something that if I had to go there for the first time I could figure out how to use it and the next time six months later if I need something else I've already learned
So um agree Yeah I think the the the ideas of like this is basically a ticketing system that Andrea is talking about um that also has a whole back end of tracking and maintenance and close out the informing the person That's
that's a major undertaking that that's that's like a the next step It could it could be used as a very simple okay it's one form and it goes to a real person and that person knows where to send it and that's the that's the um simple way
but but eventually it go can go into something where it's a little bit better but those yeah I mean those modules exist yeah pre prebate and they actually would be beneficial likely for the administration because it streamlines the ability to respond it keeps
streamlines the ability for them to see the status and it gives them not just the residents but it also helps yeah it gives a ability to prioritize and it and it keep eventually you kind of even figure out if it's say DPW how how much time each
thing takes and you can kind of and you can kind of schedule and yeah eventually that number of tickets and this helps you justify budget and I mean it's so it's um so but model to put it but it can it can sort of start from a simpler way and then you know there's two way
two ways one put that system in then do their site and the other one is let's have a simple way for people for the from the residents point of view it's like the old horn and heart I don't know if you ever heard of where it was supposed to be an automated it was from back in the early 1900s you put money in
the machine and there was a meal there you took it out and and but the back end of it was like a hundred people working and stuffing the meals into the box whereas now where so you can still still do that but then eventually you would
you would look for a better system in the package that you need 100 people So if you make it really easy for people to report stuff and they start reporting stuff then you have now you've created a problem because now you don't have the processes and the staff to actually support that But you know most people are going to re if it's if it's
something bad people will report it and you don't want it to to take a lot of people's time So what's the next step is it is it like a launch or or are you coming back to us with I think more discussion We just got the feedback from So we'll have to meet when um it gets
back and then we'll probably have a better update on that So and what's your practical I mean you got somebody retiring here so I know they told you kind of you they'll they'll work with you but what's the practical date where
you really have to report it over not a target date as of yet I think want to just I think the feedback first and then we'll have a real timeline with revise the new company Okay I would say sooner but I I know when you first
mentioned this the we heard six months and it's probably close to that now at this point So well they only went into effect I think for January 1 So we're Oh okay We had we had been told like earlier that it was happening and we thought but I mean sooner than later but
I think the feed getting that feedback and then once it gets back we can meet again and see where we're at with them as well Okay And if you know if you wanted to bounce we don't have to wait for a meeting you can there's always sending emails out to to the whole
council and and you know on any thoughts and stuff like that Okay thank you much Does anyone else have anything to say before we adjourn no Thank you everybody for all the feedback Thank you for listening
Um and uh at this point we um Any other administration updates mayor No nothing Allison do you have anything no other updates There's no closed session So if nobody has any objection can I get a motion to adjurnn
so move Second All in favor i Okay we are journ Thank you