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1 minute. 1 minute. 6:59, so T minus 1. Just this. Alison, are we good? We are live. Okay, yes. I call to order the business session of

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August 3rd, 2026. Can we have the roll call, please? >> Charles? >> Here. >> Calloway? >> Here. >> Cheevers? >> Here. >> Mandel? >> Here. >> Weiss? >> And are we adequately noticed? >> Yes, this meeting was adequately noticed on January 23rd, 2026 to the Times and

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the Princeton Packet, filed with the municipal clerk, and posted here at the municipal building and on the Township website. Please stand for the salute to the flag. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands,

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one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay, um we do not have any ceremonial matters. Um so at this time, I'm going to open the first um opportunity for public

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comments. It's a um 30-minute comment period with 3-minute limit per person. Um we ask that each individual please, um, say their name and address for our records. Allison, do we have anybody on the >> have a list.

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Uh, first person is James Ray. Oh, sure. Yeah, absolutely. >> Testing, testing. Thank you. My name is >> My name is James Ray, and I reside at 36 Harris Road here in West Windsor. Good

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evening, everybody. I'm proud to call West Windsor home for 61 years. It has been my forever home and will always be my home. I'm here to express my support for the township's effort to establish a managed

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natural landscape ordinance. I believe native gardens, rain gardens, and meadows plantings can be beautiful and environmentally beneficial when they are thoughtfully designed and properly

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maintained. The key word, however, are thoughtfully designed and properly maintained. When my neighbor first told me he was planning to install a meadow garden, I was excited. I researched examples

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online and images of carefully designed landscape filled with native flowers, grasses, and wildlife. Unfortunately, what they built bears little resemblance to these. Instead, it had become an overgrown,

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unmanaged property that has significant impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Vegetation along the sidewalk measured over measures over 54 in high and has since begun leading into the sidewalk.

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Along our shared 6-ft fence, the vegetat- the vegetation extends approximately 2 ft over the fence top of the fence. This is not environmental stewardship.

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It's a lack of maintenance. Finally, I support the program proposed 4-ft buffer requirement between managed natural landscapes, sidewalks, and neighborhood property lines.

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On a typical 2,000 sq ft lot, that's a half acre, that buffer represents only about 6% of the total area of the property. It's a very small sacrifice that provides enormous benefits.

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It creates a clear visual transition, protects neighborhood property, preserves pedestrian access along sidewalks, and allows for tall vegetation to lean naturally without spilling into the sidewalks or adjacent yards.

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The ordinance presents an opportunity for West Windsor to be a leader in environmental stewardship, and also protect the character of the neighborhood. We should not have to choose between supporting the environment and maintaining community standards.

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We could and should have both. Thank you for your time, your service, and your commitment to protecting both our environment and the quality of life that has made West Windsor such a special place to call home.

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>> Thank you. Okay. Next on the list is Allison Lindner. >> Good evening everybody. My name is Allison Lindner. I live at 35 Quaker Road here in West Windsor. I too have been a resident of West Windsor for 59 years.

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Good evening. Thank you for allowing me to speak. I'm here tonight because I'm deeply concerned about the safety of my parents and the public due to ongoing conditions at my parents neighboring property. The property owner has described the yard as a pollinator garden, but the

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vegetation has become so overgrown that it creates serious safety hazards. The growth at the corner of this property exceeds the Township height limits and obstructs visibility at the intersection of Harris and Lily Street. I understand the Township has attempted

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to enforce its ordinances, but the violations remain unresolved. This intersection has become even more dangerous since the closure of the Clarksville Road Bridge, which has now increased traffic on Harris Road. Drivers Drivers have difficulty seeing

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oncoming vehicles when making a turn from Lily Street to Harris, and I worry that it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident there. My parents, 87 and 85, are still avid drivers. They struggle to safely pull

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out of their driveway because of the overgrowth on the neighboring property that blocks their view of traffic. Every time they leave their home, they must edge into the roadway without a clear line of sight. I fear that one day they or another driver will be involved in a preventable

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collision. There is also a very large large excavation on the property, approximately 20 ft by 20 ft in diameter and 5 ft deep. It's located right near my parents' property line. As far as I know, no work has been done

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on it last October. Every rainfall it fills with standing water that does not drain. Creates a run off from this and raises concern mosquito-borne disease. It's also an open safety hazard for

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children, pets, and wildlife that could accidentally fall into it. With the school year approaching, I also want to remind the council that there is a school bus stop for elementary children located in this area. Last year the stop had to be moved to my parents'

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driveway because parents and children could not safely wait in the overgrown vegetation. That temporary solution did not address the underlying problem in this area. I support responsible pollinator gardens and environmental stewardship, but they

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should not come at the expense of public safety or compliance with township ordinances. I respectfully ask the council to take whatever additional steps are available to ensure these ongoing violations are addressed. My parents, our neighbors, our school children, and everyone who

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travels Harris Road deserves a safe intersection and a safe community. Thank you. >> Thanks, Allison. Okay. Um next on the list is Benedict Go. >> Hi. Um my name is Benedict Go. I reside at 6 Redwood Court. I've been a

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resident of West Windsor for 23 years. Uh I'm here to express my support for the bamboo ordinance that's up for discussion tonight or that's been drafted. Uh I appreciate all the time the council, the mayor, administration, and as well

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as Shade Tree Commission has put into drafting mo- these numerous versions of this ordinance. Um and I think this one is long overdue. I think I'm looking forward to take to the day it gets signed into law.

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Um I do have a couple of comments about the ordinance, like the version as being presented tonight. Um, I would like to see some clarification um, in the text uh, around the situ- around the event

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when a township is forced to step in to to remove the bamboo. Uh, cuz this is mentioned under two areas of the of the ordinance and uh, when the homeowner has uh, come up with a plan or executed plan

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and when the bamboo encroaches on a on public property. Um, I'm worried that uh, this may impose should the township take on the job of clearing the bamboo uh, with today's rising cost of, you know, landscape maintenance and

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contractors and whatnot, this may impose uh, sort of undue hardship on the homeowners. I mean uh, whatever in whatever intentions are that they they do want to get rid of bamboo or not. Uh, I also would like to see some clarification on the per day fine of

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$500 and how and if that will be applied during the period when a township decides to step in to clear the bamboo. Um, I think that's that's all I have for tonight. Thanks. >> Thanks, Benedict.

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Our next on list is Michael Shewit. >> Good evening. Uh, I'm Mike Shewit. I reside at 416 Wincer Court in Ewing and I'm also the advisor to uh, the Shade Tree Commission. And I'd also to

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support the passage of the uh, bamboo ordinance. However, as Council and of Mayor knows, I've submitted a lot of uh, recommendations to approve on the ordinance. Uh both legally and also there's a lot

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of uh word smithing errors in it. And I know you all have my latest memo, which is about uh about 40 pages of errors in the drafting of the ordinance. But right now, I'd just like to focus in on

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a couple of those provisions that that are problematic. And I know you all have uh my slide presentation, um which I'll refer to. Um first of all, the uh first slide that

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you have in front of you, um the the lean provision, which is very important, which uh Andrew Mandell suggested to have, is not drafted uh correct legally. It doesn't refer to the

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necessary uh state statute, and you could see this on uh slide two uh of my presentation. And I actually have provided the wording for you just to drop in and insert

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into the ordinance that would make it uh com- compliant on the state law. Right now, it's defective in its drafting, the language regarding the lean. So, it's it's on impossible.

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Next, um also regarding the neighbor impacted by invasive uh bamboo, yes, I presented to you a uh Supreme Court decision, New Jersey Supreme Court decision on this point. But however, I

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provided um language again to make it easier for the aggrieved land owner to recoup its money. And that's on uh slide three, number two, give the neighbor impacted by the invasive bamboo a real 11th hour remedy. And

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lastly um the fine provision. So, the problem with the fine provision and again, I provided language to cure the problem with it is that there should be some requirement on the township

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staff, you know, to do its review, especially when it comes to installing a barrier. And other township statutes do have that. That the town for instance for chapter 170 regarding trees, the township must approve or deny

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a removal permit within 20 days. So, a similar provision should be provided in this ordinance as well. Thank you. >> Thanks, Mike. Anybody else? Next on the list is Philip Lee. >> Hello, Mayor and council members.

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Thank you again for allowing me to speak about the bamboo ordinance. I am advocating that the ordinance be passed >> Mr. Lee, can you just um say your uh full name and address, please? >> Yes, Philip Lee, 8 Stonewall Drive.

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I am advocating that the ordinance be passed as soon as possible. I have two points I would like to convey. First, the current process to deal with bamboo is non-existent. Reporting the overgrown bamboo as a nuisance under the current code has not

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worked for us. I filed a zoning complaint with the township on June 12th referencing the overgrown bamboo encroaching across multiple properties and questioned the legality of it being planted on a slope easement.

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The response I received from Nicholas the the town the township inspector on June 16th was quote, "Please be advised that this is not a matter that the township becomes involved in. This is a matter that is considered private property issue between property

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owners, unquote." I replied citing chapter 115 of the code enforcement, hence implying that the township has a responsibility to follow up on the issue. I then asked if he even came out to inspect the site.

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He never replied back. Second, the neighbor with the bamboo had his house on the contract for sale. Unfortunately, the deal fell through with the potential buyer um hesitant to proceed given the uncertainty

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of the bamboo ordinance. The owner was was also reluctant to remove the bamboo without knowing the outcome of the ordinance. So, the lack of an ordinance leaves someone like us frustrated, helpless, without means to find a solution.

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It also creates uncertainty in the minds of residents to proceed accordingly. I also have a few comments regarding the ordinance as drafted. Overall, I think it's very good and will eventually rid the township of uncontained bamboo. However, there are two things I'd like to point out. First, delivery of a

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violation via certified mail and return receipt may not be effective notification process. Based on our experience, the neighbor bamboo owner refused delivery of our certified letter and it was returned back to us via the postal carrier a few weeks later.

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Consequently, we just hand delivered it to him. Uh second, for remediation, shouldn't enforce the violate home owner to hire a professional company to dig and remove all the bamboo roots? They must follow through with a maintenance program to ensure regrowth

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is not above grass height. I did the neighbor a favor and contacted two professional landscapers to provide a quote to cut the shoots, dig up the roots, remove the debris, and spread topsoil. Both quotes came in around $5,000.

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So, will there be multiple inspections? Or will it be the responsibility of adjacent homeowners to follow up with another formal complaint? Thank you for your attention. >> Thanks, William. Do we have anybody else? Last on the list is Preeti Joshi. >> Hi.

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My name is Preeti Joshi. I'm from 10 Stonewall Drive. Um dear Mayor Marathe and the Township Council members, I would like to thank the Township for its efforts in developing this comprehensive bamboo ordinance to address the significant challenges that

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has been caused by bamboo growth and spread in residential neighborhoods. As a West Windsor resident directly affected by bamboo planted on a neighboring property, I strongly support the adoption of this ordinance and would like to share my concerns and

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recommendations for for consideration. Uh the bamboo has originating on my neighborly neighboring property has spread into my property creating an ongoing maintenance, landscaping, and property use challenges. Despite repeated efforts to control spread, new

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shoots continue to emerge demonstrating the aggressive and invasive nature of bamboo once it has been established. It is a long-term financial burden uh for uh the impacted homeowners. Uh we have to incur substantial costs associated

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with excavation, root removal, disposal, uh restoration of landscaping, etc. So, I just feel that property owners uh should not be bearing the burden of addressing bamboo originating from neighboring properties. There's a need

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for strong and timely enforcement um because, you know, it can just if unnoticed bamboo can established can establish uh significantly at a very high pace and can result in uh increase in impact and cost of

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remediation. So, the township's ability to intervene at this at this point uh you know, it has come as much needed relief. Uh some requests and consideration that I would like to quote uh re- the the provision should include a 15-ft

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buffer before between existing bamboo and and property lines. Require property owners to contain or remove bamboo that violates the ordinance. Establish clear standards for underground containment barriers. Uh require township review and approval

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of containment or remediation plans for corrective before corrective work is undertaken to ensure consistency and compliance and define bamboo removal, transportation, and disposal. Uh I would like to conclude uh by uh

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again strongly supporting the township's efforts to adopt a clear enforceable bamboo ordinance. Uh while I do appreciate that the you know, there's a legal activity this is a legal activity and legal counsel is uh reviewing the ordinance for clarity,

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fairness, um and you know, the due process may take a while, I would like to urge the township to accelerate the review and adoption process. Uh this is an urgent and ongoing issue for many many residents uh residents I

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see a lot of them have turned up today. So, um yeah, I I that's uh my uh you know, request, humble request to everybody to accelerate the process and many thanks again for um being interested in the problem and

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addressing. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Linda and everybody else for, you know, uh taking the interest and time to stop by. Uh thanks again. >> Thank you. Um okay, I have no one else on the list. Is there anybody else in the audience who would like to um give a public

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comment? All right, seeing none, public comment period is now closed. Um administration comments. >> Few next Few announcements. Uh today, uh public works began collecting uh brush

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family zone one. Um and also, court and skate park improvement projects are underway as of today. Township will begin several park

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improvement projects, including crack repairs, asphalt repairs, and repainting at multiple recreation recreational facilities. Hendricks Seddon Drive tennis court courts, phase one of the courts, two and

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three, will be closed beginning Monday, August 3rd for approximately 2 weeks, weather permitting. And once the work is done on courts two and three, courts four and five will be closed for approximately 2 weeks. Court one will

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remain open throughout project and is not included in the current repair schedule. The West Windsor Community Park basketball courts, um will also be closed, um starting today for approximately 2 weeks while

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crack repairs are completed, and the community park skate park will um undergo asphalt repairs beginning Wednesday, August 5th. Portions of the facility may be closed during construction to allow the work to be

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completed safely. And um we ask for you to check on news and notices um on the township website for periodic updates. Thank you. >> Thanks, Marlene. And may I

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>> Thanks, Sonia. Um Thank you for speaking about the uh natural landscape ordinance. Hopefully, we will uh introduce the bamboo ordinance first, then it's the next uh task. Uh given my experience with

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bamboo, it's not going to be easy. Uh but uh you've been very patient and I really appreciate your patience and keeping in touch and updating us. As you know, the township has been working with you as best as we can under the existing ordinances. So, we clearly need

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uh something new to uh take address that situation. So, we will start work on it as soon as this is done. Uh this some work has been done behind the scenes, but we'll start working on it starting uh starting tomorrow. Um

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a number of people spoke about bamboo ordinance. I'll just hold my comments because the right next item is the introduction. I'll talk and I uh a lot of explanation to do about that. Um the National Night Out is tomorrow,

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August 4th, at the community park from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Uh it's a great event, lot of things to do for kids and adults both. Uh an opportunity to meet your neighbors, friends, uh foods and games. So, I hope um I see

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all of you there tomorrow 6:00 to 8:00 at the uh community park. Um, and finally the Clarksville Road update, the state has been very good in keeping us updated every 2 weeks. They They do send every two second Friday the

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NJDOT uh uh person in charge does send me an update. Um, if you read the update, it's a very engineering uh terms and we post the update exactly as we receive it on our website. The

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last update was received last Friday. Uh that is up on the website. Uh in layman's terms, simple terms, it's progressing as we expected. They have promised uh to open it before December uh one way at a time with a traffic

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light. And um again, as they promised, they're working simultaneously in parallel on every phases uh at the traffic light, constructing the um the supports that are needed, working with Amtrak to get uh permission. Uh the

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contractor is working to get their equipment um certified by Amtrak. Uh they they the NJDOT did promise us they'll work all in parallel and they have been doing that. Um, on a different track but the same

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bridge, uh the bridge was supposed to be replaced in '31 '32, but the state has um speeded that up. They have already given a contract to design the bridge. They got like 10 or 11 bids and they have chosen the successful bidder.

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Uh last week we did get um email from um NJDAP about necessary permits that they are proceeding with uh the necessary permits. So, even that work is uh that work is proceeding uh

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um as fast as possible. Uh the council members have contacted the our state legislators both senators and legislators to make sure that the state does allocate sufficient money to complete the bridge the new bridge.

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The current bridge seems to be on track and I'm optimistic that will even though they keep saying December. I'm optimistic. They will open it. They will open it before that. >> Thanks mayor. Um

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Council comments. Let's start with Jeff. >> Uh first I just want to say congratulations to the young men who just completed their 12th year of running an Alex's Lemonade Stand fundraiser in the community right in my neighborhood. Great turnout yesterday and we hope you guys keep doing it again

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next year. Uh second movie night of the summer is coming up Friday night August 14th in Community Park. Disney's Jungle Book is the movie. Starts at around 8:30 p.m. So Uh bring your lawn chairs, blankets, and bug spray as you're reminding me last time Sonia. So

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Uh Allison and Jim thank you for coming out to speak about the house that's adjacent to yours. I completely agree that Uh it's in a state of severe you know overgrowth and is is a problem. I've heard from a number of people in the

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neighborhood there. I think some of them may not have wanted to come out and speak publicly. Uh but there I think are many people in the neighborhood that share your concerns and so you know I do look forward to working with the administration to figure out a solution for it. So thank you.

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>> Thanks Jeff. Andrea. >> Oh yeah. And Allison thank you for the pictures and I've been out there before. Next time I come out there I'll knock on the door and say hello. Um and we are working on something.

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Um Community Day is September 19th and will be a Revolution West Windsor 250th USA birthday event. Uh it's going to be like a 1776 revolutionary times colonial fair. Everyone's invited to get into the fun.

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If you're doing a table or booth, please think about how you can add something to keep with the theme. Um, more how and how you might be able to get involved coming up and we're looking at I'm if we can scrape some money together, uh, things like reenactors. I think the

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clerks are thinking about dressing up nicely already and so we've got a lot of thinking going. So anybody who wants to participate, we're looking forward. Uh, thank you to the, um, different groups for coming up with ideas on how to celebrate.

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Uh, tomorrow is going to be National Night Out in Community Park. Thanks to the police department for putting this on. The Township Council will be for providing council information, night reflectors for bicycle and pedestrian safety, and Shop West Windsor magnets

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and information. We'll also be hosting the PSE&G electricity savings project with the environmental commission to encourage everyone to have a free energy audit. We have some very nice giveaways from PSE&G, so I'll keep that as a surprise

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and encourage everybody to stop by. Uh, today we will be introducing a bamboo ordinance. I want to thank you to everyone who worked to move this forward so that we can begin taking care of the bamboo problem in town.

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Uh, recent activities of mine despite my sen- spending approximately 120 hours of my time in the last month, I think I've been adding that up a little bit. Um, on the bamboo ordinance, which I sincerely hope can move forward tonight.

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I managed to enjoy a few other activities since the last meeting. Uh, there was a World Cup net- networking mixer at the Windsor Athletic Club where I didn't get to actually watch the game, but I learned about an initiative to have students learn about and seek solutions to some current world

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problems. I attended the Girl Scout convention in Washington, D.C. from July 23rd to 25th. That's the t-shirt I've got tonight. Um it's held every 3 years and has Girl Scouts of all ages from all over the USA.

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Last time I went, I was a delegate to the governing convention, so it was fun this time to just go and learn and enjoy. On July 29th, Dan Benson came to Clarksville Road uh businesses to talk about the to talk about the bridge

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um and also to um uh represent the the check that he's given to businesses. Uh both Mayor Marathe, Sonia, and I were were present for that. Uh the businesses were appreciative of the money and of course

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they want to know what else we can do and how fast we can open up the the temporary bridge and then the final bridge. On July 30th, um several of us went uh to the Robbinsville Municipal Complex

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dedication. The mayor, myself, Joe, uh Linda, and and Sonia. Um they have a new complex over in Robbinsville and it's actually named after former Mayor Dave Freed, who gave a nice speech there. And I want to thank uh Mayor Mike Todd and the rest of the

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council for their hospitality and taking us around there. Their new digs there. Uh I believe Mayor Marathe was jealous of the big table in the mayor's office in the large mayor's office there, but we have no intentions of uh of of of acting in that direction here.

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And on Sunday, August uh 2nd, as Joe mentioned, we um went to the Alex's Lemonade Stand with Amon, Sonia, Linda, and Joe. It started around 2014. [clears throat] I've been going for uh probably since about 2018, 2019 every

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year. Every year they raise more money and the kids are still doing it and it's it's a it's a really wonderful event. Thank you. >> Thanks, Linda. >> Yeah, the Alex's lemonade stand is annual event. It's a it's a lot of fun.

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The kids love it because they get to see the fire trucks, they get to see the police officers that that come over to the house. So, thanks to Rohan and Arjun Khanna for continuously organizing this event each year. And and the money

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raised helps advance research aimed at finding cures for childhood cancer. So, they raised tens of thousands of dollars over the years. Thanks to Mercer County Executive Dan Benson for awarding 10,000 grants to

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each of the small businesses on Clarksville Road. Those businesses as they have said and they have come here, you know, they're hurting. Some of them are are just they're just trying to hold on to their business so they don't go under. So, I continue to urge

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everyone to to support those businesses you know, as much as you possibly can. And that's the Village Square Shopping Center right here down the road on Clarksville Road. So, I I know that they deeply support any support that all the

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residents can give them on that. Um uh to um to Jim and and Allison, yes. You're you're next in the queue. We'll get through this bamboo tonight and hopefully get it introduced.

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But we we will look more carefully at at what we have ordinances on the books right now. Um and I see if there's there's to me some maintenance issues, some setback issues, health issues cuz I believe you were getting mice and snakes and

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all sorts of things because of the way the topography is. So, um we're we're going to take a good look at that. That's um at least for me, high priority here. Yeah. Yeah, we'll we'll we'll get there. Um

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All right. Well, that that's it for now. We'll I guess mention the bamboo ordinance later before introduction. I think the mayor was going to say a few things. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. My turn. Um I will not repeat everything that my colleagues have uh

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mentioned. Um thanks to everyone who have um uh come and um gave their comments and concerns to us. We enjoy seeing um audience in the meetings um because there are many times when we are talking to air. Um

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we have absolutely zero audience, so it's good to um see um residents in the room. Um Allison and Jim, um we hear you. Um we are um seriously having a conversation about what can be done. I know we're looking

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at possibly a new ordinance to enforce um the issue. So, um hopefully sometime very soon um we'll we'll get there. I know it's a nuisance right now, and thanks for your patience and thanks to all your uh all the residents about bamboo. We are we will um talk about

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bamboo in a little bit um when we get there. Um just want to remind everyone um we are about a little over a month away, but um this year the West Windsor Township will be honoring um uh and commemorating all the lives lost

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on September 11th, 2001. So, um with their with its 25th anniversary this year, it will be on Friday, September 11th um at 6:30 p.m. um in the um at the Twin Ponds Memorial in Ron Rogers Arboretum, which is right across

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from High School South at the intersection of Clarksville Road and Princeton Hightstown Road. Um this year um the ceremony will feature um the 25th anniversary rededication of the Twin Ponds 9/11 Memorial. Um a um

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the placement placement of 2,983 flags in tribute and the unveiling of a new addition to the site. Um few years ago, it was I think COVID year. Um uh um I brought a idea um um onto the table

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with the council of placing um flags in tribute and memories of um those we lost. And every year we we came up with a theme a a different group of um um lives that we lost. Uh this year, my goal is to place um

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one flag for each lives that we lost. So, that's where the 2,983 flags come in place and every year it's been just me and the council doing the placements. This year, I have been successful in recruiting um

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students from High School South um with the help of um the student council and the social studies teachers um High School South because it's the most convenient for the students to just cross the street road and come to the

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park and place the flags. So, I'm really grateful for those students to um in helping this um this vision of mine. Um But, I do look forward to um seeing everybody in township attend um this year's anniversary.

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Um moving on, Allison, do you have any other >> Um I do not. >> All right. Um we do have a hearing on the books. >> It's ordinance 2026-01 bond ordinance providing for the replacement of the fire sprinkler

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sprinkler system at West Windsor Fire Station number 43 in and by the Township of West Windsor in the County of Mercer, New Jersey, appropriating 231,000 therefore, and authorizing the issuance of 220,000 bonds or notes of the Township to finance part of the cost

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thereof. The Council adopted this ordinance early earlier this year. However, Council has asked to re-adopt ordinance 2026-01 for the purpose of meeting legal advertising requirements to adopt a bond ordinance NJSA 40: 12-17.

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>> Thank you. Um the public hearing is open now. Um is there anybody in the audience who would like to give any comments for this particular um ordinance? Seeing none, um public hearing, um can I get a motion to close the public hearing? >> So so moved.

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>> Second. >> [clears throat] >> Can I get the roll call, please? >> Charles? >> Yes. >> Gievers? >> Yes. >> Mendel? >> Yes. >> Weiss? >> Gawas? >> Yes. Um can I get a motion to adopt? >> So moved. >> Second.

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>> Just a reminder, it's a super majority, so we need four. Thanks. >> And then oh. Right. Need four to adopt. >> I think it's okay, right? It's okay for the two of us to vote. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, cuz I've ruled that way before, so. >> Okay. Yeah, I'm going to require police officer to vote.

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>> All right. Um can I get a roll call, please? >> Charles? >> Yes. >> Gievers? >> Yes. >> Mendel? >> Yes. >> Weiss? >> Gawas? >> Yes. Consent agenda. Minutes of June 22nd, 2026, bills and

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claims. Um does anybody want to pull anything? >> No. >> Okay. Um can I get a motion to approve consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Charles? >> Yes. >> Gievers? >> Yes. >> Mendel?

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>> Yes. >> Weiss? Gallos? I'm going to um excuse myself because I was not here on June 22nd. So, I'm going to excuse myself for that. I'm going to abstain. Um recommendations from administration and council.

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>> 2026-R-149, approving the refund of overstated non-residential development fee calculation to Princeton Junction Storage LLC, $59,744.16. 2026-R-150,

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authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute the reimbursement agreement with Enclave at Princeton Junction Homeowners Association for street lighting and snow removal for 2024 and 2025. 2026-R-151,

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authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute an easement modification agreement for 24 Cartwright Drive. 2026-R-152, authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a shared service agreement with Hamilton Township for ecological

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facility use. 2026-R-153, authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional services agreement with Parker McCay PA for the Township Attorney Services, $200,000. 2026-R-154,

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authorizing the Environmental Commission Chair to execute an agreement for a grant from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions to fund the construction of a pollinator garden in West Windsor Community Park. 2026-R-155,

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authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional services agreement with Roberts Engineering Group for engineering construction administration and inspection services for the Penn Lyle and New Village Road pedestrian safety improvements project,

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Alexander Road Harris Road, Penllyn Road and Canoe Brook Drive, Penllyn Road at trolley line, Village Road East at Dutch Neck School, New Village Road at Shannon Way, and New Village Road at South Field Road, $13,900.

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2026-R156, authorizing the Mayor and Clerk to execute a professional services agreement with WSP USA Inc. for professional engineering services for the 2026 formal inspection of Grover

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Mill Dam, $22,758. 2026-R157, authorizing the Mayor and Clerk to execute a contract with All Phase Consulting Services for repairs to the West Windsor Township Fire EMS Facility Station number 45, $242,500.

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2026-R158, authorizing the Business Administrator to purchase one Packet Talk PTRD 4000 mobile surveillance trailer with automated license plate reader cameras from CDW Government LLC through the

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Educational Educational Services Commission of New Jersey ESCNJ Cooperative Pricing System ESCNJ number 65 MCESCCP S bid number ESCNJ AEPA 026-D

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technology catalog supplies and services, $49,500. 2026-R159, authorizing the Business Administrator to purchase multi-line wide area network redundancy for continuing contingency of

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operations within the municipality from SHI International Corporation under the New Jersey Cooperative Purchasing Alliance contract CK04 subcontract 24-38 with the County of Bergen, $86,995.26. 2026-R160,

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authorizing the business administrator to purchase new fire and emergency services mobile communications equipment from Motorola Solutions care of Wireless Communications Inc. through New Jersey state contract 25-TELE-132995, $17,581.50.

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And 2026-R161 authorizing the business administrator to execute documents for a cellular data plan subscription from AT&T through New Jersey state contract number AT&T 22-TELE -05861

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wireless, $7,747.11. Does anybody want to pull anything? All right. Can I get a motion to introduce resolution 2026-R149 through 2026-R161?

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>> A A A motion to approve. >> Okay. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Charles? >> Yes. >> Cheevers? >> Yes. >> Mendel? >> Yes. >> Weiss? >> Carbas? >> Yes. >> Introduction of ordinances.

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2026-16, an ordinance adding chapter 42 bamboo to the code of the Township of West Windsor to regulate the prohibition, existence, and removal of bamboo. Um just a note that there have been amendments made to the ordinance um that

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the mayor will now address. Mayor? >> Yeah. Uh thanks. Uh I was uh the or- ordinance was published on Friday as we are required to publish the agenda. Since then, several suggestions were received from uh

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council members and in conjunction with our attorney, um I have agreed to make some changes. I was going to read detail of them, but the ordinance is right outside on the table. I have some copies which bold the

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exact changes from Friday to what's being introduced today. Um Uh again, the most important changes other than wordsmithing here and there is 42-8 inspection is added. The

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designated township official may, as allowed by law, conduct inspections to determine whether bamboo has been planted, maintained, or allowed to spread in violation of this chapter. And again, I will come back to this when uh uh discussing it with our attorney.

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Uh there was a concern whether uh we are allowed to uh what we have with the as a township officials, what we are allowed to do, how we are allowed to inspect, not inspect, and that's why that provision was uh put in place.

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Uh the second um constructive uh major thing is in 42-5c, um a provision is added. Any lien charged under either 42-5a or b, that is in case you don't clear

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bamboo in either the uh public land or on your neighbor's property, the township is allowed to go in and uh clear that and put um charge you for the work required. So, 42-5c says that any lien lien charged under

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that provision shall become a lien upon the property and shall be payable as soon as township official certifies the amount due. And um few council members were worried whether if we council spends the money, how long

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the township will have to uh wait to collect the money and whether we have to wait till the house is sold or how long and that's why the provision is added and I will talk about it.

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The council members know I'm not a micromanager. Usually the township professionals are very good and I let them do their job. Sometimes things like this happen and I'm forced to do a quick study. Some long-time council members

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may remember during COVID suddenly everybody's sewer bills went up and there was a big brouhaha. And I had to do a quick masters in how the sewer bills are calculated. I was an expert in sewer bills at that time. I've

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forgotten since then. Uh, similarly here there was a lot of chatter about what we are allowed to do, how do we inspect and how do we going to collect money if we the township spends the money to fix the

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problem. Again with all good intentions the council people wanted to micromanage that through the ordinance. I resisted that for two reasons. One, I wanted it to be consistent with other sections of the code and I also wanted

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to make sure that we don't reinvent the wheel and there's a different procedure in different sections of the code. Um, fixing the bamboo problem is no different than fixing any other problems that the township undertakes if the resident was

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supposed to take care of the problem doesn't do it. Thankfully it doesn't happen often in West Windsor, but it does happen. So for example, this year we will be putting one lien on property and I have addresses. I'm not going to give you addresses.

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We are going to put one lien on one property for landscaping cut. Um, in 2025 we had again only one property that we had to take care of it. And again in 2024 we had only one property

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where we were forced to take care of the problem and then send a bill to the resident that they be paid. Now generally what happens is when we do that the bill is sent to the resident.

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The generally that the resident pays it or the bank pays it or the person who is owning the property if it's under foreclosure somebody pays it so the township gets paid very quickly directly.

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If it doesn't happen the townships every year or every other year goes out and auctions off our lien. So just as an example if I don't pay my taxes and I refuse to pay my taxes township will put a lien on the property

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and at the end of next year they will go and auction off the lien. Whoever there are people whose business is to go and buy these liens from various townships. They will make the township whole. So for example if I have not paid my taxes

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townships auctions off my lien and I owe let's say $20,000 in taxes whoever buys the lien pays the township $20,000. Township is made whole within a year and then the person purchasing the lien is responsible for

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paying my taxes in perpetuity until I bring myself in compliance. I owe taxes to the person who has purchased the lien so the township is out of the picture. So now the person who has purchased the lien owns

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puts a lien on my property and then they may have to wait 5 years 10 years however many the laws is required to do but the concern of the towns council some of the council members that township may have to wait for a very long time

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to collect this unfounded counts. At most we wait for 1 year, but in the last 4 years we have never had to auction off liens. Um either the homeowner pays sensors a check or the bank sensors a check or somebody

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who has interest in the property sensors a check. So, I did check with um our tax collector. And in last 4 years uh um thank God we have never had to update the lien. So, you don't have to be worried that the township taxpayers will

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be out of money for a very long time. Uh the second thing was, "Okay, what procedure do we find to uh um do these things?" Um as I said, we have had to do it once every year. Generally, we send two

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notices of violations over a span of 2 to 3 weeks and give them enough time to uh clear it. Um then we send a final warning called intent to abate. Um and I'll come to that intent to abate again later when talking with the attorney.

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So, we send a letter saying intent to abate. And then if they don't do it, then we take care of the problem and then send them the bill. Uh the bill um whoever is the township official in charge of doing that is the one responsible for

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certifying the cost, getting the bids, and uh clearing the thing. That That official will certify the cost and send it to our tax assessor. That doesn't get added to the taxes. That get added as in added assessment or

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added fees. There's some technical term used uh by her. I forgot. But that gets added to your account as a added assessment or fees. And then again, you are required to pay it. If you don't pay it, then uh we will go out and auction

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it off within a year or so. Um It hasn't happened. If it happens, I will uh let you know how it goes, but thankfully it does not happen uh in last 4 years. So um we will see that go. That's that's to address some

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of the concerns that the uh town council members had raised um in good conscience just to make sure that the people are not um our township is not in trouble. So the ordinance that's on the agenda tonight um

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is very consistent with how we do the other things. This is not This is not the first time that we are going to take a problem on a property where the homeowner should have taken care of the problem. We are just going to use the same process. The process may not be

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um very clearly defined in the ordinance, but we already have a process. We are going to use the same process and the same method uh to do it. Uh some people keep saying, "Oh, somebody will sue us." As I always say, "This is America. Anybody can sue

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anybody for any reason." Um I can't help it. Uh so far this has worked. And as long as our attorney tells me that this is okay, uh we pay him for his advice. So um I'm obligated to take it. Um now I will go to the ordinance, but

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before um uh I go to the ordinance, I just want to uh just show what we are actually uh talking about. I did visit >> Uh Mayor, um we need to put the ordinance on the table before we can have further discussion.

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Sir, I just need um a motion to introduce. >> So moved. I motion to introduce 2026-60. >> Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Now

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>> Thank you. Um so before we talk about minutia whether A is better way of writing or B is better way of writing or who is a better author, I just want to show what we are talking about. Can you just show the picture? Um, I just went to the

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No, that's not my picture. Okay, so, I did go. It's not a minor problem. This is the This is the bamboo. You see the bamboo and then you see the small portions that's that's coming out from the roots growing underneath. Uh,

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so, it is a real and um, big issue for that. And then please you only see this is a picture taken from the side. Uh, can you show the the second picture? That's a whole jungle. I mean, that entirely from left end of

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the picture to the right end of the picture uh, is all bamboo. So, you can see how serious the problem is and this is just to stress that we can talk for next 3 months about what's a nicer way of writing paragraph A, but this is a problem that we need to take care of.

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And I want to thank the homeowners for allowing me to take picture of the property. I didn't send them any notice or nothing. They just said come and take it. So, thank you very much. But, this is essentially um, I mean, most of the other issues are

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going to be minor issues as to how to better write an ordinance and I always say, um, if you give five lawyers a task of writing an ordinance, they will write five different ways. Doesn't mean anyone is better than the other or one is wrong. It's just a different way

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of people writing to achieve the same thing. So, my aim is to achieve uh, my aim is to achieve a to have an ordinance that will solve that problem. And that will solve that problem as fast as we possibly can. So, as a bigger picture, I will tell you the two things

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that I outright rejected that were suggested by the Shade Tree Commission. One was the requirement for CEO and I spoke at length at the last meeting why I didn't support the CEO ordinance and stuff. So, I won't go back into it, but

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not having a CEO is better for people who are suffering from this problem as well. And the the second suggestion was to township to not get involved if there's a problem like this between neighbor and neighbor. Let the neighbor hash it out.

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And I could not support it because townships as as mayor and as elected officials, it's our job to help people who are facing such a such a big threat. And the other other property I went to

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also had a similar not to this extent, but because of this problem, they can't plant anything on their property. Essentially, their landscaper just cuts the bamboo every week. That's how they stop from growing it. So, the lady wanted to plant something.

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There's a not so good looking fence on the other side. She wanted to plant something to block that fence. She can't plant anything because if she plants, then the bamboo grows in between, the landscaper can't cut it and the bamboo will grow on her property. So, those are

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the kinds of problems we are trying to take care of. So, now I'm going to go step-by-step, ask Mr. Herbert some some questions about the ordinance. So, as I said, one of the main

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intent of the ordinance is to regulate the bamboo and help us since it's declared as an invasive species both by the state and the township to take care care of everything. So you have been

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you're tired of talking to me. We have probably talked more in last week than we talked in last 6 months, but just from your reading of the ordinance and you have read ordinances from other township does the ordinance achieve the purpose that I laid out that

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to take care of the bamboo and is it inferior in any way that it's missing something that needed to be that needs to be added to the ordinance? >> No, the the ordinance mayor is is legal and follows what many towns now use as

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their as their bamboo ordinance. Mr. Mr. Shuet you know is it is a tree expert and and makes some good points, but in the end you don't have to cite the statute in each little portion of it. You're you're allowed to regulate your own town

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outside of statutes as well as long as you're not preempted by state statute. So that that doesn't matter with regard to the neighbor versus neighbor matters under the I think the case is Cornbluth versus Westover. That really involves a

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private action which we really should not be involved in. The law is very clear that when you have municipal ordinances such as this it's a criminal prosecution. Criminal prosecution should not cite to civil actions. The two must stay apart. So we we can't do that there

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and as far as due process goes is the the ordinance has built into it and this has been reviewed by courts in the past. It's been has built into it a an excellent period of being able to rectify the situation. Person is placed on notice.

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They have 30 days to rectify 60 days total and if they don't then the town does have the right and again it leaves the town with a lot of uh you know areas to make decisions as to how it wants to proceed, but it does within 60

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days allow the town to go in and remediate. >> Um thank you very much. Um there was a question about um and when we had a question as to who is the um who is the culprit, who is responsible for starting the bamboo. And

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we added a property owner definition a couple of versions. It does that make clear and does that give township >> Well, so it it it it better defines what a property owner is defined as. >> it does give township authority to find out >> that again follows a lot of our ordinances and other towns' ordinances

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as well. >> Thank you. Um and then again there was a uh question about whether we are allowed to enforce, whether we are allowed to go on the property, whether we can watch from uh the side. Uh so we did change the inspection language a little bit uh

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under 424A. >> the uh uh chair our chair our council's chairwoman uh president uh on that language, but that is the language that I would advise as well as as it's allowed by law. >> Okay. And that's it consistent with how

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we do our other uh landscape ordinances, other nuisance ordinances. >> You know, again there's always fourth amendment rights that we have to make sure that we are careful about, but in this in these kinds of situations, we know we inspect properties all over the town in certain ways within the area of

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law and to make sure that fourth amendment is protected. >> Okay. Um then the other question that came up is uh in the way we uh require them to get approval from the township before proceeding, um there's no specific timeline required

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for the township to approve the plan. >> I I would not advise to have a specific timeline for that. It's not required under the law and you want to be able to give code officials the ability uh to uh ability to make a decision as to when

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they need to to follow up on something. And again, we are a fast growing town and a lot of our officials are quite busy. So, you don't want to hamstring them on as well. >> Okay, yeah. And one of the reasons I didn't want it is that it's not

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too many officials who are experts in bamboo. So, somebody who's expert in bamboo very rare, very few of them. So, I didn't want to. But, the clock doesn't start until I mean we change a provision to say that the clock doesn't start until we give the approval. And the clock starts after

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that. >> Correct. >> So, >> Yeah, again, this is not an ordinance meant to make the town money. It's just an ordinance to try to enable enforcement and enable people to clean up their properties and and not to

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impinge upon their neighbors' properties as well. >> Yeah, I mean you make a you make a very valid point and that's never been West Windsor intend to use ordinances to make money or to be overly punitive to people.

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So, that's a very important point to make. There's some confusion and some questions about the penalties, the $500 per day penalty. And I earlier read as to the procedure in other other instances where we give multiple notices

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and then we send a warning called an intent to obey that if you don't do it by XYZ date, we are going to come and take care of the problem. And just wanted to clarify that the $500 fine starts after that letter to intend date. It doesn't start with the first uh

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um first >> And it it gives the code official the ability to decide, do I want to impose it day after day? Do I want to impose it once? You know, it depends on what the reaction from the the property owner is or if they react at all. Sometimes property owners will not do anything and

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that you've got to build those fines. Remember, if matter is then settled under these provisions, and that's why we have to be careful of our language, under these provisions the code officer can then reduce the fine uh to work it out with with the the land owner because in the end we just want compliance. We're not again looking to

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make a huge fine. We want compliance, but it does prompt a land owner to take care of something if they if they know they're going to get a $500 a day fine. Sometimes some people need to get pushed along a little bit. >> You know, again thanks. You make a you

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make a very very valid point. Our code enforcement people have removed a lot of fines once the situation was cleared and it's not very easy. I mean, we >> Yeah, Mayor, you always want to try to

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give code officials and in the state of New Jersey we have excellent code officials, especially here in this township. And you always want to give them the ability to make decisions as they see them out in the field. You don't want to hamstring them this much. >> Thank you. And then

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we changed the language 425C about the lien and I just had the process that we used to collect most of them pay and we have never had to go at it, but we can always auction off the lien along with taxes and collect it.

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>> Yeah, one last point is this is an ordinance that should go into effect if the town then sees that there are issues with the ordinance, we can always come back and amend and make make corrections as we go along. Well, sometimes a lot of these ordinances are evolutionary instruments and sometimes

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we have to go back and make amendments or changes and so forth. It's funny, I was just I was just Googling bambooing ordinances again. Edison just introduced a resolution to withdraw the bamboo ordinance because they're having so many problems with it. It's different from this ordinance, but they're having so many problems with it

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and now they're going withdraw it and just use the regular nuisance laws as we already have here and as Ewing Township has as well. >> Um Thank you. I mean uh I know you've been involved and a lot of council people have sent a lot of suggestions and um my

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request to council is to introduce I mean a lot of input has gone into it. I've tried to do it so that it's consistent with other code sections. Doesn't get us that um in situation A we do it like this, in situation B we do it like that. We have a lot of experience dealing with other

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issues which are similar nuisance issues. Uh not bamboo, people leaving garbage out on the street or not cutting their lawns and so on and so forth. So as what the last point you made is I would uh request council to adopt the

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introduce it today, adopt it at the next time and then uh it will at least take uh care of the problem that the two pictures that I we showed and then as you said if there's an issue or if uh we find something that is not working, the council can always go back and amend the

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ordinance. >> And and Mayor, I have to compliment the council members for their good work on this ordinance. Everyone was involved. I got input from everyone. I have to compliment the administration, of course yourself and Mr. Shue as well for all the good work that was done for the Shake so. >> So thank you very much Nancy.

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>> Thanks Mayor. Um does any council members have any comments? Do you have any? >> Well, I just want to thank the Shade Tree Commission, Mike Shue advisor um because they they started working on this initiating this in 2025. So it's it's it's been quite a while. Then the

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administration got their their draft proposal on the ordinance and the administration's um been working on it uh since then. So it it's a long time coming and it's good to sort of see this uh move forward. >> All right. Andrew you worked a >> Thank you. >> lot of that.

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>> Thank you. Um >> Yeah, Andrew Andrew spent a lot of time Yes. Um >> Do you have anything to add? >> Yeah. Um yeah, I think it at this point this we're not inventing a wheel here. Uh we have ordinances that um control

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[clears throat] a lot of things that that say how we handle things that say how we go to somebody's house. We've got a whole bunch of things. Um we're not we're not suddenly coming in in this is the first ordinance in a in our e-code. Um I I think we spent

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uh some time trying to perfect it a little bit. We could probably spend 10 years on it. Nobody wants to wait 10 years with the bamboo coming at them. Um and I think we should just move on it and uh go ahead and introduce it and uh hopefully pass it in a in a few weeks.

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Thank you. >> Joe, do you have anything to add? >> Yeah, I agree. I think we should move forward. I know a lot of people, especially the three of you up here, and the Shade Tree Commission, the Township staff, uh spent a lot of time and hours on this. And Mr. Herbert, thank you for your clarifying comments here. Very very

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helpful. Yeah. >> All right. Um well, um thank you for everyone for their input. Um Mr. Shure, thanks for all your hard work um on this. Um and um Allison, should we go for a roll call? Ready for the roll call vote?

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Okay. Charles? >> Yes. >> Gievers? >> Yes. >> Mandel? >> Yes. >> Weiss? Gallos? >> Yes. >> Okay. The public hearing will be August 24th, 2026. >> Yeah. Just so uh for clarification for some of the residents who are wondering

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when the law would go into effect, um so we introduced the um our ordinance today. We'll have a public hearing on August 24th, and if it passes on August 24th, 20 days from there is when the ordinance goes into effect. Okay. Thank

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you. Um we move on to the second opportunity for public comments. Um, same same rules apply, 3 minutes. Um, please state your name and address. Does anybody want to um, say anything?

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Okay. Yep, please. You can come forward and state your name and address. >> Can I go ahead? >> Go ahead, please. >> Yeah, uh, hi. My name is Pranay. I'm a West Windsor resident at 56 Penn Lyle Road. Uh, I support mayor's comments on uh,

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finding the right action to uh, prevent this problem. Uh, I have few questions about the draft. I just got to read that. Um, the first is uh, the definition of property owner. I think uh, the way I understood that is it's

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determined by a township official, but uh, the ordinance doesn't say any uh, official method of how exactly the originator or the property owner is defined exactly. I think having more information on that in the ordinance

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would would be helpful. Because the entire ordinance depends on the the who the official decides as the property owner. Uh, for example, if there are two neighbors that uh, both have uh,

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um, the bamboo issue, it doesn't um, then the official has to basically flip uh, select one of those uh, two owners as the property owner and the burden is on whoever the official has picked.

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And uh, second, I think the enforcement is complaint driven. Uh, so I wanted to ask the council to state in the ordinance that a complaint by itself doesn't establish origin. Like if I complained,

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uh I uh it doesn't give me the it doesn't say that I'm the victim and whoever I'm complaining against is the is the property owner. And regarding timelines and penalties,

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um I would request if the enforcement um the time between the uh adoption of this ordinance and the enforcement uh would also allow a period where uh

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the property owner has an opportunity to uh to reconsider or uh or uh or put in writing some uh uh review against the prop against the township's uh

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uh review of the property owner. And finally, uh the subsection D is blank in the ordinance. I don't know if I received a older version of it, but I'd like to uh get it uh removed or corrected.

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>> Which section you're talking about? >> 42.5 >> 42.5 what? >> D >> Are you looking at the marked up portion? >> So I got one with the >> Oh, okay. >> Okay. I see what you're saying.

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>> She said D as in dog. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, you want that >> Oh, that's that I see what you're saying. Thank you for writing that out. >> We were just testing who is actually reading these >> Sorry, what? >> You get 5% tax off next >> [laughter] >> Yeah, those are the main points. I do

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want the ordinance to succeed. I see the problem, but I want this to be uh done in a fair and equitable way. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> Could I have you sign in on the sign-in sheet, too, for the record? Thank you. >> Okay. Does Is there anybody else who would like to

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speak? Okay. Seeing none, public comment period is now closed. >> Um Allison, if you could just take That's a good point. I think >> We were still working on it this morning, so >> One thing got dropped. >> It's >> I thought I I thought I had fixed it.

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>> 42.5 um encroachments. A B C, this D is blank, and then E. E through H will be deleted. >> No, no, no, no. >> So, maybe the printout is wrong then? >> Yeah, the last one's got a as do. >> That's right. >> A I grabbed a hold of it and

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>> Yeah. >> Okay. All right. >> O D on the on the markup copy on the track changes >> The one with the um >> The the bold word >> The one with the bold is correct. It's just those C D.

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>> Okay, the one with the bold version. Okay. >> But, take out the bold. >> Okay, exactly. Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> Noted. >> Um council reports. Um let's start with Linda. >> Oh, also, we have we have now introduced the ordinance.

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>> We have now introduced the ordinance, yes. >> We can't change it. We will have the public hearing, and everyone is welcome to come to the public hearing and make their comments. But, it's not like we can start changing that. It's introduced now formally. >> If you make any any um

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>> Any any changes can only be grammatical, like removing the D that was left out by the printer. >> Yeah, typo. >> Uh if you if you make any substantial changes, we'll have to re- >> reintroduce. >> Correct. >> All right. Uh Uh Shade Tree Commission met on July 22nd. Apartment applications for July to

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date were three. Uh and there's 24 total for 2026. Uh the commission's expenditure budget through July 14th was reviewed. The commission approved a motion to support advisor Mike Shulich's July 21st memo of

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an analysis of the township's administration's draft bamboo ordinance to be sent to the mayor, council, township clerk, and that it be sent to the township attorney. Uh, the commission spent a lot of time with consultant Dan Dobromilsky on reviewing his analysis of the data

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collected on the township's uh, street tree resource and uh, future action items. Uh, this will be incorporated into the community forestry management plan, uh, which is due to the DEP by the end of December.

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The planning board meets this Wednesday, August 5th. The board will be discussing and possibly taking action on revisions to the RP-1 district ordinance pursuant to a settlement agreement between the township and Avalon Bay. >> Andrea?

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>> Um, there's been no meeting of the environmental commission since last meeting and they are taking August off other than uh, taking part in events and the next meeting of the environmental commission will be at the regular September meeting

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which will be September 10th. Thank you. >> Joe? >> No new commission reports. Um, one thing I'll note is I did speak with the partner at our CPA firm who does our annual audit uh, to just get his feedback and and uh, which

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which he had good feedback on our on our finance function and that to let him know at the end of the audit I did want to touch base just to hear any suggestions he had on uh, things that could be improved, observations, things like that. So, but that's all. Yeah. >> All right. Thank you. Um,

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Human Relations Council has not met since our last meeting. Um, their scheduled meeting was for tomorrow but due to National Night Out it's been rescheduled for um, Wednesday, August 5th. The main discussion point at that

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meeting would be the Peace Day at at Community Day on September 19th. Do we have any additional administration updates? >> I have none. >> Mayor? All right. We do not have closed

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session. We I Mayor does not want to have closed session. We are good. So, I just want to we're good. We're done tonight. Motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Second.

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>> All in favor. >> I. >> Meeting is now 8:18. Closed. Thank you.

