[Music] one second [Applause] I know Are we ready good evening everybody Good [Music]
evening It's great to see a full house It's a great night tonight Uh adequate notice of this meeting as required by the open public meetings act was provided through the posting mailing and filing of the annual notice of regularly scheduled meetings of the town council
on December 17 2024 The notice was on that date posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building provided to the Westfield leader in the star ledger and filed with the clerk of the town of Westfield Miss Lashi may I have a roll call mayor Brindle here Council member Savin here Dardio here Domo here Keeper
here Saunders here Here Contract here Healey here Please rise for the invocation given by Councilman Healey and remain standing for the salute to the flag Thank you We gather tonight to make decisions for the community May we use our best skills and
judgments and collegiality keeping ourselves in impartial and neutral And with those thoughts we proceed Thank you I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for it stands One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all We have so much good news tonight but we're going to start with the best news of all and that is welcoming the Westfield High School boys ice hockey
team fir first time first time state champions And come on up boys We're thrilled to have [Applause]
you Congrats Congratulations All right Okay You guys are going to have to indulge me a little bit because I have to say I've never been so personally excited about a championship I love all of our teams but I have to say I jumped
out of my chair when I saw this one and um coach Bartuchi and the and the team big congrats But you have to indulge me because I want to connect the dots for you a little bit between what happens on this day as here and why you guys are all standing here at this moment And I
have to see how many seniors are on here You guys okay where's John Mcdev okay early 2018 John comes to see me I was a brand newly elected mayor Who'd you come with John was just you
It was just you And he gave me this said "What do you think about putting a temporary ice shrink in Westfield?" And I said "Oh my god why that sounds crazy That's no problem Why couldn't we do that?" Naively I say Um so with John's
assistance and Jim indulging my crazy ideas we started looking at sites talking to Ken Anderson Um and I found out that it wasn't easy It was really hard And it was hard because there were lots of people who were resistant There
were council members that were resistant There were neighbors that were resistant and members of the community for a variety of reasons But our community and your teams and I want to say those that preceded you flooded this council council chambers with hockey jerseys I
mean big time And a lot of the seniors on that team and I remember when it was a club team I think it was a sports team then but a lot of the seniors I'll never forget this came up and spoke and they said while they were not going to be the beneficiary of a rink because they were
graduating they wanted to see it happen for those that came after them And very importantly there were a bunch of little girls that spoke and they talked about how girls got lost priority for ice time and they really wanted to play hockey
like their older brothers did And so in spite of all those objections we proudly proudly got that Gump Westfield rink at Gumper Park that later that season And I have to say many of you guys might never
have known anything other than being skating in the in the rink And um it's just such a pleasure to see the fruition of the efforts and sometimes opposition to result into action experience that you guys are going to remember the rest
of your lives So I have a favor to ask of all of you especially you seniors about paying it forward I do worry that the Westfield rank is temporary as it said You never know when the operator might retire You never know when a
future council may not renew the lease So we are working on a project in Tomakos Park as you guys may know and hopefully identify the place where a permanent ice rink could go So I'm going to ask you and your
parents fill out the Tamaku survey tell them you want an ice rink there We'd love to replicate a public private partnership like what we've experienced in Gumpert so that you can be sure that future kids that come up behind you are going to get the same certainty of ice
time that brought you guys here tonight And I fully expect to see a girls championship ice hockey team up here in the very near future So I want to congratulate all of you guys I want to thank John McDevit
for the crazy idea Jim Mc Jim where's Jim Gilde for really indulging it and quite frankly for the parents in the community that came out and really it was because of your support that gave us the courage to move this forward
overcoming some of the objections we heard and here we are tonight So with that I'm going to read a proclamation I have a copy for each of you I'll just give it to the coach and let you pass it So with that whereas on March 10th 2025
the Westfield High School boys ice hockey team won the NJSIAA public state championship the first title in program history And whereas on the way to winning the state championship the team won the Union County title in the McInness Cup And
whereas under the leadership of head coach Joe Patucci and assistant coaches Brennan Hickeyi and Spencer Trusdale the Blue Devil ice hockey team demonstrate exceptional dedication skill and sportsmanship throughout their season And whereas all of the members of the
team seniors Aiden Alon Jackson Takola Jack Conrod Brody Esler Jack Garulo Austin Howler Daniel McDeed Luca McLaren Joshua Singer and Aiden Wilson Juniors
Nicholas Benson Tyler Bergman Troy Connover Luke Fitzgerald Andrew Lisnock and Blake Wadinowski Sophomores Ryan Duskowski Liam Duffy Robert Petarka William Reid and Christopher Smok are deserving of
recognition for their individual efforts and accomplishments that brought great pride to their school and their hometown And whereas the team's historic victory not only highlights the athletic talents of these student athletes but also serves as an inspiration to future
generations in our community Now therefore be it proclaimed that I Mayor Shelley Brindle on behalf of the town council do hereby congratulate the 2425 West Westfield High School Blue Devils boys ice hockey team on a successful
season culminating in their first ever first of many I might say NJIAA public state title and commend them for their hard work perseverance and exemplary representation of the town of Westfield Congratulations Army Thanks
Uh I just want to congratulate these boys They put a lot into the season Uh it's a lot of dedication a lot of commitment a lot of sacrifice that goes into years and years and years of buildup And this program has been so close to winning a state champion over the last few years I'm just so proud
that this group was the group that was unable to get it done Um as good of a hockey team as they are they're even better kids And I promise you that And and that's what playing sport at Westfield is all about Uh we want to thank you for your support And like I said when you walked in uh a lot of
these kids learned to play hockey learned to skate at that West Ring So that's a major part of our community So we thank you We thank you for all your support tonight And this is truly an honor to be here So thank you We need to move way in a little more
[Applause] You guys don't understand [Music] [Music] Don't forget your shirt Thank you Thank you
That was fun All right You're welcome Thank you guys Congrats All right One of the nicest things that um we get to do is be involved in these state
championship uh you know escorts in the town parades and so forth So Coach Beruchi was just saying that was just the coolest thing he's ever been involved in So uh again a cool uh tradition we've been doing at Westville We have a lot of state championship teams across the board which is nice Um Mayor um I we have the budget
presentation but I do want to make a um an announcement Um as a result of the executive session uh that was just held in the 7 p.m uh meeting uh there was a resolution add to the agenda uh which is a resolution authorizing u the uh
special affordable housing council uh to enter into a uh agreement uh if appropriate tomorrow at the uh assigned uh session and hearing for affordable fourth round affordable housing compliance Um so that is on the agenda tonight under the code review and town
property committee Uh and um if it gets adopted obviously that'll give the uh the council authority tomorrow to enter into an agreement if if there is one to be entered into So that's an adjustment tonight uh on the agenda Everything else is the same as it was Great Thank you Anything else that's it for now Yeah All
right Well that's Oh yeah We'll hear lots from you later Exactly So um so with that um I just have a bit of a preamble before the big budget presentation So um I'm going to hand over some of this to Linda but um just
remind everybody that we are being filmed live on YouTube and there's always a replay and I hope people will take the time to review the budget presentation that we'll be presenting tonight Um and it's all good news which is terrific Um we are introducing our 2025 annual municipal operating capital
budgets and we do have very exciting news to share But before I hand it over to finance chair Linda Hathka to go into it um and she will give you all the highlights on a separate matter I do uh a week or so ago I reached out I I made
a social media post I have been hearing from a lot of residents who have been impacted directly or indirectly from a lot of the executive orders and decisions that are being made at the federal level level So I did want to share some of these stories because I think it's important for our residents
to understand that our community is not immune to these decisions and we have many of our neighbors who are afraid for their health their livelihood andor their civil liberties And so I have shared the following with our federal legislators and I urge anyone with concerns to share them with senators Andy Kim and Corey Booker and in
particular with Republican Congressman Tom Kaine And here just bear with me I'm just going to I'm just going to read and quote some of the comments I've heard from people Um I am one of the 21 federal technology staffers from the US Digital Service that resigned in mass after
refusing to use our technical expertise to allow Mo Musk and Doge to dismantle critical public services And I want to reiterate these are all from Westfield residents I'm a former senior Google engineer and I worked alongside an elite group of technologists who are working to modernize social security veteran
services tax filing healthcare disaster relief student aid and other critical services The team I worked with were brilliant and dedicated public servants who left high-profile tech careers to serve a higher calling of making government more accessible and responsive to its citizens from another
resident Our family has lived in Westfield since 2018 after repatriating following 20 years abroad My husband is a green card holder and our three children hold three passports It feels a little doomsday to think about it but we have considered and will keep considering leaving the country if
things get worse My husband is also a Muslim and unfortunately the administration has made their thoughts on scapegoating religions and immigrants very clear We are lucky that we have something to fall back on in another country if we are come to that But when you speak to our senators and representative Kaine please tell them
that a lawful green card holder who pays nearly $300,000 annually in state and federal taxes considering leaving the country Thirdly another one another resident I have a severely disabled 33-year-old son who resides at a medical educational facility My son's care and
many disabled persons are very dependent on Medicaid 50% of New Jersey Medicaid comes from the re federal government and cuts will compromise the care needed by my son and this population I also heard from a highly regarded attorney who along with his
peers some of whom are also Westfield residents were recently dismissed summarily when Doge wiped out the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education Their role at the DOE was to advocate for children with disabilities to ensure they have equal access to a public education
I also recently met with an executive from a global nonprofit organization that focuses on health and individuals affected by affected by poverty disaster crisis Her organization has lost its USAD funding and as a result she's in the process of laying off numerous employees and remains concerned about
her own career prospects I also met with a downtown Westfield business owner who lost a longtime trusted employee who fled to Canada over deportation concerns I was then introduced to one of their longtime employees who's a Westfield resident with children in our public schools and
remains afraid to come to work and is petrified for children's safety Both employees have been working and paying taxes in the country for years and have been in the process of applying for legal status but also the business owner expressed big concerns not only about their employees welfare but how the
business is going to find enough staff in a tough labor market I sat next to a local do doctor at a dinner recently whose colleagues were fired at the FDA They are responsible for overseeing approvals of health device implants It goes without saying why she was
concerned And I'm not saying any of this or sharing this to be overtly political but I really am want to make sure that our community recognizes that we are not divorced from these decisions and we have many neighbors in our community who are hurting I said "Please implore you
to reach out to your representatives in particular Congressman Kaine I ask our Republican colleagues in particular to advocate for our residents Um and I plan on meeting with him personally to do so But most importantly for everyone please continue to engage with kindness and
empathy towards all of our neighbors You have no idea what stress they may be managing." So on a brighter note tonight we're introducing our 2025 annual municipal operating budgets The last budget introduction for council persons Linda
Hapgood Mike Dardia David Contract and myself It's only fitting that we're introducing our final budget with a 0% municipal tax increase for the third time in our eight-year tenure The first the first time was in 2019 which
was also the first 0% increase in town history The second time was in 24 last year and now again this evening The average annual municipal tax increase over our tenure is only 1.1% well below the 3.6 average rate of inflation over
that same period These low tax rates coupled with healthy and at times historically high budget surpluses have only been possible due to the consistent and steady leadership of finance committee chair Linda Hapgood A round of applause for that Assisted by vice chair David
Contracts and also the various members that have served on the committee over the past eight years including Councilman Dagala and Kefir these past two years So thank you all for that and we look forward to sharing the budget details with you all tonight as
there's much to embrace and look forward to Um and first though I'm thrilled to announce in keeping with our promise to improve the maintenance of all town and school district fields that tonight we'll be voting on a shared service agreement with the board of education for the town's department of public
works to maintain Roosevelt School Fields This is the first step in a long-term field maintenance plan between the town and the school district that will allow for the town to eventually take over the maintenance of all the board of edfields delivering better outcomes and financial efficiencies for our residents And you may recall this
was something we've committed to even while we're in the process of the Edison fields always knowing that this is going to be a next step And so we're thrilled that tonight is the first big step in bringing it all to fruition So I'm now going to ask Finance Chair Linda Hapgood is going to take you through some of the budget highlights before we hand it over
to Jim and Heather for the presentation Thank you mayor Thank you everyone It's always exciting to introduce the budget for me of course as I uh joke it's my Super Bowl um this whole budget season Um and tonight uh you'll get to see the
presentation the 2025 operating and capital budgets In other words what we're proposing to spend to run the town this year and to invest in the town this year after several months of department meetings and lots of fun but hard work with the finance committee which you
heard tonight is deputy chair Councilman David Contract and uh Councilman Damagala Councilman Kefir Thank you all Um I have to say that I think the town's going to be pretty excited about the budget that you'll see tonight Um uh
town administrator Jim Gilde and Deputy Town Administrator Header Ray Farad are going to walk you through the details Um we owe them and our CFO um an enormous debt of gratitude for their commitment to and their vision for our town And so
I just wanted to take a moment to recognize all all three of you for all the hard work that you do The 0% tax rate increase is our exciting news of the evening This is the second year in a row that we have offered a budget that
keeps your municipal taxes flat And this proposal translates into an average tax rate increase since I started in this role eight years ago of only 1.1% average increase perom This effort to keep your municipal
taxes as low as possible results partly from a consistently balanced approach to our surplus Keep what you need for a rainy day and then reinvest the remaining amounts to accomplish our budget goals including enabling the execution of capital investments in
safety public engagement and our residents quality of life How do you accomplish just a 1.1% increase over eight years when annual inflation rate over that same period's been 3.6% And in particular how do you do this
when you're consistently investing in infrastructure our services and our people we did this by diversifying the municipal municipalities revenue streams and thus enabling the town of Westville to be less reliant on property tax
revenue The 2025 budget evidences this in speeds Back in 2017 our nonpropy tax revenues were $15.2 2 million and today they're $22.8 million That's $7.6
million I did the math Um or 33% increase over that period which translates further into 4.2% year uh per year on average while your tax levy has only increased by 1.1%
This year's new revenues in that category of other revenues um like uh include things like our first pilot payments from the Westfield Crossing project and rents from Maize Um these other revenues mean that we tax you less
based on this effort and this trend to continue toward other revenue I hope will continue Um I'd like to highlight a few exciting examples of things that are included in our operating and our capital budget proposal For starters the budget
includes dollars to hire a firm to create a design plan for the Mr Goodloo site on the corner of South and Central Avenues As many of you know we recently closed on the purchase of this property after receiving a $660,000 grant towards the
$890,000 purchase price And we look forward to beautifying the site with landscaping public art more seating wider sidewalks better pedestrian safety and potentially some traffic enhancements at that kind of difficult intersection And on the parks and recck
side generally we also will continue investments in plans in Memorial Park the Hulahan Sid Fay complex and in Tomakquis And as you heard from the mayor earlier please fill out your surveys Um the budget also includes dollars to hire a firm to design the
transformation of Quimby into a flexible festival street that will that will make open Quimby permanent It will be beautifying it with trees and lighting and landscaping um all while giving us the ability to
restore that to daily pedestrian traffic for local businesses Um and so that we'll be able to close the street only for close the street entirely only for special events This closing of Crimby and creating a festival street has been a passion project of ours since a few of
us were sworn in here almost eight years ago And now that we've had five years to successfully trial open Quimby it's time to memorialize it and improve this popular public space while addressing the parking concerns of Quim of the Quimby Street businesses As the liaison
to the downtown west corporation I can attest to the fact that this is an initiative that our businesses are also really looking forward to Finally the capital budget includes funding for the town to pave 7.9 more miles of roads in addition to the 3.1 that will be paved
by the utility companies at their cost This puts us on pace to pay to pave every single town road in the town of Westfield by the end of next year This is an effort that began in 2018 and
accelerated when we adopted the 2019 road paving ordinance Thank you Councilwoman Don Mackey Um by the end of 2026 all of these efforts will total to more than 100 miles of paving which is an incredible and truly unprecedented
municipal achievement And there's more Wait till you see the presentation investments in parking technology our fire department our police department our DPW and a super and super exciting plan for the library I see our library director here
tonight Alan I'm glad you're here Um while and while on the topic of strong record of fiscal stewardship I also wanted to take a few minutes to address some of the commentary that's been circulating about one Westfield Place and in particular the financial health
of Street Works after the March 7th news of HPC's plan to file for bankruptcy To clear up any confusion a HBC's bankruptcy is only related to their Canadian retail operations and does not impact their US operations street works
development or any of our plans for one Westfield Place When the Hudson's Bay Company or HBC closed on the purchase of Neiman Marcus and Barney in December the poorly performing Canadian retail operations were spun off into their own
entity which became part of this um HBC restructuring I know it's confusing because we often refer to the redevelopment um party at one west place as HBC Street works So it's not surprising that people had some confusion but all the non-Canadian
retail assets and street work developments became part of a new entity that sits under Sax Global which is wholly independent from the Canadian entity of HBC Um and as I mentioned will not impact our street works um
partnership Um the acquisition and the restructuring efforts that HP that HPC and the partner companies have undergone however has caused a pause in our ability to engage with our financial and legal professionals regarding the
amendment that we approved last fall to one Westfield place The the delays are very frustrating to all of us who are anxious to see the public benefits come to fruition But I'm happy to report that our professionals are now in the process of re re-engaging with street works and
we anticipate the amended financial evaluation will be presented to the finance policy committee in the coming weeks Um this will be followed by a public presentation and a hearing shortly thereafter when the amended financial agreements will be introduced
for adoption All part of the amendment process but just with a pause in the middle of it Um we've we've all heard some recent uninformed suggestions that we're moving forward with one Westfield Place amendments without publicly addressing the necessary financial
information or that there's been a lack of transparency around the process Um when in fact there's been very clear steps there's just been a delay I've been waiting for the detailed U financial model that reflects the
amended plan And believe me I also wish it could be sooner but we've been crystal clear with Street Works that we cannot and would not proceed with the adoption of the amended redevelopment and financial amendment agreements without first having the financial policy committee review the updated
financial model discussing it with our professionals and sharing it with you Um as a reminder the updated U one Westfield Place in initial financials were previously reviewed and presented in October um when we adopted the amended redevelopment plan to ensure
that the scaledown project was financially viable and would deliver the public benefits that are critical to our support We've simply been waiting for this detailed secondary review of the financial model before proceeding with the redevelopment agreement The amendments offer strong benefits to the
town as I I know you've heard us talk about in the form of stronger financial protections while still delivering significant public benefits to the town of Westfield Um the delays as I mentioned are really frustrating and they lead to questions because people
are wondering why it's taking so long but we will take all the necessary steps to make sure that the developer is holding up his end of the bargain not only in the next couple of months but all the way through the process Um and so with that um I would like to hand
over the mic to um Jim Gilde and Heather Ray Feratt to go into the details of the budget presentation Thank you all Yeah Okay Thank you Linda Um hello everybody Um I'm happy to see some a bunch of department heads here Um and I just want
to say uh what we do here without the support of the mayor and council and the great work of the department heads and the staff would not be possible Um we we're very fortunate in Westville We have excellent team of employees Um hard to come by municipal government these days Um but I'll put our team up against
any other town in the state We have a great great people here and uh and uh we're very lucky to have that So um I'm going to just turn this over to Heather to do for some of the first few slides uh some introductions and some other statistics wrapping up 2024 and then after she's done we'll pass it back jump
right into 2025's information Thank you Hi everybody So I know Councilwoman Hadg already went over uh the team the budget team but just to uh say it again we have Jim Gilde right here as our town
administrator He's been with Westfield for over 30 years already We have Scott Olsen who's uh been a CFO for let's see 27 years and you've been here over 10 years already Uh myself I've been with Westfield uh eight years already and
started municipal government about 13 years ago And then we have Councilwoman Linda Havgood Councilman David Contract Councilman uh Mike Damagala and Councilman David Kefir And then we also have Suffly Clooney who is at our auditing firm as well as uh Roett
McCarthy who is our bond council Some of our 2024 highlights If you were here in January this this might be old news but just to highlight a couple of things Um something very important so we want to mention it first is that we ended the year with a healthy
surplus of $14 million Um this is driven by uh excess tax collections as well as uh interest on our investments and many of you probably have seen we have uh a lot of road paving going on So last year we had 16.7 miles of road paving that
went on around town We also did various drainage uh while doing those road paving programs So we have um new catch basins we have new ADA ramps um and uh in some spaces um new parking lots Then
we have strong collections at 99.15% tax collection rate Uh we also have continued reliable collections with parking interest on investments sewer fees and delinquent taxes And in public safety we have invested in adding uh
equipment uh with the public uh I'm sorry with the police fire and public works departments We also um had restructuring in the DPW department as well as promotions And then we've also increased the fire department staffing to the highest level in 17
years And then to go into some of the other departments uh the police So to start off they had over 36,000 administrative calls last year And with that uh he installed 10 additional LPR cameras for a total of 25 around town
And then the police department reduced the vehicle theft from 22 in 2023 to just seven in 2024 hoping to beat that again in 2025 No pressure Uh and excitingly we uh were awarded the reacredititation by the New Jersey State
uh Association of Chiefs of Police And then with the fire department they responded to over 2,000 calls and performed over 2,000 inspections Uh with that they are now at a 40 member staff um which they now have nine person nine persons per
platoon With the public works department we have the conservation center that everybody loves We sold over 2,000 uh permits there Um we have the bulk waste program with over 1100 people that use that And then some of the fun statistics on recycling So everybody's always
surprised at how many tons of uh styrofoam we always have We have 12 tons of styrofoam that we got rid of last year Scrap metal over 127 tons Cardboard 144 tons And reusable bags three tons the building department they had almost
10,000 inspections last year which is about 38 per day And then they had uh 2.7,000 permits issued which is about uh 11 thou I'm sorry not 11,000 11 processed per day And then we have the health department The health department
uh is a regional health department so we have nine towns And with that they had over almost 1500 restaurant inspections They also had environmental inspections of over a thousand And then they host um a multitude of programs They have things for seniors They have things for drugs
and alcohol prevention Um and they have the healthy bones programs And lastly we have the library They had over 306,000 books that were uh and items that were rented last year They had almost 100,000 visits Hopefully we'll make it to 100,000 this year
Right Okay And then um they added the new digital newspaper service uh press reader And in the first six months they had over 137,000 downloads already So with that that's just some of the departments within the town Um some of the fun statistics for 2024 And now
we're going to move into 2025 Thank you Heather Um again as you can see some interesting statistics and some really productive 2024 Jumping right to 2025 is why we're here tonight uh for the 2025 budget introduction Uh so again
uh reminder uh this governing body here is is responsible for the municipal portion of your tax bill We have no control over the schoolboard portion the county portion and technically even the library portion Uh they're all obviously uh separately decided Um so we are
obviously involved in our budget So last year in 2024 the tax collector's office collected over $192 million and you can see obviously where it goes So again we're responsible for the 31 million in taxes and change that um that we collect
Of course the t the town collects all the taxes and then we disseminated to the various organizations school county library and uh and the town Um just on the other side of that screen it's important to kind of give context on how that 30 million $31 million works So our
tax levy is 313 from 2024 in 20 um uh 25 Um so you see here the tax supported piece with 31 million3 um is what makes up more than half of the 59% of the budget The rest of the budget is
supported by other revenues Councilman Hav mentioned before things like construction permits parking permits um uh court revenue other permits franchise fees state aid delinquent taxes This is I'm sorry this is the 2024 look So just wrapping up 24 but gives you a sense of what we're responsible for what the town
council controls and kind of where it comes from So uh again last year was a 0% tax increase um as we have again this year So 2025 budget process timeline We go through this every year just to kind of go through this quickly We look at long-term capital investments a six-year
plan We focus on a three-year plan Actually that's very realistic get achieved Uh we look at departmental budgets um starting uh late last year As Counciloman Haggood mentioned all the departments come in meet with the finance committee Uh we talk about their staffing talk about needs and desires
for the the current calendar year Um we then also meet with our auditors our bond council find out how we finished up the following the previous year what the surplus generation was revenue picture Um we then go through the process we're in now Uh January 30th we had our budget
meeting wrapping up 24 looking ahead to 25 And then we have all this other information we've been working on number of weeks uh which then culminates into tonight So tonight's the introduction It's actually called the approval and introduction The approval is really meaning that the budgets approved to
become a public document and gets sat gets scheduled for a public hearing which is scheduled for April 22nd Uh April 22nd will be the public hearing on the budget and then uh the council has the ability to adopt the budget that night Uh and so that's the budget process and made it sound very simple
but it took many many weeks and many many and Saturday morning meetings to boot right so um okay So let's look at some priorities for 2025 that are included in this budget We call it the five Ps Um you know we have public safety parks and recreation paving and drainage personnel and services and
public services Um so public safety So a couple things that are included uh this year Um and this is a combination of things either in the operating budget and or the capital budget We kind of just put them in the same place here So you see a great picture of one of our firefighters in active duty here Uh
first item on that list is replacement CC SCBAs self-contained breathing apparatus These are life- saving issues and equipment for the fire department We are at a point now the chief has explained to the committee that we need replacement of all the units in the department which is the bottles and the
masks and so forth So part of what you see on this firefighter here gets replaced That's a really a safety issue for the personnel Uh not a small number but that's in the capital budget this year as an expense Uh we will again look at getting additional traffic and safety equipment things like speed boxes uh
light towers uh flashing stop signs things that go on that get decided in the public safety committee that we actually can implement in the current calendar year Uh we did apply for a grant and we received it to have the first fully EV police car Thank you Chief Alawa for agreeing to this and a
charger that goes along with it It's a reimburseable grant so we must budget the money for it We will spend the money and then reimburse ourselves That's in the capital budget as well this year One other thing about the fire department is important and this um the last bullet point there national ISO rating So ISO
rating is something every community gets It's an insurance rating Uh and basically what happens is uh they look at your fire department We're very lucky We're one of 11 communities out of 21 in the county to have a paid fire department That means we have great protection for our buildings and
property in town That also means that due to staffing levels in the department due to equipment due to manpower and due to American Water and their efforts on their system we then can increase our insurance rating Well right now we just was just announced uh in March that we
are now a level two rating the second highest level rating you can have countrywide And we are only one of approximately a chief maybe 2,000 departments in the entire country that are a level two So it's our first time in town history And what that means for t for taxpayers you over time you will
see for the next 10 years eight years I guess right Jim um you will see your insurance ratings be slightly uh reduced because of our increased rating for the fire department So it's a positive thing not something that gets really you know talked about a lot but it is very positive I want to thank Chief Dogs and
his department for really doing a great job and um you know applying for that as we do every 10 to 10 years So that's a big deal and you'll hear more about that in the coming weeks as well uh parks and recreation A couple other priorities and things that are involved in either capital and/or budget this
year enhancing continued enhancement of maintenance of all our parks and fields uh and public spaces We are working on as mayor mentioned of conceptual designs The first step in that process with Tomacus Park the survey is out now That'll be followed by stakeholder meetings will be followed by conceptual
designs followed by public input and then ultimately hopefully come out with a plan to actually phase in a plan to park to uh do a lot of work there that's been long overdue Um Hulahan said Faith Field has been talking this for quite a while We are working on the last steps
of getting some plans and specs together We go out to bid that'll be part of another capital project coming up later this year to expand the parking lot sizably over there get people off the street That's a county road and so we want to get people into a parking lot on the street and also put in a multi-use
building restrooms maybe meeting rooms storage facilities there Uh so that's in the process as well Uh continuing Memorial Playground improvements some of you seeing the picture there on the screen is the new Memorial Playground just opened up about a month ago Uh that was last year's capital but we've actually uh opened up this year And
there's some other things that improvements that went along with that uh that playground Uh and we of course um DPW restructuring We talked about this before I mentioned this Um we have our public works director here Craig Gibson This is a big deal Last year we had added employees We restructured our
staff We promoted people to positions that didn't exist And now we've set up our department not only to provide better service to the town as a whole but to take on things like the board of education field maintenance plan we're doing tonight By the way we are doing the resolution tonight The council will be doing that tonight approve the shared
service agreement The board of education is doing the same resolution tonight at their meeting uh we have a shared partnership with them and they're as excited as we are to begin this partnership So that's important for the public to know and of course goes without saying we continue our tree planting program Uh we have a we're very
fortunate in public works have our own forestry division Uh and so we've had some new uh promotions in that department and we will continue tree planting tree maintenance pruning takedowns replantings etc Another very uh busy year coming up Uh paving and
drainage Um it's been going on quite a bit the past number of years So this year as mentioned before we will pave 11 miles of road We will do about 7.9 miles with money we're putting into our capital budget Utilities their numbers are slowly coming down because we're doing a lot of infrastructure work in town and it's not starting to ramp down
So 3.1 miles is expected from them this year Uh think with all those projects comes the normal ADA compliance AD ramps and so forth We've added other storm storm water resiliency projects Uh repairing pipes and so forth for the storm water system Putting in new
drainage where we were need be when we do paving Uh we're also looking to finalize our last uh sanitary sewer pumping station Not very glamorous but very very important Uh and we're excited to get that done Public works is exciting So that takes a a lot of maintenance responsibility off their
plate going forward And uh also public works due to the restructuring we initiated and through Craig Gibson our public works director a new stormwater cash racing crew which has actually been working the past few months Um it's something we had not been very proactive about We are now proactive there I can't tell you how many complaints we get or
requests we get to see click fix or west connect people saying my storm sewers cloud or something You can do that on your own but of course if you don't have the equipment or have the ability to bring to the center we do that So we're now being proactive about that and we will continue to do that till every single storm sewer gets gets addressed
So some really good things under paving drainage uh infrastructure things On that topic just to remind everybody about this paving thing it cannot be minimized And I've been with Town of Westfield now for 24 years as a town administrator I go to meetings all the time with other town administrators
around the state Um this is unprecedented to have a 100 miles basically every town road in our town be paved in a matter of a 9-year period Um basically almost half and half 55.8 miles scheduled to be paid by the town
through 2026 and 52.8 through 2018 obviously or sorry 20 2018 through 2025 by the utilities almost half of the entire roadway is paid by other entities at their expense Um if we had to bear those costs on our own this process
would take another 15 10 15 years and a lot more money out of the taxpayers's pocket So this is very significant saving the taxpayers estimated cost of about $21 million in capital cost the past eight or nine years So it's important that we continue to harp on this because it's it's a big deal And
one last thing we don't have any information yet on 2026 from utilities They may have other roads to do If they do that will reduce our obligation in 26 and increase their obligation So that's subject to change and we work with them every single year multiple times
personnel and services Um just a couple things here and some pictures of our forestry crew there um uh doing the work So again we mentioned before investing in personnel automation equipment to enhance residential services We talked about city click fix west connect past number of years Uh we had some
presentation on that last year Uh last year we actually had a huge increase in salary wages in the town We explained that again restructuring new hires fire department public works department police department Uh This year obviously our increase in salary wages is lower
2.6% increase Last year was 6.3 Um very manageable this year We still plan on replacing the retirements that are happening particularly in police and fire Adding some more people to public works uh maybe a promotion in public works as well continuing to look
all of our departments that we have looking for adjustments or added staff where necessary to provide the services And most importantly we have five or actually I should say six collective bargaining agreements Um and all of them are settled right now which is something a lot of towns can't say is important We
have two contracts coming up for negotiation at the end of the year That's the FMVA and the CWA but everyone else is under contract beyond 2026 So that's a big deal that provides certainty in our budgeting for this year particularly and certainty in future years So uh again a lot of uh actions
been taken a lot of support from this town council and past town councils as well Uh public services Um couple things here Uh Western Memorial Library we mentioned before uh directors here Alan Mcinley's here tonight In the capital budget we've included money for the
library this year to in basically enhance their own investments in their in their uh facility uh by having some continued interior renovations and looking for a maker space This picture you see uh on the screen is a concept of the maker space that was presented to the county and the finance committee and
the town council Uh this is something the library is looking to do and some of our capital money this year is dedicated to creating that space at the library which is exciting not just for the library but for the communities at large which is which is exciting Health department Heather mentioned this before reminder um every year the finance
committee meets with the board of health It's a very large department We are a regional board of health We are the lead agency for n including Westfield Um that's no small thing Uh Megan Avalone who's our director does an amazing job Uh her staff does an amazing job and we
serve Westfield Madison Barbara Mside Summit Chadam Fanway New Providence and Mills Park Not all contiguous to us but towns seek us out because of our services and what we provide And from a revenue perspective um basically we are offsetting more than 60% of our costs by
payments coming from other towns So the cost of our own services are actually reduced from what they would be if we were on our own That's a big deal We've looked at that multiple times and that's only increasing as we continue to change our our programs and policies going forward uh to provide the service we provide which are top-notch sought after
services So again thanks to Megan and her team Parking system upgrades continue We budgeted some money last year will be rolling out this year a new online waiting wait list system online uh daily permit system and online permit renewal system for residential employee and commuter permits So that'll be
rolling out uh over the next number of months Um and lastly tax collector's office uh again meeting with the departments the finance committee asks questions about how we can do things better more efficiently automation Henry our tax director been here a number of years great young man Uh he's actually
always looking for new things technology-wise I know it may seem very simple Um but the auditors don't like when you have credit card machines in the offices but we are going to have a new credit card machine in the office this year So people come in to pay taxes they're not prepared that you know to pay with something they they assume they
can pay their credit card You will have that option Now in addition to that uh we've been asked over the years to create an automatic withdrawal if you chose to for your quarterly taxes That is an option now as well Some residents have really liked that So that's a very good thing Thank you Henry for always
looking to get more techn technologically savvy Um so one of the other line items that we have in our budget is called the capital improvement fund It's not a capital ordinance It's a separate item in the capital in the in the operating budget The capital
improvement fund is either really meant for two things It's every year we put money in to put as a down payment on capital projects But in addition to that the council has a discretion on a yearly basis to increase or decrease that number and add special projects or
smaller project in that lineup So this year as I mentioned before we have two professional consulting costs in there one for Quimby Street design plan which we're looking to go out and hire someone to come in and design that uh new street to go out to bid uh at some point to actually do a project next year if we
can Also for a storm water system condition assessment um looking to see what we can find out about our system from a condition perspective what um the value of the system may be and get that done as well There's also funding in there for demolition of two properties
If you remember last year we purchased a house next to firehouse number two Uh we We plan on demolishing that house this year as the beginning of the process We've talked about many times before That is the home of our new headquarters in the future and we'll be actually sharing some plans very uh soon about uh
what we're going to be doing with that property and how we're going to renovate that uh going forward And then also the newly funded picture that's behind this picture is our newly acquired property only a matter of weeks ago the corner of South and Central the old Mr Goodoo property We've already tried to make
some very minor uh improvements on it some cleaning and some minor paintings and flower boxes but ultimately that building you see in the picture the white building will be knocked down We will then hire a firm to come in and design that property into a pedestrian uh friendly plaza Uh as Councilman Hag
mentioned before public art greenery sidewalks and so forth Uh and then lastly there's money in there of course to um for public facility improvements such as town hall public works facility and down payments on capital projects So again very robust thing in the operating
budget that will be one-time expenses and next year the council can decide what they want to do with that with that budget up or down Uh two other capital projects that are not budgeted for yet but are in the queue for this year Um the lovely picture of our existing gas uh fuel
system at public works Um it's it's in dire need of replacement and we are in the process of doing that So one of the projects will come up to the council in a matter of weeks or months will be an ordinance to award a contract to replace the aging fuel system at public works Reminder of what this serves um this is
the lifeblood literally of what we do in this town Uh board of health public works police fire board of education everyone uses our fueling system in addition to the rescue squad And we have a shared service with the township family burough family Uh and other towns
have sought our services but we want when we replace the system we will actually be able to even maybe offer other shared services as well to recur some cost But we're excited about this This is a safety issue also a uh organizational issue with the department to make sure we have better use of our
space And so that's something we'll be seeing And then second of all we have the whole enhanced bay project we talked about before parking lot expansion a restaurant multi-use facility We're working final details and estimates We're talking to some of the leagues that use that space like coming back to the council this year hopefully with the
capital budget um to uh do that project as well So those are in addition to the normal capital stuff we'll talk about in a minute Um so just a quick you know history lesson here Again I showed you some information we shared this slide last year again mentioned multiple times
but again for municipal purposes no tax increase this year Uh this is what the town council has control over Historically you see the light greenish line the US inflation rate since 2012 The dark blue line the town's uh tax
levy increase uh since 2012 And um you see here that basically in 2025 the uh rate of inflation is 2.8% we are at 0% last year was 2.9 we're at zero You kind of go back and forth So uh we've had a very good run uh for a long
time here Um but really the 0% is really doesn't happen very often So uh feel good about it when it happens which is good So this is a very impressive thing And again as was mentioned 1.1% tax increase over the over the years since 2018 is is rather impressive Um one other thing was mentioned before a
little more detail on on the bones here surplus So this budget if it goes through on April 22nd uh will still have in the bank $7.2 million of surplus for use in 2026 And of course there'll be some regeneration that will be added to
that Don't know how much but we have a pretty good idea We're going to have a minimum amount generated So we're going to be in very good shape starting off 2026 Um you see here 2025 we start off with 14 million and change Last year 2024 we started off
with 15 million We're using 6.8 this year Last year we almost 6.8 6.7 Uh we're leaving 7.2 in the bank this year We ended the balance last year 8.6 Uh don't know what's going to be generated We generated 5.3 last year a very good
year Uh no tax increase either year And of course the budget increase last year was 3.05 This year it's even lower So we're trying to control our expenses where we can even better than we have So again uh below the rate of inflation budget increase and again healthy surplus which is really what I care
about as administrator making sure we're in good position for each successive year Um couple things people always ask How do you like what's the calculation how do you arrive at the tax rate uh not the easiest thing in the world We want to make a very simple math problem Uh
Heather redid this slide for my my horrible uh Canva and PowerPoint skills but this is more of a math problem So we take our total expenditures so our total budget is 54 million and change this year We then subtract the revenues that we generate from that that we can
actually depend upon this year And the difference of those two equals the tax level what we need the tankers to make our budget As Linda said before the more that 22 million goes up over the course of the years the less tax we need But right now in 2025 54 million
expenditures 228 almost 23 coming from revenues we know we can depend upon ourselves leaving 315 as the tax levy which is only less than almost 3/4 of a point over last year's levy Um and then we actually divide that by the total ratables of the town All the value of
the property in town is over $8 billion which was increased slightly over 2024 almost the same exact amount as our levies increase a little bit rounding there So when you do that math it provides zero tax increase for municipal
purposes in 2025 So the average assessed home in 2025 is $82600,000 which was up from the previous year$ 829 Um and so again no real math to do here because we're not
proposing an increase and um and basically there's no increase in the tax portion but again the average home continues to increase because rentals and property values increase which is a good thing for all taxpayers and property owners So again that's a little bit of thing This presentation by the way will be online so you can go back
and you want to look at the math problem all you want you can Um couple other things here This is a lot of numbers We have it on here because we want people to go back and look at it and study if they want to This is a quick three-year look at our expenditures and revenues and the total tax increase over the
course of three years So I won't go through all the details but suffice it to say budget wise is something to focus on here Budget-wise 2023 budget went up 5.4% 2024 3.05 2025 1.74 So budget is
well managed expenditures well managed as best we can revenues um 5.46 increase in 23 3.5 and 24 and of course you know revenues matching sorry revenue increase in 2023
2.6 increase in 24 1.5 increase in 25 just under a million dollars but again it's a balanced budget and of course the tax rate in 23 was 1.98% for taxpayers 0% the past two years so again we're trying to do what we can um with with
the control we have over the m of the budget Two two more or three more things here before we wrap up Again just a quick allocation from a graphical presentation about where our appropriations go So as you might expect the two big pieces are salary wages 38%
30.5 and statutory required expenses That's things like pension health insurance uh rawway value authorities lots of things we don't have a lot of lot of choice on almost 36 or almost 36 and a half% Other items that that are just in here we mentioned before the capital improvement fund 670,000 It's a
small piece of the puzzle but that's very discretionary for the council to increase or decrease in any given year We mentioned items we have in this year Operating expenses are 12% of our of our budget Actually very fairly well managed That includes all police fire and public works the three largest departments we have That's all their operating expenses
that they have uh for those at another department as well Um debt service 3.5% rather uh consistent over the years Um and then the one other thing to mention here I mentioned it slightly in the beginning the reserved unlimited taxes because the town is the collector of all
the taxes We and only us not the county not the library not the school Because we're the collector we must budget the reserve because if we don't collect it we still haven't paid everybody first ones get paid of the school in the county and if even if no collected we have to actually uh beat it So the
reserve is a number that's required Uh we have very little play in that every year It does increase pretty much every year by the tax levy uh increase allowable 2% or thereabouts Um so that's a number that we have So $2.7 million of budget is a required line and we can
change and no other budget in the town has to bear that burden So it's an important fact Lastly completely separate from the operating budget just to re uh re rekindle a recap on the capital budget So tonight on the agenda in addition to the operating budget we have the capital
budget ordinance on first reading tonight And basically capital budget is for projects or items that are over $5,000 have a useful life of at least five years Most of items you'll see read the ordinance We try to get the longest useful life we can to elongate the the
payment period we can for debt service are included this year We mentioned before the largest part of our capital tackle budget every year This year more so than ever 3 million 145 for paving infrastructure That's paving drainage improvements sewers ADA compliance etc
Uh we have library we mentioned before that's enhanced improvements inside the library with the maker space $450,000 being allocated there Public safety $885,000 A big chunk of that is the replacement SCBAs for the fire department which are needed That's good
news about that It's a time expense Next year that will not be back in the capital budget so that number should drop down Uh public works department again continue replacement of vehicles This year's number includes two mason dumps uh replacements and a pickup truck Uh and then lastly other items are just
minor things facility maintenance that goes toward town hall public facility roofs uh furniture uh renovations in the buildings and then also um parks and fields Parks and Fields is a smaller number in the but ordinance tonight $50,000 but we did discuss before
Hulahan Sidfang field project is also a separate capital ordinance that we're going to actually have So recreation has actually a big number this year just in a separate a separate document So a little uh information uh about the details of the capital budget tonight So that's a very quick overview
There's lots of detail in the capital budget There's lots of detail on the operating budget Um and again the council here the finance committee particularly thank you Mike and and Dave and Linda and David Um the staff here myself Heather and Scott we basically
live with these people uh in January February uh Saturdays and nights uh two or three nights a week but is worth it And and the nicest thing is and they can tell you themselves they get to know the people that are running this town Besides myself and Scott and Heather they see all the time They meet the department heads the chiefs and Craig
and and other department heads and hear from them just about the numbers The numbers are important and of course that's what we focus on but it's the people that make things go It's the people that make this town what it is And so again they get to meet people get to question them talk to them learn about them and that's a big deal because
it doesn't happen like that everywhere And uh again as I said in the beginning we're very very fortunate that people we have here And that's kind of why Westfield is successful not just with the members of the governing body but the staff that runs the town on a daily basis So thank you very much Let me present And uh that's that's it
Thank you all Very nice Um well done Absolutely Okay So moving on to the agenda for this evening Um may I have a motion to approve the minutes from the town council executive session held January 14th January 28th February
25th March 11th and town council conference and regular meetings held March 11 2025 Second by David Motion by David Contract Second Second by Councilman Daggala Any discussion all in favor yes Opposed This
motion is carried Now it's time for open discussion by citizens Anyone may come up to the microphone and speak to the council on any subject on which the council's jurisdiction Please state your name and address for the record and limit your comments to five minutes And I I just want to remind everybody too there the public hearing on the
budget will be uh a u April 22nd April 22nd So there'll be a full public hearing and questions on the specifically on the budget when it's time for adoption But um any comments public comments Okay Hearing none um I close
this portion of the meeting and move to bills and claims Councilman Hapood Thank you Mayor I'd like to move bills and claims in the amount of $982,15748 May I have a second second Is that right council contract Any discussion all in
favor yes Opposed this motion is carried Next on the agenda is reports of standing committees beginning with the finance policy committee Councilman Hapgood Thank you again Mayor I have nine resolutions tonight Five of which I'd like to move as a package The first a resolution authorizing the CFO to
refund recreation department fees The second a resolution authorizing the CFO to refund street opening cash bond The third a resolution to extend contract for the Westfield Memorial Pool concessionire Fourth a resolution authorizing affordability assistant
grant assistance grant program pursuant to the town of Westfield's affordability assistance program for a tenant of an affordable housing unit and five a resolution authorizing acceptance of the revised budget introduction and adoption dates as issued by the local finance
board May I have a second second Second by Councilman Dardia Um any discussion all in favor opposed this motion is carried Next I'd like to move a resolution to adopt a temporary capital budget I have
a second Second Second by Councilman Domagawa Um any discussion please call the role Council member Tavgood yes Dardia yes Yes Kefir yes Saunders yes Armentoto yes Contract yes Yes Mayor Ble
yes This motion is carried I'd also like to move a resolution to introduce and approve the 2025 municipal budget May I have a second second Second by councilman contract Any discussion i'd like to say something quick Sure Yeah Thanks Uh so as everyone had
mentioned I'd been on the uh finance committee now for two years and seen two budgets and I just wanted to offer a couple observations Uh you know this putting a budget together is a lot more than just numbers on a spreadsheet In fact that's kind of like the like
backseat part of the what goes on because you're allocating finite resources and you have to do so in detail It really percolates to the surface everyone's values um the people in the council the professionals the judgments that are made And what I was really interesting is that um we talk
quite a bit and we disagree a fair amount And the disagreements aren't always what you think they might be about and they're not always between the people who you think they might be between and they very rarely fall according to party lines So just a little tidbit out there for the general
public don't judge a book by its cover We all have opinions and values that go well beyond party lines because when you deal with things like environmental stewardship uh public safety drainage all these things people have pretty strong opinions and it's pretty interesting to watch I would say the one thing we do have in common and that goes
for everyone here in the front row Um we really do care about the town and we really try to strike the balance between investing for the future and being frugal with everyone's money I think we hit that So very proud of the budget So thanks everyone Great and thank you for your work Yeah And I would just I would
just add I would I would echo what the councilman just said and just say the public should realize really how lucky we are for our town to have the department heads to have our town administrator and assistant administrator and CFO They really guide the process You know we work closely to
question every line item in every budget to make sure your tax dollars are spent wisely And I do think this year's budget like our previous seven is really something we should all be proud of You know it's not easy to hold the line on tax increases maintain surplus and
provide services But I do think we collectively you know working together with the town and department heads has done a really good job doing that So uh hopefully future councils will continue this but I think it's something that we can all be proud of and residents should as well to recognize the hard work that
our chairperson has put in probably more than the rest of us uh but collectively to deliver a budget like this So great job Linda and and to Mike and Dave and to everybody else Thank you Um okay So uh please call the role
Council members yes Daria yes Yes Kefir yes Saunders yes Armentoto yes Contract yes Yes Mayor M Yes The motion is carried Next I'd like to move a resolution to
introduce and approve the 2025 special improvement district budget The budget for the downtown Westfield Corporation May I have a second second Second by Councilman Saunders Any discussion mayor okay Yeah I don't want to uh have the DWC not feel any of the love It's just
important to mention that um uh DWC has a appointed board um and they have spent the time like we have to go through and do their budget process as well tonight again for I think maybe 10 plus years Um
their assessment is holding um flat So no SID budget increase uh in their proposed budget tonight And uh we had the chairman of the DWC at the previous meeting about uh they're asking for an event uh adjustment for future events But the DWC does a really phenomenal job
Samantha Horning the director the staff there uh and the board really does a nice job holding the line there very well and yet providing great events great services and great support to the businesses downtown So thank you And not to speak for Council Halfood but I also aware of the work that they've done over
the last year or so with the strategic plan I don't know if you want to elaborate on it but it's pretty impressive between what they've done So exactly a great board Um Samantha's really doing a great job Our uh the chair of the board Jeff Kersinbomb was here earlier tonight talking about new
plans for downtown entertainment over the summer So the idea is to expand um Sweet Sounds from uh not just being Tuesday but actually having Thursday night music downtown all summer too So if anybody has any good ideas about what
we should call that we're taking suggestions It's gonna be great Um thank you for that Um uh please call the role Council members yes Dardia yes Domagalo yes Keeper yes Sounders yes Yes Contra
yes Healey yes Mayor yes This motion is carried Last I'd like to make a motion authorizing the CFO to make a budget transfer May I have a second second by council Dagala Any discussion please call the role Council member yes
Guardian yes Yes Yep Saunders Yes Yes Contract Yes Yes Mayor Riddle Yes This motion is carried Okay Now we go on to the ordinances Um I'd like to move general ordinance number 2025-06 on first reading an
ordinance for calendar year 2025 to establish a cap bank under NJSA4A 40-45.14 May I have a second second Second contract Any discussion please call the role Council
members yes Dardian yes Malo yes Keeper yes Saunders yes Armentoto yes Contra Yes Keely yes Mayor yes This motion is carried And finally I' I'd like to move special ordinance number 2025-01 on
first reading bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements and the acquisition of new additional or replacement equipment and machinery new communication and signal systems equipment and new automative and electric vehicles including original
apparatus and equipment in by and for the town of Westfield and the county of Union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of5 $5,65,000 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the
issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds May I have a second second D Councilman Dardia Any discussion please call the role Council members Haggood yes Dardia yes Dagala yes Keeper yes
Saunders yes Yes Armentoto yes Contract yes Healey yes Mayor Renle yes This motion is carried Councilman Daria please move public safety transportation parking committee resolutions Thank you mayor I have two resolutions I would like to move as a package Number one
resolution authorizing payment to flock safety for LPR cameras for the Westfield Police Department Two resolution authorizing an award of contract for the purchase of pedestrian beacons for the Westfield Police Department May I have a second second Second by Councilman
Armento Any discussion this motion is carried Councilman contract please move code review and town property committee resolution We all have to say yes Oh did I Oh I'm missing that All in favor yes Oppose
Sorry Wasn't on the script Um okay Councelor thank you for pointing that out You're welcome I didn't want us to have to come back and redo it Um I would like to move a resolution authorizing affordable housing council to sign a settlement agreement for the fourth round affordable housing compliance May
I have a second councilman Damagawa Uh any discussion yes Um uh I have had the good fortune to be uh designated as the chairperson of our
affordable housing approach Uh the state of New Jersey passed a law in 19 in 2024 uh permitting towns to submit to a process that will guarantee if they
participate that they will not be subject to builder's remedy lawsuits And that's really important because uh if you're subject to builders remedy lawsuits a builder can buy up three houses and ne then have that turns into 25 town homes or a big apartment complex
uh 85% of the New Jersey towns agreed to participate in this ultimately binding process where you will submit plans and see if they get approved by the courts to see if they're meeting their obligation to have some level of
multifamily and affordable housing So we are now at the first stage where we submitted uh in response to the department of community affairs uh numbers We took a slight we asked for a slight modification for that number They
said we had an obligation to uh produce three 397 units This a very uh confusing number but that's not the number we're ultimately going to have to uh put up I want to point out something You know when I got on the
council which is only last year I got to see what the town administration had done with respect to this obligation And going back almost 10 years the town under Republican administration then the Democratic
administration of Mayor Brindle got a plan together that was approved for our what's called phase three affordable housing obligations So now we go into this new round round four
where we have zero present need Zero And I didn't count them up but I'll bet you that's about 5% of the municipalities in New Jersey that have zero present need because of the job that was done And believe me I've now
worked with the planning staff that's the town administrator our own planning official We have a a contract uh planning official We have an attorney This is a terrific team that's put together and put us in great shape Uh by March 31st which is a couple days
from now we have to resolve this difference that we have with the Department of Community Affairs number The builders association has a has rejected our approach and said it needs to be uh a little more than Westfield is saying
um are that's going to be resolved tomorrow I don't think the builders association has has any merit to what they're saying By the way the builder association is in a panic Why are they in a panic because 85% of the
municipalities in New Jersey have just eliminated the builder's remedy We are going to be able to preserve our long-term single family zones by having our affordable housing and multifamily housing along the railroad corridor and in and in the town area So we're going
to have a true transit village Westfield has always been a transit village and we're going to enhance that uh through this program What we're doing by this resolution and I'm sorry for taking a long time but this process is really important I mean that budget process is
really important I agree with that This is 10 years This is 10 years of the future of Westfield in this process that we're involved in I don't think there's anything uh uh as important as that in terms of the town's future Uh we are
authorizing our attorney to settle a dispute of a minor number that essentially has no uh no significance uh in terms of what our ultimate number is But we need to do it so our attorney can
uh we need to have this resolution so our attorney has the authority to bind us in a hearing tomorrow that will just resolve this initial proceeding uh that needs to be done Thank you very much Thank you for that Okay Um uh please
call the role Council members have yes Dardian Yes Dagalo Yes Keeper Yes Saunders Yes Armentoto Yes Contract Yes Yes Mayor Yes This motion is carried Councilman Healey please move public works resolutions
You're calling on me again yeah I'm sorry It's your night Uh I want to move a resolution to enter into a shared service agreement with the board of education for maintenance of the Roosevelt Intermediate School Athletic Field May I have a second second
Councilman Armentoto any discussion mayor I just want I just want to just uh just want to say uh publicly thank you to the schools Uh you know for decades uh the school and town staff um have worked very well together This is another example of that And uh I want to
just reiterate they're doing a very similar resolution tonight at their governing body meeting And uh I just further proof of the collaboration we have with our local school district Uh not only the governing body to governing body but staff to staff And that that can't be undersold doesn't happen many
places So thank you and thanks to the schools Yeah And no thank you for that And that is true And I say we have an incredibly collaboration collaborative relationship with the school district um in all areas So this is I do think solidifies that So it's really great Um
all in favor any discussion any Oh I said I said any discussion already Keep going No Jimmy took the Oh got it It's all yours Floor is yours There's a little history to this As you know the block upon which Roosevelt Intermediate School
sits is a large block and half of that property is owned by the board of education and the other half is owned by the town of Westfield About 20 years ago the Westfield Y said we would like to fund a track a you know like a walking
path running path all the way around the block And the board of education welcomed that with open arms Uh there's this longtime antipathy of the people in the neighborhood who think that Clark
Park is somehow a passive park that been litigated It's false That park can be used for anything that the town decides But at the time the momentum wasn't there to build the track all the way
around the block That was kind of an example of non-ooperation if we'll say So I'm happy to uh move this resolution to uh move the cooperation level forward given the history of Clark Park and the Roosevelt
Intermediate School Excellent All in favor yes Opposed this motion is carried May I have a motion to adjurnn so move by Councilman Armento Second Second Second by Councilman Daria All in favor
opposed disposious car