in compliance with the open public meetings Act of New Jersey adequate notice of this meeting was provided on December 21st 2023 by sending written notice and electronic notice to The Courier News and the breeze posting on the website and the bulletin board in the municipal building and filing with the Township Clerk if we could have roll call please councilman kers here councilman cill here councilman nalis here pedroso here president ring here before we stand for the pledge um some of you may be aware some of you may not be aware that yesterday um our former retired Sheriff Frank provenzano passed away uh what you may not know is that sheriff provenzano before he became a sheriff was a longtime public servant here in Bridgewater retiring as a captain from our police department so I would ask that after the Pledge of Allegiance if you could just remain standing for a moment of silence in his honor thank you if you're able please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance councilman nor Galis could you lead us thank you all right we have minutes from the June 6th regular session for approval and we have June 6th closed session making their way [Music] around anyone for the June 6 regular session I'll I'll make that motion okay I got I'll second it as amended second it it was amended okay based upon the amended minutes so we have a motion to approve all those in favor I I opposed all right Township Council reports I'll start with councilman noralis only bless Father Day for those of you who will fulfill that role in the lives of our youth I have received numerous phone calls requesting what is [Music] as a b gas will [Music] reloc most of the time thank you councilman pedroo uh thank you sir uh first of all uh congratulations to the Bridgewater Raritan baseball team you guys did a great job 64 Victory very proud I'm a Bridgewater ritan alumni myself graduated from Bridgewater East in 1988 uh so uh great achievement congrats boys uh I'm glad you're here tonight and can't wait for the proclamation uh also congratulate all of the many graduates of the Bridgewater veriton school system uh my own daughter graduated this year from high school going on to college and uh so I was an attendance but great ceremony and just wish everyone all the graduates a lot of luck uh going forward in the future uh last week was uh uh juneth uh we didn't have a council meeting I have a very short statement uh last week many gathered to celebrate sh te a profound and pivotal day in our nation's history on this day we commemorate the end of slavery in the United States a milestone achieved through the Valiant efforts of those who fought tirelessly for freedom and Justice this celebration is not merely a remembrance of the past but a testament to the enduring Spirit of Liberty and equality that defines our nation as I personally reflected on this significant occasion I recognized the instrumental role played by Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party and the abolition of slavery in the darkest hours of our nation President Lincoln demonstrated unwavering moral courage his issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st of 1863 raise a bold and revolutionary act it'll go on to pave the way for the eventual abolition of slavery The Liberation of more than 250,000 enslaved black people in Texas on June 19th of 1865 and set a moral compass for the nation the the 13th Amendment would eventually be ratified on December 6 of 1865 with constitutionally which constitutionally ended slavery in America this amendment passed by Republican L Congress was a Monumental achievement that endured the permanence of freedom for all it was a Triumph of Justice over oppression a victory for human rights that echoed across the globe juneth is a day of Jubilation a day to celebrate the Triumph of Freedom over over bondage it is also a day of reflection the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party is a testament to what can be achieved when we stand United for what is right and jth would not be complete without reflecting on the profound impact of slavery on black Americans the immense suffer suffering endured by so many and the continuous need to strive for equality and justice in our society as we pause to remember juneth let us honor the courage and conviction of those who fought for freedom by continuing to strive for a more just and equitable societ the work is never finished but the legacy of juneth inspire us to persevere thank you sir thank you councilman kersch thank you Mr President uh so I'm going to go in chronological order with a with a A few items on June uh Saturday June 8th I attended the findern fire department's rescue 30 uh dedication I believe that uh councilman um um cill will go into greater detail there uh certainly a great accomplishment for the fire department and and uh for that for that neighborhood of our town zoning board met on June 11th approved with substantial conditions Chimney Rock Self Storage on Route 22 and carried another case b Holdings uh proposed tow houses on Mount Pleasant Avenue uh June 15th I attended and spoke at a celebration uh for Eid uh as well as the first Crescent Moon Lighting which occurred out on our Courtyard um I expressed appreciation on behalf of our community to Al FAA uh for um uh allowing us to uh celebrate that important occasion as a community uh and certainly I've spoken many times about how that is our Collective front porch uh and certainly the uh community's front porch and how now that Eid celebration uh joins uh you know others that have occurred there annually uh Christmas tree lighting Hanukkah manora I know we've also done uh Chinese New Year and and some others uh as well on uh June 18th the planning board met uh uh there were two extensions of approval uh and and one item was carried on June 25th earlier this week uh at the uh at the zoning board two residential cases uh one um was was a simple matter with a deck the other um was uh actually based on a recalculation and F uh was not was not needed and the case uh as a result uh did not need adjudication um we have begun our budget deliberations uh we have had um two meetings of the budget and finance committee and there will be uh other meetings in the next several days with individual council members uh and then bringing us to today uh I know we'll very soon uh be congratulating the Bridgewater Ron uh High School baseball team for their group four Tournament champion ship I just want to share my personal perspective uh that I've I've known some of these boys some of these players some of these families um since um prek is it possible that it was that long ago uh kindergarten into uh travel when it started at U7 u8 so um certainly a wonderful accomplishment um becoming the best uh baseball team in the state of New and for high school baseball team in the state of New Jersey certainly uh a wonderful Testament to the value that each of you bring uh as well as Collective teamwork so congratulations to the to this to the players coaches uh and of course the families uh Welcome to our meeting and we look forward to that part of our uh our agenda that's my report thank you as uh just one item for myself as councilman kers uh mentioned we received notification last week Administration was ready to start some uh budget meetings with the finance committee we've had a couple meetings and we will continue those uh tomorrow as well um that's my report anything from the ad Administration oh I forgot Allan I'm sorry table and I and I and I mentioned him too yes you did uh first off yes I I did attend the dedication of rescue 30 with fer fire department that was a 4-year project uh tremendous project to work on and the members of the department deserve a lot of credit not only for uh complete leading the project but committing the manpower to provide the uh the service to allow a response with that vehicle regarding the baseball team guys congratulations uh knowing how difficult High School sports can be for the time that yall put in the ups and downs the length of the season the training and so forth you you did great you deserve the accolades that you're receiving also coach I believe you're the coach of the year am I correct congratulations that's a tough job that's a tremendous uh Accolade congratulations and I think in all the time that I've been attending lacrosse games behind you guys while you're playing baseball I've gone through two windshields with foul balls so it didn't it it took a little time but I did learn during the baseball game park down the other end of the parking lot but sincerely best wishes to each and every one of you uh whatever we graduating and you have a college career God Bless you that's it my apologies again councilman cill I'm sorry Mr papis just a couple of things I have a couple of memos for the sake of time we just distribute to the council one is um an update on the transition from gfms to the Edmunds accounting system it's going well and U thought you would be interested and the other memo that I'd like to distribute I fortunately just have enough me enough copies for the members of the council um the turfield project began on schedule earlier this week they started at the 1,000 field at the high school removing the carpet um that was completed and they started here on this uh property a couple of days ago yesterday excuse me and um weather holding they expect to be finished on time so that's all that I have thank you thank you all right so next up we have a proclamation which I think is while uh many of you are here I'm going to come down invite the members of the baseball team and the coaching staff to please come up and join me sure sides some each side works so unfortunately for our mayor um he is uh out of state tonight and couldn't be here so fortunately for me he's not here and I get to present this to you so this Proclamation is on behalf of the office of the mayor of Bridgewater New Jersey Proclamation for the Bridgewater ritton High School baseball team whereas the Bridgewater Ron High School baseball team has achieved unprecedent success by winning the New New Jersey state inter Scholastic Athletic Association group four tournament Championship on June 8th 2024 making the first State group championship in the history of Bridgewater Ron high school and whereas this Victory is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the players coaches and support staff who have worked tirelessly to build a strong foundation and Foster a culture of Excellence within the program and whereas the 2024 team under the leadership of head coach Max Newell and his outstanding coaching staff including freshman coach Matt Pearlman JV coach Mike Trapani and and varsity assistant coach Evan cie have demonstrated remarkable Talent resiliency and unity in achieving a record-breaking 30 wins this season and whereas the senior class of 2024 including Frankie Verano Michael Taylor Matthew Baxter Michael lentini Nick turkey Matt fetor Trevor Kelly Devin Goldberg Joe spir Ben Dolan Sam mat Joey Leo Corey Ribble and team manager JN Patel and I apologize if I mispronounced your name have left an indelible mark on the program and inspired future generations of players and whereas this historic achievement has brought immerse pride and joy to the Bridgewater Ron Community having demonstrated the team's determination skill and sportsmanship now therefore be it resolved that I Matthew MCH not me but Matthew MCH along with the Bridgewater Town Council do hereby recognize and congratulate the Bridgewater Ron High School baseball team for their extraordinary accomplishments and tremendous Victory we commend their perseverance teamwork and dedication which have earned them the title of New Jersey state champions and have set a new standard of Excellence for Bridgewater rart and High School athletics let this Proclamation serve as a lasting tribute to the 2024 Bridgewater Ron High School baseball team whose Victory will be remembered remembered and celebrated for years to come um signed by the mayor and the members of the Town Council so I'm not sure who's going to accept this on behalf of the team congratulations um and I'm gonna ask if you could please remain up here for a second I'm going to invite dick Meyers uh to come up and say a few words dick if you're not aware as the chairman of the Bridgewater Ron High School athletic Hall of Fame on behalf of the Bridge Water Ren High School athletic Hall of Fame committee the committee congratulates an outstanding record-breaking baseball season your historic accomplishments a record of 30 and three named The Courier News all area Team of the Year number one overall group four team in New Jersey number one team in Somerset middlex County by Central Jersey sports radio number one Skyland conference a conference title Somerset County Title North Jersey Section 2 title the overall group Four State title and this one I've been back and forth these next couple I've been back and forth with Coach n before I finished writing this uh letter the other night uh team overall um and recognized team number two team overall in New Jersey recogniz as the fifth ranked team in Region 2 the midatlantic which encompasses DC Delaware Maryland New Jersey Pennsylvania West Virginia and then he calls me last night to tell me that they were recognized by baseball prep as the number 42 team baseball team in the country these are unbelievable outstanding achievements so coaches players it is my honor to let you know tonight that no other team in the history of Bridgewater R in High School athletics that includes the original Bridgewater the East and West has accomplished the feat that you guys have accomplished you did this all as a group four level team against the toughest teams and players in the state of New Jersey on behalf of the ran Bridgewater Ren High School athletic Hall of Fame committee we would like to announce that on your first year of Eligibility you will be formally inducted into the bridgew arage High School athletic Hall of Fame and by our guidelines that will be in 2034 that will be their first year of Eligibility so hang on guys it'll come all right and I have a letter for each is hold on to these gentlemen because I had a one of our athletes you know two names out of ran and that's John basalone and Mike Gro Mike was an All-American out of Bridgewater the original Bridgewater golden falcons went on to be an All-American basketball player at Louisville went on to play for the Milwaukee Bucks at the ABA and then the NBA Mike was inducted into our first class and came to me after and he said thank you for this honor it was the greatest honor I've ever received I was like Mike come on you were an allamerican inducted into your college he goes no no no you you don't understand something you brought me home so hopefully in 10 years wherever you guys end up you'll come back and and accept that honor that night so congratulations and mom and dads this is also for you because you're part of every swing every pitch every hit batted ball every CAU ball every throw so be proud of them thank you yep picture just gonna let him finish it's big going you invited for a picture yeah so when we were before the meeting started I know you're out in the hallway and Suzanne told you kind of about where to stand we're going to do a group photo and trust me just stand where she tells you it's a lot easier Watch The Wire you guys want maybe we can kind of you all [Applause] than than did you see where I put my um sign now no not on the top second one because okay that's it is perfect thank you okay and that's also where the okay Roman's reclaiming his usual seat all right next up we have a presentation Mr papis do you want to introduce it we have U Tony Gallow or assistant Township engineer here with Dicky Shimp the superintendent of our Public Works uh they're going to each make brief comments about storm water management requirements um there was a memo that I circulated to the count from Bill burrow Township engineer which is a couple of pages I won't go over it I think they probably will it is a requirement that emanated from the federal government is being administered by the state DP and each municipality in the state of New Jersey is needing to adhere to this uh it will require a significant expenditures of funds over several years and uh additional uh preparation and planning and documents and I think with uh with that I'll ask Mr Gallow to start and Mr Shimp to continue yes thank you good evening uh members of the administration Council and general public yeah yes again good evening members of the administration councel and general public I am Anthony Gallow assistant town engineer and this is Richard chimp director of Public Works this evening I will discuss the new and revised 2023 mandates for the municipal separate storm water system permit also known as ms4 once I outline these new ms4 mandates from an engineering and administrative perspective Richard Shimp will explain how these mandates will affect our Public Works Department Richard and I will field questions after our presentation William Burr our Township engineer drafted a comprehensive memo outlining the 2023 ms4 updates and I will refer to this memo throughout this presentation in general little history background the ms4 permitting program is ultimately an evolution of the United States Environmental Protection uh AG agency 1972 Queen Water Act the ms4 permitting program was initially created in 2004 to address water quality and flooding issues while the new 2023 mandates address projections of increasing storm water intensity and frequency events and a shift towards Watershed level planning with the inclusion of a mandatory Watershed Improvement plan this permit is renewed every 5 years with the new permit effective January 1 2023 annual reports to the njd are due by May 1st of every year so I will now go through William bur's memo and uh really I'm going to highlight the more important critical items that um that the township needs to address so first couple paragraphs uh just some history of the uh again initial adoption of the ms4 permit in 2004 and the evolution over the course of uh the next couple Cycles 2018 2021 and ultimately where we are now uh 2023 ms4 permit one item that we need to adopt is uh as per the ms4 2023 permit is that all New Jersey municipalities must update their storm water management Control Ordinance to ensure that the design of new infrastructure to manage storm water uses updated information on current and future levels of rainfall rainfall runoff and flooding this new ordinance is being drafted and with the expectation to have it introduced uh to the governing body at our July 18th council meeting that is just one mandate or um that we need to comply with in addition numerous other and extensive mandates that the uh Township must comply with as part of this again ms4 2023 storm water permit these are all outlined on the memo and what I'll do is I'll just run through them very quickly we must maintain list of all Machinery materials stored on on Township sites including DPW develop and maintain a dedicated storm water web page with all relevant materials uploaded conduct monthly inspections of all Municipal yards and storage areas develop and Implement a public education outreach program that includes educating business and the general public about hazards associated with illicit connections and improper disposal of waste develop and Implement a program to ensure adequate long-term oper ation and maintenance of storm water facilities including storm water infrastructure maintenance which are owned or operated by the township develop and Implement a program to ensure long-term operation and maintenance of storm water facilities not owned or operated by the township develop and Implement an employee training program Implement a program to do to detect investigate and control any localized stream scouring from storm water alall pipes owned or operated by the township conduct a visual dry weather inspections of all Al Falls owned or operated by the permit at at least once every 5 years with a minimum of 20% of the total number of Al holes per year to determine if dry weather flow or other evidence of elicit discharges present update the Township's electronic outfall map complete street sweeping of all roads within the township each uh year any roads that have storm inlets need to be swept once uh every four months or Triano within 17 72 hours after winter storm events remove piles of excess salt and deicing materials that may have been deposited during spreading operations detect and repair rosion along roads within the township at least once per year here inspect all storm drains inls owned uh storm drains and inlets owned by the township develop update and Implement a storm drain Inlet cleaning and maintenance program develop update and Implement a ms4 conveyance system Inspection Cleaning and maintenance program such as ditches and pipes inspect all storm water management infrastructure at least four times a year and after each storm exceeding one inch develop update and Implement a program to detect investigate and control localized stream scouring from storm water outfalls at least 20% of those per year and finally prepare Watershed inventory report a watershed assessment report and prepare Watershed Improvement plan report now compliance with these deadlines uh they have tiered well they're tiered they're tiered deadlines and more importantly what we need to consider is the funding uh to be in compliance with these mandates uh funding uh to you know for Manpower resources and equipment in addition but I would uh before I hand this off to uh Richard chimp I would like to bring bring up a municipality in New Jersey the first of its kind where due to the significant cost of uh uh being compliance with these ms4 mandates uh what they have done is created a storm waterer utility and I am speaking of the municipality of New Brunswick or the city of New Brunswick what they've done again created story water utility and corresponding tax uh to help fund new ms4 mandates based on what they call erus or equivalent residential units and uh this was based on their projection that over the course of the next six years they plan to spend $7 million uh to be in compliance with the ms4 updates what this uh these equivalent resident residential units uh have an average fee per resident of $77 again I just want to bring that to your attention I think we're going to be seeing more of this and actually the D is uh pushing for this uh just food for thought and I'll leave you with that and I will hand it off to uh Richard shim good evening everyone everyone knows me as Dicky um as you heard from Tony talking about this these mandates that are coming down the road are going to be um a little bit honorous on Public Works uh we Face challenging conditions with the um personel that we currently have uh these types of mandates coming down are going to cause us to allocate people away from their current jobs to try to um document prepare paper work make reports to D um currently the this with Tony had mentioned the 600 outfall inspections it roughly equates to about 120 a year we've identified them chip Mills did a nice job um he identified all these outfalls we probably have more to update I believe uh the last time it was updated was in 2015 uh for us to go out and do these outfalls it's it's going to take about 120 inspections a year I'm looking as this would be more of a administra administrative type job um for someone to go out there physically to inspect 120 outfalls a year prepare a two-page report that uh New Jersey D wants us to uh use to to do the reports on this upload it to our recordkeeping system and additionally we're going to have to go out and educate our private communities that have detention basins a lot of these private communities do not even know that probably responsible for reporting um the conditions of their detention basins we do get a lot of businesses such as psng um that send us reports on how their detention basins are doing um so it's going to be an approach where we have to collect information we have to record the information we have to uh go out and educate a lot of our private establishments on what their responsibilities are um and what I'm looking for is possibly we're going to need some help in the administrative side currently it's just myself an assistant superintendent and our secretary in the administrative side of DPW just to talk about street sweeping currently street sweeping we're mandated by D to sweep the 35 mph roads um the ones with curbing we have to do that monthly and uh luckily the township purchased in 2019 a really nice street sweeper it replac two old street sweepers this street sweeper is definitely a much faster and more efficient truck uh but the problem is uh there's costs that come with what we currently do with the street sweeper disposal we pay about $47.50 per cubic yard um to have the uh sweepings from the street disposed at Somerset County uh last year we spent approximately $177,000 on street sweeping um um spoils to get rid of uh brush Replacements you probably wouldn't think of brush Replacements on a street sweeper but they actually happen roughly every two two and a half months I just currently was uh I got a quote for um brush replacement at the middle of the year for $7,500 and that's to replace uh all the brushes you see and also to keep us uh stocked with uh items that uh might need might break down and might need later on during the year so I'm envisioning once we start sweeping more uh because one of our goals is we try try to sweep after we hit the D mandate mandated streets we try to go out and hit other streets in town with the goal of trying to hit every single Street in town 630 streets in town a lot of times we don't get every single one of them we are very responsive to our citizens if any of them call in and they say hey my street needs sweeping we'll go out and take a look at it if it's something where we can just get it right there we'll get it right in during one of our uh New Jersey our D mandated street street days and uh if not if it's something where we we tell the citizen the street isn't too bad we'll put it on our list and we'll come back a little further in the year and we'll try to uh clean the street um Winter Street sweeping so this is going to be a difficult situation for us because our street sweeper uh uses water to to sweep the streets water acts as a lubricant to dislodge uh material from the streets we generally right now do not use a street sweeper when the temperatures go down low because we can't have the water freezing inside our our vehicle um so that coupled with sweeping salt salt is never good for our vehicles and we're try to we try to extend the life of that truck we do send it out occasionally during the winter time currently U especially when we get reports of uh one of our trucks maybe making a U-turn they dump salt in the intersection we will go out to that but we generally try to keep it minimal uh as far as wintertime conditions St stor basins so roughly right now our Sewer Department goes out every year and has a program where they inspect storm basins they'll camera lines to check see if anything needs to be flushed we roughly inspect about 800 to a th000 storm basins a year throughout the town we probably have over 7,000 storm Basin in town um our road department also will go out when we get citizens who complain of a storm Basin that may be clogged full of debris we'll send them out to uh clean that uh stor storm water inspections one of the criteria is going out every time to inspect your storm water in conveyance uh after have 1-inch rains as you all know it seems our 1-in rains are coming more and more frequently and currently uh even last night we had about uh we registered at a rain gauge at DPW almost one and a half inches of rain during the storm last night so currently we have 49 known trouble spots where we inspect certain head walls certain outfalls that we know are debris is coming either off the mountain or it's coming off the roadway and it needs to be uh uh cleaned up this here by us going out and doing more of this type of uh uh more frequent type of inspections is going to cause us to pull Personnel off of different jobs that they normally should be doing um so it is a little hner some of the mandates as they usually are um so my little spill here is just to kind of give you a real high view of the is as Tony said there's mandates coming down and it's going to cause some issues so I'm going to be coming to the administration to the Town Council to request either funds um to help either with our street sweeping to help with maybe gaining additional Personnel to um tackle the paperwork that the EP is going to be requiring of us that's pretty much it so do you guys have a I know you mentioned $7 million in New Brunswick do you have a educated guest for Bridgewater from from what you're seeing or we have not uh yet calculated that uh right now we're getting our feet wet uh trying to understand and um and um basically understood figure out what we need to do and how to do it I think if I can the the ordinance uh amendment that Mr Gallo mentioned is being drafted will be distributed for the council's review um and your consideration yeah I have a question is it going to go to the committee they here well it's it's been part of the budget presentation no I I knows un that mes look at it or not they have they have the right I have a question right the the only thing I'll add in that regard Howard is that uh we're not alone do these mandates uh apply to all municipalities in the uh I have a question no one knows how to U deal with them at the moment uh regarding getting your feet wet um what dick would you're talking about Township roads and as we both know uh Bridgewater Township has some State highways and we have significant flooding issues on Route 22 by vosler and Mountain Avenue you know the catch basins uh and so on Who and the water the water retention one at the foot of vosler and 22 now it seems to me that it that should be is that a state responsibility to take care of the State Highway that is and we work hand inand with the state knowing that area especially how prone it is to flooding uh my guys and myself and uh Tyson Murdoch when we see rain coming we drive probably all of our spouses nuts we're always looking to see how much is coming down or what they're predicting that intersection right there is one of the first ones we usually go to uh we not only look at our storm uh basins but we actually drive down 22 if it looks like there's issues with that we have contacts uh right over here at the dot yard and they're they're very responsive and coming out because they don't they don't want to see 22 closed down as well and that's what we've had an issues in the past when we uh generally it seems uh once we get three inches or more of rain um that is the fear that we're going to be uh inundated over in that area the other part that the other thing that I see that that I believe causes a problem is when the state comes in and cuts the grass Islands see on the south side of vosler in 22 they'll come in cut the grass and after they cut the grass the grass winds up on vosler Avenue and there's two or three catch basins in a row and they just get blocked and the water Cascades further down Vos Avenue into you know Bridgewater um I would hope along the way that there's some consideration on uh you know for cutting grass and not just having it accumul on the curb and blocking blocking U catch basins I think in front of the nursing home on 22 that's a significant problem there you know and those are not our responsibility in my opinion that's a state responsibility but we wind up with the problem right now I understand what you're saying Allan and you're absolutely right uh the uh County and state jurisdictional roadways those uh are their responsibility and once we're made aware of this and uh Dicky here then we can reach out to them and um ensure that uh whatever they're doing or uh method that they're using uh that they change it to avoid uh just as you described it's uh so what about uh some of the homeowner associations that are private roads in the town as far as U well they have to be doing something like this have they been notified of these requirements so most of them probably aren't haven't been notified and that's what comes with our education outreach program okay especially down along Vander those Town Homes c a lot of their DET Bas are private St for place even and then a comment really correct me if I'm wrong but you had mentioned you know you pay 40 something dollars a ton I guess for your waste just for the Public's benefit the the product that the street sweeper picks up is actually regulated waste it cannot go into regular garbage you have to drive that vehicle to Hillsboro to empty it so every time it's full you're spending time driving back and forth to Hillsboro is that correct that is true we've uh actually implemented now we're this sweeper holds about three yards which is maybe uh if you take your pickup a normal pickup truck and just Heap it about a foot above the sides that's about as much as that uh equipment can hold they used to drive we used to drive down to uh U South County Garage over roycefield and Hillsboro what we do now and I have my uh Personnel they bring the sweepings into our yard we have a dump truck he dumps it right into our dump truck we just wait until we fill that dump truck up and then we drive it down so generally it'll take about a week uh maybe sometimes less depending upon it we found some efficiencies we try you know we try to slim it SL it down the point is you're not bringing it back to the yard and emptying it into a dumpster and done with it it's regulated waste it's regulated waste M Mr President yes um so I I I've had the privilege of being a councilman in Bridgewater for 5 years um previously on the township Committee in neighboring Greenbrook when we lived there for 3 years and I would call this among the most uncomfortable conversations that has been thrust upon me uh in in that entire time period and you know again I don't want to have any uh of my frustration uh inappropriately land on your laps you're just the messenger um and thank you for delivering that message um but what I heard again along the the lines of thinking of um councilman nor gallis is in its Infinite Wisdom our state government coming into this room and every other municipality and essentially wagging their finger at us telling us what we have to do how we have to do it what x number of page report we have to provide at what ever time period they decide oh and by the way you're probably going to have to pay for it yourselves not considered potentially as part of the 56.6 billion budget that the state of New Jersey is currently considering the fiscal year ending in just a handful of days which by the way is 4.2% over the current spending plan I heard a comment here well just set up a taxing Authority it will be $77 a house are they kidding I can think of many look it is critically important that we provide effective storm water management it matters to Residents safety the safety of property and the well-being of this community but to come in here again I I don't mean to take it out on you guys but I I literally see the hand of Trenton coming into this room presumably every other 500 and however many municipalities there are and literally wagging their finger at us and I'm kind of tired of it I'm kind of tired of it and I you know I think this is an unfunded mandate I think that needs to be pursued I think we need to go through the league of municipalities I think we need to consider you know consider what our options are here I think that that our administrator Mike papis needs to consider conversations with his fellow administrators uh and and say you know what are we going to do about this this is not right this as I said is one of the most uncomfortable situations and conversations that I've been a part of in eight years on a municipal governing body I mean this is ridiculous and and I'm sure there's there's imminent deadlines right you got to take this action by next week or horrible consequences are going to start right that's not the way to run a railroad that's that that that's not the way to treat your to treat the municipalities in this state it's not the way to treat the residents of this state I I guess perhaps the feeling is well you know there's no state election for a little while so you know let's just do whatever we've got to do and again the the underlying purpose here may be very Noble but the the the de the devil that's going to be in the details I I I you this this this this this to me is borderline outrageous a and I think that we need to consider again at the risk of you know um I guess the phrase is tilting at windmills we need to consider what our options are here because this is not right uh you know $77 a house I can name hundreds of other ways that each house in Bridgewater can better spend $77 and that you know that's just my point of view again to the extent councilman ring president ring that this has budget implications I'm certainly ready willing and able to dive into this uh to this topic further uh as as as as part of our budget work thank you any other comments these new mandates they're extensive numerous and um we have and I would like to point out I'm not uh suggesting a um uh what they call a water tax similar to what New Brun Wick has initiated I'm just trying to explain to um the council and the administration ways that at least one municipality has addressed this and we'll see what happens they're they're the first one Philipsburg also tried to do this uh just recently and uh it was overruled they knocked it down uh and again just for your information all right if there's nothing else we will move on thank you gentlemen appreciate it thank you all right next up is the opening of the meeting to the public entertain a motion I'll make the motion open to the public second we have a motion we have a second all in favor I I all right before um we have anyone come up I would like just to formally put on the record that uh we did receive a letter from the law firm of lassic and Cassidy regarding the liquor license at the green grill that they wanted to share as public comment it has been distributed to each member of the council has received a copy and we will make sure the clerk has a copy for the official record with that uh any members of the public wishing to address the Council on any matter will be allowed two minutes to speak unless there's unusual circumstances please come forward state your name and address if you are not comfortable stating your address there is a sheet on the lower shelf you are welcome to write your name and address on there thank you thank you hello my name is Carolyn Joya I live at 1402 py Court still I was here last meeting good evening with June being gun safety Awareness Month still I'd like to take a page from the PED pedroo Playbook if I may and make my own personal statement about gun safety a topic that is actually appropriate at a meeting like this and which is based on facts and not rhetoric and politics gun violence is the number one cause of childhood death and just two days ago the Surgeon General declared gun violence to be a National Public Health crisis the facts are shocking 4.6 million children live in a home with a loaded unlocked gun and on any given day eight children will be injured or killed with that gun even more shocking suicides not murder account for over 50% of all gun deaths and about one in four teachers report being in an active gun related lockdown this last school year knowing that most gun deaths do come from family fire where a gun is improperly stored at home what should we be doing about it in Bridgewater one thing we can do is teach residents about ask or ask being saved kids where caregivers ask the question are there any unlocked guns in the home where my child is today one thing we cannot do though is have the mindset of gun violence could never happen in my town just ask the survivors of Sandy Hook who graduated from high school this year or the kids who survived the 2018 Parkland shooting in just this months or their school finally demolished gun safety measures need to be reinforced and Amplified in Bridgewater Just Like Chief mitac is doing with the 988 Suicide Hotline maybe something that's to consider for our National Night Out on August 6th not only is gun safety a matter of life and death but there's a new generation of young people you've seen a lot of them in this room tonight they're done waiting for us to fix the gun crisis of America they're called jenz and they range in age from 9th grade to 29 you may have seen them in your home or office and some have even come out tonight because they care about gun violence it's an issue that matters to them these are the people we're failing by not passing sensible gun laws instead we've let them grow up with active shooter drills and looking over their shoulders in movie theaters and concerts as they think to themselves hey what's really in that dude's backpack and where can I hide if open fire happens no wonder they suffer from anxiety more than any other generation in history at the same time the gener this generation is compassionate educated and resilient and the time is quickly coming for them 41 million of them to rise up and vote to change what other Generations before them couldn't or maybe wouldn't that being said I encourage all of you as our elected officials tonight to listen to them support them partner with them and whenever you get the chance raise awareness and find solutions to promote gun safety and end the gun violence crisis once and for all thank you if you stated your name you don't need to write it it's okay thank you thank you hi my name is Olinda young I'm coming as a representative of the Somerset County Historical Society which is headquartered in the van Von house at nine vancon Drive in Bridgewater and I'm here to say we're very very pleased that you finally appointed a history committee and we're grateful that you're considering how we can use the rich history of the township to uh promote the assets of the area we hope that there's going to be real collaboration between the council and the historic community and uh we're a little disappointed because it's taken so long and now we have to play catchup there's only 18 months until this semiquincentennial and um we're eagerly awaiting hearing from you who on the council or the township is going to be the representative in the committee to work with the citizens and what the date of the first meeting is but thank you very much it's a big step forward and uh we appreciate how you support the history events the mayor uh sent a rep to the Prince Rogers uh stone monument dedic a at the ball field and now the uh ballpark is going to be having a fundraiser there's all kinds of ways that we can be using history to promote business and tourism and increase the uh status of Bridgewater and we thank you very much for taking the action thank you it's on the SEC if you don't want to state your name address out loud it's on the second shelf ah yes okay if we sometimes when we leave it on the top shelf people pick up their paperwork and accidentally take it home and we didn't want that to happen my name is Joan guer I am a resident of Bridgewater for 25 years I'm here to comment on the lack of faith in our judicial system that was expressed at the last meeting regarding the trial of Donald Trump those comments were inappropriate and potentially dangerous Donald Trump and Hunter Biden I would remind the members of this Council were afforded all the rights required by our Constitution and the rule of law the cases were investigated by law enfor en forcement officers supervised by higher ranking officers and reviewed by prosecutors they were presented to grand juries comprised of everyday randomly chosen citizens the grand juries voted to prosecute both defendants were represented by top criminal attorneys in the country the best that money could buy both had public trials by randomly selected jurors and both had the right to dismiss any juror the prosecutors presented evidence called Witnesses filed briefs and had the burden of proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt both defendants cross-examined Witnesses submitted evidence filed briefs called Witnesses and had the right to testify both were convicted and both now have the right to appeal respect for our government respect for the judicial system and the rule of law is imperative if there was wrongful and I say if if there was a wrongful selective prosecution in either case Donald Trump or Hunter Biden wrongful jury instructions or judicial bias I have faith that those wrongs will be corrected members of this Council you are the local government and as such you are the first line of defense in our democratic system and you should uphold rather than discredit that system disparaging the system can pose a danger to the government in which you hold office as we all saw on January 6th when an elected official expresses distrust in the system it Fosters distrust among your constituents in this case the citizens of Bridgewater and by doing so you have discredited your own governance I would also say to councilman kersch I would much rather spend $77 a year and extra taxes then pay the money that it will cost me to clean out my basement when it floods the money that it will cost me to remove all the trees that I am worried were going to fall yesterday when that storm came through to clean out the debris on the creek that runs alongside of my house which I did write by the way I wrote a letter to every member of the council and to the mayor and I sent it by regular in certified mail I sent it to the public works department I sent it to the town engineer about a flooding problem in my neighborhood in 2019 and not one council member not the no one from the public works dep Department not the mayor no one had the courtesy to even email me back and say I got your medal your your letter and I will respond to it or I will look into it so this is the reality of climate change gentlemen this is what people have been screaming about for 10 20 30 years 7 $77 is a small price to pay are all those State mandates correct do we need all of them probably not but at the end of the day the fact of the matter is it is a local problem because when climate try to wrap up your comments please When Storms Come Through like yesterday's storm we at this level in Bridgewater have to deal with it thank you my name is margarit baronowski and I have been a resident of Bridgewater for over 45 years I'm going to continue with what my colleague spoke there was one difference in these cases one of the defendants repeatedly disparaged the judge his daughter the court personnel and the entire system he repeatedly violated gag orders that allegedly blasted judge responded with Incredible restraint and there was no meaningful consequences for the defendant we were were any person in this room to behave in a similar manner in the Bridgewater Municipal Court they would have ended up in jail as they should presumably the judge made an exception out of respect for the office of the presidency and perap perhaps to prevent more violence such as created by a similar behavior on January the 6th stating the system failed or the rule of law did not Prevail or that the investigators prosecutors jurors judges and Court Personnel conspired for political reasons to convict either Donald Trump or Hunter bidm is wrong both men receiv received the full benefit of sound de Democratic judicial system system Gentlemen of the Bridgewater Council are elected officials of this system and I hope you believe in [Applause] it don't see anyone else coming up well you almost missed it John uh John Rolio Washington Valley Road Bridgewater uh I've also been a longtime resident of Bri since 1991 and um I just have uh just one quick comments about um the bonds that are going to be sold or the notes are going to be sold this July I think there's up to $24 million and uh interest rates about 4% that's a cool million dollars I talk about this because people are getting these estimated tax bills and they're coming in at uh I'll say double digits and increases in estimated tax payments and everybody says oh our component is only 2 3 4% of the total where how does one get from single digits to double digits any comments from uh Mr papis if possible well I'm facing the podium rather than walking away the um I'm not sure I understand your question Mr arolo um double digits not sure what you mean coming in at about 13 14% from what most people are you know stating I just uh the town had told me that Mr pandos and Mr delado said things are at 3.9% or $190 per average house I mean how does one get from 3.9 to double digigit uh tax increases are so you've spoken to Mr pandos and Mr dado and they explained it to you and you want me to explain it again for you why why the test attack bills are 133% when the municipal portion is at that are you saying it's not your the estimated tax bills are a percentage the when the council approved this uh the there is a clause within the statute that allows municipality to to charge I think it's a a a SL slightly I don't recall the percentage greater than what would have normally been charged for a particular quarter there number of people that that are assuming that multiplying the estimated tax bill for that those quarters are to be multiplied times four and that that would be the uh property tax for the next 12 months and I think as Mr pandos said and there was letters that went out to a number of people that that's not the case when the township Council ultimately approves the budget whatever that budget um turns out to be there will be an adjustment on the permanent tax bill that will go out later in the year uh but uh in in no case will do we believe that the uh tax will be four times the amount of let's say the the first quarter of the estimated tax bill and um I can I we we do have a letter that was sent out to people and and as I said I I I I understood that you and some other folks had spoken to Mr pandos and this was a explained and uh I can get you a copy of that letter if that would help you I appreciate your interest thank you seeing no additional movement move to close public input I'll second all those in favor I I opposed all right meeting is closed public comment next up is uh public hearing and final action ordinance uh this is 10A an ordinance amending chapter 76 disorderly conduct to include for enforcement mechanisms for improper entries in onto real property any comments before we open it for public hearing okay make the motion to hold the public hearing for ordinance 10A have a motion second have a motion and we have a second all those in favor I I opposed all right we are open for public comment on item 10A only seeing no members of the public wishing to is that incorrect no okay seeing no members of the public wishing to address us on this topic I move to um close public input move to uh final action pending potential uh discuss uh on that topic second on 10 we have a motion we have a second uh was pending any discussion is there any comments from the de going to reiterate what I said I guess at the last meeting which is uh I'm going to support uh this ordinance uh I'm going to commend again the administration and our and mayor mench for taking a leadership role in getting this done uh I think there's a void in state leadership the state should have um been actively protecting our citizens against what's known to be crimes are occurring in Suburban neighborhoods um appears the state's not doing that and I'm I'm glad that mayor mench has stepped up and brought this before us so I I support it and I'll move to introduce it um we have a motion we have a second is there any other comments brief additional comment um I I made this last last time I think there is also a bit of a vacuum of of Act of or this lack of action by the county as well um you know we've essentially up here I guess north of 22 uh been kind of left to our own devices to Talk Amongst our our own police Chiefs and our own Mayors and we're certainly ready willing and able to do that and we will um but you know certainly some sort of cohesive um uh strategy or some sort of uh cohesive uh input uh at the county level would would be ex exceptionally valued here as well um and and I'm I'm willing to Second the uh the ordinance you you moved it oh I moved it you oh that's right I moved it close it and final action pending I got it right then I'll change my motion to a second then then then we have a motion in a second thank you we had a second from councilman nor Galis we did okay I'm a third any other comments roll call please Council councilman kers yes man cill yesman Nogales yes coun pedroso yes president ring yes all right moving on to resolutions resolution 12a is authorizing the reappointment of Jenny Peterson as interm Municipal Court Administrator for a third one-year appointment beginning July 18 2024 ending July 17 2025 it's my understanding that um Miss Peterson has completed all of the required work and actually submitted it and anticipates hearing from the state sometime in July or no later than I believe September uh it's quite possible that we may have to modify this next month to remove the interm piece pending the State's acceptance of all of her paperwork that has been submitted signifying she's completed all the required work do I summarize that well okay so with that anyone like to move 12a we'll move 12a I'll second roll call man K unless there's any comments okay yes cman codella yesalis yesman pedroso yes president ring yes 12b is authorizing the appointment of Michael o grand Esquire and Christopher seski okay Esquire from the law firm of savos shock as alternate Municipal prosecutors any I believe this is like third string if our you need some bodies first string and second string are unavailable we can continue to hold cork okay any comments questions I'll make a motion we move it we have a motion do we have a second second roll call councilman Kush yes councilman codel yes councilman nalis yes councilman pedroo yes president ring yes 12C is authorizing Bridgewater Deputy tax collector Blanca Lions to conduct an electronic tax tax sale straightforward we do every year yes uh we had uh presented an resolution for uh Mr Murdoch who is the tax collector to conduct this this will allow Blanca to carry it out in his absence move Toc I'll second it roll call cman K yesman cordella yesalis yes pedo yes president ring yes 12d is endorsing the township amended affordable housing development fee spending plan um you'll recall we submitt it to the state a plan to transition our 40 rental units from the former Center of Excellence to the Hyatt House the state has finally acted on that as of last month I understand we have approval and the next piece of that is we have to approve the updated uh fee spending plan and then later on there's a document that has to go to the planning board the overall comprehensive plan that will come to the Council for further review Once We complete those three steps it's my understanding we remain protected from Builder remedies so we're fully compliant once we complete these administrative steps I'll move it I'll move it all right I'll second it cman kers any any comments all right councilman K yes councilman cill yes councilman Galis yes councilman pedroso yes president ring yes 12E is amending resolution 05-10 6322 authorizing the Bridgewater Township office of emergency management to facilitate the implementation and coordination of the NIMS program for the township of Bridgewater the county and state have updated their requirements and this just carries over to us updating ours anything further Mr papis no Sergeant Edwards is here to answer any technical questions that I cannot I'll move 12 second any comments all right I'll second it councilman kers yes counc cill yesalis yes pedo yes present ring yes 12f delegating the authority of Award of contract of values between 17,500 and $44,000 under the local public contracts act also known as window contracts to the Township's qualified purchasing agent Sarah L husman um my understanding is this is a new thing where each year they will update the amount and we will have to update um the the dollar amounts but this allows us with a qualified purchasing agent to accept certain bids without going through a multi-b bid process I have one C I'll move 12f but I have a comment okay uh just going to verify hang on do we have a second we comment all right go ahead councilman n galison he said first and then yeah in the in the sixth whereas the paragraph says uh in excess of 17,5 but below the $44,000 bid threshold that would mean she can only go to 40 43999 I I think the minor wording change would be up to including $44,000 uh in instead of below the 44,000 it's a minor point but well I think Grace is pulling the finance board notice councilman vroo you had a comment I mean the language I would just move it as Howard amended it okay that's fine I just want to clarify perhaps more for the public that um this is something that we've had before or we're doing is adusting the numbers in accordance with the modification of state law that correct the state has change the state basically has changed the maximum bid threshold from 40,000 to 44,000 and we're just we're kind of going along with what the state the bid threshold is STS it changes each year right in July so we're not adding anything new we're just changing the numbers basically yeah we're updating it B updating the numbers and it will probably become an annual occurrence okay the headline didn't make it clear the headline makes it seem as if it's a new thing but it's not like a new thing we're just updating the numbers any other comments okay roll call K yes Cel yesalis yes pedroso yes president ring yes 12g Award of contract is CRS LLC 107 Blue Beard drive 1 Delta Hillsboro New Jersey 08844 and the amount not to exceed $34,000 to provide temporary Information Technology support and monitoring for the period from August 1st 2024 through December 1st December 31st 2024 for a total contract amount of $74,800 any comments from the administration this is the uh firm that is carrying out our information technology uh services and um we had begun this on a temporary basis first uh 6 months and we're recommending this for the remainder of the calendar year I'll make the motion to approve is it the administration's intention to find someone to do this it service in House at some point or are we going yeah we're we want to consider that we we felt it was uh working out uh for this year and uh towards the latter part of the year we're going to have uh discussions about whether we'd want to continue with this moving forward into next year or have an in-house individual right we have a motion do we have a second I'll second it okay any other any comments have com I have a comment it uh Mr President it will come as no surprise to you when I offer comments on both 12g and 12h uh when the package agenda was released uh last Friday over the weekend I sent comments to uh the clerk uh on 12g and 12h I said please list the source of funds in the heading this is an item that we have been including for years uh I received a note back from her who said uh we are unable to address items 12g and 12h based on prior instructions regarding a heading from the council president it is my impression