good evening in compliance with the open public meetings Act of New Jersey adequate meeting adequate notice of this meeting was provided on December 21st 2023 by sending written notice and electronic notice to the courrier news and the breeze posting on the website and the bulletin board in the municipal Clerk's building and file with the Township Clerk if we could have a roll call please here here here here good evening here if we could all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Allegiance to FL United States of America to the all right approval of minutes we have the December 21st 2023 regular session the January 24th 2024 reorg uh the January 18th 2024 regular session uh for approval there's also the January 18th 2024 Clos sessions making their way round I know there was a couple minor changes to the January 4th reorg looking for a motion to approve as amend it looking for individual motions or one blanket one I'll take yeah I'll I'll make a motion to approve all minutes as amended second okay all those in favor I I I any opposed all right motion carries Township Council reports we'll start with councilman cordillo this evening okay it's my pleasure to report the uh following activities uh I was very impressed the other day when we went to the ribbon cutting of Solaris and Bridgewater uh I think the uh cell technology will be a tremendous uh asset for people with illnesses uh as very pleased to attend the uh police department for multiple uh reasons certainly to congratulate uh to to C to lieutenants who for retirement and also to uh for promotions to Sergeant and Lieutenant for two individuals and the uh also to attend a tour of the uh ethicon industrial site with a potential buyer for the site and to discuss possibilities uh for Bridgewater Township thank you thank you sir councilman noralis thank you Mr President had the honor of swearing in the green null Rescue Squad line officers as part of their 2024 executive reorganization Township owes a debt of gratitude to all the volunteers whether they be rescue squad or fire their selfless dedication makes this town a better place place to live attended to walk through of the eacon buildings on Route 22 in Country Club Road a nationally known company is considering buying the building and potentially deeding a portion of the property to the township attended the annual Patriot baseball team celebration along with my fellow councilmen as the Patriots get ready for their 2024 season co-owners Josh and Jonathan caliper were the keynote speakers talking about their vision for the future no Patriot get together can be complete without uh talking about philanthropist Steven califer and the part he played in developing the team in the ballpark 25 years ago attended the Bridgewater police promotion and retirement center ceremony officer Kevin florac was promoted to Sergeant and Sergeant Todd meley was promoted to Lieutenant lieutenants Kevin Lamey and Brian bath both retired after achieving 25 years of service also attended the Solaris ribbon cutting on their soon Tobe operational facility it's actually a factory located at 95 Corporate Drive off routs 202 206 this facility will engineer cancer fighting drugs on an individual patient basis that is my report thank you thank you sir councilman pedroso uh thank you council president I attended several of the things that were metion mention today but I'm just going to focus my highlight I'm going to highlight basically my time at Solaris Solaris is a uh a new company in Bridgewater Township they're the biotech space uh they have um they basically create they do self therapy uh they B modify people's cells and by modifying those cells they can then produce cells that can fight cancer and certainly other other diseases what's kind of interesting about Solaris is that they are the first integrated development and Manufacturing organization it's called an midmo so basically they have automated Cell Therapy uh into um into a machine process that can be done uh mostly by Machine Cell Therapy has been done in the past by really by by humans who handle the cell therapy process from one stage to the next and it's very very timec consuming and also very very costly through the Technologies developed uh at Salas uh that are now being done here in Bridgewater Township I'm very proud that they're here in Bridgewater uh they can increase the production of cell therapy by 10 times and they can also lower the cost by 50% so hopefully this Bridgewater Township will will uh be a hub that will provide uh these very very valuable needed life-saving cell therapies uh to many many people here in the United States and around the world so congratulations to Omar CI and Fabian xelos I probably mispronounced that but uh the founders and and the CEOs of solaras for coming up with this uh idea and then bring it forth and developing it and so truly promises to be a a game-changing um technology in this field which will impact many lives also my last thing is that tomorrow is Groundhog Day so let's all hope for that the little groundhog doesn't see his shadow tomorrow so we can get through winter a little quicker that's all I have thank you very much thank you councilman kersch well the budget committee will certainly be hoping uh for a uh uh short shorter uh end of the winter season uh whether it's uh Punk saton Phil or Staten Island Chuck or whomever your your favorite uh prognosticator is um one item I did not mention uh last time back on January 2nd so shortly before our own reorganization I had the opportunity uh to attend the reorganizations in Greenbrook and in ritan also the um post um um uh uh meeting uh celebration for Bernards uh as everyone knows Bridgewater you know um borders many other communities in Somerset County so being able to support uh you you know friends and uh you know fellow councilmen committeemen and uh uh Mayors is certainly a a pleasurable part of the job the budget committee met on January 22nd uh among other items that we discussed was our timeline for this year which everyone can expect is going to be similar to last year uh it is a process and and certainly needs to be handled as such uh with a goal of uh budget introduction and and hopefully budget adoption uh likely in the May time frame um we also talked about um monthly reporting uh that we'll be starting to get uh from our CFO so that we can have additional insights into uh not just the um the budget side but also the spending side uh and we also had a bit of a preview uh of what the 24 budget looks like uh and how um you know we we should be looking at things in the intervening time between now in may on January 25th I also attended the Somerset Patriots event uh on January 28th uh I uh attended along with mayor mench uh the Kaboom robotics uh drone zone free Workshop uh it's really a very interesting uh organization they have a foothold in Edison they're attempting uh to um uh also have an impact here within Bridgewater by doing this event it was a free Workshop very well attended uh they will be doing um um you know educational class and ultimately that will lead to individuals from Bridgewater uh competing in various uh drone uh drone competitions uh on 29th I was also at Solaris for the ribbon cutting what I was most impressed uh by was the story of a um chronic lymphatic leukemia Survivor um uh he was part of an early clinical trial in the middle 2 th uh middle 2010s uh and what was once a death sentence uh fortunately is not uh and I think that um you know Bridge order can feel very proud that that life literally life-saving work has been done by companies like Solaris and specifically a Solaris in this Bridgewater location will be manufacturing therapies that will um prolong life and and uh improve outcomes um you know it just um it's absolutely breathtaking to think about the impact uh that that will occur on January 30th I also attended the uh Bridgewater Police Department combined promotion ceremony and walk out that was mentioned earlier uh on the L use side uh the planning board still has not met because of weather uh and other other postponements but will be reorganizing uh next Tuesday the planning uh excuse me the zoning board uh reorganized on January 23rd uh Jeff fous continues as uh chair uh Jim widley continues as Vice chair and they did hear a very interesting case uh uh related to a storage unit um uh a a storage unit uhany company uh and one of the issues that came up was uh can a storage facility become a backhanded way uh of uh becoming a warehouse uh and that was an extensive part of the conversation and certainly I know it's Our intention on this de and it is uh also the the um uh uh guidance and direction for our land use boards uh that that's certainly something that we would be very critical uh in in considering uh and would want to be sure that anything uh that could be warehousing is is handled handled very very carefully and that's that's my report thank you sir um as councilman Kish mentioned the budget committee did meet um we met on a couple different topics one of which was to discuss the 2024 Road PR Road program and the corresponding required funding Administration is working to provide some additional information requested by the budget committee and subject to receiving the requested information uh we hope to provide further update at our next meeting um as councilman kers mentioned we also discussed the 2024 budget and potential timeline committee is waiting to hear back from the administration on the timing for the county to realize uh final equalized assessment numbers and that becomes the basis for determining the timeline for our 2024 budget we hope to have additional information to the next meeting on that um I won't go into a lot of details as my colleagues have uh already addressed but I also did participate in the Patriots 2020 3 season ending recap event and that's my report thank you uh mayor's report on there we go uh thank you um the only thing to add I guess to what's been said um we have some more information here that we can give to the council but I just want to touch on the the billion Klein and Morton project uh as everyone may remember uh this was something that started in gosh 2017 18 uh it was you know a while ago and um was a project that was was floundering it was a more complicated project uh when um when I became mayor it was been Penning already for I think about two years I don't I I remember but uh um and involved a lot of sewer issues as well as you know the normal Paving so sewer and drainage concerns when Bill berer looked at it the project overall project cost was uh over $3 million to get that project done uh because of all the sewer and rage issues that went with it uh you may remember that uh the council upon Bill's recommendation had bifurcated it into two separate projects allowing us to move forward on two different tracks and um you know there's more detail here you can look through but the bottom line is is that um based on the way that uh we proceeded it wound up coming in over a million dollars less than had been originally um you know budgeted and predicted for the project so um and it is nearing its it's complet completed there may be a couple punch items left uh I believe to finish up but it's a general matter the you know work is done and came in a million dollars under what uh we had otherwise anticipated would actually we have a resolution on a change order yeah so um 20% 27% reduction yes so uh um there's more you know there's more details on it in case anyone's interested but I wanted to just point that out thank the council for uh your support in bifurcating the project and I know for some of the residents it still seem to take a long time but uh it is finally done uh thank the council for uh you know proceeding in the way uh that we had suggested and I thank Bill bur for um you know reviewing this and and coming up with uh with that plan so that is my report I think uh Mike you yeah uh we have uh Mr corsin and I have been looking at a various ordinances for potential recommendation to uh propose amendments and there is a um section 14 47-4 notice of tort claim form that we saw that um needed to be updated add dress of the municipal building needs to be uh changed from 700 Garson Road and there were a couple of other cleanup language uh phrases that we want to propose so uh it's literally a five five paragraph uh ordinance I'll pass it down if anyone would like to see it and uh we would like to uh have your consent to at least draft an amendment for your consideration at the next meeting that's all I have thank you anyone have any comments or questions on' always said ordinances are living documents and need to grow so here's an example okay if there's not we will move on next up uh back to the mayor for Proclamation thank you as I usually do I'll I'll read it from down here and Suzanne's coming to tell you where to stand listen um we have a proc here to celebrate Black History Month I recognize Pastor Hobs is here um and uh just want to take a moment to thank Pastor Hobbs for all of his leadership in our community uh Pastor Hobbs has become a great friend over the time that I've been here in mayor as mayor and uh you know the work that he has done and members of hobbstown to commemorate the history of hobbstown here in Bridgewater and uh you know not just remember the past and remember our heritage but also working very closely with us and with Chief mitac and members of the administration on making sure we're also looking forward on uh on how we can continue to build our community so thank you Pastor Hobbs for uh for for being here and uh with that I'll read the proclamation whereas Black History Month is an annual celebration that recognizes and honors the significant contributions achievements and Rich history of African-Americans to our nation state and local community whereas this observance is an opportunity to reflect on the struggles and triumphs of the African-American Community highlighting the perseverance resilience and cultural impact that have shaped the diverse tapestry of our society and whereas we acknowledge the pival role played by African-Americans throughout history in advancing civil rights social justice science literature arts in various Fields fostering a more Equitable Society for all and whereas the township of Bridgewater is home to hobbstown established in 1920 by Reverend Amos General and Robert Hobbs which served as a sanctuary for self-expression economic empowerment and a refuge from racism and whereas the founders of Hoptown erected homes businesses recreational spaces in the Macedonia Baptist Church thereby laying the foundation for a thriving community and contributing Rich chapters to Bridgewood Township storied history and whereas the Macedonia Baptist Church celebrated its Centennial anniversary in 2022 marking A Century of dedicated service to the community and the township of bridor equally anticipates another Century of their continued contributions further enhancing the rich history of the entire community and whereas Bridgewood Township is honored to recognize the achievements and contributions of African-Americans who have played a pivotal role in shaping the history and future of both Bridgewater and our country now therefore I Matthew C mench mayor of Bridgewater Township and the township Council to hereby proclaimed February 2024 Black History Month we encourage all Bridgewater residents to reflect upon and learn about the pivotal role that the African-American Community has played in the development and progress of our society both nationally and right here in our own Township so thank you uh and thank you Pastor Hobs for your uh for your leadership so I have this for [Applause] you all right thank you sir uh next up on the agenda was scheduled to be a public hearing on inclusive playground grants application through the Jake law um and I've been advised that the administration needs additional time uh before a public hearing can be held so if and when that is rescheduled we will uh issue another public notice to that but the public hearing for this evening is cancelled next up is the meeting will be open to the public any members of the public wishing to address the Council on any matter will be allowed two minutes to speak unless there's unusual circumstance ances motion to open public meeting motion to open to the public all right one of you can be a first one of you can be a second all those in favor I I any opposed all right the meeting is open to the public if anyone wishes to speak to please come forward state your name and address for the record hello Council uh my name is Ethan I'm I live in 12 wind over Place bridgew New Jersey sorry you're last name Chen thank thank you uh come to you discuss an issue regarding the scheduling for the bridgew and Somerville Court I assume that's under your jurisdiction not no it's actually so while we have a court here it's actually really administered through the state um but if there's there's an issue happy to um try to get an understanding of it and we can certainly follow up or try to get someone in in touch with you all right it's a it's a it's a relatively simple matter but very annoying so last last Wednesday I had I had a court hearing scheduled scheduled uh and now you know as you as is as is routine you get email the day before uh when you're when what time you're going to get to go like okay I have an email saying I'm gonna go on Wednesday 9:00 am I have my my ticket says Wednesday 8:30 a.m. but whatever and uh however in my hand I now I have official legal notice that is a it's a rescheduling notice now being sent by snail mail I received this on Saturday or Sunday I can't remember which and uh that my court hearing was being rescheduled the court hearing that happened uh three days earlier on Wednesday now given that they they were able to email me my court dat the day before I assumed they could also email me if my court dat is being rescheduled however I had no way of knowing and so I you know took half a day off Went to went to the court only to learn that what you know it's res scheduled for for next week and I lost half a day for nothing okay and so I was hoping that you know you guys could tell them to like send they if they have the time to send these letters can they also like email us I apologize for what you experienced um have you spoken were you able to speak to anyone in the court office when you came yeah I did I well I I learned only like an hour later that like my schedule my meeting had my hearing been resed for next week and I asked like I showed them my email like you guys emailed me this yesterday and just according to this paper they they sent the res scheduling notice also the day before so and there's no way to know in advance I went they don't post the thing on the board on in the courthouse until the day of so unless I took my day off well half day off and checked at 8:30 a.m. that I was on on a schedule I have no way of knowing and again if they can take the time to mail this they can certainly take the time to alsoo email us understood um we can absolutely pass on your feedback and if you haven't already I would recommend that you either uh you know it's sometime when court is not in session put a call out to the court administrator uh just to discuss it with her um as she is best suited to address that um if you think about just the court in general and your go it's completely separate really from the day-to-day operations we have no control because wouldn't want elected officials influencing a court so I would recommend putting a call out um to a day when the court is not in session uh and ask to speak to the court administrator about what happened all right but I you know given that you guys are in office I would appreciate if you guys also like talk to them try to like it shouldn't be that much of hassle it shouldn't no I agreed thank you thank you any other members of the public wishing to come forward to speak motion to close public input I'll second all those in favor I I opposed okay um next up is Introduction of ordinances uh as discussed at our last meeting we have an an ordinance introducing uh tonight ordinance amending chapter 206 entitled vehic and traffic section 206- 33 entitled schedule 5 trucks uh over uh over 4 tons excluded to add certain residential roadways to the list of roadways that trucks over 410 4 tons are not permitted to utilize within the township of Bridgewater um and just for the Public's uh um understanding the roads that are we're looking to add are Allen Road from Route 202 206 to Foothill Road cross roads from 202 206 to Downey Road Highland from 202 206 to Hillside Hillside from Foothill to White long road from Washington Valley Road Northerly to the township border I will add a note we've been in uh consultation with Bernard's Township on that one for they to extend it further uh Prospect Avenue from woodlon to White Somerset from Highland to woodlon and white from Somerset to Northbridge um anything further from the administration on this one no the other thing just to remind everybody is that um we will certainly appreciate the council U moving forward with this ordinance and we will also work with our Police Department to make sure that we enforce it um because obviously weight limits are uh great in principle we also make sure that everyone knows so we'll work in terms of both signage and also enforcement uh to make keep the trucks off the local roads okay move the introduction of 11a we have a motion to introduce second we have a motion to second roll call please cman K yesman cill yes councilman Nogales yes councilman pedroso yes president ring yes if we could set the public hearing please yes final action is scheduled for February 15th 2024 at 7:30 p.m. here in the municipal courtroom public inspection of this ordinance is available on the township website the bulletin board and through the clerk's office thank you next up we move into resolutions resolution 12a on uh approving the Grant application has been pulled by the administration that cannot be uh handled until we hold the public hearing uh after a rescheduling so 12b author authorization to execute an agreement with the Board of Commissioners of Somerset County for 2024 recycling in an amount not to exceed $47,700 based upon a fee of of $27 per household for services to$ 6,955 households funded through various accounts from 2022 and 2024 um just for the Public's knowledge if not aware we do pay a fee to the county for this um it's going up 30 cents this year from $26.70 per household to $27 anything to add from the administration not on our end and uh I think councilman kers for his leadership on this issue in the past uh of trying to bring some sanity to this issue uh maybe it will happen at one point in the future but it's actually very timely because just before this meeting started I received a text from a neighbor who wants to know when they're getting their new recycling buckets so um anyway Mr President just a brief question um um and this is I guess for Mr papis just want to confirm that we continue to be on top of the numbers I know that has been been an issue in the past and that we do in fact have sync on the 16,9 55 number yes uh I do want to acknowledge both Mr Dorado our assessor and Mrs Madrid who's here tonight uh that they have been very diligent over the last few years in ensuring that the process that the county is supposed to employ is actually followed uh there is consultation that's needed with the Department of Community Affairs but when we first Mrs start working on this after councilman kersch began to question it uh rather in great detail uh turned out that Mr Dorado found some errors of data that the county was using and since then that has been rectified and uh we're we're pretty conf very confident in the figures uh regarding the number of households uh Mrs Madrid is here do you have anything you want to add you did provide us a memo but do you have anything you want to add okay and then the only other thing I want to just reiterate Is We I guess we continue to hope that the Dual totes are going to be rolled out I know still hasn't come to my neighborhood I don't have mine um so uh you know we're told they're coming and that it's an impr it's a process Improvement so was it last year or the year before we had a presentation from M was last year I think it two years ago years ago yeah so just for anyone in the public that might be listening and wonder um you know the county has quite a colle of the totes the issue is obtaining the trucks necessary to be able to use the arm to pick up the totes um the county very much wants to roll it out because it will reduce labor costs because they have one person drive and empty the totes but the challenge in the covid and postco error is actually getting the trucks so at least that was the last update we had from the county I know they did add one section in Martinville over the last year but um we still have a way way to go I'll move uh if there's no further discussion or conversation I'll move 12b we have a second I'll second it okay roll call councilman Crush yes cman cill yes Nogales yesman pedroso yes president ring yes I'm going to take 12 C and D together since they're somewhat related 12C is authorizing Benard Services LLC of New Jersey Inc to provide prescription Insurance to the township of Bridgewater for 333 active retired Bridgewater employees for a total premium of 2,554 191 for the year 2024 to be funded through the group health insurance account 12d authorizes Delta Dental of New Jersey to provide Dental Envision Insurance to the township of Bridgewater for 333 active retired Bridgewater employees for a total annual premium of $353,500 for the year 2024 to be funded from the the group health insurance account I think pretty straightforward but anything to add I do not again Mrs Madrid is here she provided some uh a memo and uh if we have any you have any questions probably one of us could be able to respond to them we have a motion on these two items on consent just a quick comment and then I'll I'll make the motion um for for clarity for anyone um it's 333 active and retired employees the number of lives covered is larger than that um and with that I'll move the combination of c and d I'll second C and D have a motion to Second roll call councilman Kush yes counc cill yes councilman Nogales yes councilman pedroso yes president ring yes 12E authorizing the execution of an agreement with the soccer Centers located at 300 Memorial Drive Somerset New Jersey and Township Recreation Department for the spring and fall travel in town Junior PSA High School Adult summer and field hockey at a cost not to exceed $154,300 the A4 mentioned expense will be paid through the registration fees in the soccer Recreation trust fund resulting in no operating cost to Bridgewater Township I believe this is pretty much an annual occurrence so unless there's any questions I will entertain a motion I'll make the motion second roll call and kers yes councilman cill yes councilman nalis yes councilman pedroso yes president ring yes 12f approving the contract of John mitac for chief of police for a term commencing on January 1st 2023 and continuing through December F 31st 2025 any comments from the administration yes just just very briefly uh I want to take uh just two uh one quick moment first uh to thank uh Chief mitzak uh for the service that he has provided provided to the township I mean I know it's been a long career but uh overall but uh serving as Chief over over the past year year and a half that he's been in that role um I can uh tell you that in working with him very closely I couldn't ask for a better Chief uh that we have in Chief mitac he has done uh unbelievably uh Stellar job with you know running a police department as well as interacting with the public and uh being the outward facing chief that I want and we need and uh so I want to thank him for for that service and um and I also want to thank him for the patience in uh getting through to this process um and for the council for your uh your patients understanding I understand that you know this process uh was not perfect uh it took uh you know believe it or not or maybe you do believe it but it took uh a lot of negotiation and back and forth went into this contract um you know the chief was patient with me uh as I juggled various things um we had a lot of debate and discussion to make sure we came to a contract that we thought was uh was fair uh to to the chief to the taxpayers that represents the value that we have uh in the chief of police position um but also um you know negotiating the various aspects of it so um I want to thank the chief for that patience and for working with me on this and thank the council I know that uh you know the process uh may not have been as smooth as I would have liked that's on me and I um uh you know we will get better uh it's always a learning uh experience and uh sometimes you know you don't do it perfect so uh thank you to the council for your consideration your careful vetting of this contract and fulfilling Your Role uh to uh to review contracts and provide comments input and uh you know we will I've taken note I understand uh the concerns thoughts and feedback of the council and uh it will it will be addressed so thank you everybody thank you um do we have a motion to I have a couple of comments I'd like to make uh first of all I too appreciate John mitac as our chief uh all the way back from 20 years ago when we had breakfast when he was the union representative at that time uh Luke Daly called me and said how about you and I and John have breakfast and we did I don't know we resolved that anything we had a good breakfast uh the the the contract I I guess one of the things that that's frustrated me is this negotiation went on for a solid year before the council knew anything about it and if there's one change modification to the process uh we heard about it uh the Friday before the last meeting and it was table for additional discussion there are aspects of this this contract uh that that that bother me uh some are are Petty liked as an on call Fee although on call cannot be paid because of the chief status uh there's a stiping for for each year uh that that seemed unintuitive saying hey if you've got a $200,000 job and you you get a call out that you're going to get funds for but anyway uh some of the other things the the basic tour is 8 to4 no reflection on the chief whoever helped you negotiate this contract we ought to use them whoever it is uh it the 8 to4 are is the basic tour uh but in the process it says it can be anything the chief wants it or needs it to be uh to meet the needs of the business as long as he's available to meet with the administration so uh it was frustrating to me in in many in many ways uh but I'm glad to see that uh with the completion of this contract for the next two years we will have John mitac as our chief and I will I will we move it on that basis we have a motion do we have a second I'll second it okay any further comments I'm just going to note that um first of all we're very lucky to have uh Chief John mitzak as our chief thank you sir for your service to our community uh the chief is hitting here today in our in our Chambers and um U certainly I appreciate his service I'm sure Bridgewater residents do not only for him but the entire department that he leads so as I always say please do Express uh to the amend women of our Bridgewater Police Department how much we appreciate their service to us um you know uh the contracts are are give and take um I think that the public should be aware that this council did review the contract um the contract that was originally proposed they go back for uh for discussions for the discussions uh they work cons sessions made by the chief certain things in the contract were changed and certainly I I appreciate uh that Goodwill and in in the negotiation process so um as often the case contracts are not perfect but this is a this is a fair contract I believe overall it's a fair contract uh both to the Chief and also to our Bridgewater residents and the taxpayers that ultimately uh pay for the the chief salary so um so I will support the contract Mr President just a brief comment before we go to vote um I also appreciate the efforts uh made by Chief mitac and the department uh it's not an easy job um but it's obviously a very critical job um you know we talk often about the Bridgewater family about the critical importance uh that the full Department uh critical importance of the full Department as they keep us safe uh and certainly as the head of that department uh Chief msac uh does announce outstanding job and I'm excited he'll continue to do it for another two years thank you I'd like to make one additional comment two people who I have come to rely on Chris corini and Mike papis have both spoken glowingly about their relationship and support from Chief MIT great and Chris is a tough critic uh too but I mean CH sugarco scales of Justice John's the best Chief we've had at my time here I feel sorry for John you know Chris speaks highly of me too so now you're lumped together with me John so I don't know if that's good or bad all right roll call please councilman kers yes councilman cill yes cman Nogales yes pedroso yes president ring yes all right uh next is 12g and H I'm going to take together Award of contract to Data Center Warehouse 23041 a v India de la carlata Suite 325 lagona Hills California 92653 in the amount not to exceed $22,400 tyus Boulevard Suite 202 Woodcliff Lake New Jersey 07677 in an amount not to exceed $4,600 for the purchase of incar video systems for the Bridgewater Township Police Department to be funded from the Police Department Public Safety technology communication account also a reaffirmation of Prior award um we've been advised by legal council we need to reaffirm these resolutions these these purchases were approved in 2023 between the time they were approved and the PO process was was compl complete it there was a change in the state bid and further compound it by the year-end accounting process here has necessitated us to reaffirm these previously two approved purchases did I say that correctly really really well said Thank You president ring thank you anything to add uh just budget rolls over that's why we didn't do a straight up amended Amendment it all goes to Surplus so we got to reallocate it but other than that I think it's pretty proor motion from anybody I'll make the motion we have a motion do we have a second roll call for consent g& H councilman Kush yes councilman codilla yes councilman Nogales yes councilman pedroo yes president ring yes 12i the award of contract of Verizon has been pulled by the administration uh 12j is authorizing an additional $4,000 to Scarlet Doyle Township planner uh for the professional service contract for the year of 202 3 for a total amount not to exceed $64,000 uh this is due to a change in scope based upon some work required in 2023 as it relates to the shifting of COA from the center of excellence to the Hyatt House and while it says to our Township planner she's now our former Township planner as she's retired but i' make a motion to approve this we have a motion um what's I'm sorry second skip but clarification why are we back paying we there was a change of scope in work required last year due to the shifting of COA units from the Coe to the Hyatt House I got yeah I I got that part but uh why was it why wasn't that uh done once we knew that that was going to happen why wasn't the payment done in advance or anticipated to be paid why my understanding and Mike can correct me if I'm wrong is that uh what often happens is that you know work gets done you know the bills get generated there's a delay between the work getting done the bills getting generated the bills get to us uh we then look at it in some cases you know we may say we're not approving you know H because we do a contract say not to exceed so if somebody exceeds and not to exceed they're not entitled to get paid uh under the contract unless we authorize it and say that was about bit of work so between the delay of the work being done the bills getting inputed us reviewing it and then going back on it the um the 2023 budget I I think everyone knows this but just as a reminder with 2023 2023 budget stays open for a year because you know we still get invoices now and will for months for you know bills that we incurred in 2023 so it's paid out of the 2023 budget which is why there's a gap with the rollover in terms of you know the Surplus from 2022 is what's available in 2024 2023 Sur plus is not available to 2025 that's that's the answer thank you and Mr President also I want to make sure that there's Clarity on the last sentence of the memo uh that this uh will be funded through through COA so uh obviously it is still taxpayer dollars but it it's coming from a dedicated location because it was work done on Co on behalf of coas sorry did we have a motion we do we have a second okay any further comments roll call that's Kush yes fman cill yes manalis yesman pedroso yes president ring yes all right I'm going to take 12K and L together since they are related 12K authorizing an additional $75,000 to K&J Tree Service LLC 16 Stonybrook Road Branchburg New Jersey to provide thirdparty snow plowing for the township or Bridgewater for a total contract amount not to exceed $150,000 for the 2023 2024 snow season 12 L authorizing an additional $60,000 to the Somerset County Road and Bridge division for road salt for a total amount not to exceed $140,000 for the 2024 winter season um just a point of information at 12K we talk about 23 24 snow season but yet in L we talk about the 20 shouldn't K simply be the 24 snow season as opposed to 23 and 24 since 23 long gone okay if we can make that modification I'll move K&L well in in in advance of that just just uh some some brief discussion um Mr paps and I just had this sidebar conversation earlier uh you know that the timing of of snow is interesting and that essentially it occurs uh before our budget is finished um so while while this is is critically important that we account for it now um we will be taking into account essentially what the um near total is uh by the time we get into budget March April May uh obviously setting aside some funds for uh what may happen uh in the November December time frame um so you know what while yes these are increases they're really increases over a very low starting point which was last year um because ultimately um you know since we we knew that we had a light snow season last year that's why our budget reflected that and then uh as Mr papis stated to me uh over the course of the year um you know money was a even more money was able to be uh uh taken from that purpose and and used for other reasons so um you know that that's my understanding um you know and and as far as K goes I don't know Mr papis if you just want to acknowledge that uh you know under under many circumstances we clear uh many or all roads with our own employees there are instances where we need the flexibility and it is uh the additional capacity provided by K&J tree services done so in a very cost-effective manner the only the only thing I'd like to just comment briefly on is you know one every once in a while there's discussion about the use of uh you know contractors the use of contractors to supplement the Public Works snow effort has been going on uh not just in my Administration but previously it's something that we've always done because we need extra Manpower on certain events like snowstorms but we don't necessarily need the Manpower on a 365 day basis so uh we have consistently used contractors to supplement the uh our snow plowing capability uh which is more cost- effective ultimately than if we were employing an additional X number of people along with the trucks and the equipment to go with it for use on certain occasions uh we've been lucky over the past uh two years with basically no snow events uh this year we've already had a few hopefully that's the end of it um but we do have a I pass it down to everybody who wants it look at it later uh we do have a summary in more detail of all the snow events the storm the manpow the cost use the Manpower U just to give everybody an idea of know what's involved in each of these storm events that we've had so far um that uh you know just to give an idea for any who's interested in the numbers um and the last comment I'd have is that we also have a dedicated snow fund which is something that um because you can never predict exactly all the weather events uh that's something that is kind of a literally like a rainy day fund or snowy day fund so that way if we ever have a spike uh in a year where we can't address it or there's a budget impact we're not left without the ability to pay for Unnecessary snow and other kind of storm related removals I'm going to pause for a second um it's been I've been advised by our attorney we should before we have a discussion here we should actually have a motion to amend 12 12K to remove any reference to 2023 I'll make that motion a second so we have a motion to amend that can be done all in favor okay all those in favor of amending 12K by striking any reference to 2023 i i i i opposed okay so with that we can go back to discussing 12K andl um we would need another new motion to uh move 12K K&L let me ask you a question that I think some people may have um you know the reality is we haven't had much snow right uh so why don't we talk a little bit about why we need to add more money to the budget for snow plowing if we haven't had much snow yeah so I me residents may be curious about that yeah no I mean it's it's the the there's two things first of all we're what we're doing right now is not adding money to the budget it's adding money to the contract that was already awarded um you know we enter into a contract at the end of I guess in 2023 uh to cover you know that storm time frame so what you can see on uh the breakdown that we've had is that while we talk about snow now if the trucks have to go out and salt the roads whether we ultimately get an inch of snow or five Ines of snow I mean obviously we're talking about a foot it's a whole different ball game but when you're talking about a snow event um you have to have the Manpower regardless of you know whether it's 1 in or 4 in if you're salting the roads you got to cover every road obviously if you're plowing it you have to do that so what you can see on the on the breakdown here is is on the different days so for instance on Saturday the the 6th you know two to three inches of snow uh you know they start at 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon on Saturday you can see the cost in terms of you we had 18 contractors over 12 hours we had the 273 tons tons of salt used um that's what demand power was on that on that day and obviously it goes through continues Monday and Tuesday of the 15th 16th 17th uh and on the back on the 19th so you know we had essentially within a week uh or you know within short time in January we had five days of snow events all of which involved uh you know almost uh you know 100 thousand tons two a couple thousand tons of uh of salt that had to be put on the roads and the manpower to do that so um that's where we are right now of course we don't know what's coming in Janu uh in February or March so um that's the numbers are the numbers and that's what um I think it's also important for the Public's knowledge um you know some towns will build a you there's requirements on how you store Salt we do not operate a salt Dome we do not store Salt uh because we share a uh common property with the county for Public Works through a shared services agreement we're allowed to purchase salt from them and we only pay for what we actually use in a given season but you know it's important to note so far in January 2024 we spent almost $120,000 on salt for the the nuisance storms where all of 2023 we spent just under $54,000 so yeah and of course you can see like when we had that one day which was like the fake snow day everyone panicked and everything was closed part of it is and you know we went out and saled Roads because everyone thought it was snowm in coming and it turned out was the largest snowstorm in two years right so you know you don't know and and of course if we don't do that then it's going to be 10 Ines of snow and you know it's all other things so um but we tried to Salt you know a lot of the events we had this year had evolved very cold temperatures and kind of that mixture of salt and uh salt mixture of rain and freezing rain and so we salt as much much as we can and uh you know apply where possible the um in the 2023 budget did that anticipate snow plowing in 2024 no now the 2023 budget doesn't but we enter into a contract um you know in yeah not to exceed but but I believe the contract with k& J whatever the the tree company is covers uh it does cover I think the end of like the winter season so when we enter into their contract the contract is you know to handle snow plowing in December or January because obviously you know we could get a snow event on January 2nd or anything else we go out to bid before the winter season so that we have contractors on hand throughout the winter season but the contract would be budgeted you know the 75,000 is it coming out of the 24 budget or 23 budget uh I believe the original amount is coming out of the 23 budget the additional amount the additional 75 24 I believe 24 and and and all Mr President if I may and M Mr U pedroo if you're finished you know a benefit that we get is we'll know how bad this season was when we go through the budget process correct um you know and and you know we got quite lucky the last couple years we're still somewhat lucky compared to historical Norms um and and so you know obviously any of these dollars spend are are dollars uh you know that are are are valuable um but the good news is we'll know the grand total by and large other than anything that might happen in November and December we have a motion I'll make a motion we pay a bill we got a motion we have a second roll callman Kush yesman cill councilman cordel yes councilman Nogales yes councilman pedroso it's not like we have a choice Ro seem to be plowed yes president ring yes all right 12m is authorizing an amendment of resolution 24- 01- 04-25-18 24 for a total amount not to exceed $264,200 to be funded from the seore utility operating Professional Service account and the current gen General admin Director of Finance Professional Service account um we did approve a resolution during our January 4th reorg uh there was a typo in that so we need to reauthorize it with the correct amount unless there's any F motion to move this we have a motion I'll second it we have a second roll call cman K yes cman cill yes Calis yes cman pedroso yes president ring yes I'm going to take 12 and an O together authorizing change order number one final change order decreasing the contract price from $872,500 to 8,338 8,30 yeah $838,000 4825 for a decrease of 3.94% or 34397 24 authorizing acceptance of the project release of the performance bond acceptance of the maintenance Bond and final payment to Topline Construction Corporation 22 fth Street Somerville New Jersey 08876 for the 2023-the Fourth Street Fulton Mayor Street railroad Place 2 Street and Third Street funded through the 2023 Capital Road fund 120 authorizing change order number one final change order decreasing the contract price from $868,000 70 to $631,000 a decrease of 27.3% or 23784 237,000 $44.50 authorizing acceptance of the project release performance bond acceptance of the maintenance Bond and final payment to insud form of North America Inc trading as insud form Technologies LLC 17988 Edison Avenue Chesterfield Missouri 63005 d3700 for the billian street Klein Place Morton Street sanitary sore Rehabilitation project funded through the 2008 18 sore utility Capital fund um I know they're pretty straightforward I know the mayor already spoke about this one project um any further comments the only comment I have is I'm glad to see the work has been completed and it's been completed with a cost reduction and it' be my pleasure to motion to pass this we have a motion on 12 n and O I'll second we have a second roll call councilman kers yes counc D yesalis yes councilman pedroso yes president ring yes all right 12p is authorization approving final list of volunteer members of the Bridgewater first aid and rescue squads who qualify for contributions under the Township's losap program in the township or Bridgewater County of Somerset to be funded from the 2023 losap account um just to clarify losap is short for a length of Service Awards program um this is a program that uh rewards volunteers of our volunteer first aid and rescue squads for their service to the township through a pointbase system uh this for 2023 a member who uh qualifies will receive $1,458 5 uh that amount fluctuates each year based upon cost of living increase um and this is just a small token of what we can give back to those people who volunteer through our first aid in rescue squads Mr President the Joanne bixler's supplemental page yes is attached I'm considering that part of it if there's no motion I'll move it 12p second roll call oh sorry yeah I just want to acknowledge um publicly acknowledge all of the many many volunteers that we have in Bridgewater Township they really are we are honored and privileged to have serving our first aate and rescue squads uh they really provide an enormous service to our community they do it for free they give to a lot of their time to this and uh not only does it save Bridgewater uh tremendous amount of tax money but um they just they really provide a phenomenal quality service to us all and they just give so much of their time uh to bridge order Township so I just want to you know thank them for everything they do and I will I certainly I will support this Mr council president I I would be uh remiss if I I didn't take the opportunity uh since he's here and uh in in person uh my father is in the back uh snuck in at some point when I was not paying attention um but uh 45 years was it 45 years uh I was doing double duty uh the night of the Martinsville installation along with the uh North Branch I believe it was installation so I was not present at the time uh but my father received his 45 years of service award uh to the Martinville Rescue Squad so I will since he's here I mentioned it in my report at the last meeting because it's a tremend tremendous undertaking Fred congratulations thank you the very interesting piece about the losap and Howard or Allen may remember this but um many many years ago when loap came into existence it was because of uh the person at the time who was involved with the martinel rescue squad who may be sitting in the middle of the day so it's very very rewarding to see that program in existence so thank you we have a motion we have a second roll call yeah go ahead you're up to the roll call okay councilman Kush yes councilman cordela yes councilman nalis yes councilman pedroso yes president TR yes all right um moving on we do have a closed session tonight so we have a resolution be it resolved by the Bridgewater Township Council that this body will now hold a closed meeting to discuss contract negotiations and litigation one and if the matters discussed become public record this will be name made known to the public at that time the public is excluded from said meeting and further notice therefore is disposed with all in accordance with Section 8 and 4A of the open public meetings act before I get a motion I've been told by Mr Corsini we do not uh expect any action to be taken following the closed session netive other than reopening to close the meeting so motion to go to close session we have a motion to go to close session I'll second it all those in favor I I opposed okay that concludes our public portion of our meeting tonight thank you he can come back in actually if he wants New York State I will New Jersey not here once president ring out by 9:00 with a complicated agenda to pee to pee with with a closed session I guess what we're back on all right so uh we have completed our closed session and need a motion to resume uh public session motion to adjourn we got a motion to adjourn do we have a second second okay all those in favor opposed okay we are adjourned uh how many uh