[Music] oh [Music] [Music] he [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] n oh go ahe okay good evening and welcome to the April 1st 2024 public council meeting can I have roll call please councilman masseri here councilwoman M here councilman zazali here Deputy Mayor scavage here mayor Peterson here please rise for the flag salute to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting was duly provided to the Verona Cedar Grove times in the Star Ledger by email and published in an annual schedule of meetings on December 14th 2023 filed with the Township Clerk and posted on the public bulletin board in the municipal building Lobby in accordance with the open public meetings act um good evening everyone we will start with item two approval of minutes a is to consider approval of minutes of regular public meeting March 4th 2024 do I have a motion so move second thank you roll call please Council misseri yes councilwoman Miga yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson abstain item three we have two items for a public hearing hearing a is to consider adoption of pending Capital ordinance number 24- 928 a capital ordinance providing funding to the township of Cedar Grove and appropriating $1.5 million for such purpose Mr Zell mayor if I may thank you as discussed last meeting this is an ordinance that allocates funds within the capital Improvement fund for the purchase installation of water meters the contract that was awarded last uh meeting sord does not create any new debt and provides a purpose for the funds that were previously allocated for in a general format this money was already existing in the capital Improvement fund and fiscal year 2023 is budget in the amount of 1,943 $3,593 which is set forth on sheet 26 of 2023 is adopted Municipal budget and of that amount previously allocated this ordinance takes 1.5 million from that fund to pay for the meters and their installation and the rest is remaining for uh other capital projects which if the need arises will also require an ordinance for uh discussion of of thir how we spend that money for those capital projects thank you very much for that explanation uh does anyone from the public wish to be heard on this item in this item alone seeing none I will close that portion of the hearing and do I have a motion so moov no have to read we have oh sorry read that that's okay pending ordinance no sorry I move for the adoption of pending ordinance 24- 929 to be published in the Verona City two what the heck am I doing no it's not youo this is 28 sorry that's okay should we start again it's okay I move for the adoption of pending ordinance 24- 928 to be published in the Verona of times as a pass an ordinance to take effect as prescribed by law thank you do I have a second second thank you roll call please Council misseri yes councilwoman M yes Council zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes Item B is to consider adoption of pending ordinance number 24 4- 929 an ordinance to amend part two general legislation chapter 208 rental property of the revised General ordinances of the township of Cedar Grove okay do I um anyone from the public wishing to be heard on this portion this portion only no seeing none I will ask for a motion uh mayor I move for the adoption of pending ordinance number 24- 929 to be published in the Verona Cedar Grove times as a passed ordinance to take effect as p by law perfect thank you do I have a second second thank you roll call please councilman maseri yes Council woman Miga yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item four the meeting is now open to residents of the township wishing to be heard on any item on the agenda seeing none we will move on to item five reports of Township officials we will start with the township manager good evening Mr zelli good evening mayor I am reserving most of my comments for uh the items in new business do want to comment on uh consent agenda items 6C and 6D uh I can comment now or I can comment before you take the consent agenda you can comment now and then I'll take them all together okay uh for item 6 C uh resolution considering the authorization of sale Municipal property no longer in use this resolution authorizes the sale of property we're no longer using the resolution authorizes the sale of a 2012 Ford F350 Mason dump truck a 1997 GMC truck and a 2001 wood chipper Township has two wood shippers we only have one box to chip into these items will be auctionable and sold to the highest bidder this will create a little revenue and free up some much needed space for the township the other item on the consent agenda is 6D uh this resolution authorizes the donation of a 2003 Chevrolet S10 pickup truck to the CED volunteer fire department for training on extrication tools and procedures this truck was once our Fleet Maintenance vehicle and served us well for 21 years but has lived far beyond its useful life and is being replaced by another truck already in the fleet once the fire department it's done training on this vehicle whatever remains will be sold for scrap and the proceeds will be tendered to the township great I reserve the rest of my comments for new business okay thank you very much moving on Madame clerk good evening good evening mayor members of council audience members I have no report to even okay thank you very much and our Township attorney good evening good evening Madam mayor I Council I have no reports this evening okay thank you very much moving on to report of the council I will start with councilman zazali good evening mayor uh about uh at the last meeting IID mentioned uh that there were some areas in town that were prone to flooding that some residents had came in and uh spoke about and so about two weeks ago I had an opportunity to go with uh Mr zelli and I was I was able to go I could see the area where the flooding was um and uh get a better understanding of what was needed um and I know that we have a a meeting coming up with some State officials in the surrounding towns on 12th uh so hopefully something comes of that um with that said uh I also just want to acknowledge the DPW uh because when we have a big rainstorm they're out there they clean all the the basins they clean the river and uh and they clean up any damage after the storm so just want to acknowledge them also great thank you very much councilman misseri good evening mayor I don't have a report I just have questions when we go through the agenda okay thank perfect councilman Mega good evening mayor and good evening to everybody at home I did attend a few meetings this past week the recreation advisory on this past week this past few weeks uh the rec board had a meeting March 6th and just wanted to put out a reminder that the spring programs have begun and the online registration is in progress for summer programs um the township will also have an Autism event at Town Hall April 20th starting at 11th and Junior firefighter day will be held in may may may I can't even speak tonight May 19th at community park at 11: we also attended the monthly Historical Society meeting March 20th um so look out for some events that they will be planning in the future and I attended the um event they did just have on March 27th New Jersey resources and genealogy it was very attending it was very good it was very informative and I also attended the TRS ribbon cutting with you and Deputy Mayor and I'm happy to see that it's still so successful y that's you've been very busy maybe that's why you can't talk thank you very much you're welcome and Deputy Mayor gabit how are you yes hi Danel thank you mayor uh good evening everyone um no formal report tonight just wanted to add on to uh councilwoman mga's um comment about TRS I know it was a at least a year that it it was shut down and it didn't happen um for for a number of reasons and I just want to recognize um Cedar Ro resident uh Christine Perry who uh really took the program under her wing and made sure that it um went on without a hitch this year I know she had a great staff as well of of volunteers who helped her out but um she uh she really spearheaded the effort to bring traps back and it was very well attended and a lot of kids um participated and made some money that day so I'm really glad to see that back and that's that's all I have okay yep it it was a great event um and I was happy to be there and see all the kids and all their success and the only thing I have for this evening is I was able to attend the Unico Easter egg hunt at the park this past Saturday and it was so well attended I would say there was hundreds of children there it went from the driveway all the way up to the concession stands lined with children they had it really well organized in ages and all the kids had so much there was tons and tons and tons of eggs so thank you to Uno for putting together an amazing event as they always do we're very very lucky to have that organization um in town so that's all I have uh we're going to move on to item number six which is our consent agenda which I will take a through D together um a is to consider resolution concerning approval of non-raw wheels of chance raffle application St Katherine of Sienna B is to consider resolution concerning approval of on premise 50/50 raffle application Cedar Grove Elks Lodge Number 2237 C is to consider resolution authorizing the sale of Municipal property no longer in use and D is to consider resolution authorizing the donation of a 2003 Chevy pickup truck to the fire department for purposes of extrication tools and training and procedures um do I have a motion so make a motion to approve ex thank you roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman migga yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor scabbit yes mayor Peterson yes and moving on to new business item seven a is to consider introduction of pending ordinance number 24- 930 and ordinance amending chapter 259 of the township of the code of the township of Cedar Grove entitled water thank you mayor if I may comment on this this is an amendment to chapter 259 of the code of the township ofo Grove which covers the provision of water and water related services to the residents and businesses of the town Township this amendment does a lot in terms of updating language and removing inconsistencies that were once existing the amendment provides for updated requirements imposed by the D and clarification for interpreting the ordinance this amendment also Al Alters our fee structure for billing for water and water related Services which I'll explain further in this item for the Public's edification I will explain the concept of utility in Municipal budgeting theory behind the utility is that it must be self-liquidating that is the utility must support itself from the revenues that it receives or water utilities must support themselves from the quarterly water andore payments or residents and business pay just as the pool must support itself from the membership fees residents need to understand that these utilities are not self-liquidating the township needs to cover the difference from the current fund which is solely raised by tax dollars so either through taxes or rate increases the deficit if any must be covered in 2023 the water utility rent a $ 37,6 7919 deficit this means the water utility spent more than it realized in revenues and because it's utility the taxpayers had to compensate for the differences through a deferred charge covered by taxation out of the current Fund in addition to clarifying language this amendment Alters our fee structure currently Township bills for water at $5 per 1,000 gallons with the minimum charge shed at $25 if this amendment is adopted upon a second reading rates will change to $587 per 1,000 gallons with a minimum charge set at $293 I will read that again currently the township bills for water at $5 per 1,000 gallons with the minimum charge set at $25 if this amendment is adopted after a second reading rates will go to $587 per 1,000 gallons with the minimum charge at $29.30 the last time the township amended rates on water consumption was October 16th 2017 7 years ago for these utilities compliance with the njd and EPA regulations impose significant costs that burden operations because Cedar Grove does not treat its own water but rather purchases it from nor North Jersey district water supply commission and Pake Valley Water Commission we are bound by the rates that these entities strike when supplying us with water in 2024 alone the price to purchase water from these entities increased over 6% from both njdwsc and PV PW VC even with these amendments the township will remain at one of the lowest rates for providing water and water related Services when compared to other townships in fact Verona recently raised their water utility rates by 28% these amendments to the ordinance were a result of a study performed by CP Engineers out of Sparta New Jersey who reviewed the water and soil utility and their operational and capital needs along with some deficiencies uh within the ordinance as currently written there's a 32-page report available for the public on the Township's website under our water and sore uh Department page not only does this ordinance clear up inconsistent language presently existing but it'll ensure the utilities are properly funded and supported to comply with various regulations and the needs of our residents uh Council reviewed it I reviewed it this has been a two-month long review um of these ordinances and as always I'm happy to answer any questions the council has the public has on this or any other y I appreciate that explanation I understand how much work um you have put into this and how much thought and to me it makes a lot of sense and uh I appreciate that so thank you very much for that explanation if anyone needs additional explanations we're here to answer any questions so um do I have a motion so moov you got you got to read the okay this guy I move for introduction of pending Bond pending Bond ordinance pending ordinance pending ordinance number 24930 to be published in full in the Verona Cedar Grove times as a pending ordinance with a public hearing scheduled for May 6 2024 thank you do I have a second second thank you roll call please counil misseri yes councilwoman Miga yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peter yes Item B is to consider introduction of pending ordinance number 24- 931 and ordinance amending chapter 217 of the code of the township of Cedar Grove entitled Source thank you mayor this is amendment to chapter 217 of the code of the township Cedar Grove as it relates to the provision of sour services for the residents and businesses of the township all of my discussion on the functioning of utility prior to this ordinance applies here too but now I'm just going to talk about the source side of it much like the water ordinance this ordinance has not been touched since October of 2017 in 2023 the shore utility ran a $226,900 for the first 20,000 gallons of consumption and then charges a $7.35 per 1,000g search charge on top of any consumption over 20,000 gallons it's a little confusing it's hard to build and speaking with Rebecca and going through the report the township seeking to eliminate the tiered structure and affect a flat rate of $5.50 per 1,000 gallons with the minimum charge being $90.75 so again I I'll explain currently the township bills $90 for the first 20,000 gallons of consumption and then any th gallons over 20,000 are build at a sarch Charged rate of $7.35 per 1,000 gallons this amendment would eliminate the tiered system set up a minimum charge of $90.75 and set a flat rate of $5.50 per 1,000 gallons as it relates to the sore utility the township needs to embark on an aggressive Capital plan for these utilities which include replacing water means and sore means for the water side and also improving our sewage treatment plant and reducing the recurring costs associated with removing Sledge huling which the council is aware we just awarded a contract in excess of $270,000 to to remove the sludge furthermore uh compliance with njde and EPA regulations is consistently more expensive prudent Capital investments will reduce long-term operating costs if we invest in the capital to reduce the amount that we need to remove in terms of sludge that'll reduce the operating cost of the utility just like the water utility this utility was also analyzed by CP Engineers uh and their analysis is included in the same report that's on the Township's website website thank you very much thank you very much great I have a question for for the town manager regarding these two utilities with the amendment to the price does that mathematically assuming that the consumption was the same as last year would it eliminate the deficit like it would zero the deficit then if assuming the same so we did two things this year I removed which I'll explain in the municipal budget portion of it I removed some items out of the utilities back into the cap to make the utility Stronger Just from an operational standpoint because there's less of an expense coming out of them now right we're charging less to it by moving some salaries and some other operations out which I'll explain in the budget uh assuming consumption stays the same uh yes the um actually what they recommend was a greater increase to build Surplus but Rebecca and I sat down and we felt that that wasn't necessary right now because we can create the Surplus by removing certain entities out of the utilities this will eliminate the deficits assuming everything Remains the Same in terms of consumption and prices again don't you know chemical costs went up 26% % in the utilities just that's what we used to treat the sewage to render it too sludge um so barring any massive increases or serious issues this will eliminate the deficits great thank you it's important to also note mayor if I may that that deficit is eliminated by virtue of covering it from the current fund right so as I explained before there may be a deficit in the operations that money has to be paid from somewhere so it's it technically currently it's being paid for out of the tax dollars in the current now we're seeking to eliminate that tax burden and shift it back to the utilities which is where it belongs exactly same with the swimming pool yep self sustaining thank you very much okay do I have a motion I move for introduction of pending ordinance 24- 931 to be published in full in the ver C of times as a pending ordinance with a public hearing scheduled for May 6th thank you do I have a second second thank you roll call please councilman masseri yes Council woman Miga yes Z AL yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item C is to consider a resolution concerning introduction of the 2024 Municipal budget buckle up it's a big one I'll begin by through you mayor providing a summary of the 2024 valuations the Township's ratables in 2024 total 2 b259 m524 th000 reflecting an increase of $2,538 300 from last year's numbers Township's Public Utilities toal $1,521 reflecting a $119,600 increase from fiscal year 2023 the Township's net valuable taxation increased by $2,557 th000 to Total 2 b261 m4510 in 2024 overall the average residential assessment in 2024 increased by $1900 from 473,000 in fiscal year 2023 to $47 $4,900 in fiscal year 2024 as an aside we will be ordered to have a reval by 2026 the Essex County Board of Taxation just issued that order um so that in two years the township every 10 years you have to go out to Ral we haven't done it since 2010 because we've kept our metrics in pretty good shape but we're the oldest reval on the books now so that'll be changing in 2026 this past year as occurred in Prior years at the mayor and council's directive to administer prudent budget management uh tough Deion tough decisions were required to be made that were always in the best interest of our residents as has and will be reflected in Essex County Tax Board analysis on the county why taxes Cedar Grove has maintained one of the lowest Municipal tax rates among all of Essex counties municipalities at the pest of this Council the township made many hard decisions to keep the budget in line with State mandates with the ultimate goal of keeping us at the lowest or among the lowest tax municipalities in the county we're focusing on monitorization and providing even better services to our residents while other Industries effortly pass increased costs onto the consumer this Council does not act with haste and has continued to make Cedar Grove an affordable and attractive town to live in as with every single budget the township address our residents most basic needs first before considering other requests every year our retirement benefit role becomes larger which adds increased long-term costs to the taxpayer to combat these increases we employ a pay you go approach given numerous changes in our finance department and other extraordinary increases in price and cost among various sectors this was a very difficult budget year inflation statutory increases in contractual obligations most notably our increases in health and liability insurance did not make this an easy process which we began back in November indeed the three biggest areas that are driving the budget this year are group medical coverage and insurance police salaries and operating expenses and purs PF FRS and Social Security contributions 2024 the township is projected to spend 3 million 670,000 on group medical benefits and $8,500 on retiree Medicare Part B re urements compared to $3,280 627 77,78 last year respectively the assessment for workers compensation increased by $10,000 to 285,000 in fiscal year 24 and the assessment for general liability increased from $350,500 th000 in fiscal year 24 which is an increase of $130,000 these increases alone increased over 400,000 from what they were in fiscal year 23 with respect to our Police Department the proposed budget reflects Staffing levels at 31 officers total police salaries and operating expenses were $ 5,665 379 with respect to our library 2024's budget ref reflects an appropriation of $944,000 with respect to purs PF FRS and Social Security contributions fiscal year 2024 projects cost to be at $655 390 1,691 $59 and $438 748 respectively which totals $2,786 N7 last year this these same lines cost $2,682 526 which is a total increase among the three categories of $13,570 to combat these increases which would have placed the Appropriations over and above what we could have statut statutorily been permitted to increase the division of local government services provided various cap exclusions for health insurance pension costs and liability insurance among other things the township is constantly seeking new ways to reduce costs and generate Revenue the township retain the services of a part-time Consulting engineer in L of a full-time Municipal engineer this saves the township approximately $45,000 per year in health insurance and pension payments additionally the position of Planning and Zoning coordinator which was once a full-time position is now being staffed by an employee receiving an additional stipend which saves the township approximately $40,000 per year recently the township began permitting uh the use of fields and other facilities uh the generation of Revenue we used to offset the cost of maintaining these facilities here's a good part total Appropriations in fiscal year 24 the budget reflects appropriations of 23,7 110,00 52398 compared to fiscal year 23 which had Appropriations totaling 22,4 19548 122 fiscal year 23's budget increased Appropriations by1 1, 84214 when compared to fiscal year 22's budget conversely this year fiscal year 24's budget increased Appropriations by 1,246 7576 Which is less than the increase the township saw between last year's budget and fiscal year 24's 22's budget I'm sorry on January 8th 2024 this Council introduced and subsequently passed a cola ordinance that allowed for the township to increase fiscal year 23's Appropriations by 32% by introducing this ordinance Appropriations were allowed to increase by an extra $153,900 $397 75 allowing for a total increase in Appropriations not to exceed $59,800 in essence this means the township would have been permitted to raise Appropriations by nearly an additional $300,000 by comparison last year the township was only $176 beneath the appropriation cap again this year we're $294,700 56,600 $2,545 110 which is $314,500 47 beneath our Levy cap overall we have a levy cap Bank of $3,599 286 should we need to carry that Levy into future years using the tax levy is one way to fund the municipal budget the other way is to use fund balance as the council is aware historically this Township has always had very healthy fund balance however in 2024 the township saw a dip in our fund balance because of the money the township gives to the Board of Education as part of our pilot agreement the 1.2 million per year we give to the school district in excess of their tax obligation cost the township approximately 1.8 million in fund balance this year to compensate for pro-rated payments by comparison the Township's fund balance on December 31st 2022 was 13, 7965 4.32 on December 31 of 23 the fund balance was 12,180 7658 we will be regenerating this fund balance next year by returning to a normal payment schedule as it relates to our pilot agreement but to further grow our fund balance we're seeking to consolidate all our banks into One bank so we can grow interest in One bank account as opposed to five overall this year the budget will be funded from $7.3 million in fund balance and 11,842 545 from the tax levy the difference coming in from other revenues uh this results in a $67 uh in 43 Cent increase on the average res residential assessment for the year again that's $674 free increase on the average residential assessment for the Year this number commutes to 562 per month or $129 per week this increases one of the lowest if not the lowest in the the county with these numbers in mind I want to re reiterate to the residents that the breakdown amongst other entities in the township uh is certainly seen the county didn't strike a rate yet but the estimated percentage of your tax dollars the township will see approximately 21% of that uh the county will see approximately 19.68 per and the Board of Education will see approximately 56.1% of your tax dollars so we really make the dollar the 21 cents on the dollar we receive stretch as far as it possibly can lastly I want to talk about our debt service this is something that I'm pretty proud of as the council's aware during my uh time as interm CFO the township went out and recast our debt to save a lot of money at interest costs in July of 2023 the township received a credit upgrade from standard and pores uh from ablea with a positive outlook to doua plus uh this allowed us to restructure our debt which is previously cast entirely in bond anticipation notes as such the township split the debt between traditional bonds and banss the township was able to lock in bond rates at an effective 3.26% for 15 years and one-year note rates at 3.65% far less than the percentage we budgeted for because of this I'm pleased to share how we are saving this money and are pursuing a more aggressive Debt Pay down than ever before in fiscal year 24 the township will be extinguishing the following ordinances 4 years earlier than the required pay off uh is required Ordinance 17806 Road overlay program for $390,000 and ordinance 17808 various General improvements for $530,500 Township's Debt Service on bond anticipation notes for fiscal year 24 consists of 1,937 570 in principal payments and $428,500 in interest payments these numbers when added reflect total ban Debt Service in the amount of 2,365 $925 last year our ban Debt Service was $2,360 40 which is almost the same number that we're paying this year however the difference is the township paid $765,000 in interest last year as opposed to the $28,495 we're paying this year that difference of $336,600 schedule with respect to the Township's Debt Service on bonds we will be paying $916,000 in principal and $462,500 M 74462 so of the $23 million appropriation 3.7 of that is paying our debt to close uh we're going to continue to save wherever we can save we're going to administer prudent management to stretch this dollar as far as it possibly can to give the residents the service they deserve at a price that continues to make this Township attractive to live in with that I yield to you mayor well thank you very much Mr zelli I can't I can't say enough how much Mr zelli has put into this budget um like he said since November I would say Blood Sweat and Tears nothing short of that working 80 hours a week going line by line by line looking at it every which way he could how many discussions do we have every day about the budget and the every single penny and and dime has been considered I can assure all of the residents of that so this budget was not taken lightly um I think you've done I know you've done a fantastic job I thank you for your hard work for your dedication for your time because a lot of it you're not even paid for so I I really cannot say enough um and commend you enough and thank you enough for your hard work and for your service to this Township and we are all very lucky to have you thank you so thank you very much thank you so with that said do I have a motion I had a question and a that's okay um I I have to also Concur and Echo what the mayor said I mean we spent a lot of time on this and uh paying attention to all the detail has led to where we are today and to have a $67 increase the average home for a year based on all the increases that we received by inflation by costs by Insurance you know the insurance alone that's a significant uh win for the town so I wanted to thank you for paying attention to all those details and making sure that this was possible and saving where we could my question is related to the um Road overlay sure I know there's been some questions in town about the PSG work that's been going on for the last several weeks uh and know during prior Council meetings you said that there could be some collaboration with road work through psng covering some of the cost can you explain that to the uh to the public sure stand with that um we have a very good ongoing relationship with psng where we worked out a system but based off of linear feat where the township is Paving roads every year anyway so we said to PNG do all the gas means on these streets that work we're going to be Paving and we'll pave it at no cost to PS cuz we're doing it anyway in turn PS is taking that same amount of linear feet and doing gas Mains on other streets in town in the township and they're going to be Paving those at no cost to the township so we're basically getting twice the amount of streets paved at the same cost for paying uh what we'd be paying anyway um right now they're on Bowen Road uh and they're doing all the streets that uh go off of Bowen they're they did Brunswick first they're um going to go back and check David and Sweetwood cuz that currently has been milled and is being prepped for uh pavement that's one street that the township has been uh we rewarded NJ doot grant for bronck is the next NJ do Grant U Carlson Parkway and Smith place is the next NJ do Grant those are separate in a part of the road overlay but the same way PNG is working on all of those streets in the order that we're Paving in yeah if that answers your question yeah that's perfect so in essence we're getting twice as much paved but half of the cost because PSG is covering you know essentially half of the cost for for those roads um what about time frame what does it look like for some of these residents that are seeing you know all the all the streets look like uh war zone swies yeah um so we had a time frame established and um psng had to be pulled off of Brunswick Road to go somewhere else um I would say we just signed the contract today for the or we we prepared to sign the contract for the uh Road overlay which will be done in September um so Paving we hope will be complete done in September which means all the gas work has to be done before then uh importantly though this is doing services this is allowing the township to go change water mains on the street uh we do not want to redig on a street after it's been paved it's something we really really want to avoid so typically psng cuts a trench in the road it takes 90 days for that trench to settle and make sure that there's no uh bellying in it once that trench settles we can go through and pave the whole thing uh they do about 400 ft uh um a day so 400 500 ft a day once School's Out they'll be even going more uh but I anticipate by September everything will be buttoned up and paved so it's going to be this year oh yeah great thank you Mrs we don't want to plow snow on bump your Ro thank you that's all I had man okay great do I have a motion um that one um mayor I move for the um introduction of pending Bond why does it no we're on C no where are we just a motion um so moved second thank you roll call please Council misseri yes Council woman Miga yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item D is to consider resolution concerning introduction of the 2024 solid waste collection District budget mayor thank you this is not as long this is our budget that funds garbage collection it's outside of our cap calculation I am proud to say this budget decreased by $245,200 uh has a total appropriation in fiscal year 24 of $2,164 999 compared to a total in fiscal year 23 of $2,410 181910 this budget being funded with $329,950 4 in Surplus that's it very much garbage is easy you like that budget do I have a motion I'll make a motion to approve M second thank you roll call please councilman misseri yes Council woman Miga yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item e is to consider resolution concerning compliance with njsa 44-5 as amended by pl27 183 mayor I'll I'll explain this uh the this has to be adopted every year upon consideration of the municipal budget but this year the township is subject to State review of our budget um every three years the state reviews it other years you could go into self-examination and review it yourself State's reviewing it this year um so we want all this buttoned up that way we could send it down to the state with a nice complete packet for them to hopefully review and say nice job this resolution certifies the governing B's compliance with the United States equal OPP employment opportunity commission's guidance on the consideration of arrest and conviction record and employment decisions under title 7 of CRA of 1964 this is required by njsa 40a colon 4-5 to be considered prior to the approval of the municipal budget that's all I have thank you very much do I have a motion some moved thank you second thank you roll call please councilman meseri yes councilman councilwoman Miga yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item f is to consider introd introduction of pending ordinance number 24- 932 Bond ordinance authorizing various General improvements in and for the township of Cedar Grove in the county of Essex New Jersey appropriating 1 1,894 310 therefore in authorizing the issuance of 1,799 594 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof mayor if I may this um the township seeks to cast a 1 1,827 310 Capital Improvement bond that number is going to be reduced by $398,000 through an NJ doot Grant resulting in a total Capital cost of $1,429 310 this will likely be cashed through Bond anticipation notes as the bond uh ban interest rate is not inverted the way it was last year but we'll make that decision the day of the sale y um when we want to see what the rates are um this year ban rates will be 50 to 100 basis points lower when we go to cast accordingly this year the township plans on placing into General capital for the public edification I will read the 2024 Road overlay program $320,000 2024 Road reconstruction design of Carlson and Smith place $440,000 which will be reduced by $398,000 njdot Grant easement repair on Bowen Road for 300,000 replacing an F350 Mason dump 8 5,000 repairing the leaf tag box this we use to suck up the leaves throughout Town 35,000 uh the cat mini excavator new they're around $120,000 but we're going to be trading in our old one and the difference is this 655,000 upgrading the fuel management system to be digital down at DPW 20,000 sidewalk repair repair and replacement 12,000 tree replanting program $40,000 we do this every year we add money in the capital budget to plant trees throughout the township Town Hall LED lighting conversion 35,000 Town Hall council chambers and office renovation 40,000 BFW remediation this is the money we're seeking to spend to remediate the VFW site and plant trees there also remove the asphalt we're already getting prices and quotes to return that back to uh perious surface and remove the impervious surface uh rehab rehabilitation of The Barn at Morgan's Farm some of the bricks are are pointed out and some work needs to be done there that's 20,000 new banners Hometown hero banners up in uh down Route 23 15,000 pekman River improvements this is used to actually go in the river uh and do some of the work we've also um we're hoping to receive $125,000 from the state to offset some of these costs um we won't have to bond for it tax map digitalization upgrade that's $10,000 that's required before we're ordered to go out to rebal Bachi Bachi ball court coverings $40,000 upgrades and improvements to Panther Park $10,000 South End Firehouse improvements $122,000 for our fire department electric vehicle nozzle which slides under the vehicle uh for an electric vehicle that's on fire and it keeps it cool and radio reprogramming 30,000 for our Police Department Cedar Grove Police armor 28,000 police conversion equipment 69,000 police desk upgrade we're moving the dispatch desk from where it is to a new location in the police department uh 55,000 Fleet retention $228,300 I think the council's favorite item the stall drone um for our Police Department Dr to uh um as you know you're aware to use to apprehend criminals and also use that community events for 15,000 there's also 50,000 for statutory expenses uh covered with the bond ordinance very good thank you very much uh do I have a motion mayor I move for the introduction of pending Bond ordinance number 24- 932 to be published in full in the Verona cedar roog times as a pending ordinance with a public hearing hearing scheduled for May 6th 2024 thank you do I have a second second thank you roll call please councilman misseri yes Council woman MGA yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item G is to consider introduction of pending Bond ordinance number 24- 933 Bond ordinance authorizing various water utility improvements in and for the township of Cedar Grove in the county of Essex New Jersey appropriating $1.1 million therefore and and authorizing the issuance of $1 million 45,000 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof thank you mayor this uh ordinance seeks to cast a $1.1 million Capital Improvement bond for the water utility um this every year by law we have to replace one water main last year we did the one on Ruckers Avenue um the next two really bad ones are Brier Hill and Monroe Street U Brier Hill is uh we're to do this year that's an $850,000 cost part of the issue with Brier Hill is there's a bridge that you know you cross from Ridge to go over to Brier Hill so replacing a water main under the bridge is very difficult considering the D doesn't really like you going into the river so but we're going to figure it out um also Brier Hill at this point has more areas of replacement than original pipe and um that's an issue so that's 850,000 we're also going to be replacing two trucks for2 200,000 total and the statutory expenses of $50,000 are included in that Bond okay thank you very much do I have a motion may I move for introduction of pending Bond ordinance 24933 to be published in full in Verona City Grove times as a pending ordinance for public hearing scheduled for May 6 2024 thank you do I have a second second thank you roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman MGA yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes yes item H is to consider introduction of pending Bond ordinance number 24- 934 Bond ordinance authorizing various sewer utility improvements in and for the township of Cedar Grove in the county of Essex New Jersey appropriating $200,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $200,000 bonds or note to finance part of the cost thereof thank you mayor this is a ordinance seeking to cat the $200,000 Capital Improvement bond for Shore utility which also uh will likely be catch through bands this is for various General improvements to our source system we have uh rbc's down there which is Big concrete um rotating contactors uh we did one about two years ago we'll do another one now but as the council's aware in my uh in the water and Shore rate analysis there's significant items of capital uh for the shore utility that will be discussed you know over the next coming years something that's healthy for the sore but these are little improvements that we could do to kind of keep it updated as as best we can as the council's where we did spend money out of the cares act to do the EQ tank um so that didn't cost the township any money uh and there's also $50,000 from the statutory expenses here as well thank you very much uh do I have a motion mayor I move for introduction of pending Bond ordinance number 24- 934 to be published in full in the Verona Cedar Grove times as a pending ordinance with the public hearing scheduled for May 6th 2024 thank you do I have a second second thanks roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman M yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item I is to consider resolution of the township Council of the township of Cedar Grove authorizing the purchase of water meters from Rio supply of s cerville New Jersey 08081 through the Morris County cooperative pricing contract number 47 for the purchase of Neptune 360 water meters in the amount not to exceed $1 million mayor this uh through you earlier today the council adopted the uh ordinance allocating money in the capital Improvement fund this is the purchase of those meters from the money that was allocated for in the capital Improvement fund I do want to note that many townships are charging their residents for these meters they can range in cost between $800 and $1,200 install the townships using its pilot funds um to pay for this directly um so there's no uh out- of- pocket cost for anyone who has a meter less than one in which all residents most residents do some houses have 200 makes sense thank you very much um do I have a motion make a motion to approve thank you second second thanks roll call please councilman misseri yes Council woman Miga yes Council zali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes item eight approval of bills we had resolved by the township of Cedar Grove County of Essex New Jersey that the summary of bills having been audited and found to be correct are hereby ordered paid in the aggregated amount of 2,991 184 thank you do I have a motion so moves second thank you roll call please Council Neri yes councilwoman Nega yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor scabbit yes mayor Peterson yes item nine the meeting is now open to residents of the township wishing to be heard on any item on or off the agenda concerning Township [Applause] business good evening good even of Essex County liaison um I just wanted to announce a couple of events happening in the month of April throughout the county um the first begins this weekend it's our Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival in branchbrook park I'm happy to report that as of this morning the cherry blossoms have reached Peak Bloom um and this weekend we will kick off with a bike race on Saturday and a 10k run on S Sunday um registration is open through I believe Friday evening and it's online at essexcounty nj.org uh next weekend we will have Essex County Family Day on Saturday April 13th and then bloomfest on Sunday April 14th both of those events are free to participate or attend in um all of the details are online um and then on April 20th the county will celebrate Earth Day at the Essex County Environmental Center in rosand this is a free event with a lot of our partner groups participating such as the ruers Master Gardeners of Essex County um there'll be a 4H fair our Essex County beekeepers and it's from 11:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. on April 20th um so I look forward and invite all of the residents to attend thank you very much anyone else wishing to be heard no okay come good evening good evening EMT aella 321 Bowen [Applause] Road okay um I had to I didn't hear much going on our backyard I know they stopped construction or destruction whatever you want to call it behind my house and and from what I understand there new stipulation something something changed the plans can I speak to that go ahead mayor I'm not aware of any that changed it's my understanding that there's been some nothing has been changed in terms of from the township side I think on the Builder end from what I understand and and I hope I'm not wrong but it is my understanding that they're having money issues so things have come to a halt I guess until their funding comes back in so that's why that's right or mayor I I thre you uh I have not heard anything from the Builder um I speak with our affordable housing Council on it um he's reaching out to them we are uh we do have money in escrow that we still retain as well as the um um we get monthly reports from new Van Lines uh who the township pays out of escrow to keep an update on the progress of this site um but I have not heard from uh anyone on that site regarding the uh right yeah and and I haven't either this is just kind of what I've heard so I'm I can't say that with like 100% certainty but I do know that it has stopped um but that it doesn't mean that the the plan has stopped or that it's going to change it just means that it's temporarily Haled for how long I have no idea well that don't upset me at all I know it doesn't upset me either but that's fine and there something else I wanted to bring up I don't know if any of you are aware there's a building on the corner of Village Park in s Park pretty large building maybe 50,000 Square ft I don't know I didn't measure it and um I don't know if you do are you familiar what they doing they they call it a uh fencing school they teach kids how to fence not y I'm not familiar with it though okay well the reason I bought it up about a month ago and I I reported this to headquarters I I went in just to see if they knew what was happening but um I was leaving the mulchin yard I come up the hill and there's a school bus out of town old school bus parked on the left side of the road and getting out of the school but I had to stop whole maybe 50 young children couple some older children a lot of men a few women carrying and some rolling suitcases some carrying suitcases all entering the building and I literally I mean they I don't know where they came from but you I don't know why they walked in front of my truck but they literally like they didn't know any better um they entered the building and never heard anything about it or anything since don't know who they are where they come from they didn't look like they were going there to practice fencing I don't I mean you might want to do some homework and feel like I I uh I could have someone just uh see the the occupancy uh conditions of the building yeah just to that would that would be fine I mean the only thing my mind is going just cuz I have kids that participate maybe it was like a tournament or something like that that they were all going in but I have I have no idea so so yeah do you have the datea that Mr a they had a lot of luggage with them some of them do you have the date of that occurrence no it was about a month ago um it to the chief actually he happened to be walking out as I was where I don't even know it's it's on the corner it's on the corner of San Park and Village Park across from s uh Plastics before you pull into the Caputo Mard I know where it is I will have uh code enforcement just take a look and see what the occupancy capacity is and if there's events that uh cause that occupancy to uh was just suspicious looking it was an out of town bus what are they doing there I don't know I figured it's something worth mentioning appreciate that thank you very much okay thanks a lot have a good night anyone else wishing to be heard no okay all right seeing none I will close that portion and do I have a motion to adjourn so move second thank you roll call please misseri yes councilwoman miger yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor scavage yes mayor Peterson yes thank Youk you ready good job