will everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for a moment of silence after we finish let's take a moment of reflection and respect for Sandy mayor Mars toown council president Democratic party leader a tenacious activist and friend to so many in our community she will be deeply missed by all of us may she rest in peace thank you the next item on the agenda this evening is approval of the minutes may I have a motion to approve the minutes from January 3rd 2024 the reorganization meeting and January 17th 2024 close and ready second all in favor proclamations we have one Proclamation on this evening's agenda will be honoring April 22nd 2024 as Earth Day and April 26 2024 as Arbor Day and we're going to have Committee Member CA janada read the proclamation he is the Environmental commission we ason thank you mayor it's my honor to read the commission thank you mayor and it's an honor to read the P Commission whereas Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22nd and Arbor Day will be celebrated on April 28 and whereas both days welcome the recognition and celebration of our planet and its natural resources and whereas the Earth Day theme this year is planet versus plastic advocating for widespread awareness of the health risks that come with the use of plastics with the goal of reducing plastic production 60% by 2040 and whereas Earth Day is an annual reminder of the constant need for environmental activism stewardship commitments and sustainability efforts and whereas the first Arbor Day occurred on April 10th 1872 which was established as a special day for the planting of trees and whereas trees can be a solution to combating climate change by reducing the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water cutting Heating and Cooling costs moderating the temperature cleaning the air producing lifegiving oxygen and providing habitat for wildlife and whereas all beings have a right to a healthy thriving and sustainable environment and whereas Earth Day and Arbor Day are both celebrated around the world to inspire everyone to take care of our planet and protect the Earth for future Generations now therefore be it resolved that the Morris Township committee supports and commemorates both Earth Day and or Arbor Day and encourages the residents of Morris Township to join them in the preservation and appreciation of our environment thank you thank you Jada there are currently five members of the public joining us on Zoom at this time we will open the meeting to the public comment we will take comments from inperson attendees first and then switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom to indicate you would like to speak please state your name and address for the record before speaking please note that comments are limited to five minutes per speaker if you have questions you would like answer your remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this purpose is there a motion to open public comment so move second all in favor good evening 26 fridge place I can also make an inquiry at this point right says public commentary inquir right the ordinance 0724 regarding the ex shared services for the sewer pump could you get an update on that sh yes that involves the litigation um that involved the township of Mars The Sisters of Township of Mars Sisters of Charity and the burough Floren Park um the settlement of the litigation requires the burough of Floren Park uh to manage that pump station and that's the shared services agreement that's part of that um that we've worked out with them we take the um as part of that we've always taken the fluent from that pump station has been operated by The Sisters of Charity but um rightfully so the Sisters of Charity will no longer be in the sewer business and it'll be done by the municipality so um that was you may have seen a a resolution back in May for the settlement agreement for all the parties and now this is follows up as to how that pump station's going to be operated um and what the requirements are of marsh Township in Floren Park it's all part of that litigation they have uh Floren Park already has um affordable housing project on that site and that's part of the litigation settlement so that affordable housing project will be um giving a fluent to that pump station that was the driving force as to why that pump station had to be uh built in order to accommodate um that that housing project on the Park Avenue and Floren Parks no man' that the fluent from that project if and when built would come up a main up punch B Road and would not be part of that pump station we're waiting now for the sisters that they're going to identify a developer who's going to develop that property as part of our declaratory judgment litigation to be built and um it's really we're in a we're not driving the the bus on this one it's the sisters that are and what they when they decide to uh select the developer um and then they would have to come back before the tant for the approvals you're welcome thank you is there anybody else from the public hello I'm John Beal I live at 55 belly Hollow Road moristown sorry this my first time addressing in the committee so thank you for your time um uh belly Hollow is a terrible Road um we live on this road my neighbors we've all been talking about it uh High rates of speed it's a continuous Pothole from the top to the bottom um you know there's endless construction traffic coming through between 24 and 202 uh and I believe that those vehicles are the cause of the roadway being in the shape that it's in uh for instance uh a pickup truck weighs between two and three tons fine a Mason dump is around seven tons a full Mason dump is 10 tons plus an empty tandem is 14 tons a loaded tandem is 35 tons uh never mind all the trailers that are dragging all the equipment behind uh we have a f ton limit on our road so the road is destroyed and has nothing to do with Department of Public Works they they go out and they patch they do a good job job uh but I uh you know I think law enforcement is doing a good job at stopping some of the speeding uh but I think that the road is into the condition right now that someone's really going to get hurt um so I have a solution perhaps monitoring speed obviously is a is a good way to go about it we should probably make or consider making the whole Road 25 miles an hour instead of it being I think it's 35 at the top end near at Western and it goes down to 20 on the curves and 25 at the bottom I would just consider making the whole thing 25 maybe uh maybe riding on the roads 25 like up at Skyland they did a good job up there with that um I think that the uh speed signs uh did something good slow people down a little bit you should try getting your mail out of the mailbox when somebody's two feet away from you at 40 miles an hour it's pretty tough um I also uh feel that we could probably start enforcing a maybe better signage uh for the fton limit there's a there's a sign about 16 by 20 at the bottom 16 by 20 at the top the one at the bottom is covered by trees and anything over a dump truck is overweight so I think it would be pretty easy to figure out who's overweight on the road but um you know I'm kind of worried because we come out of our driveways biley Hollow if you know the road uh every driveway has sight line issues and you have to creep out onto the road to actually see if there's a car coming and when it's coming at you at 40 miles an hour on a curve you know there's you're just hoping that nothing's going to happen and I'm really kind of concerned that some of these tandems that come down the road are simply not going to be able to stop so you know I could imagine what's you know something that seven times the legal tonnage uh would do at the bottom of the road or a school bus or you know a pedestrian there's bicyclists that go up that road um you know all kinds of stuff like that so I would hope that the committee would Pro would take this up and really consider you know a new road projects there uh maybe it should be to a higher doot spec you know my suspicion is that the road was a Wagon Road at one point eventually it was paved over there's also considerable drainage problems there too so uh do you know if there's anything on the docket for that well first of all we appreciate comments and definitely I think most us are familiar with the road but think us the latest last time give you the good news oh like that on tonight's um agenda are a number of audiences for our general capital projects um the first one coming up deals with Road overlays um Bay Hollow was at the top of the list so Bell Hollow is going to get a complete uh milling and overlay that will probably take place around August is usually when they do the work but the fun the tent committee is introducing in ordinance the this evening um for that funding and then that will be under their consideration on May 15 and if that's adopted then we have a 20-day estole period to wait so the money would be available in June we usually work with our contractors that are on State Co-Op so we have a set price for that um they do about 10 roads a year for us um depending on the funding the length of the road the width of the road that kind of thing but Bly Hall is on the top of the list so um the roadway is going to be completely uh repaved this summer beautiful um as to the overweight vehicles and everything else I will certainly talk to the police department Command Staff um for you know additional enforcement there I I do travel that road quite a bit so I know you are um and going back to your speed limit the patent can't arbitrarily set a speed limit there's a formula it's called The Manual of uniform traffic control devices and it's a formula that has to go in with speed counts and volume counts and that establishes the speed limit so I'm sure we will be doing those counts once the road is repaved to see if that speed limit should be changed or not um the top level is flat but then you get into the curves and that also goes into the factor as to you know the residential Suburban is the 35 but you can lower that to the 25 for certain um things like strong curves steepness of the slopes those kinds of things if they can consider the drainage as well there's a there's large drainage problems near the near the bottom of the hill okay some drains don't even drain and the poor people out on Mount kemell must get destroyed by the amount of water that comes down that road are you referring to the storm p storm basins that are on the roadway and they're not they're not water not going in or that giant giant puddle so it's clogged okay it's clogged yeah okay I will give that also to our Department of Public Works to take a look at well thank you for your time you're welcome sir anything else hello my name is Mary Haron 13 Pine Tree Lane and my neighbor Rosemary mono is 15 Pine Tree Lane you might know her I'm here to talk to you about rats we have a rat problem on Pine Tree Lane in November I discovered that I had rats in my house I had to move out because I had an infestation I reported it to the health department I've gone through two exterminators I had to live outside my home for three months I still have a rat problem it's coming from the school and from the restaurants down the street I understand that the state of New Jersey does not require extermination for restaurant s and grocery stores so I also spoke to Liz in the health department they've informed the school to get covers for their garbage cans in the summer programs my neighbors also there's a number of them that have had problems with rodents due to the school and due to the market at the bottom of the street so I'm just curious as to why the school does not have proper extermination why there is a dumpster behind I guess one of the baseball fields there's a fence that divides us and there's a dumpster right there by the houses why is that there and why do they not have lids for the garbage cans in the summer for their programs and why is it that the township of Morris does not have an ordinance that states that every restaurant in Bodega have extermination well I think that um to be honest I know the health department do but what's there's no fine there's no ordinance so they're just like sure great yeah yeah they they right they would have to they they get inspected there's any violations they get notice of the violation they don't get a satisfactory approval she there you can go behind the jeans Market it's a mess he's got garbage cans there with no actually on behind jeans yeah we already have a concern on that as you as you pull into jeans There's a garbage cam right there with no lid on it then you go around behind the back there's a dumpster and two other we took pictures but the school also is an issue but the the issue with jeans with that um we did get a complain on that my property maintenance officer was going up there today to address that I think it's a new owners up there I was told that's the nail salon but then next to is it still the same owners still the same owners to my you might have new knowledge we had recently received a concern for the back of the property um being unkempt and and garbage and things like that so my proper the school is also the rats I found another Dead one underneath my you know window there because I have bait boxes I walk around because I'm now looking at everyone's bait boxes so I should you know I could be your like Deputy in health department but you know the school's a problem I don't want a dumpster on the other side okay of my property and would like them to you know listen to the health department get lids for your garbage cans um it's a good timing I'm going to say good timing meaning that uh Miss zami and our public health nurse and myself have a meeting with the superintendent on Friday so we'll add that to the agenda thank you there um the go the we heard we were told that the DPW yes the DPW said that it was the school's problem to pick up the garbage during the summertime programs and the school said it was a dpw's problem this came from the health right the health your health lady inspector told us that they were fighting back and forth figing who's going to pick the garbage up so guess what don't put anything there because you know what it's like to have a picnic on a Sunday on a Saturday when you have your family over and they see a rat coming across your lawn it's not nice and it you know don't laugh because it's not funny they come come across they come from Bale school they come from down the street and when you see a rat in your yard okay Mr Simone next door to me killed 14 last year in his yard okay 14 rats it's not funny anymore and we're tired of it I had to pay for an exterminator last year she paid an exterminator this year the woman across the street just paid an exterminator her husband works for the parks commissions okay for the state I mean enough is enough like we've had enough we had rats come over because the person who owns a the lot next to a and b Bagel had grass this High still and then finally we got summons to cut it in I think in November or October because A and B Bagel was complaining about all the mice and the critters that he was seeing in there so they made I think if I remember correctly Mr scari scami Pete scui owns that property and was told to come there and clean it out not claim I mean we don't have to live like this we pay taxes we do not have to live like this and have rats in our yard when we have people over and little kids I mean wait till a little kid in the daytime gets bit by a rat out there you're gonna have a big problem because it they are out there all the time these animals and it's not just at night and it's not early morning you can go out at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and see a rat we certainly and we don't like it anymore we're done with it the neighborhood is the street is done with it we would like something done when thank you we'll take we'll do what we can to take care of the problem is there anybody else from the public Mr O'Reilly well there's no way there yeah there's no way for me to unmute I said you have to put that sign on my you breaking up Jim okay can you hear me now yes sir your name and address James o uh Independence Way uh your this is considerably less serious than the people who came before me just now with the problem but was there a reason that we're just getting around and I understand there may be good reason uh to con uh approving the minutes of a January meeting and what was the other meeting which we just approved was that the last meeting or was it before the last meeting did you hear me yes can you hear me Jim yeah I hear you reorganization meeting which is early in January on the 3 and then it was the township committee meeting on January 17th and uh just unfortunately sometimes at that time of year it's really busy and I think that the clerk does her best to get the minutes as quickly as possible and we will we are always trying to do better and we continue to that but right now I think the minutes are at month right will try to get them posted quicker and okay I understand it's a lot of work uh the are you're aware the sound system my picture of your the video elements going on and off now you're now I see you before I just saw my name as Eagle building as that is uh and you're also aware that your sound system sometimes I can hear the mayor sometimes I can't or maybe other members of the C of the committee sometimes the uh Podium mic seems weak sometimes it's okay and we and the uh Mr Quinn's mic is always good and I hear a little something going slight sound is on the uh audio singing sound I just want you to aware that from a point of view of someone watching VI via Zoom all these things are going on and we apologize for that we're doing our best to try to I just want to make you aware of it okay thank you you can turn me up you can mute me now see no other hand oh no we do have one more Vicky did you state your name and address yes hi can you hear me yes hi it's Vicky bergu 11 Mark Twain drive um thanks for hearing me this evening um just wanted to see if we can direct um conversation about um the gas powered leaf blowers um I went ahead and investigated a couple local towns um because they've recently banned um leaf blowers so um if you all look at Maplewood there's an ordinance 30572 M CLA has a new ordinance that took effect October 16 2023 Banning um gas powered leaf blowers and as you are aware right next to martown uh martown has a new ordinance 0332 also um I got support from the community of over 1500 votes that are um Banning gas powered leaf blowers so with that considering our surrounding areas really taking this as concern I wanted to see if this is a discussion that we can have in the township um I don't think that we need to be as aggressive as the other towns in which there's a complete ban but maybe something that can last anywhere from May to September so there could be a compromise for spring and fall cleanup the reason for um the ban would be from an environmental perspective um especially um you know really um you know the gas um you know really that pollution but also from a noise perspective um many people even after Co are working from home it's very disruptive and there's really no quiet in the neighborhoods so on Mark Twain um any day you come through this street you will get noise from 8 to 5 um particularly in the summer and it's really quite disruptive so just really wanted to bring this up I know I brought it up a couple years ago and and wanted to see if this is a conversation that we can you know look into and and see if there's something about that's all I had to say thank you for bringing it up it certainly is a concern and I I don't know has it on the environmental commission this has been brought up SAA I don't know if it's recently but I know in the past it was at least disc it was discussed but nothing uh came forward at least for now but I think it's in the docket but there's other uh issues or there also discussing that are related to it yeah absolutely but again we appreciate your comments we know it's a concern we know especially in the summer months how disruptive it is and I know that's why many other municipalities they have certain rules which I think are in place though they can't start before a certain time and we also have that just the time just not about gas and no contract is on Sunday in the summer they go anywhere from 8 to 8 um there needs to be something that's done maybe there's a time restriction um like we can't have five or even a at least a month or two of quiet in the summer would be really be appreciated again we appreciate your concerns and we'll bring them to the discussion and then we'll see where we go from there um it is it's a little complicated um in those summer months for the areas where people feel that they property if they want fire certainly we agree that um environmentally too especially gasow like to try thank I think we should look at the local community especially barstown Mount Claren Maplewood making those decisions because they're all Banning it and they're being very aggressive in the Banning so there's an opportunity in which we can have a compromise so thank you for your time really appreciate it I don't see any other hands on Zoom so is there a motion to close the public so moved second we have three ordinances for public hearing and adoption on tonight's agenda Madame clerk please read the title of the first forance inter record and will then open5 we will take comments from in person attendees first and then switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand and zoom to indate I have a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 0524 so moved all in favor I seeing no one from the public or any hands raised of people wishing to speak will someone make a motion to close the public comment so moved second all in favor I may I have a motion to adop number4 second is there any discussion or any questions mad cler I have a roll vote Mr yes Mr yes may yes mayor declare ordinance number 0524 approved and adopted and direct cler to publish proper notice thereof in the official newsp Madam clerk please read the title of the second ordinance into the record and then I will ask Mr Quinn to give us some background on ordinance 06- 24 24 and why it should be rescinded as written and reintroduced tonight as ordinance 08- 24 ordinance 06- 24 an ordinance of the township Committee of the township of Morris amending chapter 15 of the Township Code note amendment to Personnel [Music] policies can I have a motion to resend ordinance 0 6-24 so moved second all in favor I gonna need a roll call you want me to do the explanation yes do the explanation now mayor we are uh requesting that 0624 be rescinded um there had been a last minute change to the ordinance before it was introduced last night by the governing body um upon further review it basically co-mingled um a sickle benefit for what is for full-time employees and what is statutory for part-time employees um caused some confusion so looking at that um we thought it best to separate out what the sitime leave benefit is for full-time employees con considered for carryover and what the sitime leave benefit is for part-time employees by State Statute um it's a material change so we're asking that the ordinance uh be resented tonight um the corrections to that ordinance have been made and uh would recommend that 0824 be then introduced later on this evening um for this ordinance any questions from anyone so do we need a new motion a roll okay roll call please Mr gazelle yes Mr JY yes Mr janata yes Mr rabitz yes and mayor griglia yes I Donna J giglia mayor declare ordinance number 0624 rescinded Madame clerk please read the title of the last ordinance for public hearing and adoption into the record and then we will open the public hearing ordinance 0724 an ordinance of the township of Morris authorizing the exe execution of a shared service agreement with the burough of Lauren Park concerning the operations of a sewer pump station and governing the treatment of sewage flows note Sisters of Charity of St Elizabeth we will take comments from in-person attendees first and then switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom to indicate if you would like to speak and I have a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 0724 soone move second all in favor seeing no one from the public or hands raised on Zoom will someone make a motion to close the public comment so move second all in favor may may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 0724 some moved second is there any discussion or questions Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr gazelle yes Mr Dy Mr janata yes Mr ravit yes mayor glia yes I Donna j grigley a mayor declare ordinance number 0724 approved and adopted and direct the Township Clerk to publish proper notice thereof in the official newspaper at this time we will now move into the 2020 for municipal budget presentation which will be provided by our Township administrator Tim Quinn CFO Shan Ferguson and our Township auditor Valerie Dolan it's [Music] mayor grig and members of the tent committee I am pleased to present the 2024 budget for public hearing consideration for adoption as we go into it it's a very long process as you know you've all been involved in the process um a special thank you to our department heads uh for all the work that they put in um and assisting Us in developing the budget um appreciate all the help then from the standing committees as we reviewed um each of the budgets with the department heads and then the finance committee of Mayor grig and um minman JY Mr Ferguson myself working together to bring everything together um that we present to you tonight um also many thanks uh to Mr Ferguson for his input on it and also many thanks for uh Miss Valerie Dolan for our order from NBAA um who's always there for us uh whenever we have a question or an answer or need a response some guidance on how to not the way I like to do the budget is usually I will ask uh Miss Dolan to lead off and give you us an overview on that I will then um do the budget presentation and I will ask Mr Ferguson then to uh back clean up and uh and bring it through a close so with that I will turn over to miss thank you very much um I do want to make a couple of comments I want to commend the efforts this year that was done by all the parties involved putting together this budget it's a sound budget well balanced and thoughtful to the residents of mois Township while dealing with many inflationary increases Morris townships also desire to not eliminate any services to the residents so you all should be commended for a fiscally sound budget this budget has been reviewed and signed off by our firm and our review of of all the statutory budgetary guidelines fortunately for you this year you were not a state review we were able to get that eliminated for you this year um you will go back into the normal threeyear rotation on state review you had been in annual review due to the covid emergencies but having them being paid off you are no longer under that state scrutiny you will just be in the normal review process this budget is well within the statutory appropriation cap and the tax levy cap as required by the state of New Jersey and there is nothing in this budget that I feel is any way would place an unnecessary burden on future budgets of the township thank you Mr do um as we go um next slide please we always find many challenges as we go into the budget year and most of those challenges deal with expenses that we have very little control over um those are some of the statutory expenses but then also expenses um that deal with health care and insurance and then you unfortunately you've seen the cost of goods and services have uh gone up dramatically C cpi's been up at times between six and s% and we're trying to manage everything with not going any higher than 2% so it's sometimes a balancing act in what you have what you can afford and then what offsets that we can do um budget you know biggest expense for the township uh we have a very good Workforce a very lean Workforce uh compared to other municipalities for what we do and and get done but employee salaries are a significant part of the budget and um our employees getting raises the Pion committee has always been very favorable in providing uh adequate income and and salaries to our employees the other challenge that we have is providing benefits for our employees and health benefits especially as you may recall last year we are part of the state health benefits plan that went up 21% it was a huge number last year that we're dealing with um we're doing a little bit better this year it's not great it's because it's you know was 5% on the medical 9% on the prescription overall about 7% um but if you look at the actuaries that are coming in for 2025 they're not pretty um so we may be back you know look unless something does and hopefully that as the governor gave a nice holiday to the state employees um we'd like to see that also for Municipal Employees because it also helps out you know the municipalities but um we'll deal with that as we go on but um the bright spot if there is on statutory expenses was pension costs in the past several years they've been double digits 10 11% um this year our public employees pension came in at 5% and we actually got a very minor reduction um you know $5,000 on a $2.2 million bill um but it's zero% increase so um it is we didn't have to budget any extra money for for pensions so we're very fortunate on that the other challenges that we have and I've spoken about this in past years are the Tipping and recycling fees The Tipping fees have gone up about 5% this year but we know what our tonnage is we know what they're going to be that's fairly easy to project the one we have difficulty is the recycling uh um we have a ceiling as to what it's going to be but there's a lot of fluctuation in that and we can see some months that be significant high and then other months be very low it all depends on the market um we have added an extra $50,000 into the budget to deal with the uh increases in tipping fees and in um the recycling and we hopeful we'll take a look at that as we go on through the year we continue to monitor that from from month to month um the other challenges and you also see this at home is the cost of gasoline um it it's G up it's come down um we use a lot of diesel fuel so um the diesel fuel is still up in the $4 plus a gallon um and that's you know running all of our you know heavy duty equipment out of the Department of Public Works so it's it's a big number um we put extra money into the 2023 budget for it and then you know we came in with that number and we're going to keep that number here for 2024 the other challenge that we have this year is Bond anticipation notes um the last time we went out to bond was 20 19 um so it becomes a cash flow as we approve new projects that haven't been funded through a bond ordinance yet um so every year we go out from this point on for these Bond anticipation notes in the fall going back to when we did them in 16 and 17 and 18 we were seeing rates of less than 1% um we came in just below 4% back in September and everybody else around me is cheering and I'm going it's gonna it's going to kill my budget um but um we actually did very well because of our AAA Bond rating um we actually did offering statements we went you know like we would normally do a whole Bond sale to try and get those better interest rates because we knew they were going to come in High um we're certainly hopeful that come September we maybe do better maybe a little cross our fingers um but again you know we have to continue doing Bond anticipation notes uh for the foreseeable future until we determine it is now the appropriate time to go out to bond and inser that's a timing thing because you want to certainly get the lowest interest rates possible when you do that Bond so ongoing project that with the help of Mr Ferguson and Miss Dolan that um we're looking at it on a regular basis for that uh the other major challenges is the swim pool it's a great amenity we have for our residents here um but it cannot be sustained on user fees we have significant Debt Service from when we did the pool Renovations back in 2014 and 15 um we got a 10-year bond on that of you know about $4 million so we have a bond payment of $425,000 year seven and then we also have the bond anticipation note of another 52,000 so um overall with the increase in salaries the increase in chemicals and everything else we have to subsidize the pool this year for $740,000 out of the municipal budget most likely we won't use that 740 but um because user fees will come in higher um because we did raise the rates D committee raised the rates um and we'll look at that and monitor that but it's still pretty significant nut that we have to do to provide that amenity uh for the swim pools okay just the the budget process what we do is you know it's for a year round process for Mr Ferguson and myself and um looking at it every month where we're going but really getting into the nitty-gritty of it begins with our department heads in October I think they dread that department head meeting um because they get their homework and um they have everything back to me um with their recommendations for their operating budgets uh by mid November and then their capital budget requests by the end of November and then Mr Ferguson starts working on the salary projections for our employees and then we follow up with the standing committees going into December and and January and then in January comes the finance committee and we try and bring this $42 million into a nice need package that we have for you tonight um and we get it introduced in March and then we come here before before you for the public hearing and vote on adoption of the budget tonight one of the things that's in our budget is called state aid it's really a misnomer it's really 10 energy tax receipts um you know back in 2001 23 years ago we were getting $4.5 million um back in 2007 we were up to 4.8 million uh took a little bit of a hit in 2009 and a huge hit in 2010 and dropped down to 3.27 n and we stayed at that number through 2022 uh there's a lot of fanfare about how we were going to get more money and in 2023 we got an additional 22,000 and this year we got an additional 16,000 um little challenging um because if we had gotten our fair share of what we're supposed to be getting we we'd have another $23.4 million um that we that we deserve um we did get a d benefit um from another source from the state called Municipal relief funds it came in in 2023 in the amount of $342,000 so we are taking that as a revenue source for 2024 as per the instructions from the state of New Jersey and that is going away in the future so you will have the 342,000 that will no longer be there it was a onetime bump so we have an challenge for the 2025 budget already [Laughter] 2025 all right just wanted to show you the historical chart of the pensions as you can see it's it's a major part there there's been significant increases over the years and you can see as the graph shows those increases and how they have impacted budget since 2018 but again I'm very we're fortunate this year that it is not budget incre pensioning costs are not an impact on this year's budget we have an increase of $547 and then minus the 4 4648 so $53,000 overall for the budget so um we talked a little bit about the recycling next one sorry thank you the recycling tipping fees that just giving you a historical look at it as to where we are and the fluctuation that has gone up and down over the last several years um again we wanted to put some additional funding into the budget this year and we did increase it by $50,000 okay uh course estate mandates we're always looking these are a lot of the expenses that um we're obligated to pay but we don't um have really a lot of influence onto what those costs are going to be um as we talked a little bit we know the significant cost in in self State Health Care it is better than it has been certainly like to get it down in that two to 3% range but that does not look very promising uh for the foreseeable future um although it's one of our biggest expenses I think it's also important to note that our employees do contribute um overall they contribute 29% of the premiums which is over $1.5 million so it is a cost share between us and our employees um based on what's called chapter 78 which is a legislation from 2011 that mandated employees to contribute a certain percentage of their salaries uh towards their healthc care benefits and then our you know our statutory expenses which is the pension the healthcare Social Security you know is $8 million um for us and we also look at um Municipal debt and the T committee has always follow a philosophy we're only going to bring on debt as to what we um uh retire um and that's about $2.8 million um we do make exceptions for that when there are certainly major projects we made an exception last year um on two occasions one was for the significant Renovations we're doing over at Collinsville park for about 600,000 and then we had the opportunity to buy four Old Turnpike Road so we put in another $600,000 um that we could use for that purchase and again this year we are retiring 2.8 million we're bringing on 2.8 million of new projects but we are adding in an extra $650,000 and that is for the purchase of 15 Jean Street um which is a long coveted project uh time piece of property that we have wanted so that we can you know then start looking to make that into a community center so the decision was made to increase some additional debt based on that extraordinary circumstances of that opportunity to bring on um that building for use by the Township in the future uh again we have the the bands that get factored in we only have bands for the current fund and for the swim pool fund the sewer and the parking utilities both or we pay as we go 100% through a capital Improvement program um we have not had any new debt since in over nine years and I'm also pleased to say that we have a $35,000 debt payment in the parking utility and after this year the parking utility will be quote unquote debt-free um and we have a good Surplus there so any projects that need to be done for that parking utility we certainly have the re the funding in place to do that any improvements that uh in the foreseeable future again the swim pool is the the big one it's a $4 million renovation as I spoke earlier um and we are on year seven of that payout we've got three more major payouts for that debt but we'll have some additional debt coming on because the pools are now getting a little bit older and they need a little TLC to uh keep them up and running into our standards that are expected by our our residents to make sure that they are safe um and good properties the other variables we look at coming into the contract that impacted is we we have four unions within the township uh two in the police department one in the fire department and one that covers our Teamsters which is our Public Works our sewer utility and our Parks um all those contracts have been settled and they're all settled through December of 2025 so we had some good numbers going into this year for budgeting purposes and we will also in 2025 um for those the other variable in there is the library cost that's based on equalized value that's an assessment that's paid based on State Statute um it's going up sly because our equalized ratio dropped which is a good thing for our residents but it also increases the library tax but it's on both sides of the ledger so it has no direct impact on the tax rate but it is going up about $160,000 um again the state a is you know what it is and I said we were certainly hoping to get a little bit more than $166,000 um maybe we will next year and help offset that 324,000 who knows um also we had a $7 million increase in our rable base um so brought in some additional Revenue that then we can factor into uh the tax base Township's always looking at grant opportunities and what we can do um currently we have a number of grants that are already in the budget the national opioid settlement will be money will be coming in we've worked out a agreement with the county of so the county of Mars can spread those all over the services and will manage that grant for us um then we have our Municipal Alliance which helps with drug and alcohol abuse for primarily Our Youth and our teenagers but also for our seniors um as part of that and then we also have a new Grant that's also through the municipal Alliance we had it one time before it's called the DHA and that deals with mental health services for our juveniles so um we have resources for that that we can fund for that uh Grant project and then we get annually the bulletproof vest from both state and federal sources and that funding that we come in we then turn that around and we appropriate that towards the bulletproof vest for our police officers those bulletproof vests you know are well over $ thousand dollars and they have an expect life expectancy of about five years so it's a constant that we are turning over every year buying bulletproof vest as those vests um are taken out of service if they reach their life expectancy Tim real quick can you touch uh on grants that we may receive that we don't have here such as from state do or that next it's coming right up S one step ahead nope it's NOP it is it's coming up we do have a number of grants that have already come in uh since the budget was introduced um there it's called a chapter 59 Amendment to the budget chapter 159 um we did the drive run this morning and um I have to put that so it it this chapter 159 is you've seen is resolutions that will appropriate the grant but it will technically amend the budget for this and then it gets filed down with DCA so what we're looking at we get a a grant every year from clean communities that's about $50,000 that's usually in by now it hasn't come in yet that I'm aware of but it should be coming in fairly soon um we get the recycling tonnage Grant um that's based on what we do in recycling unfortunately that's down a little bit from past years um but it's $336,000 and then we turn around and we use that um for our cost for recycling and and doing different things it also helps pay for like the yearly Municipal calendar that goes out because we put all the recycling information on that um as for that we do have a we've applied to New Jersey DCA for firefighters equipment Grant um we've got a tentative of approval of $335,000 for turnout gear for our firefighter so it's about 10 sets of firefighter gear um waiting for the formal approval from the state on that and uh when we can appropriate uh and purchase those that turnout gear but it should be in in the very near future and um once we get that in we'll again do a chapter 159 uh to appropriate that funding into the budget other grants that we get on a regular basis is the alcohol education rehab and enforcement and that really comes in about $3,500 and it goes to assist the Municipal Court um in the prosec prosecution of DWI um oftentimes we need special Court sessions they become fairly involved so it gives us the extra funding for our professionals to and our overtime for our police uh to prosecute those cases the other one we get in it should be also coming in fairly soon the county of marsh gives a municipal Alliance supplemental Grant um we share that with martown each municipality gets 2,000 we manage it um there is a 50% cost share so we'll be getting you know $4,000 we'll have to match that with the 2,000 and we use it for a lot of Team programs we use it for Project Graduation uh those kinds of things um as part of that so that'll be additional coming in and then we expect additional funds coming in from uh the national opioid settlement then we're always constantly looking at Grants um when they come in what is viable we have a couple right now we're looking at and should be you know it's being submitted and um helpful for approval we're still waiting on some that have already been submitted committed that we're waiting and hopefully we're going to get approval on it one is a big one for um sustainable Jersey um to do a environmental resource inventory it's for $20,000 and we're hopeful that we'll get that this year so as we go through and always looking at costs you know one of the things that we look is at our very high level services that we provide to our residents that's always been one of the most important things for the governing body is to provide these Services um to our community uh we have excellent servic with our emergency responses with our police or fire or EMS or OEM um we have terrific Health Services um that we provide we got a large Grant last year to improve our infrastructure and as you know we have that ongoing infrastructure going on now where we're renovating the offices but most importantly as part of that is we're taking an office and making that into a clinic for the public health nurse so that they can do examinations where need be get vaccinations have private conferences and that kind of thing um that project is just about done we should be moving in uh probably in the next month or so uh for that but again a number of other health services we provide along with a lot of programs they've been very active with our senior community and then we've doing a lot of project a lot of programs every Friday or a couple Fridays a month for our seniors um with giving them health education on different aspects to uh improve their their Lifestyles the other things we look at is you know waste disposal recycling road maintenance and those B we do for our residents um and then going on Recreation we have the premier Recreation program and services that we offer to all of our residents and being the community we are where we share school district and others and we are very combined with the surrounding municipalities you know all those programs are open to to non-residents also and then we have our Professional Services and those are our professionals here at Town Hall that run the different departments that make sure that we're giving exemplary services to all of our our residents we're very fortunate with the caliber of department heads that we have that provide these services and make sure their oversight with their employees and everything else that we're doing everything we can when we have a concern or something or a request that comes in from a resident looking at shared services um the biggest one we have is going back to 2013 as we joined the joint court with Madison chattam Township in chattan buror we have saved a significant money money but more importantly it's a very efficient Court um in running that together um so it's been a a win-win all the way around um by having the court down in Madison and our cost of what we would be paying for employees and everything else is significantly reduced um where we're just paying what our our fair share is we're the big dog of the Court um it's based on the number of cases um so we do pay a good portion of that Court budget but it's very well ma managed and we're always getting rebate at the end of the year the other shared services we have is with our neighboring towns it deals with sewer um some towns we're accepting their affluent such as Mo L where we take all their fluent or we're taking in a little bit of their fluent like Randol or some of the other towns and then there's some towns that we're giving affluent it's based on gravity and pump stations and things like that so um we have all those agreements and trying to be efficient there um because it is a large cost for the sewer utility the other one we have is the joint Public Library it's between us marown and Mars Township again we pay about two-thirds of the cost of the budget but it's based on it's a formula based on equalized value that's mandated by the state so our contribution um is calculated by that equalized ratio um of where we are and then Public Safety we have with the county of Mars for communications for our police fire and OEM um we haven't seen an increase from the county on that um in over eight years um they're not it's a service that they provide and they have not raised the rate even though their rates have gone up considerably to do that but they're trying to get as many municipalities on as they can and it's been a win-win situation uh for us for that some of the key offsets that we have coming into this year budget is um we do have the lenar and the marketplace projects um so we're seeing an additional 280,000 $289,000 coming in this year uh in anticipated Revenue um kudos to our finance department um looking at our investments um where we had budgeted last year probably about $100,000 and I think you hit the I think you hit the million dollar Mark if I recall um and so we're gonna you know it's not gonna last forever but um it was kind of a a nice surprise and we're going to raise that up to $220,000 and we certainly anticipate it's going to be higher and that will help our fund balance also and rolling over so um we're seeing an increase in licing and permit fees um about $10,000 but we're seeing a boom in our Construction office and we can certainly raise our UCC fees that are based on Revenue by 275,000 um we also getting back now preco you know we took a big hit in our Recreation trust because we're providing uh programs and everything else but little Revenue coming in because things are on zoom and other things now that we have fees coming back in we can roll them back into the budget like we have in the past so we can increase that by $50,000 this year uh to help offset our cost for running all of our Road recreation programs again we brought in about million $1.3 million in additional fund balance compared um the recommendation is to take $659,000 of that and increase the fund balance we certainly have the funds but more importantly we have enough in reserve so if there's anything that comes up emergencies major disasters things like that we are following our fund balance policy which I'll talk about in a little bit um and we're try and keep our fund balance of somewhere between 15 and 20% we're going to be at 16 a little over 16% so the money that's coming in um and this is what we're anticipating again the the fund balance we look at our miscellaneous Revenue that's coming in from revenue permits um that are coming in we see about $8.5 million of that will be budgeted for that and the good thing is like and have all stabilized since Co so we're seeing you know we're either flat or we're going up a little bit there's some that are still lagging behind like hotel room tax we're not where we were but we're we're inching up every year so we're we're pleased on that um as I said we added some additional funds coming in on uh the pilot payments and we also expect that as the marketplace um gets occupancy and they're paying their fair share um they're being buil out for their uh mandatory requirement for those financial disclosure agreements so how do we spend that $42 million um is is the big question um the big thing is you know as we talked earlier was our salary and wages for employees um in this budget we do have three new hires um we are looking for a new hire in our Police Department it's going to work with our traffic safety unit we have certainly a significant number of concerns with you know from our residents for different things where we can do with speed volume making sure that we have access other modes of transportation those kind of things what we can do um we're also adding in a headcount for our Department of Public Works for mechanic um as we buy these new machines that are computers and everything else and much more um challenging uh mechanic issues um to do that to maintain our Fleet that is up and running so we don't lose any downtime and then we've also increased um our parks and what we're doing and knowing that Collinsville is coming on that we have other projects and we have a lot of things that we needed another headcount for uh maintenance in in the Parks division so operating expenses this year are up about 330,000 the statutory expenses are up about 260,000 our Capital project is running right around where it was last year um we are about $250,000 less than we did in 2019 and 20 and then again Debt Service is up this year um the library is up this year but again it's an offset and then we do the reserve for uncollected taxes that's the standard number that we do with the $3.2 million the good thing is that our tax talk it a little bit but our tax rate collection rate is very high so that fund also helps stabilize our fund balance in future years so the capital and programs is an important part of what we do um again trying to what can we bring in for 2.8 million doll if we're going to go out to debt what do we have on hand that we can spend uh for that so our 2.8 covers the overlay and crack ceiling we spoke a little bit earlier about Bay Hollow Road that's part of this project of that $2.8 million that's the the biggest overlay project we have for this year we have a number of other streets that we'll also do we have reconstruction projects that we do um on the list this year is Delmore Ridgewood and Bryan uh reconstruction of those streets so they'll get into the quees they'll have the funding there for um getting the design work completed and then getting it out to bid and hopefully it'll be a 2025 uh project for that we also have um our roof that three of our firehouses need to be replaced in the sighting of one firehouse so we put money in there for that to maintain that infrastructure for our firehouses and then we have our sanitation trucks we have a sanitation truck that needs to be replaced again it's a $400,000 item along with a a large truck utility truck placing a a 2004 truck that is beyond its life expectancy we're looking also then appropriating the money for 15 je Street the additional 650,000 and then working on our Capital Improvement program is a 345,000 and that's really projects that we are paying 100% it's our smaller projects a lot of it involves our general services such as sidewalk repair Basin repair drainage repairs curbing repairs and then also buying equipment such as fire equipment we we have a air compressor that needs to be replaced for the breathing gear for our firefighters so they have the proper equipment going into uh a house fire or some type of significant smoke condition where this St pack is needed then we also do a it's called our Capa La program this is for the much smaller projects um it's similar to operating but it's a special fund um and it's funding that we put in place but it has uh an expectancy that has to be used in the calendar year um so we're looking at some improvements at fire headquarters with some offices um this building was renovated back in 2020 um the carpet and the flooring and everything in this building is Way Beyond his life expectancy um we're replacing that we have some parks equipment like lawnmowers and things like that are are going to be replaced and then with our one armed um trash collection system the cans are getting to past their life expectancy so we're buying some new cans so starting to replace cans that have been damaged or have holes in them or just have worn out and then also we're purchasing a dumpster with a special enclosure and that's for the collection of newspaper and the reason that is because it's outside if that newspaper gets wet then it's no longer recyclable so we have to do our best to keep that dry so we can get the funding because that is one of the the nice sources from recycling is newspaper and cardboard and last thing I had I'm sorry TR say one more thing we had as you know the asry removal we still have as trees within the RightWay way um that are we removing and then we have a program that if we take down an ash tree in in the right away or any tree in the right away we give our property owners there the opportunity uh to have a replacement tree put in and we do that so we've been doing that for the last several years and it's been well received by our residents for that but also more importantly eliminating the hazard of the EST trees Sor I'm just looking at our our property values um as I said we went up $7 million um and assessed value but I think the bigger number is over on the equalized value which is up you know over you know 4 million $400 million there and that's because of the drop in equalized ratio from 89.6 n to 83.7 um as we've talked that is a good thing especially for our property owners because that is increasing the value of of their homes but it's also used for calculating the school tax the county tax tax and the library tax and just looking at our our projected tax rate uh for this year we're asking for a 2% increase on the municipal tax rate um that equates uh approximately $56 per year for the average homeowner for home assessed at $600,000 um at this point we are projected at 0% for the county are you know we have to look at overall but our percentage of what we pay has dropped a little bit so we may see a reduction in the county tax but I've left it at zero right now waiting to see what comes out finally with the county if we do get a reduction it's not going to be all that much but again they're taking all the the municipalities of the 30 million municipalities and then dividing it up but our our share is between five and a half and six% of their total budget um the good news um of this budget also is as you know we've been paying a significant more portion of the school tax than neighboring marown um we have seen a significant change with that uh ratio mortown has gone through their rebout process they have put additional properties on there um based on what they have put in the equalized value that where we are now both municipalities are actually going to see a reduction in their school tax although the school budget is going up just under 3% um where we went up approximately $300 last year on our school tax for our residents um this year we're going to look at a reduction of $162 and mind that's really only contribut six months because the School District budget is based on the fiscal year so we're looking at six months of the their last year's budget and then six months of this current budget so going forward this ratio is going to help us out for the 2025 also and hope moving forward um don't see an increase in the open space B um because of the equalized value going up significantly for our residents we are going and the library is based on an equalized ratio our residents going to be paying an additional $11 uh towards the library tax but good news is the tax rate is actually going to be lower than it was in 2023 um and that our residents are going to see probably for $600,000 assessed value home reduction of about $95 so where we were just above $2 ERS for 100 cess value or just below that at this point and that is kind of how the property tax gets divided up um as you said the school takes 61% the county takes 14% the library 2% and Mar Township as the collector here um is 23% of the the tax dollar uh for residents kind of see how things have flattened out this year over the years the rate that we've been paying towards the school has continued to climb up and the the rate for the municipal tax has been relatively flat um over the last 10 years and even before that um this year they're both right around the same so good news for us and then just talking quickly about the tax collection rate our folks down there do a terrific job and you know we're well over 99% but we do budget um about 97% and then we have the reserve for uncollected taxes of that $3.2 million we talked a little bit about fund balance um and it's just important to keep a fiscally responsible municipality is having funds um in this fund balance we want to avoid any tax avoid tax spikes you know if there's a bad year and there's no we don't have a fund balance then we have to raise it in taxes so it gives us that stability we want to maintain that tax Lev of 2% and not have to go over it um for that um and then if we have any significant losses in Revenue like we did with Co we have a fall back on that without having to go out to significant debt to pay our bills and then we have it if we have a major storm that comes in as we've had in the past with some of the Hurricanes uh nor easers different things that have come over the years and we have significant cost sometimes we get recouped through FEMA but that usually a two to threee process we have that funding in place that we can use that storm fund money to um offset that but we have the fund balance to um make sure that we keep everything stable and we can we have a you know major road collapse building collapse other things um we're able to move forward on that and then most importantly we have money set aside for tax appeals um we try and you know reduce the tax appeals as much we can but as you know on a tax appeal we take in 23 cents on the dollar but we pay out the whole dollar if they get a tax appeal so um we have money through the fund balance and a tax appeal reserve for that uh if it takes place so my next slide is the fund balance policy I'm not going to read it because but this presentation will be online um to um if anybody would want to know but tach has a policy and we really maintain that 15 to 20% of the budget minus reserve for uncollected taxes um to maintain that stability it's a good policy to have and it um also helps us with our AAA Bond ratings and a few other things when we're going out for Debt Service and things like that so and just a little bit of the fund balance history um we've always been fiscally stable um and and moving forward again our fund Balan is going up this year that we at the end of the year but we're also using fing more back in that into the budget but maintaining um enough funds um in reserve so that we maintain that stability and look quickly looking at we have three utilities so you know actually we have four budgets so you have your um your overall budget then you have your budget for the three um utilities first one being the sewer utility um it's a little over $9 million it's primarily the revenue coming in is fee based from the users and then we also use a little bit of fund balance to help primarily offset our our capital projects our operating and salary on that is over $6.5 million our capital projects that we're paying 100% for is just under $1.1 million our debt service is a little over a million dollars and then we also have in this year is an emergency appropriation from last year of $500,000 that has to be funded in this year's budget and that was for the clarifier at the Woodland sewer treatment plant there's two clarifiers one went down completely if the other one had going down we would have then had to go into a manual pumping station a few other things so it would have wrecked Havoc so we moved forward as quickly as we could to replace that clarifier it was back in place before the end of the year and now we're replacing the other clarifier um for that so keeping those sewer treatment plants up and running the next one is the parking and we're starting to see you know postco now that the parking lots are fold on Tuesday Wednesdays and Thursdays Monday and Wednesdays I mean Mondays and Fridays are a little late um but we're back up getting Revenue in um we're anticipating $325,000 in Revenue um and then our operating costs are about $290,000 and we had that final debt service payment of $35,000 to do that and then there's the the swim pool um again fees of $1.6 million is the budget but the fees that we're taking in is projected 875 we have a ban premium that we got of $112,000 to help off set the debt um and then putting that additional $740,000 from the current fund over to the swim pool utility and then our operating expenses out of the swim pool um are 1.19 million and it's basically salaries and uh cost of operating expenses we also have capital projects where we have to put down the 5% money for that um so we have to raise 28725 in the budget for this year for that and then our debt service of $479,500 uh for that up the swim pool budget so 2024 budget is you know we've maintained all of our services we have a capital program that is very robust and back to where we have been we have a 2% uh Municipal tax levy increase and basically for the average homeowner for that uh it's $466 a month roughly $56 a year and again I think we have a very fiscally responsible budget um to present to you uh for consideration and then we always looking as we do the budget we looking at five years down the road and things like that but definitely looking into next year again you know salary and wage increases uh Union contracts things like that uh the instability of the recycling Market the cost of goods and premiums you know CPI is still you know rather high and our insurance premiums uh went up significantly this year about 16% um again a cost that we don't have a direct control over looking at that and then looking at Revenue projections we're certainly expecting them to go up um we expect to hit that million dollars again on investments our way okay um but again we're also looking at at at cons things of consideration is you know where's that state aid number going to go are we going to get additional funding um where are the health benefit costs going to be for next year it doesn't look great right now but we're hopefully that there'll be some remedy to that before the end of the year um and will pening cost stay you know flat where they are and we'll have to again see where they go and then you know also that want to take a look at tax appeals because many commercial properties are seeing vacancy rates right now they're Su leasing but when those sub leases and everything else and we see a significant vacancy rate it could have a direct impact on the property owner tax appeals for that so again looking at that as part of that give him the last [Music] [Laughter] slide I tried I tried to less I we did a dry run today oh no I'm in trouble no excellent job so um yeah I know I think Tim was ready to ask I was going to then you know put it out to the governing body for any questions and then you do your questions recommend that you open it up then for public hearing uh for any residents that wish to come up and ask questions or you know come in on Zoom for that and yeah Miss Doan Mr Ferguson myself will do our best to answer those questions does anybody Jeff deputy mayor grel thanks for all the great work on the budget by everybody uh just two questions um on the Tipping fees I know the rates are going up um but I also wondered uh if we're generating more garbage because we do have new housing units um not significantly more it's been very stable so Tom does a Tom Ashman does a report every month for me um and we've seen a little bit of fluctuation times but it all depends on how many collections during the month but we are still in the same number um where we were last year here in the a before so we haven't seen a significant increase in in tonage okay that's interesting uh the second question is regarding the the pilot at uh the marketplace and the yes L our property behind it uh you said we had an increase of I believe 289,000 this year in Pilot payments 239 239 yes sir um what is the total that we're receiving now and when it's all built out what do you project as that number being um we're built out on lenar um it had been I think we're up to about 1.23 on that or lenar um I can pull that number total is and so that that number will be fairly stable going forward 1.23 um Marketplace is still moving forward we got them out a a bill ler was at 139,000 that we brought in um the last quar for this uh year was up a little bit more we have a little more a couple more of the um Lots coming online so we're we've been increasing and will be increasing over the next couple uh quarters on the collections for the for the marketplace so was 139 last year an additional 239 this year well no yeah no it's uh should probably be about I think a 175 I'm estimating out for this year here mhm for Marketplace market and so when it's all built out do you have a projection about what the revenue is going to be I don't have that available here but I think it was when we did the initial it was roughly $600,000 600 700,000 and we are much higher than we anticipated for lar because the hous higher much higher you know somewhere we're 900,000 and we're like 1.2 right now so all built out I think when it's all done probably in that so that raises a good question um for the lar as that as the units turn over and if housing if those prices go up do the pilot payments go up as the units turn or is it now a fixed it's it's a fixed fee right yeah residential gets are there 10e adjust or for the length of the pilot they make adjustments based on the S Bas based they do based on sales yeah yeah no that's what I'm asking about the lar so they do make adjustments based on sales is that on an annual basis or Bas based on each sale they make an adjustment on each sale okay all right thank you are there any other questions from the chionship committee NOP just great job the entire team and budget committee so those to you and another another great financial year team team is a team effort we do currently have six members of the public joining us on Zoom we will now open the public hearing for any comments from the public on the 2024 Municipal budget we will take comments from inperson attendees first and then switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom to indicate you would like to speak please state your name and address for the record before speaking please note that comments are limited to five minutes per speaker if you have questions you you would like answered the remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this purpose may I have a motion to open the public hearing so moves members of the public speak is there anyone here from the public who would like to speak Mark are there any hands raised yeah Mr O'Reilly has Mr O'Reilly James O'Reilly Independence Way can you hear me fine yes I want to thank the uh professional up and made adjustments to your sound system and everything worked ever since then uh I also want to know if I get ceu credits for listening to Professor Quinn's lecture on Municipal uh also I had a question regarding uh I had a question about I'm all in favor of your policy of planning native species I was wondering with the change in warming of the weather the this is these are questions on the budget right now okay we'll have public comment at the end but right now this is specifically for any questions on the budget oh okay thank you you're welcome no other no other no other questions uh I just too I want to thank Mr Quinn our Township administrator Sean Ferguson mayor can I move that we close the public uh commentary yes yes I move that we close public commentary thank you all those in favor say I I I do want to again thank Mr Quinn our Township administrator Sean Ferguson our CFO and Valerie Dolan also Mark JY on the finance committee and all the department heads for their dedicated commitment to ensuring we provide the best financial guidance for the township keeping to the 2% Municipal tax levy increase ensures that we keep up our excellent Township services and also keep providing improvements to our infrastructure we remain fiscally responsible in all our efforts while still meeting the challenges we face so thank you all and great job Tim do you want to read the resolution yeah with your permission mayor I will read the resolution um for the adoption of the budget and then I will uh turn it back over to you requesting a a motion and then a roll call vote on the budget um the resolution and this is actually taken from the budget document uh be ol olved by the committee persons of the township of Mars County of Mars that the budget herein before set forth is hereby adopted and shall constitute an appropriation for the purposes stated of the sums therein set forth as Appropriations and authorization of the amount of 2,875 5236 for municipal purposes and $597,500 Recreation farmland and historic preservation trust fund Levy and $2,162 the minimum Library tax with that I would turn it back over to you mayor thank you may I have a motion to approve and adopt the 2024 budget and tax resolution so move on there is there any discussion or any other questions on the budget Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr dorfy yes Mr janata yes m Mr Giselle yes Mr rabitz yes mayor griglia yes one more final statement mayor yes yep uh notice is hereby given that the budget and tax resolution has been approved by the tangent Committee of the Tang of Mars County of Mars on April 17 2024 thank you and that will conclude our presentation thank you all very much great job we have eight ordinances for introduction on tonight's agenda Madame clerk please please read the title of the first ordinance into the record ordinance 0824 an ordinance of the township Committee of the township of Morris amending chapter 15 of the Township Code amendment to Personnel policies may I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 08 d24 I'm moved okay any discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr gazelle yes Mr JY yes Mr janata yes Mr aitz yes mayor glia yes the public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 8-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15 2024 at 7M Madame clerk please read the title of the second ordinance for an introduction into the record ordinance 0924 an ordinance of the township Committee of the township of Morris amending chapter 434 stormwater Madden management Article 5 salt storage privately owned note compliance with storm water management ms4 regulations may I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 0924 so moves second Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr gazelle yes Mr rabbitz yes Mr JY yes Mr janata yes mayor gria yes the public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 9-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15 2024 at 7 p.m Madame clerk please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction ordinance 10-24 Bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements by the township of Morris appropriating the aggregated amount of 3 mil 447,000 therefore and authorizing an issuance of 3,274 650 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof note Capital program for debt projects may I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 10-24 so move second any discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr JY yes Mr gazelle yes Mr janata yes Mr ravitz yes mayor griglia yes the public hearing heing a final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 10-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15th 2024 at 7 pm Madame clerk please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction ordinance 11-24 ordinance appropriating 345,000 available in the general Capital Improvement fund to provide for various Capital Improvements by the township of Morris note capital program for Capital Improvement fund projects may I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 11-24 so move second any discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr dorfy yes Mr gelle yes Mr janada yes Mr ravitz yes mayor griglia yes the public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 11-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15 20 24 at 7 p.m. Madame clerk please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction ordinance 12-24 ordinance appropriating 140,000 Avail available in the general Capital fund balance to provide for various Capital Improvements by the township of Morris note Capital Pro program for Capital fund balance projects may I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 12-24 second any discussion Madame Clark may I have a roll call vote Mr gelle yes Mr janada yes Mr dorfy yes Mr aitz yes mayor griglia yes the public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 12-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15 2024 at 7M Madame clerk please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction ordinance 13 24 ordinance appropriating 1,343 500 available in the sewer utility Capital Improvement fund to provide for various Capital Improvements by the township of Morris note sewer Capital Improvement fund projects may I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 13-24 moved second any discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr gazelle yes Mr R yes Mr JY Mr janata yes mayor griglia yes the public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 13-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15 2024 at 7 p.m Madam clerk please read the title of the next ordinance into the record for introduction ordinance 14-24 ordinance appropriating 350,000 available in the sewer Capital fund balance to to provide for the Butterworth and Woodland sleuth gate replacement project by the township of Morris note sewer Capital fund balance projects may I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 14-24 so moved second any discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr gazelle yes Mr janata yes Mr dorfy yes Mr ravitz yes mayor griglia yes public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of orance number 14-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15 2024 at 7 pm Madame clerk please read the title of the last ordinance into the record for introduction ordinance 15-24 Bond ordinance providing for swimming pool improvements by the township of Morris appropriating 574 th500 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 545,000 mayor giglia yes the public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 15-24 will be held at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday May 15 2024 at 7M how many resols shoot dang it 109 yes may if I may if I make an adjustment on the resolutions if you're going to do them by block I need to pull 11844 Mr J needs to refuse himself okay on the resolu how many there's 16 we have 16 resolutions on tonight's agenda may I have a motion to approve resolutions one yep I I'll move to resolutions 109 through 117 and 119 through 126 in a block is there a second second Madam clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr gazelle yes Mr JY yes Mr janada yes Mr Ritz yes mayor griglia yes and so now we I'd like to move resolution number 118-24 is there a second yes second Madam clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr gazelle yes Mr dorfy he's refused oh Mr janata yes Mr rbit yes mayor Gia yes next is the consideration of monthly reports the following reports are on file in the office of the Township Clerk and Township administrator February 2024 or police fire in the Marist toown Mars Township Library March of 2024 are the tax department police fire Library and Joint Court can I have a motion to approve the monthly reports some moved all in favor I claims for payment list of bills May mayor you missed the consent calendar and receive for the record this says claims for payment did I forget to cons I need to just we a motion to um approve the consent calendar as distributed yeah three items on the calendar there's three three items on the consent okay is there a motion to approve the items on the consent calendar some moves second all those in favor now we on consolidation then receive for the record do we have to receive for the record we have to accept them right but you have to this re received for the record the board of adjustment annual report of 2023 and tax appeals I move that we receive uh accept the items received for the records is there a second second all those in favor I now consideration of monthly reports I read the following reports that were on file can I have a motion to approve the monthly reports so moves second all in favor claims for payment there's a list of bills and vouchers the total amount of bills and vouchers for this meeting is 12,825 1945 we are also the tax collector for the school district the library and the county may I have a motion to approve the list of bills and vouchers second Madam clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr Giselle yes Mr jorpy yes Mr janata yes Mr rabit yes may glia yes we've received for the record the board of adjustment annual report 2023 and the tax appeals who was down here we're now going to go into standing committee reports and commentary by the township committee at this time I would like to call on committeeman janada thank you mayor F first I want to just remember the late Sandy mayor who is a dear friend of all of us here and she will be missed dearly and in addition want to thank Tim Tim Quinn and Company for introducing the budget um it's my first time to be go through that this process so I found out the back back story about how the budget is done and Tim and his group has done a good job on that and I also want to uh mention that I went to Paran to the Islamic community Cultural Center to my first ifar ceremony and to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and my fellow commit Deputy Mayor Jeff grel was attending and he was awarded a community award for sponsoring the Muslim Heritage Month Proclamation that this Township committee had done in January so I commend Jeff for for that I was very honored to see him there and as far as the committee meet committee uh reports we have a green team meeting we're moving forward with getting sustainable Jersey at minimum we're looking to do a bronze level but we're also setting up to try to do a silver level it's a it's a big push for that but we're starting to go into that issue and the environmental commission as Tim Quinn had mentioned about the Tipping fees have increased for sanitation we have been to help try to alleviate it we're looking at Community composting which can help reduce the sanitation tipping fees if it's done right and as someone who has done composting on his own property I can definitely get tell my my sanitation tipping fees and personal sanitation tipping fees has been reduced ever since I've done that so I'm um I'm just giving my testimony of that and we we're also looking to apply for a grant at Jones Woods to remove invasives as we're going to hire uh the invasive Strike Force Team if we get the grant um and the people helping that or person people and the volunteers in the environmental commission we're a park Association as well as Township personnel and we hope to get that project getting done and hopefully we'll get that Grant going and as we have proclaimed Earth Day and Arbor Day Earth day is going to be commemorated April 22nd Arbor Day in April 26 and there are events around the area around the C County but we also have and had uh events in our own Township last Saturday we had the tree giveaway and on April 26 we have our annual tree Planting ginty Field uh first graders from Woodland School are going to be participating in that and the following day on Saturday April 27th the buron park Association will be restoring trees that were damaged due to vandalism and as I've been doing before the last couple of uh times I've been talking about different neighborhoods so this time I'm talking about Butterworth Farms Butterworth Farms was once the part of the uh ventosa estate owned by Theon Butterworth and family located on Sussex Avenue out in the western part of town and it was one of the Gilded Age Mansions but it was also a working farm it was it grew peaches Peach Orchards and was had a working dairy farm very successful Thon had married twice and had 10 children with those two uh two wives the second wife Selena Gibbs had kept a diary so if anybody wants to read you can see how the Gilded Age set lived in those days and after her husband died she had ran the estate by herself and after she died her two Spencers daughters had been living there for until the 1960s when the house had to be the estate had to be sold and was sold to a developer who subdivided it into 300 private homes called Butterworth farms unfortunately ventosa Mansion was knocked down around this time but where before that there was it was a hoarders hoarders Paradise because of the auction they sold off so many documents so many envelopes and old newspapers going back a century back to so since 1867 so anybody who is a collector went there and got mint literally and the area continues to have a Charming blend of natural beauty and a strong sense of community with an active neighborhood association the former cow Meadow was turned into Butterworth playground which is now also the location of a pollinator Garden made with native plants among other things it this pollinator Garden creates a habitat for insect pollinators such as bees and butterflies and it shows how feasible it is to replace our Lawns with native plants and it provides Botanical G color and variety plus it improves storm water mitigation so whenever we get the chance spring is here see the pollinator garden and I think we're looking into expanding it and I've been assisted by in this report by two members of the historic preservation committee the chair Carol Barkin and Judith Judith sax Bliss as well as Charlie Shaker who was instigate the instigator of developing the pollinator garden and one of the part of my research I found the developer had said that the m one of the main selling points of his of this development was trees so he gave a little blurb about that do you know what's becoming rare in the suburbs it is the neighborhood tree look over the home developments you have seen of L ironic isn't it they have they have about as much shade as you'll find on Broadway so come to Butterworth Farms where the ever spreading branches of our delightfully delightful tree plots seem to reach out to you and say welcome so I now go back to the mayor thank you and just to let you you know and I know some people in the neighborhood including some people on the states here on the days thank you committee janada committee M jori thank you mayor Greg um as chair of the finance standing committee um I'd like to thank administrator Tim Quinn our CFO Sean Ferguson who worked on his first budget with us this year our tax successor Kathy banga my colleague on the budget committee mayor giglia members of the township committee uh the Department's head in the township as well as Valerie Dolan and the team and aacha for all the hard work on this year's budget um as we talked about earlier we continue to operate in a a challenging Financial environment making providing the services that matter most here in Mars Township more costly to our residents year after year while this budget doesn't have everything that we wanted in it I believe we crafted a conservative and responsible responsible budget that protects our Surplus for times of in case of hardship continues the necessary support for our First Responders and our employees ensures our residents have access to the services they rely on throughout the year and invests in our future through high priority capital projects from road reconstructions to building maintenance to funding the initial planning of our multi-year community center project and as in recent years our residents are being spared from bearing the brunt of costly increases from inflation and supply chain issues by seeing a very modest tax increase this year keeping Mars towns Municipal tax rate among the lowest in the county and the state while other towns in our area continue to see large rate hikes this is a true Testament to the hard work of our professionals and the good intentions of this government body over the past several years especially through our utilization of federal covid funding for strategic investments in years past rather than pledge plugging budget gaps for shortterm for shortterm um needs I'm proud that the township committee continues to adopt responsible responsible budgets to keep our town operating smoothly now and continues to prepare for the needs of the coming years uh as chair of the parks and wreck um standing committee I just wanted to provide an update um for our major project of year this year for Collinsville that the bid notice did go out um for the Collinsville reconstruction project and we are um anticipating having the hearing uh to award the contract uh in the in May so hopefully we'll be able to award the contract in our May monthly meeting and we we're excited to see work starting shortly after that um lastly just in general commentary um last year at veterans at our Veterans Day service we were able to dedicate many banners honoring our Township's veterans um and I'm pleased to see um that we had a several other applications this year uh in the past several months for to um acquire banners for honoring Veterans for Memorial Day so I want to thank Analise rush and our administrator's office for continuing this Pro program um and doing Outreach with our veteran Community to make sure we continue to honor those who have served us in our community uh we're looking forward to dedicating another round of banners at a memorial day service this year and I'm looking forward to seeing all the banners that were up last fall to be rehung uh at the beginning of May so with that I will turn it back to you mayor thank you committee and JY committee and rabitz thanks to the folks who were still here with us person online get to see government in action it's a wonderful thing national news all the spotlight it's what we do here on this day as as had the biggest impact quality the EC I'll be brief tonight um we are going to be getting you have a fire truck that was in for refurbishment good news is looks like re it from the ground up and [Applause] to I just want to echle Bud process Superior budget you know fresh my mind that Mar Township is the best and and looking forward to you know taking the next step ining contract Collinsville tuer field ration project real quick I just want to also mention my my friend s mayor we at her memorial service uh and life celebration yesterday it was uh was a good send off she was both an irresistible force and she was the most one of the most passionate people that I ever met and she was dedicated to making people lives [Music] better Champion share democratic values in noris County she was also have to be a very funny lady uh and love to share her humor with uh folks who who know her were aware of all she accomplished for Mars Town Mars County and Champion for Jewish interest I look at life as a as a as a long journey a bus ride so to speak people get on and off the bus as our journey progresses some people stay with us on on the ride for a long time and some are only with us for a short time there's more to that but I think you get the you know the general idea Sandy became part of my journey she made an immediate impact he's Larger than Life as was a very meaningful te uh she wasn't on the bus ride near long time she was an inspiration and I don't know if there was high give to another she talk the talk and she walk the walk the greatly missed finally remembered by all those who knew her I'm so glad that she and I cross paths and Rod us together if only for a little while May her memory forever be a blessing upon all those who do her rest in PE um I'll the rest of my commentaries very brief Monday was the 159th anniversary of the assassination of President Lincoln he had just recently taken his second oath of office and Civil War and also just recently Ed uh as his good friend Secretary of War Edward Stanton had said Lincoln breathed his last now he belongs to the ages what Lincoln said as he closed his brief second an noal address is something that we should all keep in mind he said without malice toward none with charity with malice toward none with charity uh for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right that us strive on to finish the work we are to bind up the nation's wounds to care for him who shall have won the battle and his widow and his orphan to do all of which a aeve and cherish are just and Lasting peace among ourselves and all nations in keeping with L his prophetic words I always in my commentary this is what I thought was a great tie in here because I do like to say that we should not be marginalizing people who have less political or economic power as some of us currently Dy rather let's stand up in face those who continue to profit from equal rights for all CI do not we have more in common should ever divide us which we amplifying misinformation violent R not part of civilized society lastly let's remember as we go about our bus each and every day just be kind kind to yourselves May thank you committee and rabbits deputy mayor there we go I want to thank everybody involved in the budget process uh finance committee the professionals particularly Mr Quinn put together another fine budget our town has really well run and we saw it here tonight um quick uh update from engineering i' like to give monthly Road Project update Southgate Parkway uh very close to us is making great progress I recommend everybody go over and take a look at the work there uh the Gregory canedy Pine Tree Project which is up next is going to uh have shovels in the ground hopefully later this month or beginning of May and on the B on the uh on the list of resolutions tonight we had the contract awarded for Overlook Road as there some engineering things that need to be done but hopefully later this year uh work will start on that too uh Mr janata committee man mentioned the green team work and the green team is looking for new people to join the team so if you're interested please fill out a volunteer form on the website um also uh on the agenda tonight is a police matter it's the appointment of or the appointment of Dominic pado as a police officer um I had the pleasure of interviewing him along with committeeman rabbits as part of the police committee officer pasado was raised in moris Township so he knows our community very well which is going to be a benefit for all of us and I think he will make a great officer he's replacing a retired officer in that spot um my general commentary is a reminder that seasonal yard waste has begun uh last Saturday in one half of the town and this Saturday in the other half of the town uh Little League opening day is this Saturday and I am very much looking forward to representing the township and throwing a strike um on opening day for us um and lastly I too would uh like to uh mention my regards for Sandy mayor and all she contribut to our community um as an elected leader but both as a a member of the community um a lot of good things have been said about her tonight I just want to add that at the memorial service a card was given out and I wanted to read the quote off of the back of the card uh it's a quote from Dolly Parton but it really exemplifies uh Sandy and the quote is if your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more learn more do more and become more than you are an excellent leader and I would like to thank Sandy for her leadership to her community and we will all miss her very much thank you mayor thank you Deputy Mayor I have a Qui couple quick updates on the transportation advisory committee they have uh made a recommendation to look into having a bus stop on Hanover Avenue to service Mars Muse and when the new affordable housing that will be off catch road goes in their Outreach and events committee they've made they have a new calendar which will be distributed shortly with our Mars Township and motion events including supporting the Bike Rodeo walking TS trail hikes special routes to both of the pools and more we will be celebrating with Parks and Rec on the movies and concerts over the summer to reach more attendees and help build attendance by more of our residents a complete and green streets round table with neighboring communities is set to discuss and collaborate and have and share experiences with our neighbors and we also for neighborhood events we are sharing a list of all the neighborhoods in Mars Township and highlighting what makes them each spe special on the senior citizens advisory committee they also have had a lot of discussions on Transportation they continue with in collaboration with tech in finding the best solutions to help many of our seniors the website resources committee is also doing a lot of work in continually updating the website Communications committee has reached out to work with some high school groups both as stem and interact groups to coordinate help for seniors who need it especially with it there will be a healthy aging presentation in the fall and on April 23rd at one o'clock there's a presentation on the healthy heart here at Town Hall um my last few comments are about um how we celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day in April Earth Day is a call to action for our Planet all of us should embrace Earth Day with environmental optimism every sustainable and community action taken has the power to make a meaningful difference since April 22nd 1970 schools universities and communities people have stepped up to be better stewards of our planet around the world one billion individuals engage in some kind of earthday activity remember to pause and appreciate all the Landscapes that surround us and to my friend Sandy mayor rest in power my dear and have a drink with RBG at this time I would like to open the public commentary there are currently five members of the public joining us on Zoom we will now open the meeting to the second public portion we will take comments from iners first and then switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom to indicate you would like to speak state your name and address for the record before speaking speak please note the comments are limited to 5 minutes per speaker if you have questions you would like answered your remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this purpose is there a motion to open public comment move second all in favor any members from the public I see two hands raised Marlene mem I think you're on evening Marlin mem 63 Independence Way you just adopted the resolution for the budget uh could you tell me what that resolution number was sure just give us one minute there is resolution Mrs member there is no official resolution like we do with other documents this is embedded into the budget document um it's considered a res olution but it's actually part of the overall budget well at the last meeting you had two resolutions um for self-examination and uh had to do with the budget so I was just I just thought there was another one for the actual budget then okay thank you very much you're welcome Mr O'Reilly there now I'm unmuted James O'Reilly the Independence Way with the global warming uh I completely support your policy of supporting native species and plants with global warming does that change the definition of which species are still local species uh Mr committee man janata do you have Professor J Professor janata right uh well native species are really just species that are that are native to New Jersey only I mean because that's one of the things we need to be careful about because sometimes we have native species that might be from other states but just because there are neighboring states uh they might not be a be considered there but even uh if they're not native some native we can also use non-native uh as long as they're not invasive so they do have those exceptions but native natives are are helpful because of the root system it helps um the the the depths of the the roots are more deeper than uh than most other plants like the like the ones that we use on our Lawns are pretty shallow so that's how that would help with uh any kind of global warming because you want to you want to help retain water that way so anything that's that will stop erosion or anything like that that's one way of doing it and if you're interest and if you're interested just heard on the news today that they're working on uh modifying soil so that it retains more water since global warming is making evaporation happen faster so we'll get that too and and Jim if you're interested uh attend an environmental commission meeting and you can learn more about it yes I totally support you in your policy I was just wondering that some plants might be changing their ranges it's a good question good question for it's inevitable yeah for sure thank you thank you thank you Mr O'Reilly seeing no other members of the public wishing to speak will someone make a motion to close public comment some moves second all in favor I the time is now 9:15 can I have a motion to adjourn the regular session so moved all in favor all the next regular Township committee meeting will be held on Wednesday May 15th 2024 at 700 p.m. in person person and Via Zoom thank you all very much have a great night