start with a pledge of allegiance and then we'll do a moment of silence and a prayer I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all as customary we stand for in this chamber to remember those who are protecting our freedoms both here and abroad for our First Responders for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and for everyone that's suffering around the world a moment of silence please our prayer Mr pasti dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve you in this chamber give us quiet minds and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right and Grant that we have have a good conscience and Soul at peace with thee and with one another amen amen please be seated thank you roll call councilman auli here councilwoman Deo here councilman dama here councilman Desai here councilman Garcia here councilman Murphy here councilman Pas gidy here Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell here council president soar here this meeting is being held in conformance with the open public meetings act notice has been given to the official newspapers of the township on January 6 2024 and has been posted in public places next open public meeting of the township Council will be held on Tuesday May 14 2024 okay thank you very much and welcome to the meeting um we'll begin this evening with proclamations presentation s introducing our newly promoted police officers good evening mayor Walker and chief Montagna good evening tonight we're here to celebrate our Police Department we're going to recognize some newly appointed officers we have some awards and we're going to recognize people that help our K9 Department chief Monaga take it thank you can I squeeze in yeah oh thank you that's all right ladies and gentlemen today We Gather here to celebrate the achievements and present Awards to our dedicated police officers before we begin let's take a moment of Silent of Silence to honor the memory of the four Brave law enforcement officers who tragically lost their lives yesterday while serving their community in Charlotte North Carolina thank you eight police officers were shot during that incident in 2023 a a record-breaking 3708 police officers were killed in a line of duty as chief of police I take pride in the men and women who wear the uniform daily they bravely Safeguard our community often at the risk of their own safety their commitment speaks value is about their courage and integrity M and uh Lieutenant Mai and Sergeant H can you come down before we present Awards IID like to introduce to you our newly promoted officers Lieutenant Robert mazuki and Sergeant Christopher haml who are promoting this morning on conratulations it is it is an honor to stand before you as we recognize The Bravery commitment service exemplified by our officers it is my privilege to present Sergeant Christopher ham with the combat cross and detective Jessica Cathy with the first ever chief of police Achievement Award their commitment to Excellence and their dedication to the principles of serving service and integrity serve as serve as examples for all of us they embody the best in our profession congratulations on on these well-deserved Awards thank you to all of you who came here tonight to celebrate our officers may we continue to stand together as we protect and serve the community stay V Vigilant stay strong and stay safe thank [Applause] you yeah I can read he spoke so nice beauti back I got to give you hang on okay I told him to let us we're supposed to have a speech uh for exactly why we're giving that [Music] they so to wing it I'm gonna wing it uh Sergeant Hamill as you all know was involved uh in an incident where a individual uh who had mental issues uh uh confronting Sergeant Hamill at the top of a Stairway uh sergeant Hamill did a phenomenal job uh he tried numerous times to deescalate the situation and to and at one point the individual rushed down the stairs and S Sergeant Hamill uh had to use his weapon and ultimately uh you know Sav himself and other individ other people in The house's lives so it was a great job and [Applause] so we're presenting him with the combat cross metal so something oh there sorry it was on the certificate C all right here we go I apologize but this is way too small 54 years old and all uh so this is the first uh Chief Achievement Award uh presented to detective Jessica Cathy uh throughout the year we have invest throughout the year you have investigated various incidents which included high-profile cases resulting in arrests and convictions for crimes such as forgery money laundering aggravated assaults thefts distribution of controlled danger Dangerous substances and animal cruelty as well as assisting with local missing persons in addition on your daily case load you serve as one of the Department's Humane law enforcement officers and are a member of the Drone unit further you continue to make yourself available as a volunteer for National Night Out funerals and the recruitment of new officers your professionalism dedication and commitment to the Department Department as well as to serving the public serve as a role model for the police department and for other officers thank you thank you sure good job detective thank you tonight also we want to recognize our new canine unit um they had a an arrest recently about two weeks ago a burgly suspect and tonight we want to recognize people that help arc9 unit first I'd like to call up the Pet Center from the shops at Oldbridge we'd like to recognize [Applause] them for all they do for our canine they they actually provide the food for our Kines we want to thank them so much [Applause] thank take a picture sure also we'd like to re Touchstone Veterinary Center that helps us with the veterinary bills of our K9 [Applause] want to take a picture yes I just want to add that our administration myself our police department and our Council we're very committed to making Oldbridge safe and we want to make it one of the safest towns in ER which we're going to [Applause] do J Chief thank you very much Chief and mayor and congratulations to everyone we really do appreciate and recognize your dedication to this community all of you thank you very very much okay next we welcoming back someone who has been away for a few months and uh we'd like him to come forward Senator Henry and he's here this evening uh to make give us an update on what's going on at the state which I think is a great idea so welcome and appreciate you yeah and we like to see you have our presentation thank you very much sure we'll do thank you Senator well I wouldn't give him these this evening okay well you not mine I know I know mine look like dthy but oh oh Council good evening everyone thank you great to be back great it really is great to be back um I wish everyone is doing having a good year off to a great start great things continue to happen in ald thank you mayor for continuing uh the great run that was started so long ago um I'm here tonight to talk about issues and decisions that are being made in Trenton which have a direct impact on oldridge um and one of my reasons for running for Senate thinking that I could do more for Oldbridge in Trenton than I could as continuing on to be mayor but as of to date I have not been successful um there's some issues there's been decisions but I'm continuing to fight the fight and I pledge my continuance to fight the fight um we've I was unsuccessful in uh the gas tax was voted on uh despite presenting an alternative an alternative uh to the Senate that raised more money that um was a longer period of time and at the same time did not raise the gas tax well that alternative was pooed and basically shut up and sit down um but tonight I want to talk about something even more important than the gas tax it is the current school funding formula which has been in place since 2018 and since 2018 those of us who know um the current school funding formula has resulted in over $20 million loss into the Oldbridge school system $20 million over six years have been cut I believe we're down to funding levels that the state provided in the late '90s for the School District here in Oldbridge um we all know and it doesn't take a genius realize that this school funding formula was broken from the day one it continues to be broken and is even more broken now and the only good Silver Lining is that this is the last year of S2 as we know it and we would be working hard I will be working hard to come up with a a school funding formula that works for everyone here in New Jersey I'll talk a little bit about that as we go but there's a short term right now if everyone doesn't know this year's proposed S2 funding cut for Oldbridge is another $2.5 million reduced cut as these Cuts continue this year's cut is going to have a dramatic impact on the education as we know it here in Oldbridge I've seen the potential impact statements prepared by the superintendent of Oldbridge and other school districts within my district and it's not good it's not good what they're going to be forced to do under current S2 in place so in Trenton we realize something needs to get done something needs to be done now we can't wait till next year currently our students our administrators our teachers and parents are all going to be impacted by the this funding cut here of the $2.5 million so I come here tonight I want to thank the mayor in advance that I've co-sponsored a bill in Trenton that's going to help it's going to help Oldbridge and a lot of other District staff have been cut over the last two years and I thank you in advance for the resolution that's been prepared that you will be sending to the people in Trenton that need to hear this and that bill number is 3076 and I heard everyone who's listening watching it's so easy if you Google Bill search in New Jersey it'll come right up first website type that no those two numbers in and you will get the full bill it's only five or six pages it's not the 25 30 page bill that no one can understand and again I said I'm co-sponsored on that bill along with 14 other Senators under Bill 3076 we want to restore 100% of this year's school funding that has been reduced so a number of $2.5 million would not be taken from the Oldbridge School District what we also want to do is restore last year's stabilization was called supplemental stabilization Aid received by the district last year they're not getting that this year and that was about 1.3 million we want to restore that money to Oldbridge that was given last year and then taken away this year and the funding that we're giving to the to the schools what is that 3.8 million would not come with any strings attached would allow the administration and the school and the Board of Ed to do their job they have a budget to meet this does not come with any strings attached to the the spending but most of all it would protect the taxpayers here in Oldbridge the homeowners the renters anyone who owns property and pays property taxes in Oldbridge would be protected from an increase in your school taxes by anything over 2% which the school district is allowed to do now under current law the school district can go up to 2% and in times like this they probably have to when they're facing these drastic Cuts but if you were to take the 2.5 the 1.3 and another 2.1 million that would be able to be raised through taxation you come up with a substantial number that substantial number would allow the district to weather the storm that is brewing for next school year 24 25 school year and give us some time to work and fix this problem in Trenton to come up with an equitable not equally which used now in S2 everybody's equal well that doesn't work in New Jersey everybody's not equal you the current School F funding formula does not take into account um inflation everybody's pric has gone up the current school funding formula does not put as much emphasize on Transportation special needs almost every category you could think of is inadequately funded by the current school funding formula and if anyone familiar with the current school funding formula I would dare to ask you how it's applied from one town to the next and I've asked in Trenton and the word I've been told was that it's fuzzy it's very fuzzy how it's applied and it's uh it's no way to fund uh education in the state this large with over 1.3 million kids in our school districts and as a newcomer to the Senate when I go to Trenton and I see and I'll use the word squandering of monies and the amount of money that's spent in New Jersey on education it is mindboggling that they are making cuts when you take the almost over 12 billion that the state is putting into funding into school systems the government just added another 900 million into the school funding formula that's broken and again there still continues to be cuts when you take the amount of taxes that are generated locally here in Oldbridge currently $114 million is generated locally so if you all the municipalities that are generating tax money and putting it into education I don't have a big enough calculator to calculate how many billions upon billions of dollars are spent in New Jersey on education and yet we continue to get poor graduation rates we continue to cut and punish performing districts here in the state of New Jersey and reward districts that don't educate their their kids they responsibility so and I think is also important is that the way myself and my 14 other comrades are paying for this nothing's cheap we're proposing to spend $210 million in school funding and school funding restoration but we plan on not raising it by one tax dollar not one additional tax will be imposed on anyone in the state of New Jersey we've gone through the proposed budget that the governor has proposed here in New Jersey and we have discovered over a billion a billion dollars and I know the old term was pork I'll call it favors I'll call it rewards whatever you want to call it in the state budget this your state budget and if you look at the papers in our bill that's passed out to you if you go a couple of pages it will identify the projects that we want to move that money from and put it into education and that's important that you look at that and you see where it's going now where it's currently budgeted for and you tell me which is more important those projects those favors that pork where some of these municipalities have the ability to go out and do these projects on their own like orbridge does we bond for projects you see some of these towns that are getting one town is getting getting 24 million more in education funding not far from us do your homework and on top of that $7 million in in in in rewards because they had a favorite mayor of the governor and there's other towns with the same other towns are getting rewarded for being friends with the governor and blank in his rear end and that's wrong it's nothing but wrong and it identifies it in our bill whether it's painful it is but that's the facts so all we're asking for in the budget is about one5 of this pork put one5 more $210 million into a 56 billion Budget moving into education and that will help all these districts weather this storm coming through now the popular alternate to bill is s381 again look it up I've gotten hundreds of emails asking for my support of 3081 let me be quite clear I will be voting no on 3081 because it is a sham it actually makes it worse what 3081 does is restore up to 2/3 of the funding cut which wees for about 1.7 million that's all it does that's all Bridge gets 1.7 million that's it but with that funding comes restrictions it actually ties the hands of administration from making decisions that might need to be made if you take this money it takes certain things right off the table they lose their they lose their ability and they have a responsibility and we hold them to the fire you have to make tough decisions well if you take this state money two3 if you take these crumbs you have to live by their rules and what it does which is why I'm here before this Council it exposes all the residents here in oldridge to unprecedented tax increases 3081 allows to school district voluntarily we'll use the word voluntarily but when a districts what's their what's their alternative to go above the 2% cap up to 99.9% so if you can do the math 99.9% of 114 million let's round it out to 10% big money I know look at your tax bills we all know it Council 60% of the bill you send out and collect go to the school district 10% increase on your school taxes you can look at your tax bill you'll see it but that it would be historic and unprecedented your your the numbers would be maybe game changers for a lot of people people living on fixed incomes people renting apartments their rent would go up people living paycheck to paycheck your tax bills are going to go up dramatically and Council I can tell you who's going to get blamed for it right here you you you you all of you will be blamed for the taxes here in Oldbridge you're going to get blamed for it that's just the way it is the average person doesn't understand so I'm here tonight to say this doesn't have to take place but I would tell yourself to prepare prepare yourself because there's a lot of push for 381 and I think they're their um underlying uh motive is to tax Oldbridge to tax you to the Max and drive people out of Oldbridge that's what the plan is and their reasoning if you talk to them why well your your property values have increased so much you're not paying your fair share Old Bridge well everyone's property value has gone up do you have that extra money because your property value has gone up you recoup that money when you sell your home you're gone you never pay another tax dollar but my salary hasn't increased by 10% my income and everyone else in pretty much an oldridge their monies have not increased people living on fixed income because their property values went up they have to pay more taxes makes absolutely no sense also enrollment in alridge continues to decline but we're going to take a district that size and you reduce enrollment by 250 300 kids it has a DE Minimus impact so instead of 22 kids in a classroom there's 23 you still need the classroom you need a school you need the bus just because of that reduction that small reduction in enrollment the cost does not go down so there whenever their reasoning is it doesn't work I don't know if I said 22 to it's the opposite if there's 23 kids in a classroom and it goes down to 22 in every class in Oldbridge you lose a th000 kids but it would still cost you the same amount of money to educate 22 kids in a classroom than it was 23 so it's just uh it's not fair it really isn't fair that's why I'm maybe a little my voice is a little filled with frustration because I am frustrated when you propose alternate um methods of fixing problems and it's just shun to the side um it is frustrating and the new school funding formula that we will be working on um will include education it will include Transportation special education inflation um take all those factors into account and distribute those billions and billions and billions of dollars that is spent on education equitably to the state of New Jersey so Council if you have any questions or any comments on there are many issues that we are dealing with in Trenton right now but this is the most pressing one um we went through um the affordable housing uh that was signed into law by the governor going to have a big impact here in Oldbridge our alternative again was the let call a timeout give us some time to come up with a affordable housing plan that works this affordable housing plan was put together in a matter of months and it was just shoved down everyone's throat every mayor every town it's just shoved down their throat and what it does it is going to be it takes the town's uh ability to negotiate out of the picture developers are going to come in be able to rezone your town where they want to put affordable housing um or alternative said time out let's get some professional help with this the plan that was signed into law took no planning professional into account about where in the state to put these affordable units but we're going to put 97,000 of them in the state of New Jersey over the next couple of years 97,000 affordable units equate to over half million market rate units never seen before in the state of in New Jersey the largest grop spur in New Jersey over 10 years was 100,000 times that by five so um I have my work cut out for me um but I uh I'm up to the fight I'm Irish I like to fight you want to come back you want to come back when to well people ask me people ask me all the time what do you like better you like being the senator and I always tell them I I don't know what's better being a senator we not sitting in that seat so uh no I I love being the mayor I really did and I'm and I'll stay uh committed that I can do more for Oldbridge in Trenton and for 13 other 12 other towns that I represent and we're all going through this there's very few towns in the 12th District that got the same amount as last year or maybe a few pennies more um but there are some catastrophic Cuts all over the state just want to say thank you thank you for your service no I really appreciate what you're doing this is about the kids and that's the focus that's the most important thing and it's going to hurt them and it breaks my heart to see what's going to happen because we talk about how important they are they're the future they're everything and they are the ones that suffer the most we have taxes keep going up inflation keeps going up the only thing coming down is the rain and who's going to suffer Senator it's going to be the children we have to win this fight I I believe councilman that if 3076 is passed it will get worse here in Oldbridge with program Cuts you will see uh a doomsday budget put together by the the Board of Education because um you know I I don't even know they could raise enough money through tax to make up um the difference so but thank you for your yep thank you now does anyone else have a question or a comment for Senator Henry anyone on this side Jill oh yes Mrs jaro yes thank you um thank you Senator Henry for coming and presenting um and also for acknowledging that there are two bills I know you know right now you know you're promoting the one bill I haven't had a CH I've skimmed them I haven't had a chance to look at fully at both bills and that's a common comment when people call my office and tell me to support I said have you read it and they answer you don't hear you don't hear a word somebody is out there telling these people to email their representatives to support something that's actually going to have a negative impact um the only use for 3076 would be an event you run out of toilet paper that would be the only thing that bill would be good for 76 is your bill said6 is your bill but that the bill the alternate you could use it for an event I should have wore copies of it but that's all that's good for but my point is you know yes I haven't actually read I I've skimmed through both but I haven't either of them St so I can't um say one way or the other I hear different things you know and I have a very open mind so I hear different things um I appreciate you coming um you know we should probably have you know hear about the other bill as well just to hear what it's about you know just in explains what it's about what it no I know you did I know you did but okay big difference um but anyway um I don't think anybody I think I out of everybody that's on this Council I can tell you that I understand what the Board of Ed has been going through since 2019 more than anybody um for those that don't know I was on the board of education um and I was there when the tax cuts started coming in and um felt it very badly um first we dealt with you know school shootings and then you know we had to figure out that thank you for saying security is not in included in the current funding formula and we know how much security cost right so we had to deal with that and um you know and that was you know a lot lot of reasons why um every time you know I was on the count um the Board of Education taxes did go up because we didn't have a choice okay um and you know nobody understands that up here better than I do um I this has been going on since 2019 so um I appreciate in 2024 that we're finally you know the outrage is finally here um you know there was no outrage prior to this I was I got there January my first education committee meeting I was screaming at everyone across the table from me how did you let this go on and it was both sides how did you let this go on for so long I was apologizing to people in the audience for what this state has done over the last 5 years I got there in January as I said I was not letting it go on no as I said I appreciate it um you know there was was a lot there was a lot of um I know that there was a lot of uh misinformation being spread and it continues to be Mis it continues to be spread thank you um and I know that um we were the Board of Education was accused of misappropriation they were accused of um mishandling money there was a lot of misinformation that was being spread from Jill I served on a board of education I know exactly I don't need to be preached to about the Board of Ed role and what it does I know fully what it does so if you have a question don't you know don't come after my credentials or what I'm and analyzing something here that I'm not coming after your credal it sounds like you are I'm not coming after your credentials I'm just talking about facts and I'm telling you what I know from my in from my experience and my insight okay and I've met with the board I've met with super I'm not arguing with you Senator Henry I don't know why you think I am arguing with you I'm not I'm just speaking okay so I apologize if you think I'm arguing with you I'm not I love an argument I love it well so do I but that's not what's happening if you want an argument I can you know we can have you support you support I'm not 3081 and you see the results stick with it say it wait a minute so you're putting words in my mouth Senator Henry I didn't say I supported 3081 I don't know why you're saying that you said there was an alternative and maybe we should look at it that's what you said so okay and you're support you look at both bills and come out publicly and support one like I am publicly supporting 3076 you support come out and say it publicly I think you should all come out and say it all of you Senator Henry I'm this is this is uncalled for I'm sorry that started I started it you started okay okay I am just making the public aware that there are two bills which you said yourself I'm not trying to argue with you I don't know why you think I am this is concerning to me I'm just saying that there are two bills and I think that people should open not open their eyes to all the bills that are both bills that are out there and make their own decision and contact their legislators after making the decision their that's all I'm saying I think I said that in my first 10 minutes that there was an alternative out there okay that's fine that you said that I'm saying this again okay I thought it was questions not comments you got a question oh okay I'm sorry nothing further thank you else on this side have a comment or a question all Mr pasetti thank you Senator appreciate you uh fighting for us Trenton always did we all realize that you're in the super minority out there and but hopefully uh with your charm and your I don't know about that I've never been known for my charm to go after these guys but it's it's a heavy lift to get I need 21 we have 15 so we need to get six people um yeah now I I myself I read s381 and that allows the school board to raise the the tax up to 99.9% at their discretion now knowing the way Oldbridge has been um the last five years 10 years they're going to take that 99.9% they're not going to have a choice with the strings attached to that bill they're going to have no choice but to go to the 99.9% with only getting the 1.7 and not being able to make cuts that might have to be made they're not going to be able to they're that's going to be their only option I think that's the way to bill is written yeah that will be the only option they have councilman so I I'll go on public um record to say that I support the 3076 that you co-sponsored and I thank you for that thank you and I would second that because H just no know really seriously on a very serious note everybody here everybody at home and and to you s I appreciate that and the fight is really important because we talk about so many things and so many things are going to get done and all the money we have and all the taxes that go up and you know who suffers the children they are the number one thing am I correct so 100% I know I can stand on this Council and 100% I got your back everyone suffers make no mistake every single person in town appreciate it thank you Mr gar see you yes Senator Owen Heaven I just want to thank you for bringing this to our attention and I know you have or Bri's heart number one and I I honestly believe that so I want to thank you for letting everybody know out there on YouTube what's going on cuz I was on aware of it I trust you I trust the guys who signed this with you I think I know you guys have you know our interest at heart for sure so I want to thank you for bringing us to our attention and let's hope it passes because it has to thank you Dr GRE Burke yes first of all as along with everyone else I want to thank you for fighting the fight and it's not easy when you are in the minority but you still are a voice and what you're doing for Oldbridge and really for the whole state is very important because you have to identify this waste of money and it is waste of money in tough times you have to make tough decisions we all do it in our homes we all and I do it in my business all the time and we've often sat here many times and said if the state ran their budget the way Albridge ran their budget we wouldn't be in this situation now I am all for education and I am all for the kids but at the same time there are seniors there are people living in their homes that are having difficult times it's not only this time about education if you look at all the things that happen all government is local that comes down from the Federal level it is costing every household more money whether it's for fuel that means the school that's the town what has happened to health insurance all these things so we're isolating one thing I'm very curious when now like I always look around at things and and La really have to analyze things from many different directions to really come up with a solution how dare they not compare to other states how come other states don't have have this problem we all go to other states and what I see I read the papers there listen to the news it's not there also in this state we have gambling now now I've been involved with the horse industry in New Jersey since I was a kid I know what's happened since gambling has been coming on television on your cell phone the amount of Revenue that pours into this state I've said it millions of times I remember as a kid in grade at my parents' ta dinner table when they were talking when we first got the lottery they said oh good school taxes are going down it didn't happen when we got all the money from the cigarettes this the state is not a good Steward on how they're spending their money and being efficient with it and we're all going to pay okay everyone can say oh we're for Education oh you know if the money goes towards the kids we all saw what happened in that school after being closed for two years for Co I ask what happened to the co money they come back into school session they don't talk about lost learning we've talked about gender and teaching sex in third grade that's appalling to me so let's focus on education so it makes our kids successful first of all to be able to go out in the world and be successful and make the place a better place as far as when you look at the cost I have said this before when this first happened you know it's very amusing in 2019 who was the governor then okay this is going on I didn't support this governor for these reasons I've saw the egregious things that were going on I didn't have to be on the board of ed I attended Board of Ed meetings for many years and I listen to them I know what's going on there and I know the choices that were made there I'm not going to make a list of everything but we can do that if we if we if we need to so the bottom line is that I was upset with when the governor first did this the the township already voted on their budget how was that fair to the township how can they go back and redo this if there's not a warning they're so busy easy for giving loans for people who signed a loan who signed a loan and really don't know anything in school which we're all witnessing and paying all this money to go to colleges and not being good citizens and doing a civic duty so we're forgiving those loans why didn't they say we're going to start fresh we understand the numbers were different in enrollment we're going to start fresh and we're going to give you a chance to do this but if this formula isn't working and you the schools have a budget and then all of a sudden the government CH Governor changes things it's not right you can't operate like that you can't do a business they have about three weeks to make adjustments to a month and that is destabilization of a school district is D and it works both ways I've talked to superintendents who are losing money they can't make it up in that short period as you said destabilizes the district I've talked to superintendents who have gotten so much money they don't know what to do with it that also destabilizes a district and sets them up for failure five six years when that money runs out you know when things change in their Community it sets them up for failure so the new funding formula and we are wiping the Slate clean it's going to be a stabilized where the school district will not be impacted for up to 3 years we want a window that no increase or decrease could be more or less than 1% so now these administrators can do their job and plan ahead right everybody knows use planning we know it's being built in town we know it's not being built in town they can predict what the enrollment is going to be what going up or it's going down and allow some management skills to take place this funding formula all it does is lead to chaos and I think that's what they want I know that it's chaos and that's why they do a lot of things that they do to separate divide District thinking they were going to get more money so they planned they thought they were going to stay with last year's night before they got cut so well for me to I I to to pass on a tax of nearly 10% to Residents is unconscionable and it's not and it's not fair it's not needed You' just identified how it can be solved and the I identified what are you doing with all this money okay to go from 36 billion to 55 billion in 6 years it takes a lot of work takes a big effort that's not easy to do and and just I've read letters from other Mayors from other towns neighboring town and they said things are tough if we have to cut things we have to do it just like in your house you have to make decisions on what you're going to pay and how you're going to cut things to live within a budget and you know what that's a lesson also for everyone that you have to get through tough times and hopefully there'll be better times that they use a different School formula and they stop with all this favoritism and waste of money and I know the money is there and I and we went through the budget line by line you can identify it so there's no need for this and people getting excited and affecting people's Liv so I hope the board of education does the right thing I hope everyone in the Senate does the right thing and I wish the government Governor didn't behave like this thank you it's unfortunate um I've asked a lot of questions and six years ago the pork or the favors was about 50 million of favors in the budget 50 million from 50 million to over a billion in six years so it tells you where the priorities are in Trenton yeah I'll keep up the fight yeah no thank you again for coming and sharing the information it's really important yeah that the public that the public knows what's going on apologize for taking so much of your council meeting no that's that's no we need no we need to be sure that people realize what's going on and I think it's good that you've decided that you're going to just hit the ground running and it's time for hit the ground it's time for people to realize that there is a lot of change that needs to be made in a lot of the different programs but especially in the funding for the schools it's called government mar mar Council so sorry it's called Good Government yeah well we need to really establish like you said a long range plan a long range plan for the funding and you can't go on like this every year there's trauma there's it's it's crazy there's no need for it if we can come up with a plan that makes sense and that is longterm that's the best thing that we could do for our students as well and for our Board of Ed we need to work together but we also need to have some common sense here and um I think you're bringing that back the money is there well there you go so everybody okay all right well thank you very much mayor I want to thank Senator Henry for coming today to Enlighten us I had heard about this about the both bills I've talked to some assemblymen I spoke to the senator about it and um when you think about the school funding formula it's the biggest mystery in government really no one knows how they come to it I have an easy solution you take how many kids how much money you have you divide it and every child gets the same amount that's fair that's in my opinion that's fair they're really hurting the Oldbridge uh actually the Oldbridge taxpayers by doing all this keep taking all this money because where's it coming from and I feel when you hurt the parents you're hurting the children because when you're taking money away from the uh the parent it's less money they have for their children and I just think it's terrible what's happening so um I had I know both bills and tonight I'm asking for a resolution expressing support for New Jersey Senate bill number 3076 amending PL 2023 c74 the annual appro Appropriations act for fiscal year ending June 30th 2024 to provide funding for restoration of State schools and Aid reductions for certain school districts I'm asking that um the council votes to adopt this resolution T I'm going to send this on to the governor and the assembly and the Senate President so that they have it to so our support for this because we need to have this money restored to all Bridge uh every year they come back and they take more and more money from us and like the senator said we're getting the same funding we had in the 1990s and what the way food prices gas is going through the roof and if we're allowed to have almost a 10% tax increase and as we all know like 60% of our tax bills the board Ed so most people are going to see a substantial raise in their taxes this year I know for myself that would be about $800 so I'm asking tonight that you could take a vote in support of this you want a motion now yes I move it second motion by dren B second by uh council person auli councilman yep sen councilman before before I go one second I got one thing for you I actually called gopal's office so everybody that's watching that's exactly what he said exactly what you brought to the table today I called and I specifically spoke to his chief of staff you know what they said to me well let me tell you old bridges um your housing has gone up 40% so since it went up 40% you could afford to pay the taxes anybody in this room anybody get a raise in this building or at home of 40% no so how do we expect the taxpayers to continue to pay it pretty simple full stop thank you let me just close Council before you vote saying that this is a problem that was caused in Trenton created by Trenton they have to take full responsibility for this but this bill 381 puts the responsibility and the blame on the taxpayers they're doing nothing in Tren to fix it we didn't break it but we have to pay to to fix it so yeah weren't they building a French Museum and the French Museum in Jersey City is very important okay the Domino Club is important too yeah so it just goes through the through through and through and you can't believe it so I'm sorry I'm going to go with the roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo no councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman PES giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes and council president soar on advice of attorney I have to um abstain okay thank you Council thank you everyone thank you good evening and again thank you I shall return Yes we look forward to seeing you in the future with more updates on on what with better news better news um on a sidebar I am asking an additional 5 million for the beach Cleanup in Lawrence Harbor oh above that I'm asking for that uh thanks Mark for sending a nice letter um I've passed it on to the Appropriations and the governor's office oh good and try to get some funding additional funding that to take uh we know how important that is and that is clean up his I'm asking for that also okay thank you very much all right thank you have a good evening okay public hearing H1 performance guarantee release CS energy one Global access road block 4185 Lots 25.1 and 26 application number 40- 2022 P additional noticing required so we just wanted to make an announcement that anybody was here to uh comment is there anyone here and the public wish to be heard on this oh no because we're going to move it right you're moving it um is there anybody here that wish to make a comment on the performance bond release for CS energy anyone there anybody here no it it no go ahead you want to do please there's a there was a public hearing scheduled for tonight for res the performance bond which is which township requires per code the there was a notice deficiency so we can't have the public hearing so to the extent that somebody's here to hear it they're not we're going to make an announcement it's going to be continued it'll be carried to the May 14th council meeting so they will Reen notice so any of the affected Property Owners owners will receive a notice in the mail uh advising them of the May 14th public hearing move it no it's just there's no there's no moving just an announcement Council Murphy okay there's nothing to vote all right approval of minutes resolution authorizing the approval of regular Township council meeting minutes of January 1st 2024 February 6 2024 February 27th 2024 March 12th and April 9th 2024 do I have move it second moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr jaama roll call councilman aluli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy abstain councilman hkitty yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes Bill list Mr Garcia H yes thank you uh Bill list as of April 30th 2024 accounts payable April 30 20241 18, 885,000 $2,528 payroll overtime April 12th 2024 26,40 payroll April 26 2024 1,319 56483 payroll overtime April 26 2024 $2 24,43 N35 and that completes my report thank you thank you Mr Garcia may we have a breakdown of the overtime Mr lenning good evening absolutely um thank you council president uh there were no upticks in either payroll that includes the Jan um January the April 12 2024 and the April 26 2024 for April 12th there was $1,446 45 in sworn police overtime when you deduct grants of 1,13 $686 then you deduct uh etto $3,297 that totals $ 6,280 52 that represents 85 sworn officer hours there were no officers on light duty during that payroll period Then moving to the April 26 2024 payroll there was uh $1,494 35 of sworn police overtime when you deduct grants of 2,220 $368 deduct etto of $2,639 44 that totals $763 one23 representing 119 sworn officer hours there were two officers on light duty during that payroll period okay thank you very much do I have a motion move it second okay moved by Dr Greenberg b i second by Mr Murphy roll call please councilwoman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman D yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes a public hearing for of ordinances for second reading H1 ordinance 24-7 providing funding for parking lot improvements for the parking utility for the township of Oldbridge and appropriating $50,000 for such purpose do I have a motion moving second okay mve by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr Murphy I'll now open it to the public is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on this item seeing No Hands close the public portion I will go to council Council anyone for question or comment on my left on my right then I'll take then we'll do roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes council president soar yes Excuse me yes H2 ordinance 2408 amending chapter 432 of the township Co code entitled storm water quality by adding a new article 10 entitled salt storage privately owned do I have a motion move it second moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr Murphy I'll open it to the public anyone wish to be heard on H2 seeing no hands I'll close public go to council anyone on my left for a comment question anyone on my right he roll call please councilman auli yes Council councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasti no no council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes and council president soar yes ordinances for first reading fr1 ordinance of the township of Oldbridge chaining changing the zoning classification of certain properties located within the township of Oldbridge to the r-5 zoning district and amending chapter 250 [Music] by Mr Murphy Madam president before we take a roll call um we I was alerted and I have to change it there's an appendix to this ordinance basically lists all the streets that are being impacted okay um and I think on the the appendix it has habiscus way right I think that's supposed to be court court yes all right so it's is that the only one on the pis so the it's 41 have us we that should be 41 hibiscus court and 43 43 so yeah so so where it says habiscus way on the appendix habiscus Court okay okay Dex and paos all right so did we have a motion you made the motion yeah I made the motion okay all right councilman pasy it's first reading we don't discuss first reading and you don't correct not on no this is first next time not at this point right if you go out on the website on the agenda you can look at the ordinance with the appendix attached it'll give you the information it gives you all the the streets the houses and with the streets okay let's we have again it's not the public hearing X and patios that's all it is okay a second you made the motion got it second second second Dr Greenberg belly roll call councilman as Tuli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president so yes public hearing set for June 11th 2024 okay consent agenda I will ask for a motion in second and then bring it back with separations move it second move by Mr pascetti second by Mr auli councilman auli any items for removal no councilwoman de Cara any items for separation no thank you councilman deama any items for separation no thank you councilman Desai any items for separation no thank you councilman Garcia I have none thank you councilman Murphy no thank you councilman pasky no separations thank you you Council vice president no thank you and council president soar no thank you okay so roll call for the entire consent agenda councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes and council president soar yes report of the Township Clerk I have no report report of the township attorney report Madam president okay administrative report good evening Mr so uh there's a lengthy Administration report tonight and I think that's a positive thing because it shows all the good things that are going on in Oldbridge good way to bear with me I'm going to give Anna a run for her money with this one the um I'm going to start out with the item number one the second quarter tax payments the Township division of tax collection will open be open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during the second quarter tax collection period the tax office will also be open 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday May 4th 2024 and between 8:00 a.m. and 700 p.m. on Friday May 10th 2024 payments can be made in person at the tax office at the Dropbox located near the front doors of the Thomas J English administration building by mail online through our website and by signing up for automatic withdrawal homeowners who are in the automatic withdrawal program your taxes will be withdrawn on or about May 3rd 2024 for additional information residents should contact the division of tax collection at 732 721-5600 extension 2999 item number two Parks and Recreation summer 24 brochure and registration the summer 20 2004 bear with me like I said 2024 program brochure is now available online we have programs for the entire Community registration for residents will begin on May 1st at 6 pm. half day camp and Camp Robin registration will begin on May 8th at 6 PM for residents non-resident Camp Robin registration will be held on May 15th at 10:00 a.m. please have your Rec Des account set up prior to registration for more information please visit our website at www.bridge docere or call The Parks and Recreation Department at 732 721-5600 extension 4999 item number three mayor Walker thanks health and wellness 5K race participants the mayor's health and wellness Council in collaboration with allaround Oldbridge hosted its third annual 5K race and kids Dash honoring home Town Heroes on Saturday April 20th at the municipal complex despite the rain the event was a great success attracting over 300 Runners health and wellness vendors and many more Spectators who were cheering on the participants the mayor thanks everyone that assisted in organizing the event as well as everyone that attended we look forward to hosting it again next year item number four marro road closure Caruso Escavating Incorporated will begin utility and road construction onor about Monday April 29th 2024 weather permitting robber Road will be closed between East Greystone Road and Pleasant Valley Road for approximately 6 weeks Follow The Detour or if possible avoid this area should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Oldbridge Township engineering office at 732 721-5600 extension 2302 The Detour plan is available in the news section of the township website item number five Lawrence Harbor Water Service replacement project honor about Monday April 29th 2024 weather permitting will be obmua contractors will be continuing the Lawrence Harbor Water Service replacement Project work on Greenwood Avenue and starting work on Valley and Ravine AV finally final payement restoration will begin in October of 2024 to allow proper settlement period of the trenches and Serv holes a plan of the effective roadways is available in the news section of the township website item number six National Public Safety telecommunications week celebrating the nation's 911 heroes from April 14th to April 20th we celebrate National Public Safety telecommunicators Week a time to honor and recognize 911 professionals who are the Frontline responders during crisises on behalf of Chief Montagna and the Albridge Police Department dep we honor and recognize our dispatchers and extend our heartfelt gratitude for the hard work sacrifice and tireless dedication to Public Safety and to the residents of Oldbridge item number seven Earth Day 2024 mayor Walker's clean team would like to thank the volunteers from Saturday April 20th who cleaned up three local streets in honor of Earth day together they collected over a 100 bags of garbage and bulk items mayor Walker's clean team would also like to extend its gratitude to chim's company for cleaning Lawrence Harbor beachfront on Monday April 22nd their employees did a great job cleaning up the beach for Earth Day the final item item number eight Arbor Day Foundation names Oldbridge a 2023 Tree City USA on April 8th Oldbridge was named a 2023 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor its commitment to effective irid Forest management cdge achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program's four requirements maintaining a tree board having a tree care ordinance dedicating an annual community forestry budget of at least 2% per capita and hosting an Arbor Day observation and Proclamation the tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the US Forestry service and National Association of State Foresters that completes my report thank you very thank you very very much M anyone have any question pres I just want to let you know I got a text from Anna she said she's not [Laughter] concerned just kidding K oh boy very good all right anybody any comments or questions okay Mr pasetti is that you waving that's my name thank you um yeah Casey I had a question on the U Marble road closure um they're doing construction there on that uh disabled veterans housing yes um so do this have to do with that because I think they're widening it widening the road I'm just concerned that you know they're going to go ahead and pave it and they're still doing construction the truck's coming in out I believe it is uh in conjunction with the housing project but I'm going to defer to the engineer qu good evening Mrs Shapiro it's going to be it's the utility work associated with Vista at Oldbridge it's the 100% affordable units that are going on on marbor road but it's the utility uh infrastructure that's responsible there is a slight widening at the entrance of the um of the complex itself um but otherwise it will Mill and resurface full width of the roadway one it's done okay great thank you okay thank you Mrs Shiro anyone else oh okay I'll take a motion move it second okay move by Dr Greenberg second by Mr auli roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pascy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes thank you okay next will be public comment on any subject matter for a maximum period of three minutes the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments this section is open for any topic or items in the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 colon 4-2a and the O Bridge rules of council the council ask the public to limit their comments to 3 minutes or less only one member of the public approach to speak to counsel at a time the council will respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished with their allotted time should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question and answer session if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding Department's office during regular business hours the Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of our meeting as you approach the microphone please State whether you are a resident of Oldbridge please no names or or addresses thank you very much is there anyone in public who wishes to be heard this evening good even good evening good evening Council um for the F for well over a month Council uh woman dearo has been trying to get this Council to put to a vote the support of a flag raising for pride month two weeks ago the ccil lawyer said and I quote if we put a flag up for this we need to put a flag up for everything well I say why not really thankfully councilman deama always goes out of his way just about every single meeting to wish people a happy holiday celebrate in love and by the way councilman dama we do appreciate it now though I'm asking for councilman dama and the entire Council to stand up and support pride month with councilwoman dearo for more than for the more than 10% of our town who identifies in this minority group as well as for the children of some of the members of council who may identify in this lgbtq group we all know there are members of the community who are employed by the township employed by the state and the hospitals live here in this town and we hope that you would respect them the history and the struggle they've exist that has existed over the time and support a flag raising just one month big deal I'm sure the council Knows Why pride month is in June June but let me remind you it's Stonewall it was in 1969 some of you weren't even born yet but I'm sure you can look it up of course there's great reason to support pride month we of course can celebrate Alan Turing who cracked the code the Nazis with Sally Ry the first female astronaut Tammy Baldwin senator from Wisconsin Harvey mil San Francisco mayor Billy Jean King who showed America that women tennis players could be as strong as men Josephine Baker I'm I know she was a heartthrob for most of us Anderson Cooper media journalist CEO of Apple Tim Cook I could go on indefinitely but today I'm asking for councilman dama to stand up today along with everybody else speak along with Jill dearo councilwoman dearo and push for a council vote on The Pride flagging of course you don't need to have a vote that's okay we just want to celebrate pride month and have a flag it's not such a big deal anyway I applaud the town for recognizing every single minority group the holidays the events we in the town support you for doing those things and the entire Community does support this our community has always been dedicated to the entire community be it International or local and it'd be nice if the council would recognize it by supporting the flag raising in June thank you very much thank you is there anyone else pres just clarify the record the quote was incorrect I wasn't talking about flag raising it had to do with the resolution sorry I apologize quote but you did say for every flag okay all right thank you very much is there anyone else in the public who wishes to be heard this evening just just you you know you know you know where we're from and what we're trying to get if I could just get somebody to give us some information or closure or correspondence with us sure I can matterif if you want me to I can at least comment initially just so you know um The Last Time Anna's not here but she's on vacation but she did go back and try to accumulate as much information as the tension Hadad um uh relative to Joane and I will tell you this uh the facts and and what we what was uncovered shows that the town's been consistent in its position that Joy Lane's a private Lane that uh it it it was not it did not uh they did not see fit at that point even going back to the early 90s uh to take it over and prove it and and to improve it uh that in fact there was issues relative to a water line uh to get water back there which I guess some point the MUA did address we we had to pay for it our I get that well so a lot of residents have to pay for private lines uh it's not it's nothing that's unique excuse me I'm going to talk all right I'm making comments no no I'm commenting and if you want to make a comment you can come comment but now I'm addressing I asked to address it so I'm going to address it so so like that no no it's it's rude it is rude no it's not rude I am I'm addressing the speaker he asked for an update so I'm I'm reciting fact you interrup in is rude so you're not supposed to comport yourself in a manner that way it's not appropriate and we ask you not to do it so it's never been it's never been this Township's position and it's been consistent that it's not a Township Road which clearly it's not and the and the township has never agreed to undertake to improve it as a matter of fact there may have been incidents in the past where certain individuals maybe based upon relationships may have gone and put filled in where because I know there's a stone surface filled in the stone surface but even then my understanding is that hasn't happened in years right so the town has never never agreed that it's a Township roadway the township has never agreed that they would improve it at one point there are various options that apparently were offered to some of the residents including paying for the Improvement uh um uh forming an HOA because most times when there's private roads HOAs are involved but the township has consistantly stated the same position to the residen of Jo Lane and it hasn't changed but sir sir I've lived there my whole life I understand that and the town has always come and taken care of it you're saying they they didn't but sir I'm not lying to you I'm not saying you're lying I I I do know for a fact when you say take care of it that the town at this point has not in I don't know how in the last 5 years no sir no sir the previous Public Works director Kyle Harris uh did an audit and determined that that was a private road and that repairs would not uh be made right so so as far as when we need to talk about take care of it I think there's a there's a difference between at times going out and putting Stone down and spreading it which they have done yes sir in the past I'm not saying that they didn't but it certainly wasn't a regular occurrence and it certainly is not something that has happened in the near future when I say the near near future within the last few years right they they've been there in the past few years I'm I'm not Casey how long have you been the Public Works director uh August 10th 2021 okay and since you've been have you been out there I have not instructed anybody to go out and make any uh improvements to the road and how long you been in public works 16 years and prior to who and then who was the Super who was the directory for you Kyle Harris right and then uh Spencer Carpenter and then uh Rocky donali right and then when when Kyle was there did did Kyle did Kyle make any type of Maintenance or improvements I don't believe so I believe when Kyle first came in one of his early tasks was to make sure that um everything was being handled properly in the department and that's when the determination was made that Improvement shouldn't be done to that road anymore so that that at least I don't know how many years ago was Kyle this Public Works uh I would say eight nine years uh he started so so there's been so again I I'm just stating for the record that that's what has occurred now I'm not saying that in the past it may have happened but that may been been a result of personal relationships certain certain individuals who who did it not because the the the from what I can tell at least going back to the early 90s it was the PO official policy of the township because it wasn't as a matter of fact the documentation that we have shows that to the contrary that the town has consistently said it's a private road road and the township will not maintain it what would do I I I you're saying years I mean it's been uh maybe maybe six months since somebody's been there to do something he he's Casey's a public works director yes sir but they have it may not have been the township who was it could have been the MUA no sir no I don't think so no sir I I'm not I'm just saying but but I I have the Public Works director here can I ask one more question for you sure so I did find a statue that I that I gave the ordinance yes so it said in that ordinance I don't know exactly what it said but it said if this if this Council deems us um sufficient so now all of a sudden we're insufficient so so that particular 196 now we're in now it's not now I think it's consistent so that particular ordinance it references a few roads which I'm understanding is is a heavily uh it's a area that is it Lawrence Harbor what the not Lawrence Harbor Cheesequake I think uh the part of the code where there it's obviously it's a large development and at that time when it was adopted it's only three or four roads if I recall the only few right few right that are in it so I think it's it's Cheesequake Village if I remember that that that they identified that even though they would they're private and again it goes back then but I will tell you this uh and I and I just got some of the information which I haven't shared for Council yet because I had asked Anna um the town there are a host of other Road quote unquote drives similar to yours that are in the township and the township they don't maintain those either because of the fact that there's liability that goes with maintaining or even taking those over there's at least eight or nine Kyle is that the number I don't try to remember the top of my head I nine that that are private drives that are same thing they're unimproved Stone Surfaces so you're saying you're not going to snowplow or anything anymore the the the the fact that the town snowplows again my understanding is they do it for purposes of Emergency Services right uh that's why they do it when there when there are private communities for instance you look at a an apartment complex there's a state statute that talks about private communities and that it gives the the municipalities uh the requirement that they either do the work themselves or if or they they uh reimbursed the HOA for the work done and that's that was done for because most of the roads and I'll call Private communities are private right aside for those private nine private drives Casey had referenced if you look some of your larger apartment complexes those roads are private right Town doesn't own them Town doesn't maintain them the those people own and maintain it what the statute requires is that that that and this was enacted a few years ago is that municipalities either do snow plowing pay for Street lighting or they reimburse the the uh the community because they have homeowner associations that but that's a state statute and it's different there's no maintenance requirement and they don't take it over it's snow removal Street lighting and trash pickup but we don't have trash pickup in this Township so they don't have to reimburse it uh and even even when there's a there's an HOA and a private road uh and the HOA there's a provision under State Statute that allows uh communities to ask the town to take over their private roads when they do that they first one of the requirements is they have to bring that road up to Township specifications meaning width depth and all the improvements as a matter of fact a few years ago if count some of you may recall there was an HOA that applied to the town and asked us to take over the roadway and then we created a punch list and we made that HOA do a vast amount of improvements to the tunes of hundreds of thousands of dollars before the town would accept the road and and maintain it and own it so that's that's the way the the that's the way the law is that's what guides this Township that's what the township has to has to deal with because otherwise there's there's private there's these drives all over the place and that and the town cannot cannot be in a position where they're taking as a matter of fact there are some paper streets which are technically tant of Roads right that the township doesn't even maintain there as a matter there was one again if you recall where the uh adjoining property owner asked if he could acquire a portion of of that paper Street um and I don't remember the development but we passed an ordinance that basically is going to divide a portion of it and each side those homeowners were were taking care of the paper Street not even the township there's a portion that goes to the property that they were maintaining it and they were taking care of it so I understand the situation but you also have to understand from the town's perspective what what the position that the St town has consistently taken now again I understand there may have been occasions where again don't know who the individuals were and maybe they had relationships with people who lived on that property even the original property owners and they would do that stuff but it goes years back uh but the town has never agreed to to say that it's theirs and they're going to maintain it or taken care of it I I I completely understand what you're saying but you have to look at it from my point they've taken care of it my whole life and all I know you I know you're saying that but the facts don't bear that out but list I'm not I don't want to argue right I'm not arguing if they came religiously you would call the town would come out they would grade it the rocky that was right that again talking years ago years ago right and again that's years how how can you take care of something and then just stop taking care of it I I can't speak for why it was done back then one of the things that well one of the things that government a a a a famous retort for government when you ask well why was it done why are you doing it it and the response is because that's the way we've always done it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do or the proper thing to do or the legal thing to do right I don't know I can't speak for what Mr donatelli did or why he did it again maybe he UND he he knew the people and things were a lot different back then I I don't can't speak to that but again the near future certainly at least within the last 10 years uh we know that that spreader that spreader the town hasn't own that since the 90s right so we know that hasn't happened right they do bring tobacco down or they've even brought in um a bulldozer but it wasn't a town bulldozer it was a a like a subcontractor bulldozer I'm trying to think of um I I can't imagine I can't imagine the municipality obber soundship certainly uh hiring a third party to bring a bulldozer down a a a private Street um no no I I didn't say it didn't I didn't say it didn't happen I'm just saying it wasn't a a a Township uh wasn't the cause for that going down again what was the name of them I'm gonna I'll try to find more information but it's it's you really have been there and then thank you for your time I'm yeah no it's okay we wanted him to you know explain you understand how this would you know aggravate me you know what I'm saying it's like you turn your back on the people of Oldbridge like we are Oldbridge we've been here since 1940 do you understand that my father went to uh school on Texas Road in a one room Schoolhouse with all eight grades and everybody talks about the nice baseball fields and the soccer fields my father built those dugouts for the kids we are oldd we've been here a long time and I feel you turn your back on us that ain't right thank you thank you doing that okay all right is there anybody else that wishes to be heard in the public portion no not now too late yeah you know what Mark let them call you if that's the case okay okay yeah I mean if you want you can speak to him afterwards or you know because tonight we can't do this thank you for your anyone else wish to be heard really thank you very much really did a wonderful J people yeah foret you always forget about our our end of town this end of town no it's true okay anyone else no all right I'll close the public portion Council comments councilman auli yes um when the police department came up I I didn't know that it's pretty sad that almost 400 cops were murdered in 2023 my father-in-law was a cop for 40 years NYPD four daughters she would say he didn't know if he was going to come home that night and they live like that every day it really breaks my heart to see what's happening in this country especially with the police department my sincere condolences go out to their families and may God continue to look after our Police Department here and all over this beautiful country and I'm truly thankful for all that they do because if it wasn't for them it would be just chaos and like my man right here I appreciate you former cop and um may God bless them all thank you councilwoman de Caro yes thank you um I do want to congratulate uh the newly promoted police officers and of course you know Echo um councilman esuli you know it's it's heartbreaking when um when we lose the lives of uh of our of the people that are tasked to protect us so um you know that's a heartbreaking thing but um what my planned comment was for tonight was just to find out what um I did email back in March regarding um doing something for pride month and I haven't really heard anything back so I was just wondering um where we stood I you know as I had mentioned I'm very willing to sit down and tweak you know I had come up with something but it doesn't have to be that um if we can just do something I think it would go a long way to our uh you know our community in general and let people know that they're they're seen that's it that's all I have okay thank you coun dep thank you I just wanted to um go off of what Casey brought up with the pox and W the the summer program this past weekend the overridge wreck I guess was the spring program had their dance recital so I just wanted to make sure that I went on record for everyone listening you know thanking the teachers Miss Kim and her assistants Jacqueline and Kaylee for their dedication to all of the young women that are up there and by the way they they did a fabulous job this weekend um and also thanking Brienne and the the rec department for all the hard work I think as not everyone gets to see all of that I think everyone when they think of wreck they think of camps and and things along those lines not necessarily the dance programs and karate and all of this other stuff but I just wanted to make sure that we did call out Miss Kim Jacqueline Kaylee as well as Brienne and the rest of the rec department just to ensure that folks understood all the hard work that went in that's that all of that happens on a Saturday right people are giving up their free time to make sure that they're there for our Township's children and like I said the young women did a fabulous job I was there watching my daughter but there was also I believe 16 other dances so it was all from little kids one young girl froze on stage had to be carried off you could see her feet being lifted to um to older girls that are pretty much getting ready for high school so I think it was a a great event I was um happy to be there happy that Brienne called me up to speak to say a few words I just wanted to make sure that we did highlight that so our recck programs aren't only camps right we do have dance and as Brienne mentioned on Saturday that when the wreck for the summer opens dance happens gets closed out pretty quickly if you are interested in those programs make sure that we that you do um you do join um I also wanted to congratulate the old brige indoor percussion on their eighth place finish in the world championships you know unfortunately I was at work I wasn't able to get there to greet them coming in it was you know every year I feel like we're we're congratulating them on such a great job you know it just shows not only the stuff that happens in the towns but also all of the teachers and all their dedication um to to the Arts in in our Township and then finally just I wanted to congratulate all the township children who are receiving the First Holy Communion whether it was last week the week before or this coming week thank you thank you councilman Desai I wish every mothers of Oldbridge happy Mother's Day second thing as I always say about spring I always like the spring weather finally it looks like today we have a spring and I think we are moving toward the weather so enjoy this rest of the spring and upcoming summer thank you have a nice day nice evening see you in next meeting thanks councilman Murphy I'm sorry councilman Garcia you had me ready here okay thank you uh I want to congratulate the officers tonight for the promotions as well as the the awards they they got so thank them like councilman toi said you know the cops we put up a lot of silly stuff but we do the best we can so congratulations to all the cops you know and be safe like I said just be safe uh I want to mention the beach I want first I want to thank everybody who who came out Earth and around town and cleaned up the town and we had we had a group that went down to the beach the haror I got a call back in a email back in April concerned about the beach from all the weather we've been having you know it's been all the stuff washes on the beach so with that I call the township not the township I call the county all the time I got a hold of the county he says we will get to it whenever we can like we always do uh it's that's not good enough for me you know they want to get to it in May for Memorial Day well the beach was dirty in April so if it wasn't for the if it wasn't for the volunteers come to clean the beach it wouldn't have been cleaned we do Casey and his guys do our side the beach is the county for those who don't know it's difficult to get the county to do cleanups they have a schedule they do maybe three or four times a year I want them there seven eight times a year it doesn't happen so with that I started giving them the people complain to me I give them the the County Supervisor his number and hopefully they're reaching out to him I can't get through to them they have a schedule they're not going to clean the beach any more any less uh I said it's four times a year so and also people complain on Facebook I always say reach out to me karcia old.com I'm accessible I don't go on Facebook unless somebody tells me what's out there uh but but I want to hear about these things and like I said if you need to get a hold of the county just reach out to the county director he will hopefully get you know get a wind of it and do something about it uh what else do we have have like councilman said Happy Mother's Day to all your wonderful mothers out there I think that's all I got so thank you councilman Murphy yeah thank you uh Happy Mother's Day um uh when you talk to the county excuse me we talk to the county you have a problem with them because I I call up and asked for the head of Public Works and they're down and they meet me that next day no they only clean up a get oh I no I have I have potholes all over the place and they come and they fix them they if I call oh okay I'm sorry I'm sorry uh okay one other thing Casey I don't at the next meeting could you bring a list of all the streets that are private in the town I'll get I have okay no problem just got it okay never mind thank you all right thank you that's all I have to say councilman pasky okay uh Happy Mother's Day um yeah on this uh I just wanted to mention on this uh The Joy Lane thing um you know if you if you go to the tax office and find out that property is privately owned and it's a big was at one time a big lot and then they subdivided it sold it off and um it's still private it's not owned by the town so um I think the people in the uh in a town should understand that you know we can't just start taking care of private roads because it would be very costly um one other thing I wanted to mention is the Housing Authority in Oldbridge I'm the chairman we have um our commissioners are supposed to be St haed every 3 years and because people left and it went back and forth we went to a number of Clerks um now we're stabilized and we want to try to get back to the um the staggered Commissioners the issue is that everyone now is um comes up at the same time right I you have four that four the come up at the same time and then there's the the remainder come up remainder come up the following year so it should be I think your terms are five years yeah five year terms so I'd have to go back and look at the um sheet that I have that we've been trying to keep track of you know when we went through covid we lost track of a lot of the terms and when they expire right so I can go back and look but I I believe it's split down the middle some are certain years and then we have the the remainder the alternate years but I would have to double check for you yeah thanks because problem I think there is a either a state statute or I don't know what it is but it says that they're supposed to be staggered yeah there's a state statute um that govern we're all in the Housing Authority un understand what happened um we're just everybody's willing to help to make it to fix it so whatever you come up with you know is is okay whatever has to get done discuss it with Mark to see if we can you know in order to make them staggered if we can you know give shorter terms for a limited amount of time or however we have to get back to our staggered terms if that's the case great okay all right thank you all right you're welcome anything else okay Council vice president yes I would like to um start off by thanking Annette Maxwell and The Columbia Bank for the beautiful um Dogwood uh that they donated and um help plant in our Courtyard here right by in front of the police um entrance uh they've been doing this um this is their second year last year they U donated a beautiful tree at MCD divik school and uh they hope to continue this project and it's very important um you know to recognize Arbor Day and the importance of trees um trees do so much for a community um first of all they help with noise pollution they help clean the air provide clean air um they help with erosion uh they're aesthetically pleasing so I want to thank them for all that they do also I want to thank the Elks for their support and generosity in raising and donating a check in the amount of $10,500 to Camp Robin that goes a long way and it's very much appreciated their support um to our special needs residents it's it's over it's m it's just so kind that they do that um also on Sunday there was a beautiful dedication at the Rose Golf Course by the elbon family a bench in memory of their beautiful son Brady and just a the message to everyone is let Brady's voice be a guide to happiness um and I want the elbon family and to let them know that Brady and they are in our hearts and our prayers forever and um when I think of um chief montang saying just as um councilman auli said that there was four nearly 400 police officers throughout the country killed in 2023 could you imagine that that you had to go to work and worry about being killed and I think this lot stems from there has to be more respect for our police men and women who are every day out there for the safety of our communities so please keep them and your thoughts and prayers thank you council president soar thank you yes this was a very busy week in town there was a lot of things going on and a lot of positive things we enjoyed Earth Day we enjoyed the tree planting we met the bus for the percussion as a band parent forever it's a it's a really proud moment for everyone um I think bring your child to work was great um I had a bring grandchild but that was even nicer it was so so much fun the children enjoyed it right they said they're coming back again next year it was a really nice it was a beautiful day and you know so much good stuff that we just want to keep that in mind when we you know go out there and spend time with everyone let's be positive the negativity sometimes really really really destroys a lot so try to be as positive as possible thank you okay we'd like to entertain a motion to adjourn and enter into executive session for matters of contract negotiations clar March development former Municipal landfill site and uh litigation for National lead move it second okay moved by Dr Greenberg bhim second by council person councilman Murphy yeah roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes seven yeses he's going to go entering executive session at 9918