welcome to the June 3D 2024 regular Town council meeting uh for the Verona Town Council uh Madame clerk can you please read the public notice not respect this meeting of the Town Council the meeting time and date along with the public internet said notice of meeting agenda building and the Star Ledger 48 hours can be instruction than you can you please do the roll call C yeah counc ran here else oh sorry Deputy Municipal cler thank you can everybody join stand time the mayor is away uh this evening but he will be joining us shortly uh we're going to move along he uh will his report later on I'm going to call Julius C our count thank you pleasure being here um we uh we'll start with the big one which is the pickle ball on Friday the opening uh I would have heard this tomorrow morning at our construction meeting and um so Friday June 7th at 11:00 a.m. promptly Essex County park for 75 blo Avenue Verona will'll be opening up uh the remodeled or resurfacing of the uh tennis courts and the new pickle ball and I know everyone in town is thrilled about it you know and there'll be more traffic in the park so that being said some other things are coming along on where are we Verona uh Verona we have Jersey sound on Wednesday June 26 at Verona Park these are the live local concerts and we also have uh three fireworks with throughout the county one is in branchford on Friday June 28th uh they have New Jersey Symphony uh Tuesday July 2nd in week week Park meno and on Wednesday July 3 um Brookdale Park the inferos the other thing that are happening if you haven't been to uh the wellness at the waterfront at the Cody Arena behind which is the Essex County South Mountain Recreation complex um Monday July 8th the 15th the 22nd and 29th there are a full body hit come join and get in shape it starts at 6:30 uh and then on Tuesday July 9th 16th 23rd 30th at 700 pm. they have jamming in Ju July 9th they have the chadam community ban 16th they have West Orange Community ban 23rd they have the Maplewood and an Sterling sample drumming on the 30th uh also have yoga for adults July 11th 18th and 25th at 6:30 p.m. yeah so there's a lot of things happening at the Recreation Complex and throughout the county uh you should have also and if you haven't yet they'll be coming out usually uh we send out the total calendar for the things that are happening the festivals through the county so mayor anything at this particular time Deputy Mayor Jay thank you uh I did drive through the park tonight the pick ball courts are great I managed to adjust my schedule so I will be joining on Friday which is nice uh I just tell the public I look at the County's website because if you want some free concerts and fireworks all somewhere along your schedule is is pretty full and our Golf Course or P if you're a golfer and all the other activities we have you need anything shout out thank you I'm later concerts for the county uh for this summer obviously the township has finalized their concerts uh and that posting will be up soon through July and into August uh I think there's there's a total of five this year uh next Saturday morning there everybody knows the Valerie fund has the walkin fund run at 5K uh if you're up for it at 9:30 and then at 11 A.M we have the paride flag raising right here in town center so uh I'm hoping everybody can join us for that if you have the morning open uh I do want to uh thank the township and everybody involved uh for the Memorial Day Parade we had unfortunately we didn't have the parade but we had a nice very nice ceremony uh we never want to cancel a parade it was uh it was heartbreaking but uh the weather turned out nice so we got to do stuff outside so thank you to uh I would like to thank the mayor uh he had a very good uh Speech and ran a good prog program uh other council members were here and their family members joined us which was very nice uh their sons and daughters uh the police fire and rescue squad the veterans and then finally uh a thank you and congratulations to our Grand Marshal wuber uh very welld deserved the this past Saturday I did attend the Pacman Trail cleanup uh once again environmental commission does a good job of cleaning up our town uh and volunteers always come out at every on in there it's like oh I never knew there was this Trail back here behind FM so uh visit it and uh keep it clean uh and then lastly everybody just so you know tomorrow is election day get out and vote at some point and uh I'd like to thank the clerk for all her hard work and good luck someone thank you and that's all I have I'm G to turn it over to our manager um item two on my my my agenda is the emergency services facility um the next public meeting everybody everybody's uh asking about the last meeting it's the townwide meeting it's on June 26 there'll be a mailer going out to the community our public information officer is also uh releasing information to every Community notification outlet that we do have and that will be at the community center and those letters will be going out at uh 7 p.m on June 26 um item three on my agenda three and four actually uh we have two proposals in for from professional fundraising firms those that firms Uh Kevin and I will have a recommendation for you at the next meeting um so and that is strictly targeting support funding for the emergency service facility there is a request pending from of item five is the midyear election which the Township Clerk has requested that's still on your agenda for discussion um now or later and uh at the council's pleasure um the inter local Health Services is under review I'll have a recommendation uh at the uh for the next meeting for you um I did have a meeting with President uh and Kevin and I both met with the president of cwell University even though I wrot cwell college I'm dating myself cwell University relative to uh the I think it was the mayor's uh inquiry about pickle ball courts up at the college University and at the same time I did talk to the president about the University of their Recreational facility space their gyms and their fields because you have a demand on your current spaces and with the Board of Ed uh demands on them now demands on them and with more kids in town you may need more space and a town and gown relationship with forall University may be a productive uh inro so that meeting did happen um I'll be having another meeting up there with our professionals looking at facilities David will be going up there as well as our engineer to see what exactly is there what exactly would be involved and what we can do with community the new parking lot signage sponsorships have gone to the Chamber of Commerce uh will be having another meeting with the chamber I gave the chamber the first opportunity to select uh and sponsor the new parking lot signs before I reach out to the balance of the business community and the Verona I think I already advised the council that the Verona pool entrance sign uh has been sponsored by Lakeside deli I'm waiting for their logo uh that they would like on the sponsor board and however the business name they would like and shortly now that the good weather is here uh the sign on the triangle which has been sponsored by um the Acura dealership uh will start shortly so you'll see a change there the background you saw that already but for The public's information the background will be your town color uh not the background that's there now it'll be the town seal in that Circle where there's nothing and it's being completely rehabed on site that's all I have unless the council ask ific question before I turn it over questions thank you Deputy May um I'll try to go through my report relatively quickly but um the first item on my report is the pool rate study we continue to work with with Newen collecting the data on the pool membership and the revenues and we're also working with our Recreation Department to form a complimentary strategic plan we're looking to gather all the data through the entire pool season and then present that to the council at the end of the pool season the uh the next item on my report is regarding a number of Wastewater infrastructure items We are continuing to make progress on a number of the smaller uh we're continue to make progress on a number of the smaller uh projects and we have the primary clarifier pumping station project uh submitted to the ibank and we have another the next two projects that were approved through Capital planning uh they are scheduled and lined up to be submitted to the ibank uh and additionally we are are preparing for a smoke testing Pro uh program later this summer we'll complement that with public education and public awareness with with information going out to the public uh several weeks prior to that starting uh regarding zoning and building we have um we have new zoning fees going into effect on July 1st our new storm water and storm water escro fees have been adopted and implemented and we are currently working with our zoning and building departments to create a new land use resolution compliance process to help uh ensure compliance with approved projects from beginning through completion uh moving on to some of our drinking water projects we have Lind Drive well continues to to be under construction uh they are still anticipating complete by the end of the year uh later this evening we will have the public hearing for the Fairview Avenue well uh that is regarding the diversion application uh once we complete that process and receive approval from Green Acres we will uh we anticipate going out to bid on the Fairview Avenue well rehab project uh and there are a number of different class action settlements that the township continues to work with special Counsel on uh pursuing uh additional funding and support for these posos projects um jumping ahead we continue to work on number of different storm water items as well uh we have an ongoing dialogue with blue Acres uh they have confirmed that they do have two property owners that they've coordinated with and a potentially third uh property owner that's interested in and having discussions with them uh we are also working on completing the final bid documents for the pekman River Project we did receive final permits now the final design plans need to be modified to reflect the conditions of those permits we're hoping to get those uh final designs and uh final calculations completed so we can put this project out to bid later this summer and we have an upcoming flood control Advisory board meeting on the 24th uh with parking meters we've implemented the new parking meter um new parking meter rates through Park Mobile and at the uh meters uh the collection has uh reflected the new rates and we've also ordered new parking meter kiosks uh we are expecting them to be delivered within the next six weeks we're hoping and and getting them installed in the municipal parking lots uh we continue to work through our local government energy audit field visits continue and they will continue for the next few weeks and then it'll into a report recommendation and presentation to the council later this summer uh we are also continuing to work with a consultant on a solar feasibility study uh we are meeting with that consultant again on June 5th to review the updated recommendations uh and once it's at a point where it's ready for public discussion we'll bring it to council for presentation uh the community center playground in Ada restrooms it's been a little bit quiet uh the contractor there has been waiting for delivery of equipment they are expecting equipment towards the end of June uh which lines them up for uh performing General site work this month they should you should start to see more activity picking up in the next week or two and it will line them up for delivery and installation of the play structures and then the Ada restrooms we're hoping that they come shortly after that uh with our road repaving projects happy to report that went Avenue is completed uh we're performing a final inspection and a punch list is being prepared so we can get ready for project close out there uh balson Whitney windir continues under construction no delays have been encountered uh Douglas Place we've held our pre-construction meeting and we are preparing for a neighborhood Outreach meeting and that will line us up for from sometime in mid to late June or early July and uh also uh we have uh continue our complete streets technical assistance project with uh the lynon Avenue uh study we had a infield observation on May 29th with a number of of different representatives from the complete series technical assistance team uh we will be continuing to work with them through the summer they're looking to provide a temporary demonstration of potentially a few different options of speed control measures that can be mented in Lyon Avenue those would be uh in place for a few weeks this fall and then we'll be a walk through audit afterwards to see how they performed and see what kind of feedback we get from those uh those uh observations and those demonstrations and then that will be uh implemented into the final design of the lyen Avenue project for 2025 construction regarding Evert field uh We've continued to to sit tightly waiting for responses on a number of Grant applications I think at this point we've uh We've now received a number of responses on those grants we're going to be preparing to uh present those final plans back to the mayor and Council probably at the next meeting for review of final project scope and cost and for uh final authorization on on those elements from the mayor council uh We've also begun discussions on our pickle ball court project we've had some initial meetings with the pickle ball community in Verona we've updated some concept plans those are going into a more formal design process and we'll continue with the Outreach through the pickle ball Community the recreation department and then eventually uh Recreation advisory committee and mayor council uh and then there are also a number of different sustainable initiatives uh we continue to advance our discussions with Beyond pesticides we're looking to work with them hopefully to implement or to have a an organic Land Management for uh some of our natural grass fields for 2025 spring season they're they're pulling together final financing and uh preparing the technical assistance for that this summer and fall hopefully that'll be in place for spring of 2025 in addition we've also uh met with our five member green team that was awarded to the township through sustainable jerseys PSG partnership uh they will be studying Centennial Field and the upcoming needs at Centennial Field for rehab and re uh refurbishment and they will be looking at the uh the the pros and cons of grass versus artificial tur so that team we've we have met with the team they will be starting their study the week of June 10th my report unless there's any questions uh thank you so um I know we keep referring to as pickle ball courts so we're not losing tennis right right the concept plan which is is being presented at this point would have a tennis court and adjacent to it I believe it's three or four pickle ball courts okay so it's a combination of both p and pickle ball because recreation still uses tennis for lessons and still has programming for children right Rel tenis okay um the um the pekman river stabilization project that was supposed to be then a model for residents potentially to follow but I don't know if we have ever seen what that what the bank stabilization project is so it would be great for us to get a copy of the plans just so we could see what's going to happen there I I can uh circulate a copy of what the plans were as of about a week ago those plans may change slightly based upon the conditions within the permit but I can circulate to the council what those plans were as they continue to evolve okay great I think that's it I just want to not for the record the mayor came on at 718 mayor you have any questions anyone else questions yes one item on my reverse Community interest you know their Capone program is active uh in with all the Departments and a new element was added to the program uh staff and I had discussed add um the students which will be next week will be electing mayor and council members to and run a mock council meeting there also be department heads departments they've been working on and uh Jennifer Kevin and Christine have been working on that suggested uh addition to the program which and they will be preparing resolutions that they see uh beneficial to to their Hometown forgot to bring that up to you that'll be on Thursday we actually pushed it what want to know 12 jennif we'll be there to get public on yeah please send that to us will thank you okay we're gonna go to council reports Mr Mayor do you have a report I do um first I just wanted to thank everybody for participating in the Memorial Day observance it was a nice ceremony and I'm appreciative for everybody who participated and the only other item is like had the opportunity to visit the Verona community pool during opening weekend and everything looked good people were happy they had a couple little hiccups to deal with uh for sure but I would like to thank all of our school staff and buildings and grounds Community Services Department for the work and getting that opened uh right in time for that holiday weekend and that's all I have Deputy Mayor thank you Mr Mayor there's an appointment for your library board Trustees for your alternate yes thank you I'm sorry I didn't uh it's is my pleasure to appoint lur decide to the mayor's alternate to elaborate here just wanted to also express my appreciation for the Memorial Day Parade uh likewise it was fortunate that we had to council the grade portion of it but still were able to hold the ceremony I know that there was a lot of preparation that all the community groups and students and fan members and everybody else had put in for the parade um appreciated very much the uh mayor's uh Speech and ceremony it was very well done and all the scouts that were there the choir all the service organizations and Veterans um thank you for participating and congratulations to our Grand Marshal honory D cuber thank you for that and also would like to say thank you to all of our department heads and employees and the town manager else were accommodating a visit uh from me today this was my annual sort of Verona day where I stopped by each of our buildings uh saw all of our departments as best I could find everybody I saw the Public Works projects in progress so it's a great way to learn a lot about what's going on in the town and I really appreciate thank you um I do want to thank our staff and particularly Christine G for planning Memorial Day and I want to thank all the participants especially the students uh the Multicultural inclusion and accessibility advisory committee met um and while I was not able to attend I know they spent a lot of detail on what the mayor already mentioned which is our Annual Pride Celebration and flag raising is on Saturday at 11:00 a.m in Town Square uh there will be many crafts for uh children and teens and anyone really of all ages there will be ice cream and there will be music and there'll be a lot of smiles so uh I hope the community can join us for this annual event it's always very exciting uh the mayor also mentioned depy mayor excuse me already mentioned the Valerie fund um I will um I have been supporting uh Daria strong which is a team um for a young woman in brona high school who is battling cancer um and she is in another round of radiation treatment so I hope the Verona Community um will support the Valerie fund you can make a donation directly to them to the walk or support the Daria strong team um I am a a excited and proud pool member and I did have a chance to uh finally go to the pool this weekend I did uh see a few safety concerns with our basketball courts and I want to thank the administration for being very proactive with addressing my concerns um and those are my remarks for now Council Council yes thank you um so I since our last meeting I attended a meeting of the Verona Recreation advisory committee um where we discussed an Ono a number of ongoing matters including Recreations financing um as well as pool membership numbers and upcoming fall programs notably a um new to Recreation soccer in our community which is very exciting um for those with children in those age groups we've had some up and ups and downs with the recreation soccer program but um you know I'm very bullish about this new approach and I do think that our our new leadership in Recreation um is very excited about it as well so that um that you know kind of contributes to the positivity around the program so I do recommend that parents um enroll their children in this program if they have a an interest in soccer um even a casual interest I I think it's like the appropriate level um for recreation there was some procedural questions raised um at the recreation advisory committee regarding Quorum and the nature of the ordinance um which I will bring up in new business um uh following on from Recreation I will just note that I also was at the pool opening weekend um and there were a number of residents there they were very happy it was very positive um experience even with the limited window of opening on actual Memorial Day due to the Rain um people were very pleased to be there and it looks like leadership at the pool was handling any of the small issues that were coming up um so that's good so long as we can keep that momentum going throughout the season and I know that this week there's a lot of the um uh the the various pool parties scheduled this week between Girl Scouts and the fourth grade Traders and a number of other nonprofit organizations so as long as we're on top of all of that I think it makes for a really positive and productive pool season um all of my colleagues have remarked on Memorial Day it was disappointing to not have the parade but you can't control the weather otherwise it was a beautiful ceremony and I'm always moved to be joined by veterans and laying the wreath at the Vietnam memorial um is very meaningful for me my father being a veteran of Vietnam um having uh been in active service at that time um I also had the pleasure of attending not one not two but many concerts put on by the Verona uh music department um notably the farewell to Mr morn so I just wanted to use this opportunity to wish him well it was a beautiful experience to see children from elementary school middle school and high school all playing together and possibly that's the only experience many of them will have playing in that large of a band and they did a phenomenal job and it's really a testament to Mr Moran so I wanted to congratulate him on that success and wish him well in his retirement um I too will be attending the various events this weekend whether it be the valy fund or The Pride Celebration and I'm just really looking forward to uh all the upcoming summer activities so thank you so much and that concludes my report thank you Council woman at this time I'm going to open it up for uh public participation Madame clerk can you please read the public participation anyone only of for the record you're not required to provide your street address however if you know that these Channel and addresses you have four there'll be no cross dialog speak has been heard May address your comments and or now is the time for anyone from the public that would like to speak step up to this lect turn over here and that microphone can I stand in the middle nervous behind you have to speak in the microphone because then no one on Zoom will hear you sorry just your name and city of good evening everyone I am Noel Brogan I live here in Verona my business is here in Verona and I've been around for over 55 years my business is just up the street here and it seems that I'm like a catw for everybody who has a question about anything going on in the town and frankly I don't like rumors and I don't like gossip and I don't respond to and that's why I'm here I have three or four questions and please just give me a simple answer so I can give it to the people who are pressing me and you know that big project up here with all the houses at there the condos they're building and all is there a name for that because I hate to call the project also how many units is that and what is the designation of the people who will be moving in like what percentage will be X and what percentage will be Y and what percentage will be Z you know people come and they have all kinds of crazy ideas and answers and I don't want to get involved in something that's just a rumor because if you ask me I want to be able to give a straight answer and in my opinion not a humble one but my opinion you go right to the top and to me this is the top how many units are in there ask all your questions and then after all public is done we will answer every question that you ask okay number one how many units are there next question next question how many units will be used for affordable housing in what capacity is it low income okay I mean I'm asking only about that project yes sir okay and so then we will answer all those questions once public participat is okay thank you was done okay the Irish next question next question how is the income from that building going to affect or disaffect the people in our town regarding taxes that's a serious issue here because there seems to be a lot of stuff going on and it's going to cost a lot of money and everybody's asking what do you think what do you think I can't think if I don't have an answer anyway that's an end of me tonight I'll come back again another time rester you thank you thank you public we have no questions on Zoom so I will close hold on one hand just J hi good evening this is Jacobs from Verona um the audio was coming out a little bit before so I just wanted to uh I don't know if this is the right time to uh speak about this but I did want to speak in support of a stop sign on Cumberland and Claremont um I've witnessed a number of accidents and near accidents at that crosswalk it is a crossing guard uh monitored crosswalk or attended crosswalk uh and I think a stop light or a stop sign on Cumberland and Claremont is uh really needed there so um that's all I have to say thank you than Mr Jacob okay that's it see and no one else I'm going to close public participation and do my best to answer these questions in a short period of time that they're calling that development the Verona Flats Flats Verona Flats uh there's 95 affordable units uh in the development that was part of our negotiation and settlement with fair share housing the township needed to supply x amount of affordable units throughout the township and we came to that number for that piece of property there's history because it was two pieces of property but in the end that's what we ended up with was 95 units that's the entire project it's the entire project yes there's three buildings two buildings there's a there's a combination of one bedrooms two bedrooms and three bedrooms it's all what we were required to put in uh they will all be affordable and it'll be based on your income a certain amount or low income certain amount are low moderate income so that's the the simple answer is that that it's 95 units and it's all going to be affable housing yeah but I asked you what's the division of it I can't go back and forth this is public is just we're giving you the answer we will reach out to you I will reach out I will get all the answers and reach out to you how many one bedrooms two bedrooms three bedrooms I don't have it offand somewhere in this pad from the past meetings it's there but I will get back to you okay also so just to go a little bit more into our strategy and why that building is there and why it's 100% affordable project the normally when you have to meet your affordable housing requirements most of the way that this is done is in buildings that are mixed that have 15 to 20% affordable units and 80% market rate units but the developers when they build those buildings and they meet the commitment to build the affordable units they're allowed to build over and above your zoning by the for the market rate unit okay so this originally by having 95 affordable units in a single development avoided hundreds of market rate developments that were proposed to uh take out basically 20 acres of trees uh on two separate Parcels elsewhere in the township so this was a very long-term project the township did to come up with a strategy to meet our affordable housing numbers um going through the previous rounds of affordable housing we used to have a surplus of affordable housing in this town however the method of calculation was changed by a court decision for this round and as a result the Hillwood senior citizens building which previously covered the vast majority of our affordable housing requirements the credits we got from that were reduced substantially as a matter of the process in this round so we had to settle with fair share housing and build buildings um this is one of two you know the other project would be the one that would be going up over at Afterglow um replacing the school that's there and that is a mixed use building and if I remember correctly that's over 200 units there of which you yes 200 which we can't I'm sorry do the DU to the form of our um public comment sessions we can only accept public comment and then make a council state so we spent a very long time and there's a there's an entire page on our website going through the history of our affordable housing negotiations all of the documents are up there pretty much everything that we did we put up there um but that was the process was ultimately how do we protect the most open space in Verona how do we end up with the lowest total unit count between all the market rate units and the affordable units um as the wut mayor said there is a division between income types and unit sizes within that complex there are lwi Income moderate income Etc and then there is a division between one two and three bedroom units and those are all generally governed by Court decision or statute so the majority of this framework is not really something that we are that we have the ability to change with the framework is we have to figure out a way to meet our requirements within that framework and this was the town's strategy for doing it how is that building going to affect taxes um obviously that building being essentially subsidized through tax credits Etc is not a building that is going to generate a ton of tax revenue for the town and the township did have to buy and assemble the parcels of land that are underneath that building but it is being developed by a third party developer so you know it's it's sort complicated how all the financial modeling of this goes together if we had done a a mixed use building those generally pay a very large pilot into the township they're very high Revenue but then you end up with hundreds of units and then you have all the services you need to provide you have an impact on your school system so that's the takeaway here was that in the round of settling this this round of affordable housing this was the strategy we came up with to minimize the overall impact on the town from a development standpoint a schools impact standpoint and a financial standpoint and that project is going together rather quickly um and the building should be going online soon I thank you for coming and expressing your concerns thank you thank you Council c um and I just want to add that um thousands of people are interested in moving in um and at our last meeting the um developer of the site um who will be managing it came in and a third of those that are interested in moving into the building or ver owner residence so it just shows that there is an untapped need for affordable living even within our own Community from our own residents um but there's an application process and we can give you more information or any Resident can go to our website for more information and there will be a leasing office that does that will be opening soon that we're going to widely publicize so that um anyone who wants to move in there can get all the information they need and they have to complete an application and will be on first come first serve depending on how quickly they fill out a complete application but we do anticipate that um and hope that a lot of roner residents will actually relocate there and be in a more affordable housing for their income level but only a third are Verona residents who are we can't we can't go back and forth we can't go back and forth but what we can what I will clarify with my statement is that of those that are interested in moving in so far a third are Verona residents but at the end of the day it will depend whoever moves in there is really who will be able to complete the applications and fit the very precise income requirements and provide all of the backup that's required in order to move in thank you um so there's a lot but we do appreciate public comment and questions on this project thank you may I also acknowledge the other I was going to comment but clearly you had to say so you can continue I will just acknowledge the gentleman's comment on the self sign and thank him for participating we'll be later thanks I I just wanted to say thank you for coming to tonight's meeting I know that it's stressful to speak in front of the council the way you did but you spoke very eloquently and I really appreciate you coming on behalf of others that have been speaking to you and I just would love for you to encourage them to come forward and speak to us or send us emails there is very quick access through the website you could just send a quick email to the council all of the council members or individual council members but we really appreciate the feedback um and so thank you for coming this evening and as the stop sign will be addressed later in the meeting I'm happy to hold my comments on that that's all our comments uh so next on the agenda is hearing adoption Amendment ordinance there are none proposed ordinances there are none public comment on consent agenda we have minutes no we not have May 20th minutes of count resolution uh one accepting the award of the 2024 clean communities Grant we have two is clean communities Grant ising the insertion into the municipal budget of that community clean communities Grant uh authorized contract with integrated Technical Systems for the relating to the parking uh kiosks that we will be purchasing and then uh resolution four is our gun violence awareness resolution and no executive session so we are K5 yeah we can pull K5 thank you Deputy Mayor I'll move to the consent agenda just real quick we have uh license and permits we have a 2024 first quarter raffle report coming okay Mr Mayor would like to move the consent agenda do I have a second second second by councilwoman McGrath uh at this time we will open public comment on the consent agenda I don't think we need to read the public comment statement again it's a good bread anyone from the public seeing none I will close public participation on the consent agenda any comments from Council Council mcrath uh thank you um there's a scribers error in C4 the gun violence awareness day um resolution um in the middle it references 2007 27 and4 but I just want to say about um marking gun violence awareness day I'm really uh glad that this Council has codified into our ordinance on lighting the buildings that we will light our buildings in honor of gun violence awareness day this Friday in Orange which is the color of um this uh living Memorial that happens around the entire country uh to kind of Mark this uh uniquely American um experience of gun violence um I know for many of us this is very personal for many Verona residents they are survivors of gun violence um it's impacted their lives it's something that our officers live with for every day um when they're out uh putting their lives in danger um there are domestic violence victims in our community that are suffering even more told because of gun violence and of course our children and Educators spend an anen amount of time uh practicing for an active shooter event so I'm really glad that we're once again marketing the event I encourage all residents to wear orange on Friday and at dusk or in the evening come by our uh Town buildings to see them um lit up in honor of this um uh event thank you thank you coun awesome see comments uh Madam clerk can you please call a roll yes Council yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor yes mayor Tambour yes uh Madam clerk just note that the mic next to you keeps cutting in and out uh just so you're aware we have no addendums we're going to move on I'm sorry oh sorry thank you resolution 6 through 9 moving along to new and unfinished business I see we have our representative from h2m in so I am going to bring item number four the discussion ordinance amending chapter 150 zoning of the township uh the code of the township specifically article 17 paragraph 197 paragraph 11 microphone is yours thank you good evening everyone um I uh believe all of you have uh a copy of my memo and the draft uh ordinance uh and I hope everyone's reviewed it I'll keep make it quick um so basically the master plan had recognized um the need for having assisted living facilities in the township given the Aging population and at that time we had identified certain areas um the second thing we had also given the vacancy of you know Office Buildings or the change in uh Office Buildings recognize the need to have a co-working space and provide definition for the same so this uh draft ordinance that I have um prepared uh has been um has uh has been written uh recommending having coworking space as a principal permitted use um and really to provide a clear definition uh to also include a definition in the definition section um regarding the assisted living facilities um these kind of facilities are essential but it's also good planning practice to have lot area building requirements stipulations regarding buffers etc etc So to that end um to uh provide Clarity so that whoever interprets the zoning there is no question um made an attempt to uh a identify as uh a conditionally permitted use in the C2 Zone um and as you go through the ordinance um there uh the Assisted Living residents has an existing ordinance that has been updated to provide a little bit more clarity um and then as you move along um in the permitted section um try to identify typically what the accessory uses um are and should be a part of this and then as we go um third section in conditional uses um that you know assisted living facilities subject to the standards set forth in a new subsection 8. 12 and as we go through 8.12 um mentioned really uh the State Licensing requirement um and then the other uh thing was that it's it's good planning practice to set forth a density requirement if you will in this case it's number of beds so um you know we did an analysis and came up with um 25 that's the max imum and of course given the building the height requirements um you know it it's it it it will be uh either 25 dwelling units or maybe lower than that depending on the size um and then in terms of area yard um it's important to provide buffering to neighbors adequate parking so we put in a minimum lot size of 4.5 Acres uh front yard setback um setbacks to the neighbors um to put in also some sort of buffering requirements um and uh a maximum height uh taking into consideration uh what any of the residential uses that are approximate to the two areas um the C2 zone areas and uh also um a minimum of 15% of all B um beds should shall be set aside for very low low and mod income so that way you know uh come round four or round five uh you know from our end we have uh provided um I provided um this that we could aw of credits um and then uh finally parking requirements and I just wanted to point this out that um you know the last sentence is basically the maximum number of employees during the peak period plus 05 parking spaces per unit um uh that one parking space was um uh just a language that should have been deleted but didn't get deleted until I noticed two hours before this meeting but I want to bring that um uh to everyone's attention that this was done basically um one thing we noticed while preparing the master plan was how obsolete are parking requirements in the town you don't want to have an just over parking so 05 parking spaces per unit is as per the RSI standards so that's you know it's accepted um plus it's important to provide the maximum number of employees during Peak period so if there are 15 employees and 15 employees plus5 of the bed uh beds is the thought process um and then finally um you know we have the master plan sets forth a vision of where certain things could go like for example the Bloomfield Avenue Corridor is really for a mix use uh downtown area it just does sense having that in those kind of um areas however we have sites on which are in the C2 Zone as well as um and the portion in on Grove Street um so one of the things I realized too is it's Commerce Court and not Commerce Street so you know the actual ordinance will uh have um have that uh rectified as well so this is it from my end hey thank you uh I had actually had a question about Bloomfield Avenue and why would you already answered that question does anybody else have questions Council MC so when um we had discussed this previously I guess there are a lot of different the C2 zone is in a lot of different places correct so um for assisted living facilities so the lots have to be a certain size so did you do it in analysis I did how many Lots is actually yeah how many Lots or even if uh Lots can be assembled together because um it just um and just so that you know that this there was a lot of research that went in like um so we also reviewed other towns similar to Verona what their ordinances are so there was um you know there was a lot of that's my resarch right here in a simple Matrix but um you know we ALS every time even when I came here last last time when I presented about um people who had reached out regarding their property the dner density is similarly for this also we we do analyze lots and and we also look at it from a a point of view of where it would be feasible location um you know and nothing in this would preclude somebody you know one may say oh there are some Lots that are less than four acres but that this doesn't preclude anyone wanting to assemble those if should should the need arise so four acres is really the four is the okay so just your way of process this may be for Town attorney or someone from our administration's are you so this goes to the planning board for consistency first the first read right um and so residents who live a but to the C2 Zone will they all be notified or is it really up to the resident to kind of be informed keep up with what um is being published in the paper and that's how they're going to hear about this um I would to our attorney this is my this is our first big one yeah so this this and correct me if I'm wrong our planner um this lines up with the master plan so they do have to be aware and this also is not relating to like one place right as indicated anywhere in the C2 Zone someone arguably when I say anywhere within the with the streets frontes because it's limited in certain streets um could um assemble 4.5 Acres you know buy a bunch of different properties houses buildings whatever happens to be there and go ahead and try to go through this process but they have to meet all the criteria um because it is a conditional approval which means they have to meet all the conditions yeah otherwise they can't do without them going to the okay and and just so that you understand um that you even when I set forth the buffer requirements um it was taking into consideration what residential users are me about any of those properties so that that analysis did not include just lot analysis but also included analysis of um you know what's around these uh Lots yes and that's that was just my observation and comment like we have a great public information officer this may be a good opportunity when it gets to the hearing at the planning board for maybe it to be blasted out a little bit because as I look at the pink on our zoning map which is the C2 Zone it's just there are a lot of residential areas I just think you know they should be understanding what's happening and and just so that you also understand From perspective of land use planning too that um when something is in a C2 Zone um that zone permits like I I'll list the uses it uses it permits um it permits uh commercial and professional offices it permits School commcial schools family daycare centers so you know an assisted living facility is actually a really a home for aging people and um we are very uh sensitive you know of what's around it what's the building height we also analyze what's permitted in the C2 Zone as well as zones around it so whatever we did would not be out of character so there was a lot of thought that went into that a lot of thought went into um how one would like to buffer these properties so that there is no um uh there is no um impediment to enjoying people's backyards or front yards or side yards or what have you yeah thank you and I will just close with saying I think assist living facilities are very much needed and people want to age in place in Verona so to add this as a conditional use is a smart move so I do thank you for all of your analysis um and I think whatever you analysis you have I'm sure we want to see it oh so JY was anyone else make a very brief comment this is one of the things we talked about a lot um when we were bringing you on board was the C2 Zone and the future professional office because that's probably one of the more interesting categories to look at right now with the large change in how we work um the example I give is you probably don't need to go and see your tax preparer in person anymore um you know you can meet with people resume but on the other hand medical uses of offices are expanding but I just see a lot of turnover in what professional office is and we do have some fairly large professional Office Buildings so adding co-working as a as a potential use and adding this as a potential use for it is sort of responsive to you know the changing needs of of this particular land use so I look forward to seeing some of that analysis but yes this is you know relevant for people that live in these in these areas you know I live in an area that's very near a lot of C2 professional office it's interesting to read over appreciate all the analysis and what went into this and look forward to seeing this before finding board and again ongoing discussion thank you Mr Mayor any comments yes first say thank you for your hard work on this um I agree that the assist living facility is a is a good use in our C2 Zone especially given the land requirements the one thing that we should think about as a municipality moving forward is that if we do adopt this ordinance and we invite especially the assisted living facility into Verona through this uh we need do need to start thinking about the impact that might have on our emergency services so I think it's an important thing that we have in Verona people don't have a lot of options other than to move out if they require assisted living or to bring in somebody into the home which isn't always an ideal situation uh but at the same time as we move forward or as somebody wants to build one of these facilities we need to have a commitment to making sure that it's not too much of a burden on our our already stretched emergency services and that's all thank you lastly I'm just G to make a comment and I don't think this is something because we have a an affordable housing expert that we deal with uh but the one thing I want to look into and make sure is that these is there's a is there a difference between Assisted Living affordable units and our senior affordable units because I know in the next round they're only they're going from they're only going to 30% and we do have a surplus of senior assistant so we've reviewed this or extensively together and did a terrific job I credit her with doing the entire thing I one or two SPS that was one of the spots I tweak with 15% and the reason we use 15% is so we're consistent with our current ordinances and more likely than not as we understand the rules right now you probably wouldn't get credit maybe at this round or whatever with this but that doesn't mean in our professional mind that you shouldn't because the rules continually change so if you just try to fit everything in the current rules you might be losing out in the future when you get bonuses or it does count and stuff like that so we thought it better to be consistent with our ordinance apply to 15% because these are s more similar to the rentals than they are to purchases yeah um and this way as long as we continue to do that we'll always be in the mix and be in a the best spot we can possibly be in as a Township in L of not including something like this and then the rules change with like ah why did we includeed you know we're getting thank you wait I'm sorry but just to reiterate what you said you don't the professionals at this time don't think will get credit the way the rules are for the next round as they were written that's my belief right now we right but what in another words is if we let this go and not have 15% and say 10 years down the line um we could get credits that we should have oh gosh that you know that um and originally I put it at 10% based on the state statutes but after this discussion it just made sense to keep it consistent and and in previous round you would have got credit right so that's one of the reasons why you know we kind of learn by looking at the history to say you would have gotten credit they now Chang there isn't credit if they flip back we want to make sure we're in the best possible spot and it certainly doesn't hurt a cult the township to have this it's a it's a great thing to have to help people you know that are that need that kind of help just want be clear with that thank you okay okay thank you very much for your time uh we're going go to N1 public hearing proposed project at Hillwood Terrace Park on 22 Fairview Avenue this me site plan VA yeah start with an introductions I just have to evening my name is Candace Davis I'm work with Boswell engineering uh in their Chester office uh representing a Verona Township uh for a filing to njd for an exemption from 7 njac 736 uh Green Acres Program the project uh relates to to the proposed uh pfas uh treatment facility on the Fair viiew Avenue uh Wells sit uh this is an ongoing project through the township of Verona and we are current with this public hearing we're asking for um I will Al present the project or the request for the exemption as well as um open uh make availability for public comment um as required for our submission to njd the the interest in for Verona in submitting for the exemption uh there is a an act that was um uh adopted by uh njd in July of 2023 uh this particular act allows municipalities uh to um to submit for an exemption from the standard green Acres midds um when they're uh proposing projects on a uh site that is classified as a Green Acre Site um as is the project um currently under discussion the uh site is located if I step away from for a second on Zoom can't hear okay currently on the site of Verona owns and operates the water supply system the water supply system entails an existing well uh piping a treatment facility is already on the site as well uh which is adjacent to public RightWay as can be seen from Hillwood Terrace the well is accessible by a um a gra an existing gravel access route uh within the site uh the site is also uh primarily it is um used by the public as a recreational and uh conservation site so there are numerous trails that cross the site that are actively being used uh it is also um part of the Essex County trail system so there is mapping that uh demonstrates that the the county Trails also cross through into the site and then Verona uh Township itself also has accessory Trails um that um coordinate with those that trail system so the site has historically also been used um with with as a rope course um at one time there was also a time when it was available for um uh target practice as well uh but in the current uh state it is primarily for recreation with the trail use and um with hiking and walking and I've mountain biking as well because I've noticed that as well the project um the requested exemption uh complies with a recently enacted Act by njp uh that came through in July of 2023 uh the ACT allows uh municipalities like Verona Township to submit for as I mentioned the exemption based on six conditions that are uh required to be satisfied um we we uh have reviewed your project um B engineering has reviewed your project and we have found that uh all conditions can be Satisfied by Verona Township for the exemption submitt the uh required uh conditions I'll list them um I'll go through each one as required by um public notice uh the first condition that's required for uh any project under this current uh enacted act uh is that the municipality is required to own and operate the water utility and has a pre-existing well utilized for drinking water on the land uh that is an affirmative um condition that Verona has satisfied uh unfortunately at this time the ver Verona well uh is out of service due to um some is some consideration with um testing that had happened in 2021 uh due to a high levels of pfas which is um a new contaminate that EPA and d uh is now uh enforced their testing as of um 2020 uh at that time uh as the testing uh started um as required by um DP Verona Township did find the contaminate levels for pfas um at a higher level than the maximum allowed by DP and they immediately um proceeded to close the well the well and water supply from the site um and went forth with significant uh efforts funding and uh have already obtained a number of permits with regard to uh proposing and installing a new treatment system to treat this um the pfas contaminant uh so in that regard the um for condition one the municipality does own and operate the utility and um we satisfy the condition for item condition number two as i' mentioned um if there's if there's an exceedence or expected exceedence of Maximum contaminant level for among other things pfoas or pfas or such other contaminant established by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the safe drinking act um and as I just mentioned um unfortunately Verona did test um an exceeded level of pfas so um but as a result do fully comply with that par particular condition uh and we do have lab tests to support that um that occurred um in the past uh condition number three as required um as a result of that exceedance um the municiple owned and operated Water Utility Authority shall expressly be permitted to install on the lands required um improvements required to address this exceedance um that is what uh that is what the project and Tails uh there are uh design plans already prepared by Jacob's Engineering uh that are um shall be go out to um bid at the um as soon as all the permits have been obtained and Green Acres supports our our um request for the exemption um and those plans explicitly address the maximum contaminant level that um was experienced with lab lab results so that um Verona c will be in full compliance with the regulations item number four condition number four no other improvements shall be made on land except as deemed reasonable necessary and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection to address exceedence of the maximum containment level and any such improvements shall be cited in a manner to minimize disturbance uh this Verona Township and the design that's proposed uh shall comply with this particular condition uh the project um overall entails um in uh constructing a 25 by 40 foot building approximately 16 feet tall tall that will Encompass the entire uh water treatment system that will um bring Veron Township into compliance with the um the maximum so that they um are below the maximum um pment level as required the uh I step away from the podium for a second the aerial building I canp than currently mine right so the only improvements excuse me I you want to repeat it no you're good okay uh so th those are the only uh proposed uh disturbances that are considered for the site and we comply with condition number four condition number five uh requires that the additional use of Lance and any improvements made pursuant to the section shall not substantially impact the use of land for recreation or conservation purposes including public access to land uh the existing uh building has been cited in a existing clearing on the site uh that is the reason why it's located on that location so that we can minimize uh any um tree disturbances uh to minimize um disturbance of lands uh with regard to slopes close to Hills close to Hillwood uh Terrace and then also um eliminate any uh conflicts with underground pipes that are already on the site uh the enjoyment uh with regard to the the full site itself the only disturbance is uh planned for this treatment system and uh the little portion of the drive access and no other portions of the site shall be disturbed and so the full recreational uh use of the site and all the trails as well as the access gravel access and parking area that the aailable currently shall remain uh and then item number six relates to um the acceptance of Verona Township for the submission of the exemption uh that the governing body of the municipality applies in writing to the commissioner sending forth and demonstrating to the U Department of Environmental Protection satisfaction that meets the required uh criteria the um the proposed project is um with if as um excuse me Verona Township uh entered into a consent order in February of 2024 um so with njd as as a result of their ongoing efforts to remediate the issue of the well uh as we know the the well is currently offline and Veron Verona wishes to um bring it back online uh in doing so this project uh will provide the um the treatment that's required to bring the contaminant levels for the pfas uh below the um St below the required um maximum allow uh limits and um we and this project will then proceed with um providing ver with their uh water supply that they had had in the past from the swell from swell system uh the AL the Alternatives that were considered uh for the projects relate to the type of treatment that um is available for pfas uh treatment systems as well as the location of the building uh the the type of uh treatment systems that's available for uh to treat this type of contaminant uh are there's two type typical typ that will provide the 100% um treatment one is proposed anion exchange resin that is what is proposed with the current project uh and then the other uh type of Treatment available is granulated activated carbon systems um so the the reason why this proposed treatment system was selected uh included that the uh footprint of the building was allowed to be a smaller footprint than uh the granulated activated carbon type and additionally this type of system allows no contaminant waste streams to be um accommodated from the system so in lie of that uh the this type of anion exchange resin the media is pre-washed prior to coming onto the site uh and then it is rinsed again um on the site and that rinsing water then will be um discharged into the proposed tank that is also um part of the project and then can easily be hauled away to the wastewater treatment plant as a um a supported uh treatment uh process for this project uh then any spent resin it's a resin media that's included in the system uh any anything that's spent or um is no longer functional can be removed easily with a truck a slurry truck and then hold to approved uh disposal facility so the reason again those are some of the reasons why this particular uh treatment process was chosen the treatment building location uh the the they looked at the sighting for the existing treatment system and the building that's currently on the site um unfortunately if we were to propose the move that building onto that closer to that location there would be a fairly significant trees that would need to come down um as well as significant raing and walls um to provide a a flat pad for the for the system uh there's also a number of U supply lines s that are existing U that go up to the tank to the top of the hill um and those uh lines would also impede on the project um for locating the building uh closer to the existing treatment system building and uh and finally uh we by locating the building on top of the hill it provides a gravity um discharge from that building to the next building for treatment so that eliminates the need for an additional pump so at this time if there's any um if I I'd like to um open the the the public heing to the public um so that any anybody we can uh ride some if there's any comments or anybody has any questions let's let's start first does the council have any questions Council I don't have a question but I I did want to make a comment is that cor this time okay so I just wanted to um just to say thank you for your presentation I know it's a a lot to get through this evening um but I do think it's really important I really app appreciate you taking the time to you know to make the point that you know this is property that already has this use existing on it right we've already got the Wells on it this is located right across from the high school on Fair viiew Avenue we have the existing well on it in order to remediate the contamination in the wells we need to construct this project it's an unfunded Green Acres project so we're not receiving any funding for the recreational uses or the Greenacres property from the state and as you said which I thought was really um helpful was that this isn't going to impact any of the recreational uses currently on the property so like the trail usage and other um recreational activities that residents may enjoy there aren't going to be affected by this project that's intended to provide them clean water that's correct um and that it would be screened from the roadway and and ostensibly from uh like the high school as well so there would be adequate screening so iated with that's correct um and that there was legislation as well I thought it was really helpful that you referenc that there's legislation that allows just this type of um public hearing and procedure to take place before the council this evening so overall I really just want to thank you for coming tonight and I thought that um the board was very helpful um I'm not sure if it was posted on the website so if there are residents that wanted to take pictures that that it is a public document oh it is it is on the website sorry um I missed but thank you so much I thought it was really helpful and those were a couple of key points that that really resonated with me thank you thank you Council coun just to add also for the public that um there was a fairly detailed technical presentation given by Jacobs Engineering uh the date I've got on it was May 15th of 2023 um I did search some of their presentation materials on the website as well basically showing the layouts of the treatment systems the actual equipment the sizes of the buildings and so on um looking at what our Engineers have put together it is pretty obvious that they've tried to manage footprint um in these uh because obviously we don't want to overbuild uh the other risk that we're you know looking at in the long term is this is an emerging contaminant and there are other emerging contaminants and we may have in the future you know additional filtering requirements where we may have to do you know put other types of media in so there is you know there is a little bit of future planning that goes into this as well in the event that we have to put any additional process um into these wells in the long term so there it's just a very complicated area of Regulation and any kind of infrastructure that we build uh we look at all the competing priorities and all the concerns that we have and try and come up with something that has the least impact on the public that solves the problem that puts it in a reasonable cost and uh I very much appreciate you coming and presenting this evening uh as to the specifics as to why this land is landing right where it is and the dimensions and so on for the building so thank you very much for your I too want to thank you for your your Clarity on this mistakes uh I've walked the area I do think uh I'm happy that we're seeing buffer put in there it's but from Fairview Avenue it's it's pretty wooded going up to there so it is is a a pretty good a good location in my mind for it as far as having it off in the woods and not really being an eyesore to anybody so thank you very much uh and Council will anything no it was excellent presentation thank you and thank you for the vision ual it really helps to understand you know exactly where it's going to be placed and how it's going to be buffered so I appreciate the hard work that went into it thank you thanks Mr Mayor anything or no just reflect everybody else's comments and thank you for your presentation it's a project that we must do um so I appreciate having a good justification and a good explanation to the public thank you okay so at this time yes I will open up uh for public comments or questions on this uh since we had a bunch of people come in Adam clerk can you please read the public comment statement matter attending thank you madam clerk anyone from the public would like to speak now is the time M Davis thank you all right thank you thank you um good evening my name is Melissa de and I'm a resident of Verona I'm attending tonight's evening regarding the proposed Fair Fairview Avenue well facility treatment project with some comments concerns and questions uh to set the scene for me being here uh we live in the second to last house on uh crust Hill rad it's adjacent to this Hillwood Park Green Acres we've lived in the house for 10 years and are very happy with our uh two kids so we love our neighbors on the street and feel that we have found a sweet little Community uh my three and six-year-old are often out riding their bikes and scooters outside and playing with groups of neighbors um it's my hat that's like right on your map right there um so all of this activity takes place just yards away from the Fair viiew Avenue uh well manhole cover that's accessed from cres Hill Road I became aware of this public hearing through a large sign that was installed on Hillwood Avenue I saw them install it from my front bay window of our house and investigated it once it was up uh since we're right next door um we will be affected both by the construction and the resulting clean water I thought I should attend tonight's meeting um in preparation and I began reading the njac 736 Green Acres Program mentioned in this notice um but wasn't able to connect the dots from this code to my questions so I thank you very much you answered some of my questions that I have um I did just want to post them for today and then um I'll leave them with you so uh one of the questions uh from your talk today is that when you vote to have the land um taken out of the green project does the land go back in after the project is done um my second question uh is why do you need to access the Green Acres uh today when bids have not been submitted with me not knowing how bids uh work so that's my fault um but can these vendors do everything from Fair viiew Avenue and you sort of touched upon that um but as a resident I would much rather have a building on Fairview Avenue than accessing some of the trees in my backyard um questions that I have about this which we're not touched upon is the length of the time for construction on the project this would affect my family um as we are outside a lot um what are the hours of the day the work will take place um I did go through the May 15th meeting notes I was unable to attend so some of these I I didn't receive the response to there um and I apologize if they were there and I miss them um will there be an external uh oh no you answered that um oh is the structure temporary what happens after we have great drinking water uh again what is and this is a a big one that I talked to my neighbors about what is the noise that will be emitted from the work and what is the noise that's going to be emitted by the filters um what is the access needed from the ver a or the cres Hill Road manhole um how many trees will be removed sort of answered that um that was answered thought was answered so those are my I guess eight questions that I have um thank you so much I appreciate the work that you do um thank you anyone else in the Lawrence res resident of Verona um I serve on the board of the hilltop conservancy and I as you know the hilltop reservation is kind of above this area but my question is um is any of this facility going to be on what what is currently the ropes course and if so uh will it will it mean that the RADS course will be cleaned up because it's kind of derel right now and there's like um graffiti on some of the wooden objects that are still there but when it was a robes course so that's my question than you Mr seeing no one on Zoom so I will close public participation and uh try to go through the and some of the questions we will definitely need uh your expertise again uh so I will attempt to this is Candace Davis from bille engineering again uh I will attempt to answer some of the questions that the public has has presented uh with regard to the land so the project is proposed immediately adjacent to the well the current well uh that is um that is that is the the focus of the construction activities so will the land be removed from Green Acres so the remain Green Acres but this just ends up being on the green ACR yeah so typically in a previous to the ACT that was enacted um recently uh the Green Acres Program would have required that we dispose of um all the land that we are proposing Pro the project on uh the lands and also the exist some of the existing features uh and what that entails is uh is that that land or that that um delineation would be taken out of the Green Acre Site and then we'd have to provide a compensation at a five to1 Ratio or so at another location and or provide um uh monies uh with it based on a market value um accepted by DP so so in lie of that particular submission we are asking Barona Township would will ask for an exemption uh from that particular statute and that's that exemption is currently allowed now under the current uh an the act that was enacted last year okay and then one of the questions was uh why are we doing taking the Green Acres land today rather than waiting because we have to get approval to put it here in order to move forward so they had to give us the okay to do this before we move forward so that's why we had again take uh and there another question hours of work I believe in Verona construction 7 to S uh but most likely I seriously doubt I don't see any contractors working a 12h hour day so they may start generally something like this you could probably see them coming in you know 7:30 8 o'clock and then out by 5 uh that's typical but they are allowed 7 to 7 uh and then there's uh the question any access from Crest Hill or can they access most of it is I'm GNA guess coming up Hillwood Terrace yes well the access D off of that Hillwood yes so there will be no access from cres uh I don't know about the manhole did they have was there a reason why someone was accessing the manle the end of CR they were probably just checking it just for it was likely got the mic sorry I believe he said that it was part of the preliminary investigation and that they were checking valves believe that was all of the eight questions and then what there was reference to or yes that would be opposed to you the the noise of this filtration system when it's running so the noise levels I'm uh I'm unsure of that uh that level I'd have to um look into that that's some something that Jacob's Engineering would be better versed than I good uh with regard to the structure being temporary it is will not be temporary it's um intended to be a metal building uh at the discretion and color and and scheme of at the discretion of Verona Township and it will be there for yes basically forever till we problem not go I do have a I do have a schematic of the of the treatment um process uh that will be installed if you'd like to take a look but that has not been presented on Zoom uh and then to Mr Lawrence's questions about the Rope course and can the area be cleaned up I would think that uh Falls probably under the hilltop consy or that rope course was part of the county I'm not sure the background of that course so maybe we we'll look into that and and hopefully get back an answer to you we probably have your contact for the concern there any other of those eight questions that we did not get to I believe the length of time of construction was another question is there estimate 18 six if we get closer we will put something out Town definitely now having system online but the the approximate construction schedule is going to be anywhere 12 to 18 months from start construction to completion of construction the construction cannot start until we're out to bid and we cannot go out bid until we completed the this exemption process so we're hoping that we can put this out the bid within the next three months that means that we're aiming on awarding a contract and it to the state for approval in approximately Midsummer time frame and that means that we may actually get construction started another two to three months after that but that from that Pro from that point it'll probably take 12 to 18 months to complete construction mayor if I may so go able to document the meeting correctly yes anyone from the ordiance that's asking question has to go to the mic she can't pick that up for the record yeah unfortunately we already closed public participation I'm sorry there will be another one at even and Deputy Mayor if I may yes um also on the question relative to Noise two engineering firms of Jacob's Engineering is working on the entire design I'll get an answer for that that's why the facilities in building and I will get an answer we're all good we uh I just wanted to also let um the public and as well as the council uh know that the um the public may may still provide written comments uh to U Mr O salivan for the next two weeks um as long as you also please submit uh copies to he as well uh because public comment period extends until June 18th uh so we will um we we hold on the submission until that time okay you can reach out thank you um so can I just clarification so after the two week submission period Then what are the procedural steps for theel thank you sorry so the two we uh is a public comment period uh so we uh we'll compile all the comments that have been generated toight tonight as well as uh during that time and even previously that may have come through uh as well as a transcript so we'll uh submit a full submitt to njp commissioner um for the uh on behalf of Verona Township uh stating that uh you know we wish to uh uh apply for an exemption from um njac 736 Green Acres Program pursu to the ACT that has been adopted as of last year um based on uh our confidence that the all the conditions of the ACT are met by Verona Township and uh once that submission has been uh made uh the state commissioner has 45 days uh to review the project and uh respond um in any in a manner of uh comments um or additional questioning uh prior to uh a final decision great thank you you're move along uh end two of our agenda ordinance to amend the code of the township of Roma chapter 140s vehicles and traffic uh we little sections in this paining to different areas of ours uh section one is chapter 140 vehicles and traffic uh stop intersections here by am minuted to add the following the intersection of Claremont Avenue and Cumberland Avenue uh Claremont Avenue Westbound stop sign basically that's at the bottom com and down climb on uh when you get to cumber section is we had a engineering report uh section two uh no parking Dakota town it's here by a minute to add the following uh Park Avenue the West Side from intersection of Sunset Avenue continuing 60 feet Park Avenue West from the north corner of portello Lane continuing 50 feet North that's at the both entrances of Verona Park and then Montrose Avenue the West Side from the north corner of Hill Street continuing 50 feet North Hill Street is the first right hand turn on Montrose as you come off of Bluefield de uh and then section three of this no parking certain hours uh on bluef Avenue North Side 7:00 a.m. to 7: p.m. PM from 30 ft west of ger Avenue continuing West for 85 ft that is the uh right side of Bluefield Avenue at the end of Cl where Claremont Avenue intersects with Bluefield Avenue so uh moving forward with this uh the uh my comments on do we this is just for discussion uh the bottom of clemont Avenue is what our in public participation Mr Jacobs asked about uh I have seen this corner uh actually I was uh standing on the corner one day with the mayor and his dog and there was an accident uh and it was just I did believe it was just last year this is a corner that I think does need this stop sign so I was glad we're uh moving this forward uh I do agree with both of the other areas for uh no parking I I also at this time uh would like to add something to this uh being that we're talking about the corner of Claremont Avenue and Cumberland uh on the opposite side on the south side of Cumberland behind uh the building on Bloomfield Avenue there uh basically from the east corner of Cumberland going up uh eastbound uh another 50 ft of no parking because when you come you come off of blue make a right up Claremont there's sometimes there's cars parked right on that corner so if we're looking at this I know do we have to do an evaluation does our engineer have to look at that I have to give it to the okay before we can put it on this so I'm wonder if we it's it's not for introduction so for discussion I'll I'll send your recommendations to the chief okay because you need police department comments and Engineering okay I mean if it's going to delay this two or three months then I would be happy mov forward this and add it to an ordinance later on I got it so any other comments from Council on this discussion councilwoman MC um yeah thank you um first questions for Joe normally the chief comes in and explains um but he couldn't make it tonight no okay and has been reviewed by the Traffic Safety Committee U recommendations coming through this Traffic Safety Committee then the chief works I believe Kevin and chief also were in the field correct correct yes so what you have in front of you under the new businesses literally the recommendations from the Traffic Safety Committee to the police department reviews and those reviews have happened so BL there specific questions about the yeah locations and ordinance of the chief that he is recommended okay I will say as I said on the traffic and Safety Committee that was going to be my comment that uh this has been a great discussion and I know this was timed to be after the Derwent construction um so that they could that had to be complete before this they felt comfortable putting this stop sign in and the traffic and Safety Committee is in full support of putting in the stop sign so um certainly something I feel comfortable moving forward on to answer the deputy mayor's question not to slow down your process you could your normal process you could if you Desir to move it for introduction that's the decision you make or it would go from here to your next meeting or introduction uh the question on adding to this would have to go to the process but you could always amend an ordinance later as you do say living document stop signs and and traffic uh recommendations coming on a regular basis first uh thank you for I just want to you know comment on that um I think our process is so that especially the residents on Park Avenue montros they have a chance to see this and comments before introduction so I think it's great we talked about in public and that the deputy mayor went through it so comprehensively um and maybe we'll get more comments and support or things that maybe we didn't consider um in particular in that middle section too you me Mr Mayor I uh just wanted to make a couple comments I am in favor of all of these items especially the stop sign at Claremont and Cumberland as an EMS member I've been to several accidents there uh on the other items as far as putting yellow curb so not allowing parking the one thing we have to think about is enforcement so we already have some areas on a Park Avenue near the park by Portell Lane that are already because of their distance to they yellow curved or whatever um or too close to a crosswalk or too close to a stop sign or whatever I walk by there almost every weekend at least twice a weekend um so as we add this and we put signage up and we let people know we really need to start enforcing this um because people that visit the park especially folks out of town because of the minimal parking provided by the county generally make parking spaces wherever it seems to be uh convenient for them so some aggressive enforcement would be called for especially Long Park Avenue and that's my comment thank you uh so we will just move this forward the chief want to review it uh we can add to this Pont Avenue I think or maybe it has to go towards the traffic and Safety Committee first also we can put it on a future uh ordinance you are any other comments on this reading next introduction the next meeting and then any comments relative to another ordinance after this one is adopted yeah just can do that okay and last on the new and unfinished f a discussion on municipal election expenses Clark went through her presentation our best meeting was it uh does anybody have any comments woman sure sure um well the um what I heard last um time at the meeting there were some members of the council that had questions for um our municipal clerk about consolidating the election districts as a way of reducing expenses so I want to acknowledge uh that Miss Kieran followed up with the county and they sent a very brief was thein email that said that any consolidation of election districts really would not result in any cost savings is that correct Miss K am I summarizing that correctly yes thank you well you know I think from my perspective um you know clearly um it's for us $775,000 is a significant amount of money to be spending every two years on an election um when we can just hold these elections in November um basically for free um because we're already holding elections we've received a lot of feedback from the public both to all of us in writing and I want to thank those residents who have reached out um they all have been in support of moving the election and personally I've spoken to a lot of residents and they really view this um kind of as a no-brainer I think the opportunity though given the fact that we don't have regular newspaper coverage and it's hard to get information out I think this is a big change it's a 10year lock in uh it also extends all of our terms if we were to do it as part of the transition for six months um I think you know the best course of action is to put this as a non-binding referendum in November when we have a presidential election with really high turnout and it's a great way to kind of publicize residents and hey you know times have changed the cause structure has changed the machines have changed uh we can have this election in November it's your election when would you like it um and obviously it's a non-binding referendum so you know in theory the council can choose a different decision um but I think a lot of this lines up so beautifully you know where we odd number of years that lines up with the state elections the federal we already voting on board ofed uh in November and let's be honest these elections put a huge strain on our school system and this would be um something that we could do for the schools to get an election day out of the schools which is very very disruptive for them and this year they've even moved to taking days off both for the primary tomorrow and for the November election so you know I would love to hear my colleagues comments on the idea of doing a non-binding referendum November a decision which we do need to come to in July thank you I will make a couple comments I just uh when it comes to I I'm kind of on the fence on this uh I realize it's it's a lot of money and it seems like with emails that we received that was the only thing that people were really uh talking about in the email as to why we should move it uh I I I do appreciate the May elections because they really do occur as a a nonpartisan election if we move to November there is you can't deny that there there is a partisan part of the election and I think our Town Council is nonpartisan so I just think that that's my number one reason for for leaning towards keeping it in May uh you know to keep that maybe it's it's it's worth $75,000 uh I I know we received the email very very brief as to whether would save money or not uh I mean uh I would like to also see the number of people that actually show up on Election Day as opposed to how many are voting early uh mail in ballots and such uh because I just feel that there's so many less people that show up on election days that you can combine districts uh and have half as many and I think if we have instead of 11 districts six districts we can combine them into say community center uh we have we'll be having a new public safety building you can have them there uh there's there's I think there's creative ways we can do that uh as far as you know a ref nonbing referendum it would be in November so you know I just think that that again back to my first point I think that then it would become a partisan issue uh and I I just don't like seeing that in Verona but I am open if it goes to November fine uh I'd be fine with it I just want to uh voice an opinion that I I also have gotten from many of my constituents uh that that don't think that a November election for the Town Council is a good thing but I have had several people say the opposite too so comments on that uh councilman Roman thank you uh I'm very much in alignment with the deputy mayor's opinions on this um I have consistently fiercely defended the nonpartisan nature of the Verona Township Council um and I really do like the concept of this being a standalone election mostly thinking about the campaign season itself it's a time when we spend talking a lot about issues that are specific to the township of Verona um and I feel like there's a lot of really good discussions that happened during these elections that are worthwhile for keeping this Standalone and letting us you know engage with our residents and really have the focus be on what we do for them as a counil on what their needs are um I am you know money is it is a concern it is $75,000 every two years but I that's the only argument I have really heard um the concept of not saving money by consolidating districts does not make a lot of sense to me uh you know we we heard the argument that there's Staffing per district and there are people assigned to each district so again you know if you consolidate these districts down by Nature that should go down so I think that that needs a little bit more a little better documentation and discuss if that really is the answer that we're looking at here um I I think that with the change in voting types that it does make a lot of sense to try and look at the actual number of people that show up and vote in person and separate and staff accordingly U I do think that there can be some more efficiency gain there if we are really looking to save cost but I don't think that this is something that's broken um I really don't and you know having been through a number of these election Seasons uh I think that we just get a really good quality discussion and you know my my inclination is to leave this sort of as is so thank you um so I believe the councilwoman's question was you know more about going out for a non-binding referendum to test the voters what their preference is so I you know I've I've heard arguments both sides of it but it's $75,000 approximately for the most recent election that's not to say that it won't continue to increase in the future and I think it would be worthwhile to have residents in the November election to provide their feedback um with regard to the nonpartisan nature of the election I mean the Board of Ed is nonpartisan as well and they are on the November ballot so I I don't think that changes the content of our discussion or the form of government or the fact that we are a nonpartisan governing body uh I just think it provides an opportunity for the voters to have a single experience and it relieves some pressure on the school districts but I can go either way I mean I knocked on a tremendous amount of doors when I was elected in 2021 and I had a number of discussions with residents about all sorts of topics including some which were discussed tonight um and I'm happy to do that again this spring we can be talking about the affordable housing regulations that will be going into effect this spring and I think that will be a big topic of discussion and I'm really looking forward to having those discussions with our residents I think it's a great opportunity but I think I can equally have a great opportunity for conversations with residents and constituents leading to a November election and I'm happy to do that work either way so ultimately if the question is do we put this to the voters in November as a non-binding referendum I think that's an an easy enough answer is that I would be willing to have a non-binding referendum on the ballot and just hear from the voters we don't get a tremendous amount of public comment at our meetings and we each have our own networks of individuals that we speak to but getting that feedback that data from an actual ballot would be tremendously useful and if the voters share the concerns that like they want that may election then that means that that that that's money well spent but if the voters say that they would prefer a November ballot well then that that gives us our marging orders and I think that that's really worthwhile information to receive so thank you Mr Mayor yes thank you uh I have several comments and I really agree I think with all of my council members in one way or another I very interested in the cost savings part of this but the thing that we need to also understand is that the first time that we don't include this in the budget um that's when we see the savings from it after that when our budget is moves forward then we don't necessarily see the same level of savings every two years um I do share the concern of the Deputy Mayor as far as the consequence making our elections more partisan um I think one of the the joys of having the May election is that our elections are very much focused on Verona and Verona only and it does take out partisan influence um I have been observing a far more partisan influence in the town already uh and it's something that a lot of people that have reached out to me very concerned about that happening when it really there isn't a necessarily Republican way or a Democrat way to fix a podole as they say uh but the reality of it is is that the May election does have the ability to focus the election as looking at the needs of our municipality or municipality only the other in during the last meeting we had had some comments about increasing voter turnout I am very much in favor of increasing voter turnout the question that we have to ask is that if we were to increase if we were to move the election for the sake of increasing voter turnout would we be inst simply increasing voter turnout um and just more people voting which is great but the reality of it is if we want to have the best choices of who is going to serve on our councils in the future we should really be advocating for an increased informed electorate so more people voting so the people who tend to vote in May self- select because they're interested in local issues whereas you do have um you don't necessarily have that much in November know for a fact a lot of people around Schoolboard election time have no idea what the positions of the Schoolboard members are they simply vote because it's on the ballot and that's a concern and that makes your ballot positioning a lot more significant Whoever has the First Column tends to get more votes as a statistical uh anomaly right so that that's a bit of a concern uh our May voters tend to be very informed on local issues because that's all we're talking about one interesting thing and I I think it was our Township Clerk who brought this up in our last meeting that stuck with me a little bit is the fact that the ballot for the council would be on the back of the ballot for whether it's assembly or Governor Senate Etc and then the school board would go below one of the phenomena that happens when you have long ballots is voter fatigue people kind of stop voting at the at the voting booth and also people don't turn over the the ballot and vote on the back so I have a concern about that if we're trying to deal with voter fatigue so one of the things that I've started to look at and frankly I I wasn't expecting such an immediate secondary discussion on this topic because it's not really as urgent as an issue being that the next elections next year um but one of the data analysis pieces I will be doing is trying to compare the number of people who voted in the Schoolboard election with the number of people who voted in the general elections when they are on the same years and the reason being is that I I really would like to answer the question I don't have a hypothesis on this but from what people tell me they or from what just political scientists tend to uh to theorize is that you have this vote of fatigue so um I would like to see if the number of people voting kind of drops off at that point so that's another question I would like to answer um I'm also concerned that putting us on the ballot would actually put the Board of Ed down more and now you have fewer people potentially with that voter fatigue that ball fatigue um voting in that in that the board of that election so there's a consequence on the board of ed of course the positive consequence on the board of ed is that we get the election one election out of their buildings um I did hear I was very concerned in the last council meeting when the term disenfranchisement was used in order to characterize the existence of our May elections uh and I I do want to make it very clear to the public and to my Council fellow council members that no disenfranchisement occurs uh by having a May election the election is open to every voter every voter gets a sample ballot every voter can vote not only in person but by mail There's No disenfranchisement in fact we're offering more people we're offering people more opportunities to vote rather than fewer so if they Happ to miss an election in say the general election and don't have a an absentee vote by male ballot they still have the opportunity to vote in this one so disenfranchisement is not a word that we should be using um but that being said I am interested in pursuing this topic And discussing it more and really analyzing it more and it's something that I hope uh potentially having somebody from the County division of Elections join us at a council meeting um to discuss these options and so on the other things I would like to do is reach out to our nonpartisan fellow towns ones that have the elections November and ones that have are maintaining the elections in May to get their thoughts as well because they may be seeing something that we have missed um as far as a referendum goes I'm not opposed the idea of a referendum I am very concerned about having it in November for a couple reasons the first being is that we're kind of rushing and we're not really if we have to have this done by July we're not really able to sus out all of the issues and do the analysis we need to do and really start thinking about what this looks like in order to have some voter education um out there the second piece of it is if we have a referendum on this which I I think can probably we don't necessarily have to do it's not required and and having a non-binding referendum number one it's very concerning to me to put something out to the public and then potentially not take the the suggestions but if we do a non-binding referendum my recommendation is that we would do this in the May election so that the we get the opinions of the people who vote in the council elections on whether they would want to see the election move to November or not uh because it's those folks you have a lot of people that are very interested in holding on to these elections in May and if the folks that would vote in May are more likely to be okay moving that to November that would be more compelling to me as data collection and as will of the Verona voter than if we were asking people who may not vote in May but vote in November if they would like to see the elections moved because the almost certain answer would be well yes I want to see them move because I tend to vote in November and not May uh so I'd really would find it more compelling and more interesting to hear from the people who traditionally vote in May and that election of course is open to anybody in town not just people who've traditionally voted there um and then may be another way of increasing voter turnout that being said I don't necessarily think we have to wait until next May to make a decision on this uh one way or another so my basic comment here is that I do not consider this an urgent issue to deal with in a referendum in November and it's something that we should very carefully study and very carefully move forward on and that looking at this simply as a cost savings mechanism is shortsighted uh when there's so many other very serious ious consequences of moving the election that could be positive or negative for our town we could sit down and I'm sure find several other ways to cut $70,000 from the budget um and maintain this which is another option we certainly have as well so those are my thoughts I just I'm looking at my notes and just to check if I I missed anything but uh that's the conclusion of my comments on this item I will have another item for new business bus deputy mayor when this discussion is concluded two things I would like to defer to um our municipal clerk she just heard a lot of information from various members of the council would you like to provide us any additional information especially a lot of my colleagues are focusing on the consolidation of districts but this is highly regulated by law and is not we don't have the ability to go from we're at 11 districts currently down to something as radical six correct I mean can you just discuss this a little bit we have Mrs Kier move to the lecturn please because her mic barely works all right so I was going to address to consolidate districts we would need to provide information to the county for their review to determine if it's required um I have to I think to turn out in the last two general elections last two November elections and some other things which can be done um but when you consolidate districts um the more machines that you have in a district the more pole workers you need so um there is a statute and so if you have two voting machines you need two additional members for the District board as pole workers each from a different party so um just in terms of I mean you have to really the numbers to see if there's a a cost savings or not and then to do a referendum not in November is there a cost don't I'm going to put a um an email out to the county clerk because I don't think you can do a referendum in a May election and a nonpartisan election and just to clarify the May election and the way they've structured the statute we we would not be able to do early voting which is not something that it's just so cost prohibitive um early voting something early voting falls on the municipality yes pay the full F correct um and when I gave my presentation I did preface it with the timing was an ordinance and taking that because that would take the most time I'd have to confer with the division of the state division of Elections as well as with the attorney presid to determine if that would be a resolution or an ordinance to request a okay question on a uh November ballot because we've done it both so I think it might depend we'd have to look into that watch okay um I really don't have a lot of questions like I would want to research before I answer I do not I just want to say just one response to the partisanship as someone who just recently ran a reelection you know I had I knocked on hundreds of Not Over a, You know, 1500 doors in preparation for my reelection I had one conversations with residents what I find through you know my five years of experience doing this is that residents really the majority of residents are really voting on relationships and they're voting um really on you know do they know you um do other people know you can they vouch for you and in Verona that's one of the great things about our non-partisan government um but there is a small subset of Voters that have a partisan lens on every everything so it doesn't matter if you have the election in May or November and I've been asked directly you know a few times what party are you and I would defer and say no we have nonpartisan government I use the line I think I don't know who said it there's nothing partisan about picking up the garbage or filling a pothole and they're like I understand that what party are you and I knew when I answered that question I was losing some votes and I was gaining some votes and it was all going to wash out in the end so there's that level of partisanship is just unfortunately for some people very very important it happens in May and if we move to November it will happen in November um and one final thing with this idea of doing a non-binding referendum I think unlike what we did with the open space tax uh fund where we took a position and said we want you to vote Yes uh so that we can increase the tax for the open space trust fund I think we would approach something like this very neutrally I liked all the ideas raised by colleagues we could explain the history why are we voting in May what is happening now and then what are some pros and cons of moving and we can put all that information out there as we've done some research and tap into it but again trust the voters to make the right decision and I do trust the voters so I just want to end with that comment thank youse that discussion uh any other new business councilwoman Holland I know you had something earlier and then Mr Mayor you can go next thank you um a topic that came up with the recent Recreation advisory committee meeting and I I know that Mr aloya um and uh municipal clerk Kieran um actually recently responded to some emails um from the chair of the recreation advisory committee is um how Quorum and voting is determined when you have Council liaison identified as a member of committee and where you have actual uh Township staff as members of the committee where it's an advisory committee um and so I know that this came up previously I believe it was when we were establishing the new Multicultural um committee and that there had been some statements where other committees may be similarly drafted where for example the council liaison is identified as like a voting member of the advisory committee and I think that EST is um a challenging position where the council liaison would be voting on advice to the council um and so while these are non-binding advisory committees I think that there may be a preference for the council leison to truly just act as a liaison even if we're identified as a member we would perhaps be a non- voting or non- Quorum member uh of the committee and perhaps same for the township Administration staff um because I think that that you know it's potentially putting like a staff member in an awkward position if they're then making recommendations to the council perhaps maybe you know maybe the the advisory committee is making a recommendation that's contrary to what the administration's position had been so those individuals may not feel capable of voting and then if that is if they're considered a voting member it might kind of skew the voting process so perhaps there's some language that we could incorporate because I think this is more than just a recreation advisory committee meeting um excuse me Recreation advisory committee issue I think it may also apply the traffic and Safety Committee where the council Le on there is also identified as a member and perhaps counts toward Quorum or voting results so perhaps there could be um I don't know just a brief addendum to the existing ordinances on committees about how we would calculate voting and Quorum requirements for these advisory committees I just want wanted to put it out there I think it had come up in discussions previously but it was recently a challenge uh for the rec advisory committee it's it's it's thank you it's certainly an easy Amendment to the ordinance um but they wouldn't we simply call them the liazon so liazon could be there with vote no with voice no vote that type of stop so you're able to participate but you're not counted for quarm or voting purposes if that's what the council wants to do on the recreation and the traffic and safety commit you may want there may be other I think I agree I agree 100% the only my idea was always that the only council members that vote on any committee or commission uh was the mayor on the planning board and the designate of the other representative on the planning board we are just Liaisons to these committees and we should not be voting at all and I always make that very clear on whatever committee on Le on to uh and I do want % agree any Township employee that's on her that puts them in a very bad position and I think they should just be more of a liaison type of uh position on these committees so we should review probably everyone and see what their roles are and make sure the wording is and and I agree that it could be a quick fix like perhaps even like a sentence or two yes counc R counc um yes I agree as well and I just don't vote on anything in any of my advisory committees I'm just silent uh but it would be nice to make that official um I also want to add an adjunct issue if we're changing boards and committees an issue that's been longstanding with the advisory boards and committees with attendance could is there any way we can add a provision on you know if a volunteer member misses a certain amount of meetings in the year that and at the end of that year they could could that's cause for removal I just you know and obviously people's um lives Chang they you know things happen and obviously some people um let the chairs know oh I'm having a surgery oh I'm dealing with something very stressful but sometimes um it seems like people drift away without any communication and would be nice to put some active volunteers on does that make sense that makes sense would you like more than 50% of the meetings 75% three in a row I think we should put that on for further discussion kind of probably another time when we look at it but that's always been like I'm not going to say an Unwritten rule uh we do reappoint when the terms are up so if that that's an perfect time you know we always try to go to you know the chair of the commission and get a at least an idea or a a date an attendance record for them and then base our decision when we reappoint on those uh on that attendance record or their participation even I mean some people may show up to every meeting and not do anything and if that's the case then it's up to us when we reappoint to to remove I don't um am I I wouldn't go as far as participation I think that's you know um maybe a step too far but I thought that we didn't really have the ability we had to reappoint if someone said oh yes I want to keep going but they haven't been coming to meeting maybe the municipal process 100% reappointment by the council someone had po attendance we could no I information I wasn't aort ordinances addressed that I just do that maybe it's not necessary then councilman Roman I just say basically that I don't believe there's an O necessarily an obligation of reappointment I don't know if any of these terms automatically roll there's a presumption of reappointment or it's entirely at our discretion based on you know all of the factors that we want to looked at uh the point I was going to bring up earlier was then if we are going to essentially change the composition of some of these boards do we want to make sure they're all on numbers of um members in which case we'd have to you know adjust these and C we try and find some additional Point Pointes to uh ensure that none of them you know they don't split either so we'll review all the boards and have it on for next council meeting and certainly if you guys have further discussion and want to have attendance or other other things that can be a separate Standalone ordinance that applies equally to all so you know again it's an easy draft once you figure out what your rule was Mr Mayer yes I I want to um offer my support for changing the structure of the Committees in this way um I chose not to vote on most items on advisory committees and accept of course on the planning board where I'm obligated to um but I do I was going to bring up the point that uh councilman Roman brought up in that we need to if we're not going to vote we should not be counting for Quorum so one of the issues was that we were I was like when I was on the traffic and Safety Committee I'd be counted for Quorum but I wasn't really able voting and then now you have if you're just meeting quorum to actually have a meeting now you don't even have a majority of the committee voting so uh that's a problem so we need to not only look at restructurings of the aons but also looking at what the number for Quorum is I mean it should be half plus one but we have to figure that out and it should not count that as far as the attendance piece I am in favor and I'd potentially like to see this uh for discussion at a at a meeting shortly um looking at once again the attendance right now I agree that we do not have any obligation to reappoint anybody to any committee or commission or board um and frankly every appointment is new and that's one of the things that we that we've always done um however I do like the idea if somebody's not engaged on the committee of being able to make a change on that committee if necessary because we do have some uh some no show folks and when we have people who put in for or boards and so on um when we actually have people that want to be on them uh it is significant one of the reasons why sometimes people are not taken off or just simply reappointed is because there's nobody waiting for that position so that's another thing that we have to think about but in my opinion I'd rather have an opening and then invite people to apply than just let somebody get reappointed I've always thought that and this is an idea I brought up before and I'll follow up with our Pio is that every time that we have an opening on a border commission instead of just looking at applications that are that are out there that we should put out a help wanted add you know applications being accepted so that we get more people because a lot of folks don't know necessarily if there's an opening or not then we kind of look at applications have been around for a while but it would be nice to potentially put out there here's what this committee does we have this opening um and then do it as kind of a global collection of applications around re appointment time that's my comment okay to do okay next up new business Mr Mayor that's me again uh so joining this meeting from beautiful Salt Lake City Utah has uh given me a new perspective on our zoom capabilities uh it's something we have been hearing from residents and participants quite often that this really is not working optimally I mean I am actively participating in the meeting but it is very difficult to hear we've heard this feedback often the mic that is between the Town Clerk and um our Deputy manager is barely audible at all so at minimum we need to replace that mic um but we've asked I think the council's asked multiple times for very specific plans to fix this and if there is a capital project we absolutely 100% need to get this done as quickly as possible uh in order to have our capabilities so that our community members can participate more as something that I think we've all believed but I'm going to add the sense of urgency as having to have been sitting on this side and maybe not getting every word and I'll have to follow up with people individually that I didn't hear which is something that's not as easy for the members of public to do but we really need to get a fix to this we have Council Roman who is a an expert in this field and I think we need to get out of this idea that um we whatever doesn't work or whatever ideas we had doesn't work and really have councilman Roman if he's willing come up with a plan to fix this really look at the cost I think if it's something that we need to do uh pretty quickly and I'd be willing to do that it's something I think that we're all uh on board I'm not going to speak for a member of the council but based on what you've all said in the past I think it's there so just throwing that out there is something that we need to do sooner rather than later um and especially now knowing that this is an option where if we have a council member that's unable to attend in person whether they're sick or they're out of state or out of the country or whatever we need to also have think about that and participation of our experts who zoom in and things like that being able to optimize the situation uh and also for every member of the public and if nobody has any further discussion I move to adjourn but if anybody has any other I will just respond to the mayor's comment that I am more than happy to work with anyone in the township Administration or staff on uh resolving this issue and I know that we are working on a dedicated funding source um it tends to be very costly to integrate meeting rooms um whatever the number you're thinking of probably double or triple it in your head um and we want to you know we need to see what we can line up in terms of money uh because this is a do it once do it right sort of project but uh I'll reach out to the administration separately when we can launch a project to start sculping this and figure out a way to get it done because I we kind of bandid this together for a little too long I will be asking at every meeting from this point forward for status updates on this so Administration councilman be ready M um thank you um yes I do think that the Administration was working this into another agreement to find a funding source but I do ask that councilman Roman put this as the highest priority this I I understand your expertise sir and you know we've served on the council a long time together this has been literally on your docket for like two or three years so I hear the mayor's frustration and I don't disagree with him residents have expressed it so I look forward to seeing forward looking progress on this thank you I got say all fairness to councilman Roman it hasn't been on his docket and he did his best he could to get us to where we are with what's here because no one wanted to step up and spend the money on this so I think this is the opportunity I did actually draw and and design an entire system and uh since the plans in the equipment list never presented I I also just want to reflect that I had no expectation that councilman Roman was supposed to have done this a long time ago um often we're tasked with doing things and we need the administration to be on board and things have gotten lost in the past but it hasn't been his responsibility I'm asking him as a favor to the township to use his expertise and provide that uh to us which could otherwise be very costly to IR consultant and uh and certainly to infuse this with our our Comcast request but we also don't want Comcast to come in with an idea that is probably going to be low cost that won't give us the uh the capabilities we need so as a result if we have a plan that we can present as our minimum what requiring it'll give Comcast something to meet and if they feel like they can't do that then they're going to need to explain why that's not a possibility or why that isn't a necessary item but this hasn't been councilman Roman's responsibility but I do appreciate sir your willingness to uh step up now that and new business uh I will open for public comment last public comment of the evening uh again step up that your name and Township you live in any questions you have hi I'm Melissa dad I reside in Verona um so I wanted to just make a comment on uh the topic of moving the township elections to November um I am in favor of moving them to November I do think there's a savings I think it's also flexibility to um residents schedules to vote both you know at home as at polling places I think um I would counter the small ballot is like small business but a big ballot means big items are taking place and I feel like we've had these um Tums and topics in the November ballots um so I think we can continue I think voters are familiar with um I just want to say that um mayor your comment about the informed voter uh is an insult to uh me as a resident residence here I've voted in every election the 10 years that I've been here and um and it sounds highly partisan so um my com thank you no one else on zoom and no one else I will close public participation uh since there were no questions thank you for your participation and I would entertain a motion from anybody motion close I'm sorry I have a I have a response to the public comment Deputy Mayor oh sorry go ahead uh I I did just want to thank the uh president who just uh made a comment but I do want to respond and and clarify my comment is that my concern is that uh the people who currently vote in may like yourself being that you voted in every election the last 10 years are educated in that way my concern is is that um the November ballot based on what people have told me in my experiences especially with the Schoolboard elections is that people um are more knowledgeable maybe about state issues and not as knowledgeable about the local issues uh and feel obligated to vote because it is on the ballot some people and some people just choose not to vote uh the point being is that in May generally the people not everybody but generally the people who vote are voting because they have an opinion on the election they have done some research they have participated uh and I respect those voters as I've been one since I joined I started Living in the town um so my comment was more meant to be a uh um a thank you to the voters and uh to point out that our voters who participate and inform themselves and participate in the May election are optimal voters as well and uh and that being said I mve to adjourn yeah we already a the motion was made by councilwoman McGrath I'll second that motion second by councilman en Roman all in favor I