ACH okay 10 o'clock we're right on time here I call this meeting to order roll call Jers here mandal here Weiss here Whitfield here whatever has this meeting been adequately noticed yes it was noticed to the times on February 25th and to the Princeton packet on the 23r third and posted on the township website would everybody please stand for the salute to the flag to of the United States of Amer to the stands one nation indivisible andice bless you okay just for the uh Records it's March 7th 2024 and this is budget meeting uh number one and for Council Members I just like to um say that we're as the department heads come forward uh they'll be talking you know initially about accomplishments and goals um so I thought if there's any questions um on that on that part or or in the materials that we have um already received written materials we can ask any questions there and then and then we would go on to go through Page by Page the operating budget and capital budget and that's what we usually yeah so all right um so we have opening opening remarks from the uh Chief Financial Officer on the budget good morning um Everybody um this is the first of three meetings for the um 2024 budget John A Little Closer sorry because I if I'm not hearing I know they're not hearing is that better yes okay okay this is the uh first of three meetings for the 2024 Municipal operating budget and the 2024 to 29 capital budget um just a reminder um all salary and wages will be discussed in Clos session we're here to discuss the OE and the capital items for 2024 um the total budget current fund budget is 50,19814 a 2.85 decrease from the prior Year and that is a dollar decrease of $1,470 and 567 cents the good news is it's a zero property tax rate increase while maintaining a full service Community if you go on in your book on page two there's a little analysis of the tax levy it shows you compared to the single family average home for 2024 and it applies to 2423 tax rate for a zero increase um Administration is recommending that the cap Bank ordinance for Appropriations be approved this year we are approximately $700 under the appropriation cap with using the cap Bank ordinance um total soering wages increased by$ 1, 37,41 our total other expenses decreased by 2,579 biggest reason for the decrease is because of grants that um we were awarded last year and the American Recovery Act of 2.9 Million and your front page of your book has a uh detail of all increases and decreases both for the expenditures and the revenues and we'll go over that at another time the last meeting when we do the revenues fund balance and operating the amount to be raised or what we call the tax leving increased by 1.44% but the good news is that our total assess valuation also increased to 6 B1 198,00 243 $800 and that was also an increase of 1.44% uh the budget was given to the Council on February 27th um at the next meeting on March 26 um I'm propose an emergency temporary budget which is the second of a temporary budget process so we can keep everything running into the um operating budget is approved um so you should be getting that shortly and we're planning on a budget introduction for April 29th and a budget hearing on May 28th we have to have 28 days between that gives us 29 days um and that's proposed schedule um there's some miscellaneous open items I like to make Council aware of we have apply for distractive driving Crackdown you drive you Tex you pay Grant of $7,000 so in between then and the introduction if we do receive the Grant I will add that to the budget I received notice yesterday morning that the total energy tax receipts is going to increase by $1,977 it's a slight increase from last year I'm waiting for certification of state aid and once I receive that then I will amend the budget for that small amount also and that's about it I just want when re had a state that the property tax rate again for this year will will be will not be increasing we had a very good year as far as revenues go um as far as Appropriations um we're right at our limit so with that Joe can introduce herself can can I ask something sure um could you just give us a little overview of the various caps that we have this year um the biggest one our Levy cap which is allows us to go 2% over on our on what we build to the taxpayers uh we will not be using any of it so we'll be able to carry that for two years so we'll probably carry about $5 million over um we don't have a revenue problem our problem is the appropriation cap last year we had a $900 um balance when we approved our budget this year we have a $700 in change um and that's me applying the ordinance that I'm going to ask you guys to introduce and adopt on the 29th of April and in May 28th um which represents a little over 300,000 um and without that then we'd have to make some major Cuts is it possible on the introduction that it could be moved up earlier in April it's possible see how it goes yeah you know get done earlier yeah now as far as you know um I'll wait till the tax collector comes and we'll go over um last year we had a little issue with our um billing for taxes because of Mercer County but I don't anticipate that happening this year so we'll discuss that when the tax collector comes in front of you okay so Jill good morning Jill Swanson Health officer um for the um division of Health I will quickly go over our accomplishments from 2023 and just as a brief overview um of the health department we do provide services to three communities West Windsor Robinsville and Heights toown and our services that are provided are required predominantly um the services um are required under the public health standards act um standards of performance for local Boards of Health in New Jersey which is a state statute in addition there are some local ordinances that require us to provide some additional Services um and we do um provide 247 coverage and that is for communic disease response for immediately and emergency response to things like buers and restaurants or storms where we have to implement a shelter of some sort so um briefly for our 2023 um accomplishments um pandemic recovery was still priority for the health department um especially early in 2023 we we work our mobilized Clin clinics on a regular basis there were 24 conducted in 2023 and homebound resident um we outbreaks um as we do every year um 17 were report responded to in 2023 both involving covid-19 and some non-co issues populations impacted were predominantly congre long-term care child carees and schools and um we continued with our food Clinic um campaign with a focused on the older adults in the community assisted livings project freedoms um living comp housing complexes and um we do this through a partnership with the local pharmacy to provide vaccinations um residents will will attend the clinic and their insurance are buil directly the department covers uninsured individuals that um are attending those clinics and new in 2024 we have um been able to sign up for a state and federal funded program which provides flu vaccinations to our department to administer to uninsured and underinsured individuals in the community so that's both for covid-19 and and um the influenza vaccine um challenge obviously at this point demand is down into those clinics are difficult we often have to go to them um which hence leads to our mobile clinics as part of the practice standards we're also required um as a local Health Department to participate or conduct our own Community Health needs assessment and Community Health Improvement plan um our office historically has accomplished this by partnering with local hospitals um there are two efforts underway and that those include the great immerser Public Health Partnership um which is a combination of several hospitals in the area and local Health departments and we've been part of that organization um since 2011 and we are on the board additionally we would um I did you lose pen medicon Princeton a as part of their Community Advisory Board jop the health department um also operationalized in 2023 some elic electronic health messaging in three Municipal sites the main lobby here the senior center and the health and wreck building we're also looking forward to an electric sign for emergency messaging which will be um installed this spring outside of the municipal building and that will be used not only by Health but by OEM and um Administration the Outreach team which is composed of our public health nurse and predominantly grant-funded Outreach staff um Health Educators is busy in the community conducting health promotion um and awareness activities and it's been a very robust program with the grant funding that we've been able to um have in the department over the last several years um in 2023 we had 188 separate health events which um is an increase for our department to be able to get that type of Outreach into the community and um we continued providing our essential Public Health Services which includes environmental health issues such as our licensing and inspections of retail Foods public recreational bathing septic systems portable Wells animal facilities rabies control um Public Health nuisance which is predominantly complaints received from residents within the community um responding to child lead exposures predominantly from um housing um child health clinic is conducted in cooperation with East Windsor Health Department and we um conduct that this year starting this year we will be in one of the local schools in Heights toown offering that service um the nurse also does TB direct observe therapy if we have a TB um report in the community and our clerical staff is responsible for pet licensing and Vital Statistics looking forward into 2024 uh we will continue to Monitor covid-19 and infectious disease um and obviously at this point in time there's been a transition so um both in the pandemic and some of the guidance that is out there and vaccination um and our focus is really ensuring those individuals that are most at risk in the community um do receive vaccination um and have access to the information they need to stay safe um it is still concern for older adults and people with certain medical conditions and we want to ensure that those individuals are aware of that and take proper steps to protect themselves um we've built a lot of strong Partnerships over the years in the community and definitely have strengthened those during um the pandemic and we would like to continue building on those Partnerships and have already begun doing that um our team has been in the schools doing a program um called Scrub Club with the younger children enforcing infection control project first line which I know I've talked to you about before during Board of Health meetings is um geared towards healthc Care Professionals and our nurses are Contin contining with that effort in the long-term care centers um educating uh the um Health Care Providers and staff um Outreach and at our congregate and senior housing is continuing as well as our senior center with regular tabletops and awareness building efforts um let's see and I'm sorry uh our um Health Department also is in process of having an emergency generator installed for the health wck building that was partially funded through some of the grants that um we were available to us and that will allow us to relocate the vaccine refrigerators and freezers onto the health department site as opposed to currently it's being stored in the senior center kitchen um we'll continue to work with the grants that are available to us to try to reinfor Force um our Readiness to respond to emergencies and th those grants are very much in influx right now with our funding we do expect to see a significant decrease this year in the federal and state funding available to us through grants um one of the rfas came out this past week and it's was roughly 18% of our previous funding from um the prior two years and we're still pending an RFA for the second um Grant um enhancing um local public health infrastructure so that is yet to be determined um in 2023 we were working on some internal continuous quality improvement initiatives um with the staff identifying processes internally that can be improved and so now that they've um worked with the cqi programming um we're looking at some external facing programs um and what has been identified by staff is communication so we we really want to take a close look at the health department web pages and how we're presenting information so it's easier to access so that's currently in process in the department and um the final initiative I wanted to point out is our block and lot files which um house septic well and environmental information are in the process of being converted to digital um storage so there's easy access and long-term storage available and also to free up some office space happy to answer any questions on the next page you mentioned enhancing local public health infrastructure so by infrastructure how are you using that term how are we using those funds yeah there's a combination of um we use it both for Staffing to offset some of our permanent staff um cost in addition to Staffing some positions um a portion of that was used for towards the generator and another um portion was used towards the electronic sign we've also use some of the funding to look at um some it and forgive me it's a little bit out of my wheelhouse but some it security issues um so we've kind of spread it out um through a variety of different programs and um identified items that we felt would help us continue to function during e mercies and that electronic um billboard that that was grant money that was fully grant money yes under this scrip yes and the generator was a portion was funded right um also the scanning I talked about of our block and lot files a portion is is pulled from this grant the cqi initiatives was fully funded under this I appreciate all the work it takes to get the grants in the followup so that that's that's good yes it is a tremendous yeah the the reporting I I will say eats up a lot of Staff time um and tracking so so thank you for acknowledging that do you do you foresee um us as far as our health department uh having to get involved in mental health at some point so with mental health we are um at this point we link individuals to services so we try to promote the services that are available in the community and we provide linkages right now we do not have an internal mental health someone who specializes in mental health um we do work um part of the public health um planning that we do with the hospitals is working with those Partners in the community so that our staff has an awareness of what the resources are throughout the community so we can make those linkages for individuals and is that something like when you're redoing the website and information that you might want to include uh directional for for that also yes and and again we do have pieces on there um but what we've identified is it's not necessarily easy to as as a consumer to um access that so we're looking at trying to put the make that information more available or easy to find on our Pages as well as keeping it updated um it is it's one of the um it's the second Qi initiative the outward folking initiative that the department has identified um and and that's the staff looking at um you know some of the inquiries that we have on how can we make that information readily available to the community thank you yeah Dan any any questions Martin no right so let's go to the book okay page seven on the summary under your first tab is the Board of Health Board of Health OE and the Board of Health request on Department request is flat from last year we've reallocated um a few of the items um some funds from one item line item to another um but um we are not proposing an increase and as I mentioned we're very much still in flux with um knowledge of the exact grant funding that will be available to our department for existing programs and some of the programs that we've implemented over the last few years um primarily Outreach and um backup coverage for our communic disease surveillance and uh the health department has no requests for any Capital items this year um the um page8 where you have the housing that's oh yes that was the new um new division that we added last year I believe on the budget right yes so the housing is outside of the Board of Health budget um but we have we did not expend funds in 2023 um we are still very much in process of putting um systems in place to implement this program we've had you know less than a half a dozen Homes at this point that have filed um we recognize that this program is is very much going to be a priority in the early part of 2024 um and I believe we we have an update to the ordinance um for for adoption which will allow us to move forward with the contractor um once we get through 20124 through those initial inspections housing inspections we will better be able to evaluate the funds for 2025 um and as you recall the property owners have the option of hiring their own contractor so we may find that there's very little need although we're required to provide that there may be very little usage of the what we put in place to allow people to use a Township facilitated inspector and that has a user fee to it so presumably there'll be a income uh if we have to spend that money with the contractor we'll get some of that money back so what we're hoping to set up with this new revision that you have in front of you is the ability to allow the um contractor to collect those fees directly from the property owner as opposed to bypassing through the local Township yeah more direct it saves time for our staff to have to process all of this exactly is there any grant money for for this at all they they offered us $4,100 last year and um we made a determination that wasn't worth the effort to um apply for it so at some point there's people will be buying directly that was the way we just changed that ordinance uh or in the middle of changing that ordinance and so we'll keep a department but it won't necessarily be a large budget to it that right exactly and very good possibility that this budget will be cut dramatically next year once we know exactly what the costs are then we can make that adjust for next year but to meet the state statutory requirements we had to put the money in the budget um to show good faith effort that we're doing what we're supposed to do as you know Jill has sent you that ordinance for your approval and once that becomes a effect then we can move forward with a word and a contract to the consultant correct and keep in mind at this point we don't know how many properties out there are we have estimates but we don't have a hard line on how many homes are actually actually affected by this ordinance so it it was difficult going into it estimating what the cost of the program would be but we suspect it'll be much less than what we're budgeting so we can scale back right we have to launch it by July 1 oh we not just launch we have to have yes it has to be completed by July I think it's 22nd of this year right well that's what I mean by everything's in place everything has to be in Ed by then right yes yes so we'll be busy any any further questions I just want to thank you Jill and um and your staff all the hard work you do you took us through covid kept us uh as much as you possibly could safe and and healthy so much appreciation thank you thank you very much Joe okay thank you Joe thank you okay so then the next up department is a senior in Social Services please introduce yourself adala hello good morning all I'm Adeline ball I'm the manager at the West W Senior Center and division of senior and Social Services um the senior center is a focal point of the community for residents 55 years of age or older offering programs activities and services to our aging residents um we are open from 8: to 4:00 p.m. Monday Monday through Friday the staff consists of a manager Administrative Assistant secretary bus driver program facilitators instructors and volunteers each day is unique but some of what we do is we provide a means to facil facilitate successful aging for our residents of West Windsor Township by doing so it's critical that we offer a warm welcome and comfortable environment when a resident walks in many residents live with their parents or children transition from another town or country um and it is important to provide that environment for them to feel comfortable in the community and eager to participate um the programs that we offer are health and wellness fitness Arts and Humanities education Transportation socialization um and Social Service mainly information and referral um the senior center is open for socialization and activities and we also offer virtual programs that we continued um since covid um and it's provided to the residents who are either homebound unable to attend in person or uncomfortable to attend the facility the senior center bus went in for maintenance in August of 2023 and due to part shortage the bus service was canceled until further notice um we received assistance from Mercer County who allowed us to borrow a vehicle until the bus is fully repaired so in the beginning of February we resumed trans transportation services to our residents at this time we have about 20 residents who are taking transportation to um the senior center and it's continuing to grow I think we actually had like four applications yesterday um the amount of bus trips vary by month as we have seasonal residents that come at different times throughout the year um we find that usually the summer times spring and summer are busiest times of the year um transportation is provided Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Friday to the residents to come to the senior center and Thursdays for shopping grocery shopping specifically um uh normal day today in 20 2024 would be a day filled with activities Fitness socialization lectures art and concerts um we find that residents are eager to come to the senior center and participate in classes and activities we find new residents joining the senior center daily in the year of 2023 we had about 110 new residents become members at the senior center and we plan to double that most likely for the year of 2024 uh we continue to offer the virtual Fitness lectures and programs um this year we plan to send out a community survey and instructor evaluation semiannually so in June we'll send it and we'll also send it at the end of the year to receive feedback from the residents each program will be analyzed by the participants and submited anonymously and are specific to each program for those who do have access to the internet we can also provide mailing and we'll also have them um the surveys out at the senior center for um those who are attending that don't have access to email uh we also send out a survey to our instructors and facilitators and we will inquire about their goals and outcomes with their class I have we have an open door policy open door and phone policy for the residents to come to me or staff with their concerns but also provide the survey as a means of communication in the case that there are residents who do not feel comfortable and expressing their questions recommendations and or concerns um and we also provide quarterly newsletters and monthly calendars reminders via email website and mail to our residents and questions did you say on the senior bus um we they pick up 20 residents per day 20 residents per day on a senior bus as of right now 20 20 per day or 20 overall users 20 total right now the bus is a capacity of 16 so we split that so there are some that'll come between 9 and 10: and then there's some early risers that'll come around 8:00 in the morning and then we split their transportation and dropping them off as well because of our capacity on the bus itself we have to split the times right okay and uh let's see you've got a flower show trip today so yes we did yeah I'm here so I'm missing it I know this one of our first trips for this year and we plan to have a couple more trips coming in uh what about the pool table pool table the pool table is still up and functional so right now there's no there's no plan in in it as um it's still standing still standing so we had some issues with the pool table when they were taking it apart and putting it together they were saying that the legs were wobbly um as of right now the the pool table is is functioning yeah it's operational until until then we will um plan for something in ADV adventure and we approved the coffee maker Monday night the coffee maker that was another uh is is there yeah yeah is is it a call the yeah yeah that's good [Music] um any oh you you said um reopen all rooms made available for programs and activities to Residents does that include at night or that's just during the day or just during the day from 8 to 4m and I think the recreation department um utilizes the space in the evening um for their evening classes exercise classes is there any plan to open up the um the facility for evening public reservations um that's something I can discuss with the administration and get back to yeah yeah that would be administrative administrative policies I know that we have one one janitor that I guess goes in that building or this building in the evening you know to clean and different things so that's a administrative um policy correct yeah the use of the buildings even this building or or any municipal building it used to be available preo and kind of yeah people could I think till 8:30 or 9 uh different groups Scouts uh Civic groups you know they used to be able to reserve the rooms so um I know at this time uh we do not offer those services but in the future that's something I can discuss with the administration and get back to okay if you go to page eight and nine on the summary which is um the senior Center's OE budget um so the budget is requested to remain flat for the year of 2024 yeah um I do notice there's like a 7,000 vehicle maintenance at this point when we get the new vehicle is that going to be required or is this uh we um we've we've um it's been a difficult year as far as the senior Transportation has going so we're fixing the older um bus Which still has a useful life so we're g to uh keep that as a backup and this will cover this will cover that yeah okay that's our plan for now um why we're keeping uh we increased the uh maintenance she had adjusted the line item a little bit um going forward uh as you all know the county has offered uh to um give us a bus through some Grant funds that they're receiving we're very appreciative of that it's probably about $175,000 cost um so once we get the new bus we can give them back the old bus that they've loan to us and keep our bus functional and use it as a backup maybe rotating in once every two weeks just to keep it going so this this way if anything happens to the newer bus or it's in for maintenance we can still provide the transportation to the seniors that's a good plan because our our seniors love the senior center yes we we took have a good plan yes very well noted so that's and and thank you for I know everything you've done to to with the county uh to get that bus so yeah it's definitely you know the community development director over Anthony was was a big help in that process so was so was Dan um okay yes so we can go to Capital which is on page 5507 starts for the senior center um this item is um something we do for all our buildings uh we set aside $25,000 a year and we accumulate the balance for any items that might break on the buildings that we own so um this is the standard 25 Grand that we um and sometimes we adjust this this year we had to put 50,000 in in the police building because we had some major items come up that we had to repair so it kind of drained the balance we were carrying but as far as the senior goes we still have over 68,000 in Prior year funding so this gives us you know if an AC goes out or anything of that nature that needs to be taken care of right away we can get it fixed without having to declare emergency so just good planning to put money away each year for um major improvements that need to be done as we go any questions the next item actually we should probably go to the okay the next item for the senior center is on page 60 which Adine has proposed oh for furniture yes for the office furniture it's $5,000 um and this will probably be used um within the next year right it's something we started last year um to replace the uh chairs and furniture in the senior center you do it you know a little each year um I know initially she um had some extra money L around and she used all that so we we came up with a plan to start replacing some of the chairs and tables miscellaneous Furniture so the the general uh improvements yes am I there there's 68,69 change right so can could this 5,000 come out of that instead of adding you know another 25,000 to that 68,000 and then another 5,000 here I mean we have we have money there yeah but it's the purchases for furniture and things of that nature have different useful life so you would have to no it can't be coming out of the building fund because that's only used for improvements to the building that are at least a useful life of five years so each item that you do has like a different useful life so you have to allocate it separately bonding correct useful yep because of the bonding laws this anything in that and and this $25,000 fund that we have is for things like the heater goes you know the hot water tank or things of that nature that infrastructure infrastructure items correct which usually have you know a 10 year useful life to 20 years depending where Furniture generally by Bond Law is five years so this is this looks like it's just 5,000 2024 is that we don't know or is that pretty much going to take care of what you what you're going to need for these chairs and stuff um so I think we may Pro most likely be using it in with the grant that was provided right um the senior sener received a little over $70,000 from Mercer County also part of the um I think that was Co money or American Recovery Act money where we're going to do some improvements to the kitchen some furniture replacement and some it improvements correct those were the three items that were approved by the grant we're in the process of um putting propos together getting getting approvals from the county and um we'll go from there speaking of the kitchen um right now I don't think that kitchen's actually um used for I know at one time there was a lunch program before covid um is there a plan to use that kitchen more for food for for the seniors I I think we're g to um Adeline was going to evaluate that once we do the improvements from the grant to see you know maybe if it's something that the seniors would like correct as of right now um it it's cannot be utilized and as the health department is utilizing the space as well so it's off limits um and then we we will evaluate um once right once the generators put in the health department they'll be able to take their vac vaccination stuff put it into there because it needs a backup generator uh which we don't have in the health department at the moment but we should shortly and that will free up the kitchen in the meantime we're we're going forward we're doing improvements and then once the improvements are done then we can you know take a look at the opening the kitchen so once the generator goes in the health department then the uh vacines can come out of the kitchen correct they get moved over and that was that was the other thing and then we do the improvements then we can do the improvements but we do have some plan to actually use these improvements for the seniors I would assume yes right thanks question on page four of the budget for the senior center it shows the 25k recommended by the administration but didn't show that it was requested is that the same 25k on page 56 on the summary sheet yeah sheet page let me get to that hold on what page was that page four yes generally um buildings and grounds handle that so that's why Adin didn't put in a request for it so it's it's a standard practice that we put 25,000 in minimum for each building we do it for this building the senior center the police department the fire um for the reasons I had explained earlier so just had a point of information you have the descriptions in in this budget book here where you can right you yeah I will go back to the spreadsheets with one name in all so okay any other questions for senior center no thanks anyone counc no okay thank you very much service come on up Lorraine all right we're going to go to the assessor's office sure you can go ahead and hand it out is that what you gave us earlier they that than did you get one I everybody got one yeah I just wanted to give an overview get it everybody introduce yourself for me good morning my name is Lorraine Jones I am the West Winter Township Tax Assessor um when John um invited me to come speak with you he asked that I prepare sort of an overview of what tax assessment does for the municipality so that's the the handout that I just provided um I could either read through it or just highlight um the major points for you um our our first and foremost job and tax assessment is certifying the annual tax list which we do every January February time frame um our our total rateable base is just shy of $6.2 billion um and it is our responsibility to apportion that equitably among all the taxable properties um currently we have about 9600 taxable line items and we're expecting um about 900 more um with all the new developments going on you've heard Meridian walk um that's a Toll Brothers also Toll Brothers Reserve kaban uh towns uh PTY link so there's quite a a lot of activity coming up this year and next year maybe the year after um we also maintain throughout the year the tax list by verifying ownership records we get um Deeds of sale and change of ownerships from the county clerk um we're constantly monitoring the market um what's happening in the real estate market on a daily weekly basis and making sure our assessments are in line with what what's happening um we review and approve deductions for veterans and senior citizens and disabled people if they meet the qualifications that's generally a $250 deduction and then from time to time we have 100% disabled veterans apply for the full exemption they will be tax exempt if they meet the requirements there's also exempt properties we have to approve and verify every 3 years those those would be your churches and your nonprofits they do not pay taxes um and then every year April 1 that's our deadline for appeal so we are gearing up over the next couple weeks for our appeal season um I work with special tax Council as well as an appraisal consultant um either to defend or negotiate settlements for assessment appeals then um late spring into early fall we do our added assessments and that's where all these new developments are going to come onto our books this year hopefully we'll have a lot of them um because they're not assessed on the 2024 tax list we do the assessment process on a prated basis for the year based on when they get their SE uh roll back assessments those are also done during the uh late summer early fall those are for Farmland property that are no longer farming um we have a few each year generally uh Princeton University had quite a few roll back assessments last year and then late in the year if anyone asks us for an informal review that's opposed to a formal appeal uh we will uh give them the courtesy of an in-house review we'll review their assessment make sure it is um in line with with other assessments of homes of the same size and we can adjust accordingly we often assist other Municipal departments that are looking for property ownership information and multiple Oprah requests throughout the year from the clerk's office sorry and then on a daily basis we have Realtors and appraisers and attorneys and Property Owners calling us with a multitude of questions about their tax bills and their tax assessments and properties that are on the market or have closed um and that takes us to the budget okay is there any questions questions regarding that just like with taxes some you know with residential and there's there's the rental properties is is the balance does that get evaluated are you referring to commercial um renter commercial well I guess it's commercial there's residential um yes rental bill buildings and there's residential homes if you look at the second page of the handout there's a breakdown there of the ratables so the residential homes are that second line residential we have 8,097 of those but your your your rental properties your apartment complexes they fall into the commercial line 275 commercial properties specifically Apartments and that's 11 of those there's 11 apartment complexes that are assessed in that right so the tenants aren't paying the taxes the property owners pay the taxes and then they pass that on into to the tenants yeah I just want to make sure we're taxing enough for yes I don't know if recall over the past three years we did a reverse appeal the municipality appealed to the state tax for um and and we raised all our apartment complexes okay so their values are the reverse peel is where we go after them and say it's too low and that was started about three or four years ago and they're all completed and they're all settled and we are collecting much higher taxes from our commercial Department complexes now okay that's good yeah thank you for those those efforts any other questions on questions anybody okay if you go to your summary book on page three and four under assessment of taxes o uh Lorraine is also um proposing a flat budget with no increases for no increase 2024 um as far as capital she has no Capital requests is there any questions for for um Lorraine's assessment OE budget okay thank you very much l very much appreciate it hi hi my name is Kelly montesinos I'm I am the West Windsor Township tax collector's office and as Lorraine discussed she explained basically how the values get on the properties once the tax rate is struck it is my job to build the properties for the taxes and they are collected four times annually February 1st May 1st August 1st and November 1st uh we also bill for sewer twice a year in September and in March um we are also responsible for filling out various senior forms that the state has implemented the property tax reimbursement we fielded questions regarding the anchor program um we have an annual tax sale every year normally in the fall which basically all that is is properties that have not paid their taxes from the previous we would then put a lean against the property therefore we would be collecting the delinquent taxes from the previous year and then we have an online tax sale and since we've had the online tax sale we're put into a larger base of biders and uh we are collecting more money on the premiums than if we had a tax sale here if we had a tax sale here they would just go at a rate of interest so the premium money sits in an account here at the township which the township would then be able to collect the interest on the sum of money and then if the lean is not redeemed in five years in the township then receives that money so that doesn't happen necessarily often since I've been here there's been two of them but you never know I and I've been here almost 20 years and we've not had to for close on property for for not paying taxes that's one thing about West Windsor we have a very high collection rate and even during the pandemic that our collection rate increased yeah so people came in early and paid 100% um this year's collection rate for 2023 is 99.45% page of the summary it's around 1.9 million this year it's money we have to set aside for cash flow because we have to collect 100% of the taxes for the county and the schools regardless we collect actually collect 100% we have to disperse 100% so uh there's a formula used to come up with that figure and that's why that figure is so low sometimes that figure can be 10 to 20% of your budget depending on what type of municipality you're in but because we have such a high collection rate it's a rather low figure because uh you know people do pay their taxes on time that and we also send notices if someone forgets to pay their taxes so typically you know the February taxes were due on the 1 they had extended grace period until the 11th or the 12th because of the way the weekend fell and then by the end of that week we're sending out delinquent notices and we'll do the same for sewer just so people are aware because you know sometimes we forget and last year had a unique situation where unfortunately the county was late in adopting their budget which held up our budget and we we elected not to do um estimated taxes because in the past and um we've never really had to and is had never been that late the county had been late here or there but usually Within by August they would adopt it last year they didn't do to September which push pushed our billing to October we have been in constant communication this year with the county um and have been assured that we will be communicated when they plan on adopting their budget this year so if we need to go out for estimated we will just so we can get it on a standard Bill up billing cycle versus pushing the taxes to October and November which um a lot of other residents didn't like last year so um we are in contous and communication like last year I got I had no Communications with the county um this year I've spoken to at least three different separate times on when they plan to introduce and when they plan on adopting and um if that changes they're going to let me know so so yeah we have a new County Executive so let's see where we go that should you know help that process telling you know we're gonna make a decision and we would have to do a resolution if we do um estimated taxes would have to come in front of the board and you would have to approve it um so if we get to that point we will bring it up and do it it's a little more of a cost um probably H1 Grand but um it's probably worth it um Kelly must have received hundreds of phone calls the the issue I think that you might not understand in that is that when you extend your August tax grace period until October 16th if you pay your taxes on October 17th your interest goes all the way back to August 1st and so like when taxes are5 or $6,000 a quarter which there's several here in West Windor that are at that rate that the first $1,500 of that delinquency is at 8% interest and then anything over that is at 18% interest so people were paying three or $400 worth of interest and not happy about it so which rightfully so you know no one would want to pay an extra fee like that but so for us to do an estimated tax bill we would send something out you know early July and then they would have a normal race period so wouldn't be that issue and then a lot of people even though taxes are due in August and you're supposed to pay it it's like a cash flow thing for them they were very unhappy that they had to pay in October and then again on November and felt that they should have an extension for that as well so you know if we knew at the time that it would have been that we weren't going to get our tax rate until September we would have totally done the estimated bills I mean the amount of phone calls emails I mean people are just unhappy yes so we will we will we are monitoring that and um once we know from the county exactly when they're adopting we'll make that decision on whether or not to do an estimated and like I said we can't do an estimated without getting a resolution approved by Council so you'll be aware of whether or not we're doing estimated or not Kelly you I think you need to mention that you have no ability to wave the in oh there is no no ability to wave interest is a state statute with the state of New Jersey we have no room to move in that situation regardless if it's a health reason you forgot you've lived here for 35 years and this is the first time you're being late unfortunately there is nothing we can do at the township and that is the number one thing that the Auditors look at our records like they pull out batch stubs they look at the front and the back of them if interest was not charged they would be all over that yeah they even send out letters to Residents confirming when they paid the taxes yeah we and we're we're audited every year by the independent um auditing firm um they come and do our uh financial statements to make sure we present them um fairly and um they they almost look at that they look at high high percentages is make sure we charge the proper delinquent amount the same goes for the sewer bill as cor 100% um they even do like a rate calculation like they put it into a spreadsheet to make sure that it is to the day and Kelly in in When anybody calls or emails she encourages them to sign up on the website because she sends blasts out all the time yeah we send email notifications out before every quarter then during the quarter letting people know when the taxes are due when the sewer bill is due you know in the case last year where we did not have the information we were sending updates that way I mean the best way to stay informed with our offices to sign up for the email blast just for the tax collection office um that way you're in the know at all times we are also um having some software improvements and it looks like we will be able to offer automatic deit come the fall which I know a lot of residents will be happy about especially for the sewer because that still tends to be forgotten the most we're hoping to have it for the fall we're scheduled for late summer for the conversion um once we do the conversion we'll be able to use their software which will allow us to provide this service to the residence which is the number one ask yeah and all their information will be secure on a third party site there's no issues there right and the extra cost for that is will be it would be a do now it's $2 for an a they're going to charge a $1.99 I think 9595 yeah and then one a 2.9% right to the provider yeah um so they can set up like an ewallet and then their information will be saved like it will be way more advanced than what we have now because now you make an online payment each time you got to put in your checking account routing information you know this will you can kind of be like oh just build my account on the first and they'll pay it that'll be $2 if you do it out of an AC it's and the service the service is a dollar like for every AC payment is a $1.95 oh so it's okay so it's a $1.95 for every a payment there's no percentage or anything only for credit cards and that's not going to be an auto thing that if you choose to pay with a credit card then you are assuming the fee not something 2.95% yeah goes goes to the provider we yeah we didn't make no money off of that so then people can just sign up pay I'm saying two bucks sorry yeah $2 which is about what it is now and um it automatically be taken out of their checking account correct yep it's highly advisable that residents not rely on US mail to mail their tax payments we've had a number of complaints I mailed the taxes and I sent them you know I placed them in the mail like a week before the T the due date unfortunately because of the statute Kelly is unable to wave the interest and we we don't take postmarks either and to Marina's point about that a lot of residents use like an online bill pay from your bank if you pay your electric bill they wire the M money to the electric company the township they mail a physical check so it takes seven to 10 business days to get here and when we receive those envelopes they have anywhere from like a week span of a date on it in the same envelope so you know and it gets taken out of the checking account once it's mailed but technically it's not cashed on our in until we receive it so it's a big it's a big issue and it was a big issue ISL online payments by the banking because they hold them and batch them and then mail them and a lot of times they don't get here and then that we have to charge an interest and they don't feel residents don't feel it's fair so this this is one of the main reasons why we're going to this automatic pay um so we can elivate that is issues obviously those are residents that want to do an online payment and um this will this will be another item they can do you can you promote this through electronic emails on the township website how this work yeah once goes into play we're going to do like a campaign on it whether you know through email blast notifications on the website through Facebook you know we're going to put it out there because I mean as a whole I think it's for a lot of people's best interest and you can walk in here and hand it in check if you wanted to you can drive up drive theop loock it out of your car and put it in the Dropbox or you can pay online you can mail it the oldfashioned way but I don't suggest that oh yeah I think I got stung in one of those where it took a week or something um so you have your own Ebon that's separate from ours did you say yes so we have our own email subscription list service so basically it has nothing to do with payment status it's just hey your taxes are sewer bill or due here are the ways to pay us you have until you know whatever the grace period end date is to pay and and is that for residential or is it anyone that wants to sign up but once you signed up I mean do you get yeah I mean it has nothing you get everybody like businesses and anyone that's yeah like I have it on my own personal email it's a great reminder it's just like a reminder I signed up in my email in work so this way every time she send something out it not I know that okay I'm just trying to get an idea how many is this basically residential um notification or are you getting it every time for businesses is it a lot of emails that's the basic question it's whoever signs up yeah but is is it do they get a lot of emails that are portally right they get to like if so for instance you get an email so for sewer You' got an email a week or ago before it was due I will send another email today when the issue was going on last summer I signed to sent them like every other week just to keep people in the know um you know I mean I understand that we all get a lot of emails but I think hey a pet know way better than someone paying the interest I mean I'm just trying to find out whether or not they get tons of stuff on apartment complexes and on they don't get any of that stuff it's just basically your sewer bill tax and seers that's all it is that's kind of why she has her own list more emails from the Township's website when things are updated then you do for m i mean you're getting them you know and that's kind of why we separated it because it's just the focus on just the one issue so if you didn't want to focus is basically on residential taxs yep okay and Sewer so so Andrea anybody wants to sign up so you would just it on the web page yeah it's on the web page under the tax collector's office if you click on he sewer taxes there's a big yellow box you put in your information check I'm not a robot they'll send you a confirmation email and then you'll get reminders good can can we put a little notification on on our web page saying oh sign up for the tax emails maybe I mean that's what it is in the Box it says like I mean create a new Flash can we yeah can we can we put out a little notification to because most people don't bother to go to the I would suggest we do that when you do your next billing for the year I think that would make it the most productive for time and then people are thinking about and I might not be yes so we could so that way people or and that way it'll go into it'll go into the e-bulletin and and then once it goes into the regular e-bulletin people who know who could take that will know to sign up separately for this Kelly and I keep the the website up uh quite often for our quarterly sewer payments and then it goes out in a blast and I'm sure you whoever signed up already is getting the emails um so just to make you aware so you said you hope to have this done well we are scheduled for they've moved our when are we they moved us up to May okay the issue is May is the tax quarter we may push it to July or so June and we have the sewer bill so we have a lot of moving points but when we do there will be I don't want we don't want to roll it out until we know it's working correctly yeah like we need to but I mean I'm we're we're probably 80% sure it will be available I say November you're gonna be good to go with that but August is I I had an old boss who whenever I said I hope to do something he said hope is not a strategy yeah we have strategy yeah no no it's just it's you need to once we get on to the new system we need to verify that everything from the old system is and the new like there's some twe you effectively you have your resources are planning do that this yeah like we're the all the tax bills and Sewer bills are going to be printed from the new software so that will be in the summertime so August will be our first run of payments then September for sewer and then we can add in whatever after that but let's get through those hurdles first and then I'll add the other part of it because I'm also going to have to train staff when we had switched software previously I had known that software inside and now this I know very little about I but you're planning to have it online this year yes for we're shooting for November 100% um you're hope it's a little wordy perspective not hoping to have it online you're planning to have it online we're planning on we um our old software company was purchased by its competitor so they're consolidating the tax programs so we didn't really have a choice on on conversion there are some benefits as we say is and it auto pay is one of that's a huge benefit there it's just going to be a little learning curve on our end yeah change takes works so the only thing is it might not be in time to be able to put an insert into when we have the new tax bill for August well I mean you put another insert in the tax bill the postage is g to get higher on the tax bill I mean it probably will not be yeah yeah we do that we will do the blast we do put fers up we're going to hope we'll have the new board out front up we'll put it on the board you know we'll do you know all kind yeah we we we'll let people know I have a feeling that it's not going to be an issue of alerting because we get plenty of phone calls about that very question on the regular and when residents have come in you know I've said we're expecting it to be late fall and they are all very excited okay that doesn't take a lot to excite page four in the summary is the collection of taxes OE budget and um Kelly's also proposed a flat budget for 2024 that's correct any questions okay thank you Kelly okay we're going to have Brian come up and he's going to cover buildings and grounds it and part of administration it is in the administration Budget on on a couple items and Brian can explain that that that stuff introduce yourself Brian good morning I'm Brian Aron I'm the facilities maintenance manager for the township I overse see the uh div vision of buildings and grounds as well as supervise the network and IT staff um I have ly Joshi here with me as well he's our Network and um engineer um the main responsibilities for the building and grounds division entails the proper upkeep of all of our facilities including uh maintenance with everything from ventilation to lighting uh to Plumbing um as well as uh General appearance of the interior and exterior of our buildings um further responsibilities for me include ensuring that we are in compliance with all the state regulations um associated with all of our missal facilities which include um our mutual boilers um our elevators our Mobility lifts our emergency generators um the annual fire and safety inspections our sprinkler system certifications as well as the underground fuel storage tank at the police department um going into some of the accomplishments that we did in 2023 I kind of combined did the it as well as the um buildings and grounds into one um we completed the municipal Network infrastructure upgrades for our uh Network which consisted of replacing our Network switches um our firewalls um our wireless um Wi-Fi access point system uh throughout the majority of our facilities the only that we're not one that we're not involved with is the police they're a totally separate system um we also implemented um MFA multiactor authentication um and provided Network penetration testing um inside and outside um as required by the GIF um to keep our Network safe and secure um we completed the uh replacement of the um carpet throughout the entire Senior Center we completed the demolition of the dilapitated structure on the sunon property which is across the parking lot next to the community garden um we completed installation of security upgrades at the fire and EMS facility which consisted of additional card access readers and security cameras we completed the installation of the replacement emergency generator project at the police department we initiated the police department detective area renovation project that's approximately 90 to 95% complete at this point we also initiated the police department uh roof replacement project project uh that project was publicly bid um but unfortunately the bids came in over our current allocated funding U so we had to um reject bids and um requesting additional funds in this year's budget for that we also initiated the installation of the emergency generator at the health department um which is currently ongoing as well as the installation of the electronic digital sign um for the health department which is currently ongoing and we also initiated the metal roof installation for the Red Barn at the historic farm which is approximately 95% complete at this time uh going to 2024 some of my goals uh would be to begin the computer upgrades associated with the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system um support culmination completing the installation of the generator and digital sign for the health and Rec facility completing the detective area Renovations and uh Court uh police roof replacement project project completing the roof replacement for the Red Barn at the historic farm uh I'm asking for some funds to do an analysis of the existing uh fire protection sprinkler system at the senior center uh in the past we've had some issues where the dry system uh air compressor has been running quite constantly um and it's you know I think prudent to do an analysis to see if that system needs to be replaced since that was constructed in I believe the 80s we held meetings where that thing yes oh God always would yeah it constantly got low and then it constantly had to refill it so yes sometimes we had to stop the planning meetings some of the council meetings yeah we've had some instances where we've had some small leaks after uh the annual testing and you know they've been patched and repaired but you know it's it's definitely warranted to see if we need to do anything further um we're also looking to do uh the roof replacement project at the fireing EMS fac facility um we did just award a contract for our architect to begin the architectural drawings for that and we're requesting funds in this year's budget for that um as well as initiating the fire alarm replacement for the fire NIS facility and then finally I would like to start to look to implement um a possible roof replacement project at the Arts Center um which has been requested in the uh 20124 capital budget um as well as just ensuring compliance with all the state regulations for all of our facilities so that's a lot of roofs several that would be all bid I think as one one bid package uh it depends um it depends on I guess we might be able to get an economy a scale if we did them all at once um the problem is trying to manage one big project like that um over multiple locations um the the police department is kind of a project in itself um there's two sections to the roof where one is full of um ballast on top and the other half of the roof is all just rubber membrane um so that's a pretty big project because that's going to entail um with the new energy code adding additional um insulation on top of that roof which is also going to require some railing to be uh increased in height as well as some of the Wei Poes um so that project is kind of I would recommend to kind of keep that one separate but the EMS and the Art Center we might be able to um do as one bid to for the economy of scale we have to be careful with how we bid things because the local public contracts law has a provision regarding how bids get awarded and there has to be an explanation in the instruction to bids if an alternate bit if we set up alternate bits so so counil may have to have to go it might be smarter to keep them separate that way you know one facility is a lot higher than we thought was going to be but the other ones are kind of we have money budgeted we' be able to award it yeah and and sometimes if the roofs aren actly the same there's somebody who's really good price on one kind of roofs matter of fact with the police department is it worth breaking that fit up which I thinking about it's something to think about possibly I know that the architect's plans and um specifications are all pretty much completed you because we did publicly do that project so we might have to go back and have them revise to to kind of break out um so it might incur little bit additional puls but unfortunately it's going to delay it and that we're we're we really need to replace that police ro we're really starting to have some issues I'm just saying if you know somebody can do one piece cheaper than the other but it's not the best way to do the job but right yeah the the state also frowns upon bifurcating the project um it's one project so we ought to go out to bid for the entire project because we don't have to pay for mobilization costs correct a second time the mobilization cost adds a fair amount to the bid price and um again um bifurcating the project is not necessarily the best way to go especially if you get a bidder if bidder a doesn't get the bid for the second part of the job then have okay I'm not throwing that out there okay um appreciate it and just one other do we like when we're doing some of these roofs um I know a while back years and years ago somebody said why don't we have solar panels on some of our roofs and it was well we don't have a roof that the infrastructure isn't strong enough or there was some several reasons for it when we've been redoing some of these roofs have we looked at it especially I see for like the police department we're also redoing um some of the cooling systems that are on the roof so you're doing a whole bunch of stuff at one time do we look at is this a good time where we could put solar we tried to um I know when we did the roof on the Miss building we looked at that and at that point because of all the infrastructure Up on the Roof everything from gas piping to the air coolers you know um it wasn't um able to be done um as well as the the structure of the roof um the police department um we can look at that um but um that's something if we would to to to do that would be a probably a separate you know solar project that we'd have to try it or or when we're doing it look at it and design where we're putting things so that that becomes uh you know better the problem with sometimes when you do that is that there already penetrations in the roof for like the Big Air Handlers that you don't want to really relocate no I'm just throwing that out there I'm not no but try maybe create like you know we can work on um keeping future in mind that we could possibly put solar in a future date but get the structure ready now right that yeah so there is anything sometimes there's one piece in the middle that makes the whole solar project uh undoable and maybe move something over a little bit so it's just something I think we should look at now that we're redoing in some cases a whole bunch of things at one time could you check with an architect it sounds like that might be something to talk the AR about any consideration for improvements at the Arts Council um those truck Bays to make them so we have funding that was allocated in a previous year for architectural uh design um we spoke about this in the past um The Bays were being utilized up till last year or the year before by our fire and EMS Department to keep a lot of their Hazmat equipment in there we recently completed construction of the pole barn over at the fire knus building so everything's been relocated at there um there is the possibility of getting an architect on board to start to look at possible designs for that um the problem with that is if if we don't move forward that on a quick schedule um say we have the design done you know this year and then we don't actually start building construction for three or four years codes change and you know we're going back to the architect to spend more money to have the the plan specification Roc is to the most up toate codes sure but there is money that have been allocated to do a a design and and plan for that so in the future if Council decides that they can award a contract right I mean it might be prudent to use some of that those funds to start to begin to look at Concepts and then have an architect say yeah based on this concept this is what we anticipate the whole construction cost it would be sure sure I mean there's obviously numerous steps in order to get to the end point so some of the first steps maybe as a opportunity to because right now it's just it's a budgeting tool that we just put in right all the way back from when we did the renovations in 2010 yeah know so we have been allocating money every year yeah we have we have money set aside because we do own the building um when we get to his Capital Brian has 350,000 to replace the roof in there this year we also put aside I think 25,000 a year yes um like any other building that we're starting to do for for major improve you know heater something goes yeah but we we had allocated in Prior years um money to do design so if you know later in this year or if you guys decide you want to want to look at that you can yeah I think in past history we did put money we think 40 50,000 it's about 150ish off the top of my head yeah it was uh I think originally we allocated 75,000 but then Council I think ended up asking us to to do it as 50,000 okay and then and then the question definitely would cover a design with the building with the architect it's like what does it cost to bring that building up code bring it up to code and doing a lot of other things is a is a big discussion the the other issue with that building is you have a NE a res a residential neighborhood and you have to take into consideration the parking requirements um I can't my understanding was that overflow parking was supposed to occur at the train station I don't think that happens I think a lot of the residential side streets there are used for parking and we've gotten complaints not a lot but on occasion that people you know that people are parking and walking to the facility and the residents don't have the ability to have people that want to visit them to park adjacent to their property so it's a balancing act but you'd have to change an ordinance if it's I don't know parking on the streets because it's public I know what you're saying I I don't I don't disagree but um but getting back to the question that's something that you Council can decide in the future if they would like to you know look at a design program and it was in 2015 50,000 was appropriated in and we haven't touched that much so I think also that gets into whether or not if there's not not enough parking would that require a variance and if it did would that actually ever would they get the variance and I I know when they went in front of the planning board I believe for the uh grant that they applied for with regards to the improvements they're looking to do I think that was discussed some at that meeting and I think Mr CES had provided some type of um guidance on what could be used and um what would be impacted by the parking so I think have an agreement with the parking authority for after c hours oh they have that all that that's okay they that but people aren't par there may be an agreement but yeah I don't know that people I don't know that the Arts Council makes it known number one and number two even if the Arts Council made it known people are creatures of habit they want to walk the least amount of distance to get their unfortunately I I do it most of the time but I know most of the I'm I'm unusual uh yeah so that sounds like it's like a whole separate discussion it is yeah yeah okay the public buildings and grounds OE budget um yeah that's flat represents a 0% increase okay and then let's go to Administration OE which is on page uh page two uh two line items is is is Brian's responsible for and that's basically the it information um as you noted from the the major increases this year um we are increasing the OE budget around $60,000 most 95% of that is from that lot from the I um 26 [Music] 268 we're increasing it from 105 to 165,000 and Brian can explain why yeah so when we implemented the sdl um pering program um five years ago the software was purchased uh with a five-year uh program now starting to get into an annual subscription for that service um which is approximately $1,600 per computer seat um we have currently have 27 seats 20 of them are currently allocated to the construction Department um which allows them to go out on site do their inspections take the iPad you know import uh notes and um update and then that allows the residents to go on to their sdl portal to see how their uh inspection progress is going and their permit process is going and we've gotten a lot of positive feedback on that service so now we're getting that annual subscription price of you know $47,000 and then additional funds for the iPad support as as well I mean I love that um yeah initially when you buy a program it's it's with hardware and everything else and by bonding we're allowed to use do a useful life of five years which is what the case was that we paid for it once but after five years now it's a yearly subscription so that's why it has to roll in now into this and um you new gener le Administration bu has been pretty flat but um this could this is something that we're probably looking at going forward for the next couple years some increases for monthly subscription for it a lot that's sdl which which is fantastic um which I love it but um would that that goes under it here and that would not go yeah we've had some internal discussions um seeing that um construction is is mainly um utilizing this program that we do have some Community Development and Engineering dep Department that use it yes land use um and land use um there are some discussions that maybe next year that we move this out of administration put it under construction that's something internally that we'll discuss and if we do we'll just take whatever let's say 60,000 and move it over but but this one makes it look like administration's more and it's not really charging the Departments that are using there's some strict strict accounting for um construction Department expenditures um I actually was just able to confirm it like two weeks ago that we can move it so next year we probably will but that's some conversations have in the future considered effectively like a shared service that you're delivering yeah we'll just throw it right in there Point construction is consuming majority of it correct it's it's a lot of software vendors going at even our Microsoft um exchange licensing you we're starting to have to pay a monthly or a yearly subscription price going forward but we when we're thinking about what permit should cost and we're thinking about what you know that kind of thing should be this is a cost that we don't realize is going corre cost of doing and stuff so it's just something keep mind okay so um one question that maybe more for recreation but this is buildings and grounds and westwin little league um has a shared services agreement for the batting cage and I understand that there's problems with one or two Heating units I know Ken has been in touch with ER he got a proposal to have um the two uh heating um units um I believe I issued a purchase order on emergency base last week to have those units fixed so it has been issued Princeton air who's our you know contractor that we had won a bid for repairs for our services is uh it has been issued so they're in the process of fixing that unit or units I think it's two I there's two there's two two unit like was so a PO has been issued yeah that's what can like at last night's meeting can uh report reported that the little league was late in notifying us there was an issue um so once Kenny was notified and he came to me and and and in a hurry and and um I actually stayed late and we we issued the PO so we could get that rolling we also had some ongoing heating issues at the police department that I kind of had a you know a priority with them that I had Prince n working on a lot you know unfortunately that was just a higher priority to keep the you know things at the police department if they fixed it but it breaks again let's say because it's equipment's old uh do we have money in the budget um to replace it yes yesen Kenny also sets aside a $25,000 fund for parks for things of this nature so he has accumulated some money and that's what we were able to tap into it was about eight grand to replace most of the of the items in these two units so we can get them up and running um so yes we do plan for that for the parks also all right okay and the pool isn't you right is somebody else have we given any thought into any other ways that you can automate or bring online services for the community of something that comes to mind is something that Princeton uses a application called C click you ever heard of that literally SE click so you see something you click on your phone so it's used for like recording potholes or street lights out or suspicious activity um that's something we can definitely look at um I'll reach out to obviously it has underlying impact right sure the organization to use it but yeah I actually and Brian check with sdl because I think they may offer a modular for that for public works integra's but then again be an additional cost for course everything nothing I get that but from a sort of a vision whether it's this moving forward there there's a system I sent the May or something um somebody's putting a a whole system together that actually if somebody sends an email the AI goes through the email picks up what they're looking for and then sends it to the right Department which I'm so I'm so glad I'm retiring I'm right there with you CH okay I really am because Andrea and I know all of this AI or whatever you're calling it is good but there's also departments like to me that would mean opras would not be coming to me and by law there's a lot of things that have to go to individual departments oh we would have to ensure that those items were going to the correct and not being diverted because now you're taking time away and then there's statutory requirements and it just so because now I've seen talk to these vendors we get emails all the time Finance that's the that that one puts a little bit of I mean there's other systems people there click this was this was they were trying to add a little bit of a new spin to it because I know there's other systems that are just not that sophisticated but there's a whole system where you can punch here there if you want something andl does have a lot of other elements to it yeah I know that so that's the first step I would look at and build a relationship with them and we'll see yeah so there and and there's different systems I sent some stuff on but anyway all right just part of the computer discussion too y capital no we just we just had some questions come up about a new a new um tree ordinance which the um DP is yeah we don't do that um you know permits for that that's not here okay we're gonna go to Capital well on page one on the summary sheet so the first item would be the network computer printer and scanner replacement program um this program uh basically would allow for the maintenance and replacement various computers uh network uh items servers software replacement costs uh so all of our computer systems say functional secure and up to date um we have had in the past where um we had Capital funding um I think on the halfway down I indicated when we submitted the budget that we had 228,000 remaining in Prior years um unused capital accounts but as of today I just checked and it's down to 84,000 $446 because we just uh had a large order for our computers to be replaced um during covid as you're aware a lot of the um supply chain issues had a lot of um problems because people were staying at hes who were buying a lot of computers and printers um so um there wasn't a lot of availability and this will allow us to try to get back on our five-year um cycle which allows us to replace our computers you know every five years and we generally like to keep 150,000 in Bound so it's a little low that's why we're asking for an extra 150,000 this year and that's in case there's any major major issues with the system um we can just you know hit the ground running and not worry about funding and declaring emergencies and things of that nature and this is for everybody but the police department correct corre and the 228 996 is that what is now 86 8 845 a little bit under 845 yes so it's not the police but so that does mean Emergency Services Emergency Services yep everybody it does not restrict us from not if if the police had a major issue and they ran out of funding we can tap into that for that we can cross over on it issues the police are kind of their own Beast for different confidentiality reasons and things of that nature so we kind of budget on their end separately um but we can cross over if we need to okay uh the next item would be the $25,000 uh General Improvement that we ask uh each year for all of our facilities which just allows us to cover uh page one and that would be item 24-02 we're just looking at the items for this year oh you're looking at the detail on the book okay I'll get that for you yeah I only get the spreadsheet so it's here you go Brian one two page three go page three under Administration tab okay yeah again this is just the general Improvement that we ask for each of our facilities which just allows us to cover cost of you know General improvements um or required upgrades you know everything from you know a hot water heater goes out or you know window gets broken or you know um hbac it needs a part replacement um this kind of covers all of that which these uh allow us to to keep a kind of a even ke rather than having spikes and valleys in our requests and it allows him to do his job and repair things in a time so is this 479 accurate or is this pretty it's probably around 4 10ish we had to use some of that funds for some um AC improvements to the police station so we're right around 400 we have 410 now do we have to add 25,000 to it I mean yeah it's highly recommended um because things are very expensive um I mean we just we're putting in six split units over at the police station because they're having the issues over there and um it's not cheap so um you know if something breaks and especially in this Municipal complex it's very expensive we like to keep at least 400 as a buffer yeah the other issue is that we still haven't closed out our renovation project for this building correct so that we're without getting into details because it's contractual um we are um probably go to arbitration with the contractor we have some open issues so we'll you know we'll keep you updated once we know where we're at with that but they refuse to sign off on the final change order so that's where we're at with them so we have to keep some money aside in case um we have to you know Dole out more than we anticipate it's a it's a normal process on an open bid contract for illegal that would come under P of attorney that well his fees would be paid for there but if we have any let's say if we have any agreements where we to change we agree to a dollar figure it comes out of here because it's part of the project the work 50 Grand comes up it's the close out it's the close out project close out but that might be something we'd have to discuss in like a closed session correct correct I'd be glad that get updated yeah but right now we don't know where we're at so we um we're we're in the arbitration proc part of the Contracting is we go to arbitration first and try to settle our differences so right uh the next page uh page four again that's just the general Improvement fund request for the health and recck building um some of the funds um during the budget process when we were putting this together I believe we Ed some of the funds out of that 96,000 for the generator um but I can double check on that and it's also used for we call it the health and wck building but it's also the post also so we're responsible for any any issues over there also so that that covers that also is it's one building okay uh page five is the uh Fire EMS roof replacement uh requesting uh 325,000 um this would replace the roof at that facility um back in 2008 um twin W um replaced the roof um unfortunately it kind of was a not to a great job having ongoing issues um where the um the way a flat roof is designed you have a Cricut which basically kind of diverts the water towards the ends and allows them to go out through um you know wee Poes into the gutters and stuff uh a lot of the Crickets up on that roof are pretty much flat so there's a lot of areas where the water just stands we've had uh multiple contractors go out there to try to make necessary repairs and we're still finding that during you know severe weather events you know we're getting water infiltration in multiple areas of that building so it's definitely um you know we do have people in here 247 um and you know there's a couple areas where it's you know coming in over top of computer equipment so it's defin warranted so that's why that item was pushed forward this year that includes the architectural fees the architectural has already been awarded I used the the general fund out of that just to get that started um they're starting was a uh not this past meeting it was the one prior that you guys awarded uh the architectural uh design project for that building uh the next one would be page eight which is our security system upgrade projects to our various uh municipal buildings uh this allows us to replace any of the Interior cameras or uh card access readers or any of the monitoring uh equipment necessary to keep the uh building secure uh right now the majority of our buildings are all um under the card access SL security camera system um we are implementing um or we did Implement some additional security quests at our fire S Building last year um that were uh deemed uh you know necessary uh page nine would be the police department roof replacement project uh this project would supplement previous year's fundings and allow us to get that roof uh replaced we did go out to bid uh last year we had 12 biders unfortunately all the bids did come in over uh the current allocated funding and then this would allow us to complete that project so that would be 650 plus the 37 yes yeah it it I mean to be honest it's kind of a a weird situation with roofs lately um you know there's been some roofs that we've bid and the projects come in way under budget like the uh historic Farm Barn you know that project was out the bit a couple years ago that the numbers came in way over uh Mr C requested additional funding and then we rebid it and came in under what we had originally allocated in the it's it's just so crazy it's just so crazy and then have an engineer or an architect assessment say think roof at the police department is goingon to this number and then it's double that it's it's been uh crazy with roofing materials been a very wet winter yes and when it comes to the roofs yeah nobody wants to move the big rocks actually what they do is they actually have a um it's a it's a vac truck um it's almost like our sewer truck and they have a what it does is it just Fashions up all the stone right off of there just almost like a big vacuum the problem is is when you have to do maintenance on it a lot of people come out and you know move a lot of the stone Ballance to try to find where I think a leak might be and you know that's where it takes a lot of the man hours so a new roof will not have that no no yeah in the old days the thinking was that the BS would protect the membrane from the sun's rays and a lot of the UVS um the problem is is that again with any type of Maintenance it's so much labor intensive because you might have to moove qu of the building of the rock just to try to find where you think the leak's coming in at uh page 11 uh would be the police department air conditioning replacement project um this project uh is to replace original top air conditioning units and uh neumatic control systems that really installed when the building was constructed in 1994 um we had a very long issue with the police department over this winter where a lot of the pneumatic Control Systems weren't operation uh prince and a was there almost every day trying to get things uh work satisfactory uh temperature um the system that controls those units are just so old um that a lot of the pneumatics which are runs off an air compressor just aren't available um it's almost like with technology these days um like mising you know everything's controlled off the computer now uh it's it's not more mechanical it's it's it's all computer controlled so it's a lot easier um so this would replace those units um I can say that we did sign an audit agreement with uh psng which is currently ongoing uh they have a direct energy replacement program which would uh help um offset some of the um costs with uh replacing those units uh as of now the um program allows us to sorry about that uh it right now the psng covers 100% of the project cost up front U that includes everything from materials and installation um what they do is they uh bill you over a 5year period at 0% interest so that's something that we're trying to see if we even actually qualify for so right now the audit's going on and then hopefully um through this program we'll be able to utilize that program to have replac and then have that fiveyear payback with 0% interest back to them in the meantime Brian had declared an emergency and moving forward with h there's six locations six six build six locations in that building that that we have issues with so we're putting in the duck lless systems right um to basically supplement the main system which will make them comfortable and operational right um so um we felt it was worth the investment um Brian will be doing a resolution you know after fact for your appr for you know more like informational um even if what we fix the whole system we're going to keep the units as a supplemental more or less like a backup the the the cost and the design of the new system will make sure we don't have those six Pockets that we currently have that's all done through the PG yeah program and I think it is the audit free yes the audit is free it's ongoing right now and then they come back and say you guys qualify for this right and they may they may they may say okay we'll pay for 30% of it they may say we may pay for none of it but we may give you zero % interest um there is some there's some there's some maybe some cost savings to the township so Brian applied for it and is having the Ed done as we speak yep so in today's dollars this is what 1.3 million roughly yeah yeah exactly all that work but you're not going to do it all at once no it would it would be done all at once through PSG they would put all up different money and then we would be required to pay them back five years at 0 per. right I that's why you broke it that way that is why we broke it down Y and this is just like I said Remember the capital budget is only a management tool um it's just something so you can look and and project to the Future it it's it's not set in stone you can change this at any time you would like the only time it comes to spendable is when um Council approves and the mayor signs off on a bond ordinance which um is presented to you normally at the end of the summer or whenever is needed um so that's when it becomes spendable and and we can move forward otherwise something between then and now pops up you know there's always ways to make changes it's capital is different than current fund current fund is very strict you need the budget what you need the budget and then you can do transfers come November and December but uh capital is more of a a management tool so these six units are built-in units that they're they're like Min split systems yes duckus oh you know you see with those head units I have them in my home I love it it's wonderful units yeah we we actually in dispatch not too long a few years ago a couple years ago we did the dispatch because it was they were having issues and and they actually they love it yeah yeah yep and and those can stay in there and those are already being taken care of yes POS have been issued and we're just waiting for installation correct correct y yeah the police weren't happy but I mean it was wasn't the entire building it was just section of the building that the controls just went out and they were over there trying to open up valves you know manually and it just so then we pivoted with this with this system so we can keep them operational until we get the whole system replaced I I mean luckily to be honest because of our hpac maintenance contract that we have with them I couldn't imagine the bills that they would have been sending to us but they you know that's all on it's part of the contract that they bided for as far as the maintenance they put in a couple recycling pumps uh in those areas and try to get the order to flow a lot you know quicker in those areas and that was all on them so was that going to take care of air conditioning too yeah yes yep yep uh the next one would be on page 13 this would be the West Winds Arts Center General improvements again this is just a $25,000 um allocation uh for those type of General improvements just like every other building and then page 16 page 16 would be the West Winds Arts Center roof replacement um this would would replace the uh existing roof I did go back and look in the uh Records I only I could find was in 1997 they did a small replacement of the roof roofing membrane over the flat portion of the service Baye um so that roof is you know to a point where it's starting to be get diminished every year and uh we're getting leaks on a regular basis um in the uh great room as well as the back educational room so this would replace the roof over there page 18 would be the uh sprinkler system analysis at our uh Senior Center building as we talked about earlier um I'd like to do an analysis have an engineer come in evaluate that system to see if any uh repairs or replacement is warranted um that compressor does run on a regular basis as you guys are aware during when we were over there um which basically adds air into the dry system and allows the system um to not have water flowing and uh it's very loud yes so this would allow us just to do the engineering work to see I assume it's supposed to be a closed system but it is it's it's a uh it's an air system so it's basically you have air that's pumped in that holds the water back from flowing and if that air pressure starts to diminish then the water just starts to flow through the pipes but yes so the air isn't supposed to finish I mean there there is there's normal times where the compressor would run just not as quickly as it has been running so we had an issue over our our um Prince and Junction Volunteer Fire Company where they were experiencing same type of um issues where the compressor on their dry system was running a lot and they actually had a failure um and that system's a lot newer than the system we have at the senior center so it's definitely something that we should look into do we have any update on the sprinkler system at the um West vsar fire station um I don't unfortunately that's not one of our public buildings um I it's possible that uh Chief Lynch might be able to provide some update on that I believe he's been you know um spearheading that but I'm not involved with that unfortunately because it's not one of our buildings they actually own the building right page 19 is the general improvements for the historic uh Farmstead that's again it's just 25,000 um for this location page 20 would be the Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Station infrastructure improvements we're trying to allocate funds to replace uh and plan to replace uh a lot of the hpac units over there um there are six or seven residential type style units that um service that building and we're starting to see those from 2001 start to need replacement um this also will allow us to do U parking lot pavment replacement if we needed to as well as some concrete uh work behind the uh rear apron and replacement of their sprinkler if we needed to also I I believe that's going to be done under um Chief Lynch's request okay I think he from speaking with him I think he asked for uh funding uh but I don't have that in front of me okay sounds good and that's all the ones I have anyone have any um further questions seeing none thank you very much appreciate all your work thank you right so uh moving on to the the clerk's office and then we'll take a break okay okay gay hold on let me find your I got zil and zilch pretty good this year okay gay you want to give a description um sure I'm gay Huber the Township Clerk I also have the deputy clerk here Alison Sheen with us today um our some of our highlighted accomplishments I'm not reading them all um we moved back from the senior center into the municipal building which has definitely made our lives a lot easier with setting up and taking down the meetings uh we no longer have to take microphone systems up and down uh We've continued our cross training to ensure the stability within the department uh we worked with the health division to have documents sent out um to be added to our laser fish system as Jill added to you uh we renewed our annual renewal and recertification of the laser fish system uh this is done through the state of New Jersey uh the division of archives and Records management that's so that we can um destroy some records under the state law under Artemis control um so we've worked on this and this this then uh reduces our paper that has to be kept and therefore we don't have to pay for outsourcing of storage which is highly expensive because every time you go to get a piece of paper you pay for it and I can tell you 15 years ago it was a couple hundred dollars a box to take it out and put it back in so we've decided this is our best um process we also did our annual renewals of soliciting license taxis liquor license and everybody's favorite the financial disclosures uh we conducted three um destruction of documents last year um we processed 864 opras which was down from the year before we we did 25 ordinances 257 resolutions and 149 contracts we continue to work with our codifier to keep the book uh all the new ordinances codified uh we continue to work with Administration on on everything from Council requests to agenda items we have a excellent working relationship with the administration which makes both of our both the administration and the Clerk and Council lives I believe much more successful uh met with the council presidents and vice presidents by weekly for council meeting agendas um our secretary Miss Goodwin uh completed her courses for her register Municipal Clerk's exam and successfully passed in October uh this is a great accomplishment uh this therefore helps in succession planning going forward for me um and by the way she is back if anybody hasn't seen her yet uh due to statutory change in the date of election officials for to take office for nonpartisan we had to move our um election our reorg and our inauguration to January 16 2024 because in from January one because office takes place on January 15 our goals under the clerk's office with my pending retirement the biggest goal for 2024 is to provide guidance on all the aspects of the township clerk's office to both Allison and Joey to ensure a smooth transition for all and they're both are doing excellent jobs in this we will continue to fulfill all our statutory requirements which there are many staff will continue to take classes to keep their registration for their certification we have to do that annual every two years we continue to process our opah requests in timely fashion continue to meet with the council and vice president on agenda items and items of concern continue to work with the administration continue the storage and destruction of documents under election although there were many challenges last year due to late statutory changes the clerk's office was able to successfully accomplish the municipal election in November of 2023 for the three members contined to work with the Board of Elections on redistricting due to voter turnout in various districts and that has recently been approved by the Board of Elections the township website continues to be updated on El everchanging election information that's pretty much it for me I can tell you my operating budget is the same we might have moved some things around and this year I have no Capital requests and we'll talk about other stuff in the Personnel any questions for gay just we talk every day so everybody gets their questions answered no I just want to thank um gay for all these years we'll have more goodbyes and more thank yous at the end of the year you know towards the end of August there but but thank you for for all that you you do I mean it's day it's day and night and thank goodness we have a good succession plan and and Allison and both you and Allison um by while Joey was out had tremendous amount of extra work and overtime and all so um we we appreciate that you know very very much should be thank you and and we thank Joey who's back and she served at the on the uh Delaware Air Force Reserve so we thank her for her service um to our nation any any questions um any anything for G nson no okay well thank you much much appreciated all all that you have been doing above and beyond but okay I are we are you guys want to take a break yes we'll take a res okay can you make them we need to do a motion to all right um how long so you gota eat 30 30 minutes we'll come back at 12:30 123 that half hour 12:30 all right so take you minutes hour it's 12 12:35 um do we need a motion to go into recess yes okay so can I have that motion to go into recess motion to go into recess second I second all favor okay are we out we're out half okay go that thank you be we're on the air we on the okay you do know that you're supposed to give an update on every project right okay everybody we we are back live and let's uh continue our budget discussion yourself s not hello can you hear me this one you're good yeah y he okay you might want to push it up a little GE you good afternoon okay good good afternoon my name is s I'm the township land use manager and Zoning officer for West Windsor through the it well give a little overview of the department sure um the land use office um is responsible for uh providing staff support to the Sony Board of adjustment the agricultural advisory committee and the township planning board um my staff consists of myself two other full-time people and a part-time zoning enforcement officer who goes out and does the zoning complaint review also any appearances that need to be done could you get a little closer what the township um what the land use office is working on in conjunction with the planning board we are have been in since 2018 in the process of updating each of the elements of the master plan uh the last element we're look element of the master plan we recently completed a uh Planning and Zoning study for the W anlet of Dutch neet uh there's several ordinances that we will be working on this year that will we bring in the council recommendations we are also in process City every single home in Baran city is so we're in process those determine what how many vacant lots are there how many lots are own by Lots own by the same individual so we're going to try some sort of zoning standards setbacks Improvement coverage F you know to make sense of what's out there and to also provide a little wiggle wound for folks to be able to put a modest additional without having to spend the money and time become front of the Zony board for Rance and as you probably aware of the zoning board um it's difficult to get variances as it should be because you're asking for something that's not permitted in the master plan or the zoning code so we're looking to update um both the master plan and the zoning ordinance for Baran City this was recommended in a 2018 uh master plan reexamination report so we've been consistently since 2018 up each and going through all the recommendations that reexamination report um per the mpal landus Schall needs to be updated in 10 years so as we should have everything done I'm hoping by next year and know give us a three year before we have this taking a look at our master plan um with that being said unless there's any questions specifically on that I can go through my light budgets no one other um point I want to bring everyone's attention um a part of my salary is paid through uh plan review esol accounts when a application comes in not only for this only specifically for the planning board anytime that I spend reviewing that application or processing in it um I get to charge against that esbo account if you go to page 11 thank you page 11 page 10 is where um Sam's budget start for B use OE sure uh my my land use budget last year was $17,604.13 27840 my planning board budget in 2023 was $289,800 this year um I'm shaving It Off by about $19,000 it's $270 800 200 $270,800 and uh the main reason for that is because of ongoing litigation over two applications the planning board approved in the last two years so we're still in the middle of that litigation and that gets charged against the planning board's litigation account um Zoning Board of adjustment we're staying at 10,700 and the vast majority is that is just for the zoning board attorney for any uh zoning board business that's not chargeable to an escrow account would be charged against that and then I have money put aside for any potential litigation that we may have during the course of the year um the zoning board hasn't been in litigation in in a number of years um but it's just as a play Setter there just in case something comes up with that um and Lester any other questions on land use I can go specifically line item by line item or answer any questions you may have no my my only comment would be and i' I've made this publicly um you know before is that when we do these studies at different areas like completed the Dutch neck uh study and that's been approved by the planning board um Baran city is next is that when you have a draft could there be some at least Outreach a meeting with the residents in in that area um to to maybe work things through as opposed to when it gets put on on in an agenda it's it's a actual hearing which is a little bit different so I'm just saying um as a matter of process uh I think it's always good to to um meet with the residents maybe before if that's possible well I thought and I know you were on the plany board when we did Dutch neck last year I thought that process went well we had three meetings before we had the actual public hearing to adopt it was an opportunity for the public to come interact with the staff and the planning board members so nothing was adopted those first three meetings it was give and take a lot of information the staff had proposed in the draft study uh the board and the public uh did not want to see in there so we took that out so I think there was a good back and forth on that I'm a little leery about having meetings outside of a planning board meeting I'd rather have the planning board be able to give the staff guidance and also work with the staff and the public in a public forum where everybody's together working on that if it takes a year to do it in many many meetings it takes a year to do it in many many meetings yeah I just want it to be open inclusive process okay that's good we got there there were a lot of changes and a lot of improvements any other questions from anyone questions so far so it looks like one of the major expenses is this a litigation do we have any idea how long that's going to go for well I understand we're in um the appeal process with the Bridgepoint application that's the 5.5 million square feet of Warehouse that was approved by the planning board out on Route One on the old Howard Hughes track and then we're also going through the second phase in the Superior Court as it relates to the jdn warehouse I believe that was a 225,000 foot Warehouse out by the mcaffry right on the edge of town so the first few counts of that I believe we I know we were successful as it related to noticing and we're getting into the meat of the planning board approval that's where the litigation is right now okay because I thought one of those we had already had a judgment on so that's been appeal we have I would I don't want okay I know we can't I don't want to discuss any whatever I'm just looking at it for the point of view so both them are ongoing they're both ongoing that's why there's there's a bloated budget so to speak for litigation last year and this year uh Sam has one item in capital if you go to page 50 gr which is the uh Street tree replacement planting program typically Mr Dober milski the township landscape architect would um speak with regard to um this item here I'm really not the expert in that it's just in the capital budget I fell out I confer with then when I'm preparing this for administration so if there's any detailed questions on that that's something I would you can throw the question at me I'll try to answer it but that's really something Mr do msky would be the expert in any questions this this is just the one for the replacing of Street trees there nothing taking them down all right been doing it for like 35 years yeah so it's something that's been consistently it's part of our bid project process when we go out to do uh uh the awards in replacement program when we are replacing these trees um if a resident a property owner does not want one of those trees there is that something have you come across that I really have nothing to do with the stret Tre planning program so that really it would have to be something Mr Dolen Bowski could answer that question on okay questions good thank you very much thanks Sam hi good afternoon everybody yes Jason can you pardon can you lean up to the mic I'll lean up to the microphone want the world to hear you I'll make sure I annunciate as we thank you through this I'm Jason Harris I'm the um Township Construction official and the director of the construction code enforcement division uh we enforce the uniform construction code uh and the uniform construction code regulates all construction that falls under the scope of its jurisdiction uh we release construction permits perform inspections relating to those permits and after the work is confirmed to be co- compliant uh we issue certificates uh closing out those permits our office um the budget uh for our office just had some incremental increases uh for printing uh for travel hold on one second on page 11 on your summary sorry that's okay so in regards to the printing uh we're requesting a small increase in the funding for that uh in my tenure here with the 10 Township the the office has become busier and busier and busier I think everybody can recognize the amount of construction that's occurring in the township more construction means more construction permits it means more inspections utilizing uh inspection stickers and more certificates um being printed our office does have the obligation to produce and uh make available to the public construction permanent applications and the associate documents the associate documents uh uh for those permits uh so not only are we doing more of them and have to uh provide more documents to the public but the cost of printing them just like the cost of bread has increased uh uh in the last couple of years for us so we need a little bit more to accommodate the printing that's required uh the next line item that we had a um incremental increase in is travel expense uh the conversion of our Fire subcode official from a part-time position to a full-time position uh the uh Union um contract requires that they receive a stien they utilize their own vehicle to uh travel to inspections and meetings so the union agreement has a stien so the uh increase for that line item is specific uh for the conversion of that employee from a part-time which they did not receive the stien to a fulltime position where they would receive that stien the last line item that we have an in increase in is vehicle repair uh that has just increased uh quite a bit the the township being 27 square miles we put a lot of miles on the vehicles and the more permits that we have the more inspections uh there are and the staff is really making uh doing a lot of traveling and it does wear on the vehicles so we've had an increase in the number of vehicle repairs just general maintenance uh tuneups and oil changes and the such and also the cost of those repairs have increased in the last couple of years uh We've experienced an increase in those uh costs also um just oil change is more expensive than it was three years ago uh other than that our budget Remains the Same uh across the board and is there anything else I should uh your one Capital item uh one Capital item is Vehicles do we have by the way pardon how many vehicles do we have uh I believe at this moment we have 10 Vehicles one of them is um has some work that's necessary for it so it's not functional but I believe at this time we have 10 you just approve purchase of two yeah right um and we're pro and then recomending that we replace some more vehicles in the sh yes he has one or two that barely hanging on yeah the poor things s they're barely hanging on they get uh driving on the job sites a lot of the job sites are we they're construction sites and it does wear and tear on the vehicles so uh as it has been standard for a very long time a replacement vehicle is added to the fleet uh whether it replaces an existing uh vehicle that needs replacement or it's added to the fleet to accommodate uh any staff at its Staffing uh that is something that is a yearly uh occurrence for us uh we were not able to purchase a a vehicle last year so the uh the capital remained because there was just no Vehicles available for us to purchase due to um Co and Manufacturing issues uh so that was the uh the reasoning behind purchasing two vehicles and at the same time What pages this on if you go to Capital page 22 that so that 42,500 is just for one vehicle for one vehicle yes ma'amed too which were around 24,000 28 30 36 um if we can um we have a little left over from that line Adam if we get good pricing we'll buy two I mean but we're putting in to make sure we don't cover yeah I mean that's fine I'm just saying that we just approved two one was like 24,000 the other one was approxim 28,000 so we it took us four months to find these two VI well one of them it was a very long process yes it was not easy um especially because we're limited on where we can purchase things um and we got a really good price on one and a price agreed yes so oh it takes time sometimes it does yeah we the one was a leftover so we're were very lucky to uh find that we do have some money left over not L on plus this one so we have our fingers crossed that if the pricing good we can get to if not stick to the one and we have to retrofit the you know like the police do we add all kinds of stuff they don't really need much stuff because they have those iPads that they use on their location yeah there's no real equipment that's necessary to be added to the vehicle like a police vehicle so uh the staff members carry uh their iPads with them and and there's no need besides a charger to be added to the vehicle uh really uh durability uh four-wheel drive is essential uh so that's uh that's the main thing driving across the job sites uh definitely takes a toll on them and uh with all the rain that we're having uh the four-wheel drive gets utilized very often is that fire inspector going to eventually get a vehicle or I'm sorry I'm a little hard at hearing the fire the the sub code right uh the fire sub code utilizes his own vehicle so all the administrative staff myself and the subcode officials utilize their own Vehicles they do not use Township Vehicles so that's a different classification it's the inspectors yes the inspectors utilize them yes and if we have an part-time inspector let's say right now we like that let's say we all the vehicles are out for that day they they'll charge us in mileage based on Union Yes and sometimes the vehicles if we have you know more than one or two or three vehicles that are in for repair uh the inspectors will have to utilize their own vehicle uh and we reimburse them for the mileage for that but because they're in a car all day you generally it's good business practice to provide them with a vehicle so that's kind of why we have this program where we replace them every year anything else I can be of assistance with Okay good to go okay thank you very much thank you thank you good afternoon Francis gzic Township engineer also director of Community Development Community Development basically is the department that consists of the myself in engineering and the two gentlemen who just spoke before you code enforcement Division and land use division uh engineering um basically we we are a multi-headed beast um we're responsible for managing inspection of public and private improvements including Land Development projects in the township uh we don't do inspection on staff we usually use a Consulting engineering firm uh who have professional licenses and insurance for that work uh we design and prepare plans and specifications for various Township projects some of them facilities related mostly Capital Improvement projects for exterior uh roads sidewalks drainage things of that nature um we prepare Grant applications we're we're aware of any programs that offer uh reimbursement for funding for some of those capital projects um also some of the state permit requirements uh we're obligated to comply with sometimes throw some to to encourage compliance uh like with the storm water mapping um things of that nature uh we maintain the Township tax maps the township geographic information system GIS uh we review Street opening permit applications we also assist the land use boards planning board zoning board Sam as the zoning officer with zoning permits uh Dan do rilski the landscape architect is part of the engineering staff as well as myself as the township engineer John Taylor the assistant Township engineer so there's no questions about that um okay um if you go to page nine in the summary which starts with which which starts with Community Development o okay which I believe is flat yeah which is it's flat that's a a small stien account for just some of the the training um and things that I do as as the Director some of the uh events and continuing education programs and the next one would be un engineering on page nine and 10 that is relatively flat uh or is flat also um last last year we made a couple of adjustments within the accounts themselves to to shift some funding around for some of the cost that we've been experiencing as uh Mr Harris elaborated um but we were able to do that without incurring an overall percentage increase um and so far it looks like we can do that again for 2024 that would be everything for the current budget are there any questions on the current budget there's also environmental commission oh sorry about that which is uh hold on that's on page 10 and 11 yeah that's a program Dan currently is the staff liaison and um we haven't yet determined who on staff but I'm sure it'll be someone in the engineering division will also do it but that flat also Pi on the environmental commission there's a category that says special supplement yes is that give the environmental commission the ability to bring somebody in or what what is that actually it's it's a limited budget it's probably not significant enough for an outs side person it's more for materials or supplies like some of the things they do recently have been with the rain Gardens so it could be for ordering materials for that for those projects yeah or some of the custom signage that was done the the uh educational signage things like that any questions on the current fund budgets then Francis can move along to their capital budget which would begin on page 23 page two of the summary page 23 of the boote so on page 23 the first um item is the digital tax map conversion uh this has been a a multi-year process so far [Music] um it's really just converting from our uh handdrawn uh tax maps that have been moved forward over the years that the state is requiring a digital version of each so that they don't have to handle all the multiple rules of of paperwork as well as the quality of the information that's contained upon each so a couple years ago Administration and and the council decided to move in this direction um trying to get the maps more uh graphically accurate things drawn to scale some of the sheets as as Mr Taylor was explaining to me when we first started this have been adjusted the information has been adjusted to fit the paper rather than the paper adjusted the information so sometimes things have been stretched one way or stretched another way so when you look at the plan um on the tax map it's not really accurate to what's what's out there so it's not uh other than being a nice cartoon of what things are they're they're not very useful for ourselves and Engineering for land use for the tax assessor's office so this they'll help Rectify all that we started this in 21 didn't we we added it was it 21 three years yes one I think so aside from digitizing the tax maps are there other opportunities for digitization of our records sewer um line yeah to mind a lot of the record plans have been scanned so we have that in in one form um later on in the program descriptions there's one for Watershed mapping which the the state has required all the townships to do first it was they wanted as part of our uh tier a new permit for storm water discharge we had to identify where all the outfall locations were uh and have them incorporated into the gis now they're requiring that all the catch basins and inlets be located and map so that that later program you'll see there's a multi-year process for that and since we're having uh a surveyor in town breaking the town up into sections and doing that work and realizing that a lot of that work is happening in the development areas and as you pointed out sewers are there as well so we're including a stien when we award those contracts to use the funding for the Watershed and then use some of our sewer funding to get the sewers digitized and added to the system as well so I think that was one of the resolutions we when we it was in the contract the recent yes yeah the recent one yep um and you're using the gis system that the DP uh is supplying there the gis system to input the the consultant that assum is putting it in that system the consultant is putting it in the format that the the state requires they they have their own equipment they don't borrow equipment from the state to do it and then once we have it and everything's okay with it then then it all gets uploaded to the state's website and eventually that's the goal is the state mapping would let you look up any Town anywhere and find that information publicly so any other questions on that one no no so that is that coming are we are we finding any surprises with that or you know where the outfalls or is it pretty much what we figure with the watered mapping not so much that that's only started last year I mean the outfalls and the one way that they're putting no the the outfalls have been done those were required with the last permit I guess four years ago or so um that actually was probably older than that because when I first started there was already a contract in yeah so in 2008 2009 when I started uh there was already a consultant doing that outfall mapping work so we've we've had that information for quite a while um fortunately we don't have too many problems when it comes to that uh being that the township booms happened more recently than a lot of towns like Princeton where a lot of infrastructure went in before storm Water Management Systems um and a lot of the modern standards for Sol erosion outfall protection uh things of that nature so um our infrastructure is more modern a little better designed and constructed we have less surprises that we come across less problems of future development tying into older systems that weren't designed to handle it causing erosion problems or um infrastructure undersizing yeah things of that nature so uh on page 24 is the bike lane Bikeway extension program um we had two Grant requests into the state that we received notice since this was repair prepared last fall that were not accepted uh so right now we're still working on um the projects uh that were approved in Prior years but there is no um these these grants we did not get I'm sorry these grants that we have mentioned here we did not we yes correct we we received word that nobody in Mercer County received either a Bikeway Grant or a Transit Village Grant so these were rejected yes correct correct the there's two items in here for do grants and those presently are the only grants we were granted for this year the two here these were not these were not these these two here we are not getting so yeah these two are rejected yeah on page 24 those were not awarded to suspended but they're rejected they're not yeah when this book was put together back you know you have to remember we start this process in October okay and then by the time he gets here things change you know it's just a snapshot so in the meantime I think it was late February when we were notified mhm that uh we did not receive those grants is is there a way we can like um we usually pass a resolution to go ahead and ask for a grant when you can come usually come to the council get close to I'm sorry usually the um you can apply for a grant right and then the council passes a resolution yes let's apply for the gr right and and support the application we don't always find out if the grants accepted or rejected is there an easy way that well we either put it in the capital ordinance or I come to you with a chapter 159 which is a resolution that you must approve so I can add it to the budget um so if we get a grant mid year during the budget I but if we get it rejected we don't know yeah usually we don't know either all we know is do puts out a press release what was awarded we're the last to know so if you don't get it and word okay because sometimes what happens is we know the grant went in and then people come to us and they sayoh we're going to get this and and we as far as we know the Grant's still in there and we say yeah we put in for the grant and we don't have that information um that oh no we're not getting that Grant this year so I'm just looking for some way to have that information so we we we know not to be hoping for it and getting everybody's hopes up in the future Brands can share the rejection letters with you yeah you know I've seen a lot of rejection letters in my life I one thing do we have um any funds remaining in do how much how much do we have how much you have roughly uh off hand no I'd have to we'll have to get back look that up but yes we definitely have some prior year fundings that they're still working through on planning and giving out bids yeah if you look on the 2020 four goals and objectives there's under bike ped uh there there are lists of projects that are currently under design um so is that encumbered money that's in that account it's encumbered like we've already yeah some of it's encumbered some of it's a lot of these are in design only so the money is not encumbered for construction but there's money available for construction but we haven't gone out bid when he said it's in design so right he would have to come to you guys to award the bid and then once that resolution is approved then I encumbered but the money's there and it's allocated for those projects so they're just waiting for yeah it's an in-house allocation it's not actually allocated through Council action are there any projects currently under construction in this category right now um under construction uh just Cranberry Road sidewalks the phase 2B that's mostly constructed where at the punch list stage with the contractor uh the the um die Forest Park off Carlton Place same thing that's mostly constructed we're at the punch list phase with the contractor there so that's already that's pretty much as far as most people think of it as done but you're you haven't closed it out yet because there's some things that toct correct yeah unfortunately as you know with uh our work government work you have to accept the lowest qualified bidder um so they're eager to get in and get the bulk of the money but then getting them back to to dot the eyes and cross the te's is the hard part so all right moving along um page 26 annual sidewalk extension program it's very similar to the the prior project description uh except for sidewalks mainly um under the grant funds available there's two pending grants listed the first one for Washington Road we did receive notice of an award for that one the second one the transit Village Grant we did not so Transit Village one is rejected is what was not awarded not awarded right right so that that Washington one was for uh rehabbing the existing sidewalk between uh Wallingford and Little Bear Brook bridge by the tennis center yeah right so that one will have to uh we'll have to once the budget's approved we retain a consultant to do the design work that'll come to you for Award of a design contract yeah I I know one of the blocks someone has mentioned during the year was um like Windsor Drive extending the sidewalks you know out to Route 571 would that come under this program it could yes yeah because that that's been brought up um at count Council meetings different meetings if you look on your summary sheet in page three under Section 24-17 to see the award of 153,000 for that Grant I have to put it in a separate location um it's it's just the way I I have to account for it um because it's a grant has to stand alone so um there's the 153,000 for the Wasington screen safety that was awarded on summary sheet you a sheet in the book just in your summary sheet but would that cover this that is that yes or no I couldn't hear you it's 153,000 no I mean I mean like for example the window Drive extension from the sidewalks it's I don't think it's a very big project but connecting it up to uh sidewalk on Route 571 this is close to High School South and you know that area yeah I mean we can certainly speak to Administration about it uh we'd have to look at it in comparison to everything else that's already in que and and then receive direction to go ahead or not and the other sidewalk I call extension we we spoke Council spoke about this um few years ago was when you right out here when you're on Clarksville Road uh where you pull in and out it like you can go straight across the sidewalk extends but if you want to come into the Municipal complex there's not sidewalk there correct and we have plan on making those improvements once the final contract is finished and we know how much we have left in that $400,000 amount and the plan is to do those improvements once we settle up with the contractor so we're waiting to settle do the final um change order and the plan is to make those improvements and some Landscaping in that general area I think we talked about it during last last s so it's definitely in the plans we just really have to go through the process of closing out the contractor for this building and then we'll know and we have a design already ready to go that's good at Le one thing is done yes hours and then I guess the uh maybe it's on a different page to extend the cramp B Road sidewalk to connect to the trolley line it's it's there yes page 28 page 28 you were getting a little ahead yeah so that would be the next phase um we have a a tenative budget planned out uh for 2024 the funding would be used to retain a consultant to design and and obtain permitting for with a placeholder requests for 2025 2026 this one is from like it'll go from vanest Park where the current Sidewalk Ends to trolley Line Trail that's that's what this is right uh it would get up to that development yes I don't think it would build the um actual connection to the trail I think we'd have to see because I think it it gets to to um did I give yeah to Perry Drive in that neighborhood um there's a way to get back in that neighborhood close to the trail but there's not an actual connection right yeah there's there's I think an existing easement in there there is an easement inside that neighborhood between two houses but are like we have had conversations with the mayor and he has uh told us that the next phase design designing would be from vanis Park to trolley Line Trail like connect connect yeah the the other right the other option would be to get to Rabbit Hill Road turn the corner at Rabbit Hill and come down to the trail yeah that one's um not easy either because of the the the properties on the corner of Rabbit Hill are very um constrained uh as far as right away and existing Improv so we've we've been looking at the corner lots for improvements for site distance for the intersection uh so we have some survey information and the existing RightWay doesn't go very far beyond the existing edge of pavement never mind that fit a sidewalk or a wider bike way um outside so there'll be easement Acquisitions there'll be some Landscaping removals there'll be relocating the fence of the property on the um West corner right because like right now I I believe right outside of Perry Drive that neighborhood there are current sidewalks at least for part of it yes of it so there are like little pockets that needs to be connected right and then there are probably two or three houses after Perry Drive needs a connection to get to rabit yeah the easier connection would be Parry to vaness park because as you said there's a lot of that's already developed so it's just the missing links there right um once you get past Perry you're into older properties that have a lot less existing right away and you start getting the terrain situation and mature Landscaping right on the edge of the road so that's it's not impossible but it it increases the costs of doing this work because you start uh taking down Big Trees putting in retaining walls safety fences landscape buffers for people so so okay on page 29 is the crosswalk Improvement program uh there there are a few instances where this budget's used to improve isolated crosswalks in town usually it's more in combination with other Road funding to do crosswalks as part of uh roadway improvements or sidewalk improvements because once you do a sidewalk that typically end somewhere and there's a handicap ramp that's got to be redone when you do the ramp then you got to do the crosswalk and all gets tied together um last year when we did the budget we had put in like an extra $20,000 to have uh evaluations of different roads and to have a um um you know possibly some a Trials of putting some certain crosswalks in as part of a program between engineering and the police and um we've been waiting for the report on on that program um we reminded the may I know that there was the police had the driver feedback temporarily and the barrier neighborhood and we have a grant with do I'm sorry Alexander Road Baran City neighborhood no no this was going to be looking at the whole town and looking at where um where we might need crosswalks or improved crosswalks or possibly uh you know flashing beacons whatever whatever the group was to come back with as far as um uh you know what are priority areas and what's the best way to handle them and we had put some extra money in the budget to um you know make sure that got looked at whatever was needed to look at it and then some of that money could be used for um you know some of the solutions and we hadn't so we're looking for um to have somebody come back and actually give us the results of that project okay I I understand what you're asking for I'm not famili with the project or who was to be assigned to that project especially with police being involved yeah it was a joint police an engineering project um no the the only one that I was aware of was what I was saying here the Arts Council that I think there was a budget we added put 20 in there we were asked to just add the extra 20 into the fold it into the full amount so that it wasn't um wasn't separated out so if something needed a little more money something needed a little less money it wasn't absolutely allocated and that was put into last year's budget uh I know I've asked for 40,000 was put in last year but it was an additional I think there was an additional 20 just for that piece of the project so when this process started the engineering initially asked for 20 but administration had bumped it to 70 so he's asking for S this is last year I'm talking about this year okay last year we allocated 40 Grand and that money sitting there for for I guess for your project that you're talking yeah so if we could get some if you're not I'm gonna note that and speak mayor get some kind of update during the budget apparently session at least I know I I had requested it before the budget session but apparently um that's obviously hadn't happened so if we can get I I think what we we were looking for is what in town what which cross-sections are the busy busiest cross-sections that could possibly um get some help with either additional crosswalks or improved crosswalks or added you know flashing Beacon lights or whatever so we could allocate where um those would be and a priority list and this this was going to be a professional decision as far as where the best areas were and then also what might be some good solutions to to the problems okay it was the whole idea was to be more proactive that it wasn't going to be well if we get a grant we'll do it but do we have some intersections that have been kind of orphaned or ignored that could use some uh use some work and to and I believe uh they were going to work and get some feedback from from uh I guess bicycle pedestrians some other groups and get some ideas as to um uh you know where they where the police Serv have been seeing issues yeah I was going to say some of our audience members could probably spend another half hour but it was it was supp their opinions about that but it was more that the professionals were going to collect all that and in addition to the you know any police reports yeah honestly I apologize to to me it's it's the first time I'm I'm hearing of this request so okay all right um be added to the followup list and John and I will speak with the mayor on the status thanks thank you yeah because I think there's a a growing frustration in the community that we keep talking about the need for better crosswalk disabilities beacons flashing lights we talk about it a lot but we haven't actually seen right the output of any of that and I and I believe the mayor cautioned everyone on this day maybe with the except I of Dan because I don't remember the last time we talked about this that we would be very careful how we would disseminate that information to um discuss which which areas so not to have one group say well how am I better than the other group or the other group saying so it's a very sensitive issue it's uh police generated by um accident reports things that happen and speed um if you remember so it's not um it's not that they're it's being worked on I know internally with certain people with the police and I believe the mayor but right now it's not ready to come to council to award a contract or something because of the sensitivity of the whole but I know I received a note from I think from you from the bike and pedestrian on some intersections that you were concerned about as well I think everybody has gotten that Rec yeah at at the end of the day some somebody gets something somebody else doesn't I mean so we we need to yeah so the whole idea con was to have a good decision you know to have a good decision as it's being work concerned about sharing all that in detail right but it's really the detail helps people the administration make decisions we understand and want to see those we will confer with the mayor yeah okay we understand we and I'm on saying and that things aren't being done now and a lot of great stuff has done this was this was uh you know taking it to a different kind of a proactive yeah the only thing I I would caution is one of the things that's in the even the federal standards warn you about is the overuse of devices and people and people start ignoring right right that that was one of the reasons to do it this way was to get that kind of feedback sure from professionals no yeah beacons are great because right now they're unusual they catch your attention but if you have a beacon system on every other Street in town and people are going to start FL stop sign too I mean by the third one you just I I believe on Monday evening the mayor mentioned that it's important to look at the busiest intersections to to get a head start yeah that's what I was I was I wasting rather than um you know just and I'm not saying anyone would just pick a road or an intersection but there are busier intersections than others and I have heard the police chief say that that's the approach that their they take when they're looking at speed and um you know deploying uh their resources yeah unfortunately one of I know just reacting to that that some of our busiest intersections involve the county roads and in particular those around the train station and unfortunately we've been kind of in limbo with waiting for the county to pull the trigger on the the downtown 571 Rehabilitation which which would affect Clarksville Road intersection Alexander Road intersection and the cranberry Wallace intersection which are I know we also sherbrook um so those four intersections I know have problems they need for upgrades I know they're designed by the county they're working through easement Acquisitions so for us to do something about them yeah and that that we know is County and I think bicycle pedestrian as is is asking the county for for some things because uh we had some discussions um but but the key thing here was to have professional input so it wasn't understood yeah and that's what that's what we're looking for that kind of feedback okay do you feel that we have enough budget to fund the resources to do the work to make these assessments I think that make decisions I think between last year and with what's currently recommended for for uh studies and improvements for crosswalks I think they're they're sufficient budget yeah right and you you have the just the letter from the bicycle West Windsor bicycle and pedestrian Alliance um they support the crosswalk improvements um they wanted some painting at penl Road in Trolley Line Trail Alexander Road and the path to the woods between Harris Road and Scott Avenue so they have given you some suggestions um I don't know whether you get back to all of us um to say that's possible that's on your top of your your list or it's not or is there is there top lists we have a list of projects with Administration that that we're currently doing I'm not familiar with the letter you're referring to but if we get that we can reply to it to Administration sure well it says via email you were we just received that letter yes it's February 28 2024 well actually I I got it um I think Monday morning morning it was in my email I think it's like a copy of so anyway yeah we will share it with the police department and the mayor and Engineering um engineering's got a number of major projects going on one of them is the microt tunneling project under Amtrak which we have to get done we have to decommission that pump station right along with the um uh the sore work that needs to be done uh in the unored area of the township as well so um is the flashing beacons come under this annual crosswalk Improvement program is that where it is because there's been people in the community maybe even council members that um would not have a problem with having a separate line item for flashing beacons um I I I don't know if we're like well it it depends on on the project and what what we're doing if it's a project specifically just to add beacons to an existing location it would probably be this program but if we're adding beacons as part of a sidewalk Improvement project then it could be sidewalk money if it's part of a road project then it could be partially Road funding as well so it depends on the circumstances of of why those beacons are going in on which account you use and Linda remember we don't want to be specific and state that it's for beacons only because then it's then you're you're that's all you can do your handcuff you could only do beacons Road they include crosswalks beacs drainage it's all tied into that that cont right so we're just trying to figure out is is there ones for example in this in this budget that that you or the police would recommend you know based on uh the busiest intersections or you know whatever criteria are you using because people ask us got to be honest all the time are we getting one over here certain rows or one over here they suggested that could be like for example pen l Road and Cano Brook Drive uh the corner of Scott Avenue and Alexander Road Rabbit Hill Road in Bennington Drive aington Lane those were three mentions Lind I'm just saying because people keep talking to us the past several months about this and they they just are looking for for something Scott and Alexander is an existing four-way intersection and that's where we did the the raised pavement there so there's already a reason for people to be slowing down and paying attention because it's a four-way intersection not a not a T intersection where some of our other beacons were installed on that part of Alexander so there's not really a standard to put in a flashing Beacon system at a four-way intersection word so okay is there anything currently that you're considering for flashing beacons for the you know the upcoming year there's there's several that are being designed yeah that's that's part of some of what's listed under the bike pad for the 20 24 goals and objectives some of those have uh beacons yes which page is that on this goals goals and objectives so that does not include Penland can it does not include Rabbit Hill Road and Bennington and it does not include oh you explained that council president I just want to make you aware it is 130 so not so we can well I think this just wanted really important topic um and it's not clear to us so as far finish my thought I don't think it's clear to us where the commitment is to make improvements specifically to um adding beacons and or lighted crosswalks to two three four whatever the number is we don't have to decide where they are but I think what we would like to see is a commitment to say that there will be X number of new improvements specific to high traffic High pedestrian areas that will result in the addition of beacons or lighted crosswalks and it's not clear if that's included anywhere in the budget maybe it's there and it's pulled out of different pieces but I don't have that inv visibility can I can I suggest that we uh put this as a followup and get us answers on that I that be great thank you yeah I think I think once we see where we are on this whole evaluation then we get an idea as to whether or not we have the money to carry out x amount of it well that's hoping we can get that for this budget period because um that was the whole idea of the last budget period was to make sure yeah and and to councilman Weiss's point we can provide a list of projects currently under designed that are proposed yeah that would be that be helpful so if we can get that during our followup okay um get us those answers I that will be helpful but part of the whole thing you got that gy I got it but part of the whole thing of this project was not just roads that are currently under design because we're assuming that when New Roads are being done and designed the the best possible um uh controls we put in but looking at the current roads you know uh you know where they need some remediation but that doesn't necessarily mean that the whole Road has to be done as a big I got it yeah okay thank you out of the frying fan Into the Fire uh page 21 the sidewalk repair I'm sorry 31 sidewalk repair program Street trees yep so um this program's been in place for multiple years it's my opinion been a very successful program this is one Dan manages more himself as the landscape architect because it is related to the existing Street trees in town um the funding that Council has increased in the past has been of benefit so as it stands now I believe there's only about 30 properties as of August of last year 30 properties on the the on on the weight list on the weight list right right so everything before that to my knowledge has has been addressed or um under contract to be addressed once the weather improves would June off hand if the 100,000 covers at least those 30 properties yeah based on the last pricing that we got we it's um that 100,000 should address those as well as assuming another double up to maybe not quite tripling that current number but that's that's uh what we're budgeting 30 is on the current weight list but there might may be more additional people who made sure some people don't know about the program I think I think a lot more people know now than we knew for that's all campaigning starts then suddenly the phone starts ringing you get so many new people in town that they don't always know everything um yeah and but no that the 100,000 should be adequate to address the number on the list as well as if that number more than doubles we should still be able to address all those properties by next budget 60 plus we could do then yeah So the plan is that to finish up you have and to continue to keep it current right because if I remember back way like three four years ago whatever when we first saw this was probably at around a hundred and then and but there was a two-year waiting list at some point and then we kind of kept adding some money in there well it was the other thing is it was awarded every other year it funded every other year yeah I think that was like three years before that and then so we had money waiting list yeah and then Dan was able to keep keep it up and now get it up to it's just about gone so now we can kind of was it 2020 started every year9 it was 20212 we we started adding to it and I think we had a little bit more the window's the window we we heard that a few times and we were trying to figure out who's ringing the bell it's our Bells like your Bells um but what you said is like the money we have enough money to possibly cover up to 60 properties 60 to 90 something right now you said 30 is on the weight list but we could probably cover up to 60 we said double or more yeah right B based on the average uh number or average square foot we get reported per property Etc yeah so we should be about 60 to 80 so so it seems like what's happened here where we've been able to come down on here and put more money into the crosswalk program this year will work out pretty well yeah yeah we'll see uh we'll see how it goes moving forward um I'm not sure what what climate change is going to do with all this but uh yeah we'll see I don't know if the trees are going to grow better more rain more a lot of rain some of those old trees that were the real killar yeah are coming down partially due to disease and then they replace with trees that aren't as as you know that are good and not destructive and right so hopefully that problem will yeah it'll it'll even out yeah okay page 33 emergency road and drainage repair program uh so these are funds that are set aside for unanticipated roadway or drainage problems that occur uh some are ones that that happen on their own just due to deterioration some are problems we encounter as we're doing road projects uh unexpected um problems that need to be taken care of s provides a funding for that work uh page 34 annual Road Improvement program for the residential neighborhoods that's um funding has been increased which has helped catch up on the list uh unfortunately not as successfully as this the side what sidewalk Improvement project but is is this enough money in this line item enough money it's uh I mean I could tell you L there's never enough that are not on here that have to do it all this year or you know that's that's a very open question because the neighborhoods are getting older and older if you look on page three in your summary poten is allocated 2.7 almost 2.8 million for road right when you combine 34 and 36 resal colle residential yeah we're we're catching up on the the yellows and the oranges in our um assessment mapping that was done so do we have the new assessment map uh we just had a request for it so I can get that to Administration a PDF of it who can who can circulate that and we'll put it up on the website okay yeah because so because I know we put in the money for it last year and so it's it's just not gone through the review yet we should get it soon yeah no it's it's was uh I think it was finished last month so it just hasn't been put up on the website oh okay and that assessment list how many years do you feel it's going to take to go through all these neighborhoods at the rate that we're going through now uh that we haven't determined we haven't done that type of assessment yeah I'm I'm just curious it's going to take 10 years 20 50 so I'm just going to like budget it's you know it's like we're creeping along we're getting it done but yeah roads are are crumbling getting pot I think what you're asking is are we falling ahead are we getting ahead or are we falling behind is that is that the basic question yeah I I would think we're about um slightly better than keeping Pace um honestly some of it would help if uh there was more maintenance able to be done like crack sealing by public Works uh to keep the water out of the pavement which is what most of the problems are related to the the water either has freeze th th cracking or it softens the subgrade and the pavement settles which makes the crack bigger and and things just escalate from there so what we should we be putting some more money or whatever it takes to make sure that Public Works we we'll take whatever you want to give us but uh that's it's a big baling more environmentally friendly to prevent this from happening than having to go brought up a really good point that that good maintenance actually then offset some of the capital costs going forward so question goes how do we are we appropriately budgeted for the maintenance and do would you recommend maybe that that's an area that we should consider improve well we can always take a portion of this the 1.25 and allocate that towards a maintenance contract and the other one towards a resurfacing but we don't want to not we don't want to fix we don't want to not fix something that needs to be fixed no we we wouldn't do that you just appointed a new Public Works director right um so um I recommend let him getting get him used to the operations even though he's been for a while and um he's probably going to come to you in the next three to six months and make some recommendations on some different things that we do in public works and one of them is to allocate more time toward uh Road repairs and Improvement maintenance okay but we're going to have to shift resources around and it's something they're they're they're looking at to see you know that the one arm Bandits working well uh things of that nature so um I mean and it's a conversation we have to think about maybe cutting back on brush delivery instead of 10 months a year to eight months a year allocate two months during the summer where we can do more of this maintenance these are the things that we're all looking at and we'll bring to your attention in the next three to six months to see how you feel about it yeah I'm sure the guys who pick up brush would like a couple months off in the summer and then they take those those manpowersupply.est Ing and there's an awful lot of Roads residential roads well it's a lot of it's a lot of the same materials so when you're doing maintenance you're crack sealing and you're patching and and when you're resurfacing roads you're also crack sealing and patching so it's a lot of it's the same contractors the same equipment so it's easy to just take and develop yeah I just want to make sure there's enough money though to do that would the repairs I mean it sounds like a lot quickly money is big factor but at the same time we have to have engineering resources available to basically design the project oversee the project well bid the project manage the project because there's a point of no return am I correct Fran and like I said the Public Works director is in the process of reviewing the the the you know the resources in the department and he's going to make some recommendations and one of them PR bluntly is going to be to pull back on brush pickup for two months in the summer so we can allocate more men to uh keep the roads in better shape so they last longer and and they don't become potholes where we just go out and throw the bag of stuff on there for a while this would be like a a trer seal and hatch that will last much long and that'll be done by DPW corre employees as opposed to this road red which would be done by bid and contract yeah outside contractor yep we look forward to that looking forward yeah good much much rather prevent something than fix than sure to a major fix ler I agree wholeheartedly page 36 we touched upon was The Collector Road Improvement program um the grant requested indicated half way down the page was was granted by the NJ doot so we will be receiving that as the budget's approved will be going out for a design contract for that project and that's on your summary sheet page three you see a 526 581 and that's the do award on the summary sheet there's not a separate sheet because it's a grant it's part of this program but it's separate funding so on your big summary sheet we'll see allocated 526 it's under Section project number 24-16 okay yep okay I I just have to allocate separately for for Grants okay page 38 V Drive EXT exension so this has been something in the township master plan for years uh unfortunately the do when they did the study for the millstone bypass wasn't successful uh because this this is a branch of that um but this program is um resulting from the construction Avalon is doing where they're now undertaking the intersection of the extension with Washington Road so the 2024 budget amount is anticipated for bringing in a consultant for design and a permitting contract uh the future years are currently placeholders uh we're hopeful uh that we can um work with Mercer County uh who have had this on their books off and on for a while that we can get it back with them to bring it to dvrpc for some federal funding assistance because a lot of the properties are associated with either do or with the railroads there's a lot of wetlands flood planes involved so it's not a simple project like most things if it was simple it would have been done by now um so this this design will basically connect that road to the New Circle that's being built right now by the bridge on Washington yes yeah so all the new people moving in um they'll have two ways they currently have two ways to get in and out of there because you have Washington Road you have the circle there um but without the the Von Drive Extension they can still leave in and out yeah they can still get to right now that development is designed to access Washington Road only with the bypass they would be able to get through I'm sorry with the Von Drive Extension they would be able to get to Von drive on the other side of the dinky out to Alexander they can do that currently as you said but only by weaving through the parking lots which I'm sure uh Transit doesn't want us announcing but but there will be an exit where they can get out that side yes yes got be two ways for emergencies correct right better two ways than one okay uh page 39 signage and striping improvements so this is one that goes hand inand with the crosswalk program the sidewalk program because with those other improvements you typically need signage and striping involved so as needed we we award projects using both of these accounts or portions of these accounts as necessary page 41 Rovers Mill Dam inspection and repairs um funding for this year is anticipating a design and construction project we have a consultant who has retained with last year's funding to do an inspection uh they're scheduled to go out once the rain stops and they can lower the water level to get in there and do an inspection give us a punch list of recommended repairs which will go to the state the state will tell us what has to be done and what can be deferred and then we'll prepare a Construction contract based on that said there would a consultant was um conducting a regular inspection in 2020 23 was that finished that's the contract that we awarded they weren't able to get out there in the fall they've been trying to get out there this spring but the rain keeps okay so that's the that's the one we're talking about yeah yeah because they need to lower the water level on the the Pond Side by a couple feet so you nor only do that certain times of the year certain certain times of the year and definitely not after rainstorms yeah some you don't want to flood anybody out um so once that's done then the following year amounts will be a little bit more solidified I would assume yeah the inspection there's there's if you read the justification there's two types of inspection so there's a regular inspection where they just lower it a little bit and look around and then there's a more detailed one where they send a diver in to go look at everything that's underwater um so some of those uh repairs can be a little more costly so whatever fun funding we don't use for this in any given year we acrew for some of those bigger construction projects and then 2028 the big inspection yes it's it's always going to be ongoing though right oh yeah yeah yeah unless we can find someone to take it over maybe Foos or yeah some billionaire uh page 43 metal Road improvements phase two so this would complete the crosssection for Meadow Road that you're familiar with up by the liquid church and uh duck Pon Park to carry that section down to Clarksville Road intersection uh one of the problems that or not problems but constraints to doing this has been the bridge duck Pon run Bridge uh at Meadow Road which is a county Bridge and in the past the county has deemed that not needing repair so the town if we wanted the road improved would have had to undertake the cost of that bridge replacement uh which basically prohibited the program but recently with um Amtrak and do talking about replacing the Clarksville road bridge over Amtrak which is very close to this intersection with Road the county is now looking to redo both the Clarksville road bridge over Duck Pond as well as the meal road bridge over duck pond so until that's done um we're keeping this as a placeholder so there's nothing in this for 2024 correct and then good chance that it'll be pushed out until the county can get their stuff done so we're just going to keep pushing it out but like he said it's a placeholder so you know it's there it's it's part of our point right page 45 Wallace Road bus garage remediation um so at at the present time we're working with the consulting firm act engineers and the lsrp uh I believe we're in the final stage is of sampling before finalizing a remediation plan so the funding for this year is an anticipation based on the estimates they gave us for what they expect to work to involved uh but again once we have a work plan from them it'll be put out the bid we'll get a a contract with the uh before you from the successful bidder and um hopefully get that project cleaned up and rehabilitated something something more useful how's this tie in with the um parking authority possibly using that space is that uh that I don't know if anything's been finalized with the parking authority I I think they would need to uh I think that use isn't in compliance with the Redevelopment plan so would need to be some review by the land use board and probably request the council to to amend the Redevelopment plan a Redevelopment plan I believe originally had it as a like a pocket park type thing so this would be a different use Park Authority is interesting in making it and and maybe doing some improvements in making into a parking lot so we are having ongoing discussions and they're aware that they may have to redo the Redevelopment plan but the talks have been going very very well actually so so that'll affect obviously correct that that may reduce our funding in the future requirement because they may be able to cap it and do some other things butet or offset some of the calls yeah because there's several years here of work that has to be done so whether only do it or they do it or you you work out some kind of right the future years's plan for the monitoring that has to be done once once things are cleaned up you still it the level of cleanup anticipated is not a completely clean designation it would leave some residual um contamination for what they call attenuation so over time the levels would go down but in order to prove that to the state you have to do compliance monitoring to show that they're the same or lessening over time so that's that's what the future years's budgeting shown is is would act as a cap right parking would act as a partial as a partial cap yes yeah it makes a lot of sense yeah it's similar to the uh I don't know if they call it upper Von or lower V but the the former Compost Facility yeah there's that little space in between them I think I it isn't C right and that's page 46 is is that monitoring for the former Compost Facility the Von parking page 47 is the flood abatement program um so that's used as we come aware of areas in town which are experiencing flooding or drainage problems uh currently we we do have a consultant under contract based on a list of problem areas DPW gave us I believe we just had that contract for design in front of council not too long ago so that that work is ongoing but that's the type of program this funding is used for page 48 the emerald ashb Management program for Street trees so this is the last big year of funding anticipated uh for for um trees included in this program um from what I understand from Dan the it seems to have finally stabilized I believe there's about 40 trees that aren't successfully tolerating treatment and the bore that would be scheduled to be removed this year after that there'll be about 60 or so left that would need treatment going forward which is why the uh the funding amount for 2025 projected going forward is just treatment only for those last remaining trees so the 50 would be for treatment for this year as well as removals of those that that did not um or I should say finally succumb to the uh the board yeah and I will say uh Dan was able to close out the state grant that um help allocate this program off the top I think it was around 350,000 but we received the last payment in 2023 so that that Grant's been closed out so we fully reimbursed the full Grant amount take a long time we haven't been getting money for a while this this is closed out yeah at least what was that was it did you say 300,000 I think I think it was like 350 yeah I remember like that that's been yeah we went through that fast that that chemical isn't now outward chemical is it no he's he's gotten some pricing for the the new um recommended insecticide the neonic or whatever the um right that's right they're all prohibited all the all the arborists and landscapers are pro prohibited from from using that chemical so we do have a replacement chemical okay good y thank uh page 49 the utility maintenance and Improvement so that's that's used as necessary for things such as street lights traffic signals or uh electronic advisory signage um different things as they come up through the town sometimes we use them for uh studies such as you were talking about before for speed limits necessitating traffic signals warrants things of that nature uh page 50 our sewer collection system Pump Station improvements so while our system and our development is relatively new our sanitary sewer collection system is aging so there are a number of facilities that we have current contracts to improve but we also have maintenance that needs to be done um as you'll read through there are this provides funding for Pump Station rehabs for different components for relining some of our uh ASB besta cement line which doesn't tolerate some of the sewer gases so well so they typically come in with a cured in place uh plastic pipe to Reign those to get more life out of them rather than open cut and replace so this provides funding for that uh page 52 I touched on earlier this is that Watershed Improvement plan storm sewer mapping so if you read through the justification that's the detail that explains why we have to do this what time frame we have to do this by all imposed by our state storm water discharge permit every town in New Jersey has to undertake this um unfortunately we tend to seem to be on the the advanced side of everybody else like with our tree mitigation plan and the deicing storage and honestly I'd rather be there than at the tail end when they start issuing violations and fees for these things so there were some discussions about being able to do this in conjunction with other nearby towns that are the same watersheds and sort of share the cost is that what we looking at when we come to the actual Improvement plan there there is that idea being floated out there so we would certainly encourage that I think there's a cost savings to studying a watershed as a whole and splitting it up amongst the different municipalities that are within that watered [Music] um I don't think we're there yet with the discussions like I said this is all relatively new and a lot of the towns are still absorbing and understanding what they have to do and why but yeah and I think that's it any other questions oh is that um the the landscaping for the it's land use okay yeah Sam's there I put something in for a few plants and flowers there's nothing in here for like uh four years Madame President this meeting was announced to to be done by 2:30 so if we're going to go past that we will have to extend the clock before we go into close session okay well um what do we have left as part of the public meeting here my agend yes yes thank you thank you thank you sir thank you very much thank youon thank you public comment ready for public com everybody yeah we got we got everything here all right I don't know if it's gonna be that are you ready for public comment yes we are okay anyone that would like that would like to make a public comment please come to the microphone and state your name and address thank you hi I'm Elaine Gutman and I live at 35 Arnold Drive for close to 30 years um I am the soul I'm Soul founding board member of the West Windsor Art Center who is now a current board member and I participated in the long years of dreaming then finally preparing establishing and growing the West Windsor Art Center the art center was opened and transformed into an active and sustaining Community Art Center through a supportive mayor and Town Council contributions from State and County governments corporations and individuals but most of all through the diligent and effective work of committed staff and The Sweat Equity of countless volunteers we were strong enough to survive a pandemic and the closings uncertainties and transitions of the last four years now we are negotiating a new lease and requesting support to develop the days in the remaining space of the firehouse when the art center was opened it was always the intention to open up part of the building as phase one and then provide access to the building Bays as phase two yet instead of treating us as a special Jewel within the community that adds to the quality of Life Community cohesion and opportunities for personal and social growth of all age groups we are being offered a lease that multiplies our costs and adds to financial risks and uncertainties in addition we are being denied a way to move into the building base although the township with invested money in the 2025 budget with a conversion of the space to meet with code and safety regulations I remain hopeful that the township will find a way to sustain all the effort that has brought West Windsor Arts to its flourishing present and not jeopardize its future through avoidable obstacles a few months ago I chatted with a high school volunteer that's fun okay well do can close do you want to close just close close you got more sense let's not spander what we have created but find ways to enhance and Propel the growth thank you Miss Green hello thank you very much I'm island green I live in Lambertville at 100 rocktown Lambertville Road and um I'm here on behalf of West Windsor Arts Council um I just wanted to make sure that everyone's aware of the situation that we are in currently which is that we have an outstanding grant that we've been awarded by the state Arts Council the new New Jersey state Council on the Arts which is almost a $90,000 grants for improvements to the Arts Council building in the backyard and um we were supposed to be finished with this grant it was due to be done by December 31st to 2023 um I did apply for an extension and was given one until July of 2024 when I have to make my report of everything being finished and complete and was told that that's the end of the line and we have not broken ground yet um we we actually have haven't even started our bidding process yet and um this is because we don't have a executed lease so um we were given a a draft lease and we made our comments within a week under um pressure from the mayor to get it done because as he reminded me we had this outstanding Grant um my 12 board members all reviewed it as quickly as possible collated our our thoughts and sent it back and here we are four weeks later and and I have not heard anything about it um despite weekly requests for even a status update um so you know I just wanted to make um you all aware of that we very much appreciate you know the opportunity to have this lease but we are feeling very pressed at this point I am concerned that we may be in a position where we will have to give back this funding um because we can't get it done in time you know one thing is sort of dependent upon the other um so we are willing and ready to work hard to find a solution that works for everyone um but it you know it has become um somewhat stressful for us and I wanted to make sure you are aware of that and I want to thank Elaine and padmaja who is here and she's going to speak next they're representing our board of directors here today um who are all aware of this and send their regards as well thank you thank you anyone else I'm I don't want to butcher it so you're next yes thank you come on up I thought by now my name should be pronounced will being infest Wier of all places um my name is padmaja ganapati and um I live in 19 Glen Gary way I've been in West wi since 2005 I'm as Ean mentioned I a member of the board of wests council and also the chair of the EAC um so when you say West win what comes to mind is I'm sure a very affluent Town High median income and a high SAT score Tranquility research and knowledge how much more boring can it get it's the Arts Council that brings in culture and Comm community and to me the township like West V which has this High income and High s scores should really be sponsoring the Arts Council not putting impediments in its very existence really if you take out the Arts councils from the city it is one boring town I'm sorry there is no Community without the Arts counil when I pass through Alexander Road you see those kids coming in for arts for culture I mean that makes it so Lively and the local businesses wuri M and mango mango they're all getting businesses and tomorrow people are going to move to West wi not just because of the sad scores but because of the Arts because of the culture if anything we need more theater we need more drama and I am the founder of artsy which is an Arts organization so I'm very passionate about Arts I'm I'm a PhD in science but I moved to Arts because I know what arts does to community what what art does to our Consciousness as people so I would implore you in short that instead of putting impediments of leases we should actually be supporting and sponsoring something like the Arts Council with a dedicated staff that are giving it everything they're giving their everything to it so please sponsor please help us stay afloat and please come to the artwalk thank you thank you Amber hello my name is Amber Henry I live at 304 Cranberry Road um Echo all of that my whole life is the Arts and couldn't agree more the Arts are so necessary um I'm here to speak about um issues on Rabbit Hill Road and um I I wasn't able to attend um much of today's meeting um I understand there's potentially not going to be the expansion of the Cranberry Road sidewalk to the trolley Lane tripil um I think that is very much necessary I live at the corner I'm on the northwest corner of that Community I'm the one who has the biggest problems as far as retaining walls Landscaping uh mature trees we're only living here for at least another four years we are willing to play ball and help you guys do whatever you want take advantage of that right now um additionally um I love seeing that line item for a planning um and so I understand that that there's money put aside for planning of the extension of the sidewalk in the 2024 budget thank you so very much for listening to that request and putting that in um the other things from um all of the meetings that have been with the community due to the fatality um on Rabbit Hill Road back in November um are not necessarily aligned with the 2024 budget so I wanted to advocate for all of the community more than 500 people who have signed and are supporting these efforts um to make sure that we have a focus on the intersection where um the incident occurred which is the Abington Bennington intersection um I understand it might take some time for us to get rapid flashing beacons or stop signs or changes to that intersection but I would love to see specifically line item in the 2024 budget um for a planning uh traffic study of that intersection so that the proper change in the future can be addressed um and then the other thing is increasing Lighting on Rabbit Hill Road I have provided um my recommendations to the council and to the mayor of all of the Lo places where I think additional lighting Could Happen particularly on Rabbit Hill where Dia States is the lights of that intersections are like set back in so they do not light Rabbit Hill at all it's very very dark um there's a lot of issues there thus the visibility issues that created it an accident and killed one of our youth in our community um uh there's requests from the community for Bennington Road also to be looked at for additional lighting and so I I don't believe that additional lighting has been addressed at all in the 2024 budget and I would love to see um that addressed as well um and so those are my those are my three things just making sure you get that I will help you get that sidewalk the best I can to everywhere you want please utilize me for that and um and and making sure that we can get more lighting also thank you so much because the rapid flashing Beacon went in today at the trolley at the crosswalk uh trolley line and just so thrilled thank you thank you thank you that's all I have signed up in case somebody else is there anyone else who wishes to speak an Clifton 18 gston Drive um for the West Windsor bicycle pedestrian Alliance I want to thank you for asking about detail for Rapid flashing beacons and for pressing for where where the crosswalk you know asking for the study of where the crosswalks should be improved and and how they can best be improved so I I I just again appreciate that um and then thank you for bring thank you for looking at the letter that we did write about you know requesting certain improvements uh appreciate bringing that up as well um and just thank you for everything you have you do and this is I know this is a big part of what you need to do so thank you as you go through your deliberations thank you anyone else Madam President we may want to extend the clock to all um John what do you figure we're closed we're Clos s until three yeah till three yeah three we've never had to do this in a long time so we're gonna need to to motion to motion to extend the clock to 3 o'clock salute you got a motion not me you got a motion oh you got the motion have a motion to extend the clock motion to extend the clock to 3 p p.m. second that's what I'm saying all in favor I okay thank you okay so now motion to go to close yeah I need a motion to go into close SE session for to discuss personel motion to go into close session discuss Personnel can we also um discuss any contractual matters no this was noticed only for personnel okay second all in favor I I close I think gay has to read whereas njs 10412 allows for a public body to go into closed session dur a public meeting and whereas the township Council West Windsor Township has deemed it necessary to go into Clos session to discuss certain matters which are Exempted from the public and whereas the regular meeting of this Township Council will reconvene and whereas the below stated subject matter shall be made available at such time as the issues discussed therein are resolved and its disclosure would not subvert any particular exception for convening a closed session now therefore be it resolved that the township Council the township of West Windsor will go into a closed session for the following reasons as outlined in njs 10 D4 4-12 for the discussion of personnel oops this is GNA go off we'll go into room Cheers Cheers AR all right we all here good Andre is still go ahead you can do it okay so a motion to adjourn second have a second all favor thank you d no