e e e I call the meeting to order at 7:03 PM I'm gonna actually me for you you don't have do open public meeting time adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the for by forwarding a copy to The Courier News Star Ledger and posting on the township website at least 48 hours prior to the meeting all in accordance with the open public meeting act this meeting will not substantially go past 10:30 p.m. roll call Madam clerk Mr kudo yes no he's here he is he's Mr Foster Miss Ellis here Mado May deting I'm here would you all please rise for the oh yeah you're here I'm here both did I not miss sorry now Al to the flag of United States to the stands IND with liy and jce okay I'm going to change up the order a little bit and ask that Chief Hopkins come for for fire department and fire detention to get his good evening Chief good evening so um a I've asked we've asked the department heads up here to and the rest will go after law or CFO gives um a a broad overview of the budget the draft budget you have before you but because Chief office does have to go to work um we wanted each department had to come up and um describe their Capital requests specifically because in our budget there's really um not too much wiggle room and not too much changes year to year in the operating but we can discuss more of that after so I just asked the has to come and speak specifically um about Capital so um so these are the the papers that are that you need your glasses to so the last two pages right is capital fires on 10 of 11 okay take it away all right so um this year we asked for a total of four items for Capital um both important was the five sets of firefighting gear reportable radios um would you just confirm the amount so the five sets of firefighting there is 30,000 you want make sure this uh five correct three Portables are 24,000 okay replace the uh Department pickup truck for for 90 okay and um sleeping quarters and a lounge at fire headquarters for 50 um so I think I understand um the two first two that you mentioned are pretty straightforward and something that we typically fund annually and you give us a little bit of background information on the sleeping quarters and the replacement of the vehicle you know the AG of vehicles Etc so the pickup truck is very worn out we've been asking to replace this for over five years now um it's literally falling apart about a couple months ago the running boards fell off it there's a hole in the floor that had to be stopped up with a street sign and last year the brakes actually failed when guys were driving us to the fire academy um so this truck transports uh firefighters in training back and forth to the academy the reason we used to pick up truck is when they return they can put their contaminated gear in back and not have to ride with it in in the passenger part of the vehicle with them as uh that stuff has has Carson and when they come back they wash their gear the department washing machine um we also use that at fires too after a fire so the firefighters don't have to transport the gear in the cabin the truck we put in the pickup truck it also carries hose back and forth it has a lift gate on it our 5 inch hose 100 foot lengths it's um a little over 100 pounds wall so it comes it very useful saves when people getting injured and picking up heavy things that seems pretty straightforward and what about the sleeping quarters so over the past 10 years when we have storms we have standby Crews at the firehouse because if if guys are at home when there's a storm they have to clear their cars off and then drive very carefully here in the snow so we put Personnel in fire headquarters so we response times don't suffer uh the problem is we really don't have anything any place for people to sleep um with Sandy and Ida and some of the more significant storms where we lived at the firehouse for three days um it became very difficult for uh our members to sleep get any decent sleep um for example during Sandy the firehouse acted as a tempor very um shelter so there was really no place for our guys to go and have a place to kind of relax between calls or get some sleep when needed so this would resolve that problem this is the area that's um off the meeting room in the firehouse that area so we would split it we have two dorm rooms with two bunk beds in each and a and a lounge for guys to watch TV or just relax so four sleeps four each each dorm would sleep four that would be a room and there two dorms correct um okay and then the 50,000 I mean do we need to get an architect involved we already we already have drawings uh Mr ramth all threw up the plans for us um at no cost to Department what about like when I'm sorry can I interrupt yes go ahead um like mattresses bedding and all that is that in that in that price yeah correct that's pretty straightforward as well um and what's your estimated timeline did did Jim Raymond a timeline ask when this could be completed is it a quick project you think I don't think it would take much time at all we actually have uh a builder that's a member of the department he can possibly do it if if we could get that approved it wouldn't take long at all it's basically putting up some walls um uh we'd have to probably add one sprinkler head and um we'd have to add smoke detectors and orange drills into the fire alarm system because if people were sleeping they got to be woken up just fire in the building but it wouldn't be it wouldn't be much okay you're familiar with yes and Joe is our construction official for those who may not know all right any other questions on the four Capital items from the fire department um the regarding the vehicle I understand how from you how forward that is um could you use a different type of vehicle instead of a pickup truck I understand that the pickup truck is optimal but um so I know that the uh the situation that the town faces right now with what's going on um so what we talked about doing is we're going to rework last year the fire department was awarded money to refurbish engine one um we did some of the work on but just there's significant amount of money left over in that Capital uh line item so we were going to rework it and then use money out of that I believe if we re redo that ordinance we could pay for all this which would mean no Capital expenditures for the fire department this year we would use that month Jim can you explain like what you told me about why the the if we us a car rolling off the police Fleet why that specific vehicle won't fit your so we'd have to get it painted we would have to get lights put on it we'd have to put a command box in back of it it would take it a decent amount of work to put that thing into service for the fire department for a year um just to get another vehicle but again I have also I think we could replace the other vehicle we're talking about the Durango we could also roll that in and I also have money in the fire department penalty account so what we've been doing for years the staff cars that we have uh typically fire prevention case for them out of penalty money and the vehicles are shared between the fire inspectors and the chief officers so it's a um it's a good working relationship but the fire prevention Bureau has a trust penalty account that we can use money for that that's how we bu most be for years that's now I really don't know where you stand with ,000 is there something with the hoses well so the pickup truck yeah it's it's really the only way to haul hose and gear back um this way we don't have to put the gear or the equipment inside the cab of the truck with the guys that are going back and forth that's really the only thing other thing we have I mean the only you really can't I mean we could if could put the hose on the tailboard of the fire truck or the running board or the uh front bumper it could fall off on the way back or you know the other option is we stay on scene longer and repack the hose there which means we have to keep the the road closed longer Qui question so this uh $90,000 utility vehicle is is made specifically for fire departments like it's got all the things that you need and that's this is a new vehicle brand new yeah um and then if the township decides to go the route of utilizing existing capital for a new vehicle um OEM can use the is it a t I love that vehicle off the police Fleet uh this year so those Vehicles will be used if not by fire they'll be used but the Tahoe comes from the police department yes it's one of the two I mean currently now all we am I'm sorry currently right now we just have a uh four doors four-door vehicle it's not really not adequate especially if I when I do damage assessments going in flood prone neighborhoods charer Drive Sutton Drive or the uh River B Road area so it's uh this would be a nice upgrade okay any other questions what kind of truck is it uh what we spec at is a Ford F350 it'll have a liftgate on it and it'll have um utility boxes on it like this vehicle is like a do- it all for us like we use this also when we go out to somebody's home to check their smoke alarms or to install new ones we use this vehicle we have a small A-frame ladder on it so it's it's used for a lot of things like do it all sometimes if I have more than one inspector using it an inspector will use to go out do inspections it gets a lot of use what's the lifean of a vehicle like this the car one we have I think is how old it's a 2004 so we've gotten it doesn't owe us anything there a street sign holding the floor I heard that yeah I heard that I was just wondering so like this should be another almost 20 years oh yeah when you mean yeah it should yeah we have a very good maintenance program we make our vehicles last as long as we can because of the expense of them so all right any other questions okay thanks Chief thank you appreciate it go backwards a little bit and let one give an overview and then we'll dig back into the Departments so we know the you from 40,000 ft up good evening everyone I'm going to give you a quick overview of those handouts that you received so that if you could get the the full Gras b v them you know where they come from and uh the first two sheets capture the municipal tax rate and the total tax rates the mayor and Council are responsible for just the municipal tax rate just for clarification fores the revenue sheets capture all of the miscellaneous Revenue anticipated including GR which are work in progress at this moment expected to be finalized early this week uh being pass through funds they do not have any impact on the tax rate nor the operating budget uh the next sheets cover the different Appropriations on the budget they also serve as a comprehensive variance analysis that shows the different changes for the last two years uh the capital budget request and F future Capital plan are also provided and that's what was just discussed in the fire chief other summary sheets on state budget document format are provided just for illustration purposes items worth mentioned revenues increases interest on investments and deposits increased by 5937 12811 or 6985 per. that's the result of renegotiation with the local banks of our uh interest rate St in meets last year uh cost of swer treatment increased by $350,500 4% or 11 16.9% uh fees and permits slash connection fees increased by 1,25 76098 or 88.3% hotel use and occupancy tax by 7 5,1 141,000 $ 75417 I'm sorry or 3.57% payments in view of taxes is a new item of uh revenues anticipated uh we received $632,000 8 million specifically 2,857 8821 or 34% which is awesome uh total anticipated revenues increased by 24.5% that's a result of all of those figures uh increase was 28484 6549 unfortunately in the appropriation size we also had some increases and that is always the C the revenues were awesome uh in regards to appropriation increases liability insurance increased by four 12 point 64% or 88,89 3232 for 2238 per. we all familiar with the uh that facility the challenges associated with that facility so I don't think I need to go any further in terms of explaining why that budget the budget had that increase a police and fire retirement system increased by $89,950 or 8.41% but at the same time there was a decrease in the public employees retirement system of $1,659 which are to some extent offsets part of the increase of the PFS and of course there's nothing we can do about it that is done by the estate they have a consulting firm that CES the numbers for them and just they just send those the bills uh another increase was in the defined contribution retirement PL because we had to enroll a few new employees that needed to be enrolled in the plan one of them was missed for a few years and that cost an increase of 7 point of 66.67% or just 10,000 $10,000 uh the public library appropriation increased by $ 97,2 1553 or 7.89% that is also another bill that we get from the State Library which is calculating the third of the mill which is how they call it so there's nothing we can do about it either it is based on the last three years the average of the last three years equalized valuation of the township uh the payment of bonds uh increased by 775,000 47.69 there was also an increase on the payment of interest for those bonds to $3 3,335 or 18.9% remarkably the overall increase of all Appropriations with all the increases still the budget came increases under 2% and as here stands the increase in dollar Appropriations was 352 2,62 or 1.27% the preliminary budget complies with both Appropriations both caps the Appropriations and the L caps roughly $2.4 million are banked for the ladder well nothing is left for the Appropriations card statutory phases of the budget which is next probably some people asking what is next next is Introduction and approval which is expected on March 19th uh next is the public advertisement advertising expected for March 28th public hearing is scheduled for April 19th buet amendment is scheduled for the same date if there's the need to do that we hope that none and then the adoption is after those processes as C stands the preliminary budget increase the amount to be raised by taxes by 48,000 $119 or an increase of 2.54% the tax rate the town portion of the tax rate increased by 2.49% the municipal tax increase expected is 2.54% and uh I think that wraps up my summary if you have questions about the rest of the handouts I think uh uh roing to address those questions two quick questions um and if I missed it just let me know um are we putting away money in our reserves snow comp pay up for Police Department I think there's another one and are we able to bank any of the CH for next year the planning fure planning good thoughts good thoughts P we did that at the end uh of 2023 with the at least four reserves they accumulated ABS liabilities there's no storm was also done with the recycling funds were transferred to the SN Reserve so yeah yes we provided funds for that and we intend to continue doing so for the future because it is a conservative way of managing the finances and uh we have to wait until the end of the year performance of all of those Appropriations and then whatever is left is laps to the reserves we did it last year and we continue do doing it Forward going forward and the next question was I'm sorry um are we able to bank any cap for next year correct uh we are have a little bit of a struggle with the appropriation SC which is the one that allow us to go to certain level in terms of expenditures of the budget so with this budget we have Zeo meaning that that's going to put some Strain coming next year with the exception of those items that can be uh out of the gaps like increases to dep service increases to uh to recycling increases to certain items other than that we don't have much uh Bank we don't have anything left to Bank in the Appropriations in the levy side we have 2.4 million dollar roughly okay so that's something that we should all be thinking about for next year must be cognizant of that for next year in other words my my next question we can use any sewer hookup fees to put in reserves only for sewer usage might be a point we can't get the be able to get into the I mean we'll get some of it but we're going to be right we keep our eyes open because you know the cap as intended they're working there's a point in which regardless of how much you have in Revenue you have to limit the other side which is the struggle when you don't have any Bank left for Appropriations that poses a limit a strong limit in the following year budget can you also speak to um some of the extraordinary expenses that the state allow to not typically but this year as an exception be moved outside of the C Bank I think it was really the Delta of insur liability insurance and Li liability insurance was one of those they had a recycling and those are just uh the exception the increases from from the prior year just the the Delta add the exactly outside of the cap but the what what was anticipated as the cost in this year everybody understands it's not the entire amount being moved it's just the Delta between what we would typically pay and and the excess because that difference the excess that is exactly right so there's not much leeway there we don't have much right because Lily the increases were not that high had they been higher yes we would been able to segregate that and then Bank it for the future so it's a caveat you either get the high expense increase or you either get the C Bank yeah I'd rather have the low increase and then deal with the cab afterwards you just had a budgeting class on Saturday right great okay I think that was um a really good overview does anybody have any questions about the overview I I do have a question um M so I know in especially towards the end of the year when funds are unused used then we used them for other things that we couldn't afford previously so we've transferred money into um the sewer plant we have shortages is really what it about so when I look at the numbers here it says 2023 adopted budget so are we counting the budget for the expenditures for 202 yeah I'm sorry when I at the two four fourth page May well you know I'm actually looking at 6 of 11 where it says the adopted budget 2023 and then the preliminary budget 2024 um so are we using the the amounts that we actually allocating that were spent or the amounts that were in the original budget good question when we make the comparison we use what was appropriated the PRI year except in the transfer so the transfers don't count for that analysis if we appropriated 10,000 the prior year for that line specific line item and we have 11,000 this year there's a variance of 1,000 and that's what probably you should be looking at did I address it correctly or if if we appropriated 10,000 and they spent 9,000 and we took a th and put it towards the sewer plant does that mean that the sewer plant chose a th more that is correct the other bucket only shows 9,000 so that's my question is these 2023 actual budget adopted budget is that the adopted budget or is that the monies that were spent in each of those categories I may say it is uh trying to look at it from different perspectives for different analysis we use different figures in this case if you're comparing if you're looking at the appropriation sheets 2023 2024 there are transfers those funds transfer to the S utility when we budget for 2024 we consider how much was transfer in order to increase that appropriation to that site because if we didn't do it that way we're going to continue with the transfers we trying to budget properly if we needed to transfer three $5,000 to another line item of appropriation we have to consider that and Factor it in when we're budgeting for that in this case SE that's part of decrease of this s that explains part of why uh their budget went up by 20 semi per okay but the number here on this column adopted that's the amounts at 20 20 202 so in other words you should look at total budget not adopted budget for 2020 actual real exp there's a right hand column that says total budget so what we should be comparing is total budget to to preliminary 24 budget to get like a good well we can do that we can do that that tonight an adopted budget we could have excess or we could have you know we could have changed the number but the total budget is probably the actual money spent in that cor that which which is what he showing in the state budget document we try to summarize these numbers because the columns I have 30 columns to the right and then points would be too small that's of that exercise but do you agree for our purposes tonight we should be looking at total budget from 23 not adopted budget because that might be a more accurate or true number after the transfer period totally agree we can we can crunch those numbers any way you want okay so the The Heading has changed no I think what he's saying is in this first left 10 I think adopted budget is probably the money that was originally appropriated and adopted in the budget let's say may of 23 I think toal budget if you go to the right hand side under totals is probably what we actually spended in 23 so the way I read this specific I'm just still looking at six of 11 the first set of columns is salaries and wages the next set of columns is other expenses and the last one is salaries and wages plus other expenses gives us that some total so you know just starting with the Top Line 251 plus 230 850 is 2 is 481 850 right so the column heading there I guess should be total adopted budget because the other two were adopted budgets so that's you know that gets into my question and obviously the the administration this isn't a specific question for the administration you know it kind of shows more into some of the other things reviewed you know the departmental budget so I thought your question included like transfer period it does okay so she total so total budget includes salaries wages other expenses and whatever transfers were made after November first that is correct okay got it okay let me clarified okay very good um thank you one you're welcome getting back to our departmental schedule here Administration um do you have no no so um you know one you probably know off the top here or roughly you know very little percentage of our operating budget is uh discretionary um so we don't really normally have a lot of room to play with like just some of the highlights of administration this is where um some of the things are being paid for like our Communications assistant our grant writing um firm we have a telecommunications firm now consulting firm that negotiates um Telecom agreements with us because personally I don't think we should be negotiating them without assistance know what they're doing and that's a revenue generating um right um winning which is a lobbying firm that's helping us get money from the federal government and um state government and helping us um sort of get projects moving at both the mainly at the state level the D um when we need help getting them moved um we also have a lot of the internet services and utilities here at Town Hall that are paid for there um it also includes like our Rave system that police uses um the police use and our camera system license and the rest is pretty um non um so after that is uh yes we Have No Capital we have no Capital um is the building department next okay building department construction Joe you'll not come up by the way we're still trying to find tune like an exact budget process that works for everybody and that everybody thinks is the most effective so it seems like we're winging it a little bit but we're going to nail this down one of these years so you can formalize a process going forward um so Joe if you just I'm not sure I don't think you have really anything notable in operating to talk about if you do you want to mention that but mainly just explain your two um your uh excuse me Capital needs please yes thank you um I just have two requests in my Capital the first is to continue with uh electronic scanning the digital digitizing our existing miles and the other one is for a large warat printer SL scanner large format being something that would be able to print plans as well as scan them the blueprints we'll be able to outon Maps requests for cobas for plans we would we get in plans we be able to scan them in the hopes of reducing our future expense of paying someone else to scan them we currently do not have a large form it has been something that has been talked about since the planning of this building at least yes um but it is something that would benefit the town and allow us to help scan the documents in right now all we have is just the regular copy scanner so we can scan 8 and a half by 11 but we can't scan into Blueprints and then we be a also at that point be able to fit them as well am I right in um thinking that the state is also requiring us to be digitized the state is requiring us to be able to accept digital plans um um we have purchased already a plan review electronic plan review table so we'll be able to accept plans once the state finishes and they finalize their their process currently the regulations also still require if you are submitting electronic plans you still have to submit once they're approved two sets of signed and sealed so we would still have to have a set of paper in the office so having the ability to be able to then scan that the official copy would benefit us you also need some sort of a service agreement or something to go with this large format scanner is there software that has to be maintained is there no there's no software that is that would need to be maintained it would scan to PDF so we will be able to I'm thinking about the actual machine it's going to use something to digitize it it's I just know my here you get a you get a plan or something larger more expensive machines the more prone they are to being absolutely the ongoing cost it's 20 is not a small sum no and there is actually we can there are other options available uh we can under State contract we can lease the equipment which would provide us with a maintenance agreement or it for a unit what's the difference in pricing um not to put you on the slot you would obviously be a monthly payment which I don't think would be available for Capital at that point it's not Capital because we but it's certainly an option that could be available so is there a maintenance plan that comes with it like is that additional addition no this is the maintenance plan for um I believe it was three years this I have a question about the um digitizing our documents in the construction department so where are we so look like $30,000 for the next six years we're planning for how far into it are we and how much further do we have to go before we are sort of caught up by the digitizing unfortunately I can't give you a solid answer yeah I me just a rough estimate it's not um it's not very expensive to scan the actual permits and the jacket because they're 8 and a half by 11 it's the bulk of money is the plans as an example one of the new buildings for the district one of the smaller buildings is 285 Pages surprised so yeah we have countless plans over the years for all the buildings and and in the cor conell Corporate Park all the buildings up at Nokia um plus all these new buildings that are being built now so are we in the infiny stages of this project like are we or are we still playing catchup and then the six year uh Capital planning is because we know we're going to have all these larger construction projects that we had to keep up with like at what point do you think we're caught up I would love to say we're probably halfway okay let's not that just again clarify with just the big plans just the but that's also just the building department I don't know where um planning is um there's a whole room just at the sewer plant we have a lot of our stuff out of there but there's still quite few for engineering and planning zoning stuff in the basement of that Hall we have quite a bit in the F room across from The Bu but right now we're trying to concentrate on the plants I think Council has appropriated from capital in the past I want to say it's roughly around 75,000 yeah 50 to 75,000 um the six more years of this is quite likely hoping not and hopefully with the large format printer that could help redu yeah okay so then that that's my followup question that $3,000 a year the majority of it is for plans and we get the large format printer $220,000 that reduce our need to spend $30,000 a year that's my hope but I can't project too far ahead because I don't know what kind of plans I'm getting in also right now we also have we have plans that we're sending out plans now this week and that's going to probably finish up what's left in that Capital line item already but that's to send them out that will send them out that will scan them digitize them need to digitize them right if we have the large format printer we would be able to reduce some of them out it's got to catch up first right we would be able to we would not be able to do everything that we have now even with this sced the the man hours the man hours involved with just won't be part I mean the woman hours which we initially started this project thinking we were going to have humans take out Staples of papers and and plans before we sent them to the scanning company quick they realized that's literally impossible with our staffing so I mean we just have to sign we just pile up the boxes and they come pick them up and sort them and do the bulk of acrost isn't some a page like this it's the large plans unfortunately and very detail PL get sent in fortunately um hopefully the state will recognize once they get going with this electronic plan review fully on board that there will not be the need to still submit two sets in paper except having served on the plan board reading the those plans on any type of a device that isn't for paper is just tough can't really see the detail well in order would agree but we do we have a 45 inch screen so and it's it's a touchcreen so it it blows it up and it it keeps all the the full clarity of everything we don't you don't lose with it any of the resolution that was one of the reasons why we went to that size instead of a small because you're 100% right on a on an iPad on a desktop 27 inch or 30 you're not gonna you're losing it but this is specifically designed to keep that resolution thank you good work in the construction Department we're trying we're gonna be busy are next we have clerk clerk does not have any Capital the things that are the clerk budget uh in the clerk's budget are other than salaries and wages or things like advertising which were required to do by law printing office supplies some conferences but nothing very exciting um next we come to DP Jimmy Jimmy why don't you come with him and just keep him company there's another chair up there Tony also I just want to thank these guys um the the contractors for LEL Lord drove all over the Ada accessible path to the community garden and uh there some very upset people these guys AR out there and took care of it um this morning um there's some kids coming in who need that path because they're in wheelchairs to to plant on Wednesday so these guys went and took care of everything put some plyboard um plywood set up so thank you for doing that so quickly nice pole patching on Mountain Avenue I noticed on the way to jail so good work good evening guys good how are you good how are you good all right tell us about your Capital plan okay so the first item we have is need for a single active dump truck with a salt in a plow um that just happened correct yeah we just we forced to put one out of service about two weeks ago it was in 1998 um and there was a severe crack over a foot long in the frame which forces me to put it out of service um I am not able to legally alter a frame or weld it or anything like that it has to be um our original single axle Fleet we try to keep five um in the past um 30 plus years um we had a a 1991 a 1994 that one we still have two 1998 and a 2003 um about six or seven years ago we auctioned off to 91 and one of the 98 the axle Lally fell out of itself um we never replaced either of those units um the 03 is still in decent shape um the 94 is been relegated solely for a salt truck um I actually just put a transmission this past winter that not that one Liv for another 30 years so it's safe to say if there's a chance that you can still breathe light into it you guys will keep using it oh yeah got theor G um so um that is the the need for it um Joe R has told me if I do not ask for this he will fire me um so that's that that again it would come with a uh a um fter and plow unit and that's that whole figure of 145,000 um the next issue is um this has been discussed for since the Redevelopment an electric gate on the DPW uh yard um 30,000 that is all in would be similar to if anybody's ever been to the store Department you dial a code to get in you go in what on the way out electric eye it opens up after you drive through it closes again um we need this now that the DPW facility is open every other Saturday um and we allow people we kind of yeah so somebody can't get there on Saturday and they come Monday morning we'll take it from we don't let people line up and but does the safety issue too for the residents well that's the other thing after hours people come in I came in one morning and somebody dumped a boatload of computers in with the leaves yeah that's that's probably one of the biggest problems we're having is just people coming in and throwing items where they're not supposed to go so we got to go into scrap metal containers to pick out leaves and sometimes we can't do it with a machine we have to actually climb in it and it's sharp there's Jagged edges it's just not a safe thing people think a dumpster is a dumpster that's where they're at you know what I mean s um and then there's a the component just a lot of money down there from machine conru you know leave it open I mean naturally all the garages are locked everything but there are Vehicles outside and people just don't belong here after hours I agree so um next item um 31 Schneider Avenue um Chief Hopkins current Reserves at that house in Township we are the landlord of that particular property um is in need some it's a very old home um there was uh severe issues with the foundation on the back of that home which butts up to um there's a concrete act from the house with constructed a million years ago where that deck meets it is falling in um I need to have that repaired before the house really gives right um along with um there's steps that are broken in the back um railings that are falling W next question so is the money for materials and you guys would do the work no a licensed contractor yeah so it's pretty severe the damage there and that's the $23,000 you have a quote on that not going to go yeah I have a firm on I mean Once you pull it out there's no telling you know I was like oh my god there this but chances are they can get it sh sheared up um we're able to see most of the damage from the outside so um I think this should fix the problem I've done some work to the house there was a tree H the back last year I had to have tend to that RI the gutters off did some damage to the roof I have fixed that but this is the more serious issue so um another smaller project $7,700 on Countryside drive there is an area um where water sits and creates an ongoing ice condition um to make it very simple the water just over here here we want to do some work with some curbing um basically put the water from over here to over here forcing it to go into the Basin and we have an engineering project that was that we were thinking about that's different okay yes so um that's a very small very small small just we you know you can throw as much salt as you want but if it stays cold which obviously does it melts down and 15 minutes later it frees back up again this smaller project y got it and um the last project is the tun of $7,500 um uh the paint the exterior of the rescue squad building and install LED lighting on the front um in the last couple years we've done quite a bit of work to the squad inside and out this uh would mainly wrap up to talk of what the issues or that we're compounding so um and that's it there actually is one more project but we're not um adding as a separate line item we're going to roll it into the co-op Paving program this year it's to fix the sidewalk flooding on Locust Avenue between the VFW and the YMCA that's our sidewalk um a very very very old sidewalk and like Liza said the water sits there um it two two 20,000 that would be to completely pull it out and replace it when was installed I have no I mean I have to russle around down in the basement to find out but I can assure you it was a very long time ago um so what was that rolled into Ela uh the under engineering the co-op Road program and just spend some of that money instead of spending extra money to do that because it has to be like contoured water runs right down the hill it's not a separate line no it was but we rolled it just r Cas that's I think we kind of asked questions as we went along but are there any other questions for d for Jimmy and Don right good job guys thank you doing a great job thank thank [Music] youed it's are all the projects want to know about yeah apparently I'm the lucky winner I got 10 10 items on the agenda Council how's everyone doing you only have a little bit of water get you have oh I had to make it much bigger yeah so um there's 10 items on the engineering agenda for this evening uh six of them are Grant related which is great um so it's not totally by the taxpayers of this great town so Cuda to the town for uh persevering and being persistent with other agencies to try to secure Grant funds for this municipality so uh number one on the list is the Snider Avenue sidewalk project this is a save streets to school Grant which was I believe submitted in fiscal year 2022 um basically this is going to put sidewalk in front of Hugh school from Pine Grove down to Locust as well as improving the sidewalks on Old Canon road on the Dead up there or the cold sack and also there's a path if everybody remembers there's a path that goes from that cold saac down to the back to Hugh school so that's also going to be you the path all the way from use that path also extends all the way down to the Y extending that far down or that no just from all Canon back to it has that work over there also right so that's the Genesis of of that that project is that going to be sidewalk or asphalt the path usually we're not allowed to it's actually going to be a combo because there is some asphalt there now and some of it is dirt but I believe the application request in both where we put in for both um obiously if the job gets designed and moves forward we'll speak with the do as to what we're permitted to put there you know if there's any environmental restrictions that's what I was thinking yeah but we'll figure that out we when we get there so there's a grant uh amount awarded for $517,000 that's our federal aid project uh the second I on a list is the 2024 Paving program that's what we call the Cooperative purchasing program which we go through mors County Co-op um typically that's a program uh designed really for streets that I don't want to say it doesn't have drainage issues on them but minimal drainage improvements that are required um where we're not looking to put in new basins or running new pipe uh mostly Mill and pave uh potentially doing some curbing or some sidewalk reconstruction there um you know programs that we've done in the past were in the river bent section of town last year was Kenton P um Bolton Grand View uh Columbia hardwood all over there so it's a nonpublic bid meaning from it's not going to be designed by engineering but um basically it's a basically it's a state contract we're allowed to to dip into to do the work and to you know which lies I mentioned earlier and through DPW will obviously you know take our in front onlus in front of the YMCA and just to clarify how we pick roads that get paved every day every year you and our DPW director do like uh do a windshield survey we'll drive around town obviously um Linda does a great job uh the Public Works um Department um you know taking names and numbers and complaints for the roads that the in question um and obviously you know dpw's got a great maintenance record program where they know you know how many times they gone out to fill Pooles in town so between a windshield survey records and phone calls and complaints we try to come up with the the right idea or the right right amount of Roads um within the grants funding so and roughly how many do we think we're were able to give this year uh typically that gets us good question may but uh OB would say the longer the roads the lesser amount of Roads we get but I would say it's a if we can't get minimum seven 12 um depending on size I don't know what the going rate is right now for tonage on asphalt um going up I can tell you two years ago was about $96 at the beginning of the year last year was like $60 went down my guess for this year it's probably be somewhere in the middle I would say it's probably 7580 and the sooner in the season we can pay we saved a lot of money by Paving in June last year yeah because what happens is um if you use over a thousand pounds on any particular job um you're subject to escalation Clauses for fuel and asphalt so even though the job was awarded at a certain tonnage through the co-op they bid on at a certain time with with when they know the the the index pricing for fuel and so happens to go up when we're when we're milling and Paving later on in the year then we're subject to an upchar so yes to eliz's point the sooner the better um we still have a have a stable unit pricing at this point which will help us you know stretch out how many roads we can we can do this year so so when do you think that we would know what roads are being targeted um there's a ponary list right now um between myself Public Works and administration um it's not been publicly announced yet and still being my question is when will the public have an idea of which roads are being paid this year uh it will'll be announced as soon as we finalize it which could be you you four or six weeks worth of time it's usually around the budget yeah you do have to get past the budget yeah we also are going through to see if we have any leftover Road money from last year now that we I think we finally paid all the bills from last year so um if there's any there could true and then we obvious we try to stretch our dollars right so um so then how do you determine that a road needs drainage and Paving instead of just paining I'm thinking I'm looking specifically of the Hamilton Avenue de that road is we can we can jump there in seven that road is a disaster um back in 2019 uh the township was putting a capital Improvement program together roughly in that area Princeton Ruckers um Sawmill College uh whatever else is over there that that last piece of Hamilton is the last Road that's not paved in that the funds yeah we have the funds back in 19 um listen I living in town I'm on that road a lot walking my dog I'm at CMS often um there's lack of curbing there which is a problem there's running on the edge of the road the asphalt is deteriorating uh there's Pooles there's settling roads like that would require new infrastructure to be put in catch Bas and piping and the like so that road would not be able to be done under the colop program would have to be an an engineered design project allow for public so that's why it would be a separate line that's also why we were thinking we could pave it this year through the co-op program just to make it livable for people and and then maybe make the drainage project a focus of like a grant next year if we were to pave that road we would get minimum life expectancy on it um but obviously something is better than nothing but it's so short it's about listen curbing that one for probably $35 a foot so you put curbing on both sides of the road you're talking you know 2,200 feet at $35 a foot just recur you know piping is probably piping's probably $100 a foot a Bas is5 $5,000 before even touch and talk about asphalt it gets expensive remember that's the end of the Westside drainage that's where all the water goes yeah which is why it's in such a poor condition and for sharter expensive unfortunately uh number three Old Farm Ward and Mercier um that's a DOT funded project um back believe fiscally year 23 um last year we actually used a co-op it was two years ago it's been don't remember specifically was last year we did used to co-op to theill and pave those streets was really terrible up there um but at the same token um the town was successful in getting a grant through the municipal aid program um the grant scope of work included ined curbing included uh gr infrastructure for drainage it included potentially new basins new piping um realignment of the road because it's just terrible up there half the half the properties have curbs half the curbs are in the road half of them back on their property I know it's a headache for DPW when they're when they're plowing um I remember when Bob Lin was here that was that job was have to pop this lift and we're still talking about it today in 2024 so we got a $463,000 grant plus or minus to do you know so is that 750 the price to do the whole drainage and curving so that 750 would include curving and U some sort of drainage upate there whether it's bio swes minimizing certain curving in certain areas as well as potentially putting in some Bas and and Bing it's not scoped out yet it's not designed how about um fact that it's part of the Westside dra part of it yes and that whatever the improvements that would be done on those three streets would marry into theage project yes so that there will be no duplicate or expenditure of money the only reason I'm asking is because if there's piping that's put in where it's not existent and it leads to the one place where it goes downhill that can't handle that what happens in that instance we would not do that if that was the problem we would have to upgrade um the down shom comp conveyant capacity and to facilitate the new the new dange coming in if that was the problem wouldn't the basins like the catch basins that's what they are they catch the water catch B but that with the curving yes the curving would help the uh the Water get to the Bas because right now it just kind of Manders Overland and does go on private property but does run over beyond that area as well right it does it does um but again if if more of that water is going to go into our underground system now and those pipes may be under sized I'm not saying they are then those pipes would have to be updated to simar to like the west side right Mak all the same area that kind of goes all the way down to the bottom that's the problem oh I think that's why like the bile SS and doing things like that it helps slow some of it give the water time to absorb instead of just facilitating some faster way downhill that's correct as opposed to having to just completely discharge on its own you know you know rapidly as it gets into the structure so we would try to hold it have a perk into the ground as best as possible or some other GRE infrastructure method in order to maintain that water or slow down the discharge so it doesn't overload um our storm system uh probably later later this year couple months at this point proposal needs to come further for consideration the planning board meeting the other night uh Richard ler gave a whole green infrastructure presentation I learned all about bio swell I a rain Gard was I wasn't sure what a bio we can definitely do rain Gardens there too we're going to investigate all types of options up in that area so it's not so you know true to wh curbs um and obviously try to comply with the state regulations as best as possible uh fourth on the list is a Deer Path Lane Road reconstruction that's another go Grant that's under the local Aid infrastructure fund which is a basically it's a discretionary Grant um by the dot it's it's not Municipal Aid similar to um Orchard Old Farm and merci a um everybody knows where a Deer Path is it's a cold sack we got $675,000 uh basically if you're on Mountain Avenue and going onto Deer Path you look on the left the whole Curbing and that whole left side of the road is literally just falling over onto private property um it's probably a 10 or 12T drop I'm not talking it's now falling over 1 foot but like the whole road is falling so that needs to be added with some sort of wall or can can levered wall under the the road bed down in the culdesac there's tremendous amount of u drainage problems that are there water just popping up uh popping up and crack an existing road base that's there so it needs new curbing significant amount of under drains uh and a retaining wall structural wall to support the curving up towards the intersection with mount avenet uh number five is uh B moral Bristol and Lawrence um it's a road construction drainage project that's a DOT award again that was fiscal year 24 so was one year after the old torm project um self-explanatory uh under drains new basins new piping um roadway reconstruction Mill and Paving reprofiling new curbs uh and other you know RightWay restoration um 340 roughly 347,000 was a word from the do uh number six is the Crest Drive wind chip drainage um potential project not sure if everybody recalls um at the top of Crest at the end of the culdesac up by G there's a basin that sits right in front of a property's driveway um when you're coming up Countryside and you get to Crest that's at a certain elevation and if you make a left to go to the culdesac the elevation of Crest starts to rise up to a high point and then as you're going towards the culdesac even further and then starts to come back down to our lower point so at the low Point there's a basin at the mouth of someone's drive from that driveway and that Basin there's a pipe that goes underneath his Drive l or their Drive L to a structure in the backyard through an easement that structure for all intens and purposes is a dead end structure it's a termis structure I'm not sure what the intention was back in the day if water was supposed to go there and just kind of percolate into the hill well there's just so much water that goes through there the Basin structure fills up it's probably about the size of this table and it Cascades 80 feet down the hill if everyone knows it's very Topography is very steep over there so all that water that tumbles out of there uncontrolled it affects some some houses on um on windship and the corner of upper drive and windship um to the point where this actually cut in there because it seeks its own know levels and orientation so now there's some running in there and there's um swells that are cut in there that are literally Traverse people's properties and they're protecting their home trying to protect their home self-preservation so that project would Encompass we looked at if we can continue that pipe that's in the easement behind the property on Crest into Summit we spoke to Summit Engineering I said Yeah by all means if you can make connection that'd be great we can't find a place to make the connection um the next thing we we reviewed was potentially um stabilizing those SL slopes and selles that are already now half of them are man-made um the problem with that can it be done yes but now we have to get secur eement on priver property which we don't have and quite frankly I wouldn't want to put the ownership and responsibility and maintenance on our departments that are in this room so I came up with something we did some survey work andary investigative work where if we take the water from the Basin and by the driveway and we Buck their grade meaning we go the grades again if we come up Countryside it goes up and comes down so I want to take it from the low point and go against a high point of the road back up to Countryside there this infrastructure there preliminar preliminarily that looked like it would work if we can take that water and prevent it from cascading out and actually put it in for infrastructure so that's what that project would be about Hamilton Avenue we talked about it we can talk about it again if we that's pure Capital there's no yes that's that's correct that would be pure uh Hamilton we spoke about uh riverband drainage project again that's a a local Aid infrastructure fund Grant which the town was successful in getting for $400,000 basically that project would Encompass um we have outfalls that go to bake River um where all our storm sewers discharged well not all of them the majority of them discharged to um they're just pipe discharges through through the bank of the river and the intent would be to put in some anti-flooding control measures there it's not going to solve all the flooding there but it would help under certain storms and basically would an put a a check valve or a flat valve or they call them tide Flex valves some sort of control on ended up pipe so when a river starts to rise it would help mitigate some of that water coming back into our infrastructure taking our campaign's capacity away and then uh SE charging onto our roads so um it would help protect our residents as well as uh Township right away and infrastructure so that's what that project is so that would be riverb section and and Cher maybe uh maybe about 10 locations it also includes new new head walls to be put in scour protection so there's no exem bank erosion everything that the P likes to see to comply with their regulations uh number nine Martin's Lane drainage project so 2024 ucit Grant that's a Union County infrastructured trust grant that application is actually do at the end of this month it's a grant that the county comes out with I guess ever since they sold rynolds um until that money disappears but the grant is available again this year um typical jobs we've uh we successful and and bringing forth over the years was uh planfield Avenue on the opposite side of Springfield um we did work on uh Countryside and upper way last couple years so basically they're smaller isolated drainage projects though they're not inexpensive um typically the grant award amounts from 40 to 60,000 it's a matching Grant so typically we'll design something that's 100 120,000 to make sure that we cover uh the grant that we're awarded the trick is that project needs to be designed bid built closed out and paid in the same year so uh the grant is do in March end of March usually within 45 days they'll tell us how much money we may have been awarded and then we need to get to work to figure out and get that out the door constructed and paid by December so that's why that's that lineup is here and then the last thing is stor perment requirements so it's nothing totally new about the State's really getting aggressive with its municipalities it's the MSW permit so pretty much every municipality has a Master General permit for storm water control and compliance um we're tier a permit um gets updated every year there's probably about a 50 page document of what the ms4 department is and what the obligations are for every municipality depending on where you're classified as and there's thing things in there that the town all towns not just us all towns need to um move forward to implement to mitigate some flooding mitigate pollution into our waterways minimize uh litter control uh erosion control on theage edge of our roadways ditches you name it uh storm Basin retrofitting to make sure that the um Iron heads on the curb bline that they're eco-friendly that they only have a certain size opening to allow solids and water to get into our system system um uh bicyle safe grates as opposed to if you look at some of the RO basins they were the horizontal style and they were very deep so like bicycle tires just get caught in them so we we need to change all we need to modify our basins like that um we need to put on our basins on our on our catch basins or inlets you know drains to waterways you remember the old you know blue plaque or it was a spray painted one at the time but um so we need to retrofit all our B we have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them in town so uh every time we design a road engineering design it we make sure all our drainage infrastructure is modified to comply with the DP regulations when we do co-op programs though they're not designed technically every road that we Mill and pay we need to address all those all the iron pieces that are on you know in that project scope so some of that money that you see line item in there for 100,000 would be to go back into to make sure we're compliant with roads that we M and paved whether moving forward or previously is there a map that shows you where every drain is so uh good question uh there is a map uh it is on our website under the engineering department storm order management or control to another drop down in there um and there's a whole bunch of nice storm order flyers and information there which the state wants you know municipalities to provide information to its residents right so we do have a map there um that map probably hasn't been updated probably off a little bit I don't if it was 09 or 9 99 so part of that money that you see that's requested for 100,000 is to update that map as best as we can um obviously we've done a lot of work in town over the last handful of years which don't show any of new basins that were put on so that map needs to be updated um and then that map also can be used in public works as we're supposed to go operate maintain and clean and have a maintenance program and we're supposed to have a numbering identification system and it just leads to a whole whole bunch of um provis us that we need to meet with our MS for permanent requirs so do you do you upate that map you the drain map isn't updated either then oh well no it's not okay several drains and Mar has a drain two so when I was um at the league of municipalities this year I was work FP sessions having to do with the um the new storm water regulations and one of regulations was the townships need to do digital mapping they need to use the gis system in order to facilitate that that is 100% correct the good news is the town has digital Mapp right now um spatial data spatial data logic or sdl performed that service 20 years ago or 20 something years ago it's just outdated so we would go in and actually update that map as best as possible and then that information would have to be transmitted to the state basically they want the state wants every municipality that have locations latitude longitude for every structure ditch water body that they own submit it to the state and then they put it on one big wobble G platform so like birdway heights just ties into new provins ties into Sterling and then eventually they can trace it literally from you know Northern bur County all the way down to K so they have one big global map and that's how that that's how that how how much of the Westside drainage project are we after this is done where are we percentage wasse in completing that project that's a great question because when we did the survey work for Westside drainage we have a j based so we can check marry that up to the plan that where the map that's currently on file now it's count um I would say that information from the west side is probably oneir maybe of 10 it's again we have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of structures down that need to be checked that understand the map that we have now is literally just the location base like we can say this face in our manhole we know it's here's the latitude and longitude location we don't have invert elevations or depths of and what size pipe may be coming through there that's the state's going to go there next so even though we have this nice map it's nice that we know we know where some certain things are but we're going to have to go back into those structures and do survey work on and that turns into a whole conveyance calculation and hydraulics and and basically it's going to turn into a comprehensive pretty much master plan for every municipality to keep Cent and upgrade their storm water management system so considering the problems that we're having at the sewer plant with storm water getting into the system because of manholes Andes that's so when we identify those we spots will that also will we add those to the engineering list yeah so the manholes you talking about are sanitary sewer manholes they're not storm sewer manholes we don't have a combined sewer system so I'm not sewer engineering from town but a little background they're they're getting infiltration inflow water through piping and manhole infrastructure that's defective basically whether it's leaking Jo hols um obviously when we flood in our streets unfortunately one of the points of relief is the Rew s sewers because there's pick holes in order to get the lids off and they're not sealed they go into our system so basically they act as a funnel it takes some of first Norm so that's a lot of the info that you see over at the plan one one question and I know it might be an oxonic question but number one you SN R project walking is fun that new pet is that going to be 8 comp everything do have to have to be that's back through the woods that would be really or if we can't make it a day compliant for whatever the reason then we have to request a um a waiver from those requirements and the state got to sign hope it be possible that'll be ni to school I think anything around the school would be I'm not going to go as far as say the path in the back through the woods um this what I'm curious I know you're asking me um obviously we would try to minimize gr as fast as possible that's that's true that has a a lot of a lot SL there is I take I take my bicycle sometimes up in the YMC up the mountain right tough there so okay that's all I have that's a lot thank you very thorough questions although I think he covered it all right thank you thank you everyone to see everyone Finance ta no we did fire I told Tony to leave because he has no capital okay sitting here yeah he has no Capital um so we have all right captain or lieutenant and I don't know which hat Danny wearing tonight I'm not I'm not sure I just put him on all my emails all my emails no matter what department good evening everybody um we just have two items that we're requesting for Capital uh that would be the first one would be for Le Vehicles which would be 72,000 um as we stated earlier with the OEM we're looking to get rid of one of the vehicles and give it to them and there's another vehicle that we need to get rid of uh the second item that we're requesting for capital is um $10,000 for it upgrades uh we're in the process of upgrading our servers that we bought over from the old Municipal complex and there's always something that happens to break and technology is really important part of policing yeah those are the only two of so typically we do the two cars or we've been trying to budget the two cars because obviously the mileage the the wear and tear owner cars that is that are planning tool the last several years that I recall correct correct two cars and uh and I know that you have sort of propri well you have rules with it you have to be segregated from the township you have to there's certain things that you have to do with it per AG regulations yeah you know a lot of that stuff is covered under operating but a lot of the servers and um technology equipment is getting outdated we bought a lot of stuff over from the old Municipal complex so it's just uh updating our current technology that we have you know you know it could be the last two weeks of the year you think you're you're going to make it and then some server blows or um a backup battery system for our server room something always toak Sal anything the questions you mentioned that one car was going to OEM and you said I'm getting rid of another car will that go to the uni bid We Roll two cars on and two cars off every year that's how we been to practice typically we get with Liza and then she determines where the other cars going be utilized elsewhere in the township we do that if it cannot then we sell it on mun exactly right right and then DPW sort of helps determine if it's still safe to keep on the road deter which car should go right I don't have any additional questions I got one short question which I'm pretty sure will be yes obviously there's backups for all the systems right yes that's it no because I'm I'm watching I'm watching the bunch of systems getting pirated lately and some townships don't even have backups yeah no we um I give Chief deal a lot of credit you know he when I started in the as an administrative Sergeant we kind of got all that stuff so everything that we have is backed up uh twice over so we're we're in good shape you have one you have none you okay thank you next we have the rescue squad I do just want to point out that normally our departments have more Capital requests like that um in any given year but I sort of told SL asked them all nicely to only submit what they absolutely needed year because um we have what over like 2 million I think in Grant um responsibilities that we up for these projects we need to do this year and fund um the township portion of and everybody knows that we need to put a lot of money into the sewer plant so everybody really came together and really just winnowed down their normal asks and just asked for what they really felt they needed this year so thank you everybody for doing that Alan thanks you also good evening Ally Hi how are you I'm good so our only Capital request is $20,000 for the generator um for the building it the balance of what we have left for the actual generator itself to have it installed the engineering behind it all that we need that because we're a warming and cooling center for the town but currently with our generator it does not heat in full the building so if we have a power outage and people need Sheltering we're not going to be able to do that in the current state um unless it's spring or early fall and it's nice out I recall was it last year we had some sort of weather event and you you all lost power start there right yeah so pretty not just for us for our operations I have a sad update um Don how much it's actually $40,000 got updated but we're taking this the unit which is still brand new that we had installed was only there for not even two years that was that powered the PD in the event of a blackout from the old building natural gas unit um initially we were going to use that at the DBW problem was where the gas L was a DW would have been thousands the engineering work so we ended up with a diesel unit their gas line is right there so I have done all of the engineering we're ready to no it's sitting at the DPW they're going to do everything Soup To Nuts the concrete pad hooked to the gas line brand new ATS we were not able to use the same ATS it was not compatible with their building we were not able to remove it from the old town hall um but the electric operting electrician cost everything but it's to the tune of 40,000 because the costs have gone up in the only thing that we opted out of to say literally was like $200 was Vinnie is going to forklift it from DP W and set it on the pad other than that there's nothing that else we can we can elect sorry Ali Don just got the revised quote from the woman was that with Co or something from the company so he finally got the but I've done all the engineering um so it's 40 it's 40,000 to to have that unit installed and that's I mean if that hour aot I mean it's brand new but if it continues to sit down there it becomes a hotel for bees and mice and rats I have nowhere indoors I can house it that's what they doing something like that becomes dormant they get in and they begin to chew the wires all that um this was back what year 2021 I think start about this2 again I've done all the engineering that's ready to go we have the plans we just need the money to that's to change our figures from 20,000 to 40,000 yes the ATS men public that's electronic transfer system or okay just everyone understands we tried we were not we could not transfer the one from not compatible boxes Chang requirements Chang concept okay this is pretty straightforward all so the increase apparently unfortunately I should say all right questions yeah she can she wants to go over the squad has a little bit of a different category of age to Squad it's not capital and technically is an operating contribution yeah so we have $60,000 in there for to go towards a new ambulance um that is pretty essential because we do have our newest ambulance that we weren't planning on replacing um is failing uh it's a lemon that it needs a new engine and we um had sent it out multiple times it was out for the majority of last year at the dealership getting worked on and um they sent it back when it was out of Warrant now and it did not get the new engine that it needed so um we need to replace that when we were planning on replacing our ambulance that is pushing 10 years old which is just about the life of the ambulance um but now we need to look into two options so we did get $60,000 last year um um we're asking for another 60,000 this year because of the unexpected what is the cost of an ambulance between $350 and $400,000 and you're raising those funds privately we're fundraising on our own yeah and then asking for the contribution the township as well how short are you between the 60 last year the 60 this year and fundraising so we don't have a definitive number yet um we've asked a couple businesses in town for a contribution but we don't have definitive numbers back from them just yet but working on it on our side as well information thank you and then the other is $225,000 for um three new radios that we as well to continue upgrading our technology on our side this is this might be a question just this it's my first budget season um the fire radios are in um the capital budget yes but the rescue squad radios are in operating budget and I'm just curious why so they we used to have them in capital and then there was discussion last year which was a good discussion is if if it's given to the squad in terms of Aid they actually came up with the ambulance that's how they can claim 100% ownership of the ambulance if we give them money for the ambulance right so that's so that's why we put the the radios in this bucket also so then they 100% own the radios so I can't remember yeah I think it was I think it was their nonprofit status we don't an effective nonprofit status in Township record keeping of the radios and everything else um I don't remember exactly either but I remember that's why switch it that way you remember I think it's I I would assume it's because the fire department is the township entity there Township Department yeah so it it was decided yeah last year that it seemed cleaner to to give you the aid and then you buy the radios yourself with so I just wanted to make sure that the radios that you're requesting are actually in the budget I didn't see them under no right separate there's a s yeah they're in there andil kid sorry funding uh grants any grants for those radios constantly looking for any we've been successful that was going to be my question as well there is a state Grant out there we have been successful the with get more do you know always always looking we're always looking I know we tried for the Garrison E Grant and unfortunately we're in a position where there are municipalities that are socioeconomically more right dist desperate than we are you know that fair right so we haven't gotten that one um we tried successful there was no le Grant yeah when we went to County dispatch that's how that was the shared shared service Grant that's how we got that because we went to County dispatch yeah right that's the difference yeah yeah and we looked into a motor Rola Grant as well this year we do need to become a like Sam's certified agency to be able to apply for that so that takes a little bit more time than um we really I ized so we'll continue to look into that as well for next year now how is it three radios every year or that's kind of what we're planning for yeah um just to make sure that we're we don't want it to be a huge burden um but we do need to continue to upgrade our technology purposes I always know like Sams like the federal government Sams you need to be a recognized agency by them to apply for the grant for Motorola okay let's talk because we are app apply and then we give it as Department something we'll see what we can manage here and the friends of the P apply for it I'll give you the radi I don't want to put you on the spot but I think it was two years ago where the other Chief came in front of us and said there was an issue with Summit Medical Group and that you guys were taking a lot of calls and it was impacting and since you're sitting here want to know I did follow up with Mar La so answer to um yeah so we ended up actually taking less calls there last year um there was less emergency calls to County dispatch in general from that facility so it's sounds like their contract with Atlantic is working out a little bit better for them um there was still a fairly significant amount of calls but um the county is Fielding some of those as well so the burden on us hasn't been as significant as was you're okay yes so ATL Hill their Ambulance Service I know that there's been um there's been such a an issue with Lantern Hill as well that Al Morgan May Morgan was talking about doing having sort of a a facility in the rge areas for Union County that might be helpful because we had the issue with some health and Providence has the issue with Lantern Hill so something that we're supposed to be working on this year as well but um I think there's been pressure put on Atlantic Health um to do the right thing and so that's been helpful yeah so that's good yeah really we just need them to hold their end of the contract because they had that's there's the stipulation in the resolution for when I remember that yeah and so as long as they bu that up then know becomes a problem again we will thank you Al thank you thank you for all you guys alphabetically Recreation yeah she has no Capital the only change this year from the budget is really that there's money in operating for a senior bus driver there's money in operating for a senior they really change okay Al [Music] treatment you know what let's do that I just took mine but I don't want to you know one yeah we'll take a minute break everybody run the bathroom then anybody needs to you can escape what I had to run out before I like I missed something yeah [Music] thats good Christmas sorry that's my alarm to something else so pretty like it sounds so nice and then I'll miss something I can't start the meeting without you you're that important I can't start the meeting without you oh that's awesome I got to stay right here here Alan do you need some C still with us us I went to the L's room and I looked in the mirror like why I I anything forgot the time change really impact so 12 hours of sunsh I [Music] justnow shes in the [Music] 1846 oh yeah so the one no this is my I walk down to the tavern yeah not yeah trying to drag my kids up with me and they're not [Music] interested something was saw a turtle hear a turtle a turtle where did you see a turtle yeah it work a couple times yeah you didn't see the other thing and then it's on the water to he went like this and then I your first all right we have everybody back and we have Alan and thank you very much take it away good evening council members good evening Mayor de um so we have 18 projects for uh 2024 that we're asking for uh so I'll just cover those on the sheet um I am making the assumption that you have the same sheet as I do uh just a quick note going into it um you know the budget is an Ever evolving task um we are responding especially now to D um input from their inspection so there might be some adjustments on here I'll walk you through it the best I can uh the first ask for 2024 will be the second line item that's electric switch Gear replacement at mean wastewater treatment plant this is probably within the next five years the most crucial one um basically we had our um electrical engineer from um PSNS come in and do an assessment a quick assessment of our switch gear uh our switch gear essentially is there as a system to regulate um to protect and isolate our electrical clment equipment around the plant um and his assessment was uh it's pasted its useful life it's about 40 to 45 years old and we have about five more years of service from it so within the next five years we need to work to get that equipment replaced uh we're asking for $150,000 in 2024 that's that's the soft cost for engineering that's just kick off the project uh we have to start it now because in essence uh it takes uh quite a bit of time to receive switch gear equipment lead times are generally about a year and a year and a half to a year and a half away so uh the $150,000 is to kick off that project uh the second uh the second ask for 2024 will be a combination system uh it'll be for a line replacement um going into 2023 we identif if the lime system as needing to be replaced we use lime to increase the pH of our Wastewater um our lime system was uh or is um almost uh it's almost past its useful life um we're literally holding it together with duct tape so uh in Spring uh of this year we went to a trial system to replace it that's the magnesium hydroxide system um so we successfully tested magnesium hydroxide and we've decided to go to that system fulltime the good news with that is it costs considerably less to um Institute a magnesium hydroxide system over the lime system uh initially we were looking for northwards of a million dollars to replace the L system uh magnesium hydroxide system cost considerably less and in addition to that uh for this project we can uh bring the micro C system into that fold and combine the two systems uh for that project we use micro C it's a glycerin uh that glycerin allows us essentially to move nitrates so U we were able to again successfully test magnesium hydroxide and lump it together with the micro C system uh the construction cost will be combined considerably less than just replacing that one system the lime system and safer also corre and safer also magnesium hydroxide is not toxic lime is it's a safety feature for the workers as well as for the equipment yes that was one of the major um considerations when we uh we're assessing which type of chemical to go to magnesium hydroxide not only is safer for the workers but it also um is a nutrient for our microbi microbiology in our systems so it's a win-win uh the next line item is for our service water system uh our service water system essentially is our non-potable water pumps uh we take nonpotable water which is PL effluent it's our treated s it's R treated sewage and we pump it back into the plant uh to um for different for different purposes one of which is to cool the seals on some of our pumps we use it to wash down certain things uh so we have two pumps in the basement they are getting to the end of their service life uh we're not asking to replace those two pumps this year but we are asking uh money to replace a component of the system there's a strainer and that strainer cleans the water that those U non-potable water pumps move um the system is become dangerous to our equipment our equipment if we do not have that strainer in place the strainer is pretty much failed at this point and it needs to be replaced um so again this year we're just asking for uh $100,000 to replace that component and then moving forward uh we'll look to replace the pumps in uh subsequent years the next line item if you have the same so is that capital or or they this is iank this is um this it seems like we are asking through the ibank for this particular project um the next line item uh I don't know if you have the same sheet as me but uh it should say power transformer at the administrative building um we're taking that and we're lumping that into the second line item the electric switch Gear replacement the Transformer is pretty much part of that system the Transformer takes the utility power uh that we get from the lines coming into the building and it converts into usable electric uh which our switch gear takes and routes it throughout the plant um so instead of power transformer we are asking uh 500 that we're asking to to uh put that $500,000 from the nji bank toward our collection system uh the next few items will be about the collection system the collection system is going to be it looks like from the initial preliminary uh feedback from the D in their inspection the collection system is going to be a major Focus going forward um they Tak a look at plant they know that we have become inundated by infiltration uh infiltration is groundwater flood water um storm water uh any type of water that's not sewage that makes it into our system um the the engineer spoke before about about the infiltra again we're not a combined Source system so we have to keep that storm water that groundwater out of our collection system our sore pipes we have a thoratic collection system our 72 we have 72 mile pipeline uh we have a lot of leakers in there it's taking on a lot of water and the DP knows that uh plant unfortunately becomes burdened by a lot of this infiltration um for example in January um we had eight days of flow we took on eight days of flow that was above our design capacity our design capacity is 3.1 million gallons per day on January 9th we took in close to 8 million gallons and we remained well over that 3.1 for the next 89 days so the DP is aware of that and they are pointing to the infiltration issues that we are experiencing so uh we're asking for $500,000 from the nji bank so who's doing that work the um so PSNS would do the design work so well Al Ellie can explain but there's certain portions of the collection system that we identified that we can absolutely fix with the initial $200,000 under the collection system line item and then Allan can explain how they go and test to determine where the other be spots are absolutely so uh basically over the past I'll say five years we have gone out to our own collection system we have inspection equipment on site and we've identified a number of different areas number of pipes a number of different manholes that we need to be repaired that needs to be repaired um so those are basic repairs that any Wastewater facility would enact we do have specialized issues um for example our next line item Hampton Drive Force main we've had issues with Hampton Drive Force M we have a pump station on Hampton Drive um it pumps Wastewater up the hill uh and and to do that it's pumped into a force m a pressurized pipe and over the past five years we've had three I guess you call it catastrophic failures of that pipe so we need PSNS to come in and to facilitate a project to um to inspect that force me it's a very specialized it's a very specialized inspection um so to answer your question um you know it's kind of a partnership we're doing a lot of the identification once we identify it we bring in traditional companies to come and do the repairs and uh on the other hand when we have the specialized repairs we bring in our Wastewater Engineers PS is it is it an inspection like is it because I don't like I understand hampon drive for man repairs that's got a useful right useful life right so that's a capital project correct how can an inspection be a capital project so when uh yes so when we ask for the $500,000 after we do the inspection then we have to repair it so okay so this is as a result of the inspection not the actual correct result of the inspection um into in order to repair the pipes they have to use certain techniques one is called CIP they essentially insert a resin bag into the pipeline and they solidify it and they cut holes where the laterals from houses come in so these will be this will be for Capital repair they put flow meters in another part of that as SL was bringing up uh the DP has approached us and they said one of the things that they really would love to see us do as part of our first steps in addressing this major issue is for us to conduct a um a flow study um it would be a process by which we would hire a company to come in they would set up flow meters around town and once we get a rain event that shows us where we're getting a the burden or the bulk of our inflow into the system that allows us to identify and to Target the areas where the infiltration and inflow uh is most prevalent that was going be my question so you know two and a half time times our regular flow on the 9th of January yes my question was to be can you identify like where is that was it a rain event it was it it was a rain event no doubt a rain event yeah January 9th we had a major rain event I think we had three inches of rain water that day and it was a direct result of that rain whenever we have River flooding whenever we have a major rainstorm we see it come right at the plant um almost immediately and that tells us it's a major infiltration uh issue you know you know how social media sometimes people are speaking on social media that it's all the influx of the new apartments that's causing some of the problems yeah this was a rain event this was a this was a rain event I'm not I wouldn't discount the you know new construction as part of the problem but right now the main focus has to be I infiltration in inflow into our into our sword PES and the money for that study isn't operating Professional Services for PSNS we got ative proposal yeah so the money to do the study isn't operating um I guess we don't know until the results of the study but we're already picking up roads to do storm water curving drainage would it make sense to also fix the sewer manold CS one of one of the good things about type of repair that that I spoke about called CIP is trenchless you actually don't have to dig up the road you can fix these pipes through the manles that that makes sense like laparoscopic surgery yeah it's pretty much like that that does help we don't have to coordinate and say hey you need to fix these manholes before we before we go spend money Road study and then you know one of the a lot of times if exactly if you go to uh if we want to fix a pipe under a a road that had been paved the month before we would not have to disturb that road if if it's a traditional fix it does not have the it does not necessitate beinged the lining system is pretty interesting I've seen other towns use it it's amazing how the machine goes through and Spins it spins the cover or just puts the tube in there there's robotics involved they put they put a robot in there to find where the house connections are and they cut it out it's it's it's a really interesting process um okay so again I spoke about the Hampton Drive Force main uh real quickly again it's very specialized uh it's very specialized inspection um PSNS is taking the lead on it right now we had uh identified two companies it looks like we had found one I think they're called American pipeline uh it seems that their technology works best for us there's a lot of Cheaper routes to go uh but that technology wouldn't tell us what we need to know some of the traditional technology for for inspecting U pipeline of this type it only tells you um you know just where the cracks are we need to know where the gas bubbles are we need to know where the the metal is starting to degrade uh that's what this specialized study will show us and DP is very uh conscious of this issue too they want to act on on this um inspection um so that again is the Hampton Drive Force main one more um one more line item down that's connected to the collection system we're also asking for an additional $200,000 this $200,000 is for just what we're talking about is to get the ball rolling on fixing these issues in the collection system um we're asking for that as a normal or regular uh budget item each year and the NDP is we taking a look at what we've spent in the past on the collection system uh and they want to see how frequently frequently we have been spending to repair it um so this will satisfy their concerns if we start moving forward very very soon we had a date for that study to start we have a call uh with PSNS I think in about a week and a half yes to talk about that because spring is the time for rain of yeah and they need to test and rain and dry days too so they did say it's going to take a couple months in terms of duration how long it have to collect a number of different data points so it will take quite a while to to move through that study but it I could assure you um that's what it's a very crucial site so it's well worth I'll let you know that okay next item is storage upgrade uh real quickly uh right now our disinfectant what we're the chemical that we're using to disinfect the waste water before we discharge it into the caic river paric acid we are pumping out of totes right now the totes are just kind of portable 250 gallon tanks uh that is a safety issue in the eyes of the NJ DP uh so we are in the process of constructing a new parastic acid pumping station um that project is um it's preliminarily underway the electrics are being laigh for it um I believe that uh the principal construction will begin in in May once the ground becomes hard enough in order for us the constructed um and then just to wrap up that issue of flection system we're also asking for an additional um $50,000 to repair our manholes we have a number of manholes around town we're still finding them uh where we the brick work inside it's old and it's leaking and we're taking a lot of groundwater through that old masoner a lot of our collection system was constructed in the 50s so uh it's constructed out of old bricks uh the old brick work style and a lot of those bricks and masonary is starting to fail so we're asking uh for that amount of money to start addressing those issues what do they get replaced with uh well I think in this case we're not going to ask for a full replacement we're going to ask for it to be lined it's an effective fix and it's a more budget friendly fix so they come in and they just kind of spray it and solidify what's already there [Music] um next one is going to be Miller energy uh Miller energy eration based in vfds this ask is uh it's kind of to mitigate any future emergency so a vfd is called uh it's to put it as basically as possible it controls pumps it control the speed of pumps in relation to flows into flow we have I I think somewhere around 1250s uh in our plants in our pump stations they're um they're hard to come by so if a vfd goes down it'll take somewhere between three to five months in order for us to get a new vfp in uh in that time frame we will not have use uh or at least full use of that pump that that the BFC broke on so in order to mitigate any waiting time we're asking for U the purchase spare vfds to put on our shelves and uh to have in case of any emergency Horizons U these will be for some of our most critical pumps including for our Iration based mixers um our Iration Bas mixers are key in order in our process of making uh permit we don't have our mixers mixing we will not be able to remove any ammonia and will be in violation of our permit um let see the next item for 2024 is going to be our compliance sample pit so uh this is stemming from again from our our current D inspection uh the inspector uh is very concerned about um the fact that our compliance sample pit the S the pit from which we take our samples to show that we are in compliance uh they're very concerned that it becomes surcharged it becomes flooded with river water when uh the river becomes uh and the river floods its banks so we have that compliance sampling it's very close to the river it's about 100 feet away from it and uh starting well back in December uh it we started to experience um that sample pit become flooded and overflowing at certain points the problem there is um when that happens we can't guarantee that there's no river water being mixed with our samples so so D so inspection of DP was very interested in us moving forward on a project to address that we have approached our engineer our engineering firm PS s has come up with a fix and that fix is to install two check valves uh one per pipe we have two pipes that lead from the compliance sampling pit out to the river there be there will be two check valves one on each pipe that will close off if the river starts to come back and keep the river water out um so that's that's the proposed fix on that um did you skip the I did I did 2024 oh okay I'm sorry let me make sure yes move that to 2020 thank you okay uh after the compliance sampling hit issue we have it replace circuit breakers Rec P circuit breakers so in our electric room we have circuit breakers that are 45 almost 50 years old and basically the handles have broken on them so so every time we have to use them we have to open it up and put our hands in 480 volt boxes that is a major safety issue we don't want to do that anymore so uh we have asked rap pum to give us a quote in order to come in and install brand new boxes and uh the ask there is going to be for $20,000 um the next item is RP pump uh back in back last year we ordered a grit pump through Capital uh I think for $60,000 uh we're asking for an additional $36,000 uh for I believe it's for the piping uh for those grit pumps um the piping uh has to be U modified and some of the piping that is in the grit chamber which the new grit pump will be attached to has become bowed and corroded it needs to be replaced muffin monster replacement we're using existing money for for we found money we found money don't need the muffin monster this right no it's it's a real it's a real thing every time it's just it's just the pict with Bo sorry it's just a funny name for a grinder and after that we're asking for $20,500 to construct a catwalk um so this catwalk will between will be between our um two of our existing contact Chambers we have contact Chambers where we pump our parastic acid into it real quickly uh they're just there for to slow the flow down and let the chemical react um with Wastewater we need to pump it down every once in a while and clean it out because we have solid settle down there um when we do that we have to manually drop a very heavy pump down there and uh it's dangerous we had one operator who had a a back injury doing that this year um and other people have had you know strains during this process so we are asking for $20,500 to construct an OSHA or Piha compliant um catwalk between those two contact Chambers next item is uh instrumentation replacement for Iration Basin tanks including pH probes from Northeast technical uh in 2023 when we started um the wastewater treatment plant modernization program um we said we found that a lot of the a lot of the probes uh and a lot of the meters around the plan just didn't work um so we started replacing them last year and one of the things that replaced last year was two PH meters in aration Basin there's two more now um there's four total and we would like to replace the other two this year so last year we decided to kind of uh cut it in half um and replace two last year and we would love to replace the other two this year we need those PH meters in order to monitor the process in our variation base and that process again is directly related to compliance uh we need to know the pH of the waste water in order for us to optimize it to remove ammonia then reing up we have a few more items the next is federal fire yard hydrant improvements um we have yard hydrants around the treatment plant that's basically where we hook up high pressure hoses the to clean our tanks out we can't really clean our tanks out with regular garden hoses because they're so massive and there's sludge in there and the Sledge is nasty it's hard to move so we have to hook up our hoses and kind of flush them out with high pressure we have a lot of yard hydrants I would say actually most of our yard hydrants I think we have 13 of them they don't really work they haven't been um they haven't been fixed in years so we've identified I think something like three or four four of the most critical ones and we're asking for that amount of money uh we're asking for $23,000 650 to uh replace the most critical ones and those are the ones that will uh have the most uh impact on our ability to meet permit just clarify we I think we that 2025 but we will we will re talk yes I think I think we I think that's one of the things we push off to 25 just know what it's 236 yeah so looks like next year have some that work so that you can okay we have work we'll make we'll make do and then um we could bring a jet truck in and if need me to uh use pressure just got a new B truck so we should be hopefully we receive that in December we're very excited about that last three wastewater treatment plant meain building roof repair very simple very simply our roof is leaking it's leaking over one of the most important control boxes in the plant which is our influent pump control center uh if the roof leaks on it and shorts of that we will not have the ability to pump Wastewater Plant so we would like to fix the roof so uh we do not have that issue that's $8,000 fix that's not a complete replacement of the roof that is to fix the portion of the roof that is leaving and then finally you know just uh we talked about earlier we talked about the great pump that's going to be put in uh remember we bought the grip pump last year uh the lead time was about a year so we're we're on track to finally get that grip pump in the springtime W be get that grip pump there's a valve that no longer works um in order to use the grip pump we need the valve to be replac the valve essentially it's um it splits the Wastewater flow between our two Chambers we have two Chambers right now we're only using one because we only have one pump we closed that we closed that valve year ago and the valve was already broken then um so basically if you want to open the flow to the next Channel where we're going to install the brand new pump we have to get that b fixed and we are asking uh just over $6,800 to replace that Val and then finally we have a uh Sledge pump in our Sledge building um it's it's broken it's our backup pump and instead of going out and asking for $100,000 to replace it we have identified a way to buy new components for it and to fix it for $5,600 um so that is one comment wow i' had if I can make one recommendation or suggestion whatever you want to call it the hund uh the 15,000 for soft cost that we budgeted for this year for the electric switch Gear replacement so we're going to combine that um into the other electric line item that I can't find power trans right it's all going to be one part of one big electrical project when we send it to the ibank if we can knock these soft costs down for for this year from 150 to 130 we could that could be the 20 generator right for the squad generator just just an idea I POS possible it's shell shock and um if possible at one of the meetings in the future bring in a piece of one of those pumps so people can see because when you say pump and replacing line for $336,000 they're picturing the 3/4 inch line you see in your basements not realizing that your lines are actually 22 in and greater are these are these going to have like sludge or sewage on them no no we had in I remember that I think it was 18 brought P he brought in just a cylinder head yeah okay because someone said why can't we go to Home Dep get a pump and and he had the box and he put the box in the table bring what's that that's one of the cylinders we have 16 of them we have 32 work one of the weite they're very specialized piece of equipment in some cases we have to send overseas to get them just so someone in the not the audience but the meetings maybe we can say we bring in a sample what's being placed there so it's a visual for the for the public I'd like to say I really admire the work that you've done down there since you started you have to be so reactive due to all the neglect over the last few decades but then I noticed you're also being very proactive and thinking about what's coming so I appreciate that unfortunately we have to play so yeah and I I we get that so I do appreciate you I'm gonna play Debbie Downer here so so no you're doing a great job not about you I just want to generally look at I'm kind of my head has gone beyond this so we're saying so we're we're potentially saying 2.3 two let's call it $2.4 million for the sore plant out of traditional Capital um taking on that debt potentially $7.3 million in total so the ibank were saying 6.5 which is probably going to look more like what three potentially $3 million this year so we're talking about taking on another $10 million in debt for 2024 does that sound right shy from there may that's a lot it's a lot that's a lot the difference is that the majority of that potential borrowing is going to be from D njib which is the best borrowing we can have for that it is traditional bonding is not that much but the njib yes it's another hit another 18 so and I'm sure we don't have the answer to this tonight but what I would like to see and I'm sure it's not much but I want to see what debt is rolling off the books if we have anything rolling off from IB from previous you know decades um does that provide any kind of breathing room for us because I think when we looked at the analysis of the debt that we were taking on versus what was rolling off we decided that we had a budget of about $2 million a year okay so last year we took on about10 million eight million of it was at this s plan and we're talking about doing the same again this year so we need to do some effective planning here um and know what we're know we're taking on so so I'm saying on the approved column just to go over it again roughly 2.3 this year 2. let's call it 2.4 for the sore plan right 7.3 in total of just what we we discussed tonight from all of the department requests right then on the I ibank column you're talking about 6.5 but that that won't all happen at once right so it's 0% for 50% of the project until it goes to construction so I'm being a little conservative and saying half so $3 million so that's where I'm coming up with $10 million or maybe a little less of debt this year I'm looking at the I number because we got to account for something there because it's I I would suspect I would suspect that we would have to pay out something this year it's probably less than half but I'm again I'm being conservative I'm just I'm just pointing out that $10 million in debt we've got 25 million on this building plus the 10 million that we did last year and what we what we can realistically when we looked in analyze what we can realistically take on and break even every year what rolls on and what comes back on is about 2 million so I'm just saying where this is it's a lot ratios don't work it's a lot but emergencies yeah no I I I know that I just and we got to take a hard look at some of this yeah I did send all of this to Heather atw Financial she normally does like a a debt analysis so I hope that we can have that and I'm sure we will prior to the introduction um look I mean and it's nowhere near the debt that we're taking on we have done well as it relates to the pilots the rents have been higher so we're generating more money with the pilots we generate more money with the store connection fees because we pass the we updated the ordinance we plan to update the ordinance again every time we have large project construction permits that are pulled um we can't we can't anticipate Revenue that we haven't uh received in the previous year so that's why we're building the Surplus but there's always so much you can get into the operating right so even if you have Surplus right there's just so much that you can do um so you know we talk about these things and I want to just point out the reality of how serious this budget is and how difficult every year it is to make these really tough decisions and you know everybody comes in with requests and they're being really reasonable about what they're asking for it's just there's not a whole lot of room um or de um you know unfortunately I know that every year we've had a call with Moody who's the bond rating company and they tell us that we're doing a tremendously good job uh administering our finances and we can't get to the AAA uh rating that we really deserve to have because of our debt um debt on this building additional debt that we take we've been taking on with um getting it back up to speed with the sewer plant so um there's some hard realities to this budget that I just want to be really realistic about you know we're not going to walk out of here tonight thinking okay budget's done this is great it's hard we have to make hard choices I am so happy that you know these sort of those things that I wanted to say man so I don't need to add anything say no I said I was gonna play D Downer for a second it's the reality so over woming working on this Capital this was the hardest part of putting the budget and and and just to to point of reference the request was $15 million plus this this 6,500 for the bank so we're talking about 21 million that got Whitted down to 10 correct and still had the struggle and that's with a thank you to all the Departments as well in one recognize that those issues and are trying to keep cost down for absolutely I think our employees Our Town Hall family they do a tremendous job but this is the reality of running local government and it's not easy it's not easy so I don't want anybody to walk out of here tonight thinking that this is an easy process that there isn't more to be cut we don't have to make tough choices as govering body members we've always made tough choices we've got more grant money than than I think this town has ever realized we've gotten Federal Appropriations we've gotten State Appropriations has never happened unprecedented and yet we're still facing a hard budget so with that Alan you are doing a tremendous job and we greatly appreciate you um every single day I know you guys are being creative I know you have a probably the smallest staff of uh of the of the Public Works type Department um it's not easy for you either and I know you're doing the very very best with very very little even though the price tag is very very big um so we do appreciate what you're doing this is certainly not a statement on you it's certainly a statement on um that you have to take care of your infrastructure every single year so Alan thank you any other questions okay we have to do one bit technical make the motion open the citizens hearing second any discussion roll call Madam clerk Mr Kuno yes Mr Donell yes Mr fer missis yes Mr absent Miss po yes okay the citizens hearing is now open comment comments are welcome during the public comment period during this meeting or any matter which come which the township has jurisdiction these are different to make your comment the speaker must come forward to the microphone and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to three minutes the mayor and Council vice president will keep time please promptly yield this the floor when time is called and return to your seat your cooperation and adherence to these Rules of Order will ensure and orderly and respectful meeting with that the citizens hearing is now open good evening Madam mayor esteem Council um and our AI administrator U my name is Haider Ali I'm a firefighter EMT multidisiplinary technical rescuer and Fire Company secretary um first I just wanted to thank you guys so much for the work that you've been doing with us over the year um it's really essential for our town um sustaining a volunteer fire department will open up so much for our town um the group of people that we have there are extremely passionate it's a true calling for them myself included some of my fellow members that are here as well um it's a a group of unity Brotherhood passion and is a real calling to duty um we love serving our community um and we love being able to save our community millions of dollars as well through that um even compared to neighboring communities we are some of the best in the state um just something I want to emphasize on that Chief Hopkins brought up the need for our the vehicles that we discussed are very essential um I was driving that one vehicle that's being replaced twice um going to classes going to duty um and the brakes failed going on the parkway going the highway pretty scary stuff um and just to save the town more money we limped it back here without getting it towed and whatnot so it's really essential that we can get something like that um also just sustaining the fire department itself um there's not a lot of towns that are staying fully unteer now and it's costing them millions and millions of dollars um we would love to sustain a volunteer department all of us love what we do we love serving our community um there's just some steps that we need to take to retain membership um myself included I'm a young professional um it's very difficult to stay in town um so we're hoping that we can work with you guys and the town itself in creating a program to retain members um like we go to class and other towns surrounding us and even much less prominent towns in Middle sex County and other counties at our Academy laugh at us when we tell them what we get in order to retain our membership um like we are incomparable to them but we love what we do and and we will fight and try our hardest to stay here and serve our community as well um even our chief Hopkins he's Works himself literally to death for this town um he he loves being here and he supports all of us in every aspect and we'd love to see him be able to put more time into our community and serve our community as well if that's possible I just really want to thank you guys so much for for working with us and everything than you thank you so much thank you for all your hard work andic to this community no problem any other of the six of you that are left all right uh want seeing no one I make a motion to post the heing any discussion roll call Mr P yes Mr donelly Mr fer absent missis yes Mr Machado absent Miss po yes okay motion to adjourn all in favor all right good night everybody