e e e e e e e e e l started in just a second but maybe it'll read let the record reflect we've reconvene with all members present Bob landrian is apt and excused for those are able please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I ask and remain standing after the pledge sor I pledge to the flag United States of America na indivisible andice please remain standing as we take a mo moment to remember members of our buau extended family a long time Madison residence we lost over the past few weeks Lori hegerich who we will recognize with a proclamation shortly uh passed at the age of 79 after short illness on April 30th was surrounded by her her family she was born East Orange to Walter and Maran heck and after her family moved at age six she be she basically became a lifelong madisonian I don't think anyone's going to challenge that she was a lifelong madisonian she graduated madis high school in 62 Katherine Gibbs school before working as real estate secretary for shalonza in the Angeles she was a member United Methodist Church for over 70 years help establish the churches as a host for Family Promise in mors County provide shelter and resources for family experiencing homelessness and coordinated its program at the church and as you'll hear from this Proclamation she was the definition of a giving person she is survived by her husband of 57 years Jay volunteer firefighter for many years daughters chrisy and Kim three grandchildren her sister Maryann and certainly many cousins nieces nephews and friends who are are here today and she was predeceased by her sister Carolyn we also remember Mary prenti one time Madison resin passed away on May 1st at age of 98 survived by her daughter Phyllis nun her husband Edward nun Senor but grandson at ever nun Jr former fire captain and wife Wendy three great-grandchildren four sisters J Jean piano Caroline penino Agnes ulano and Francis Caruso last two were Agnes is still crossing guard and Francis was a crossing guard um she's also predeceased by her husband Ralph in 1983 brother John and three sisters filamina Catherine and Annette she was born in Floren Park to the late John and filamina ter in 1925 one of nine of of children grew up in the home that still stands in Floren Park she received her sacraments at St Vincent church and was a lifelong communicant there she and Ralph were married in 1947 and settled in Madison shortly after they welcomed their daughter Phyllis into the family and she had a long career doing what she loved cooking for several Madison School cafeterias King James Nursing Home home Bell labs in Murray Murray Hill and Drew University so let's take a moment to remember Lori hgri and Mary prente and let us pass our thoughts to the families and friends that they leave behind thank you we have uh no minutes for approval tonight so uh welcome all we apologize we got started a little late we had a heavy executive agenda and I welcome you all after an extra week in between meetings as we come off of a five Monday April some Sometimes some of us appreciate that extra Monday periodically uh and maybe the weather pattern will will settle down so it won't feel like early April one day and late May the next and I welcome Carrie to my uh left here she is covering for clerk Liz Osborne who was out sick today so thank you very much for coming and to cover and also as a reminder our next meeting will be on Wednesday May 29th due to the memorial day uh holiday and uh also as you're setting your mark your calendars we will only have one meeting in June on June 10th the uh June 24th meeting has been cancelled and just uh going on over the last couple weeks on April 27th we had the second uh Madison Green and clean day along with the annual Arbor Day celebration I'm sure we'll hear more about this during the reports I was out of town so I want to thank uh council president uh Eric range for covering for me and I want to thank all those that came out to clean up our town and uh also stopped by the green fair to learn about all the green initiatives going on and the EV Expo and a big thank you to our Shade Tree Management board and the friends of Madison shade tree for putting together Madison's traditional Arbor days recognition a very special day and the employee for the month of May is patrolman Matt Mirabella from the Madison police department and this is another one of his great stories of employees going over and above in March uh patrolman Marabella was handling investigation of a vehicle that was vandalized with a window broken the victims were a family including young children who were traumatized by the events patrolman Marabella had them come to the police headquarters where He restored the contents of the vehicle clean the broken glass secure the rear windows they wouldn't be F further damaged by the weather and this family was new to Madison so their Matt's extra effort really made them feel safe and welcome after a bad experience and uh I'm going to come down below for Proclamation if I could have uh members of Lor's family come forward also uh partly Dodge trustees any and come on up anyone want to represent the uh historic preservation commission please uh come on up and uh also Madison Historical Society if you want to uh come forward so so with we have Lor's two daughters husband Jay and just the tip of the iceberg of a people people that Lori touched with her dedication for so many years in the burrow and so we have this Proclamation and I didn't mention some of this but I will go through the full thing Gloria was born in East Orange and moved with her family to Madison when she was 6 years old young enough to be considered a lifelong Madison resident graduated from Madison High School then Katherine Gibbs school before working as a real estate secretary Lori and her husband of 57 years Jay share two daughters chrisy and Kim and three grandchildren Ryan Elise and Jason and whereas because of her love of Madison and its history Lori was recording secretary extraordinaire for the heartley Dodge Foundation Trustees for 46 years and the historic preservation commission for over 20 years and also the Madison Historical Society where she had served on the board whereas Lori was an active member of the United Methodist chur church for more than 70 years where she was involved with choir Bible study United women in faith and collaboration with Family Promise of Mars County whereas Lori was passionate about arts and frequented plays concerts and ballet performances museums and botanical gardens whereas Lori also loved to travel and was fortunate to have visited Europe Asia majority United States including Alaska and Hawaii and whereas Lori could often be found exercise at the YMCA and I have to say that was the last time I did see Lori just a few weeks ago with her usual Smile working out I think she had a question for me so she took a little break but uh we had a great conversation and you'd see her or you'd see her riding her bike and she also enjoyed hiking and playing tennis and whereas Lori was the happiest spending time with her family and she especially looked forward to the annual trip to Ocean Grove which included the extended family now therefore I Robert H County the mayor of bur of Madison on behalf of the govering body hereby recognize the contributions of Lori haage with his Proclamation she made Madison better with her signature warmth compassion and professionalism now first before I ask the family to say a few words if they want I will start with an if you want to say speak on behalf of her work for 46 years right uh I'm an maau I'm a trustee on the heartley Dodge Foundation I'm here representing our entire board to express first our condolences to your family uh to Lor's family uh and second to uh express our thanks and appreciation for Lor's 46 years with our organization uh our President Nick Platt unfortunately couldn't be here tonight because he is on the council in Harding so uh that may be a good thing because he would have had a lot of stories to tell about Lori over those 46 years but I worked with Lori for 15 years and I can't tell you what a wonderful presence she was her dedication to the organization the thoughtfulness that she brought to the table and just her warmth of personality so um on behalf of our entire board we thank you for Lori and we are really going to miss her hi I'm Jenny Laughlin president of the Historical Society Lori was a member of the society since 2008 uh over those years she act she held the positions of trustee and recording secretary she was very good at that recording secretary uh and recently most recently besides being recording secretary she was working on a new Pro program that we have called the oral history program and I asked her to head that up because she was a long term longtime madisonian and she knew everybody in town and everybody knew Lori and I knew that she could get people to agree to let us interview them so we will miss her greatly and um on behalf of the entire board we are so sorry for your loss say okay okay just want to thank everybody for um that was involved with this recognition for my mother um she really loved this T so being involved with these things was um you know very easy for her and um just thank you very much thank you and again again our thoughts are with you and thank you so much for sharing Lori with us Madison as we said is a far better place because of Lori [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and thank you all for joining us tonight to all right we move on to reports and committees Public Safety Council president range thank you mayor uh before I share my report tonight uh I want to take a moment on behalf of the council to congratulate mayor Conley uh later this week Bob will be installed as the president of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors the conference is the largest Statewide organization in the nation to exclusively represent the interests and points of view of uh Mayors at both the state and federal level this position gives the mayor a platform to share and shape his vision for a better New Jersey and raise the profile of his hometown at the same time we couldn't be more proud of the mayor and the great things he'll do in his tenure as president thank you congratulations very much and from the police department tonight on May 8th officers from the Department attended the County College of Morris criminal justice day where they met with students and answered questions about the profession and specifics about Madison and the police department this was a great recruiting event as officers got to know many upand cominging prospective law enforcement officers and uh they enjoyed their time to connect with the young men and women at CCM on May 17th Chief Misha and members of The Command Staff and the school resource officers will be attending uh lunch recess at Kings Road School to have lunch with the students and continue to bolster uh their connection with community and uh Youth Of Kings Road school during the past two months six members of the Madison police department were trained as part of the newly formed crime prevention unit this unit will be up and running very soon and where it will'll respond to Residents requests for home security assessments and recommend ways to further secure the residents please be on the lookout for more information and a updated web page at Rosen as this program launches from the fire department uh in the month of April the fire department responded to 29 General alarms 16 still alarms 31 investigations and 84 medical calls including 73 transports to the hospital uh that's a total of 160 calls for the month the fire department along with the Floren Park fire department attended the community salutes of North Jersey ceremony that was held at F Dickinson on May 8th this ceremony recognizes high school graduates that are entering the United States armed services the career division has recently completed coaching the emergency vehicle operator training this training helps teach and reinforce safe driving techniques while operating emergency vehicles and lastly tonight congratulations to our volunteer firefighters Ryan s uh sickinger Flor Flor Maria dear Rosa and Justin Hannah who just completed and passed the firefighter one training at the Morris County Public Safety Academy uh they spent the last 19 weeks at the Academy for a total of 2 128 Hours next up for this group is firefighter 2 which is seven more weeks of training uh that will be conducted at the end of this year so congratulations to our latest volunteers to complete that training uh and that's all tonight right thank you mayor thank you finance bur clerk M ER thank you mayor the finance department reports that the annual Municipal audit will be taking place during the coming weeks the audit committee which is meeting this week includes the administrator CFO the council liaison to the finance department and four volunteer residents who meet with the Auditors each year to discuss the audit process and any concerns or changes in state laws that may impact the process the committee will meet again in the first week of June to discuss the auditor's findings as part of the Burrow's ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability our completed annual audit reports are all available on rosenet on the finance department's page the tax department reports that second quarter the second quarter grace period for tax payments has passed if you have not paid your property taxes yet please contact or visit the tax office to find out the correct amount to pay and uh in the second quarter 94% of second quarter taxes were paid on time that's all thank you utilities Mr how Brutus mhone thank you mayor welcome everybody from the public uh just a few things to report thank you secretary thanks Ray for helping me um a few of the the tasks that the electric utility performed over the last 2 and 1/2 weeks uh 28 Walnut Street near the new affordable housing development the department built the Riser pole for the affordable housing project uh 3 Central Avenue uh reconnected meters for new service 64 Park Lane the department dug and set an anchor to hold the pole in place that's by the new uh townhouse is being developed over there uh they loaded the pole up and sent and the set for 14 long view the crew built the ti Point pole on Walnut Street they replaced House service at ho Street at for at ho Street house and again 28 wner Street they did work on TI Point Po and then on May 7th 8th 9th 10th and 24th there was inclement weather so they couldn't perform some of their work outside so they built a new climbing training yard I have yet to see it I don't know if they'll let try it but I'm sure it's something that's making them better at their job to able to go up down those polls safely uh they welcome Johnny Rodriguez to the electric Department uh he has been outfitted with gear and has began his training a longtime electric Department chief lineman Joel Phillips has retired best wishes to Joel for a happy and healthy retirement former DPW employee Johnny Rodriguez has been appointed to replace Joel that's what I just said thank you and he started safety training um so let's see here uh so during the recent rainy weather they they had uh participated in a lot of safety training classes and again building the new climbing yard uh they were busy installing poles meters and other electrical equipment all around Walnut Street for the burough sponsored affordable housing project uh the electric utility leadership and our electric engineering consultant have been working with developers to move the wer and Madison Mall apartment developments forward by identifying Creative Solutions to provide energy to each project um that's on the corner of Prospect and Lincoln place from the water utility the water department continues daily operations monitoring and testing our water uh monthly required samples were taken on May 8th meter installation continues with an additional 40 m replaced within 2 weeks uh was that done with our own staff Jim y that they continue to do that's fantastic okay uh the department continues markouts to stay ahead of ps's gas line improvements the department replaced three hydrants one that was damaged and placed out of service during flow testing and two that were hard operating and age to a replacement status rather than repair uh hydrant located at the entrance of Whole Foods 222 Main Street one located at 69 Park Avenue and one located on Shunpike Road between ring Hill Court and the Madison Green tow houses work at the station Road wellb Site continues the well has been redeveloped the new motor is set piping is being completed as is the electrical upgrades we're hoping to have a flow test done by the end of the week that's great progress to have that well moving forward and one other uh just very short report mayor about the community commity Garden advisory committee fantastic group of people they're so motivated to make the community garden uh just successful and a destination for all of them to go and experience so many things about gardening in the environment I was just impressed at the meeting talking about the beehives and The Beekeeper we have five Co-op hives which are a role model for Morris County I didn't know this but the hives supposedly comprise of 3 million B's over the course of this summer incomprehensible number right yeah good thing we don't need to have housing for them Bes that be um they all set tasks for each other to um participate and keep the garden uh organized uh they gave each other responsibilities they're again helping with food donations for the Community Food Bank which is an asset to the community uh they have people who are the compost earners they have people who are responsible for the tools they have uh Community tools such as you know wheelbarrows and brakes and everything they have a very nice shed over there they're coordinating with the burough to keep the uh outside of the space and the entrance way very safe so uh kudos to them for just making that an open space that people will go and participate gardening or just to go walk around and look if anybody's ever interested it's it's at the uh North east corner of the MRC parking lot and they are waiting to hear what we're going to be doing with the uh MRC parking lot so they'll be able to still enter their space because if we block them which we won't but that's something the Jim already started to coordinate with them that's it thanks mayor thanks everybody thank you very much for those updates and Community Affairs Miss Hanahan thank you mayor uh report from the Downtown Development commission uh the Downtown Development commission's next regular meeting is open to the public takes place on May 16th at 7:15 uh on the second floor down the hall here um the Madison farm and Artisan Market will be held on Saturdays from May 25th through December 14th in the Prospect Street parking lot from 9 to2 opening day is May 25th and I know there's music lots of vendors and it should be great on Saturdays to have that sense of community downtown planning is also underway for bottle Hill Day uh 2024 which is scheduled for Saturday October 5th so must save on your calendar from the Chamber of Commerce ladies night was rescheduled to this coming Thursday March 16th fire extinguisher inspections will take place on Tuesday June 4th 11:30 to 3:30 and the new updated 2425 Loyalty Rewards cards for downtown are available at the Madison Pharmacy and Museum of Early Trades and crafts the Madison y sponsors the card the chamber annual Awards dinner will be held on June 11th beginning at 600 at the Madison Hotel from the Madison Community Arts Center uh Wednesday open mics continue the support network of New Jersey will hold an adult teen event called sharing the struggle on Sunday May 19th at 3 and proceeds will benefit local Mental Health programming the Madison Public Library will hold an adult open craft night on the 20th of May and the comedy improv group flip side will appear on Friday May 31st at 8 many many more events are available uh to see the whole schedule go to Madison arts nj.org and on June 1st uh there will be a National Trails Day event uh in celebration of the Memorial Park phase one Trails thank you very much and health along with Comm Public Works and Engineering Forte thank you mayor from the uh Department of Public Works public works department assisted with setup and clean up for green and clean day and the EV event and all went well uh DPW is out patching potholes almost all of the burough shade trees have been planted now if anyone would like a tree planted at their house please contact Public Works at 9735932415 [Music] current projects are the wellbe facility improvements contract with vnl LLC uh construction is progressing testing is to be performed this week we're on schedule uh to restart to meet to meet summer demand and other improvements to building uh to the building will be completed in the summer M McDonald and jam Architects are reviewing submittals and progress and progress payments the utility building roof contract with Joseph dhy uh that construction has commenced uh in March with the main roof complete Helena ran Architects to reviewing submittals and progress payments Memorial Park trails Phase 1 ribbon cutting scheduled for National Trails day June 1st at 9:00 a.m. uh will be happening and the Grant application for phase three has been submitted and approved by Mars County scheduling will be coordinated with hazardous tree removal with regard to the library interior uh contract with dasal LLC with arari iovino Architects reviewing submittals and invoicing Library staff is relocated to Temporary trailer work is progressing well with more than 90% complete we have upcoming projects uh Mill and overlay for 2024 project contracted through the Mars County cooperative purchasing Council roads to roads to be done on oldwood Long View and valley roads with Summer construction preliminary work to include curb reconstruction where necessary and replacing of older compliant catch basing grates and headpieces the cook Avenue parking lot plans have been revised to reduce scope and costs the bids were received March 28th and awarded to DLS Contracting the project will Comm commence in mid to late June with regard to the Dodge field playground the burough has been awarded a grant through the Green Acres Program uh Jake's law the grant is the amount is in the amount of $517,500 the burough was previously awarded a grant of $125 5,000 from Mars County together the grants will cover 642 th000 of the estimated total project cost for the new new fully accessible playground construction now scheduled to commence in early July with approximately 3 months construction time and uh for the MRC solar carport plans and specifications have been completed by Consultants no bids were submitted on March 28th and the project has been advertised to rebid uh with bids due June 4th from the health department with the warm weather starts M mosquito breeding season with the excess rain we've had this spring it's possible that we'll have an increase in mosquito breeding residents are encouraged to rid their properties of standing water and clutter mosquitoes can breed in items that can hold just a few drops of water like tarps and tires um May is melanoma awareness month the Health Department would like to remind residents that is recommended that adults see a dermatologist for a skin exam annually residents are also reminded to use a sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher and reapply every 2 hours when Outdoors May shines a light on a spotlight on Mental Health Awareness Month a Time dedicated to fostering understanding empathy and support for mental well-being this month is an opportunity to break down barriers challenge misconceptions and promote Pathways to healing and resistance the health department website has a resource compilation to discover what is available and how you can nurture your mental well-being thank you mayor thank you very much now we move on to Communications and petitions any received none have been received mayor thank you and now we're on to our first of two uh invitations for public comment this is limited to our agenda discussion items and our resolutions which I will go through shortly our agenda discussion item is the Mars County open space trust fund Grant application hearing so while you can comment on that during this session we're going to have an actual hearing so we prefer to do the comment during the actual hearing um and then these are the resolutions you may comment on resolution 138 is actually related to that hearing and then uh resolution 139 is submitting a community project uh request for Congressman Mikey Cheryl for preservation of the Drew University Forest so this is another uh Grant request of the amount of $5 million from the federal government uh resolution 40 is extending Professional Services contract to extra Duty Solutions of Shelton Connecticut for police out out outside Duty Management Services this is uh when you see the officers working construction they manage the uh building on all that uh resolution 141 authorizes an amendment to the contract with rosenbower Minnesota LLC to repair the Madison fire department uh fire apparatus this is a um amendment to a total of 79 bring the total increase it by 4200 to a total of $79,200 and is responded through ordinance 25 2022 and 42 2022 resolution 142 is adopting risk management policy for wholesale power supply procurement resolution 143 is uh authorizing Award of certain non-fair open contracts and this is for bym labs for um monthly Ami reading fees at 60 cents a meter 30 cents a module water module and uh cellular cost at $35 a month is estimated 55,000 a year invoice Cloud brain tree Massachusetts estimated 60,000 a year and special data logic known as sdl for contractor estimated 990,000 so approving those contracts resolution 144 is a raffle license for the uh Elks uh um for June 1st 2024 resolution 145 is Raffa license uh submitted by Pearls of Wisdom foundation for June 2nd 2024 resolution 146 is ratifying the appointment of Adrien Morales am menus to the uh as a part-time violations clerk up to 29 hours a week at $25 an hour resolution 147 is appointing Valentina paluso as a part-time paid intern for the Farmers Market at rate of $16 an hour resolution 148 is approving raffle license for St St Vincent Martyr Church for October 19th 2024 resolution 149 is uh appointing the following um EMTs as per DMS Kiara adoro James BS Megan Collins Ryan Maser fedck uh gof javar Diaz and Tyle aeson resolution 150 is uh awarding contract to Boswell engineering for professional engineering service and consultant services this to backfill cover work that was previously done by Bob vogle resolution 151 authorizing submission of moris County supplemental funding application regarding Madison Alliance addressing substance abuse um and that's for $2,000 with a uh 50% U match of $1,000 from the burrow resolution 152 accepting the resignation of fire captain Ed nun Jr uh resolution 153 is appointing Lieutenant James Blair to the position of Fire official in the uh burough of Madison which is US resolution 154 is appointing Brady McDonald is a paid Inn for electric utility at $16 an hour resolution 155 is authorized application to BPU Community energy plan implementation grant program and resolution 156 is requesting director of uh local government services to approve insertion of uh item line of Revenue in the budget for this year and this is our um Grant count mors County historic preservation trust Grant in the amount of $4,644.00 comination area of Redevelopment and this was uh the hearing was held at the planning board so those are the the many resolutions you may comment on if you wish to comment on any of those resolutions please step forward state your name your address and write the same on the clipboard try to keep your comments to uh three minutes actually after you state your name and address please start State the resolution you want to comment on and then uh you can start your comments anyone wishing to comment please step forward seeing none I close the meeeting and we now well not close the meeting that would be rushing through yeah zipping right through tonight AR we I close this part of the meeting uh and we move on to our uh agenda discussion Mar or open space trust fund Grant application we have Barbara huskins Davis here to uh assist us and I will uh just read the uh title of the resolution res resolution of the buau of Madison convening a public hearing on the submission of application for funding regarding and authorizing the 2023 submission to the Mars County open space trust fund for land acquisition to purchase a portion of block 3001 lot one consisting approximately of 50 acres in the burough of Madison from its current owners Drew University robber welcome mayor I just have a question I'm happy to present the application I also want to State our support for the application can I do both yes yep great right so um my name is Barbara heskins Davis I'm vice president of programs at the L Conservancy of New Jersey and we're based in booten Township Morris County um the Grant application that Madison buror is considering for submitt tonight is in addition to the grant that you received in 2023 for Drew Forest you received $5 million in 2023 and you had asked for additional funding um so this year the bur is going back to submit that request for the balance of the funds that you need in order to acquire the property from Drew University I have to say in the intervening year the dialogue um between the university and the buau on a public basis has gotten more positive I understand that there's certainly other issues going on between the university and the bureau but I think um Headway has been made in the year and that's something that needs to be communicated clearly with Morris County um Morris County last year when you applied you assured them that if you had received your full funding request that you wouldn't go back to them for additional funding and you're not you're going back to complete that funding request and I want to assure Madison burrow that Morris County has this funding available so you should feel confident in your application to the county for funding to acquire Drew Forest um Drew Forest is a singular piece of property that I think for Madison burrow really completes your open space program and the initiatives that you've done so with that I'm I'm going to go into my statement of support if that's all right yep so the Land Conservancy is a nonprofit Land Trust organization we specialize in working with our local Municipal Partners to help preserve and acquire land for open space natural resource protection farmland and Recreation we've worked with B of Madison on their open space program for over 20 years you're one of my first towns um when I started at the Land Conservancy I've been there 25 um we first spoke with residents at a public Workshop in the fall of 2003 to help Garner support for establishing the Burrow's trust fund which you used to acquire the land that now houses the Madison Rec Recreation Center which is the Premier recreational facility in the municipality not only did our office help establish the trust fund we work closely with your Municipal leadership to secure the grant funding to acquire these lands for the community when I came to Madison Burrow's um public Hearing in 2003 to talk about establishing the trust fund I do a lot of these meetings especially in the early 2000s a lot of towns were considering establishing local open space trust funds and a lot of towns made promises to their residents you know in order for them to approve the establishment to self tax for open space Madison buror delivers on those promises and I say that with great confidence um I've written over 200 land conservation plans including the ones in Madison buror and I've worked with towns throughout the state of New Jersey I'm very proud of my work in Madison buror and I'm very proud um to be able to stand with Madison Bur on this application to give you an idea the Land Conservancy has helped Madison bur receive over $6 million in state grants to purchase of reserved land in the burrow including what councilman um John Forte talked about with the $500,000 Grant to improv Dodge field that was a very competitive grant to get from the state and it was a lot of work and Madison did a great job on that and it's going to be a wonderful Improvement to dodge field we've gotten 15.4 $4 million in County grants do the exact same thing including the $5 million from last year to help pres preserve Drew forest and with these funds you've acquired land throughout the municipality we're here tonight to lend our strong support for the Burrow's application to the county trust fund to permanently preserve the land known as Drew Forest this is the Burrow's second application to the county for this project and we add our voice to numerous others supporting this supplemental application for Grant funds it's situated across from Geraldo Farms within a short walk of the County's Luan Park Drew Forest is a Lynch pin that anchors all of this land to the burrow when we met with the county last year that was a question that came up what does this connect to and it's not a complicated question to answer it's one that really does bring that connection into uh Madison buror it's of regional significance prior to this meeting I was in chadam Bur presenting their environmental resource inventory chatton buror is one of the 10 Towns of Morris County along with Madison buror that gets all ofus water from the buried Valley aquifer and Madison and chadam burough is nearly all impervious surface coverage or Wetlands so chadam is one of the towns that supports your application and I commended them this evening on that support because it's towns like Madison that are making a difference for the entire County and that's what this project does the forest unique geology ecology and setting are in danger of being bulldozed and destroyed and I'm not saying that L time is really of the essence and it's urgent to secure funding to purchase the land quickly we encourage the burough Council to authorize his submission of the Grant application and we very much look forward to assisting the burrow with the successful receipt of these Grant funds to purchase and protect this regionally significant land thank you thank you very much Barbara and thank you for all your support I don't know where we'd be without this great partnership before we have a council comment I will open the hearing to the public anyone in the public wishing to comment on this application to the uh County open space fund please step forward state your name and address try to keep your comments for three minutes but we will give you that usual one minute grace thank you welcome uh G croll 27 Laurel way I'm here representing friends with Drew forest and I'll be very brief on this topic because I'll probably be up here at least one more time this evening uh but I just wanted to uh give the full endorsement of friend for us on the application um last year I think when this was voted on we had standing room only in the in the uh audience on the evening when the uh question came up about last year's Grant and um we were all very excited to receive $5 million towards the uh purchase price of the of the forest so that was that was a a great start and subsequently to that we've had additional funding come through from congresswoman Cheryl and Senator Booker um and um that's also very encouraging so I think this year's application will be even more compelling for the Commissioners so um as I said I'll be brief because I'm going to be back so thank you very much again for all your hard work on uh this effort it's it's a tremendous amount of work it's it's complicated thank you very much anyone else wishing to comment please step forward seeing none I close the hearing I'll I'll just add a few more comments I think um Barbara and Judy have said it very well and yes um since I am a person that makes promises and tries to commit stick with them that last year when the question said if you receive $10 million of uh funding would you will you come back and I said if we receive a full $10 million we will not be coming back because I know that would be the largest Grant you've ever made but I left the door open if we we didn't receive a full 10 million and so here we are uh going back for that um second effort and um but it should be known that while we didn't receive 10 million fully last year at 5 million that was one of the largest grants that the county open space uh has has made so we truly app appreciate this partnership and without it um duw farest the MRC and others projects would not be possible Barbara also mentioned that um you know working closely with Drew and um the progress we made in the last couple years and just I mean in the past year rather uh two things that show that when we had a um Mikey congresswoman Mikey Cheryl sponsored a press conference uh announcement on the grant at on Glenn wild we were join joined by uh Drew president Hillary Dr Hillary link as she sh her support and appreciation for uh congresswoman Cheryl and Senator Booker's efforts on behalf of funding and then last week I was at meat Hall uh as we're going to part of the application we're going to update the vid the great video we did uh last year of the application and so I was there with Dr Hillary link as we both uh did some uh couple of extra takes than we might have needed but uh to uh show show The Joint support from uh burough of Madison and Drew University on behalf of that GR so a lot of work is being done and a lot of work still has to be done and that's uh the commitment of this body right now any other comments on the uh application yes I I just want to voice my appreciation for the work that Barbara huskins Davis does on behalf of Madison through our open space and and much of the Grant application work that happens behind the scenes uh without your expertise we would not have those additional 20 plus million do in Madison so thank you you any other comments Eric you know obviously this is sort of a no-brainer to go back and and ask for the the remaining $5 million so again Barbara thank you for for your work and and everybody who's put this together um so let's do it um and in mayor it's just a a no the title of the ordinance has the wrong year in it correct that before we submit it to the county and have have something thrown out on a technicality that would be great thank you very much and we'll uh correct that I didn't catch that even though I read fix that and so that resolution is part of the consent agenda we now move on to ordinances for hearing will the clerk please read the statement the ordinance schedule for hearing was introduced by title and passed on the first reading at a regular meeting of the council held on April 22nd 2024 was posted and filed according to law and copies were made available to the general public requesting SC I call ordinance 13-22 24 for second reading asking to read s or by title ordinance of the Bureau of Madison establishing chapter 28 of the bureau code to establish the BAU of Madison Landscaping ordinance promoting the use of appropriate native vet vegetation on Municipal property I open hearing anyone the public wish to comment on ordinance 13- 2024 uh CLA witcom 12 Fairwood Road um I'm very excited that this ordinance is on its second um uh around before the council um Bridget Daly did a lot of work and on making it Madison Centric you know having uh only native plant on burrow property with exceptions for um areas we love like the Veterans Park and the seasonal displays um we've talked to you before about this I just wanted to let you know that I think native plants are even more popular than ever um we had a really Banner sale at toad Wild Flower Farm came to the Madison Green and clean and they were super pleased it's the third time they've had a scale in Madison and they always do very very well wild stead the new native plant store in East hanor um debuted their their table with you know native shrubs and really beautiful display and so this is just growing and then um the Great Swamp Watershed had a netive plant sale that was um kicked off by the multi- toown group and they sold 27,000 plants this year and honestly I think they sold out and I don't it seemed to me by 300 p.m on the first day I looked at it and thought Oh god well everything I want is not there so um the Madison and forign Park bought 1,500 plants and they were delivered to Bridget's yard and um I saw Ray Cody there I you know people um are super enthusiastic and the NC is going to have an uh Eco Garden Tour on September 21 where people can uh look at these plants and situ and and everybody is trying we're not nobody's an expert at this it's all the new idea but together we're going to learn and grow and share the information we have and and um for those who want to get involved there's an active Facebook group called Madison um garding and plair and you can you can people are giving away plants all the time you can ask questions it's really a wonderful support group so um and also I want to thank the council because um an ordinance of this nature um positions Madison as a leader and um chatt Township is is in progress on doing their ordinance having taken a look at ours so thank you thank you anyone else wish to comment please step forward evening JN lahun um I spoke at the last oh sorry speaking in regard to this ordinance 13 2024 um I spoke at the last council meeting and I'm just going to touch on a few things that I also covered on some written comments that I submitted about a week or so ago um I I do support the ordinance um I'm in fact planting some native plants in my own garden some are not native but some are native um so I I do appreciate the the purpose of the ordinance and and I think that will help a lot in promoting the native plants um one question I had was in regard to the actual definition of the native plant um in here in the ordinance it's it's referring to the range of plants shall be those native to the midatlantic region of the United States prior to European contact uh to me that seems a little bit unusual and probably a little bit difficult given that the climate is currently warming it's certainly warmer now than it was hundreds of years ago um so I'm wondering whether that part of the definition really needs to be in there concerning that far away in history um even just in Madison we've moved from a Zone 6B to Zone 7A in the time I've lived in Madison and we've noticed that plants in our yard and the weeds and the blights are different now than they were 30 years ago so um that's why I'm questioning that um we're getting milder Winters so the insects you know different assortments of insects and pests and blights are surviving the winters so I would suggest planning for sort of current Andor possibly a warmer climate because it's looking like it's getting warmer not colder um across the globe in regard to invasive plants I think in the ordinance the adjective invasive should be followed by native or non-native um wherever it's used in the ordinance because there are in fact uh invasive native plants I know the focus is you do not want the the foreign or the non-native invasives to be taking over the native plants but there are things like milked if you don't cut the pods off believe me you'll be getting milked all over the place you'll be weeding it out um we have plenty of milk weed and that's what we do um some of the Native ferns which we love in our garden too are quite invasive and you do need to clip them off in the Border or sink a very deep um border division in to keep them where you wanted them in the first place um in the prioritization of the keystone species that will be good but I caution you that there's not that many of those that are rabbit resistant there are quite a few which I mentioned last time um the deer resistance there's about a dozen or so of the plants on the Keystone list which includes tree shrubs and and flowering plants that are in fact deer resistant which is good um one minute okay in in curiosity I looked up rabbit resistance and found that there were only two rabbit resistant items on Keystone and they're actually trees the River Birch and Pines and looking at the Garden of wildlife website to see what they sold uh locally for Madison as rabbit resistance there's only two there's the great laurel shrub and the spotted Joe pweed which we have in our yard um and just the last in regard to M I think there's just probably a correction that's needed in there it's referring the shade tree management board is is uh is the chapter that's referenced there is for violations and penalties it's not talking about duties or responsibilities of shade tree and I wonder who's actually going to police if you want to use that term the plants as opposed to the uh trees and the shrubs that's all okay thank you thank you very much joh um I may ask one of our experts to uh if if there's anyone else before before you call you up is there anyone else wants to comment and then uh we'll get our expert see then I'll close the hear hearing and call you as an expert Bridget daily 28 keep Street um so just to clarify uh invasive plants by definition are non-native to our area there are plants that are native to our region that are uh more assertive or more aggressive than other so the advice is right plant for the right place you know it does require a new approach it's no longer like let's put a boxwood here let's put a sterile hydrangea here there not going to grow they're not going to spread because they're sterile you know that's been our um you know commonly the approach to Landscaping so um one has to look at what are the uh growing conditions is it sunny is it shady is it moist is it dry um do you want a plant that's going to be assertive and spread or do you want one that's going to be more contained so to to Jocelyn's Point um common milk weed is very assertive that's not something that you would want to plant in a landscaped environment that's more for a field or a meadow such as the MRC Meadow it would do great out there um in terms of deer or rabbit resistance uh there are the Native Plant Society of New Jersey has a list of deer resistant plants it's important to consult that also um the sheet Tree Management board advises and I think that's part of the ordinance as well uh any new trees that are going to be planted should be caged and protected uh from Deer brows just the um as far as the zone and shifting from uh what was pre- European time I me that is a good point there you know climate change is happening and uh you know when you research individual plants as to whether they're appropriate to the site you're going to want to look at the native range if the native range is primar like uh New England and we're on the southern tip of that that's probably not a good choice you want something that's going to include possibly more Southern locations many of the plants that are native to here are also native to Virginia North Carolina um that is certainly a factor to consider yes plant selection is important feeling feeling right now is as the ordinance stands we're okay um and um there's certainly plenty of of plants that would me and it it does require a shift in thinking you know we're accustomed to thinking in US day USDA climate growing zones that's for vegetables that's not for um plants plants have Eco regions so you're going to want to look at what is the Eco region that this plant belongs to thank you yeah I I I I I technically I close the hearing and then they asked oh okay yeah since you help to craft it yes thank okay I I just wanted to say regarding CLA Wickham again as an expert fawood road yeah regarding invasives um invasive is um the the government the federal government uh the state government the Department of Environmental con protection all issue lists of invasive plants this is how the word is is commonly used and so um it's it's appropriate in in in in an ordinance to use the word um I also just wanted to comment about like the um origin of plants and why European plants are different than indigenous plants because our our plants evolv with insects that are still still here and you can bring in a p& from Europe but you can't bring in the insects that it co evolved with so um that's that's the uh part of the definition of native species than thank you so um and again a reminder that this is for um bural property where we'll we'll guide our plantings on burrow so we are uh planting with beta plants but also serving as an educational uh lab so to speak for the public to understand what they can do in their on their own properties but there I also just wanted to address enforcement I mean because it is the burough there is like it's a culture it's not there's nobody policing bur um we have you know plant ordering systems shate reviews trees and shrubs um M the environmental commission comments on site PL I mean it's all pretty much built into the infrastructure of the Town yeah and somewhat related to that there was question came up early on as we discussed this is whether if it's just bur why don't we just do it as a resolution committing to it and the feeling was if we do it as an ordinance it it's stronger and it sends a much stronger message going forward and that's what we wanted to do uh and just to reinforce that there's a reason why they call plants deer resistant and not deer proof because the deers are deer are going to eventually eat everything we got I think but anyway that's for another day but uh any other further Council discussion okay roll top Mike Mike so one other thing mayor a 28-7 um invasive species prohibited it says we have plans to replace existing invasive species with ecologically beneficial native species so is our our bris or somebody going to go around town and say yeah as as as it said are encouraged and so it may you know as we I think the idea here would be as we look at different parks and grounds for the burrow we would look at what what is planted and if at that point we can address it it it it should be done so it's it's not a requirement that we would do it but it's encouraged so who oversees this it's it's it it's a basically whoever yeah yeah it's a burough employees I'm sure there'll be shade tree uh environmental uh commission members that will keep an eye on things also and as we um push forward on any plans we'll be sitting right in the front row making sure we don't forget I'm sure thanks Claire yes Rachel thanks may I can give an example of that for instance we're starting a Parks Improvement plan process this year to look at parks throughout town that um we want to create a vision for and having an ordinance like this in place means that as the landscape architect and the stakeholders on the parks Improvement committee uh imagine a vision for this park will know that native plantings are going to be required right and so whenever there's a project uh on public in public space there is these various layers of oversight either through um open space through different committees that as Claire said do site plan review um eventually many things go to the planning board but it's kind of a shared effort uh that I imagine you know we don't have so many Parcels that we uh you know do landscaping on every year um that uh one would somehow Escape us and we would get you know like a Grove of bamboo or something on it so I think like the mayor said it's more about setting the expectation and and now all stakeholders whether they're B staff volunteers Landscape Architects or professionals that come and advise us will know that this is the expectation and this is how you know the vision will will take forward so um it's not like the plant police need to be deployed it's more about you know having a a a shared agreement of how we want to plant on our public space Eric yeah and and this ordinance you know the moment it goes into effect we're not going to be running into all of our parks and tearing out all of our plants right um as Rachel kind of indicated there will be a at as we go through and as we identify the sites but you know no one's going into our Parks tomorrow and tearing out whatever is planted there today so any other comments okay roll call vote please Mr erck yes Mr range yes Mr harl pus yes Miss Hanahan yes Mr for yes I declare ordinance 13 Dash U 20 24 adopted and finally passed I ask the clerk to publish notice there of newspaper and follow the ordinance accordance of law now for the next three ordinances we're going to do the three hearings at the same time because they're all related to uh connection fees but for the different utilities so I uh call up ordinances 145 and 16224 for second reading ask clerk to re set ordinance by title ordinance 14224 ordance of the buau of Madison amending chapter 94 of the Madison buau code entitled electric utility to update the electric connection fee schedule and ordinance 15- 2024 ordinance of the Bureau of Madison amending chapter 190 of the Madison buau code entitled water to update the water connection fee schedule and ordinance 16- 2024 ordinance of the Bureau of Madison amending chapter 155 of the Madison Bureau code entitled sewer to update the sewer connection fee schedule I now open the hearing for ordinances 14 15 and 16 anyone wishing to comment on those collectively or any individually please step forward do I need to yet May no not not yet oh okay seeing none I close the hearing for these ordinances now we uh will ask for a motion for ordinance 14-22 24 which is the um connection free for the electric utility okay now yes okay mer I'd like to introduce for second reading or move it sorry you like to move uh for second read second reading uh ordinance 14 2024 second any Council discussion just a reminder on all three of these this is just for new connections this does not affect any current utility uh user roll call vote please miss Erick yes Mr range yes Mr harn pis yes Miss Hanahan yes Mr for yes I declare ordinance 14- 2024 adopted finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice their newspaper and follow the ordinance in accordance with the law I now ask for a motion for ordinance 15-22 24 which is the uh water connection fee mayor I'd like to move ordinance 15 2024 for second reading second any coun discussion roll call vote please miss erck yes Mr range yes Mr har and pudas yes Miss Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes I declare ordinance 15-22 24 adopt and finally pass and ask the clerk to publish noes there of newspaper and follow the ordinance in accordance with the law and now we're on ordinance 16-22 24 amending the sewer connection fee may I have a motion for ordinance 16 May I'd like to make move forward ordinance 16 2024 second coun discussion call vote please miss Erick yes Mr range yes Mr harn pis yes Miss oh Hanahan yes Mr 14 yes I declare ordinance 16- 2024 adopted and finally pass as the clerk to publish notice there thereof in the newspaper and F the ORD accordance with the law and we now move on to our second of invitations for public comments mayor before we do that um we never actually moved or seconded uh ordinance 13 we jump right into Council discussion okay how do they do that one the hearing came to a gradual it just evolves slowly but yep so we didn't vote on ORD 15 so we we we voted on it we just nobody moved it or seconded it 13 the native plant ordinance okay unless I was asleep and I missed all right let's uh try this one I asked my I know what happened my eyes floated down the sheet as I was figuring out so can I have a motion for ordinance 13-22 24 so moved second and again this is a native plant one any further discussion all call vote please Mr erck yes Mr range yes Mr harm pis yes Mr Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes and once again I declare the ordinance 13- 2024 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice there newspaper fin file the ordinance accordance with the law and it goes to show that after 13 years it can still slip up so anyway uh Now we move on to our invitations for public comment when you can comment on any topic again with the same guidelin say your name and address write the same on the clipboard and try to keep your comments to three minutes we'll give you that one minute grace JY welcome back thank you Judy KL 27 Laurel way um again on behalf of friends of Drew Forest I wanted to um uh just comment on the two uh I guess one's a resolution and one's a well I'm not sure exactly where these fall but I've already commented on the county Grant so I'll just also um put our support behind the uh Community project Grant uh for Mikey sheral that would that would be uh that was discussed earlier this evening as well um it's really very good to hear that there has been um more communication between the university and the Bureau of late and I know that Dr Link has been uh very gracious and I know that she is interested in in preserving the forest um but there is an issue that is kind of a couple years old now that I wanted to bring some attention to the public and invite them to um support the forest on Monday and Tuesday of next week the 20th and 21st there will be a trial related to Drew's challenge to Madison's affordable housing settlement uh that started back in June of 202 two and it's now progressed into um what we hope will be a final trial that will be heard on the 20th and 21st and um the when this came up two years ago friends of Drew Forest felt it was really important to give the force of voice so we joined the action as a amikas which is a friend of the court and we hired uh dve Resource Group to do an environmental evaluation of the forest and all its features and benefits and why it was important to preserve it so uh with this trial coming up we are having someone from the DAV Resource Group um as an a expert witness again so that we can continue to be the voice of the forest and continue to support the preservation effort so we're asking any of our supporters anyone who's here this evening or is listening um uh to the uh meeting remotely to please join us we have um the court is expected to go to trial for two days we're not sure exactly that how long that will last but it's expected to be two days and we really need people there primarily on Monday morning sometime between 9: and 11:30 um if you have the ability to come please check our website we have information on the case um on what to expect nobody has to speak nobody has to give an opinion which just listening and showing up to be uh a voice of the forest so if you have the ability in the time to come please do if you have a Drew Forest t-shirt please wear it otherwise we have some beautiful new stickers that we can give you one minute and um and we really appreciate the support so that's it thank you very much again for all you're doing for the forest thank you Judy and thank you for sharing the uh information on the hearing next week anyone else wish to comment Clare whitcom 12 fawood Road very briefly I didn't understand resolution 142 d224 adopting risk management for wholesale power supply procurement um is that climate related what what is the risk just it's it's a policy to support our liability insurance related to uh as our do our procurements um it yeah all right yeah it's required by uh pjm which we're we're part of as as the um um transmission and purchase of the electric so it's can I just give a tiny bit of color on that I read that with the same lens and really the ordinance guides the way the transactions are done it's not like you know sort of in terms of um the the the process of actually executing a transaction to purchase power as opposed to assessing the provider or um the procurement uh like choosing the source of the energy it's it's more legalistic in terms of who's responsible for you know making the transaction so it's different than what you're talking about and different than what I was reading for as well thank you Rachel for the editorial com appreciate it John John Hoover 17 Overhill drive I wanted to revisit just a little bit of Captain uh dun's resignation uh it was not explained whether he was going to be replaced immediately whe who's going to do his duties as fire department duties and is he going to continue to run the community pool just wanted to know those those answers yeah we can cover any any else you would like to cover at this point all okay um we'll start with the last first uh the community pool is separate is a separate organization he is the president of the board anything uh related to the community pool is with the pool so I do not know the status and that is beyond the burrow um capability the tonight there is an ordinance that will replace the uh inspector uh safety inspector part of uh Captain nun's positions with uh Lieutenant James Blair so those that that that is the most important part of the duties we are required to have a uh inspector so that has been filled right now um and you know the the position in the department will be back filled but uh we are as far as firefighting capabilities were at full strength even without with the res ation so that's where we are anyone else wishing to comment please step forward seeing none I close this part of the meeting and we now move on to induction ordinances will clerk please read the statement ordinance schedule for first reading have a hearing date set for May 27 2024 all will be published in the Madison Eagle posted on the bulletin board and made available to members of the public requesting copies I call up ordinances for first read and ask a bur of clerk to U read said ordinance by title ordinance 17224 ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $555,000 from the general Capital Improvement fund for the purchase of automated license place readers security cameras wiring and other related security equipment mayor I move ordinance 17- 2024 second and before we vote um just a a double check is is caught is the the hearing for the all these ordinances will be Wednesday May 29th this of the again as I mentioned at beginning because Memorial Day weekend so may Wednesday May 29th we have a we do have a motion and a second Council discussion please yes Rachel I I'll just mention that it I think a concern that's been raised over the years as we've built out our um alpr uh equipment and capacity occasionally residents ask about privacy concerns where does that data go who has access to it what is it used for um so I think um whether Eric or I provide a little update on that at the next meeting or we invite the chief for Captain Longo to come we don't necessarily need them we could probably give a little description or a summary of that information I think that is really helpful for people to hear what this information is used for where it goes sounds good so uh we'll follow through that we'll bring that next time I could probably do it off the top of my head but I'd rather have I figured we it could just be for next time so no one's being put on the spot yeah any further discussion and this this is also part of the U capital budget okay roll call vote please miss erck yes Mr range yes Mr haran pudus yes Miss Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes great and ordinance 18- 2024 ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $225,000 from the general Capital Improvement fund for the purchase of video and recording equipment for Police Headquarters mayor I move ordinance 18- 2024 second nounce discussion and this is interior this is inside the headquarters roll call vote please miss erck yes Mr range yes Mr haran pis yes Mahan yes Mr Forte yes right we now move on to consent agenda resolutions whether the clerk please read the statement consent agenda resolutions would be enacted within a single motion any resolution requiring expenditure is supported by a certification of availability of funds any resolution requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda all resolutions will be reflected in full in the minutes may I move the consent agenda resolutions 138 uh through uh resolution 15 second any discussion or any that need to be pulled for p discussion all call vote Please Mr erck yes Mr range yes Mr haran pis yes Mr Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes right there is no unfinished business a br of vouchers will the cour please read the voucher to us current fund is $771,000 75 General Capital fund is $81,300 electric operating fund is $595,000 2,6 65074 water operating fund is 4,765 2017 capit water Capital fund is $372,900 trust funds is $3,856 and13 with a total of1 1,999 367 may I move approval of the vouchers any discussion roll call vote please miss Erick Mr range yes Mr harm pudus yes Mr Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes and there is no new business Mr there I move to a chair all in favor all right remember we will see you the 20