##VIDEO ID:gUY6VRgjivo## it's you did it for your you did it for your daughter yeah I know that's well the temperature average is out over the whole year let the record reflect we have reconvened with all members present for those who are able please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance ask you rem uh remain standing after the pledge to flag United States of America for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all and take a moment to uh remember two madisonian we lost over the last couple of weeks Roberta Dunn age 89 lifelong resident Madison passed away on September 27th was housewife former co-owner of duns paint and Hardware in Madison I once picketed for them to uh when they were being evicted by the amp um Roberto's family which was the uh one branch was the deart beers family were early settlers of Madison dating back to Colonial times her grandparents Mitchell Family arrived in America with a Del delegation from France that dedicated the Statue of Liberty graduated from Madison High School in 1952 member of St Vincent's church she served on many committees with her husband who many people know our mayor uh Jack Dunn and she served on veteran Civic and private projects including the Madison 911 memorial James Madison bus on Waverly Place Madison Memorial Day parades the a program at James Park Memorial B always with us she also served as a volunteer for the Heart Association Kings Road PTO had a passion for jigsaw puzzles nature and Wildlife and watching The Morning Sun come up on her walks around Fawn Lake of course she loved her family who had a very strong Madison connection she is survived by her husband Jack two sons and their spouses retired Madison firefighter uh Jack Dunn and his wife Eileen uh fire Captain Rob Dunn and his wife Susan four grandchildren John Colin who works DPW Ryan and Dyan and one great grandchild we also remember Stanley Von haen of Madison who died on September 20th he was 86 distinguished um and treasured professor of pharmacology for many years at University of Medicine Dentistry for New Jersey before his retirement was a um gifted and teacher educated future medical professions survived by his wife of 65 years uh and two daughters Karen and Leanne and five grandchildren born in Nashville and uh earned his BS from Carson Newman and where he met Jean and then earned his PhD from Vanderbilt University he settled in Madison in 1967 and accepted position of Professor of uh University of uh medicine K Dentistry in New York had the opportunity to uh visit every state in the United States and he was also gracious reader and love Music self-taught musician played guitar Auto harp banjo damer and Rhythm bones used to perform in Newark and Madison Public Schools so someone who may be watching that home may have heard him play and you also in later years spend many time at the Y so let's take a moment to remember Rob dun and Stanley von Hagen and let's pass our thoughts on to the families and friends that we leave behind thank you I have a motion of the executive amends of September 23rd 2024 so moved second all in favor I right and a motion for the regular amendment of September 23rd 2024 so moved second any corrections or discussion all in favor I I welcome all I'm sorry we had a little late start and we had a late start to our executive session I had a presentation at the uh Mars County open space uh committee and uh got P things back a little bit but welcome back everyone we had a little extra week in between uh meetings and holid weekends that put us uh three and a half weeks after our last meeting um and for the first time in three years the first Saturday of October uh there was not a nor Easter nor remnants of a hurricane passing through in fact you couldn't ask for a nicer day or even a better bottle Hill Day the Music food Community organizations all Road up for the occasion and of course this would not be possible without the leadership of Lisa Ellis and the army of volunteers behind her sure we'll hear more in some Council reports and usually after uh bottle Hill day after doing a fraction of the running that Lisa does I did my watch said I did six miles on bottle Hill day I usually just go home and collapse but this year I joined my fellow uh classmates of Madison High School class of 1974 for our 50th class reunion I know it it doesn't look like it could be uh 50 years since high school but it was uh great for all the uh class members who traveled AAR to be able to enjoy bottle Hill day and the overwhelming consensus was that Madison is still an incredible town and yes we're too young for a 50th reunion um and the day before bottle Hill Day the new Dodge field uh playground opened up uh and uh I live just down the block from the playground and I can tell you from the sights of many children running around and if I uh even with my window shut I can tell you the kids are having a great time because they the the noise that's coming from that playground is incredible they do love it so on Saturday October 26 at 2 pm we will have a ribbon cutting for the playground and a great opportunity to thank many that made that happen especially former councilwoman Deb Cohen whose leadership and perseverance truly made it a reality and uh couple employ employee announcements anniversary Chief Lyman Ron Meyer celebrated his 25th anniversary on October 4th and the employee of the month uh for October is Court Administrator Brianna Diamond since Brianna started as administrator for the joint Municipal Court she's made uh numerous improvements and upgrades to the way the court functions on a daily basis is always Pleasant and helpful when dealing with attorneys residents and members of the law enforcement so we congratulate her as uh the um employee of the month and um last month we uh or last meeting we heard from a lot of the North Street residents sharing their concerns about the pump station at uh North Street and the backup of sewage uh that happens during heavy rain so I just want to share the update on this uh what we've taken so what happened this it happened uh during a power outage that left the um back up in their basements and it's certainly uh very frustrating for them uh but we were work quickly to uh rectify the situation analyze what occurred so the power outage uh we we had two in August the second one was when G jcpnl lost both feeder lines that came into Madison so we had it uh townwide outed and this was due to a fire and a down caused by a down tree it generated North Street Pump Station attempted to start up but was unsuccessful and there was unable to provide supplemental power to the pump station and that coupled with the couple Ines of rain received cause a backup into the residence basements since then we've made emergency repair to the generator to ensure that it's operational when the power goes out and we're assuring that the routine testing takes place and so it is ready and running to go we've engaged a u local engineer to analyze performance of the generator and the pump station as a whole and once we we have received report report will meet with residents in the impacted area to share the outcome of the report and any additional steps that can be uh made to ensure that this does not happen in the future um also was was mentioned that they could process torque complaint uh claim notices and we have processed several from uh Property Owners on North Street encouraged any of others exper experience damaged and have not to uh cled submitted a claim to do so as soon as possible um and part of the engineer's review will certainly be uh to look at why we are getting so overwhelmed with storm water during these um events because this is a sanitary sewer pump and so it can handle dayto day but it's one it gets overwhelmed by the storm water that we have issues and lastly let me get some water because my mouth is obviously not working I don't think there's anyone here from uh Masa so we have um Proclamation for Masa Red Ribbon Week whereas alcohol and drug abuse affects individuals families and communities Across the Nation and whereas it's imperative that visible unified efforts by community members be launched to prevent drug abuse and whereas Red Ribbon Week offers citizens the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to drug-free Lifestyles and whereas Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated in communities Across the Nation from October 23rd through the 31st and whereas businesses government law enforcement Media healthc Care Providers religious institutions schools and other community- based organizations will demonstrate their commitment to a healthy drug-free Lifestyles by wearing red ribbons and participating in drug prevention activities and whereas The Bu of Madison along with the Madison Alliance addressing substance abuse known as Masa further commits its resources to ensure this success of Red Ribbon Week now therefore I Robert H Conley mayor bur Madison on behalf of the government body hereby Proclaim October 23rd through 31st as Red Ribbon Week and encourage residents to participate in drug prevention education activities not only during Red Ribbon Week but throughout the year make an visible statement that we're strongly committed to a drug-free lifestyle thank you wear those red ribbons and we'll now move on to reports from committees Public Safety council president range thank you mayor uh from the police department tonight the members of the Madison police department want to thank everyone who visited and was involved in the planning of bottle Hill day uh Saturday October 5th saw fantastic weather and it's been reported that the visitor count this year exceeded 30,000 there is a lot that goes into planning and particularly for the security of bod Hill day and uh on behalf of the chief and myself we'd like to thank uh lieutenant plumstead in Corporal dco and the rest of the Madison police department planning committee uh for all their efforts around securing uh the we'd also like to thank Partners in the Morris County Sheriff's Department Morris County prosecutor's office the United States Department of Homeland Security and the East Handover Police Department Who provided uh additional coverage throughout the day as well um as always thank you to Lisa Michael pisier our bur Administration mayor and counsel and all those that made that make B Hill a great day to be in Madison uh also just a reminder tonight uh to all visitors and attendees of events held at the Madison Recreation Complex to please stay off the grass with your vehicles uh the police department has received numerous complaints regarding Vehicles parked on the grass and they have been issuing citations uh for that improper parking um so save yourself the trouble and uh go park at the Overflow parking lot uh at the Madison High School they have put out the the electronic sign to remind people that that is where uh overflow parking is um and the police department continues to work uh with the recreation department to communicate uh the same to all visitors including uh visiting teams and their supporters from the fire department tonight uh for the month of September the fire department responded to a total of 206 calls this included 76 fire calls and 130 EMS calls with 82 people being transported to the hospital there were also 16 home sale co inspections performed and a total of 54 fire prevention inspections throughout the burough as well at the fire department's annual dinner on October 4th Lieutenant Evan Webb was awarded career firefighter of the Year Lieutenant Webb was instrumental in helping uh and getting the EMS division up and running volunteer firefighter Joe Gilmore was awarded volunteer firefighter of the Year firefighter Gilmore dedicates a lot of time to the fire department and is a big part of helping get new volunteers and as we all know we've had a number of new Volunteers in the recent uh couple of years here uh we're very proud of both Evan uh and Joe and congratulate them both the fire department uh also had a very busy day on b Hill day and enjoyed uh cooking at the car show and giving tours of uh the various apparatus uh and and their facility uh Chief Wickman and Captain Longo from the police department attended uh a reliability first tabletop exercise on October 9th the exercise was regarding Safety and Security of the electric infrastructure during a large-scale event Captain Longo and chief Wickman were able to talk about fire and police operations uh with representatives from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities pjm and several New Jersey utility companies and lastly from the fire department tonight the fire prevention Bureau has started their fire safety visits at our elementary schools and preschools to coincide with October being fire prevention month preschoolers and kindergarteners are getting visits with a firetruck and Captain Blair is doing safety presentations for the older children and just from The Joint court tonight um September 2023 to se comparatively to September 24 uh saw a increase of a total of 298 cases most of that increase being uh nothing that serious traffic and parking ticket uh increases compared to the same month last year and later tonight we will be um voting on a resolution that appoints uh the part-time violation clerk Adrian Morales uh from that position to be a full-time Deputy Court Administrator uh Adrian joined the municipal joint Court in May and has become a real asset in that short time and we're excited to uh welcome him to the new position uh in our court that's all from Public Safety thank you mayor fin answer bur clerk M erck thank you mayor the administration reports that in the beginning of 2023 the burough switched health insurance providers from the New Jersey State Health Benefit Plan to the new J sorry North Jersey municipal employee benefits fund the state plan had increased by over 20% that year whereas the new provider was increasing about half as much our health insurance plan pricing came in earlier this week and it is expected to go up approximately 15% which is still below this year's increase for the state health benefits plan other insurance costs are going up as well the burough is member of the municipal excess liability Morris County Joint Insurance Fund known as the GIF our policy with the GIF covers workers compensation general liability environmental liability property equipment Vehicles Employment Practices and cyber insurance as well as coverage for volunteers and the governing body the Burrow's bill for 2024 was 1,421 198 million and that cost is expected to go up approximately 10% next year the finance department reports that uh the burrow will make a semiannual debt payment of $1,682 1112 these Bonds were first issued in 2008 then refunding Bonds were issued in 2014 so we could benefit from a lower interest rate the projects funded by this debt include the new Public Safety complex prior renovations to burrow Hall and a new fire truck we have five more years of payment on this debt Additionally the finance department is working on the annual New Jersey Division of local government services best practices checklist we anticipate reporting out the results of this exercise at the next council meeting from the tax collector's office tax collector recently held the annual tax sale one lean was pred placed on a property due to unpaid 2023 utility and property taxes the tax collector also mailed out added SL omitted tax bills last week these bills account for any increase in the value of a property that hasn't been built for example added taxes due to an addition or new construction the fourth quarter tax amount added amount is due on November 1st with a 10day grace period this should be paid in addition to the bill you already received this summer the tax collector's office can help with any questions regarding the bill itself but anyone with questions about the value of the added assessment should contact the tax assessor's office and finally the tax color's office would like to remind residents that the deadline to file for this year's property tax relief known as senior freeze is October 31st please give them a call or stop in the tax collector's office if you have any questions thank Youk you Public Works and Engineering Mr landan thank you mayor DPW uh this from DPW leaf piles should be put on the curb with no sticks rocks or trash mixed in they will continue to work with their vendor uh to get them all picked up all Lea equipment has been serviced dtpw has ordered a new hybrid truck and residents should see that in the near future the sewer department is performing routine jetting of the sewer lines check rosenet.org for updates and finally DPW is getting numerous tree requests since the storms over the summer they have a long list of tree work and their vendor is working on the list weekly thank you mayor thank you and utilities Mr Alan pus thank you mayor welcome everybody from the community uh from the electric utility Jim matina is retiring as our electric utility superintendent after 38 years of service to the burrow on tonight's agenda is a recommendation to hire Chief lineman Vince Patty to replace Jim effective November 1st Vince is 17 years of experience in our electric utility and I have every confidence that he'll maintain the high level of performance and efficiency that Jim established this promotion once approved will generate future additional Personnel actions to fill the chief lineman position and hire a new lineman to maintain full Staffing our electric Crews will shortly be removing the overhead Street lighting poles at the cook Avenue reconstruction project and replacing them with historic light poles and fixtures they also installed the infrastructure to double the amount amount of EV Chargers in that parking lot when it reopens the electric Personnel installed Temporary Service poles to provide electric service for p hild day operations the administrative staff is compiling an inventory of equipment and supplies with special emphasis emphasis on ordering essential long lead items like Transformers and poles to ensure an adequate supply for the burrow from the Water Department fire hydrant flushing is on going this annual inspection process will continue through early November residents are encouraged to run their tap if there's any slight discoloration in their water uh metertech the contractor that we hired to install uh the new water meters continues to replace water meters throughout the town hundreds of meters have been replaced and a few hundred are left residents are encouraged to call 98412 051 5 to schedule an appointment or online at meter tech.net the United States Environmental Protection Agency has strengthened the testing requirements regarding forever chemicals known as pasas the Burrow's licensed water operator has expanded our testing and sampling protocols to now monitor these chemicals in our water supply the burough has also joined the National class action lawsuit against the manufacturers who produce these dangerous chemicals that's all man thank you community fairs Miss Hanahan thank you mayor from the Downtown Development commission and Lisa Ellis Director of Business Development uh a big thank you to all of the event sponsors for bottle hild day the vendors volunteers and burrow employees who helped make it one for the record books the weather was perfect as we've already talked about and looking forward to the 50th anniversary of bottle Hill Day next year October 4th 20 25 so got that on your calendar uh thank you so much to uh Lisa Ellis and Michael pessier for all their hard work the Madison farm and Artisan Market continues to be open for business every Saturday through December 14th in the Prospect Street parking lot from 9: to 2: and continues to be very successful the next regular meeting of the Downtown Development commission will be held Thursday October 17th tomorrow at 7:15 uh down the hall the Chamber of Commerce is offering a seminar to discuss the compliance and impacts of the corporate transparency act all are welcome to join on Thursday October 17th at 8:00 a.m. at Affinity Federal Credit Union check out the familyfriendly scarecrows downtown uh sponsored by our local businesses they are out there starting on October 16th today through November 1st the Madison Area Chamber of Commerce will host the 2024 Halloween parade and magic show on October 26 from 12:30 to 3: um making downtown very busy so heads up on that and trick-or-treating um will happen after the magic show the chamber and the DDC are presenting a new event called The Rose City dog day and parade which will be on November 2nd from 11: to 2 uh Karen at the Madison chamber or Lisa Ellis can answer additional questions regarding that parade and from the Madison Community Arts Center over 50 paintings by area artists from the debber studio in Floren Park are being displayed through November 25th uh the Film Society on October 18th will be screening food and Country the groundbreaking film examining the precarious state of America's food system there will be two viewings um brand new improv comedy group to too old for that will present their very first show on Wednesday October 30th at 8 and the baroke orchestra of New Jersey will present a free concert on September 27 at 4 other uh events can be found on Madison Arts nj.org uh one other shout out for the repair Cafe which um is being hosted by rotary at Grace Church on November 2nd uh knife sharpening light fixtures that might be broken bikes all things fabric repairs and more bring your things and get it done for free and don't throw it in the uh landfill ex thank you and Health Mr Forte thank you mayor from the health department the health department is now offering free influenza vaccinations to homebound residents and their caregivers to schedule a homebound vaccination please call the health department at 9735932415 the health department also encourages all residents six months and older to get their flu vaccine before Halloween as part of the bcen before Halloween campaign the CDC recommends that all residents six months and older also get an updated covid vaccine a covid vaccine is now recommended annually to protect against variants and reduce the risk of hospitalization and developing long covid thank you mayor thank you now we move on to Communications and petitions none received mayor now we're on to the first of two uh invitations for public comment this one is limited to only the items on our uh agenda discussion or the resolutions if you want to comment on another topic we'll have another uh discussion period coming up shortly and uh these are the topics you may comment on during this session and uh our just agenda discussion is a 2024 capital projects update and and these are the resolutions you may comment on and these will also be part of the consent agenda at the end of the meeting resolution 276 is appointing um Anthony amorado to position of truck driver in in the public works department annual salary of $56,950 resolution 277 is authorized a purchase of a public works vehicle under Educational Services uh Co-op a price of 50,000 227 resolution 278 is enabling resolution for U open space acquisition for Green Acres this is to support the P the MRC purchase the resolution 279 is authorizing a developers agreement between the burough of Madison and Hoy Ting Kong and hoi Tang block 2502 a lots uh 211 and 02 this was a sub division uh resolution 280 is authorizing courtesy use of a um portion of Public Safety complex by Vel ID training for law enforcement instruction resolution 281 is authorized in courtesy use of portion of the public safety complex by fry Dickinson for graduate courses resolution 282 is approving property tax exemption status for tax block 9911 Lot 8 fact of January 1 2025 for wartown or wartime service connected disability resolution 283 is approving temporary signs for the Madison gu Christmas tree fund through November 21st through the end of December resolution 284 is approving the annual Halloween parade which we just heard about by the Chamber of Commerce to be held on October 26th resolution 285 is approving the annual Rose City first annual Ros dog day and parade sponsored by Madison chamber which you already heard about resolution 286 is promoting Adrien Morales to the position of Deputy cor CLK administrator as reported already at annual salary 56,000 resolution 287 is appointing Jennifer daily to position a part-time office assistant um at 27 per $27 an hour resolution 288 is authorized in Christmas tree sale at Dodge field from November 23rd through December 21st by Rotary Club uh resolution 289 is appointing Vincent Patty and we've also heard about this uh as electric utility superintendent annual salary of 155,000 resolution 290 is accepting donation from former Masonic Lodge for fire department this is the amount of $5,000 for the purchase of nox boxes and other fire equipment and resolution 291 is approving in Jacob Henry's Perkins trust dis dispersement of $2,200 22500 2, $255 it's uh my mouth doesn't work on Wednesdays I guess so those are resolutions you may uh comment on if you want to comment any of those resolutions or the one agenda item which is the uh capital projects update please step to the lecturn state your name and address if you want to comment on another topic you wait until a little bit later in the meeting Charles my name is Charles Courtney 26 moris place please tell me if I'm out of order this will be brief what do you want what do you commenting on excuse me what what what do you want to comment on Charles uh it's a resolve not a resolution I came to Madison in 1964 yeah actually I have to hold you in for a few minutes on that one so you only can comment on the things I just mentioned Oh I thought that was later okay no NOP that one's now and but uh about three four minutes from now not too long all right okay all right any anyone want to comment on any any of the resolutions or the one agenda item seen seeing none um it yep sorry it was it was the resolutions were so long even I lost track of what part of the meeting we're at so I I apologize um so see and then we close this part of the meeting and we now move on to 2024 capital projects update Jim thank you mayor Administration wanted to give a quick update to Council on some of the capital projects that have occurred over this past summer um I think uh everyone's very happy with some of these especially this first one the Dodge field accessible playground you talked about that a few minutes ago mayor it has been a a resounding success um most importantly we want to remind everyone that the ribbon cutting is going to be Saturday October 26th at 2 p.m. I want to thank everyone that was involved um in that especially Deb con and Susie whorn for their guidance on the design um very helpful from concept all the way through to execution to have their input um the next slide um cook Plaza parking lot moving along not nearly as quickly as we would like but moving along this is going to enhance safety uh the deteriorated conditions of the parking lot were a problem and it will relocate um all the handicap parking and bring it up closer to the businesses and make it a much more attractive um parking lot worthy of our main parking lot in the downtown um our hope is that that will be uh completed as it says here before Thanksgiving and we're continuing to work with the uh vendor to make sure that um is going to happen also has um improved a traffic flow um I've never been to any other parking lot lot that has every aisle brings you back out into the road so um so that's um been changed next slide is the milling and overlay we did uh Municipal Mill and overlay on Municipal roads on nolwood Long View and Valley and then the county roads Park Avenue and Green Village Road are slated to be um to be done um it's important to do um uh up up have a proper program that updates roads every year so we don't fall behind um wellbe construction this was an interesting project um it took a long time there was some uh bumps in the road but it's important for us to get the well to produce the proper amount of water the water that's permanent the water that can um be generated from it over time the inside of the well can get um Can deteriorate and get silty and have other issues that reduce the flow of water coming out of the well through a number of treatment processes along with some reconstruction and a new pump and new motor and additional work we're happy to report that the well is uh back up and running also structurally the physical building was um updated as well there's some improvements um that still need to be made but the appearance of the building um definitely better fits um into the neighborhood um and then the Water and Light um roof it's a very big building and I wish I had my old picture of the building from like a hundred years ago it's been around for a long time and we um repaired uh damage to the rotted areas of the roof and um uh re shingled it not on this list we have emergency repairs going on right now at Department of Public Works the trusses in their main building during some inspections we found out that they were damaged so we actually have um some Shoring um going on right now um making it safe and then we're going to be doing some repairs there um this also doesn't include um all the other Capital items that we've bought trucks and other things like that this is purely just for uh Municipal projects so just wanted to give the council just a quick update to let you know even though we don't have Bob vogle who we miss greatly Bob vogle please come back if you want to now we don't have Bob vogle we've still been able to keep the ball rolling here thank you lot as as always a lot of things going on and uh two two comments before I throw it out to the Council um people may be looking at and say wait you know I've seen some other streets being milled and overlaid that are not in list there were some guests uh main uh work done so those such as Britain Street um which is uh was milled this past Saturday and will'll be uh paved this Saturday to avoid uh the school traffic time because you've that's very would have been very disruptive Central Avenue in the Junior School um though talking to Juanita the crossing guard at uh Greenwood suggestion is not to pave the section across uh Greenwood because it's doing a great job traffic coming wise maybe we'll just leave that little uh dividend there and everyone's slowing down almost a complete stop and with the uh the pump besides you know I think we from uh had a meeting there yesterday that the uh efficiency was down 50% so we're you know back not only back up but I also understand that it's a far more energy effic ient pump too that's correct the pump is more energy efficient and then when the when the well is working properly it's easier to extract the water takes less energy we use some very um Innovative um processes to kind of clear out the little nooks and crannies that are within the shaft of the well and make sure that it's balanced properly it's it's it's kind of like a a fine instrument and um and as a result we're U the the testing company wanted to say let's go with the 1400 gallons we can't we're limited it to by the D to 1,200 gallons a minute but we're happy to report that it's it's flowing well any any of the comments or questions Rachel thanks Jim can you uh just explain how it works when when the burough undertakes to PVE a County Road it you park AV was mentioned as one road is that a burrow project or a county project no it a county project okay y but but the cooperation between the uh County or and the buau of very important such as uh when they left town on Park Avenue there were a couple crosswalks that were missing yes so those came striped again the other thing that I've reached out to the county uh for is when the paving on Green Village Road happens if you are at the intersection of uh Green Village Road and Kings Road um heading into town so you have Sunday Motor Company on your left and um sonoko on your right there's a striped shoulder there most people use that as a right turn lane and if you have someone that's properly in the lane decides to take a right turn you have a possible uh accident um the request was because people will probably use it as a shoulder anyway let's make it a right turn lane so the request was to stripe that out put a right turn arrow there and uh left and straight in the other one so I they accepted that so hopefully it won't fall off the list but those that's the type of things we do um when Central Avenue was uh repaved a good number of years ago we did the sidewalks ahead of time in kurbing in cooperation also related to this um since I'm on a roll uh is the fact that I I Madison like many towns has a traffic uh complete streets policy which means every time we look at a reconstruction we look at pedestrians um bicyclist and vehicles along with the residents the uh county is pretty much is the process of repaving as is and I've asked and uh had a great meeting with them about creating a a county policy that would cooperate with towns that already have complete Street programs so they could complement what's going on I said you know in a town that doesn't have a program it doesn't make sense to create a complete Street Island but towns like Madison um it it is very important so hopefully we'll we'll see the county and the uh Avenues in motion is working with Warren County and said they will work with Mars County on that policy great anything else for off topic mayor I just want to report that we've already had two applications for the utility program for the utility um efficiency Improvement program so we're happy about that that's that's up and running excellent all right thank you very much for the update and now is our second opportunity for public comment and this is when you may comment on any topic even those that were not on my long list so Charles welcome back and uh great to have you here same name same address right I came to Madison in 64 raised my family here and had my working life here um but less than a month ago I moved and my house is is soon going to be sold but before I moved I received my mailin ballot from the from Morris County but as soon as I moved to New Providence I registered to vote and a few days ago I received a ballot from Union County I could vote twice but I honor our tradition of free and fair elections voting is a right it's a solemn privilege so to make sure that I keep my resolve I'm cutting my Morris Morris County ballot and will mail in my Union County ballot in due course thank you for your attention I have a short drive before I sleep so I will excuse myself Charles it has been a honor and pleasure to have you uh in Madison for so many years and um I know we'll we'll still see you visiting Charles was also a key player when we had the mayor's All-Star softball team playing against Quest Diagnostic so uh keep it up it's it's been good [Applause] it is tough one to follow and I I have been in Madison 35 years ago when Charles and I were both at Drew and uh taking showers in new it was a funny thing that we stunt that we did because we had repaired the Water Systems in uh our dorms J if you can announce name and address can you hear that yep oh okay name and address and then you go get back to I you know what my name and address is here I was early and so I put it all down I'm Mary Jane London I'm at 10 High View Terrace um but anyway Charles and I go back a long time and we had a lot of fun um but I'm here to tell you some interesting stories about bottle Hill day and first I'd like to say that uh on behalf of the friends of the Drew Forest I'd like to compliment uh Lisa Ellis on a fabulous job it it was really well attended it was I mean it was the best I've ever done I've done them for three years now and it was fabulous and to to her credit and her leadership I think uh she deserves it so anyway I know she's not here but please thank thank Lisa she usually watching at home so oh good um so anyway what we we did this year was uh we had this wonderful postcard to uh Hillary link and uh Bill Landis with many signatures on it to um please make a decision to save the Drew forest and I can tell you that it drew a lot of attention um we have signatures here from senator now if you can tell what it says on here I don't know what scribbles he had but I can tell you he signed it because I was with him as a aotter done who also signed it but once again I can't I can tell you T connley signed it and so I have t Conley in here but I I have some interesting uh stories about three other signatures that I think were pretty special right in the middle of the tree is a heart and it signed Max Max is a boy probably I want to say eight or nine and he came to the table with his dad and his dad signed the the the Post Guard and he Max said he said you can sign Max you can sign and Max looked and looked and where's Max going to sign pick the heart that was very important to him um he said cuz he likes the forest is what he said then we have here Emma Emma is about 5 years old and Emma just learned how to print and so Emma print printed her name and then she looked up at me and said my brother wants to save the forest too her brother's about three he can't print can I sign it for him and so I now have Emma and Nolan who have signed this card to presid and land is hoping that they understand that the reason we want to save this Forest is for the next generation and I thank you for your support thank you Mary Jane did you stay with the post um is that okay than true so um my name is Joe basian I live at a Fairfax Terrace in chadam Township and um I'm also a board member of friends of the Drew forest and when I looked at this postcard with the names arrayed quite beautifully around the tree it reminded me of what I saw this morning in my own yard um I have a small yard uh it's usually pretty quiet even though I I plant you know native plants and it's usually pretty quiet but this morning suddenly five or six different species showed up at once there were um gral there were two Northern flickers I think a couple a pair they're always together um a Carolina Ren Robin and then squirrels and Chipmunks all at once what are they doing well sort of like people do they're gathering for um for food and safety together in between different species they're looking out for each other more eyes more senses on the sky for Hawks and things and also when one indicates there's food somewhere all different other species realize there might be something over there so they all go and I thought wow what what happens um what that postcard made me think of and how we're all arranged around a tree and what happens in my small yard is true many many many times over in the much bigger uh Drew Forest not just because it's bigger because the larger it is the more levels of complexity there are and and um and then I remembered you know that's how our human communities gather uh for food and safety and work and joy and that's really what we and the animals are are doing something sort of together and that's what you all are doing in Madison we're doing more broadly of course we also depend on nature as as you know um for um cleaner air cleaner more abundant water storm water control um dessing lower heat and so many other things so Mary Jane um I've I've tabled with Mary Jane a few times it is so much fun if anyone would like to join her please do but that's that's what I got out of um of this beautiful um collection of our community members signatures thank you for allowing me to speak mayor and everyone else thank you Joe thank you anyone else wishing to comment please step forward seeing seeing no one else we close this part of the meeting and I have to uh just go back one step because in anxious to get Charles up here I forgot to just announce that there are no ordinances for hearing which is item 14 which is why we jump so quickly to uh the invitation for public comment and now we um move on to introduction ordinance will the clerk please read the statement yes the ordinance scheduled for first reading has a hearing date set for Wednesday November the 13th 2024 will be published in the Madison Eagle posted on the bulletin board and made available to members of the public requesting same I call ordinance of first reading ask the bur clerk to read that ordinance by title ordinance 31- 2024 ordinance of the burrow of M and amending and supplementing chapter 113 of the burough code entitled housing standards standards regarding lead-based paint inspections may I move ordinance 31-202 24 second comment on the timing on the hearing since we have less than two full weeks before our next meeting that's why we're skipping the meeting and this is a um ordinance that uh is following state regulations and starting the program here in madis any other comments roll call vote Please Mr erlick yes Mr landrian yes Mr range yes Mr harm pis yes Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes all right we now move on to consent agenda resolutions where the clerk please read the statement consent agenda resolutions will be enacted with a single motion any resolution requiring expenditure is supported by the 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 mayor I move the consent agenda resolutions 276 d224 through 291 d202 second any discussion or any that need to be pulled Tom so 278 2024 is about uh Green Acres money that's we've been we requested from Green Acres that's coming to the burrow to help pay for the MRC was this already agreed before right and we're just already been awarded this is authorizing execution of the grant agreement to accept $700,000 to help retire the debt on the MRC acquisition so you wouldn't want us to say no to that don't say no to that just checking so we're be getting close Jim berett to paying down that debt yeah yeah you don't don't sound so optimistic okay that's great that you guys got that much money though thank you any other discussion roll call vote please miss erck yes Mr landrian yes Mr range yes Mr har and pus yes Miss Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes he there is no unfinished business approval of vouchers will the clerk please read the voucher okay from the current fund $999,500 64 from the general Capital fund $11 6,760 67 from the electric operating fund $567 65740 and from the Electric Capital fund 89,1 even from the water operating fund $ 35,7 64 from the water Capital fund $ 56,57 I'm sorry 57 , 45750 and the trust $1 12,486 78 the total is 1,886 69866 May I move approval of the vouchers second any discussion roll call vote please M erlick yes Mr landrian yes Mr range yes Mr harm pus yes M Hanahan yes Mr Forte yes there is no new business