##VIDEO ID:8BdxF1__VZo## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e I e e e e [Music] h e e e e e e pursuant to section 5 chapter 231 Public Law 1975 this is to State for the record that adequate notice of this has been provided to the public by posting and maintaining the annual notice of regular meetings on the bulletin board at the municipal building by mailing the annual notice of regular meetings for 2024 to the news record and Star Ledger in December of 2023 and by filing said notice in the office of the scrip Mr daffis here Mr DeLuca here ble here Adams here chapter 231 public laws of 1975 Comm known as open public meetings that requires Ro meetings of public bodies be open to the public and where section 7A provides that the governing body has a discretion to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation of the public at any meeting and where as Zar the governing body to comply with the pro Provisions that this act same time to conduct its business in an orderly and expeditious manner now therefore be it resolved by the township committee Township mwood does hereby prohibit except the set forth in the formal agenda active participation in deliberations of the governing body by the public except as otherwise prescribed by law those limit the public to the observations of the actions and discussions of the governing body at all of its regular and special meetings so move second Mr Duca yes M angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you yet we're done with all the public notice right correct so I'd like to ask everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and stay standing for a moment of silence afterwards I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all I'd um like everyone to take a moment to um a moment of silence for the passing of Mrs Willie Joyce Howard uh she is the mother of Deputy Mayor kpe um and Deputy Mayor kry has been down in Florida for quite uh the last few weeks in um this sad time for her and her family so if you will please thank you so welcome everyone to the Tuesday September 17 2024 meeting of the township Committee of Maplewood um tonight we have one Proclamation for n Hispanic Heritage Month uh for boards and committees we have an appointment to the historic preservation commission then we will have a presentation by um architect Margaret hickey historic preservation specialist um who will uh present a plan for the Woodland preservation plan then we will have public comment for agenda items only after that we have no ordinances on Final pack passage excuse me we have one ordinance on for introduction um a revision to the demolition ordinance that we discussed at the last meeting then we have reports from departments uh filming waiver permit request um then we have have administrative reports from uh administrator wey Township attorney cedido and Township Clerk fritsen reports from elected officials will start with Committee Member Angel then Committee Member Duca Committee Member daffis and IO last we have a few items for discussion tonight the top condominium providing a no parking area for safety something we've been discussing for the last month or so we have another that'll be led by Mr Del as well the storm water utility establishment that um will be led by Mr Duca and one more for affordable housing Housing partnership with ingerman then we have another discussion item for food truck permit changes um then we will have the consent agenda and after that we have public comments subject um on any subject matter um and so right now we move to proclamations and I will present the proclamation for National Hispanic Heritage Month whereas beginning in 1968 the celebration of Hispanic heritage in America began as a week and was expanded to a month in 1988 and whereas every year Hispanic Heritage Month takes place from September 15th to October 15th to recognize and celebrate the contributions cultures and histories of the American Hispanic and Latino Community whereas alongside celebrating the accomplishments of the American Hispanic and Latino Community the month also marks the independence of numerous Latin American countries from Mexico chile Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras and Nicaragua and whereas the United States has a population comprised of 19% or over 63 million people who identify as Hispanic or Latino and whereas while we celebrate the past we must also uplift what in the present is making history like hackin saacks Hesley Rivera who recently won a gold medal in gymnastics at this year's Olympics also Nelly pu who if elected to November's general election will become the first Hispanic woman elected to congress from New Jersey now there therefore be it resolved that I Nancy Adams mayor of the township of Maplewood on behalf of the Maplewood Township committee Proclaim that September is Hispanic heritage month together with the rest of the township committee I advocate all citizens learn about the culture the history and those in our own Community for as with all cultures those who are Latin and Hispanic aren't a monolith and each holds a rich and unique story to tell thank you okay so we'll move with that to boards and committees we have an historic preservation commission uh appointee Mr Dua thank you um we do have an appointee I don't see him in the audience here if you could check on Zoom Mr mccre no okay so I would suggest we table this until uh we can reach out I can reach out to him and uh see if we can get okay was he intending to come um we did send him the information I just don't know if he he didn't respond right did not respond so let's I just want to table it yes make sure he really wants it yes okay fair enough all right then we'll move to the presentation so Margaret if you would mind wouldn't mind coming up to the microphone hold it super close so Margaret hickey is an architect with historic preservation specialty um from Connelly and hickey historical Architects and I met you years ago through the Main Street program so um Welcome to our meeting and and I know you've worked hard on all this so thank you for joining us tonight thank you um so the purpose of tonight's presentation is to review the historic preservation plan that we prepared um this plan was funded with um by a a grant 100% funded um through the CLG program um administered by the New Jersey St preservation office and um there's there's two primary purposes one was sort of to give you a good comprehensive idea of the conditions of the building and what the needs are and hopefully be able to prioritize those and give you some Associated costs but then since the building does have needs and you may be wanted to go look for competitive bricks and mortar grants his stor preservation uh grants um this is a critical first step towards obtaining those grants because the more you kind of know upfront of what you're doing the more competitive you are and at Statewide level you're competing against 21 other counties right last year this past Year's applications were 10 I think it was like 108 applications for various different programs but that's still a pretty high number um and they have between 10 and 15 million to give out every year so um you do want to be as competitive as possible if that's if that's a a route you want to take so this is kind of one of the first major steps in that Grant process proc okay um so I'm really bad at the slide thing so I'm just going to go through maybe I could um I was supposed to talk about the Chron this is just a little brief chronology of construction um one of the things in the preservation plan that we do even though the focus is really on giving you conditions we have to understand the history and chronology of the building in order to be able to frame our recommendations so that we're not doing anything adverse to the historic fabric so um a history um chronology of construction and then um slip through some of the historic photographs I do have a couple of notes um so like I said we look at the the history for the context um but with the intent um to to give us a framework into into which to work that we're working but the other thing that I want to point out is that you know preservation is kind of getting away from um Museum as being the the sole you know the sole thing we do um and so the other part of the project or your building is um you could stop there uh the other part of the the the other part is the use of the building so we did also look at the use of the building and I also wanted to say that when it comes to the grants you're also more competitive when you have a a broader Community use not to say that museums still aren't funded but the state and other funding agencies are looking for that more engagement rather than that static you know Museum um which has a harder draw for the public St so um so you fit right into that category in terms of the visioning um but in addition to that even though you're not going to be a museum the funding agencies New Jersey St preservation office um also want you still to be sensitive to the historic fabric so I think that's why I kind of settled on on this Photograph um because it really shows a lot of the features that have kind of been lost under the aluminum siding that is there currently um so that might be one of the objectives or that is one of the objectives in the in the framework of the recommendations is to look at those features that could be restored we may not restore everything or it may say we say look we give you this longterm plan but you know there's a lot of money you may not get to everything but it's at least in the plan for you to be able to say okay we may get to that but it might be 15 years Mr W can you go back a couple pictures to show the inside where the window she was just talking about yeah right there so right now those are all painted over with brown paint and aren't aren't used and so we're missing a big opportunity what really interesting that was that was painted over what in the war to for the blackout ah interesting that's what we read in the history so that's yeah the side you have those chairs next door believe it or not they were next door really yeah next door they're in a closet next door oh really yeah the wooden chairs yeah wow we don't have that many not as many I'm gonna return to this space eventually yeah that's s such a fabulous picture you can end up on um oh the other thing I wanted to point out is that the building really has not changed a lot since it originally constructed so it it really does retain a high level of Integrity which is really which makes our life easier to be honest when it comes to making recommendations so um all right so I'm just going to could just quickly go through the slides but I'm going to talk about each slide in terms of what we're looking at um and it just kind of gives a highlight of some of the things that we were seeing as we were doing the condition assessment um so we are seeing that the gutters on the main building are starting to leak um not huge leaks but you can see where there's separation at the Cornus which is an indicator that that the copper in the gutters is starting to reach the end of its useful life next um and then the chimneys which we have a couple pictures of that but this also shows the new addition um the transition between the two is not working very well in terms of getting the water off but the chimneys also need repointing next that's a detail of that condition a lot of moisture in that that area which is not great um uh we're also um the there's a lot of area ways because the way the building is structured right you've got sort of almost a banked building so the first floor level at the front is really almost underground and so there's a lot of moisture building up in those window wells which the windows are wood so you you you don't want that to happen because they'll eventually rot away next and then the aluminum siding which I think was uh done in the0 70s is starting to show its age so um this is a particularly bad location because of all the the wash up from the the ground and then also the doors and the sidelights are also problematic um but we're working with the engineering firm to come up with a a solution to that so which engineer our engine your engineers okay there's a lot of those um and then yeah we also have a team of Engineers on our team okay good and then the windows which vary in size and configuration and stuff like that also vary in condition so there's not one set condition for the windows it does depend on what side of the building they are on whe How close they are to the ground that kind of stuff but um they all need a little bit of work um and we do kind of phase that in in our discussions next uh more close-up picture of the chimneys which you could see that white uh the chimneys used to be painted white um but you also see this the soiling and then the the the slate roof which I thought from the ground look okay but then once you got up close all that little bit of tar on top or the bitchin um and also the skylights are starting to show their age um and there is a little bit of evidence of roof leaking you will at some point have to replace the the the roof um so uh this is the biggest concern right now and and um you'll find that we'll we're calling it Priority One but um there is a structural uh structural deficiency in the roof over the audit torium um it is next next slide I think it probably explains it better so this is a section through what is called the scissor truss um and the bottom cord is uh in compression but it really should be in tension so it's actually wiggling in the in its framework um s Trust are not great they but just by their nature um and what's happening is those little two squiggly marks around it's basically pushing the the walls out below um and then the second problem is those are starting to Sag and if you go back to that other picture you can see the SAG between each of the TRU um it's a common this the pearlin problem is a common problem we've dealt with that in a number of locasion we also have dealt with trust problems um so we're we don't have the exact Solutions just yet we'd still have to do more calculations and stuff like that but based on the conditions we kind of know the direction you need to go in okay so that wouldn't require us to go to fix exactly what's there the repair would be to do the best solution than the scissor uh so we' keep the scissor trust in place we would just reinforcing to kind of to change the dynamic of how that is how that is working so it's no longer pushing the walls out yeah that'd be nice yeah and then we would reinforce the pearlins um to stop the SAG so one of the things that we think may have happened in the permit it it said wood shingle roof and maybe some point when they were in the design they decided to go to slate slate which is a lot heavier a lot heavier so that could have been a contributing factor but we do think the scissor trust is just inherently not a good trust system and so that that could also be a contributing factor but I think the Pearl and sagging is probably due to the Sleep we're not advocating going away from the sleep because we think we can fix it so okay and and changing the Slate is not going to change the dynamic of what you see right now right um next slide okay so the you're actually not seeing any stress well we actually see the stress and I wish Tom had taken a picture he had hung the the tape on the column on the pilaster there and you could see the walls are like a couple inches out of Plum um but the ceiling is not showing EV any evidence of problems because it's actually hung from the roof uh but so we will have to rehang it as as part of this but it's hung by 2x4s so not the best hanging system to begin with um it should be hung really by cables so um but we're not seeing any stress in the ceiling which is good and I also want to reiterate we're not asking you to move out of the building or it's not in endanger collapse it just will get progressively worse if we don't right going and then this is a section of the picture of the stage and the stage um looks like a homo soap material on the the existing Rafters the rafters are fine that that roof is is fine um that's just starting to age and that was sort of a sound editing material but because it's kind of porous it just it just eventually sags and and pulls away and then we've got um overall we think the finishes on the inside are actually pretty good condition um buildings well maintained clearly I mean when we're there you guys are their guys are always cleaning and doing stuff it's really nice to see um but you do have some wear and tear so you know that is in the list like I said keep going next slide so the list is very long the list is several pages long of what you need to do that's extremely detailed but like I said you don't have to do everything you also don't have to do everything at once um and we do try to kind of break it down into phases but like our biggest concerns are the structural deficiencies at the auditorium roof um we will have to re-roof eventually the whole thing but we can do it in pieces the building is nice enough enough that it's structured in pieces so we could do the roofing in pieces because slate Roofing is not inexpensive another reason why the grants are there is to kind of help you with that offset that cost um deal with the roof drainage system the gutters the leaders and things like that uh aluminum siding get rid of the aluminum siding restore the underlying conditions particularly since the aluminum siding is actually reaching the end of its useful life so um and then repairs to windows and doors um and then a couple other things on the exterior next slide um we do think that uh you should probably take another look at your trees in the front um our landscape architect thinks that uh the the two Evergreens should go I'm not really good at tree names but the evergreens are should should be removed and the um I think it's an oak really needs to be looked at by a by an arborist um and then the planting s you know that little picture I showed of the window wells all that should be cleaned out right um and on the interior it's it's a few finishes it's not a lot it's mostly going to be a cyclical M maintenance thing for you in terms of you know every seven to 10 years you should be budgeting for repainting um particularly if the spaces are well utilized which it looks like they are um and I we will also include a maintenance plan in your plan so this way you can can have that um but we also we sat down with the people who kind of help with the the programming and they said one of the biggest complaints is the lack of air conditioning yeah I know actually there's two big complaints the lack of air conditioning and the migration of noise from the ballroom up to the multi-purpose spaces because you can't actually close those doors because they're sliding doors so for code it's a problem we do make some recommendations for for that as well go to the next slide so we do uh oh my number went away oh there it is um we do make recommendations so phase one uh part of this is because um phase one is for the structure it's also because the windows and doors at the auditorium are in very bad condition um no the Sid lights and the doors are in very bad condition they they really need to be addressed um and we will have to actually get to the walls from the outside so taking off the aluminum siding and doing the wood siding actually kind of ties in in to the the structural work so we'd have to access that anyway what we're recommending is kind of doing everything at once um so we're not doing stuff twice that's that's also a main priority when we kind of break stuff down is we like to do a logical sequence of work so priorities logical sequence of work and then break it down from there so first phase um is over a million dollars uh that we're projecting um it is a preservation plan so we it's based on what we know as of now once we do the drawings it may adjust a little bit um and then the second phase would be kind of go to the inside and focus on the use aspect of things to kind of give you what you need to be able to expand and better use the facility um and that's how actually the funding agency looks at it too they would like structure to be dealt with first but then really getting people into the building is actually their main priority and then you can kind of worry about the the aesthetic aspects of things so that's a little over a million dollars and that has to do with electrical upgrades putting in air conditioning um and a couple other major aspects next uh the third phase would be then to go back to the exterior focusing on the front section of the building doing the roof there uh roof drainage system um that's about uh less less than a million dollars about $700,000 now also keep in mind if we're at phase three we're looking at maybe um two to five years down the road maybe even more so you have to add money every year for that so that that number is basically just kind of now to next year um and then phase four would be to do the second and third uh floors in terms of kind of the enhancements um prepars to finishes stuff like that and that's about $800,000 that includes h AC improving lighting improving technology and like I said it really is Soup To Nuts but that you can prioritize within that right you don't have to do everything um you have made some major Investments I just want to make sure that I'm clear on that particularly in the Life Safety aspect of things so that when I did the code analysis I really didn't have too much to add right um the one thing that the hbaa the mechanical electrical Plumbing engineer recommended is your fire alarm system is kind of out of date so that that needs to be invested in um the the new rules for that are more um integrated back to another system there's I'm not that familiar with it but it's actually in his report that that is the one major recommendation they they said and then if you do add air conditioning you will have to upgrade your your electrical service can I ask you a question about the hbac sure as we for a couple years we were trying to figure out how to install that whether to do it as you recommend in stages but also there was a lot of um discussion about how it's being installed and what it is like on the outside what the equipment is like on the outside of the building which you know there was some tussling back and forth on you know if we do it a certain way so that it's historically architecturally appropriate on the exterior the work on the inside is much more extensive and so I think it was close to what you have for all that phase improvements a little it might have been not over a million but it was way up there right it was like 800,000 five when you add all our stuff up when you add up all those little because we broke it down it turns out to be about five so the one thing is that the auditorium and I didn't realize this but you actually have a forced air system there that they can tap into for that um and that's why we're saying like I would consider that sooner rather than later in the auditorium could be more difficult in the other spaces but you want the other spaces to be zoned away anyway because you do like the building's not going to be 100% used you don't want to be cooling and heating well heat but you know what I mean sure high heat in in areas that you're not they're not using it it will there will be a lot of equipment outside it will be a lot there will be a lot of equipment outside um there there's just no getting around it those units are getting bigger they're not getting smaller they got smaller and now they're back up to being big again so there's no is there any requirement like from shipo or whatever to hide the that equipment or I mean I guess what I'm saying is a lot of the discussion around it was understanding it was at the exterior of the building and trying to make that you know appropriate historically or hide it was what was driving up the cost and being able to air condition like the auditorium or the home building right Al so so the the west side of the building is probably not the most attractive to begin with right um so I talked to our mechanical engineer and confirm that we could put all the equipment on that side um we would we would have to kind of mask it somehow but that could be done simply with like you know appropriate fencing and stuff like that it's yeah okay and and if you break it up right if you break up the the the units right and you put the HVAC units for the for the auditorium in one spot and then then you move down a little bit and you put the other ones in another spot then it doesn't seem so overwhelming you know but that is a design consideration um going forward but I think the side of the building I'm saying the North is front the west side of the building is probably the most appropriate okay yeah because what and I'm not I don't want to get into the weeds of it but it was like because of where it was desired to have the exterior equipment required a lot of extra piping and getting around to get the inside cooled do that no matter what so yeah yeah okay sorry go ahead um no so tot total projected costs as of now are about just under $4 million I always like to end on the end of the make everybody happy yeah there you go um so I mean any other questions you you have um we we still have a little bit more to do but most of the main meat and bones is is is done on the report and we have to be done by the end of September okay Mr so you'll be working with us um through the end of September and then beyond yes because you actually hired us to do the siding repairs and what we'd like to do is combine we we we'll we'll add the structural work to our our contract okay and then um the application for funding from the state is next April that's correct so it is due it is due it's usually due mid April and what's the time turn around on the okay so so budget all right so you apply April um this past April's Grant applications were sent to the independent evaluators last week meaning they sat down last week and they they made their recommendation and so the announcement is next week for April's application okay so it's so we're expecting we're we're thinking of 2026 Capital yes because it is actually the governor doesn't sign the legislation until January um and then it takes them like three months to get their Grant application it is a it is a matching Grant and you do have to spend it to get it um so we have to put the money up front first you do but you can come in you can go there's a quarterly report where you can re reimburse your coffers you don't have to wait until the very end of the project to get the money but um it is it is a it is a competitive reimbursement matching Grant okay I just want to see if my other colleagues do you have any questions Miss Angel or Mr D no it's nice to see that some of the recommendations are things we've been talking about for a long time like the doors sightings my favorite for that presentation did you have anything you wanted to ask no okay I just want to say thank you not only to you but also to especially Daniel Wright who's chair of HPC and Susan Newberry who are here and then also just the whole HPC I know this was something you know that Susan Newber in particular was pushing for us to do so that we could app for the grants to help fund because every time we tried to do a repair it was like sticker shock in how much something was going to cost so I just want to thank you both for and the whole HPC for their work on this and getting this getting this moving and next April will be here before we know it and then so will next September yes it will maybe they'll maybe they'll go even faster who knows no it's a set it is a they like it they like it yeah okay well it's just a it's just nice to know that there's some help in funding so many repairs that we have on the building yes yeah and the grant the the grant the maximum Grant is $750,000 so that's pretty good sure unfortunately there's no matching Essex County Grant other counties actually get matched from their counties sorry yeah not here gotta move to Mar thank you very much Miss Vicki it's good to see you again after all these years and um we does HBC did you guys want to add anything while you're here or you're good no okay thank you thank you very much welcome to stay for the whole meeting but we always say that all right now we'll move to public comment for agenda items only is there anyone in the house here who would like to comment or ask questions on any agenda items seeing none Mr where is there anyone online anyone joining us on Zoom would like to speak in public portion please raise your hand now I see no hands mayor okay then we we have no ordinances on Final passage and we have an introduction for ordinance 3129 24 Miss britson uh yes mayor on introduction ordinance number 3129 d24 is an ordinance to amend chapter 271 of the code of the township of Maplewood entitled zoning and development regulations this ordinance will amend article 8 historic preservation of chapter 271 of the township code to modify the procedures by which applicants for demolition permits for principal structures located in residential zones are reviewed and approved thank you um I'd like to ask Mr daffis as chair of the code committee if you would like to explain this a little bit to the public certainly mayor how is my audio can you hear me y yep okay wonderful so we've discussed this ordinance uh a lot uh at the township committee meetings uh in public comment here um and in our appropriate subcommittee meetings uh both in in code and through engineering planning and public works and uh the only amendment here is to remove uh a a small provision of the demolition ordinance uh that we all approved and adopted previously and that is to remove the informal review um you know we thought it we were well-intentioned in creating a process for informal review but then what happened is unintentionally we realized we were creating a whole other uh can of worms uh by which uh property owners uh would were reaching out to us and asking us for uh to see if they could engage in an informal review that would stay with the property or not stay with the property and then they would or would not decide to move forward and it just became all very un weedly and um something that we couldn't uh enforce either so uh if someone wants to tear down and uh proceed with a demolition at least of 50% or more of it of the principal structure then this ordinance would trigger and they would have to follow uh all the elements of the ordinance and and seek HPC review and all the requisite permits through Buildings Department it would not be an opportunity for an informal review so they're either demolishing and putting in notice and triggering the ordinance or they're not um and we think that this is the right way to go uh We've uh received that input also from our Township legal uh Miss gido is with us and she may add something if she likes and I know that uh in code committee and in uh engineering planning and Public Works committee the members of the township committee who serve as Liaisons on those committees are in favor of uh amending the ordinance to eliminate the informal review provision accordingly we're introducing it this evening with this amendment okay thank you U Mr Deluga you worked on this too did you want to have anything to say nope I think Mr daff has uh covered it I'm ready to move it great um you'd like to move it I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading its publication according to law on the Maplewood South Orange News Record and a hearing to be held on October 1st 2024 I'll second Miss britson Mr Duca yes SLE yes mayor Adams yes thank you we have reports from departments we have the um filming permit waiver did uh Miss Briton did you want to speak to this or do you want Mr wary s or yeah either one I don't care so the the permanent self came to miss fritsen she processes these as the clerk our code allows me as the business administrator to uh provide waiver for certain portions of our filming ordinance and there were three uh requests uh for waiver for this application one was a reduction of insurance coverage the second was filming in residential zones and the days and the hours of those um filming and the last was the daily fee for the first request on insurance I spoke with our uh risk manager and explained to them the uh limited um um the limited amount of u staff and equipment that are going to be in the right away it's really limited to just four cars on the street um everything else would be in the drive is a very small filming so he had recommended reducing it to a th000 um on filming in residential zones the applicant has notified all of their neighbors of the filming and the hours and has given us uh proof that they had all responded and are in favor of moving this forward so I recommend that be waved as well and the daily filming fee this is a small film operation that is the filming itself is restricted to a residential home and a backyard for that Resident so very little impact to uh to the public to the street right away traffic and so I recommend that we approve the three waiver requests for this uh permit application okay do you need uh vote from the township committee on this no the the code only asks that I consult with the township committee it doesn't require any approval okay so you're Consulting with us now yeah I think you might want us to support you because these things always back up back fire just gonna say something similar it requires no resolution or anything like that but okay uh I'll ask my colleagues if there's General agreement with Mr warry to Grant this waiver Mr de is nodding I'm so I have uh one and three is fine number two is a little bit of a problem because you're saying they're going to go beyond the normal 8:00 or 9:00 Clos until 11:30 right right so there's four cars you say but they're going to be parking on the street so what what happens is um you know people get to their cars and they say hey good night we'll see you tomorrow or oh I forgot something and you know blah blah so I just want you to convey to them that they're in a residential neighborhood and when they leave they have to respect which ironic just like we had on the sign on the side of the Woodland remember this is a residential neighborhood respect the neighbor so just something with them to reinforce that they're there they're parking on you know on the street 11:30 at night on map Avenue is pretty you know it's loud when you're out talking because it's quiet there and when you hear it so that's the only concern I have otherwise I'm fine with the whole orlay that to so tell them not to be noisy no yelling and screaming at each other yes okay I'm fine with it as well so thank you for that yes you need yeah I thought you were asking for a vote I'm like we just said we didn't need one okay we'll stay with you Mr weary and go to administrative report I have no report tonight thank you any questions for Mr wary anybody got anything Mr daffis you good okay um Miss cdio wow okay any questions for our attorney no okay miss priton you have a report don't let us [Music] down uh uh quickly just a few things um that I just want to uh bring awareness to the public and also to the township committee that we have prepared our uh customary informational election for which is um on the website and uh we're getting a lot of claws obviously for people that want to make sure that they're registered to vote for the uh presidential election and I will say uh there's still plenty of time you have until October 15th to uh register to vote and actually the clerk's office will be open but you'll get a reminder on this straight through to 900 pm on the 15th which we do uh routinely for elections so again that information is up and available for the public okay um I also wanted to report that uh the date is set it's a definite uh how much we appreciate our Volunteers in Maplewood for everything that they do the uh volunteer appreciation dinner will be on uh Monday October 21st as I had uh eluded to two weeks ago and uh information will be going out to all of our board and committees uh volunteers and again it's the township committee's way of thanking all of the numerous volunteers two of them right here in the room for all that they do for uh Maplewood um and I know I sound like a broken record but staring tomorrow we are having uh event planning meetings two tomorrow and two on Thursday so uh there's a lot of activities going on okay any questions for Miss fritson I see none all right thank you very much Miss pritzen we'll move to discussion oop sorry I always like to skip over us um Committee Member angle thank you mayor I only have one thing um I'm so excited I learned today that the Foles are coming back the Folly talent show is coming back to the Woodland and um our residents should get ready for their audition so auditions will take place on Wednesday October 9th from from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Woodland um bring 1 to 3 minutes of a song comedy dance drag variety or circus routine Etc with neighbors co-workers family or friends anything goes from the wonderfully expected to the weirdly wacky and unpredictable and then the show date say the date will be Thursday November 21st from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. at The Woodlands that's my report that was super fun last year so yeah that was cool any questions for Committee Member angam I see none so we'll move to Mr Duca thank you mayor I have a a few items and then I have a comment um I just wanted to uh give congratulations for the employee lunch I thought it was great uh we had that anyway um was fun uh I think we have to get better at our trivia answers we have to get better our trivia our answers to the trivia question and the name that tune portion of it and the name that so if we could work on that maybe No Name That Tune this time so that was a but it was a very nice event and it was whoever came up with the idea of having it at um The Avenue Pub it was a think it was Mr Mr and we have a lot of young uh employees that are on the court committee they had some uh great ideas and they uh you know they sold them to us and um we tried it and I think everyone agrees it had great attendance we had 100 people uh thank you I will express that to the committee yeah it was good it was good um although I don't think you should be allowed to play anymore but but that's okay um this Saturday the 21st at the lightning Brook we're going to be doing a cleanup that's the environmental advisory committee in partnership with the Hilton neighborhood association it's from 10:00 a.m. to 12: we'll be uh jacobe Street the Rotary Park it's uh 74 jacobe Street if you want to Google us or uh check it out we you'll be getting wet and you'll be getting dirty so bring clothes and shoes that you can uh do clothes where yeah don't bring well you can change into them if you want um and then Wednesday October 25th 7:30 p.m. at the Woodland the library is doing the annual literary award and um this is part of a abbreviated ideas Festival this year because we're still waiting for the library um and I did did want to make a statement if I can mayor um and really just talking a little bit about what's been happening in in the country and um you know you no matter who you support for president or what party you belong to I think we all agree that we have to call out political violence that we've seen in this campaign we've had we had an attempted assassination of the former president this was the second time and um we must speak out against violence um and we need to ban these assault weapons that are being used but we cannot we cannot allow bullets to replace ballots they can never be a substitute we have to get out there and if we don't like something we need to vote that out so I think it's important that we we talk about political violence and and say it's wrong and it's it's not who we are as Americans um Although our history is is full of it we have to stop it we also have to stop the political violence that's based on lies and rhetoric in the campaign and the lies and rhetoric that have targeted the Haitian community in Springfield Ohio and across the country um you know we're seeing bomb threats we're seeing schools closed hospitals closed um classes are being virtual because people are afraid to send their children to the schools um municipal buildings are closed uh the governor the mayor city manager the police are all saying these are not substantiated allegations and yet they continue and the Haitian Community has a Target put on them and that's political violence too they even had to cancel a multicultural celebration the celebration that we in this town respect and hold very dearly when we celebrate the very cultures the very different cultures we have in our community so it's it's wrong and I think we all join in supporting the Haitian Community here right here in Maplewood and in Essex County um we stand with you just like we've stood with other groups that are being challenged and being targeted um and so this has to stop we have to stop targeting patients and other immigrant groups um and we have to get on with the business of keeping our country together not divided so I think political violence has to stop we can't use bullets let's use ballots and we can't Target let's Embrace and I want to and I think you all will join me in standing up with our Haitians brother brothers and sisters yeah I don't think there's any uh doubt not to speak for my colleagues but I can't imagine there's a a bit of uh disagreement with with what you just said um we've all been watching it um as as we worry about not just Haitians but people of color who are are being lumped in and the race baiting that's going on is um really sad for our country so hopefully we can move past that Mr anybody have any questions for Mr Deluga Mr dafis thank you mayor can you hear me yes wonderful my audio has been a little bit spotty uh I want to uh say that we we all join indeed with our Haitian brothers and sisters everywhere in our country uh in Haiti uh and I've been thinking about our Haitian Community here in Maplewood uh these past few days since the racist and hateful rhetoric has been spewing before us um in public on TV and social media and so on and so forth Hate's never the answer violence is never the answer as Mr Duca said so eloquently the answer is always at The Ballot Box so we have to do everything that we can to get out the vote and to encourage people to raise their voices with their ballot uh this November 5th it is so absolutely critical uh I'm not there with you in person this evening because I am uh in Atlantic City at the governor's the annual Governor's conference on housing and economic development uh in terms of a report this evening I just want to make a comment uh you all have already highlighted some of the things I was going to highlight as part of my report um we are down here to talk about housing and economic development how will New Jersey deal with the affordability crisis how will New Jersey innovate in economic development for small business and big business and diverse business and I have to say I'm really really proud of our little town of Maplewood some of the things that are being discussed down here today and tomorrow as it relates to affordable housing Maplewood has been already doing um even before this new law that was recently adopted uh because of the great work of people like the leadership I should say of people like committeeman former mayor Duca and our very active hardworking affordable housing board which I've had the honor of joining recently and working alongside we have already adopted accessory dwelling units which the state is looking to adopt Statewide and to uh put out millions of dollars to help localities with accessory dwelling units it is in and some communities like ours uh very expensive still without State incentives and state aid to uh put on an addition on your garage or to convert it into uh an accessory dwelling unit for a renter um for a family member and so on and so forth Maplewood has already adopted Home Sharing Maplewood has already uh adopted Aging in place opportunities Maplewood is already a an age friendly community in terms of keeping our seniors and finding ways to um combat the the increase in everyday household expenses for those who are on a very fixed income uh Mr Duca will be discussing where we're going next with our RFP that we put out there to develop to invite them to propose an affordable housing proposal that would be appropriate for Maplewood we're really excited about moving that forward um and I'm glad I'm so glad and proud that we are a community that has has not run away from Mount Laurel but leaned into it and embraced the morality of offering affordable inclusive opportunities for housing in our community where all can live and play and work not just a few so that's my comment tonight that's my report that's my um cheerleading us on to continue doing the difficult politically difficult many times work of uh being an inclusive forward-thinking Innovative and Progressive Community for all thank you thank you Mr daffis any questions for Mr daff okay I just have a brief report in agreement with everybody else what everybody said looking forward to the Foles I forgot it was coming up I'm not auditioning um I just want to invite everyone the community particularly kids and kids in sports clubs or kids in art clubs doesn't matter we have a celebration of our Olympic gold medalist this Saturday on Jerry Ryan Plaza right in front of town hall at 400 PM we figure this was a good time because after Sports and before you go out at night so hopefully you can join us for 4M where we'll um recognize gold medalist Jackie dubovich um we will also be separately recognizing the New Jersey fencing Alliance and their continued success in in training and turning out um some you know the highest class of athletes um with uh this will be the second Olympian from njfa so we will be recognizing them and we'll also be doing um a flag raising Olympic flag raising and our olymp Olympian will do some photos with everybody and and then she and her fiance who is also her coach and also grew up in Maplewood fenced for Columbia High School school and fenc for Harvard I think maybe Princeton but I know it's competitive but I forget which um but he is he was a professional fencer as well and is now her coach uh they are going to do a little demo for us um a little fencing demo so we can the kids can have some fun won't be a long all day thing so it probably be about an hour um so we encourage everybody to just come out and uh meet the our Olympian and say congratulations to her um other than that I'm going to end my report right there and just um ask for any questions for me May are you going to announce the community meeting on the 24th that was the other thing I knew I was forgetting see that's why you're here got to remind me yes we have redevelop movie theater Redevelopment uh open public meeting for public comment and input and questions and suggestions for the movie theater Redevelopment area uh Mr wary You released and it's on our website the current draft of the Redevelopment plan so we ask you to take a look at it and come out to the Woodland at 7 o'clock on Tuesday September 24th um and we'll see if we can get this finally bring in all the input and get um it to the Finish Line it'll come back to the township committee after um any revisions from the community meeting uh the township committee will discuss it um and if it chooses to pass it as an ordinance it will then go to the planning board and then come back to the township committee so that's the process um and a lot depends on what happens uh Tuesday night at the Woodland so come and bring your suggestions and it's helpful if you read up on it ahead of time so you know what's already in there oh Daniel's already reading it right here at our meeting so that is my report thank you for the Reno that's why I'm here I know but now you're here for three other discussion items that too okay the top condominium we've been so the top condominium is is pretty simple uh we had a number of residents and management come to our envir engineering Public Works and planning committee meeting asking us for some assistance uh they have a a difficulty uh accessing their well actually exiting their garage uh parking lot because of the uh speed and the coming on South Orange Avenue and when cars are parked in front of their building on South Orange Avenue they can't see so they've asked us to uh prohibit parking we did talk to the county it is a County Road the County's in U is in favor of it they've actually striped that area but now we need to have an ordinance that prohibits parking so um M cido drafted an ordinance with the assistance of the engineer to give you dimensions and everything looks fine and everyone has agreed to move forward so if we're still in agreement we can put it on for next meeting I am in agreement yes I'm in agreement thumbs up okay so it'll be on for first reading at our next meeting October 1st correct uh next discussion item establishment of uh maple wood storm water utility so um I have a little uh a little statement just to make lay out what we're trying to do here um so about 130 years ago RS Sinclair of South Orange Maplewood when we were one Community proposed a major infrastructure plan uh to address sanitary sewage and uh that resulted in the creation of the joint meeting and now that has a dozen municipalities that collectively uh handle um sewage waste and today we have the opportunity to again invest in our infrastructure this time with our storm s our system that we're better able to handle the flooding which has become more frequent as a result of climate change so the establishment of a storm water utility will provide the township with a regular pool of funds to undertake drainage improvements on an annual basis utility will be funded by a a yearly fee on residential property ranging from $35 to $175 based on the amount of impervious surface on your property commercial properties will also be included based on an impervious coverage formula the fees will only be used for the utility and they will not be put into the general fund it will be a locked box with those fees dedicated for drainage projects like those on Maple Terrace Kendall Avenue brette Terrace and Ivy Place Porter Road Meadow Brook and Tiffany place and based upon the rates that I mentioned the township will collect nearly $900,000 a year to use for storm drainage projects we envision adding the storm water feed to the current sanitary sore fee there will be a process to receive credits for undertaking storm Warner management practices on your property such as installing a um rain Garden or putting in a retention basis on your property Maplewood would be will be the second municipality in the state after the city of New Brunswick we would be the first Suburban town but I assure you that more will follow because every municipality is trying to figure out how to deal with their storm water the water is just coming faster in these rains it's it's more intense and we're not able to get the water off the street with our current system so tonight what we're being asked is to authorize the drafting of a storm water utility ordinance and to begin engaging the community in this discussion our Engineers recommend that we move forward as does the engineering Public Works and planning committee and that's my statement thank you I'm sorry we did get a report from arcadis and we did have arcadis here to do a presentation couple months ago yeah a couple months ago yeah um I'm in favor of that nobody I don't think any of us is in favor of um putting another fee on our residents but the problem with just trying to budget for it every year as you pointed out a couple times in your statement which this would be a dedicated funding source for these improvements and wouldn't get pushed off into oh there's there's other things of higher priority or any future governing body deciding not to fund improvements the storm water system but we we at least I and Mr delugo we've been talking about this for a couple years um think it's vitally important that we need to address this I mean ultimately we'd like to be able to get reimbursed eventually by it if uh if the state prevails along with other states in their lawsuit against fossil fuel industry for causing knowingly causing climate change so maybe down the road we'll start getting some payback for that but right now we can't let our properties get flooded we can't you know put our our residents In Harm's Way and the only way we're going to do it is to fix the infrastructure and the only way we can ensure that that's being done year after year is to have a dedicated will of funds for that so um I open the floor to Mr daffis or M Engle I'll just say that I am also in support of it I agree with what you said mayor about we don't want to impose more fees on our residents but the world is changing climate change is happening infrastructure is aging and we need to be able to keep our residents safe and our streets safe from water and manage the water and it's just new territory that we're in so I am support of this okay Mr daffis I agree with everything that's been said and I wholeheartedly support this as well okay thank you so we will start working on on an ordinance we have a draft from uh New Brunswick and we can always use uh what they wrote or we can make it better make it better um okay Mr Dua you have affordable housing partnership with ingerman yes so um on May 15 we uh received 10 submissions to the Township's request for expression of interest in developing affordable housing in Maplewood these are 10 developers all of them were for-profit developers we had submitted um our RFI to about 40 uh for-profit and nonprofit developers and as I said 10 did uh submit the affordable housing board reviewed all 10 and ranked them and from that uh list of 10 we selected four to be interviewed um and tonight we are the affordable housing board is recommending that we work with ingr as a partner to construct uh 40 units of affordable housing in Maplewood um we don't have the sites yet that is part of the process we would um engage in that partnership with ingrin to identify sites um around town I mean it's very difficult because property is expensive and we're just not making more of it uh the land is what it is so um but adaptive reuse could be it could be it could be a lot of things things we could look at above certain things um you know some uh public buildings we have and things like that so um so what and the good thing is that ingren uh covers the predevelopment costs oh so they're they they' handle all that so that would they would work with that uh and that was um a real attraction to that to us so um and that they would be responsible for going after the funding from the state we're looking to get some uh high quality affordable housing tax credits so as Mr daffis was talking about this is exactly what uh the state wants municipalities to do and with the new round of affordable housing um regulations coming out and a new number that we're going to have to meet we want to be ahead and we want to be Progressive and proactive so what we're asking tonight is if the township committee could authorize Mr weary and Miss dama to negotiate an affordable housing agreement um with ingr spelling out the responsibilities of each party during this partnership and then that agreement would come back to us for our approval and once we get once we approve that then the partnership would start and we would get you know work with them and start looking at potential sites and um start talking to property owners and seeing what uh what is possible yeah uh while other municipalities are running away from their affordable housing obligation continuing to do so still I think um you know I think those of us up here on the governing body at this time are very much in favor of doing what we can to try to create affordable housing um understanding some of the difficulties that come with that but um so I'm in favor of approving Mr Ry and Mr Palma to work with fingerman M yes I'm in favor okay Mr daffis yes yes okay all right Mr daffis keep your mic on um it's you're up next for the food truck discussion item certainly thank you mayor uh so this is a uh a proposal that came out of the code committee it's a doing business better proposal it's a efficiency in government proposal and it relates to food trucks and their permits so the way it works when a food truck uh wants to be part of an event that we do in town and certainly we do a lot of awesome events throughout the year they apply for a permit and that permit tends to be for that event for that day the permit triggers two permits actually and we can look at this in the future perhaps uh making it even easier and more efficient but for for now uh the food truck is required to go through a health permit and inspection by the Department of Health for obvious reasons food safety sanitation all that good stuff but also a fire hermit uh especially if they're going to be cooking in in the food truck and so many food trucks these days are very high Gourmand and they do a lot of cooking in there right um so you're required to get the health permit you're required to get the fire permit the fire permit it also requires a fire inspection for fire safety and you pay a a fee on the fire side it's $55 per event on the health side it's $2 uh $20 per event I believe or $25 excuse me per event so we were looking we we have certain food truck businesses that are very friendly to our town meaning that they come throughout the year to different events so we were looking at ways to make it a little bit easier on them and on us to uh basically looking at an annual uh permit so you would apply to come to Maplewood at whatever events you want to come to for the calendar year in 2025 let's say and you would pay an annual permit you would still be required to go through the fire inspection with each respective event that's just state law right can't change that on the health side the Department of Health is only required to inspect you once um and so we came up with uh the fees that are in the ordinance that's been circulated to the public and proposed to the township committee tonight an annual permit on uh the uh by the Department of Health would be 100 bucks for the year calendar year we're talking about um and on the fire uh inspection and permit side would be 20 uh 220 now I will say that when we discussed this and received uh very good input and research from our fire inspection uh uh director official the recommendation was 250 on the fire side and that's because as I just you know explained you uh have to have the fire inspection even with an annual permit on the health side you only have to inspect once so the fee we could either keep 220 and 100 to align the fees and make them similar uh or we can charge a little bit extra um because it requires a fire inspection with each Event Annual permit not withstanding right so that is where we are and so the proposal that Administration and Township legal attorney gido has put forth recommends 220 annual permit for fire and $100 annual permit for health uh I invite our Township attorney to add any more details and context you have anything to add other than what I'm going to disagree with no uh that so uh we talked numerous times um Bob Conlin our fire code official um recommended 250 the code committee agreed with 250 and I think it's a reasonable amount for uh for the every time they're they use it so it's it still will save uh a a food truck that that cooks in town regularly at several events it'll still save them it'll save the administrative part of it but the inspection still does indeed have to happen so I would go with our uh fire code officials recommendation of 250 and that was that the consensus on the code committee if uh you guys are okay with that I'm okay with it I I'm um I agree with annual fees and the annual health inspection because having produced food truck festivals before there a lot of these trucks are already operating here all the time anyway so yeah it's streamlines it a little bit Mr D I'm good okay thank you Mr DPP y you're go with 250 right yeah Okie do so we'll put that on for first reading at the next to codify that Health annual and that's it so now we have the consent agenda um I ask for a motion I move the consent agenda second okay yes zle yes mayor Adams yes thank you we come to public comment on any subject matter um is there anyone in the room who would like to speak to the township committee anyone online Mr worry if any member of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak on any topic please raise your hand now I see no hands mayor okay Mr weary um can we check and see if Mr mccre is here he is not he's not okay okay thank you Mr Dua motion to I move we adjourn second Mr Luca yes single yes mayor items yes thank you thank you Committee Member Deus