good evening I'd like to call to order the February 28th 20 um 27th right February 27th I don't want to do that 2024 council meeting please rise for a Pledge of Allegiance please remain standing for a moment of silence and for a prayer I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all as customary in this chamber we stand for a moment of silence to remember those those who are protecting our freedoms here and abroad for our First Responders for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and we today we we take a moment for having peace around the world so let's take a moment please Mr pasky our prayer dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve thee in this chamber give us quiet minds and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right grant that we have good conscience and at Soul at peace with thee and one another amen amen please be seated roll call please council person auli pres did you say here present council person dearo here council person dama here council person Desai here council person Garcia here council person Murphy here council person pesky here council person vice president Dr Greenberg Bell here council president soar here this meeting is being held in conformance with the open public meetings act notice has been given to the official newspapers of the township on January 6 2024 and has been posted in public places next open public meeting of the township Council will be held on Tuesday March 12 2024 at 7:30 p.m. okay thank you and good evening to all uh we'll begin with a public hearing H1 performance guarantee release two girls Waterworks Road LLC block 60 17.11 lot n 571 Waterworks Road good evening good evening good evening president Council Robert mcowan no I'm sorry good ladies first good evening Nicole how are you good how are you good um so we're here tonight because there was an application in front of our zoning board called two girls Waterworks Road comma LLC it was an application that was for the construction of a concrete batch plan located at the southwest corner of old Waterworks Road and Cheesequake Road a performance guarantee was posted for off-site improvements um which included a slight widening of uh old Waterworks Road um some curbing um and then some Landscaping off off site of that um the parking lot or the uh batch plant had lighting signage striping Landscaping buffer improvements driveway aprons curbing and and a small parking lot in there to service a future building the performance guarantee that was posted was in the amount of $167,200 of which in the form of bonds was $1 15,496 10% cash portion in the amount of $16,728 um and for the record there has been a notice that was published um to the neighboring or the adjoining uh properties and the engineering department has not heard any complaints on the application or the hearing for tonight uh we just ask that the applicant should the council look favorably on the release of the bonds uh pay any outstanding escrow fees uh post a maintenance Bonds in the amount of $2,925 which represents 15% of the total off-site bonded improvements including the landscape buffer and posting an additional maintenance bond in the amount of 8 $8 1,372 which represents 15% of the onsite sworm Water Management facilities and recognizing that um the applicants attorney is next to me I I would ask that he introduce himself to council okay good evening good evening members of council my name is Robert mcgau and I am representing the applicant two girls at Waterworks and we do request a favorable response as far as the bond release we agree with the conditions uh that have been recommended by the engineer okay thank you very much um I will thank you Nicole I will open it up first to the public is there anyone here who wishes to be heard on this matter seeing no hands I will close the public portion I will now go to council Mr Desai can you put your mic on please thank you Karen thank you for I am not sure we lot we are talking but as we go on Water Works when stava came in we had a they develop the water what you call the it still has the water staying there oh storm water storm water okay uh sta property next to this blot there there is there is a drainage concern that was brought to our attention by o OB chemicals um yes but the source of that drainage or the runoff um that is affecting um old Waterworks Road and and actually partially the frontage of the applicant's site is coming from the container site partially because now we have a roadway that was not curbed that is now curved and so now there's sort of a concentrated flow going towards old Waterworks Road we have two local Freight grants um that we have received we're working on contract plans to alleviate the drainage on that roadway and we're working with the applicant for the container site to mitigate the drainage on his property because during the rain there are some P hole people don't realize and their Tire get busted I'm sorry there's there's some what there's some on Old Water Works in front of St Center there are still pth hole created due to water segmentation well let us take a look when it's dry not definitely not tomorrow um when it's dry we'll take a look at those potholes we'll work with DPW to see if we could fill those in in the interim of us getting our plans together for construction so this lot is further this lot is actually on the corner of Waterworks Road and Cheesequake Road so Waterworks Road comes across right before you get to the train tracks on Cheesequake Road this is the property directly to the left okay yes as you're traveling north yeah I understand now okay thank you you're welcome okay you're good okay anyone else on my left with a question comment how about on my right anyone on my left on my right no okay seeing no hands I'll ask for a motion okay John moved in second Mr Karen roll Council yes council person de Caro yes council person D yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses okay thank you very much for your time thank you thank you very much members of council thank you Nicole have a good evening good night okay Bill list Mr Garcia thank you good evening uh Bill list as of February 27 2024 counts payable February 27 2024 14 million1 126,595 payroll February 16 2024 1,292 6365 payroll overtime February 16 2024 $7,810 cents that's uh completes my report thank you okay can we have a did you have did you have an um overtime report I have uh over yeah would you please but is there a figure for it Mr Garcia I have the payroll overtime $7,810 thank you okay so Mr lenning can you give us the breakdown of the overtime please yes thank you council president as uh councilman Garcia stated um there was $822 73 uh sworn police overtime for the February 16th 2024 payroll when you deduct the grants of $979 52 deduct etto of $83.30 that totals $642 n91 totaling 89 uh men and women hours there were no additional upticks in any other part departments thank you very much okay do I have a motion move it second okay mve by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr Murphy roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pesti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soart yes nine yeses okay thank you very much okay next will be uh our budget introduction yes ma'am Okay resolution of calendar year 2024 budget introduction good evening good evening good evening Council this is my first budget as mayor but my 12 I had sat on 12 as Council and I just want to say I have a new respect for all the work that goes into a budget I didn't realize how intense it was and I want to thank all the department heads for their many many hours um as soon as we adopt the budget they start beginning for the next year all the work that goes in I I want to also thank um Nicole not Nicole Dawn and Vicky for all their work that goes into the budget I we've had so many meetings uh it's unbelievable and I want to thank all the employees too for their input and I want to thank the council ahead of time for all the budget meetings that you'll be attending anouncing and now I'm gonna pass it over to Dawn and she's gonna it's a big process we thank all of you seriously we do good evening Miss joh good evening uh tonight we're asking Council to introduce the budget um as mayor Walker indicated our budget process with the Departments really begins in August of them submitting their requests to us and then we had department meetings in October of 2023 obviously there some changes since then we had another round January late January early February of 2024 you know to kind of nail down and finalize everything and I know uh mayor had said it but I really want to thank Vicky she likes to hide behind the scenes but she's really the backbone of putting a lot of this together for many many years now um it it's really important that we take care of our financial planning early even though the state delays when we can introduce the budget we like to still you know try and keep on track um it because it allows us to go out to bid earlier to get out there before other municipalities get a more advantageous price on you know contracts and our projects and stuff so the 2024 Municipal budget total General Appropriations excluding Municipal Library is 66 m557 526 compared to 65 m579 344 in the 2023 budget as modified uh Township Administration has scheduled budget subc commmittee workshops for March 6 March 13th and March 20th and they'll be at 6: p.m. in room 2011 at these meetings we really go for previous Council PE people line by line through the budget in great detail the department heads are there so any questions you have at that time you know that's the time to ask them um the meetings will be advertised in the home News Tribune I believe on February 29th Thursday and they are open to the public so they can attend as well um the budget documents will be available for review at the library Township clerk's office and finance department and we also post the state document as well as some other backup documentation on the township website for people to review um a formal presentation and public hearing will occur at the April 9th council meeting also on tonight's agenda is two Bond ordin ordinances one for General improvements one for arena and a capital ordinance for parking uh the details of the projects they were uploaded into Peak with the bond ordinance and also provided to council tonight um a presentation on Capital will also occur at the April 9th meeting um along with public hearing and Adoption of those ordinances so tonight we're asking Township Council to introduce the budget and ordinances so we and keep this process moving um important to note that this is just introduction of the budget this is not adoption this is not holding you to anything so you know we'll continue through the process you can ask your questions at the subcommittee meeting I'm available you know if anybody has any questions feel free to reach out to me all right well thank you very much very long process and a lot it really is to absorb but we appreciate we do appreciate all the time it's a very big big commitment thank you very much okay so we're going to do resolution for County year 2024 budget introduction in the amount of 66 m557 th526 correct okay so we need a motion move it second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr dama roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai no council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pascetti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes council president soar yes eight yeses and one no yes okay well thank you very much uh next is going to be thank you Council resolution to read next is resolution C calendar year 2024 budget to be read by title only at the public hearing can I have a motion move it can I just make one I just want to save something I think every year except I think last year we always had a budget workshop with the council people or committee what happened this year we don't even know you are just sending out of this big book let him let yeah no um Mr Ji that the process is to up first to for us to int allow the budget to be introduced then we go through all those all those meetings they're all scheduled and then we have a he can hear by line yes and then and then we have a hearing of the residents as well so people naturally you know want to come and ask questions so this is just to say we're getting the process started you know it doesn't mean yes or no in terms of the budget or your opinion it just means I guess let's move it up and then we'll we'll talk about it okay then I will change my vote pleas okay all right that's why um just if I may um I was hesitating a little bit because um I've talked about this in the past like how I feel like um I believe that you know moving forward if we could have some sort of not the full budget meetings but some sort of pre-presentation because it's really it's really hard to you know say okay and you you know we got the we got the budget we saw the numbers the Appropriations and the um the revenues and you know I understand that this is just for you know well it's state law the workshop no no no I get no I absolutely understand that it has to be done however what um what I would like in the future is just if we could have an an overall pres not even a presentation but just an overall like maybe get these books a little ahead of time before this meeting are we not allowed to get the books ahead of time so mayor Walker if I could excuse me yeah mark one that so so you have to understand um the way it works and the process has been is that the administration and a Falkner act they prepare a budget it's think of it just like well as Congress used to be but they don't do that anymore they prepare the budget so it's the mayor's budget up until the time it gets introduced and then it gets accepted then it becomes council's budget Council ultimately is responsible for adoption so uh the so there's there's nothing uh to do at this point and that's why you have the hearing process now that you have it Council has it now Council goes through and looks at it and does the whole process and and if they want to make changes they make changes I absolutely understand that I absolutely understand that that's not what I'm well right so unless and until it's introduced it's not a formal budget well I understand I do understand what you're saying mark thank you but I guess what I'm um what I'm thinking about is I remember last year um that I had a question during the budget meetings and I remember being told at that time that um oh you it had to do with the um the salaries of the to be specific it had to do with the salaries of the mayor and the council and I remember being told that oh well you know what we can't really change it now Jill it's too late you know we can't because it already went this is this is what we were told this is what our previous business administrator said um it's too late you know it's going to have to go up to State again or wherever and uh it it would be too much of a process Jill to to change anything now and so you know I'm sorry we can't do it we can't make a change and that is I mean there our Council people were were in these meetings and I'm sure you guys heard that response and that is what I'm trying to maybe get past you know because it is my understanding and and I might be wrong but it's just what I experienced last year that you know yes we do go through the budget line by line but we don't really we can't really change anything I mean we can but it will be it would be hard to do it would have to go back to you know wherever it went the state I guess to to be approv do you understand what I'm saying Don I mean CH changes can be made you can make amendments to the budget um depending on how much what um I just remember last year I was we weren't able to because we we actually did have to do budget amendments last year because the state required us to change a couple things state required but like if I as council person um you know said you know like I remember having that conversation and I'm sure the rest of the council members reme uh remember it as well um and you know the other people that are on the de and uh I remember that being a conversation and that is why um you know and I did ultimately vote Yes but that is why I hesitated because you know I want to know before I'm before I'm voting I want to know a little bit more you know and I understand its law Mark and I and I understand all of that that it has to we have to vote on it in order for it to move forward understand all of that completely but I I just it's hard for me as a council person to do you know to vote in with due diligence do you understand and that's the only thing I'm I'm discussing you know and you know it might be frustrating for other people to hear and I apologize for that but um that's just a a something that I have I'm nobody can seem to really uh address that and I know like you're saying yes changes were made by the state but if a council person says you know what I don't think this is right I don't like that because and I know that that happens because that happened last year with me I I was told that no it can't be changed now it's too late yeah that's I'm sorry John but that is what I was told and other people that were in the room recommendations were and were they taken and were they changed the council did no I thought they did I council is allowed to make recommendations and and put up amendments and then they would get vote the Amendments get voted on by okay well then I was given incorrect information at the budget meeting in front of the rest of the council members last year then okay right so are we are we good on on this now as far as clarification of what people feel what they're you know what they ask for so everyone is now did you want to add something before I would just like to reiterate this is the mayor's budget being introduced by State Statute we have this is the format that we've done I've been to Council meetings for over 30 years coming here and this is the process that's been used all the time um so I don't understand the mystery of it we're voting to introduce it we're not voting to accept the the budget on the budget we just got the budget but there's a timeline and a process that they have to do just as the mayor explained we still have one budget now they start on another one right away and put things together so things are done and whether they a line item if we don't we don't use it there's there's a provision where that money if you see that throughout the year different things that we vote at the end of the year how that money is appropriated so I don't understand the mystery it after 30 years that this is and I'm sure before I've even attended a council meeting this is how it's been done it's you know state law so you know this is just introduction and you get it there's a timeline that they have to follow and this is the timeline that they present it they don't present it to us before it's voted on and introduced so that's why that it it follows this chain of uh format thank you okay so now we everyone has spoken everyone there opinions okay so can we get a motion in a second here they already voted but I I do want to make sure and reiterate no I mean for the next item you need to take a right right you have to take a it's a motion to um amend the prior vote right that's what I was going to say we have to right we need a motion in a second because Mr Desai had made a change in his vote so we just want to make sure we have that down regarding the introduction of the budget right exactly okay so I need a motion to okay move it and second we have a second for it okay second greenber roll call uh to amend the prior vote of the calendar year 2024 budget introduction okay council person as auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes and I just want to State um again that the public hearing for the adopt the public hearing for the budget is set for April 9th 2024 right the 9th okay so now next will be resolution County year 2024 calendar year 2024 budget to be read by title only at public hearing a motion Motion in a second right we need a roll call right I just wanted the public you know because it got a little you know council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses resolution approving the governing body certification of compliance with the United States equal employment opportunity commissions enforcement guidance on the consideration of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions under title uh seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 move it second okay moved by Mr pascetti second by Mr dama roll call council person auli yes council person de Caro yes council person dep yes council person Desai yes Council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pesky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses ordinance establishing the municipal budget appropriation limits and cap Bank njsa 40a colon 44514 for calendar year 2024 Mo it second mov by Dr Greenberg Bell second by Mr dama roll call council person cauli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses public hearing set for March 12th 2024 okay Bond ordinance providing ano appropriation of 6,000 uh 6 yeah I wish 6, 680,000 for various improvements in and by the township of Oldbridge in the county of middlex New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of 6, 345,000 bonds or notes of the township for financing part of the appropriation move it second moved by Dr Greenberg I second by uh Mr dama roll call council person aset yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasid yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes nine yeses public hearing set for April 9th 2024 Bond ordinance providing an appropriation of 20 75,000 for various Arena utility improvements in and by the township of Oldbridge in the county of middlex New Jersey and author authorizing the issuance of $261,200 bonds or notes for the township for financing part of the appropriation move it second moved by doc moved by Mr Murphy second by U Mr dama MH roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses public hearing set for April 9th 2024 Capital ordinance providing funding for various improvements for the parking utility for the township of Oldbridge appropriating $50,000 with such purpose second moved by Mr Desai and second by councilman Murphy roll call council person auli yes council person de Caro yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Dr Greenberg B yes council president soar yes nine yeses public hearing set for April 9th 2024 okay thank you and thank you very much ladies thank you mayor thank you Vicky sitting over there thank you very much VI public hearing ordinances for second reading H1 ordinance of the township of Oldbridge amending chapter 250 of the code of the township of Oldbridge entitled Oldbridge Township Land Development ordinance by amending light try the other one you good all right okay we're good to go okay good evening councel well done very good very good thank you good evening Council this is an ordinance to um uh eliminate the waver hearing process in front of the planning board and the zoning board it is just a viav from the checklist item does not mean that uh the checklist item will not be asked for during the actual review of the application but this is just um to get past the completeness review stage I'll take any questions yeah does anyone on my left have a question for vinaa any anyone on my right okay all right finina I just wanted to thank you thank you okay very good well thank you I think this is a good initiative to streamline things it's a win for the public and it's it's you know in general I think it is a very positive for the town okay so seeing no hands I'm going to open it to the public first is there anyone in the public now seeing no hands I'll close public and I'll go to council can I have a motion move it second okay all right you heard right after yes okay all righty roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses thank you very much H2 ordinance amending the code of the township of Oldbridge specifically AR article 7 daycare program section 16-31 fees for full-time full daycare summer camp yep good evening Council thanks for having me again oh sorry good evening how are you man good um so I'll be here back to back I know I did answer some questions uh last meeting if anybody has any other questions or clarification let me know okay anyone on my left for no and have that on my right okay so that one we'll ask for a moe I'm going to open just to note it's it's article eight I think he said article seven okay oh was a misprint all right yes article okay we'll make it eight article eight all right so everyone's aware it is article eight when we go to vote I'm going to open it to the public is there anyone here that wants to speak on this I'll close the public portion I'll go for a motion okay Mr Desai made the motion and a second second by Dr Greenberg roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses next will be H3 ordinance amending the code of the township of Oldbridge specifically chapter 160 Article 1 Recreation fees section 16-2 Hockey League instruction hockey yep and this is the one that I came in front of you guys last meeting for this is the reduction when it is for the uh goalies of hockey teams anyone have a question okay Mr PES I just want to thank you Matt for looking out appreciate it okay do we have a motion move it second moved I think by Dr Greenberg and then second by there's a couple down this way who second Murphy Mr Murphy okay all right roll call please open oh I'm sorry I have to open the public I yes anyone in the public wish to speak okay we'll close public and then we'll go to roll council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses okay thank you very much Matt and thank you for all the research and the hard work trying to make sure that you know you you really do represent the public and make sure that we try to do the best we can to hold down the cost and make it you know make it something available to a lot of people and that's appreciated thank you very very much and thanks the entire Council as well thank you okay next will be our consent agenda I would ask for a motion in a second and then we'll bring it back for separation I'll move it okay move Dr Greenberg moved it Tony second Mr pasetti second okay any items for separation council person auli no council person dearo no council person dama C1 C1 council person Desai council person Garcia none thank you council person Murphy no thank you council person pasky C3 and C4 C3 and C4 council person doc Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes C2 C2 council president soar uh no I don't have any thank you okay so roll call on the uh balance of the consent agenda council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes and council president soar yes okay so we'll start with um it was C1 and Mr Tama so I don't know if Nicole or Vina can you guys just explain exactly what we're doing to the police lot mess cgp is our affordable housing consultant um they actually work with uh myself and V on our affordable spending plan um there are not to interrupt you this was C1 it's a C1 which is a parking lot parking lot um if anybody's driven by our police parking lot there's some most of the time it's overp parked and there's parking on the grass or there's stacked parking by the building on the side where um there's an additional entrance we are now expanding the parking lot towards County Route 516 so there will be additional double row by County Route 516 but to limit the amount of impervious cover that we're adding there's a sidewalk that runs parallel to the fence line that's along the library you'll notice that there's a sidewalk and then the cars are parked just south of that sidewalk but as you go further up that row there is no sidewalk and and the cars are parked further into the grass so to alleviate or to try and and not create additional impervious cover and not create storm water management measures that we don't want to maintain for perpetuity we want to limit that impervious cover I want to shift all the parking so that it lines up with that impervious line so the sidewalk will no longer be there that will be parking and then that first row will line up that'll gain me like 10 ft and then what I'll do is I'm going to reshuffle the deck and I'm going to add a little bit of impervious cupboard to the end and create about 34 more spaces in the parking lot it creates the need to shift two of the internal um light poles and then on the exterior I would have to add new light poles on there so that would be the cost can't we just restripe it because you're not restriping it to what the spaces are there so you're not you're moving it you're moving more spaces closer to 516 so when you come in no no no I'm adding additional impervious cover so I could create more parking but for me to take advantage of the additional impervious cover that that sidewalk has if I shift everybody and create one straight line across that edge of sidewalk I could then gain another 10 ft so I won't have have to add 10 ft On The Backs side at that point I take that as my starting row I create 24t as my aisle width right now it's somewhere between like 28 and 30 feet which it doesn't have to be that wide for two-way traffic I hold that 24t and then I go 9 by8 9 by8 create another 24t W wide aisle and then another 9 by8 when I do that I gain about 3 four spaces I make sure I limit the amount of impervious covers so that I'm not increasing by more than. 2 five acres so I don't have to take care of storm water management okay I'm happy to show you the plans Mr Council yes I would like I would like to I would like to see them I'm just it's a lot of money that we could be using on a roadway as opposed to the parking lot I understand that the parking lot may not be perfect but fits cars and I think we could better utilize that um that money elsewhere in town okay anyone else on my left I I have one question how did we get to 34 cars did we need like that 34 cars like is that do we need space for 34 more cars like how do we get to that number if you don't mind I tried to back into the number so for example if you increase your impervious cover by 0.25 you have to do storm water management my intent is not to do that we have enough detention basins enough storm water management facilities in this town that we have to maintain we have a limited staff in our DPW building it's for the life of the parking lot that we would have to maintain that Basin so I didn't want to create more impervious cover that would create another feature for us to have to maintain I held that number and backed into how much impervious cover I could put there and then it came out to I I I believe it's 34 spaces I'm not 100% sure but I I if I'm going to guess I'm going to say 34 435 spaces um Mr just one more question do do we we have are all the cars in use what do I mean is we have so many cars is is that the reason why they're all in use is that's why they're all over the place or we can pull out some cars and how how does it work if you don't mind cars and then there's civilian cars for for administration that works in the police department I mean I'm the ACT our acting Chief Fritz is in the audience and I'm sure if you oh oh Sergeant doctors is here I'm available to speak on it good evening hi Council so we currently have anywhere between 80 and 90 police vehicles and we have 110 spots 112 spots doesn't leave you many extra during the day uh as Nicole said we're parked on the grass double parked we're even using the other Lots Library lot whatever case may be um when we host training here which we do downstairs there's it's really really bad I'm sure there's been days where you've come by and you've seen that little grass Circle there is loaded with cars uh it's only a matter of time before something bad happens crashes all that stuff there's been some crashes in the lot because it's just overcrowded um we have civilian staff like I said we they can't even Park in there anymore uh we direct them to go park somewhere else so to answer your your question we we use all the cars that are in the lot sometimes there aren't as many obviously during midnight hours you don't have the administrative cars there and things of that nature but during the day say on a Wednesday in the middle of the day the parking lot is absolutely full you know Monday through Friday thank you thank you very much Mr pescetti yeah hi um what did you say the size of the lots of the parking lots are did you say was the the parking spaces yeah they're they're 9 by8 as you get closer to the the entrance of the building they're 10 x 20 because those are the larger Vehicles where the Taho Park okay so that uh the 9 by8 is that uh what's our ordinance our ordinance is 10 by 20 9 by8 is rsis or a standard um usually if an application or if somebody was coming in for a side application in front of our Planning and Zoning Board they would need a design waiver to um to go to a 9 by8 so you're going to need a design waiver no no it's existing okay so can we get that changed to 10 by or 9 by8 well the 10 the 10 x 20 in the ordinance was put in place because of the shopping plazas right like if you have a shopping plaza that's where it becomes more advantageous to you 9 by8 is in the reg reg uh residential site Improvement standards book so if somebody was coming in for let's say an apartment complex and they wanted to put 9 by8 it's really like a technical variance because we have to give it to them because it's in the residential site Improvement standard book right so it's it's not it it's it's something we want in there we want a 10 X2 space when you're dealing with shopping carts you don't really necessarily need that if you're in a residential setting in an apartment complex where you're not having that constant movement it's you park at the end of your workday you come home you stay there at night you wake up you leave the next day there's really unless it's the weekend you're not in and out of your parking spaces okay thank you anyone else okay Mr Murphy yes I'm sorry uh that's the money you put in the budget that amount no um no it is not I needed more M seems like a lot I needed more money and I I took it from um available funding in capital bond from prior year Paving contract where we finished every Road in that Bond okay and you got other prices for this too 16 I think it was 16 okay 17 bid 17 I never going right 17 anyone else no our estimate was 313 I think I I put it in the letter Mark do you have that letter in front of it's in resolution 3 $18,995 that was the engineer's estimate we have any other questions um I just want to make a motion to table till we can take a look at this just because we're you we're taking money from what could have been roadways I just want to make sure that we take a look at this prior okay so motion is on the floor to table second who second Mrs Carol was it you okay I just have okay roll call on the motion to table resolution number C1 council person auli yes council person person de Caro yes council person dama yes council person Desai council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi no council person Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell no council president soar yes okay this was already in from last year seven yeses and two NOS just uh if I could um under um New Jersey local P public contracts law you can hold the bid for up to 60 days and then you can ask an extension just from the get an idea of time frame okay thank you very much all right next will be C2 Dr Greenberg belli yes I strictly separated this to point out what happens when there State mandates and they're not funded and um you know obviously with affordable housing the administrative agent um the fees have gone up with everything um there's things they have to do but when the state mandates affordable housing and you have this I think when you look in every um venue throughout the town there are different mandates um by the state and unfortunately they don't um help us out by financing them and that goes as well as for the MUA do we have a motion is anyone going to make a motion for this second okay who was it who motioned Mrs Caro okay second was Mr jaama roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes counc council person Murphy yes council person pasky no council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes eight yeses one no okay next will be the C3 and C4 could we do them together Mr P yeah it's just uh I just wanted to know what happened it's the same amount it's a grant and I wanted to know what happened that had one had to be rescinded the other one has to be reauthorized I was I was having this argument with uh Green Acres too there's there's an email that they had sent me where they said essentially a very long email that said that there's three new things that um that are in Green Acres rules that aren't published anywhere but hey here they are um and they're and we want to make sure that you address it in your application the other two don't apply to us but the one thing that applies is that if you're doing an all-inclusive playground it should be fenced either by natural vegetation or by offense and so um I opted to put the cost now I had to update the cost cost estimate to include the fence um I didn't want to do a natural hedge row because then that's additional maintenance on our parks department that I didn't want to put on them so I did a split rail fence and added that into the estimate now the grant is capped at 750 so I was arguing arguing with them in a nice way um that it's not going to change the grant but um it'll change our resolution the number of the construction cost will change and if ultimately knock onw if we get the grant that total project cost goes into the grant agreement even though the grant amount would only be 750 so they want that number right and it also means the calculation of what we're supposed to have that remaining balance should also be in that resolution as well so it changes the number slightly the maybe 12,000 13,000 okay thank you with that I'd move it okay you're moving um C C4 m mhm C3 and C4 yep second thank you ni roll call for approval of resolution C3 nc4 council person Uli yes council person dearo yes council person dama council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses report of the Township Clerk I have no report report of the township attorney nothing report Madam president administrative report Mr lenning good evening thank you uh the February 27th 2024 administrative report item number one jcpnl light pole outages Alber Township Administration recently met with jcpnl to address the ongoing issues of street lights being out they have indicated that if a resident reported a light out in 2023 and you see that the light is still out please report it again so a new work order can be generated to report street lights that are out please visit www.firstenergycorp.com outages please have the poll number ready if you are unable to safely obtain the poll number please indicate the nearest address to the poll a work order with a ticket number will be generated please keep that information for your records Administration is in touch with jcpnl monthly to ensure that outages are addressed in a timely manner we appreciate your understanding item number two parks and recreation spring 2024 brochure and registration the spring 2024 program brochure is now available online registration for residents is still open for certain programs please have your Rec desk account set up prior to registration we have programs for the entire Community such as Mother's Day brunch father daughter dance pickle ball lessons Robotics and coding classes fashion illustration and design and Camp Robin classes for children and teens for more information please visit our website at ww. www.bridge docomo at 732 721-5600 extension 4999 item number three the Housing Authority is accepting applications for Section 8 Oldbridge Housing Authority is accepting applications for the housing Choice voucher program known as Section 8 the application applicants must fall under one of the following categories lowincome elderly persons with disabilities disabled veterans or homelessness apply online from March 18th 2024 at 7: a.m. to March 20th 2024 at 11:59 p.m. or until 125 applications are received for for information and to apply please visit www. Oldbridge housing.com slops please note there are no paper applications available at this time okay thank you very much does anyone have a comment or a question Mr lenning Mr pescetti yes um the first thing I want to do is uh the Housing Authority um applications for Section 8 uh resident can go to the library and they'll be assisted by the librarian there how to uh if they have any difficulty doing that and they're they're aware of that just to let you know um on the jcpnl I want to know why is the responsibility on the resident you know J I have had a problem with jcpnl been reporting outages and I take the time to stop take a picture of the poll number go home put it in put it online and then they don't do anything and what happens is the way it it it gets accepted you have to write that number down and then if you don't write that number down they have no way of tracking it it's like it's it's terrible you know so they have no responsibility you know that just bugs me so I I totally understand what you're saying about jcpnl uh I had the opportunity to talk to a couple representatives and um you know it's a Manpower issue you know obviously everybody's running a lot thinner than they used to run um so they ask for our assistance they do have crews out at night um emergency crews but they're limited and if there is an emergency they don't have the time to drive around and identify the street lights that are out um but we are working with them and we're definitely voice your concerns and let them know that you know orbridge definitely needs our street lights forair yeah I appreciate that because we pay a flat fee right for all of our lighting um so they you know they have no motivation to fix the lighting right it costs them money and it and they're you know getting extra revenue for being out I'm just want to let you know that I've I've done this number of times and if you go along 516 You Can Count there's seven traffic lights out and they've been out for a long time now they did a couple weeks ago fix a couple of them but I'm just saying can I just add something I was at that JC panel meeting and um we were told that um after covid uh a lot of uh companies are not producing the sodium bulbs that are needed so they got a new supplier and the bulbs bulbs seem to be defective so sometimes there's ticketed problem jcpnl might have went out changed the bulb but the bulb went out in less than a week so people think oh they never came so that's why we're asking now to people if they see the lights please call in and get another ticket because there Sylvania is back in business now so now they're getting a new supply of good lights that are not going out so hope moving forward that these lights are going to going to stay on they're supposed to last three to 5 years they're only last in a week currently and um we're hoping that we're going to stay on top of JC panl because they're aware that we are not happy with the service and we're definitely going to stay in communication with them but we'd ask that um you ask all the residents to please if they see lights out I know it might be dangerous at night if they could get an address that's close at least if they could tell jcpnl that get the ticket number and we're going to stay on top of them to make sure this gets taken care of thank you so much much appreciate it okay anyone else have a comment or a question okay no I just agree jcpnl it has been difficult the last few you know months but hopefully like the mayor said we are hopefully going to make some progress we do we are aware and we know that the residents are you know are really upset about this yeah we're also going to have them come uh we're asking them to come to the March meeting yeah that's good that's very good okay does anyone want to make a motion to accept move it second okay move by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr dama roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes nine yeses public comment on any subject matter for a maximum period of 3 minutes the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments this section is open for any topic or items in on the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 col 4-2a and the Oldbridge rules of council the council asks the public to limit their comments to three minutes or less only one member of the public shall approach to speak to council at a time the council respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished with their allotted time should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question an answer session if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding Department's office during regular business hours Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of our meeting as you approach the microphone please St whether you are a resident of Oldbridge no name and address please okay is there anyone in the public who wants to be heard seeing no hands I will close the public portion council member comments council person auli I do so I've been to a couple of meetings so far and um last week there was a citizen that came up and voiced her opinion which we do have freedom of speech in this country and everybody's allowed to speak whether you dislike it or not we're allowed to talk we can all agree on that can we right okay so I was mentioned about you know the Republican Party over the years and she feels as though things are going south and everybody has a right to their opinion we would all agree but Mary said something that was compelling that resonated with me and I think it resonates with all of us I don't think anybody here on this deis when you get a call from a citizen of Oldbridge I don't ask them if they're a Democrat if you're a Republican or if you're an independent I just asked them how how can I help and I think we've gotten away from that and I think the spirit of community and working together it's so divisive when we need to understand one thing as we sit up here and debate and we all talk we need to remember who we're debating for and we're debating for what's in the best interest of the citizens of o in this country and and I feel and I know I'm probably going to say what a lot of people feel but may not say we all feel it I think we got to go back to the kitchen table and stop understanding that it's God family country community and we're here as elected officials to do one thing to make the citizens of Oldbridge life better and I don't think anybody on this de was elected to do anything but that and I think with all the propaganda with all the Ridiculousness in society it's crushing us it's Love Thy Neighbor love your community America like was built on freedom life liberty and the pursuit of happiness so for us our job is to ensure that you can do that that you can pursue life liberty and pursue the happiness and we're supposed to to take the arrows for you that's why we're elected to serve the people it's not some people it's not a few people it's we the people and it's all the people and I think when you're an elected official no matter what role you have that is our job that is what the founders of this country the Declaration of Independence which is in my pocket the constitution of this country it's a small book we need to get back to that and we need to understand what the most important thing is and that is the people so I I know for sure that I've been here for 20 years and everybody on this day is here in their mind they want to do the right thing but we need to remember who the right thing is for and it's for you somebody asked me recently what is your agenda Mr auli and you know what I said You full stop and I hope that we can get back to that because this isn't the divided United States this is the United States and we need to get back for the love of country love of community love of people and as much as we can debate it's good it's okay then let's go have a drink afterwards right but the hate is so divisive it crushes my soul so when I decided to run and I decided to be involved you know why it's not right and I know you all think the same way but some people may not have the courage to speak you know why because they'll get canceled maybe they'll lose their job maybe they're not allowed to talk because they're on one side of the aisle but no one should ever be silenced and it's up to us to ensure that no one gets silenced and everybody should have the right to speak what's on their mind because that's what this country was built on and we will ensure that that happens thank you council person Dar Caro thank you Kate um just just real quick so so um just to M Mr Uli's comments um you know I I think it's really just not very nice that he's that he just went after a resident that got up and shared her opinion about what she was seeing um and you talk about not wanting to cancel people but you're literally just you just disparaged a a a citizen a resident who came up here who who went out of her way to come up here to the microphone who who doesn't nor normally come to the microphone she came up here because of what she was seeing at this council meeting last meeting because what she was speaking about was what she was seeing because of every nominee that I put up that wasn't being you know even acknowledged I nominated the same person six times so that's what the residents are seeing and that is what she was speaking to not necessarily you know if she called her councilman but what what she sees coming from the stas and it's really easy when you are sitting in a position of being in the majority to feel that way and to say those things but to not acknowledge Mr auli to not acknowledge that maybe someone sees something a little bit different than you is is is is disparaging it's it's it's hurtful it's it's many many words that I can come up with so um you know I'm sorry that you you had you held that until today that that somebody came up and and said those words to you but um you know you talk about not wanting to be divisive but you just created another divisive situation just there if you had just let that go it would have just been a comment from a res ENT so um you know that's all I have to say about that um the other thing that I wanted to my original Council comments that I wanted to say were um first of all I did not mention uh at the last meeting and my apologies is I just wanted to recognize Black History Month February 1st to March 1st so I just wanted to acknowledge um that this is Black History Month and um I know that they did a lot of wonderful things in the schools to um to honor um the uh the month I know that this was something that was started in uh uh early 1900s by uh the son of someone who wasn't uh enslaved and um it was started out as a black history week and it now is a black history month and what I hope to see in the future is that black history is just our history it's just American history and you know I hope that um we don't H you know we're able to celebrate Black History January through December so you know hopefully it went from a week now it's a month so hope hopefully it will be something that will be all year um in the future uh the other thing that I wanted to say was um I went to the Oldbridge Elks charity ball on Saturday and it was a really really lovely night and um so it was put on by our Oldbridge Elks and they honor people uh they they had two honores that night they had um a lovely young woman by the name of Stephanie pooo who was um the the list of things that she had done I can't repeat because because it was such a long list and uh such a lovely young woman she was named the ambassador of the year so I just want to say congratulations again to her and also my dear friend Diane Michael was named the um elk citizen of the year and I can speak to Diane um and her dedication to um our special needs community and her fierce fierce fighting nature to um um uh provide inclusivity to um to all people of all needs um I'm I'm sorry of all abilities and um and she just is a fierce fierce advocate for H everybody having a seat at the table and uh so I just wanted to uh make mention of that now the next thing that I want to mention is um is um at the recent Board of Education meeting um it was voted five to four to abolish a policy named policy 5756 and um Pol it's done it's over um I'm not going to you know rehash it at all other than to say that nothing really has changed um you know nothing really has changed it was just I don't really know what the issue was there's the parental rights are the same today as they were prior to um the abolishment of that policy but what concerns me is the message that it it sent to our very very marginalized Community especially in you know in the high school and um so what I would like to do is um is show them that we support them show our lgbtq community that we support them so I would like to put up a resolution tonight that the Oldbridge Township Council supports our lgbtq community lgbtq plus community and the policies put in place to protect them and I make a motion that we accept that resolution I second the resolution well uh the only thing I would say is right you reference a resolution Mr car so I don't know what the resolution is I don't know the council uh knows what the resolution is I just said it right but you referenced the resolution what's the I don't know what the resolution I don't know if Council knows what the resolution is well it's so I it's a resolution so to support Mark or to support our lgbtq plus community and the policies to keep them safe right so so typically a resolution is just that it's a written document sure that's prepared in anticipation of a meeting that's uh okay so can we instead of can I finish sure and then and then that's considered by the council during the course of the regular meeting as opposed to council comments okay so so what would be the procedure then Mark to get that introduced typically uh when issues with respect to whether or not Council wants it uh there's a discussion amongst Council and then Council takes a vote to determine or whether or not they want something like that resolution created uh for consideration by the full Council okay so can we have a conversation now council president yeah we can have have a conversation if you want okay I don't have a model just know that that you know if there this is what I would like as a resolution that we support the lgbtq community and the and the policies put in place to protect them I I could right I mean you're referencing policy policies by whom did I say policy he said policy I apologize right you said policies put in place to protect them so I I mean from I guess from council's perspective which policies you're referring to uh and then you know because that could be a myriad of policies okay I can take that out well no no I I don't know what it right you reference the policy or there policies well I'm talking about just general uh policies like uh NJ lad like you know there's there's many policies I can take that out if that isn't an ambiguous right you if that's I can take that out yeah if you maybe if you send me an email or what you think you want and then I can try for next meeting put something together for for the council to consider absolutely absolutely basically I can do that I can do that so I can formulate something sure okay sure all right that sounds good okay are you are you through with your comments or yes I am thank you all right okay go ahead council person dama yes thank you um so I was up here last week when the jcpnl folks came up and the mayor stole my thunder when when she had mentioned how they were putting in bad bulbs she had said that when I was speaking to her that they had put in something like 50 bulbs the week before and some of them were already burning out I think it was due [Music] to I don't know if we could use Co anymore as an excuse but I guess the supply chain issues had caused some some problems with what they've gotten and they were using that access and that seems to be the issue but as we've as I've driven around and I was on the phone with with the council president one night picking out streets that were dark and things like that I would like to ask again make sure that the residents do go out there if it's in front of your house get the poll put it up on their um their reporting so that they have it so we've I've been following up with jcpnl now for the probably for the better part of six months on whether it's power outages or lights out I'm sure our our representativ is going to lose my number eventually and stop and start blocking me I I talked to her so much um but we just need to make sure that we're on top of this I get when things go out but I've heard horror stories that we've had lights out for a year if they were reported and they didn't do it shame on them if they've been out for a year and we didn't and we didn't report it it shame on us but we just all I want to make sure is that we're being proactive so that we could hold JC PN L's feet to the fire and they don't have any recoil saying well no one told us because they don't have people driving around at night to look for the bulbs out right we have to do that so if you do see that let them know if this problems reach out to your council person we will help you because this is I think a PRI priority for all of us whether it's power outages or or lights out because it is starting to get ridiculous okay that's all I have council person Desai I have no comment council person Garcia yes thank you I just make a quick comment regarding councilman ASI's comments I think what he's trying to do is basically say we have to come together as a group as a town and stop a bickering over silly stuff Republican it doesn't matter we have to come together I think that's what he was trying to get to I think that's what came across as far as I'm concerned uh so that's that's all I have to say regarding that and uh I want to thank the lone the lone resident here for coming out in this crazy weather go go in the rain so thank you Maran for coming out tonight so that's all I have thank you council person council person Murphy uh no thank you I don't have anything to say council person pasky um yes uh of course we have freedom of speech and um but you know there's people that want to divide and there's people that want to bring together and you can tell the difference between those people you know how they talk and how they try to bring up political things or make them political like that policy 5756 in the Oldbridge Board of Ed um you know I don't think that teachers should be keeping secrets from the parents and that's what that that policy did and I'm glad they uh rescinded it so I mean that was one part of it there's there's other parts to that the uh LBGTQ Community uh is protected through our state laws um the problem that we're facing is that the state is through the Department of Education is um they're trying to move their agenda um the the uh the thing that's going through the state house now is um uh this bill that says that uh it's called right to read but it's not a right to read it's it's a um it protects the Librarians from getting sued from parents for allowing pornography in the libraries there's a there's this movement I it's insane in my opinion um they want to bring pornography into the schools and sexualize our children it's horrible it's disgusting and um we need to stand up against it so if there's going to be a resolution we should stand up against our our department of education and what they're trying to do to our children because uh if I think if the parents knew what was going on in the public school they would take their children out and put them in private school because it's really bad it's it's worse than you think thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bal yes I would just like to thank the Oldbridge El Lodge 2229 for all their efforts supporting our special needs pro pro programs in town and I'd like to congratulate Stephanie poo ambassador of the year in citiz and the Diane Michael we are always eager to support the Elks for all the um positive contributions that they make to um the community I've been to that charity ball many times and uh it's really nice to see that the really the positive things that people do to reach out to help other people and I would just like to end it with it's unfortunate that people always have to go and make opinions on what people are are thinking it's like they're making exemption the the words aren't even coming out of their mouth you you say something but you they're misinterpreting you're thinking this you can't think for someone else you can think for yourself and I advise everyone to think positive be grateful be be really in a way that you could pass on something good to someone else all the time be gracious be kind and I think that goes a long way without without all this other nonsense thank you council president soar yes I also just wanted to say thank you again to the Elks it really was a wonderful event it always is every year they are just such a a you know giving organization and so kind to the town and of course to Stephanie and Diane because they really are very very special special people I I think it's just wonderful what they've done for the township and just in general they're just really great people um the land thing is the Housing Authority in the section 8 program just wanted to make sure when um Mr pescetti mentioned that you can apply at the library and you would have some assistance if you you know you're not sure how to do it or if maybe like myself you're not quite that that good with the computer so if you go there you'd be able to apply and that's very important because that's a that's a program that really is geared to help people here and and get people housing that they really need so please please if you have you know if you feel you qualify please go and if you don't have anything home go to the library and let them help you with that program so I just want to make sure everybody out there heard that uh jcpnl yeah it we are really working very hard with them trying to get this under control it it is a lot and I do agree I have more residents call me about that than speeding which is like incredible to me so so please if you are you know if you having trouble try to report it the way they said and if not you can reach out to the council person we're more than willing to help you thank you very much okay a motion to uh adjourn and enter executive session for matters of contract negotiations and potential sale of Township property are we coming back no that's why we're adjourning that's what I'm saying just want people to know out there yes ma'am okay I mean we're not just marrying everybody in the the television so motion by Dr Greenberg B who second yeah council person we talk roll call council person Uli yes council person daro yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas gidy Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses Jed at 8:55 p.m. for