Council agenda Township ccip Troy Hills regular Township council meeting of May 21st 2024 introduction posting of notice adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings law by following the notice in the office of the Township Clerk and by posting the meeting office uh on the bulletin board at the municipal building on January 4th 2024 what has remained posted since that date a legal notice appeared in the Daily Record and the New York Star Ledger on January 8 2024 can I ask everyone to please rise for the flag salute States indivisible and justice for all call Mr herandez here Mr McGrath here Mr Mella here Mr neglia here Mr Ki here all attendance are mayor James barberio business administrator Jamie kin Township attorney Michael La municipal clerk CED Madden council president you have a quorum May begin yes please thank you upcoming meetings um June 11th 2024 at 7: p.m. is the agenda meeting uh June 25th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. is the regular meeting ordinances second reading and public hearing ordinance 20246 an ordinance of the township Council of the township Oran Troy Hills Morris County New Jersey establishing chapter 298 entitled privately owned salt storage the notice of ordinance 20246 was published in a daily record the official newspaper of the township pcip Hills on April 22nd 2024 introduced at the April 16th 2024 regular meeting M please have a motion to accept ordinance 2024 be heard in his second and final reading by title only motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by M Hernandez roll call Miss Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella yes Mr neglia Mr K yes okay motion passes public hearing motion to open up the public hearing for ordinance 20246 motion it's okay second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr Hernandez roll call uh Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella Mr neglia yes Mr K yes okay motion passes uh the floor is open to the public uh on this ordinance only are [Music] from call me just uh very brief uh you could walk into any own Depot and buy salt and do do whatever you want with it or other chemicals besides salt that are even worse a lot of these landscapers when they come into town they slit the bag they get done with their Salter guess where the plastic bag winds up out there somewhere so I don't know what this ordinance is but uh salt is a is a big problem it has a big cumulative effect it's in the water and uh you know I hope the ordinance is really significant in in uh some way in improving the condition anyone else okay seeing no one may I have a motion to close the public hearing please no this a closeing this is just on the ordinance this is on the ordinance this is only on the ordinance okay may I have a motion please motion second motion made by Mr Hernandez seconded by Mr neglia whereas the above ordinance was read in pedal on second reading and uh hearing held thereon now therefore be resolved that set ordinance be passed on Final reading that notice of final passage of s be published in a newspaper according to law may I please have a motion to approve the resolution please motion second motion made by Mr Hernandez seconded by Mr neglia roll call Mr herandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mel yes Mr neglia yes Mr K yes motion passes ordinance 20247 an ordinance of the township Council of the township precip Troy Hills Morris count New Jersey amending chapter 225 land use subdivision and site plan to create article 16 related to storm water management controls the notice for ordinance 20247 was published in a daily record the official newspaper the township proci Troy Hills on April 26th and introduced at the April 16th 2024 regular meeting M please have a motion to accept ordinance 20247 may be heard in second and final reading motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr Hernandez roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath Mr Mella Mr Nea Mr Ki yes motion passes public hearing M please have a motion open the public hearing forance 20247 motion okay motion made by Mr McGrath second second who seconded Frank oh Mr Mr NE okay roll call Mr herandez yes Mr uh McGrath yes Mr Mel yes Mr neglia yes Mr kifi yes okay the floor is open to the public on this ordinance only okay seeing coming up Nick come on up uh the way I understand this njp is finally uh forcing or mandating precip to uh update its storm water uh the only thing I can say is we've been in the Dark Ages we've lacked uh scr and we lack due diligence in our storm water management when a developer comes to town his plan that's the plan now uh I want to bring your attention one more time and for the last time I hope to Waterview and what I'm going to read to you right now was in effect since the year 2004 and it's says any land area used as a nonstructural storm waterer management measure to meet the performance performance standards of njhc 7854 and 5.5 shall be dedicated to a government agency subed to a conservation restriction filled with the appropriate clerk county clerk's office are subject to Department approval equivalent restriction that ensures the measure in the Clen storm water management should be approved by the reviewing agency in its perpetuity what that means we paid $4 million plus for a buffer we called open space the developer could have been forced to Zone as part his plan he could have zon that as a nonstructural storm water component this community would not have spent one cent of its local open space and the mayor used to say I we S I went to marown with two other guys Nelson was one and John the magician from a Mountain Lakes the reason we went was because we found out they were trying to get get money not for the 26 Acres that was promised but for the 10 acres or less it could have been zone so we're we tried to to make them aware of it interactive map from the highlands the 300t buffer everybody was talking about there it is right there the information was available at the time it's called an advanced property report interactive map that's the 300t buffer we could have not listened to the developer or made the developer give us the 300t buffer but we didn't know storm water at the time I guess you know and here's the big uh Kahuna here the Troy Brook report it actually mentions uh was it block 421 uh uh lot 421 block 29 to be in per perpetuity for ground water recharge it had some of the best soils forested steep slopes and it was all all this was ignored so it's too late now but I get I get to to finally tell the truth about storm water so now it's like I said sometimes it's just too late but if we knew our storm water regulations we don't have an environmental commission we only have a committee and it's up to the mayor whether he wants the committee so if we listen to a a an attorney like Mr Ring Lino he's going to take you off for his developer friends and he got $4 million out of this town legal legalized uh theft of honest Services is the only I I know how to how to uh say it and I have the the trace I don't have enough time from Green Acres the whole history of what happened the whole history I have it if you're interested I mean I could send it to you sir all right but uh for the state of New Jersey and making precip do finally what he should have been doing all along but uh I'd like to know hey any way we can get $4 million back right get a motion to close the public hearing for ordinance 20247 please can I just re respond sure Nick you know I understand what you're saying this ordinance is is good and we look forward and we move forward and and more people are aware of storm order controls and how important that is and the parity environmental advisory committee will um the poran environmental advisory committee is on top of this too so we are all I I can't back and forth okay okay we saw these pictures they receiv it Nick we saw the pictures yeah council president if I may may correction on what Mr homc said with regards to and he's talking about the Waterview property saying that in um I think it was 2012 or 13 that the township didn't go for the whole 26 Acres that's not true in 2013 we went for the whole 26 Acres we were denied from the um County any funding and yes Nelson was there as well as Mr homak then as you remember council president fast forward to 2015 um when the courts came out with the new affordable housing rules then that's when we went for the 10 acres because they were not going 11 acres actually and the rest to preserve the perpetuity um with regards to that I mean that's what I remember Nick so um so and we got the Grant from the state we had some green anchor money left over as well uh to purchase the 11 acres in the back or you would have had affordable housing that's really what happened over there I'm sure you remember council president yes I have a motion to uh close the public hearing please motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr herandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella yes Mr neglia Mr Ki yes is closed whereas the above ordinance was read en title on second reading and a hearing held thereon now therefore be resolved that set ordinance be passed on Final reading that notice the final passage of set ordinance be published in a newspaper according to law motion to approve the resolution for above ordinance of 20247 now please have a motion motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr Mr McGrath yes Mr melum yes Mr neglia yes Mr Ki yes motion passes ordinance 20248 Bond ordinance providing for various water utility Capital Improvements in and by the township of Pacific Troy Hills in the county of Mo state of New Jersey appropriating 5,300,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 5,300,000 bonds or notes to finance the cost thereof notice of ordinance of 20248 was published in a daily record the official newspaper of the township precip Troy Hills on April 22nd 2024 and introduced at the April 16th 2024 regular reading motion to accept ORD 2024 which be heard in the second and final reading motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Miss Hernandez Mr herandez oh yes Mr Mr McGrath yes Mr recell yes uh Mr neglia yes and uh Mr Ki yes public hearing motion open the public hearing for ordinance 202 408 motion second motion made by Mr McGrath seconded by Mr Hernandez roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr Mella yes Mr McGrath yes Mr neglia yes Mr kifi yes floor is open to the public on this ordinance only okay seeing no one can I please have a motion to close motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Miss Hernandez roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr muella yes Mr McGrath yes uh Miss uh Mr Mr neglia neg yes and uh Mr kifi yes okay floor is closed rise the above ordinance was read title on second reading in a hearing held thereon now the be resolved that s ordinance be passed on a final reading and that notice of final passage of s ordinance be published in a newspaper according to law motion to approve the resolution of the above ordinance for 20248 motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath Mr Mella yes Mr neglia yes Mr Ki yes motion passes ordinance 20241 in ordinance of the township Council of the township pcip Troy Hills authorizing the payment of claims without a claiming certification pursuant to njsa 4- 4 5-16 and njac 5on 30- 98.6 a notice for the ordance of 20241 was published in a daily record in the official newspaper of the township precip Troy Hills on April 22nd 2024 introduced at the April 16 2024 regular meeting can I please have a motion to accept ordinance 2024 010 motion second motion made by Mr Hernandez seconded by Mr neglia roll call Mr herandez yes Mr McGrath Mr Mella Mr neglia Ki public hearing can I have a motion to open for the public hearing ordinance 20 24010 please motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr Hernandez roll call Mr herandez yes Mr McGrath Mr Mella Mr neglia Mr Ki yes Flo is open to the public on this ordinance only seeing no one can I have a motion to close please motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr Hernandez roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella Mr neglia yes and Mr kifi yes whereas the above ordinance was read entitle on second reading and a hearing held thereon now therefore be resolved that sance be passed on Final reading and that notice of final passage of sance be published in a newspaper according to law can I please have a motion to approve the resolution for the above ordinance of 20241 motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr herandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella yes Mr neglia yes Mr kifi yes motion passes we're moving on to the public session can I please entertain a motion to open the public session motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr herandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella Mr neglia Mr Ki so the floor is open now to the public to speak on any matter you will have 5 minutes to speak this will not be a back and forth or a question answer session you will speak then you will take a seat and then the council will either answer your questions or they won't that's at their discretion good evening everyone uh my name is Bob irane 47 New England drives I'm here kind of to thank the councel for the support that you have given me over the last 35 years uh I am a 53 resident of parsipany I'm here tonight to announce my retirement from the parsipany zoning Board of adjustment effective May 31st 20124 my 35 years as a member and 25 years as a chairman respectfully it's been a labor of love I always felt our board has acted in a manner that satisfied the residents the town and the variant applic applicants in adjust and fair manner very few of our applications uh on appeal were were e very few of our applications on appeal were were not up uh uh overruled were upheld and were return to the board for further examination we received many compliments too many to count for the work we did s can you please closer to the speak closer to the mic oh okay I'm sorry um as an aside it's interesting that Tom denmore and I were appointed within a week of each other and that both of us have served continuously for almost 35 years Tom however switched to the planning board a number of years ago I would like to thank uh the many Council people who had confidence in me over the years a shout out goes to to Joe Weissberg Bill Clark Jack Conway Mike toiro and the late Dy jergal who appointed originally appointed me back in 1990 some other names that come to mind are Paul Ki Loretta gani Frank neglia and the late Jimmy vigilan and many more I never thought I would voluntarily resign from the board but figured that either Ronda magio or Steve prola would wheel me out I wish the best for prony a town that has been my home for two-thirds of my life I would also like to give a shout out to two Mayors for their efforts to make parcion a better place Jamie barbaria and my late dear dear friend Frank priori God bless you all thank you Bob thank thank you for your service B thank you Bob anyone else um Bernie Clark in here I am going to talk about the correspondence I had with the council and Jamie grief Jamie rather over the last few days about the budget and the f Focus the what I think the overemphasis on trying to raise the credit rating of the town from its current very healthy aa2 Moody's rating to a higher one is a justification for increasing taxes once again this year now it'll be a total of 20 over 21% in the last three years so my points that I was making in in the information I sent to all of you was that there's too much emphasis on on trying to raise the credit rating what is it worth well I went to UBS which is one of the largest financial institutions in the world and got some unbiased information that two basis points maybe a little more that that's not worth a whole lot in the example I shared with you 6,000 a year well on on 30 million Jamie came back with you uped for 50 million and you went to your expert who said it was more 10 basis points now your expert is the towns yes expert which means you're which means he actually does this for a living no it means you're paying him to do this you are paying him to do this and he knew what answer you wanted so in any case my bigger point was I've heard a lot of talk from some of the council members that there's whether it's 40 or 60 I'm referring to them and other people may have is Phantom jobs that aren't being filled there's other things I pointed out at the last meeting where I think we're either overe expensing or underestimating revenues but if you eliminate one of those Phantom jobs at say a salary of $50,000 from the budget and Phantom meaning they don't exist it hasn't been filled for years then we're back at that's more than that will more than cover the interest rate differential even using your higher end 50 thou you know calculation 50 million bonds which I don't think we're going to be issuing anytime in the near future maybe you know differently usually it's about 30 million so I would just ask the council to consider this and I have I'm sure I'm about to be cut off so I'll just jump to one other thing that I noticed on the agenda today that I find Troublesome with all this talk about controlling expenses and with the budget there is suddenly a resolution towards the end of this meeting where it will authorize the town to hire a public relations consulting firm what in the world do we need a public relations consulting firm here for is my question I'd love to hear comments from you after I sit down thank [Music] you am I allowed to make a comment please wait we wait for everybody to come up no no you can comment on this one now specifically we can do one by one so he's had comments so you guys can respond to that at this point oh okay um I had same questions and did receive the same um letters and explanations and I appreciate the explanations on the bond and credit ratings which is pretty confusing overall I was copied on the administration's report respon response to you this afternoon around 4:00 I saw it I was wondering about that magic number that I was asking about last time that would not hurt our credit and bond ratings and how that number would compare to some of the requested cost savings I had inquired about and how that compares to using half the Sur $5 million surplus it appears to me after reading you your comments and and Mr cryan's that a small decrease request Ed in the budget would not really have risked our bond rating after all and would not have impacted the taxpayers thank you what I would just maybe add to that was separately something that I also have been openly um questioning is is why there's a need uh in relate when it comes to the consent agenda for the public relations consultant which is direct devel development that's at a cost of about 60,000 um and in my view I I voted on that contract last year because I wanted to give them a chance to enhance and improve the way that we communicate with residents and I don't think they've done that um in fact if you look at our Facebook page a majority of the posts um are images with text which deprioritize the way our Facebook page goes out to people um so in short I don't see a need to renew that contract especially because we're also trying to hire a communication specialist under the administration at about $70,000 a year so I I think it should be one or the other but it it cannot be both okay anyone else from the public that would like to make any comments [Music] hi uh my name is Raymond Gallop I live out of town at the present from June 1982 to December 2023 41 and A2 years my wife and I lived in L hawaa Paran we raised our daughter and son here we were really we would have really liked to have stayed here but one of the big reasons why we left like Kata is because the taxes keep going up president Trump has already announced federal tax cuts and spending cuts meanwhile Joe Biden and Chris Christie who uh are who is our former Governor raise gas taxes and other taxes as well my wife and I know of neighbors and like Kat and pany who are unhappy and will move out of town in the next few years and that's not a few people that's quite a few or lots of people I want to thank councilman Mella and councilwoman Hernandez For Fighting For the residents of Paran for looking for ways to cut spending and taxes and congratulations councilman Mella in being inducted into the 1995 society and Americans future at the upcoming Americans future 2024 and annual G Galla being held in Washington DC on May 30th that's it anyone else all right come on up Nic L K Watson this is a correspondence from Green Acres concerning uh the water view after our phone conversation earlier today I took a closer look at the file for Block 421 La 29 water view to determine the earliest time Green Acres is made aware of the Township's intent to purchase the property as open space as I believe this is the issue you trying to resolve for your information I took over the file in late 2006 and had not familiarized myself with the status of the inactive file from before that time Waterview appears to be a file that was created in 2013 as you suggested however the township did not pursue it at this time it wasn't until 2017 that that it became an active file and an updated project reference maap with the decreased acreage was submitted therefore I want to correct my earlier statement that the township did not identify this property in 2013 the township did Identify the property in November 2013 however they did not pursue it the project reference map submitted in 2013 identified the total acreage 26.75 acres to be encumbered it would appear that decision was made after that time to subdivide the lot and encumber only 9.26 Acres as of 2017 I apologize for the confus using 2013 was the promise the no rezone it will be open space aordable housing was suspended at the time affordable housing does not take property designated for open space and especially that property because of his environmental qualities hopefully this will rest forever and thank you Amy and I have all of her con uh contacts and I've been holding this inside me for a long time and I I finally got it out so mayor what you're saying is not true Mr John Angelino was leading This Town by the nose and he got $4 million plus of something that simply could have been zoned so I need to respond if you don't mind council president are if he's done speaking uh first and foremost Nick you're absolutely incorrect you were at the meeting at the county with a ards to their 26 Acres when we did a presentation you were an objector to it you and Nelson no this ain't back and forth I mean it's up to the counc president no no no we can't you were an objector you were an objector to us getting our property and we weren't seeking Green Acres money we were seeking County open space money that's the difference okay we give them we give them the most open space trust fund money but they denied us they denied US based on some of the comments they think that you and Mr Nelson made so we didn't get the um 7.5 million I think that was the amount we requested cuz at that time that 26 acres really wasn't worth much money um it was worth at I think that time when the tax assor told us it was 7.5 million but what happened was in 2015 I think it was March 10 2015 when the Supreme Court came out with a decision on affordable housing that property went from 7.5 million in one day to 25 million of course we couldn't purchase $25 million open trust for money at that time but we went in front of the county the county open space committee Nick was there Jonathan was there and the bottom line is they were objectors we didn't get we didn't get the grant we turned down and the grant want to amend them instead of Pary I wrote a letter with regards to the county telling them that we give the most amount of money but we get the least back at that time so that's exactly what took place so you might want to check the county records yeah I okay anyone else [Music] up good evening hey Vijay panchamia from Glen one Commons I've been here before many times I'm coming here to find the status on Glenmont Commons roads last time and I was here there was a meeting between Builder and Township maybe mayor and council members so looking for some update because it's been about close to 8 months we are this situation sorry right so residents are you know obviously getting quite impatient um you know they really wanted to come here in full force since today you know we had a special agenda on budget we are holding them off but I'm here in you know to represent them to get some good update positive update in this regard so okay all right so we met with the developer uh the utilities were checking I think I reported last maybe before before you start sir you're finished right we you just have to take a seat please so we met with the utilities uh part of accepting those roads and just so for the members of the public that haven't been here before these are not Township roads this is the Glenmont development those roads have been there for 30 years the township has plowed them and salted them but they've never been turned over to the township they've never been accepted by the township the problem is the roads are in disrepair everybody agrees to that uh and the developer I think Bears responsibility for the roads as does the homeowners association um so there's some dispute on both sides with regard to that but in any event after the meeting with the developer the sewer utility wanted to go check those pipes because those sewer lines are going to be connected Caster line wants that go through there we want to make sure that those aren't in the roadway so if any of the sewer lines have to be dug up or repaired then the developer is going to be responsible obviously for doing that and fixing the roads as well the uh sewer utility uh advised me that they had done all of the videoing of those and that it looks like the sewer lines are good now they have to video the storm soures to make sure that those haven't settled dur in bad shap because once the town accepts them then it becomes the town's problem and then I just have to get uh an update from the water utility because they were going to check the water lines as well because the ultimate goal is to find out what if any of those lines run under the road because that'll necessites some Road repair um so I would anticipate by the next meeting we'll have the response back on the storm water and then the water but the sewers themselves are look to be in pretty good shape the head of the sewer utility Mr Beck Meer just wants to look at the videos himself his inspector said hey we we videoed them they look fine um the other thing is this same developer has recently filed a suit against us because we denied an OP us because the town paid for an engineer to do a report as to whether or not the township could handle the additional flow from cter line which is actually in Denville so that report the township is going to rely on when it makes its decision whether or not to be able to that we have the ability to take the sewer the developer asked for that report we said you don't get it because it's predecisional and now they filed suit so that that's kind of the way it's going I hope that's not an indication of what we're going to see down the road but that's the latest and hopefully by next month we'll be we'll know whether the other two lines are good as well anyone [Music] else Richard Suarez Pary uh 13 days ago I sent everyone here um two emails one regarding um the possibility of revamping or changing some of the uh ongoing procedures and recycling in hopes of increasing revenues on the city tonage report and decreasing the Tipping fees that the city pays for everything that is recycled I also sent a email out to everyone here regarding the um the business and I Ed the term loosely that had set up shop at the corner of beverick and Route 46 about the obscene nature of the banners the only two people who responded and this is 13 days ago were count council member m muella and council member her Hernandez everyone else it's nothing but crickets what is the objection to trying to improve the recycling the city of South Orange increased their tonnage grant money by $881,000 and okay that's a a city of 177,000 people parcion is about 55,000 and in change if we went from the single stream system that we have now to separating plastic glass and cans from paper because to separate it is labor in in intensive once you mix it once it's comingled the money you are getting for that product go goes down dramatically I fail to see excuse [Music] me it's not going to shut up all right I I failed to see why I'm getting res resistance what's the harm in trying what's the harm in trying to save the taxpayers money by improving the recycling program if anybody can tell tell me an objection to that I'd be glad to hear it I also think that the monies that keep going into the rainy day fund for for the city will wind up being used next year which is an election year when the taxes W won't go up or they'll go up very very little and everybody can Pat themselves on the back and say what a great great job we did when when we know that's not the case we we we know the budget's being paded now to use next year also I would like to thank the township clerk's office I asked uh for some uh uh some some Oprah uh material and your staff got it back to me in one day I do appreciate that they did a great job thank you they're great all right thank you anyone else uh Mr cryan was was Mr Walsh going to look into that yes he council president he is looking into it um and yeah right now he doesn't see it uh a reason to change okay uh but he's definitely interested in looking into it to find uh any reduction that he can get okay we we we have a as you've mentioned council president we have a sanitation department and a recycling uh coordinator uh who are very dedicated to doing their best for the township um they are definitely looking to get the lowest cost as they possibly can they wouldn't look to just you know have something no that's what I I thought that he was looking into yeah okay thank you pres um council president doesn't it also depend on the county and what they do or not so yeah Mr Walsh brought that up he did he did say that he brought it up that the county wasn't accepting M stream recycling only accepting single stream he brought that up in the the budget meeting yeah yeah so that would be an issue for for go ahead sir ladies and gentlemen good evening my name is Deon Sher I'm from Glenmont commment in Pary uh I just have a follow-up question to Mr pamz uh regarding the roads actually um once the assessments done in terms of uh the sewer line uh and found that system all the lines are fine what's going to be the outcome in terms of in terms of getting the roads to fix I'm a single family homeowner um and uh I have nothing to do with the HOA and all politics behind the HOA and uh and the city not having the ownership of the roads uh still paying the full amount of taxes actually I just need to know what's going to be the outcome once all the sewer systems uh considered as uh fine are we going to have a long-term solution to rebuilding the road in our community uh please look into this we would like to find out actually respond yes please yeah listen we hope there's a long-term solution I think the developer waiting to find out what the status is of those utilities to see what we're going to be looking for from them but I think as you folks already know it the the estimate was like 4.5 million to bring those roads up to town standard and they're not the town's roads they're developer owns half the roads and I think the homeowners association owns the other half so um the town's doing as much as it can but you know we have to balance that with we got to protect the rest of the taxpayers because it's not fair to them to have to you know lay out $4 A5 million dollars for roads that they didn't accept um and we could debate that but the hopeful outcome is that the developer says yes okay I'm going to bring those up to town code and then we're going to the town will be in a position to accept them but that's going to be up to the [Music] developer okay anyone [Music] [Music] else good evening everyone uh Tony foran 41 Robin Hood Road uh the answer that gentleman's question about recycling I was at the uh seat at the table meeting met with nine other Mayors the single source is what they can only accept in Mars County just speak a little bit closer to the mic we turned around and go away from single Source we'll be picking up recyc each type of recycle once a week for every 3 weeks the only thing that's actually paying right now is cardboard that's the only thing that's going against our tipping fees now we sat down and suggested they're going to turn around and get trying to get with each one of the Mayors so that we can negotiate on County basis versus Town basis thank you thanks thank you okay hello good evening everyone uh my name is Sam I live in parip almost like 25 years and in this moment I would like to have a I have a question for mayor and cils Paul kifi uh Frank niga and Matt mraf uh I selected these people because uh at the time they support uh they supported all the time tax increases like La pilot and so on um what is your role to make residents of parip happy or make happy only about yourself uh when discussion about Pilots was just begun I remember my short conversation with John I don't remember his last name atorney uh who represent most construction companies for the pilots and I told him we have told totally different goals he takes care about his client and his own pocket but I'm as many other residents take care only about my budget uh please do not forget we elected you and you should work for us and not for somebody else and uh last time I remember you ignore opinion more than 900 residents this is no good and we will remember this in the same time I would like to say thank you for the two councils who try to support residents which is uh Judy Hernandez and Justin maela thank you though thank you I'm going to respond real quick sir the municipal part of this budget is being increased by $6 and change I have a question for you have you G and given this speech to the board of ed because their increase is a lot more Mr hak came up and said well my taxes are going up a few hundred this year well guess what ours is $6 and change per month which equals 7 something dollars for the year so where's the rest of it so I would hope that you're going and the other gentlemen are going to the board of ed meetings and making the same speech that's all I have to say okay okay it's not a back and forth he can't you can't speak from the audience sir please continue Mr kifi no that's it that's I just want to add a couple things to you so so I actually just started on one one so I I've never talked about a pla or Pilot in my time here on Council but I do want to share again and and I've shared this a bunch of times but there's obviously a bunch of people in the room as of over about the last four years we've had about $200 million in tax reassessments which means that we as the town have to pay 2921 million back in for what those folks that were paying as a commercial entity we now pay so I call it $3 million that we have to make up because commercial has left okay as you've heard there's a billion dollars that has been asked in a tax reassess that will be $30 million at roughly 3% that will be taken back and we the town will have to come up with a way to pay for it so what happens in that model well there's a couple things in my mind one we start cutting services right because that's going to be a big piece of it you look at the cost along what these things are you're going to have to start removing Services maybe it's water sewer garbage you're going to have to look at all those different things as we look at what those things are or we're going to have to prepare for things I've talked about posos multiple times with water treatment you can go back and listen to Sean Andre's talk about somewhere between 30 and 90 million that we're going to have to pay to remove this from our water we have to replace piping 22 20 mi 52 ad time 400 uh per square foot $464 million that we're going to have to pay over a period of time Glenmont comments they need their roads fixed there's a lot of different things that go into when you look at what's inside of a budget what can we pull out what can we not and I've made a lot of warnings that I see your things coming now I'm new someone came up and said it's going to be a 0% budget next time and I I actually took the time to sit uh with some of the folks here to talk about theirs we we spent over an hour and a half together talking about different opinions on what we think are overstatements on Revenue what I see is going on in our town the budget that I see in front of me I'm voting on because I think it's solid it would be in the mayor's best interest to have 0% right now and 0% next right that would be great for him he's the mayor that brought two zeros in the last two years but he's bringing forward a budget that I think is reasonable I've sat with vow from our auditor and I trust the team that's up here putting this together and I realize that this is a difficult time for a lot of people right we talked about what are all the different increases right from inflation Consumer Price Index those things hit us just like they hit everybody else and I think we're doing our best to keep those numbers low but I keep saying the same thing the fact that everybody came out today I love it and I hope you guys continue to come to these Council meetings and listen to what's happening in our town and how we can fight and think of different ways I've offered ways to fill these positions leveraging students from the high in the Hills talking about votech can we bring those folks in to become inspectors where we have a blight where we're Outsourcing those people to me this is a strong budget and I think we've made a lot of cuts the things that I asked the mayor to cut out we realize that they were cut and they sent new sheets to us so I feel it's a very strong budget but I keep warning people listen to all the things going on in town and please understand there's a lot of risk right now we need to be prepared for the future that's my opinion can I ask you no no no afterwards I stay till the end sir we will definitely talk okay uh anyone else come on up mayor and Council for those who don't know me my name is Thomas Bush because I'm representing Tom can you just speak closer to the mic is that better little bit closer closer better closer even more there you go oh even better perfect sorry guys for those who you don't know me my name is Thomas pelus I'm representing the ppy Police Athletic League tonight I just wanted to go on record tonight and say thank you from the nonprofits point of view from the mayor and Council for your constant years of support we look forward going forward with this new partnership and continuing to build and giving Youth Services back to our town and our community so thank you from the bottom of my heart and the rest of my board members thank you again you're welcome thank you Tom come on up Sir myself rajas again from Glen Commons about roads mainly the roads again sir just speak a little closer to the mic yeah this is Raj SAS from Glenmont Commons again about the roads only I know we have the issue with the ownership and uh the roads who's who's who's the owner of the road is the part town of the of the developer um but we do pay taxes for the past 25 years I'm not sure how that is incorporated into the roads at all uh but the reason another reason why we have an issue here is the roads are really really bad too many Pooles that we have Mr Mayor helped us last time to temporary fix some of the roads but more Pooles are coming out and the one that is temporar fixed they are also coming out so it it's really really getting l so if you can have the same engineer walk through once more sometime and see and many of them that was repaired temporary repaired they are also getting all off as well as there are new Pooles that's coming up pretty much that will be really appreciated if you can just some at least for temporary fixk thank you thank you anyone else [Music] [Music] hi council members um my name is yvan shagwell I've been a student of the parip Troy Hills uh district for a very long time since I was like Yay big um I'm here before you today because I know you heard from a bunch of the other gentlemen concerning uh the conditions of the roads of the Glon Commons Community uh but I figured that you would also appreciate the perspective of a younger representative um somebody who's more in tune with the opinions of people that are my age and of many other younger adults in the community um I would just like to Echo the words that um all of these gentlemen have just mentioned um as a young adult that's just started driving recently I can tell you that I'm very very concerned about the safety of not only the drivers but also the pedestrians that are walking along these roads um if you think about it as as somebody that has to commute to work and as somebody that's also talked to many students that have to commute to school when you're driving along narrow roads with little kids that are playing along the sides of the roads or elderly senior citizens that are walking along and your car is bumping and there's jerky Behavior there's always is that feeling of uneasiness and nervousness that permeates that you're always going to feel as soon as you start moving along these people and that's something that seriously concerns me that's something that I've witnessed for a very very long time and I know that's speaking to a lot of other people they've witnessed that too um what I'm speaking about has nothing to do even more so of the repairs and the Damage that come to um the vehicles themselves that drive along these roads I'm purely talking out of a voice of concern for the safety of the people in this neighborhood and quite frankly I don't know if any of you council members have any children or um any teenagers of your own that drive along these roads um I'd want you to think about how safe you'd feel if these teenagers were driving along these roads or if your kids were playing on these streets so uh thank you so much for your time I really really appreciate everything you've done for the community um I know there are budget constraints and I understand that's a very valuable concern but I think this is a very legitimate issue that needs to be taken the time to think about and I can only hope that you do so thank you thank you well spoken I may me have to sign in sure thank you okay my name is Ivan F I live in pipany for so many years I have uh the concern about this gentleman about the roads my concern is about the people that clean the roads when it snows this year we didn't have many snow because I think New Jersey is turning into summer the whole year so we don't really need so many contractors cleaning up the roads because I he about other people that are talking to me about it they are complaining that they are going back and forth in the roads when it snows like we only have like three inches this winter but they are keep on going back and forth and they ruining the roads so I just wonder if you guys are aware of that uh it happens also in my neighborhood but it doesn't really bother me because I sleep through the night so it doesn't really matter to me but I hear about a lot of people complaining about that I don't know how the contractors work do you guys hire them for the whole season even if it's not snow they have to go back and forth in the roads and they really ruining the roads so that's my concern thank thank you anyone else come on up man hi um my name is elenni dakos and um uh my family's been here since 76 and uh I see uh the way we're we're definitely going into an urban we're going to like the urbanization of Paran is just really hurting um and uh well first of all I was of course you see all the the trees going down and I know we're the Green City but um when I think of Trenton because I know that this is not something that Pary wanted but um uh I hope that when you talk to them that you would say I mean what about us being the Garden State what's happening to that to that um uh Morris County has been this beautiful like Suburban rural area and now um I'm afraid of all these uh these tow houses coming up and just all this whatever um uh first of all um there's a lot of uh corporations that I see they're empty and I'm like who are we kidding there no one they're everyone's working from home now so if Trenton really cared why couldn't they just keep giving us give us money more more money for keeping those areas green I mean if you have to take down the um the empty corporations at least we should have empty areas I don't know what this is about forcing all this affordable stuff down our throats and then of course the developers come take come in take advantage of that I mean if if they if they don't give us money to keep this green then what about the fact of the reason why these corporations are uh these buildings Office Buildings are empty because everyone's working at home now so how would they like it if we said why don't we tax the people who work from home to make up for the money to make up for the uh for the corporations that are sitting there empty I mean you know maybe that'll change corporations you know I mean it's it's not people's the the people who work for these um at home it's not their fault I mean everyone's got to work but they work for corporations who have now taken advantage of of this and it's a it's a it's a shame because we have all these corporations that I'm like you know everyone's got these signs for lease who are we kidding these are all going to be redeveloped it's be all you know where this is going to be Urban so why don't why don't we you we um go down to Trenton and say as Council people say you know either give give us money for this cuz basically I feel like they're being gangsters they've got us like you know up on the throat like we're like they're doing gangster style and and they see that we're vulnerable they see we've got all this empty these corporations they know that we're desperate to like just take the developers money so you know I mean how would they like that we we'll just tax not everybody but the people who work from home and then maybe the people work from home and get taxed will will will speak up and complain and say I'm not going to work with these corporations whatever number two um I see that the affordable housing is is uh the uh the people who who take the people who write up the uh the people who take the applications the one I see is uh pza Associates so pza Associates they're in Princeton I mean I I was hoping that somebody the council people here would be able to overlook and and see who they because what I see I see people I'm like they don't they said on on the bottom of the application it says we will give precedents first to Morris County Warren County Su I don't see that I see people from Newark I mean I I'm afraid the crime I go into shoppr Wharton now there's a sign that says uh watch your purse since when did we ever have a sign watch your purse in this area but and then it's from the Wharton police department and um uh so you know as far as as pza Associates I wish that the council people would have some control why I don't see why they in Trenton are telling us oh we're reviewing the people who should be living these affordable housing I mean I I know somebody I have a personal friend living in uh Rockaway burrow for 20 years and uh he's he's applied for this and he's never taken a scent from anybody he working even has a heart condition but working um and um he he's we've applied to this pza application for him past two years nothing no one's ever called him nothing but I see everybody else coming in I I I don't know anyway I'm sorry I'm a little nervous I've never spoken up and I'm I hope that I got something across but I I am scared I am scared because this does not look right and and what about time's up time's up okay thank you so much listen first of if I get to respond to you did you can't go back and forth but you did a great job for your first time up here you did a great Joba couldn't agree couldn't agree I I'm sure every I speak for every council member up here we don't want all this building in here we definitely don't want counc president before you start just I need to take the seat yeah and we'd also I would love to be able to give it to and I'm sure again I'm speaking for everybody I'd love to be able to give it to our own residents the precipi residents that need the affordable housing it just doesn't work that way they are cramming it down our throat there's nothing we can do about it we've been fighting it we don't want this we don't want all this but Trenton and everybody else they're they're ramming it down our throat ramming it down our throat the governor everybody else they're just ramming it down our throat we fought it we're going to continue to try to fight it but as of right now you know it's it's a losing battle hopefully that changes may I yes and and I agree that it is being forced the fair share housing people I don't even know who they are but they're they are responsible for the new bill and the good news if there's any good news is that it's a bipartisan effort to say enough is enough and people are trying to work across towns and municipalities to to fight it and have to do it quickly because they're moving quickly and right now we I've met with several Mayors in Morris County um we're contemplating and sooning the state of New Jersey but I don't know if that's going to get us anywhere because these are State mandated um affordable housing State mandated as of um April they changed the laws and the rules and pretty much uh handcuffed the towns okay uh anyone else come on up hi uh J lad from Glen Commons uh I came late so I don't know whether it has been discussed already uh we are coming from glenan Commons almost every town hall meetings for last 6 months uh uh so like to have some update and since we cannot go back and forth uh justess gave us some timeline of events that would happen because uh frankly we have not seen any much development in the last 6 months and uh just like to let you know that the patchwor that has been done now it's all gone so it's back to that same horrible condition again so please give us an update with some omitted timeline please I please do not repeat the same thing that heading for last 6 months thank you you want to repeat the same thing and I repeated they said six times sir I think if you speak to some of the other residents are here I know you just came in uh Mr ly did give an update on what's going on especially with the sewer and the water lines right now and then hopefully our next meeting we'll have an update on that and and just I just want to add one other thing just for the members of the public that haven't been here for the other meetings where the Glenmont people the town is one of is one of the only people doing anything one of the only entities doing anything to try to resolve this now these are not the town's roads these are the homeowners association roads these are the developers roads the township has to take an affirmative act to accept roads which they've never done now the homeowners association up until last August couldn't even dedicate these to the town because their own bylaws which were filed said that they couldn't dedicate the roads to the town so this was only last August when they amended their bylaws to say that they could turn the roads over to the town the problem is those roads other than the town salting sanding and making sure they're safe for the traveling public at least that emergency vehicles can get in and out of there nothing's been done now the town did go out there and fill potholes and has tried to do what it can but we're trying to apply pressure to the developer as I said earlier there's a whole bunch of different things going on here they've got another development in Denville that they want to run that sore through our line so there's the town is moving on this the utilities of INSP Ed the lines we're just waiting for two more inspections and then hopefully we can do anything but I just want to make it clear that the roads have never been dedicated to the town the town has taken care of them has plowed the snow off them and done everything else it's just that $4.5 million shouldn't be fored on the rest of the taxpayers who bought houses on public roads um without at least putting some pressure on the developer so that's my update thank you I see I know I know you guys want to make some comments you just have to wait till after the meeting since youve already spoken I apologize you can come up sure since you're late you only get 3 minutes I'm kidding by I uh good evening Mr Mayor Town Council so unfortunately I kind of get the sense that the way the attorney talks is like you are doing us a favor you are charging us taxes for the last 20 22 years but when it comes to fixing the road I know your'll State the town has not taking over the roads because the town has to file an ordinance to take over the roads so as far as I'm concerned the ball is in your courot now what you're doing with the with the developer is your issue the fact of the matter for the public is this issue would have never come to pass today if the town had done what they were supposed to do in 2010 that's incorrect that's not true that's absolutely that's absolutely not true sorry that's fine we can be on different sides the town had a punch list which said the roads were not up to the town standards so today if the number is $4.5 million yes sir director director comc on the council not this Council necessary blame it on the town so please don't act like you're doing us a favor by you know saying oh why should the overall public taxpayers pay for $4 half million if the council in its previous form in 20110 had done its job we would not be here thank you very much can I respond so anytime you pave roads the engine they have to be built to a certain standard right it doesn't mean the town's going to accept them so I've heard this same argument for the last year probably and we've already debunked it and said look the town went out there and inspected the roads to make sure that the storm drains were in and stuff like that it doesn't mean the town accepted them and by the way in 201 town the town couldn't accept them because their own F bylaws said that they couldn't turn them over to the town so those are the facts I have the filed documents if anybody in the public has a concern I can always provide it to you it's been provided to the Glenmont residents or at least some of them that are here tonight so those are the facts and I didn't make it sound like the town was doing a favor I just wanted to point out the fact that the town is the one moving this not the developer not the homeowners association but the township Mr Ley I do have a question you mentioned that they are seeking a legal matter with us now does that delay them or give them opportunity to delay no because I don't there's really no the bond company that they posted the bonds with has gone bankrupt there's no I don't think it changes the situation you know the timing on it um I don't want to go into too much about their request to hook in from Caster line into those S lines because obviously that's something that's going to have to be approved by the township but okay um was there ever an answer about the grant that we applied for I think it was like 750,000 I'm not the only thing I knew about the grant was we checked with engineering and Engineering said you'd have to apply like by this June it but the problem is we don't own the road say that so that's the problem Township engineer said that to apply for a grant I said we would try anyway uh to see that if we apply for the grant we get one then they would have to dedicate the roads to us at that time but it's up to you know I I will check with Justin to see where we are with that anyone else okay as seeing no one can I please have a motion to close the public hearing motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr Hernandez roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mel yes Mr neglia yes Mr K okay we're now moving on to the budget section of the agenda second reading in public hearing ordinance 20249 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a c bank for calendar year 2024 pursuant to njsa 48 colon 4- 4.14 the notice ordinance 20249 was published in the Daily Record the official newspaper of the township of paci try Hills on April 22nd 2024 and introduced at the April 16th 2024 regular meeting motion to accept ordinance 20 2409 be heard in the second and final reading motion second motion made by Mr Hernandez seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath Mr Mella Mr neglia Mr K yes motion passes public hearing motion open to public hearing for ordinance 20249 motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr Hernandez Mr McGrath Mr Mella yes Mr neglia Mr K yes okay the floor is open to the public on this ordinance only seeing no one can I have a motion to close the public hearing oh go ahead come on up Bernie Bernie clar earlier in this meeting at the last meeting I brought up a number of concerns I had have about the budget as proposed and a Jula of 21% increase over the last 3 years and other than some limited comments today from councilwoman Hernandez and Council you s I really haven't heard from anybody up here is the C Bank what's that the C I'm sorry sorry sorry motion to close the public hearing Mo second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr kifi roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella Mr neglia Mr Ki yes whereas the above ordinance was read entitled on second reading and hearing held there on now therefore be resolved that ordinance be passed on Final reading and that notice of final passage of settledness be published in a newspaper according to law motion to approve the resolution above for ordinance 20 2409 motion second motion made by Mr Hernandez seconded by Mr neglia roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mel no Mr negli yes Mr kifi yes okay so it's 4 to1 vote motion passes so now we have the public hearing on the 2024 budget can I please entertain a motion to open the public hearing mot motion motion made by Mr McGrath seconded by Mr Hernandez roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath Mr Mella Mr neglia Mr K yes okay so now the floor is open to speak on the 2024 budget so Mr Clarken if you'd like to come up you may as I was saying earlier uh I would like to hear from some of the other council members I've heard from uh Jamie cryan about some thoughts on my one point but not on the overall budget I'd also so I'm not going to repeat all the points I brought up earlier today and at the last meeting I also like to remind councilman Ki that when you talked about the school budget going up it's 2% every year so the last three years the school budget's gone up 6% by my calculation the municipal budgets gone up by 21% and I think that's a distinction you sometimes have left out about this particular cycle so I'm going to sit down and ask some people to perhaps make some comments about Cuts I suggested or underestimates of Revenue Etc thank you come on up Nick when do you want to have Val when do you want to have Val once again in support of the gentleman with the source SE separation we're paying uh was it $2,800 something, because we don't enforce the law about the budget budget this is only about the budget yeah only about only about the budget well isn't that $2,800,000 part of the budget we all split it we all split that see if you if you're a citizen and you practice Source separation you're dragged into that uh tax you you have to share no matter if you have good practices you you have to split that bill so you know uh somebody should look at it we don't enforce anything there are in p towns that do do enforce it I know it seems impossible especially with all the plastic but aluminum wood paper and cardboard if you have discipline and it's enforced by the police if the police ride down the street they see a garbage this has nothing to do with the budget about the police riding down the stre this is specifically pay for the police too and they have to try to help with the quality of life too right okay so right when when we had a minimum amount of people here that wanted more police because of of the the the minor crime waves that happened but when we had 900 people that didn't want the pilot de and that didn't matter so you know you it you can't be that selective we're have a lot of educated people in this town and sometimes you shouldn't listen to what they say we shouldn't be you know dictated you know why they don't want to give somebody a citation for the garbage they're afraid that you won't you won't get a vote cuz oh the guy gave me a citations have nothing to do with the budget for we're not having back and forth here all is either have talk about the budget or or you have to sit down okay M Mr homac I'll do this I I'll take the tonage Mr Suarez I'll go back to the ba and I'll ask Mr Walsh based upon his previous comments he said it wasn't something we could do based upon where we send our our garbage and recycling to but I will ask and see if there's an option for it if it's Source separated you will email me and I'll reach back out to you okay all right anyone else on the budget okay so seeing no one on the budget can I please have a motion to close the public hearing motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella yes Mr neglia yes Mr Ki yes the floor is closed moving on to resolutions are 2024 79 resolution to amend the introduced budget can I get the motion to approve the resolution please motion this is just a vote on the it looks like it's a $99 decrease in what it was before and what it will be moving forward correct correct so I'm sorry who made the motion who second council president I'm sorry if just one real quick thing on the amendment um the uh uh State asked us to make a a very easy simple Amendment uh to this because um and it's $99 moving $99 from one column to another column and that was their big issue with this budget um as we were talking to our auditor uh Valerie Dolan who hopefully we can bring her up uh uh to speak on the budget if it's okay with you council president um one of the things that she stated was this the easiest State review ever it goes to show you how good this budget is because the state accepted it based on this $99 uh uh the the nitpicking that they found after a complete review of the hundreds and hundreds of pages of this budget was that $99 was in column A when it should be in column B and we're we corrected that pretty easily would you mind council president we bring up uh no sure please come up M Val you got two minutes okay that's thank you for your time I do want to say a few things about the budget while you before you take your vote um yes we actually were required to go under State review pany because of our Co emergencies have been subject to State review Pro every year for the last four or five years years you are constantly reviewed by the state which means after introduction every document was required to go down to the division and the division goes through your budget with a fine tooth comb and we got that information back and they literally had two questions on the budget one of them was related to the new Bond sale and they didn't have copies of the new behman schedules which we supplied them with and the other one was The $99 adjustment on a state aid number that we had stated incorrectly by $99 so we had to adjust it that was the only changes um when we've seen those reviews in previous years they've been four five pages long for the budget especially even in pipany so that being said this budget was approved um by the division for adoption it is within all the state cap limits it is with well below the Caps that you have in place in the Appropriations cap and within the uh Levy cap so while you are doing the budget and yes there's a small increase it does meet the requirements of the division and the division has signed off in addition to us thank you no problem thank you okay so uh roll call Mr Hernandez oh for the amendment for the amendment yes yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella yes Mr neglia yes Mr K yes motion passes R 22477 which authorizes the 2024 Municipal budget to be read by title only uh can I get a motion in a second please motion second motion made by Mr Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr Hernandez so we're voting now no no this is this resolution simply authorizes us to read the uh budget by title only as opposed to reading it in full so the next resolution is going to be voting on the adoption of the budget this is simply authorizing so much to learn okay yes um Mr uh McGrath yes Mr Mella yes uh Mr neglia yes and Mr kifi yes motion passes okay so now this is the vote for the adoption of the budget R 202478 resolution of the township Council of Township parcion um adoption of the 2024 budget could I please have a motion in a second motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr McGrath roll call Mr Hernandez okay I have my I have a com statement so what we'll do is we'll do discussion then we'll do roll call so this way you can have your statement and anyone else that has a statement can go ahead and their statement and then we'll go into rollal wait statement now yes thank you AB okay all right so I wrote it out because I get old Tongue Tied um while this budget is 3% and it's not huge it comes on the heels of a 21 two years of 18% now this is 21% over three I have had made my concerns known in these Chambers and with my colleagues and we talked about it a little bit but my second more detailed request for information and to discuss it didn't happen the overestimation of budget estimates and the large number of historical vacancies which have been a point of contention for both parties over the years add to several millions of dollars these sums are part of the tax burden year after year these issues have not been considered as I just mentioned an attempt at first F conversation was not for forthcoming the bonding and ratings are cited as the reasons to not cut the extra dollars I referred to but that argument did not make sense to me future mandates future emergencies water Wastewater all the things that we talk about are an argument not to use half of our $10 million surplus towards this tax bill streamlining the budget would make more sense poran can partake in Opportunities available to build a more sustainable economy as I've been requesting for years and bolster the economic growth bringing the township dollars that will bring in more revenue and benefit the township and the taxpayers this is happening in other towns and other towns are doing it so that's where I stand on budget thank you Mr Hernandez anyone else uh I'm just going to make a statement you know this budget I've heard the comment ghost positions okay for instance in parks of Forestry or in sanitation you've had let's just say two openings these positions have been filled and then two months later someone retires or someone leaves to go to another town to make more money so those positions are filled and then other positions become vacant so if there's two positions that have been open a lot it's not the same two positions it's different people coming and going um there's no oh look at Bob when I say this in this B budget there's no sewer or water Surplus used whatsoever in this budget I know that makes you very happy back there Bob we had residents come and speak at multiple Council meetings saying they were willing to pay for more police this increase is $6 in change and it includes three more police officers that's basically one more patrol car on the road per shift so for those people that want to say we've had residents coming and saying how they're seeing more police in their neighborhoods well you're about to have even more okay for $6 and change per month no cuts to any service okay no Cuts whatsoever I've brought up the fact and I've used that as an example our sanitation department there is not one sanitation department or recycling in the county that is better than ours you can throw out the kitchen sink every week no one no one in this County gets the service that we get here and that's an that's attributed to the employees that we have for this town so again I think this is a sound budget the town was broke a couple years ago the town was broke we are now fiscally sound if anybody has any questions you can individually go ask our auditor she will tell you we are now fi fiscally sound couple years ago we were broke okay 65 vacancies $3 million5 vacancies 40 there's 41 and I wasn't talking about cutting anybody that would be need to be filled I'm talking about historical vacancies that many people on this Council talked about a few years ago maybe four or five years ago as well oh maybe and may there's no water and sewer Surplus but yet the percentages of the admin a lot of the the salaries are covered under the water and sewer and null okay I I'm not and I think it's insulting to say to people it's only 3% it's only $6 3% we less than 3% people were saying well a few years ago people were screaming about 4% so my point is it's it's it's a cumulative and if there is in my opinion and and I respect everyone here I just see if there's overestimation of some budget and and underestimating of of some of the expenses of the revenues it's just year after year it accumulates that that's all I have to say but the accumulation that took place was the depth that this town was in when mayor barberio took over because of co uh no it wasn't all because of Co there was a lot of money spent out of our Surplus there was no money left in the sewer and water utility um a lot in my personal opinion a lot of money was mismanaged and misspent on a lot of positions then that were not necessary um so those were the positions that were eliminated the positions that we do need are blue collar workers who are the backbone of this town and they do the greatest job out of any town that I've ever seen they're dedicated they're loyal and they deserve every penny they get and more so uh these a lot all these positions a lot of them are blue collar workers that positions out of people that have retired that have left that have left for other jobs or are no longer working in this town but those positions in my opinion to continue the services and to continue what we can are doing in this town need to stay I'm adamantly against canceling any of them um I'm not going to say $6 a month because that is a lot of money to some people um but it's it could have been a lot worse uh myself and president kifi and budget meetings we had as the finance team did cut a lot of things I think this budget is fiscally responsible it keeps all services intact it it keeps everyone uh everyone working to a level where I think they need to be working it it hires people in positions that need to be filled and um I I think it's a good budget I I I'm totally against cutting anything out of it it's fiscally respons responsible that's just my personal opinion and I was very happy with the budget and I do not want to see us going backwards I want to see us moving forward and this budget helps us move forward into the future and has put more money in the town's pocket and I I you know for these services to continue and to continue taking care of our own in-house workers because our in-house workers especially the blue collar workers are the backbone of this community and they're the biggest asset we have to make make this town great and we need to continue with that just my opinion I'd like to go ahead we're not go ahead go ahead Mr I'd like to deliver some comments um I agree with um a lot of the comments that I've heard from residents you know particularly some who have left this town because of years of excessive tax increases have driven them from being able to want to stay here and I think it's more important than ever that we deliver on affordability now and moving towards that goal at the last council meeting many of whom uh I see here uh were there then I proposed almost a million dollars in Practical and realistic cost-saving measures that um I'm happy to release later um so that the the Press can have them uh but I did talk to my Council colleagues uh two of the four were respect receptive and while councilman McGrath will be voting for this budget I do at least thank him for the time that he spent with me hearing me out not calling into a radio show to attack the proposal um and I think that it's you know really important more than ever that we look at what we can do differently how we can deliver better services at a cheaper cost so I think when it comes to what's made up my mind as to how I'm going to vote is I think that this is a uh another step in the wrong direction and the residents of parney can always count on me to not do that thank you okay um so we have uh vote on the adoption of the 2024 budget we have a motion that was made by Mr neglia a second by Mr McGrath we had discussion now we're going into roll call Mr Hernandez no Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella no Mr neglia yes and Mr kifi yes okay so the motion passes 3 to2 moving on to the consent agenda be it resolved all items listed with an asct are considered routine and uncontroversial by the township Council will be approved by one motion there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member so requests in which case the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda can I please have a motion to approve the just one question sure I know uh go ahead go ahead I wanted to separately discuss the uh resolution R 2024 d76 so um make a motion to remove that from the consent agenda at this point and it will be discussed under non-consent right after this I'd like to make a motion to remove r224 d76 please can I get a second has there been a second a second okay second so motion made by Mr Mella seconded by Mr Hernandez to remove our 2024 uh 76 from the consent agenda and to be voted on separately uh motion made by uh Mr uh Mella and seconded by Mr Hernandez Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath no Mr Mella yes Mr kifi well Mr neg first no Mr kifi no okay so what you can do Justin at this point since the motion has failed uh if you're choosing to vote Yes on everything you can vote Yes on everything with the exception of uh the last uh the last resolution for the record okay that's I'd like my vote to be counted okay uh so again uh can I please have a motion for the consent agenda in a second motion okay so motion made by Mr neglia seconded by Mr herandez roll call M Hernandez so M Hernandez if you'd like to vote Yes on all the items of the consent agenda you can do so and state with the exception of uh R 20 2476 I just had a question about that so I'll just do the consent agenda and then do that well no you can ask your question now so we can address it this about 22476 I just had a question about when we award these contracts like this in a resolution or they then to go out to bid or is it like do we already have it's going to direct development that's the town's current vendor CC president good the uh they already went out to bid went out for proposal at the beginning of the year uh they were not uh uh done the way that they uh should have been done uh so this is correcting a small error so they've been our um public relations uh uh provider for this year and last year as well uh this is just a dotting eyes and Crossing tees from our no qpa who's trying to make sure that we do everything correctly okay that was really my only question okay about that so we have a motion by Mr neglia seconded by Mr Hernandez uh roll call M Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella yes Mr neglia yes Mr kifi yes motion passes approval of minutes for the agenda meeting of April 2nd 2024 and April 16th 2024 can I please have a motion to approve the minutes motion second motion made by Mr neglia seconded by M Hernandez roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella yes Mr neglia Mr Ki yes okay go move moving on to presentations and reports mayor okay first I just want to um I guess BYOB bar Kane left but I'm going to say it anyway I've known Bob for many many years actually played softball against him I'm much younger than him but that's beside the point for his dedicated service to the community Port siany Troy Hills he's put a lot of time into Port siany uh he's been here 53 years like he said and I wish him the very very best in his future um as as he's moving on and uh but he was a great asset to the town of pany Troy Hills change my glasses um I'd like to say that although I can't disclose the things we talked about I I feel we had a very productive meeting with the blue collar workers um last week and we're looking forward to the next meeting May 27th is our Memorial Day prayed also we will be coming together at 10:00 at Veteran's Memorial as a community to honor the bravery and sacrifices of our servicemen and women uh seat belts are defense on the road clicket or ticket was underway starting yesterday through June 2nd so buckle up drive safely do not speed on residential roads and avoid fines as you travel I saw on Facebook um comments going back and forth with with regards to the NJ do staging area of 202 and R 80 um I spoke to the township engineer we had been in discussion on this um several times um and the understanding and I spoke to them and said that the do has leas the property to another entity so I called the dot Christopher yandoli who covers Morris County and I'm waiting for a call back our Township engineer has been trying since the project completion to have try to get it restored also there are signs around town with regards to cannabis that we deliver I spoke to our Township attorney and it only applies to Medical so those signs will be removed that's both to the zoning uh office apartment also I did I had a very great meeting with the p last week Tom Nick I want to thank you um for the partnership that we are creating and a partnership in the future um and all the things that you that you're going to be doing for the town and I want to find an email that I got today if I can find it from Tom with regards to well with regards to a gentleman during a was it a basketball game um had cardiac arrest and Emily of that works in the P um grabbed the AED and brought brought the person back and the person was brought to the hospital so you can commend her from the township uh the mayor in the township and the council as well um so this this leads me to what I I know Mr Clark and you're waiting for my response with regards to and I really wasn't going to make a comment but I was listening to you throughout last the last meeting and this meeting here with regards to your plan and you're calling it 21% so I want to just make one thing clear and I'm sure you know this since you're a CPA and I respect your title but the method that you are applying or you want us to apply is that we are underestimating no under anticipating our revenues and over anticipating our expenses okay so let's get back to 2021 in 2021 this was the same formula that was used by the administration they over anticipated revenues and under anticipated expenses so what's that mean if you don't realize those dollars you got to make up for it so I came into this office and here's Here Comes Your 14.63% 8 A5 million in a whole why underestimated expenses and overestimated the anticipated revenues now not only that and I'm sure you know this I don't know if you were at the council meetings then um with regards to the prior Administration um they ask for special dispensation now what does special dispensation mean that means a local Finance boards allows you to break the local Finance laws they allow you to overestimate what you're not allowed to do when you're not allowed to use three base years of your your anticipated revenues and your expenses while the state gave him special dispensation you Mr Claren you brought up um the hot toe tax so at the time the budget pass the hot toe tax was at $400,000 that was in August so they anticip paid it in Revenue $2 million or 2.1 million I can't quite remember well subtract that and how much in a hole you in we were in a hole already a million something when it came to the over anticipation of revenues I'm not going to use that formula I can tell you that much because it's a formula for Destruction for a Township for any Township that does that okay so let's get to this now you made a comment tonight with regards to our certified um finance manager that he works for the town well you know he has a license he's a certified no no excuse me I'm just respon no you said the CFO that's beside the point he's a certified public manager we're not back and for now let me explain I I didn't interrupt you sir we're not having back and forth sir I not I did not interrupt you you were addressing me too and I'm talking now I'm talking you're getting angry you know what that means you're losing the argument but that's beside the point let's get let's get to the Moody standard and poor please sir please be quiet let's get to Moody standard and poor he wants to come and tell you that it's okay if to get downgraded a little bit or maybe just get up a little bit no it's not okay you know what that you know what that indicator that tells you how good your Town's running that's what Moody standard is important and he's rating just started telling you your town is running great that's why we're going to upgrade you even if your bond rating goes up a little bit it says your Town's running great and that's what they're saying to us I came in in 2022 in a mess okay I took the bull b of horns I like to use the 21% because the 14.63% was the makeup I had to make for 2021 okay I wasn't I wasn't going to sit here and let the town fail I had to make a tough decision and I told everybody during the election and when I became the mayor that whoever becomes the mayor is going to have to make some tough decisions I made it and if you're not a Ronald Reagan fan I pulled a Ronald Reagan which he had to do when he was the governor of California so that being said the reason why I'm bringing this up Mr Clarkin that formula that you want the town to run by In This council is going to bring us into debt again it's that simple and I'm not going to do that and one more comment I like to make GL on Commons I feel for you I really do I've been up to those roads we can fight this together or you can fight with each other no need to the young man your your comment was great you know what once you write a letter to the owner and the developer as well right whatever you're saying to us write to them cuz then we're a team we we go in forces it's very difficult for us right now to sit here and say we can pave all the roads in the town we would love to but when they're not ours it makes it more difficult because it'll bring on an array of other developers when they come into town and say well you paved that road so so we're going to pave our road so that being said I just want to close out with this first of all comments were made tonight with regards to cuts that Mr Mella offered to make now I'm going to I'm going to break those cuts out for you he talks about the mayor's office total tax this is one one version then there's another version goes from 800 to 700,000 that's $800,000 that when he post it on Facebook it's a million dollar so you know you can just continue to buy catch a fish this big by time you get to the end it's this big so mayor's office total taxpayer savings he says 183 what's he want to cut he wants to cut the way we interface with the public that's what he wants to cut he wants to cut the way I get to interface with you we get to interface and the way we get to send our emails out that's what he wants to but he doesn't tell you that my budget has decreased 22% on salaries the administration he wants to cut the administrator's assistant who's always had an assistant and should have an assistant but it doesn't tell you that that portion in the budget was went down 24% Finance taxpayer savings $85,000 he wants to remove the assistant to the Chief Financial Manager and that position is recommended to have by a auditor why for continuity another set of eyes to check the check the numbers in the books I have to get to this one here because this one really kind of blows my mind the planning board taxpayer saving he wants to cut $130,000 out okay saying that it's it's it's Escrow because that we get escro we get paid back that it has to do a pilot no it has to do redeveloper fees okay we can't wait we can't wait to pay a vendor or an attorney 6 months why cuz if you known this you probably would have made this cut we have Pro proc we came said word procurement process we have to follow procurement laws we have a qpa that does that we we can't make individuals way to get paid but we get paid back okay so I don't know maybe it's going to be 1.5 million tonight on the Facebook page I don't know um but I'm saying it's all over the place but I had to get that out only because I want to know what we cut in our departments and what we continue to do I take the recommendations from our experts from our professionals that's what I do I don't take recommendations for political purposes yes I was on a radio this morning so what I'm going to be on the radio a lot more I can tell you that right now so I'll tell you when you can tune in and you can listen um but he's allowed to go out on social media but I'm not allowed to so I'm going to tell you I'm going to be out there a lot more you're going to get the truth you're going to get a lot of truth and you get and you know what I I like I said in the very beginning when I came back to be the mayor I had to make some tough decisions okay we made them I sat with councilman McGrath on several occasion councilman kifi councilman negler we also sat with councilman Mella and we sat with the councilwoman okay a lot of stuff I'm here today they're not here in my office I can tell you that except for the other three Matt um I appreciate the uh the back and forth we had you know we had some back and forths the way it should be okay he understands we all understand you can't cut your way to prosperity it's it's impossible so when you're saying that uh Moody standard in poor isn't that important or this isn't that important it is important it's important because it's an indicator to how your Town's running so when you get downgraded guess what your Town's not running good that's exactly what it means thank you council president yeah I would just like to respond to what the the mayor said um you know first and foremost when it comes to the recommendations that I made who you know clearly fell on deaf ears I just want to read them into the record it's what I said at the the last meeting but I'll say it again um from the cuts that I proposed for the mayor's office 60,000 was a portion for the uh direct development contract and I had argued that it's been unclear what specific communicative value direct develop has brought to the township as judged by the township Town Facebook posts and the low resident engagement a majority of the post just are images with text or the mayor doing ribbon cuttings um I had said eliminating the $288,000 as a part-time secretary because the job's not even posted for hiring and then lastly I also said that keeping the the mayor's public information budget at $40,000 as it was $10,000 ,000 in 2023 and $10,000 in 2022 um when it comes to the administration I was flexible I said that uh I would be open to giving the communication specialist at $77,000 if the contract for Del direct development was eliminated because I think it's duplicative spending and we should do one or the other um and then also the vacant position of the assistant to the ba at $70,000 and then when it comes to finance the assistant to the CFO has been a position that has been open for over 2 years at $85,000 and we have been operating fine without it so you you can say what you would like but I made realistic recommendations to you and you consistently offer excuses for why no changes can be made so that's just setting the record St that's first of all I'm just going to end it with this everything you just said about the the uh what do you call social media you did not say in my office number one um so that's a fact you never brought that up with regards to eliminating I mean using $77,000 you actually you're actually pretty happy that we cut that position down to $10,000 so you know you got to stop double talking so we'll end it there if you ever want to talk offline and get some realistic numbers I'll give them to you any other member from Council yes so I got two things I want to talk about one is the parney area Chamber of Commerce held a networking meeting meeting this morning and over 75 local businesses had the opportunity to network the event is free to all local businesses you must register at parney chamber.org the next event will be held on Tuesday June 18th at 8:30 a.m. at 90 East Hy Road third floor and for economic development we have a meeting coming up um that we're going to talk about the new Street skate project that's coming up at beverick and that Mee to be discussing the improvements uh all across beverick Road the kwaa which is starting in early June the economic development committee will also discuss grants there we've given over $600,000 worth of Grants applied for over 15 businesses and just to remind you uh you can secure around $75,000 each in a grant upon funding approval um there's all sorts of different things that you can uh you know go for whether it's fixing up the front of your buildings internal pieces and even working towards your Leasing and you can reach out to Frank kahill at 973 559 6000 and we have three uh more openings coming up that the public is invited to on June 1st at 10:00 a.m. Jackson cuts at 52 North beverick Road Lake hawaa June 8th 130 Y2 Academy 108 Route 46 Pary and June 13th at 1:30 Sun Bel rentals 950 Edwards Road Pary open house from 11:00 a.m. to 2 PM so Public's all invited and hopefully you guys can make it thank you okay um the pory environmental advisory committee had a great turnout at the American River screening at the poran library on May 11th there were over 75 people in attendance the film screening was a collaborative effort of the poran environmental advisory committee the poran Green Team and Wildlife preserves whose story and history was featured significantly in the film so if you get a chance to see the American River it's it's a great sit down watch um our next initiative will be tree education which will be will correspond with the new storm water ordinance that has just been adopted and that will require every municipality to revise and strengthen their tree ordinances and as we are the tree city um we often have issues though with contractors and Builders who might not be aware of over cutting even to the point where they might even accidentally cut Town trees so we're hoping that the town the tree education that will also be at the Paran Library will help residents and well help residents understand why this ordinance will be important the traffic committee has a few vacancies the group is committed to advocating for o traffic concerns and appreciates comments for residents they meet third Thursday at the pipany library a lot happens at that Library um every third Thursday and um Paran child dayare Center is doing well and I I don't have really much to add they're just moving along and they're in the in the black so that's good and that's about it for me thank you Mr Hernandez anyone else from Town Council okay uh Township attorney I got something sorry uh it's too late too late Mr n I'm just kidding go ahead no um just in regards to the library and the pal um I was uh with the mayor bararia at the pal and when we had the meeting they have a lot of work they're doing there uh they had some water damage in the walls and uh if you walk in there you'll see a lot of it's been um been sectioned off they have some contractors coming in to uh repair a lot of the water damage but uh the new director I have to say I'm I'm very pleased with him and you know they have uh you a lot going on there doing a heck of a job with it um also one thing that was a little taking back though and talking to the new director and and and I wanted to bring it up and I I could understand why is that he said he received a call from councilman Mella uh his first hour on the job basically telling him that we're cutting $175,000 budget from his budget and um I was a little taken back on that because um that never came up in any of the budget discussions I had with M with president kifi and mayor Barbaro and Jamie cry so I'm just curious you know why he called him and why he said that to him and uh I know the vice president is here now and he heard that as well and um I'm just curious you know was it a um you know a misunderstanding or what but uh that that just took me back a little because I am the the on to the pel and I would think any of those questions you know I mean I would gladly ask those questions on behalf of the council um the other uh liaison I am to is the library and they have some things they'd like to talk to the town about regarding health insurance they said they did reach out their fair viiew and I guess they're looking to talk to them so I don't know if they've gotten back to if they can you can make put a nudge to them to get back to them was they have some questions and they also stated that they're putting a new roof on the lake highwat the library and they also like to talk to the town about that I'm not exactly sure about what but I have an idea what it's about but I'll let you guys figure that out that's an Administration uh item to discuss and uh that's it about money probably what's that it's probably about money I'm sure it is you know I don't know what the cost is they I didn't hear that but uh I'm sure that uh it has something to do with who's going to pay for it yes so yeah me just respond to you councilman neglia um you're you're right so we give the pal $175,000 the reason for the inquiry is the palal is an independently funded organization it's a 501c3 um and we also have our own Department uh for Parks and Recreation so the the thought behind that is that money should stay in the Departments of parks and rec where we have better oversight better control of how that money is spent compared to the pal which is an independent organ organization from the town pal servic as the whole town all the children of the town the community and it's uh it's a big part of the town of preppy I've lived in this town since 1966 and I remember when the palal was uh actually a little building behind the firehouse in Lake highwa so I'm a I'm a big proponent of the P I want to see it succeed and anything we as a town can do um you know funding wise it's uh you know that's always been the case and same thing with the library we give them 400 00 well how much we give the library 400,000 for health benefits 400,000 for health benefits how much we give a year 3 million well we don't it's a it's a formula with your ratables so they get 3 point I forget what they got this year 3.3 I mean we we get them funding too and this is for the town of pipany this is for the people of prony so in my opinion we have to do that because we're here to service the people of pony and I think that's important and you can make fun of me all you want back there I really don't care I see you making fun mean shaking your head at me so so just to clarify one thing with the p it it's like a shared service agreement we give them 175,000 a year but our offices for recreation are in the P they let us have the offices cuz we have no we have no room um you know Town Halls is not you know conducive of putting anything in so we kind of run together um so and they don't Char us for the offices so we have our Recreation Department there and they work um in tandem okay anyone uh what's the T attorney uh no report this evening council president uh business administrator thank you thank you council president um thank you to the council for passing this budget uh the overall increase in the tax rate is 1.87 the municipal portion is 2.78 it's roughly $6 per month and $75 per year impact to the average residential home there's a lot of talk about uh Surplus and fund balance and you know and increases over the last couple of years if you look at the increases over the last couple of years they didn't come from salaries they didn't come from added Services it came from underfunded budgets from the prior Administration that's I mean that's clear that is it excuse me excuse me it came from underfunded Bud budgets from the last Administration that's what it came from you can definitely make an argument that covid was involved in that but every other municipality dealt with covid Co wasn't a pariy thing Co was a country thing and every excuse me excuse me every other municipality dealt with with it in the way that they were supposed to in a responsible manner this budget now is at the tail end of the fix this budget allows for the additional hires that are necessary to support our employees to help them do their job because they're doing it the best that they can and if anybody has complaints about the employees not doing their jobs well for the most part it's that they are over worked and they're taking on too much it's not that people are putting up their feet and and not doing the job that's not what's happening here in par siany and Mr Clark and I you're you're making some faces and some and some no excuse me let me finish we not sir we're not having it back let you speak I let you speak I let you speak so I'm going to address you Mr Clark and exactly you talked about uh the township using their uh professional their guy who is and he's going to say whatever the town says right that's what you said that our financial advisor is of course he's going to go with what the town said right yeah right well that financial advisor was not hired by me I would have hired him because he is an expert it was hired by your son who was part of the ad last Administration so that financial advisor was hired by the past administration and it's been continuing on so this isn't me saying my I going to get my guy to say what I want sir sir you had the opportunity to speak to us now we are speaking please be quiet Qui it I'm getting I got your son's guy to tell to tell us that you are incorrect so it is what it is now you can look at at um some of these cuts that were proposed and you know unfortunately this becomes a really political process much more political than than any other other other municipality that I've ever dealt with you know I've dealt with Hudson County and they oh it's real political down there this is crazy political you know the I I have a a an administrative assistant who uh uh leaves and the council votes to eliminate that position it's been there for over 20 years it's not like there's you know the work is going away with her that's not what happens it's it's truly insane you know especially when the if you compare the 2022 salaries in the administration department to the 2024 salaries it's a 24% cut that doesn't H find another municipality if that happens the executive branch 2022 to 2024 it's a 22% cut the cutting Parks three employees in Parks two of those positions are filled already one of them has already been offered so you have three positions that we're looking to cut and that we're voted on to cut what were we going to do fire these people I mean and and we if you look at you can ask the employees in Parks 20 years ago 10 years ago there were so many more employees now we're starting to catch up to where we should be we still need an extra we're DBW is going to be asking for three more employees in parks next year I'm going to do my best to advocate for that to you guys because they need the help they definitely need the help 10 or 15 years ago there were more employees in those departments now there's more work in those departments they're doing more so you know this this notion that oh there's all these vacant Phantom positions and then employees are just sitting around not doing anything is really it's insulting it's we have great employees who are doing their jobs to the best of their ability not everybody's perfect but not everybody perfect in your positions in your companies that you work for either we have great employees we are doing our absolute best and to you know when we talk about underfunding or or over anticipating Revenue as a strategy that is obviously a failed strategy because it showed to be a failed strategy two years ago in this in this very town in this with these with those budgets over anticipating revenues is not what you're supposed to do as a conservative body and that's not a Republican or or democrat we are supposed to be fiscally conservative that's supposed to be our role you know maintaining a fund balance is what is supposed to happen an adequate fund balance from year to year it enables consisten consistency and a stable tax rate and that's what we have to uh have as our goals so all of these up and downs has to do with correcting issues of the past and saying that uh uh these Bond agencies these credit reporting agencies oh it's we don't need to worry about them what they say is is is not that big of a deal that blows my mind to have financial advisers or financial experts saying that if you don't have great credit you shouldn't get great rates that's simple and that's that's that's that's what applies to municipalities applies to companies too that's it's it's a simple premise and that's how it should be taken here too I mean you know they said it best the Outlook revisions reflects our view of the Township's significantly improved finances during the past two fiscal years that's what S&P said that's not what you know Johnny Republican committee said that's not what uh Joey public worker said that's what this independent body said that is an expert that advises people uh uh to invest in different things that's as good as it gets from my point of view and again I'd like to thank the uh um department heads for doing a great job and in providing as much information as possible and working with us through this Pro process thank this Council and mayor for putting their hard work and especially I'd like to thank Glen who is sitting here silently but does an incredible incredible job for us uh making sure that we're doing what we're supposed to do um and staying compliant and that's all I have council president thank you okay approval of payroll and bills list CFO Leonard ho recommends authorization for payment number one authorized his payment of the May 2024 May 24 2024 regular miscellaneous payroll estimated at 1, 650,000 and number two payment of bills from voucher list of 51524 through 51724 which is 2,697 414 and 14 cents can I get a motion to approve the authorization please make a motion second motion made by Mr Mella seconded by Mr neglia roll call Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella Mr NE yesy yes okay can I please have a motion to adjourn the meeting well that was quick motion by Mr neia seconded by Mr Mella roll call uh Mr Hernandez yes Mr McGrath yes Mr Mella Mr neglia Mr Ki yes have a good night everyone asking question that's the fastest