##VIDEO ID:_AVuVtIL_1Q## Mercy going on in the center of town that we're I'm not sure what it's about and we're slightly concerned but the mayor is um not able to make it at the moment so um we're going to get started without him um so um Madam clerk can you read the meeting notice adequate notice of this meeting was the requirements of the open public meetings act including the time dat and location of the meeting in addition the agenda and all related materials were posted electronically and made available to the public on Princeton's public meeting portal in advance of the meeting councilwoman Fraga would you like to read the land acknowledgement sure we gather today on the land of the Leni Lenape as members of the Princeton Community we aspired to show appreciation respect and concern for All Peoples and our environment we honor the lape and other indigenous caretakers of these lands and Waters the elders who lived here before the indigenous today and the generations to come thank you madam clerk can we call the role Miss per lambrose here miss Neer gang here Mr Cohen here miss Sachs here miss Fraga here Mr nulan here mayor Freda you have have PR could everyone rise and say the Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay I believe we have um a set of approval of minutes could I have a motion I'll move it okay motion to approve yes all the movements uh minutes in bulk yeah I think I mean I just see one said but yes okay councilman Cohen moves councilwoman Fraga second all in favor I I okay um so I think we are moving right to ordinances yes we are m' okay so tonight we have a second reading public hearing of ordinance 2024 d42 ordinance of the municipality of Princeton authorizing a tax exemption and payment in lie of taxes pursuant to the long-term tax exemption law njsa 40a 20-1 concerning Block 3501 Lots 25 and 26 and block 361 Lots 156 and 17 and authorizing the execution of a financial agreement with HP 108 Stockton urban renewal LLC um and uh there Madam clerk would you like to call the roll oh is that a roll motion sorry motion to introduce councilman FR second councilman nulan uh so I think we will go right into the hearing um and um our attorney Steve lenck is going to give a brief presentation and introduction thanks uh thank you council president um as everybody on the Das will remember uh Redevelopment plan was adopted and implemented earlier this year on December 9th uh a redev a resolution approving a Redevelopment agreement with 108 stock in urban renewal LLC for this project uh was approved for the Redevelopment of this project uh Con in connection with that uh an application for a tax exemption under the long-term tax exemption law was submitted to the mayor uh pursuant to that law the mayor submitted it to the council with his recommendation for adoption and the ordinance was thereafter introduced Ed uh on December 9th for this public hearing I will uh for the council's reminder and for the Public's benefit this is uh been a long time of negotiations and a long time of review uh and Analysis done by your Redevelopment team by your planning Redevelopment and affordable housing committee uh and by Phoenix advisers your financial advisers uh who you're going to hear from shortly um following those long discussions negotiations and Analysis it was determined by all of the experts that reviewed it that this is a project that necessitates overwhelmingly a pilot uh and that the deal that was negotiated by the committee um greatly benefits uh Princeton um and the community um I'm sure there will be a lot of questions tonight I'm sure there'll be a lot of comments that can be addressed with respect to pilots and a lot of um misconceptions regarding them with respect to this project and also in general um but I'd like to now uh call up Miss Tracy Sher Tracy as you know is the municipality's financial adviser who is going to give a be brief overview of her uh review of the application that was submitted thank you um good evening uh again I'm Sher Tracy with Phoenix advisors um as was mentioned we've been um had the pleasure of working with uh the planning Redevelopment and affordable um housing committee over the last um probably year and a half on this this project um particularly um in addition to several other projects um this is one that is um again is a a a great concept plan something that has had a lot of um careful thought and planning into the project um and as a lot of the projects that have been developed and proposed within Princeton it's more than just um a project that's going to sat that help to satisfy affordable housing requirements it's a project that's had a lot of thought and something that is um to fit in with the neighborhood as opposed to just putting in just a square rectangular box of housing that will um satisfy a requirement um so with that being said obviously costs are more than they would be if we were just developing a square rectangular box of apartment units um and with that um as with a lot of projects it does necessitate uh the need for a pilot U through our financial analysis um just in order to actually be financeable it to be honest the margins are very thin even with the pilot um as far as actually being financeable this is um you know again is something that has been uh worked on very carefully we've had some stops and starts because it is something that's very important and um and and does require careful attention to detail um it is something that at the end of the day uh the committee was able to negotiate a a 12% pilot which is from the very start over the 30-year term Which is higher than the um minimum 10% you see a lot of Pilots that get done certainly in communities with um with margins that are greater than this that get done at 10% as that is the requirement um but again it was it was I know it was very important to the to the committee in looking at this project and um and the financial Revenue that was going to be coming into the community to negotiate something that was um worthy of what needed to be developed here and then also would provide a financial benefit for um for the community as a whole um so with that being said you know we're we're very comfortable at the 12% rate for the pilot um it does provide about $8 million over what a typical 10% pilot which again is something that we do see with with kind of the uh the return on cost uh the unlevered returns and also the irr on this type of project we typically would see a 10% from um from a developer but uh again after after a lot of um thoughtful negotiation um the committee was able to negotiate the 12% which um which provides additional substantial Revenue to the to the uh to the community as a whole so I just want to highlight a few a few key pieces as a reminder this project uh located in the former burrow is going to when developed uh even when approved going to fully satisfy your fourth round unmet need obligation um more than satisfy it so and beyond that you have tremendous other benefits as mentioned by Miss Tracy with respect to the design of it the underground parking The increased or enhanced storm water um the open space and Recreation space um the contribution that the developer has agreed to in the Redevelopment agreement all of this means that the project is going to be far more uh impressive and and something that Princeton is going to be proud of more than what we would have had to Zone the property for in a Redevelopment plan um to accommodate the affordable housing units that were constitutionally required to build in the former burrow to meet our fourth round unmet need obligations so um the benefits come with costs and as Miss Tracy said those costs are such that when calculated at the conservative construction costs that Miss Tracy reviewed and and worked on with the developer as well as the revenues that were projected without a pilot would yield approximately a 5% return on cost um return on the investment which I which is far lower almost half of what a typical development would need to uh achieve to be financeable and it's important to be financeable for multiple reasons not only do you want the developer to have the incentive to do a good job and build it correctly you need the institutions to have the security in knowing that the risk is not as great as it would be um without that pilot um because a 5% return on cost is not going to yield any Bank in the state to lend on it um and almost as importantly even if the project was to get built if the revenues are such that are not going to yield the return um that are are expected the maintenance is going to be the first thing that falls off um and the tenants are going to come knocking on your door um so it's important that the project be a success because after all the project success is Princeton's success um as as M Tracy noted even with the 12% pilot which could have started at 12 at 10% it could have been 10% the entire duration but at 12% it is still only projecting a return on at about 7% which is still three percentage points approximately lower than what typical developments of this type would would require um which speaks to the commitment that that the redevelop has to this project and their their long-standing ties to Princeton um as noted in my memo to you and Miss Tracy's memo the projections is that over the course of the 30 years this will yield approximately $48.6 million in revenues to the municipality um including the administrative charge um as a reminder this property has long been tax exempt providing no revenues uh to the municipality and under this pilot would yield approximately 48.6 million uh in dollars um so at that point I'd like to turn it back over to you if the council has any questions before we open it up to the public I'd be happy to answer I'm sure miss Tracy would as well any questions from Council Members for our experts who are here tonight okay well like to go to public comment it looks like there are a few people who who would like to comment so um as is our custom we take comment first from people who are here in the room um and and we limit it to 3 minutes so um comments from people in the room do you want my name on the sheet as well name and address please okay and you can well we don't have the screen up tonight um it's coming okay okay hi my name is Maggie Deen Brock I like I live on Nassau Street in Princeton um my comment is honestly a bit more of a question for the council um I guess where I'm seeking some clarity is um from various Communications that have been out there in the public domain what type of proactive collabor operation or stakeholder feedback did the council solicit from the board of education related to the pilot and the amounts um not going to fund our Public Schools um it's really just a question that I have for the council um my understanding is that from conversations with members of the Board of Education no proactive um communication from the Council on trying to understand if any of that pilot payment could be earmarked towards the large Capital Investments that our uh board of education is contemplating and asking your constituents the taxpayers of Princeton to um fund as part of our property tax bills with the referendum so it's more of a question um that's really that's really my public comment thanks uh thank you for your question I'm going to answer your question I'm probably going to expand beyond that because I'm sure there's going to be a lot of questions and comments with respect to the school district so I'll I'll take all of them at Once In general the pilot is first and foremost designed to incentivize a developer to complete a project that otherwise for the pilot would not be completed here you have a project that is in the council's opinion based on the Redevelopment plan and Redevelopment agreement that has already previously been adopted will create enormous benefit to the municipality um which cannot be achieved achieved without the pilot so the purpose of the long-term tax exemption law is to provide that incentivization and now to do that it needs to provide for a cal a formula for the revenue that is to come in and under the law it is 95% that is received is retained by the municipality and 5% is sent to the county the school district is not included in those calculations there is a good reason for that unlike the county unlike the municipality the school district is funded in a different way its budget which is adopted by the Board of Education every year mandates the municipality to raise revenue to meet that budget 100% every year regardless of what the budget is it does not take into account things that may come later so for example a tax appeal the municipality raises uh Revenue to fund the school district the tax appeal is filed the municipality loses the school district doesn't give that money back the municipality does this is all to say that the school district receives no less money than it needs to achieve its its uh objectives from its budget now a comment that sometimes gets raised in response to that is but the school district has a 2% cap and you may be creating expenses that go beyond that 2% and to that I have the following to say I have worked on dozens and dozens of Pilots there have been hundreds if not more than a thousand Pilots that have been adopted in rural areas Suburban areas urban areas all throughout the state for decades and and the comment and fear uh that comes with that comment is raised nearly every time what I've yet to see is somebody come with a an example of where the school district was not able to be fully funded to accommodate the school children that are projected from that project now as a reminder these units are Constitution or constitutionally mandated uh to be provided for affordable housing the municipality has an obligation to place at least 25% of those units in the former burrow um which this project achieves so remember that when when commenting on the pilot that this is also a battle between a project that does not have a pilot but is to miss Tracy's point a square box um which I'm sure will provide no aesthetic value or otherwise to the neighborhood but can be built without a pilot versus a project that provides the benefits such as this with expensive underground parking enhanced storm water um the the deal that the municipality and its Council made with respect to the affordable housing which is not a requirement under law including no charges of amenity fees and discounted parking fees and the like all of that comes at a cost uh which the pilot is able to um cover that Gap so with respect to the school district if a project is projected to yield um school children out of it or School a you school age children uh out of the project it's a misconception that each one of those School AG children will cost whatever the current average per pupil cost is for that District that is an average each student that comes into the district does not require another teacher does not require another bus does not require another school to be built um it requires very little um and if anything there have been examples shown in other municipalities where additional children actually because of the way the math Works reduces the per puple cost because there's a larger number of students that are sharing in the same cost to cover the educational needs of the school district um so the thought that if there is a projection that all this new affordable housing is going to yield an additional 10% of enrollment that must mean our budget is going to increase by 10% well over the 2% cap it's it's been proven to be a complete misnomer because 10% more school children spread out over 12 13 grades um are not going to require the same level of New Capital Improvements and new um teachers or or anything of the like that is sometimes said with respect to the cost on a per pupil basis now to the commenter's question with respect to was there uh a can this Council pledge or otherwise make a deal for money out of this and the answer to that is uh no right now no municipality can simply pledge away a percentage of funds that it earns from the pilot to the school district under the framework that is in the long-term tax exemption law however many municipalities have successfully used those funds to partner with the school district once the funds start coming in to accomplish various Capital Improvement projects whether it's athletic fields uh renovations to existing buildings new buses things like that um in partnership with the municipality which is been very successful most not in the township of Woodbridge who who sort of pioneered um that model but to do that to have those discussions now for a project that has not even received its site plan approval that is years away from breaking ground um is is far too premature to earmark um expenditures of that sort I have recommended and do recommend to all municipalities I I represent that at the appropriate time those discussions should take place um and there should discussions of where uh the pilot funds if there is a need by the school district caused by all the affordable housing projects in town uh that they can be used at that time but they cannot simply be pledged now as some have suggested um I believe that addresses all all the comments council president thanks um Magie I lost you but the short answer um I obviously can't speak to whatever conversations have or haven't taken place between the municipality and the Board of Education those would be private um but I can say that yes um it is possible to um direct pilot funds towards facilities upgrades and expansion and and the council has publicly said on many occasions in The Last 5 Years that they are open to that um one of the issues is um whether that is more cost effective for the taxpayers because as you can see with the current referend um in which a lot of work has gone into uh the state if you uh constructed in a certain way if it's um provides 40% um in in I don't know free urman is the right word but the question is whether if the municipality is directing funds for those what would otherwise be going to referendum then we would not be eligible for that 40% from from the state um I think the question that that we have grappled with and which the state has grappled with is whether or not we could commit pilot funds to operating expenses um in the past both the school boards Association and the NGA have cautioned against that because pilot Revenue can be unstable um and um there are legal questions about whether a council can commit future councils to budgetary commitments like this this is sort of a a legal um Wild West as as you might say in in the state um but as I know we have expressed to the Board of Education um I know that both the town and the board would like to set a model for the rest of the state for how a town and a and a school board can collaborate to help ease the burden on on the school district with children that that and I I don't want to say burden because the opportunity for the school district to educate those kids and and how we could work together to help best support that um it's a legally complicated issue but I know this council is committed to working to set a model for the rest of the state so um okay anyone else in the audience who would like to to comment uh council president could I just add one uh quick Point um I just want to point out should uh if this project wasn't done under a pilot which is clearly a cause for consternation and concern among uh some of the community that um if it was just part of the regular pot of taxes that we would take in it would not uh would not benefit the school in any way because the school presents a bill to the town and the town pays that bill by taxing the resident so if this were done under a regular uh tax regime there would be no opportunity for the municipality to make contribute to work with the schools outside of the 2% cap so just to say that we're kind of talking apples and and oranges and trying to uh say that the pilot is in any way uh taking money uh from the schools that's really just not the case yeah yes councilman nulan thank you I would just like to add in that um this Council obligation right now here front and center is to provide affordable housing in Princeton this council's obligation right now front and center is to provide affordable housing in Princeton this is a court mandate what we have here is a great project it is extremely well-designed it fits a absolute necessary need that we must fulfill based on a court obligation and oh by the way it's in a part of our town that has never had this type of development before so to the not in my backyard people think about taking a look back five or 10 years from now and seeing not just a plot of land bare land with green fencing around it with nothing there but something where people are living people are thriving there's energy there's diversity there's some young people there's some old people and yeah there's some people that are going to school but think about the opportunities that it will have for more people of various incomes various levels of diversity to live in a town we all love come on y'all let's stop being so damn selfish give somebody the right to live where you live in the great neighborhood you live in give this a chance please thank you it's always hard to come after councilman Nan but would anyone else like to got a lot of people here no one um okay so we have some people on Zoom um I'm not sure who we have have is it Adam Adam could you let the first uh person on Zoom come in former councilwoman Joe Butler Joe great you can hear me we can hear you perfect that was a lot of words salad not to answer Maggie's question I think the answer is that no substantive talks between the town and the school have not taken place it doesn't require a commitment it does require conversation but that's not my comment I'm deeply disappointed that the council has chosen this date less than a week before Christmas in Hanukkah to pass legislation of such importance to the community in my seven years on Council I cannot recall making such a momentous impactful decision in December let alone during the holidays it is clear that this is a date to benefit the parties involved with the sale of the property the Seminary and the urban renewal entity but certainly not the residents of Princeton Pilots were not designed for a t Princeton and neither were anrs instead of a reset the town forges ahead piling one poor decision on top of another the things that wors in the health and safety of residents include over 200 Cars to this heavily trafficed neighborhood resulting in over a thousand daily new trips destruction of the tree canopy with 75% impervious cover new curb cuts and thousands of cars crossing the sidewalks destruction of historically significant buildings the loss of privacy from a rooftop Swim Club the loss of historic historical Integrity of the neighborhood loss of tree streets and increased noise and pollution with regard to the supposed benefits this project may be an improvement over the construction fence but that is about it this is not in keeping with the goals set forth in the historic preservation element it does not serve as a transition from the suburbs to a college town it is abrupt and out of place temporary construction jobs are not a realistic benefit will these temporary jobs be earmarked for Princeton residents a poultry one-time contribution to Transportation fund is inadequate for the price we are paying the attorney's last minute memo states that without the pilot the town would have a very different project is there a site plan for this alternative project who has seen an alternative project has it been discussed in a public meeting I ask this because criticism has been heaped on the neighbors including tonight name calling but none of what is being touted about this project as a result of public discussion I would happily take a surface lot over this this density I don't want to subsidize a luxury vanity project these proposed rents are outrageous and come at the expense of surrounding neighbors and the schools it's not a question of whether the schools will be funded it is who will do the funding let's be serious since the destruction of the buildings the Seminary has paid taxes on this vacant land so kudos to the tax assessor so in a very real sense this will not only reduce the amount of money the schools are getting it also places a greater burden on all the residents to pay the developers share the schools are one of our Prime assets this project drafts off the hard work and investment of the residents and the pilot makes Princeton more expensive for all of us I would urge you to postpone this decision for a few weeks to give the public the time to get through the holidays and give this the attention it deserves happy holidays thank you Joe happy holidays to you [Music] [Applause] too um that is not holiday music um okay Steve I I think um Miss Butler had they um a couple comments about whether this um the relationship with the schools and I I know you just talked a little bit about this but she had two comments about whether this impacts the the tax payers um and how it impacts the taxpayers do you want to yeah just talk about yeah I I'll respond and I'll try to do so in a way that is not a word salad um there's a couple comments that Miss Butler made that I just categorically disagree with and has been proven to be wrong first the statement that pilots and areas in need of Redevelopment are not for towns like Princeton was her quote is is categorically false Redevelopment law was put into place in its current form back in the 80s which was accompanied by a guide book by Senator Lynch who supported it which was makes clear the towns like Princeton who are historic who have been around who have infrastructure that is aging are exactly the type of places where Redevelopment and Pilots uh should be used and a statement such as which was Miss Butler's quote not for towns like Princeton is a very dangerous uh statement to make when we're talking about using these to accommodate affordable housing units so I want to start off with that second the comment that schools the school taxes are going to be they have their uh their budget met but who's going to be paying it everybody else let's be real if the schools cost right now $100 to operate using funny money and after an additional 30 children 35 children whatever from this project now cost $101 that $1 sure is spread out among all the other taxpayers in town but what is also true the pot just grew by$ 48 million in another column which allows this municipality the options to do several things in including as is done in many municipalities help stabilize their Municipal tax levy um not to say that taxes will go down I I I would never make such a mistake but will subsidize and stabilize increases that could otherwise have happened it could also fund Capital Improvement projects to prevent the municipality from having to go out and bond and pay interest on those as well as the aformentioned uh collaboration with the school district so the the fear that is spread at all of these meetings by people who oppose the project and using the pilot as the way to do that and saying that it's going to increase all of our taxes has been proven time and time again to not be the case and I'll reiterate what I said before I'm still waiting for the day where somebody comes up and says look at the example in town X where this happened and and kids were not able to be educated because it doesn't happen especially in municipalities such as Princeton that are not subject to a Regional School District where it does get a little complicated in terms of the funding uh or an Abid School District that's not the case here um I think that addresses all the comments thank you um Adam I I don't see the list up on the screen here but if you could admit the next person thank you Kristen mson hi yes uh my name is Kristen msen and my address is2 Philip Drive um first of all thanks for allowing me to speak I want to be clear that I am not questioning this project I'm questioning the use and the allocations of the pilot funds um I'm concerned that the school district like others is not going to get funds from property taxes um this is the fourth recent pilot I believe that's going through in the town um while the gentleman at the table just recently said that the increase in school taxes would be spread and that the town would get an additional 48 million that's not going to the schools unless there's some type of discussion and agreement between the counc in the school district there's going to be an increase in students in the district but the funding to the district normally through property taxes isn't going to keep Pace regardless of what's being said here and I disagree that an increase of each student requires very little this is a district that Prides itself on its special education services but just this year we were told that funding was a reason for a teaching decision in my son's classroom it's only going to get worse if the number of students increases and the ability to receive tax revenues from whatever Source decreases so people move to this town in part because of the schools the argument that this development and the pilot Ben and the pilot benefits the town doesn't account for the impact on other parts of the town we need to balance these things and not pursue certain benefits before balancing them out at the expense of other benefits and town services I'd really like to encourage the council and this has been somewhat addressed but to encourage the council and the Board of Ed to be more engaged with each other and to work to apportion some of the funds from the pilot to the school district thanks Kristen um I just you know want to say one of the issues here is that um the town has a constitutional obligation to provide its fair share of housing under the Mount Laurel framework in New Jersey and schools have a constitutional obligation to provide a free and appropriate education to every student who enrolls and in Princeton's case they provide an an excellent top-notch education to every student who enrolls um the there is I mean I do encourage it's a really complicated topic but we have you know more pH s per capita in this town than probably most towns in New Jersey and I do encourage people to spend some time looking into this um so that you can better understand it but it is the reality that under our state's framework towns must municipalities must provide affordable housing the children will be moving to Princeton um and as we have often said it's not just providing a house a roof over their head it's also about providing them an education which gives them the ability to have a successful future um unfortunately um and my attorney is going to tell me that I'm editorializing but it is absolutely my view and I have spoken up multiple times in the State Assembly in the in the last year to express my frustration that the state provides it mandate requires we both have these constitutional obligations which are worthy and important but they do not provide an efficient mechanism for us to coordinate between housing and schools um one of the few tools that Municipal Municipal officials have available to them is to negotiate a pilot so that they can direct that pilot Revenue to the schools which then goes in over the 2% cap um speaking for myself personally it is something that I support I am only speaking for myself personally until the state comes up with a mechanism that enables us to collaborate and to provide more efficiently for both housing and education then we are left with these peacemeal approaches one of which is negotiating Pilots to um to give additional revenue for the schools I will say the schools can also apply for an enrollment waiver but as of i as I've heard from the school board it's too little too late so um I I think one of the things that makes me really troubled is that because of the state framework which is inadequate municipalities and school school boards are pitted against one another which is which is really unfortunate we should be working together to advocate for our legislature to provide solutions that are less peacemeal and more effective than what we have available to us but the bottom line is um the only way to provide additional Revenue to the schools for the additional kids who will come regardless where and how because we have a number that's assigned to us is either the enrollment waiver or channeling additional pilot Revenue above the 2% cap um I hope that in the future the state will reward towns like Princeton who the town is doing providing their fair share and the schools are providing an excellent education and they will make it possible for us to continue to do so in a way that's um more efficient and effective than than what the options that we have available to us now so my apologies to our attorney for my expressing my personal personal views um okay thank you um so I just want to very briefly say that while Mia was speaking just for herself I also am in favor of a sharing arrangement for some of these pilot monies going to the schools and I'm eager to get started on those conversations you know we've been negotiating these Pilots over the past several years but not seeing the monies yet but some of the projects not this one but some of the projects are starting to generate pilot money and generate uh school children and so I think it is time to have those conversations thank you okay I just want to say I was educated in Princeton school system I went to Stony Brook Littlebrook Johnson Park Valley Road and Princeton High School I understand the importance of education and anyone in this room that does not think that the people in this day is will not do all we can to support the education of our children in Princeton has lost their mind thank you okay okay Mr sorry I'll say a few words I was holding off to the end but um you know uh we received a an Outreach uh letter today from the um from the president of the Board of Education de M Kendall um on this very topic I mean this we have lots of time uh for this particular development as our attorney pointed out you know until the we even break ground uh so there's lots of time and there's definitely commitment all of us I can I think we can all say that we all are committed uh to working together with the schools um you know very preliminarily uh you know we've we've we're really ready now to you know have have more conversations and I just want to say too in terms of what the state does you know helping with capital uh improvements um really uh is is a great you know tool for using the pilot money and uh it would really be nice if the state would not you know would also add state aid and grants uh to that so I know that there's that piece of State legislation that you know we'd like to see some changes and you know I know um you know Mia and I and we we' really talk to um our uh state senator State assemblyman State Assembly woman as well uh about needing more uh support um for this very communication that we need to have um but you know we're we're dedicated to it so I just wanted to say I appreciate the letter the tone of it and the Outreach and we certainly um like David said we want to get started so thank you okay um Mr Abida who's is uh okay um hopefully everyone can hear my name is Wasim Abida um I live on obber road um Can can everyone hear me yes yes okay excellent thank you so uh I just want to make a quick comment so I didn't have an agenda sitting on on this I was just curious to learn about uh the rationale for this pilot uh program not really to argue you know uh against uh the Redevelopment itself which I I know has already been decided um and you know really speaking as a resident who does not live in that immediate um location where the program would developed but uh just to be quick I think that's a strongman argument to blame the residents of that town uh this is a decision that infects all residents of the Town um and I really what troubles me is I haven't really truly heard a good argument in favor of the pilot program I think uh and more than that I was troubled by the attorney or consultant's uh kind of counterargument that it would impact tax income into a school uh saying you know challenging challenging residents to show proof that it has has harmed uh uh school districts in any way well we know that's very hard to measure we know that uh certainly schools can become overcrowded not to argue that they will not accommodate students but if you don't provide the funding uh it's it's certainly what you're going to end up with is less money per per student so I I just think that that argument just doesn't fly what I'd like to to understand a little bit more about is um truly understand why the pilot program is is necessary you know Avalon did not require a pilot program this is after all a Redevelopment project that's open and It ultimately going to be a profit making Enterprise while at the same time meeting uh the the the state Mandate of affordable housing which I certainly agree with no disagreement there so what really troubles me is is really a good arent in favor of this pilot program I'm sorry to say that I did not hear it um so I I am concerned walking out of this and I appreciate um councilwoman Sax's uh you know U assessment that probably there will be a profit sharing with the schools which I think is really going to be key thank you thank you Mr Abida um Sher did you want to just comment on that at all sure um I think really and the the pilot conversation in general is is can be very polarizing as as we've seen all around um all around the state I think really the best way to think about it uh the way that I think about it is it's it's one Community it's it's one pot of money it's not the municipality it's not the school when you engage in a pilot program it's um you know typically it's it's in and in this case um you know we're this development is part of satisfying afford housing um but it's it's and it's more than that um but that's the main driver I believe um for for this development at this time um and this project the pilot is necessary to have this project built this project itself would not be built without a pilot it um it wouldn't be done under traditional taxes um with a pilot program as we've talked about 90 just under the structure 95% of the pilot does come to the municipality and 5% to the county um under traditional taxes Mercer County right now receives close to 30% on um on every dollar of taxes that are raised so there in that case more of the money is staying within the community itself um within Princeton Princeton recently sold bonds earlier this month um for a project that was 100% affordable and that was um Princeton's share of that project um that project had had to be sold it was part of the the Pearl Project um the bonds that were sold a pilot from another project is going to fund The Debt Service on that so that project that now was $7.9 million of bonds sold earlier this month has about $620,000 annually of debt service that's $620,000 of annual Debt Service that does not have to be raised now in the budget for Debt Service in Princeton when Princeton is doing their budget for for Debt Service so that's tax levy again taxes aren't going down it's additional 620,000 that doesn't need to be raised from the community in in whole um for that project because it's coming from a pilot Revenue so I think when we look at the whole concept of the pilots in general it's really important to kind of look at the picture um some of the revenue might not be going directly to help fund the school budget and the school budget is still funded again at 100% And so residents are taking up that extra share to fund the budget not the residents that are in the pilot that are in the the units with the pilot but those residents are funding something else that the residents over here don't have to fund so it's really the same it's just which pocket it's coming from but it's the same pool of money it's the same pot of money so I think it's really important to just really think about Pilots that way as uh o overall as really just the benefit to the community um and it's and it's wonderful to hear that there's certainly discussions and plan discussions continue discussions with the board of education on projects and ways to help with projects um that will help them above and beyond the 2% that they can um Levy their taxes and um it's it's great to hear that those conversations you know will likely continue and go forward um in in other in other ways as well but I think the bottom line really should just be thought about as um overall the community and so maybe you're paying 20 cents more here but you're paying 20 cents less here thank you Sher um yes thank you Sherry for pointing out about the county um that 25% is is a big chunk um and uh it stays in the community which I'm really glad you pointed out I just wanted to point out too this is very complicated and we worked really hard to put together a couple of couple of FAQs one in general about pilots and one specific uh to the pilot in 108 Stockton uh so you know I know it's a lot to ask and it's a busy time but if people are really interested I really urge you we we put it in the newsletter it's in the packet uh we put it out today and and uh really um it has a lot of information that it's it's hard to it's hard to really drill down to all of this and we've been involved in learning about this for I have like five years now and uh and our Professionals for many many years and really appreciate um that people are taking the time uh to come out tonight but I also urge that people look at that as FAQs and Sherry's analysis as well thank you great okay um I'm sorry can I add something to that sorry councilwoman NE gang go ahead thank you um I want to uh just say a couple of things about the uh comparison to uh Avalon Witherspoon um as was correctly pointed out that was not done under a a pilot um after that deal closed uh Council and was dismayed to learn that um among other other things uh no uh no special deal had been struck for the uh tenants who were living in the affordable us uh affordable units particularly in terms of parking uh Avalon moved into the former Hospital site the garage was there it was built they did not have to build that garage and yet they assessed fees uh for um uh the people that were living in the Avalon unit including uh those in the affordable units and I think that was a lesson that that Council and I want to commend the uh those who of of the council members uh Mia David and Michelle who are on the affordable housing uh and Redevelopment committee for fighting for the to ensure that affordable people who live in the affordable units don't move in to uh the project at the former Seminary site or the other projects that have been developed to find out they have to pay an additional $200 for parking that they have to pay amenity fees to use the gym and the pool that their um you know the way their apartment is furnished is different than the way the apartment for uh those who are in the market rate units and so I think we took some lessons away from the Avalon Bay uh on on Witherspoon to make sure that people who are living in the affordable units can truly afford to live there and that they have the same uh benefits as those living in the market rate units um the other thing I'll point out is we um the uh and Steve can uh can probably talk about this a little more uh clearly than than I will but the the pilot agreement comes with a very very high degree of uh of an audit and a uh an accounting of what the developer of this project will be pulling in so if it turns out the rents are higher and the developers making a larger profit then Princeton gets more and that is not the same when uh you know Avalon Bay uh had been paying taxes and we actually did a a tax re-evaluation discovered that they'd been underpaying now we're getting more money from them but we don't have the ability to ask them to open our open their books uh and and that is something that we would have with with all of the pilots is they have to open their books they have to be transparent if they do better we do better so that is a a built-in advantage of the pilot Steve please feel free to correct if no you you you you explained it directly uh expertly under a pilot you do have an obligation as an urban renewal entity to provide an annual audit for two purposes one to demonstrate what your annual gross revenue is because that's what the 12% basis is on it's on Gross so every dollar that comes in a rent every dollar that comes into parking if they have a vending machine it's every M&M's that sold um it's the gross revenue um and we have as you point out the right to inspect the books and records as well so if our internal team gets the audit and has questions about it and we want to see the least for example or see the re you know the the expense sheets we can do that upon request to the redeveloper and the second purpose of the audit although very very very highly likely to hit here is in some projects we do worry about you know we we project it to be a single and it becomes a grand slam and at that point a pilot may not have been necessary under the long-term tax exemption law and financial agreements there is a cap uh there's a limitation on how much profit a developer can earn so the audit every year also checks to make sure that the developer has not reached that threshold again this project is is projecting to have a return on investment below any other project that I have worked on um that has been deemed financeable um so it certainly is warranted of a pilot here and I don't foresee it to reach even close to that that upper limit of profitability but yes there is that auditing uh mechanism built in I just want to clarify revaluation is not revaluation is not the word it's a reverse tax appeal um and and I think it was really um it's been instructive for all of us on Council to find out that um for our commercial um properties that are on a traditional tax structure it's essentially on the honor System so one can speculate who was at the table at the state level when um that uh system was put in place but essentially we um have a very we we get a statement which The Entity um can provide or not provide and we can um challenge that or not and we have left millions and millions of dollars on the table from um properties that are on a traditional tax um assessment uh the traditional tax structure because it is so unwieldy and Antiquated and um really um does not is is not um lend itself um to benefit municipalities um and the pilot enables us to keep more Revenue in the municipality overall if as we've said uh some or all of that is directed towards the school district that is something that is not otherwise possible for the for the district um and it the level of transparency is um really uh beneficial it enables us to um as as their profits rise so do ours and we are able to monitor it through audited statements and we've recently put in place a system so that not only do we receive those audited statements but we have them audited by ourselves internally the only other recourse um to that that is available to the town is to engage in re reverse tax appeal and I know that some people have mentioned properties that were built um without a pilot and I'll just say they may or may not have been subject to reverse tax appeals because so much money was left on the table over the years um okay so um Mr headed would you um like to join the conversation sure okay um all right thank you uh so i' I'd like to um make a couple of statements uh or or or address a couple of statements that were made by Mr melen um the first one was without the pilot the project would only have an internal rate of return of 5.9% which is not commercially feasible uh my question is how has this rate of return been validated is it an accurate rate of return uh we don't know the developer stated two years ago personally to me and a group of people that he was looking to create an annuity for himself and his family with this project and that he would certainly get a pilot before he had a design he stated he would have underground parking to claim that this is a benefit that's been negotiated by the town is just not true uh and at best it's misleading um this suggests to me that this project was always designed to get a subsidy in this case it's around $40 million and that subsidy comes at the expense of tax receipts now we've heard tonight well um you know the school gets its money no matter what happens and so you don't need to worry but we all know that that $40 million if it was paid in taxes would have the benefit of lowering the Public's the amount of money public would have to pay in taxes especially given um you know the school's amount is fixed so what is really being stated here is that you're happy that the town that the taxpayer picks up the additional costs that are being caused by this project now it's been stated tonight well the costs aren't that great it's an incremental argument the impact of school kids isn't that great but this is um this doesn't really make sense because if you take it to its logical extreme more and more um institutions will get a uh um you know a pilot and less and less tax would be paid by them therefore more and more tax would have to be paid by the public there's a second statement from Mr melen uh without a pilot therefore the redevelop Vel M plan would need to be amended to a permit far less desirable project with above ground parking less aggressive storm water mitigation less public space and far a far less desirable aesthetic design uh what does this mean who's making these claims has this alternate project been showed to the public storm water mitigation isn't an optional feature if this project was built in any form 20% affordable housing would have to be provided it's been suggested that that isn't the case so I think there are a lot of things that are somewhat misleading being mixed in with this at the end of the day there's a $40 million um subsidy being given to this builder for him to build an annuity for him and his family and that's at the expense of the taxpayer thank you Mike for joining us tonight um I think you know quite a bit of those things have already been discussed is there a 40 million subsidy being given to the developer no there there's no subsidy when the conclusion is that without the pilot there is no project so there the the idea of comparing what the revenues are under annual service charges with the pilot versus what the town would collect uh with taxes is comparing I think one council member said it before apples and oranges because the project doesn't get built so there's no leaving money on the table no subsidy um but the common in connection with that with that if that was the case and let's assume for argument sake that the project could be built that way on traditional taxes that that would lower the taxes um across the board is also incorrect because the municipality is keeping less not just because of the school district but as Miss Tracy pointed out 30% of that 40 million or whatever Mr had calculated would go to the county which is not the case at this point so more money is being kept by the municipality um another comment Mr head made was how the 5.09% was validated by the developer it it it wasn't the developer's calculation it was the municipality's own Financial expert who did those calculations based on her experience of of what construction costs would be at the time of development what the revenue should be based on comparables uh in the area um with respect to why there is no alternative design without a pilot well it's very simple because the design in this capacity with these features yields 5.09% without taxes removing those expenses would be what's necessary to drive that return up um which would undoubtedly include above ground parking when we're looking at surface parking lot costing approximately $3,000 and a Subterranean parking lot costing between 40 and 50 um that's a major expense um you also made a comment with respect to 20% affordable is required for all projects and that there was an insinuation that that's not the case I don't believe there was such an insinuation made of course that is your ordinance what was stated however is your ordinance doesn't require certain things that were negotiated here such as uh a commitment that is going to be reduced to a deed restriction that there's no amenity fee charged on affordable housing that the units will be built identical with the same finishes and furnishings and fixtures uh and that parking will be provided at a discount those are things that are not provided uh for in the ordinance uh and again I would point out the location uh in the former burrow as being critical here uh and finally the other comment that was made uh with respect um uh to the project was a suggestion that because uh I'll take him at his word that the developer suggested that this was an annuity of some sort and that he was always planning this regard um I want our developers to be successful and to make money that that is how these projects work they are for-profit and that is how Banks invest in them um and that is why we are paying so much attention to the finance ability I didn't mention it before but is also important not only did we have Miss Tracy run these numbers but we insisted that Mr Herring provide two letters from two bank institutions verifying that they were based on these calculations and these numbers willing to lend to him for a project with a 12% pilot um to ensure that we're not going through this exercise for a project that could not be financed and and built so this Council I commend did a tremendous job of negotiating a very very successful pilot uh that would benefit the municipality I apologize sincerely for being late was unavoidable so I'm I'm sorry do you want to keep I'm not sure where we're at I think we have just two comments left and we're you know I I if people would like to know how I'm going to vote on this we have to vote soon um otherwise um yeah so okay so we have two more people online okay who's ever in the control room in the back in your bra on the next person on Zoom yeah hello everybody um so after listening to all the comments here today uh this project I'm sorry sorry I'm sorry could you just introduce yourself and give us your address sorry arala 39 Evergreen Circle uh after hearing all the arguments back and forth um today I to me this project makes complete logical sense for multiple reasons uh the first is we have to build affordable housing so uh and if you're going to build housing then it makes sense to build it close to town so we don't have all these extra cars coming to town and causing a log Jang on 27 so instead these people will walk to town and therefore this this issue of extra traffic will will be impact of that will be significantly lower uh um and therefore this is smart development and uh therefore I support this project uh that's it for me thank you thank you can we bring on the next person that was on zoom and again as you come on if you just say your name and address please thank you we might have lost them did we we lost them okay that's all right can I make a very quick comment I don't is there anybody else on Zoom I don't see other hands up here's oh there we go they're back hi can you hear us hello hi if you could just introduce yourself and give us your address uh yes my name is Jane mclennen um I live in EDG Hill Street uh right off Mercer Street uh one of the things I've heard over and over tonight is the lack of honest conversation there's a lot of confusing information out there that has been one of the basic problems of this project from the very beginning despite Promises of collaboration between the Seminary the contract purchaser the municipality and the neighbors none has eventuated unless one considers the occasional opportunity to to make a three minute statement in public that's a concern who decided for example that the design was uh aesthetically pleasing was there a conversation over that maybe generally but in the midst of one of the oldest historic districts in town uh it that hovers four stories hovers over the clabbered 1830 clabbered houses um on EDG Hill Street shutting off light uh creating noise and creating major issues uh it also ultimately affects the ultimate uh loss of quiet enjoyment of our properties caused by a development that is totally out of scale and character of the neighborhood I'm very concerned about the school situation too and I would hope that the collaboration would spill over to the opportunity for people to hear more in town to have more of a voice in it and as one person said to put off the conversations for several weeks until after the holidays and have a straightforward conversation where questions can be answered thank you thank you okay did we have anybody else on Zoom good statement Jan what was that okay did everybody in the room have a chance to talk okay so there's no one left to needs to for the public hearing okay in that case I'll close the public hearing and there will be a roll call vote I'm sorry I just wanted to make one very quick comment in reference to uh sorry I don't remember if his last caller the caller who mentioned uh storm water that it's true that any developer would be mandated to do storm water what we have here on this site is far beyond what is required uh by the law and that will have uh spill-off benefits which I can't believe I said that no pun intended that will have ancillary benefits for uh the neighborhood um because it it's an storm waterer program so just wanted to answer that one point thank you okay sorry I'm sorry did you had a comment oh okay um I just wanted to thank the uh Board of Ed president for her very gracious letter that she sent earlier today um which was um you know put out a lot of factual information and and referenced the the difficult position that um both the Schoolboard and the municipality are in in in fulfilling our constitutional obligations and I hope that we can work together um even though they are distinct and separate obligations but we share a town um and we certainly support um our Town's children and I need to leave to watch my son's last performance in the Princeton High School choir concert at the chapel which is the highlight of my year um and I just want to say that everyone on this council is deeply committed to our excellent public schools and we have to provide affordable housing but we understand the value of education and no one on this DSU know us all personally and we would never do anything to harm what is truly the centerpiece of our town which is our public education system um um and um I am looking forward to leaving so I can go to this last concert so Lon thanks mayor I just want to take a moment to thank our two professionals here you know this this is very difficult information to comprehend to understand uh it took me a long time and I still don't 100% understand it but hopefully tonight those people here got a better understanding of uh how Pilots help us to achieve our objective and in in no way shape or form is is our bent or our lean to harm our students uh as they matriculate uh through our school system so thank you again for being here and thank you for making what is very difficult to understand a little Le less difficult to understand thank you thank you okay just going to make sure there's no other Council comments as long as we're thanking people I'd like to thank everybody that came to tonight's hearing on this either in person or on Zoom also thank you obviously for being interested in what's happening okay could we have a roll call vote please miss Peron lambrose yes Miss Neer gang yes Mr Cohen yes Miss Sachs yes Miss Fraga yes Mr nulan excited to say yes motion carried okay thank you all right next up is public hearing on ordinance state of New Jersey authorizing the acquisition of real property designated as block 37002 lot 7.02 on the official tax map of the township of Montgomery County of Somerset and is there a motion Eve's got the motion David's got the second let's start up here any Council comments or questions Eve I I just want to say that this is uh a uh parcel of land that is the entrance way to another parcel of land that we will be signing the contract for uh later this year this little parcel less than an acre is in Montgomery and it's being conveyed to us for a Dollar by the uh the seller of the uh rest of the property so just a little bit of uh clean up to make sure also people can access this property thank you any other comments or questions from the council anyone in the room have a question or comment on this uh this ordinance all right seeing nobody in the room anyone on Zoom have a question or comment on this all right seeing no questions or comments I'll close the public hearing can we have a roll call M yes Miss Neer gang yes Mr Cohen yes Miss Sachs Miss Fraga yes Mr nulan yes carried okay thank you next up is public comments for items not on the agenda if anybody in the room wants to talk about something not on the agenda this would be the time to come forward all right seeing nobody in the room is there anybody on Zoom that has a comment for something again that's not on the agenda all right no hands are up I'll close that part of the meeting and now let's go to our resolutions the first resolution 24366 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of her Professional Services agreement to preservation design partnership LLC for design guidelines for historic districts for an amount not to exceed $160,000 David has the motion Leighton has the second questions and comments by council members David uh I just want to comment that I've been waiting for this since I first came on Council I think uh seven years ago I'm really pleased that um we're we're get we're moving this forward it's going to make life so much easier for design professionals working uh in our historic districts and thank you to those representatives from HPC and our um professional for making happen any other guest lady yes I just want to congratulate Elizabeth Julie David the rest of the council uh on uh HPC and say that they not only did a good job putting together the RFP but they did an extraordinary job of selection with regard to the um the referrals that they received uh it's going to be very exciting to see what comes out of this and I think it's going to make all of our jobs easier and help us to keep a balance between the past the present and the future as it pertains to land use and affordable housing so well done team okay no other comments or questions all right all in favor please say I I I there we go we're done thank you all ever so much next up thank you 24367 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of an agreement for Extraordinary unspecifiable services to the Arts Council of Princeton for an amount not to exceed $75,000 for a one-year term is there Michelle's got the motion letisia has got the second questions comments by councel Michelle can I I I just um I just want to say I'm really uh really pleased to see this come forward uh the Arts Council really is a special uh institution in our community it's housed in a historic building um under the leadership of Adam Welch it's really come very far in the past couple of years it seems like you've been there forever Adam I see you in the audience but um I know it's just been a few years you've really turned it around uh you're bored your staff everyone really um is doing a phenomenal job uh for our community um so I'm really um pleased to see this come forward and I just want to give a special shout out to my um my colleague uh councilman nulan uh for putting this together and uh I'm really pleased to see this kind of another step in our relationship between the municipality and the ACP thank you it's easier yes uh I too want to Echo uh Michelle's comments but also add that I you know I'm very thrilled to have this before us to be able to move forward and which I think acknowledges the all the work that and contributions that the Arts Council makes to our community and for me specifically to be able to provide the funding that is going to allow the Arts Council to continue providing and enriching the lives of many in our community who might not otherwise have the opportunity to be exposed to to the Arts and so thank you for that and thank you to everyone um everyone from the Arts Council L thank you mayor uh I didn't want to get this wrong so I just want to read a quick statement I'm immensely proud to see the small amount but significant amount of $75,000 allocated to support programming for the Arts Council of Princeton this resolution sign ifes more than just funding it is a recognition of the vital role the Arts Council under the outstanding leadership of Adam Welch and his talented administrative and artistic team plays in fostering Community creativity and inclusivity located in the historic Witherspoon Jackson neighborhood the Arts Council has long stood as a beacon of culture and connection in our town this financial support highlights the importance of Arts as a bridge that unites us and affirms our commitment to equity and inclusivity it serves as a powerful example of Princeton not just talking to talk but walking to walk when it comes to embracing and celebrating our shared values I want to take a moment to recognize my colleague David Cohen whose willingness to take a deeper look look and gain a better understanding what's critical in securing this agreement as elected officials we are often called to think critically research thoroughly and find ways to say yes when the circumstances demand thoughtful action rather than defaulting to an unexamined no David's approach exemplifies the spirit of collaboration and consensus building that defines us as a council and his role in this outcome reflects our Collective commitment to doing the hard work of figuring things out together finally I extend my gratitude to the legal department Trish gessel for her diligence and crafting this resolution and to the mayor and Council colleagues to my mayor and Council colleagues for recognizing this unique opportunity to invest in our community by supporting organizations like the Arts Council staffed by dedicated professionals and volunteers we take meaningful steps toward building a Princeton that is better for all its citizens together we are demonstrating that when the right opportunity presents itself it is always the right time to do the right thing so I want to say again thank you and if it pleases the mayor and my colleagues I would like to give Adam the opportunity to come up and say a few words thank you sure just yeah come on no come on come on go ahead just for the record so when they type the minutes they know who you are just say Okay um Adam Welch Arts Council Princeton executive director um 102 Witherspoon Street I want to thank the mayor and Council for allowing me to come up here and speak this evening and thank you so much for all the hard work and energies that went into this proposal and this resolution and trishka thank you as well uh Leighton I know you've worked uh long and hard to ensure that this um support happened and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for that and on September 28th 1967 do I have three minutes September 28th 1967 when the Arts Council was founded um with recommendation from uh what was then the Princeton chainb Commerce uh the idea was that the Arts Council would add um necessary culture to uh the town of Princeton and since then uh the Arts Council has had uh a long and uh colorful relationship with the municipality and um those of you that are on the call uh or in the room that do not know uh it was through the efforts of this Mee municipality in 19 1983 when we began renting the 102 wither SP indust stre and then again in 1996 when uh the municipality made it possible that we purchase the building so we have had a great a great relationship um where you've been there for support through um engineering through Department of Public Works through the police force um when we need approvals the town has always been there and since I've been here hasn't been quite forever but it's a little over four years um you all have rolled out the red carpet and allowed us to do all of the crazy things that my staff here uh enjoy doing and we've really really um benefited from all the support and I've worked with all of you on various things over the years and um this support is so essential to what we do and we're so thankful that we'll be able to better serve the community and um thank you all very much this means a lot and um in those 57 plus years um we've U never received support like this from the municipality so we are honored that this Council and uh mayor has uh has made this possible so thank you all so much um we appreciate you have a good night thank you Adam okay any other questions or comments David I really um am reluctant to sort of go last uh but what I wanted to say was um Princeton is really blessed to have um nonprofit Community Partners who really provide services to our town that you know if we didn't have these nonprofits we would have to be providing them um Center for modern aging is a similar institution uh even sustainable Princeton um and you know the Arts Council is another another great example and so uh I just wanted to you know the role I played in this deliberation that I got thanked for was being the money guy who is like skeptical but uh I'm I'm a True Believer I think this is actually you know an example of something where our partner is saving us money uh as a municipality and uh so enjoyed meeting with and talking with uh Adam about the the agreement uh and to quote from Casablanca I think it's the start of a beautiful friendship okay we're all good now all right all in favor please say I I hi all right there you go it's official thank you [Applause] all right 24368 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing an agreement with the Princeton farmers market for the use of Hines Plaza on specified Thursdays in 2025 Michelle's got the motion Laticia has got the second questions or comments Michelle um yeah I just like to comment that uh I'm really glad that we're moving forward and extending this through next year uh the farmers market is just a great way to act at uh the downtown area and you know bring Community together um you know whether it's Halloween and having music there or during the winter just bringing people out uh for produce and and great locally made products um I'm kind of a fixture there too I know the vendors and it's just really great um so thank you to Dean and her staff um for negotiating this and for continuing to uh to support it thank you to my colleagues thank you any other comments or questions okay all in favor please say I I I 24369 resolution of the mayor and Council authorizing the award of a contract to Ben Schaefer Recreation for smoyer park playground equipment for $178,600 utilizing the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey Cooperative purchasing system contract 24 25-01 thank you David Michelle's got the second questions or comments David yeah I just want to uh comment for anybody who didn't delve into the details that while this number looks a little high a lot of it is being paid for by Mercer playg Grant uh that was left over from The Hilltop Park uh playground that we did just a year or two ago and this one is also an inclusionary playground the second one in Princeton which is really such a great when we talk about Equity um it really helps to include and serve um folks with um different abilities I guess is the is the term of of the day um so very happy to see this going forward thank you Michelle uh yeah I wanted to mention to about merer at play so this is the end of the grant and hopefully there'll be another round of mercer at play uh we needed to exhaust this first before we could move on to um to other potential grants from the county um and uh I I agree I think that every playground we do from now on should be inclusive I see no reason we shouldn't uh make them inclusive I think it's a great um way to to include everyone in the town and um smoyer Park having um probably not been you know a key uh playground or a key uh field or Park I I think it's really um very walkable from the whole Little Brook uh neighborhood so I'm really glad that we're investing in that and I just want to thank uh Evan moead the rec department and the Recreation Commission uh for supporting this and looking into it thank you thanks Michelle anybody else all right all in favor please say I hi I 24 370 resolution of the mayor and Council authorizing the award of a contract to Ben shaer Recreation for moer smoyer park playground resurfacing for $69,700 3 thank you Michelle L's got the second questions or comments I see none all in favor please say I hi I next up 24371 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton adopting Princeton's vehicle procurement policy David's got the motion letisia has got the second questions or comments David yeah I just want to comment um we're things are coming through fruition tonight that I've been waiting for ever since I got on Council it's your night yeah it's my night um I I just want to really praise uh Tim Vanetta our uh fleet manager for bringing this forward uh emphasize that it's it's about alternative fuel vehicles and um you know being proactive about climate change but it's also about and same them it's about money and the fact that when we buy new vehicles on uh an appropriate schedule we actually end up spending less money uh over the life cycle of the vehicles and so this this policy also addresses that um important aspect of life cycle costs and I'm really pleased to see that being moved forward any other questions or comments all right all in favor please say I I I 24 372 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing site license agreements with crown castle fiber LLC for five locations is that thank you Eve and leighton's got the second questions or comments Eve I had some questions about Sal service so I asked uh Jim if he would just uh prepare a small report and and give us some details on where we are I think it was was it a year and a half or or two years ago when we had uh Verizon and and cram Castle here uh in a meeting where residents and and staff and Council had a chance to opine about the very poor cell service we have in Princeton and I'm pleased to to hear from from you know as time has gone on that uh you know they have been quite responsive to our needs and Jim can tell us a bit more about that thank you Eve um yeah as you all know in May of 2023 we had crown castle and Verizon uh in front of council to explain existing service and their plans for future Services um they left that meeting uh with a sense of urgency and and I know it's been a year and a half but it has been a sense of urgency on their part to enhance our current cell network um and uh uh one very important point is that Verizon stepped back on their expansion of their 5G service in order to enhance the 4G services that we have and they entered into a partnership with crown castle to um put antennas on crown castle polls um something that uh we hadn't brought up during that meeting but it seemed like a logical Choice um since then and and I do want to explain that it it's not something that can happen overnight um first they have to put plans together those plans have to be uh sent in in Via applications to us we have provided them with an expedited administrative waiver process um So within 60 days of receipt of those plans we uh approve or request more information or in some cases have rejected a few um but to date uh crown castle has come and Council has approved uh 83 um new or existing upgrades new new installations or existing upgrad grades um Verizon has has come to council come to us and uh council's approved uh a couple of dozen new installations and as of um yesterday um of the crown castle approvals uh 29 of them are currently operating um they're on air there are several that are ready to um come on air uh in the next few months and um 26 of those uh of all of them of the uh oh I'm sorry we we've approved 54 and 29 of them are on air um 26 of the 54 carry Verizon um AT&T and T-Mobile are on uh many of the polls uh as well um Verizon has installed and um put on air five new installations uh in locations where we pointed out out to them we had poor cell service um so for you and the and the Public's uh benefit uh I just want to say that it takes time for them to put the plans together we expedite the reviews but even after they get approval there is a process that has to be followed um sometimes on existing polls they have to go through a structural Integrity analysis of the poll to determine if it can carry the additional equipment they have to work with psng to get power to the polls um psng has to meter those polls in some cases they have to go through a federal uh National um uh Environmental Protection act process and get a section 106 review so even after we approve them there's between three and six months later before um these are online but uh rest assured uh and for the public um there are enhancements going on uh I received an email recently as an example um a very passionate email from a resident complaining about lack of sell service up on the ridge I was able to tell that Resident that it happened to be a Wednesday that on that Friday Verizon was installing a new pole just at the intersection of his side street and Drake's Corner Road um but also to be able to explain that that will not be on air until the end of January or February if we're lucky so so um we uh we we have struck up a great relationship with crown castle and Verizon Verizon sends me an email uh every time uh at the at exactly the time that um the new facilities are coming online um and even uh let me know uh how many people are actually using that uh antenna as soon as it's turned on so I I got an email uh where they turned the one on up by the Alice and at as soon as it was turned on 130 uh cell phones were communicating with that new uh antenna so uh if you want any further detail I have all the addresses and coordinates and everything for all of these facilities um and and I can provide a map I just didn't have time to put one together today okay yeah thank you very much Jim really appreciate that and your work and uh Dan weissman's work as well on this and um I feel although it it's a long time in the making I'm really gratified that that meeting and all the work that went into uh that and all the residents who came and complained have really actually had an effect and hope um as as David was saying you know as as time goes on these things you want to happen uh do do happen so uh I think you know there's a a commitment to improving the you know the C Service which in this day and age is is really a matter of life and death many people don't have landlines anymore and if you are not able to uh call uh PS or uh fire or um that uh can really have deadly consequences so thank you for your work and for this report and when you're done with it whenever that is if you could share it with everyone I think that would be great thanks okay thanks Eve thanks Jim any other questions or comments all right all in favor please say I I I 24373 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the New Jersey diesel modernization program Grant application via rgg G5 PS RG g i mhd v b p u cy22 parenthesis obviously if somebody wants thank you David and Leon's got the second any questions or comments and don't ask me to explain all those initials all right none all in favor please say I hi okay 91 and 11 which are resolutions 24374 375 and 376 are all remarkably the same so I've been asked to combine them so those three resolutions would authorize the housing initiatives of Princeton charitable trust for an extension of property lease and management agreement for 140 Griggs Drive 134 Griggs drive and 132 brick housee road so if someone would like to move all three of them at once once thank you Eve leticia's got the second questions or comments I just want to say it was a trip through memory lane looking at all you know the past mayors and to the extent that I could read the documents it was really interesting it was you know a historical record of affordable housing in our community so yeah all right uh no other comments All favor please say I I okay next up is the consent agenda there only two items if no body has a reason to pull one of them out someone could move the consent agenda thank you David is there a second thank you Michelle all in favor say I I I all right that brings us to my specialty your specialty I moved to adj thank you very much is there a second somebody's got a second the motion to adjourn thank you Leticia all in favor say I hi hi we are done thank you very much the