all right good evening everyone thank you for being here it's a meeting of the mayor and Council of Princeton New Jersey it is June 24th 2024 could we have the meeting statement please adequate notice of this meeting was provided in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act including the time date and location of the meeting in addition the agenda and all related materials were posted electronically and made a available to the public on Princeton's meeting portal in advance of the meeting thank you very much um oh I'll do the land acknowledgement We Gather today on the land of the Len Lenny lenapi as members of the Princeton Community we aspire to show appreciation respect and concern for All Peoples and our environment we honor the LPI and other indigenous caretakers of these lands and Waters the elders who lived here before the indigenous today and the generations to come can we have a roll call please miss perone lambrose here M Neer gang here Mr Cohen here miss saxs here miss Fraga here Mr nulan here mayor Freda here you have Corum thank you if you'd like to rise and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands na under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay thank you all right and we get to start off the meeting with a proclamation and Eve is going to read the proclamation for us it's my my honor to do this uh Proclamation honoring mark deaza on the occasion of his retirement whereas the municipality of Princeton is proud to recognize Mark deaza Information Technology support specialist for his dedication to public service on the occasion of his retirement and whereas Mark began his career with the municipality of Princeton on June 19th 2019 in the role of Information Technology support specialist and whereas Mark worked as an Information Technology support specialist for over 5 years and displayed excellent in all excellence in all aspects of his performance in that role and whereas as the municipalities technology systems has evolved Mark has been instrumental in ensuring that emerging Technologies are managed effectively thanks to his Vigor for extending his skill set to meet new challenges and whereas Mark is a lover of all music with a special fondness for the band hot to tuna wo and he will continue to expand his collection of special albums as well as attend many live shows with his partner Pam Mark is also a passionate fan of auto racing and he is looking forward to revisiting his favorite Speedways in around New Jersey this season and whereas Mark's retirement from the municipality of Princeton will be effective July 1 2024 and whereas Mark deaza has served the community of Prince with pride for over 5 years and upon the occasion of his retirement is deserving of recognition and the highest Commendation now therefore be it resolved down there mark Freda mayor of Princeton and the Council of Princeton County of Mercer state of New Jersey extend the municipality's humble expression of appreciation and sincerest congratulation to Mark deaza we offer our best wishes for a long half happy and healthy [Applause] retirement thanks you thanks very much do you want to share any words um thanks it's uh very humbling and I just want to make sure that I thank the people that I grew into this role with Terrence God bless him Phil Josh Dill one of our uh R&D consultants and all the great people that have allowed me to be who I am and uh achieve goals to make sure that Princeton you know functions properly and I I I have nothing else to say I just uh I'm overwhelmed thanks very much I greatly appreciate it and happy to work with all you folks for five years thanks again thank thanks thank you thank you sir okay next up are announcements and reports council members with any announcements or Eve uh just uh very briefly I want to report that um I went this past Tuesday to Summit to visit uh their micro Forest which is something Princeton is also embarking on one of our goals for uh 2024 and our open space manager Inga Reich and the head of PEC uh an Su and the head of the shade tree commission uh Sharon answorth also came and it was a very useful visit seeing where they were about 2 and 1/2 years into the process and there are some real uh takeaway that we all have for the next steps in our development of our own microforest so just wanted to update folks on that thank you very much other council members that have any announcements or reports Leticia just uh very quick that I I'm just very thrilled to report on the work of uh the new advisory committee on health affordable housing long name social Equity uh racial social and economic Equity uh they had their first meeting uh last week uh I know they they had not counting their reorg meeting but their first actual meeting when they started discussing what their goals and actions they were going to take and just the uh I think even staff was was very uh impressed and happy with the just the group dynamics of who we brought together to work on this uh very engaged enged and uh we're all excited about what uh what work we uh we already anticipate that's going to be coming out of this committee Layon thank you mayor on Saturday June 29th between 9:00 a.m. and 2: p.m. there will be for all the good citizens of Princeton the opportunity to build community and to save lives through the giving of blood the event will be held at the Paul Robison Arts Council of Princeton I am asking no I am begging you to help get this critically important word out to the community Richard Ryan uh to the community so that the Arts Council is fully packed from the morning until the afternoon with life-giving support for those who need the life saving and sustaining gift of blood thank you thank you other other Council reports or announcements okay great um Lieutenant I think you're here to give us the uh police department report for the month of May yes sir in the month of May we concluded our recruitment for new officers by attending multiple different policey colleges and universities in the area uh and we were able to open our high Hing process uh at first uh only to PTC certified trained police officers uh and eventually uh it is now currently open to all applicants uh that meet the requirements uh in hopes of filling some positions over the next year due to retirements uh next I'd like to thank lieutenant salv and Sergeant feder Rico for completing the second annual citizens police academy uh councilwoman Neer gang was one of the uh attendees uh I know that we've gotten good feedback from everybody uh it is something that we do look to do um on a annual basis uh I know that councilwoman froga attended last year uh we appreciate that and hope to see some other members uh in the future uh our safe neighborhoods unit throughout the course of May uh completed many community outreach details uh at the elementary schools such as the Riverside walk and Bike to School Day School evacuation drills Station House tours uh for many of the local children uh and last and and one of the most important things uh for us may was known as mental health awareness month as such we were able to send several of our officers to the crisis intervention training school um so that our officers especially our new off newer officers have the ability to deal and know how to uh handle situations for our local members of our community that are in a mental health crisis uh that's one of the most important trainings that we could go to and unfortunately it's a a far more frequent call that we get uh but with the right training we hope to make sure that uh we can end these and in uh and make sure that people get the proper care that they need and that's all I have sir thank than you any Council David I I just um in glancing through the report noticed that the calls for Police Service over the last couple of months have been up significantly not just over um earlier in the year but over prior years and I was thinking about it and it occurred to me it could be a positive thing or a negative thing right it could be that there are more incidents happening more need for police intervention but could also be that the community is feeling comfortable calling the police because of the good relationship that you guys have engendered with the community and I'd like to know if you have any thoughts one way or the other it's definitely something that uh we have been reached out to by a lot of the members of in this case the reason that our numbers are up uh we were reached um contacted by members of uh the stores in the central business district uh a lot of them due to some crimes uh in the area have had concerns especially at night in break-ins and things like that uh and we've had some more higher end stores come into town uh so we have been doing more self-initiated uh checks uh at 24 hours a day uh especially throughout the entire night uh we now require that there's always one police car within our Central business district um at all times uh we also require at least two times an hour that our officers are checking on a bunch of the local businesses to make sure that there uh you know whether they're Lo the doors are locked or anything like that and uh we have found some buildings unlocked and had to make those unfortunate calls to some of the business owners but uh in the long run they were happy that we were contacting them at two o'clock in the morning but um they were I know as happy as one could be at getting a phone call at 2 am great thank you any other questions thank you lieutenant any staff reports down at the table no okay all right Isaac isn't here any comments from the public for items not on the agenda anybody in the room sure just you know come on up state your name and address and you have the three minutes to to talk so my name is PR and uh I see that you have an approval of Transportation study in agenda today so I wanted to talk about that little bit so first of all thanks for recognizing that the existing public transportation and the bus system has limitations and it's not uh surveying what it's supposed to do most of the times the buses are empty and they run in an 1our schedule monei Transit and NJ Transit both uh so I would like this opportunity to draw your attention to something I have used earlier like it's called vaa in Jersey City it has been uh it's a municipal run on Demand app based uh Public Service it uses Transit tech software from via which puts multiple Riders heading in the same direction on a minivan for $22 to $3 per ride for them so which is the same cost as what NJ Transit uh does so for example if five people are heading towards Farmers Market at 10: a.m. from Little Brook area the vaa can pick them up from some locations like you don't have it doesn't come to your doorstep but it picks you up from a street corner or something and five people are going in one minivan rather than driving five cars and trying to find and five parking spots in this thing so they have very interesting stats about the success of this service like it has been running since 2020 60% rights were served to lowincome members of the community 85% of the rights on vaa were served for essential purposes that's like medical visits and mostly to the transit hubs a Journal Square being the most uh this thing most important one many people traveled there so lots of interesting mates are available on their website they published it last year so I suggest the council member to maybe reach out to Bara Patel who is the director of Department of infrastructure or mayor fup I don't know how busy he is as of now but like uh uh it doesn't hurt so how they implemented it and how they funded it and which might be a better solution for us in in our Community where we are in a 2 to 3 mile radius and many people are going to the same direction most of the times so that's all from my side and thanks a lot thank you yeah thank you I just want to let you know we've met with viia many times and I know Bara uh and I've spoken with her and unfortunately we don't have the financial resources or the logistics that Jersey City does um but uh uh when VI brings their prices down maybe we'll uh be able to um Implement that just to get their software as a a million doll price point just to to get on the playing field but we are very aware of some of the micromobility options that uh other municipalities in Princeton in Princeton in New Jersey have um uh taken advantage of and we hope to move in that direction thank you so much for coming out anyone else in the room for okay anyone online all right seeing no one else we'll close that part of the meeting and now we have a public hearing on ordinance 2024-25 which someone Eve thank you would someone second that please thank you David okay Council questions or discussion Eve I think I asked the same question when we introduced the previous ordinance but I think it's uh another 37 Parcels 39 buildings that are now in the flood plane will we be notifying those individuals or is there somehow they will find out about this prior to a flood hitting them uh I don't know what the standard policy is I don't have an answer for that but I can find the answer for you okay thank you so much okay other questions or comments none other from Council any public comment anybody in the room or anybody online okay seeing none we'll close the public hearing and roll call vote please miss Peron lambrose yes Miss Neer gang yes Mr Cohen yes Miss sax yes Miss Fraga yes Mr nulan yes carried thank you all right going on to resolutions 24185 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of a Professional Services agreement to arcadis us Inc for design and bid phase services in connection with six Pump Station upgrades for 1,122 600 Eve thank you is that oh sorry M's got the second any questions or qu uh suggest no questions or whatever sorry Eve I I just want to set a little bit of the context for this and also the next uh resolution this is part of our as I think the memo said our 10year $9 million a year commitment to upgrading our sewer system which has hidden infrastructure doesn't always get a lot of attention but which um really needs some work and has been ignored for far too long so it's exciting to see uh the pump stations uh as part of what's rolling out this year along with the next minis System project which will be coming along too so um and I just want to thank our uh sewer engineer Andrew philippy who will be departing Princeton shortly uh and sadly but he's really been instrumental in uh carrying uh the sewer uh construction plan both uh in terms of engineering and financing forward and really been a leader in that so just wanted to note that I think we all share our appreciation for his work okay thank you David yeah and I just wanted to emphasize also since this is one of my uh areas of pet peeve that this is uh important not just as deferred maintenance but also as a response to climate change we um need you know the these pump stations um as you would think are in low-lying areas in the town because the sewage flows down to them before it needs to be pumped to the Sewer processing plant and with Rising uh occurrence of flooding these locations are particularly vulnerable and therefore it's particularly important um to avoid void contamination of the environment and so forth to um essentially flood proof the the pump stations and so I wanted to make sure everyone realizes this is this is a real climate change sustainability expense thank you any other comments or questions more okay all in FA sorry oh I'm sorry L yeah thank you mayor yeah I just want to take the opportunity also to thank Andrew for the work that he's done since he's been here is not sexy but is damn important thank you thank you all right anybody else all right all in favor please say I I I I 24886 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of a Professional Services agreement to Johnson miraran and Thompson Inc for documentation of Maintenance holes in flood Hazard areas for $4,530 188 Eve has the motion leighton's got the second questions or comments All I see none all in favor please say I I 24887 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of a contract to general sales Administration trading as major police supply for police car uplift for $ 71,1 1444 utilizing New Jersey state contract 17- fle t- 00760 law enforcement firearms equipment and supplies letisia has got the motion leighton's got the second questions or comments I see none all in favor please say I I I I 24188 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton approving a chapter 159 special budget item Princeton Area Community Foundation $199,450 is there a motion on that thank you Mia David's got the second questions comments Mia then then we'll work our way around uh yeah I just want to clarify um I think it was reported today that this was a grant from the Princeton Area Community Foundation it um that is simply the holding body for this money which stems from a 2011 memorandum of understanding between the municipality and the university um and the funds are part of what is known as the transit trust fund which met last week thank you for meeting um to approve these funds so that is um that is where the money's are the source of of the funding so just want to clarify that yeah I think part of the confusion comes from the fact even though anyone that has money at the princ area Community Foundation even when you take the money out yourself the foundation calls it a grant so if somebody not paying attention would obviously mistake that for not being quite what it is but I think David you had your hand up I did but Mia already answered my question so okay very good was there any other hands up no okay all in favor please say I I next up related to that 24889 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of her Professional Services agreement to Nelson niggard Consulting Associates Inc for a comp comprehensive Community Transit program study for $199,450 Mia has the motion Michelle has the second questions or comments Mia yeah I just um wanted to thank a number of people who've been involved with this this goes back this has been in the works for quite a few years going back to when Eve was a liaison to the transit committee thank you Eve Eve doer um Hammond were originally working on this comprehensive uh Transit study plan big picture um and subsequently um uh I've been working with the transit committee as liaison and with Nat bodimer as the chair who's done a tremendous amount of work on this and I just want to thank the members of the transit committee who have reviewed this um and also sustainable Princeton who has contributed to contributed to this um to the the resident who came to talk about micromobility one of the things that will be looked at in this study is how Princeton might be able to more coste effectively um embark on a micromobility program um and we are going to be looking at how um Our Roots can more effectively connect people to the places where they want to go and and and so that we don't have empty buses and they're not just um riding around every hour and that's that's what this is going to do so a lot of the that was the perfect commentary that you you raised because that's what this study is really going to be looking to correct um and we are looking forward to hearing the results from Nelson niggard which will be implemented next year thank you other comments or questions all right all in favor please say I I I 24190 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the submitt of a fiscal year 2025 New Jersey Department of Transportation Municipal Aid Grant application ma 2025 Princeton d18 and execution of a grant contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation would someone move that thank you Eve Mia's got the second questions or comments David I I just would like to ask that somebody speak to exactly what this grant is for it wasn't in the agenda packet that I was reviewing it may have been a late edition but Deana can speak to that I think um the Department of Transportation has an annual Municipal aid grant program um and so this year we have we are submitting a Grant application to improve Harrison Street as you are aware we have an Corridor study that's underway right now um and we are looking to move that forward to a council meeting in the near future uh but we also have an outstanding need to do some pavement repair on her Street between Nassau and Franklin so the thinking is um to move ahead with a project to resurface that area update sidewalks actually widen the sidewalks narrow the travel Lanes uh because we do have uh crash history um mainly due I think from speeding Vehicles so a lot of the work will be pedestrian safety and traffic calming uh but we Cann wrap it all up into this Grant application uh will be notified by November as to whether or not we get a grant um but I think it's pretty safe to say we've gotten a grant every year through this program um and so with pedestrian safety as the focus that that gets a higher priority by do um so that's that's what this project is for thanks thanks Tiana any other questions or comments all right all in favor please say I I I 24191 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of a Professional Services agreement for the 2024 Community Development block grant Dental Care Program to Lake AOL ddspc for an amount not to exceed $117,400 thank you Leticia Sarah second thank you David questions or comments all right all in favor please say I I I 24 1992 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the award of a Professional Services agreement for the 2024 Community Development block grant Vision Care Program to Alma uh Jacobson OD family ey care and contact lenses LLC for an amount not to exceed $1,343 120 thank you Leticia is there a second thank you Leighton questions or comments uh Eve yeah I I just want I Leticia might be better person to speak to this but I just want to say how how wonderful it is to see this money uh being dedicated again to these Services because it's a relatively new thing I think starting in was it 23 or 22 that we've been able to provide when don't you take it away L and actually I would love for Jeff uh to share uh the numbers uh which he shared with us earlier uh to late in night earlier today was it today or yesterday because I I just was telling him before the meeting started how uh thrilled I was to see that we're continuing this because I know it has this is a program that has impacted individuals who might not otherwise have access to these services and so these are really true lifechanging uh uh you know lifechanging uh service that we're providing yeah just to add to that in terms of numbers uh in 2023 uh dentl saw 16 uh visitors and uh for Vision Care there's 39 and of those um almost 50% this is the first time they had ever visited an opthalmologist or a dentist um so that's life-changing and then what we do is we make sure that they have consistent care after that so A lot of times this is their first uh visit then they get Continued Care after that this started as a result of cdbg funds uh needing to be dedicated to covid affected patients and in this case it was a result of people not getting Primary Care as a result of covid um and because of the success of the program and honestly two great providers um the program success just continues so David so i' just like to ask I mean how how are the numbers arrived at not that I have any problem with them but um the amount that we're paying to these providers is it a flat rate no matter how many people they see or is it an estimated maximum that could be increased if need be or what yeah so it's a great question it's a fee for service so based upon the contract you'll see uh Services broken down by uh relatively um competitive prices for what they are um what happens is based upon the need uh they will bill us accordingly if the funds aren't used we'll roll roll it over into the next year uh with new funds if necessary um the one thing that's really important to note is that uh there is a limit to some of those Services because the idea is to try to keep it as Equitable as possible and spread out the money as much as we can um at this point um I believe it was only in 2022 the first year we had to um hold those participants and the applicants to the following year just because money was running out but ever since it's been it's been going pretty well thank you thanks y any Lon yes I would just like to to say it's important to note that for many of the people it is the first time they visited either a dentist or an opthalmologist so the money is well used yeah it's great Services Jeff thank you for everybody involved in making these these contracts happen okay nothing else all in favor please say I I I 24193 resolution of the mayor and Council of Princeton authorizing the appointment of Frank diamore as fire official and Michelle's got the motion David's got the second questions or comments Frank's first day is today or was today he's at the firehouse every day now and uh so anyway it's a great thing to have a fire official all in favor please say I I 24 1994 resolution of the mayor and Council authorizing the re renewal of alcoholic beverage licenses for the 2024 2025 licensed term the TC has got the motion Michelle's got the second any questions or comments these are all in order there's none of these are okay there one or two didn't make it okay there's a couple still coming thanks any other questions or comments if not all in favor please say I I I there's three items on the consent agenda if no one needs those pulled off we can move those in Block if someone would like to do that Eve thank you very much is there a second oh Michelle thank you sorry all in favor say I I David uh I move that we adjourn Sarah second yep plenty of seconds all in favor say I hi I we are done thank you very much thanks for being here okay