##VIDEO ID:841BMboy1hg## B for chairman Adair Mr allot here miss carpinet here Mr mclin excuse this evening Mr O'Neal here Mr vinski here Mr Flores is excused this evening Mr Alvarez here Mr Daniels here SP been res most that St Rel chairman Adair yes Mr allot yes Mr carpinet yes Mr O'Neal yes Mr vinsky yes Mr Alvarez yes Mr Daniels chose I don't know what the reasoning was I mean I know that I had spoken with uh I know a couple of members were not going to be able to make it tonight so maybe this is a blessing of Disguise but U the applicant uh was aware I think that you know it reviewed Mr Cole's report and I think it believed it needed to you know further examine its plans and certain lean what it was proposing it was going to discuss a uh a move of of the move the application to the November meeting and then requested a December move uh I had some hesitation with this and ultimately before I had a chance to really say uh you know rather than no now and started tonight what they're going to do is they're going to do new notice and we expect that it'll be commenced on December 4th December 4th is that our yes yes we always in early December meeting that's right November and December okay so at this point there's no really no uh I'm not going to announce notice because the applicant will Reen notice and um republish and remil and should the the proposed plans change I will revise the report I did a draft to show the board knows a week or two before the board got it give the applicant time to review it and I told the applicant that I had to finalize it by Friday as the board knows I typically get it on Wednesday but I wanted to incorporate any changes or any nuances into the finalized uh there were no changes so I just literally took it from draft to finalized and I got some comments back on uh from uh Rich regarding some numbering which it'll be addressed in next version but that's why I went out on Friday typically the board gets it on Wednesday Thursday I will notify our special Counsel on the litigation that the meeting has been moved I mean you know uh it shouldn't be a big problem though the court has been wondering where this was and then finding out it was on our calendar I think was satisfied with that just the fact that it's going to move 60 days or so I don't think it's going to be a problem want to talk about performance sponds sure Mike and I had discussion a couple mons couple weeks ago about was question on question under the ml the uh you know an applicant will an applicant is obliged it's required to uh post what's called a per both performance and what are called maintenance bonds the performance bond is Def the performance bond is substantially uh usually posted for the value of the improvements uh at the property uh in some cases a percentage thereof but generally for the value of the improvements at the property and is usually secured from a reputable and I say reputable because there are some not so reputable bonding companies in the state I know because I've litigated against them uh but the bonding company will prepare what's called a performance bond which is something akin to uh like a guarantee or a mortgage or something to that effect which essentially secures the value of the improvements so as the applicant as the let's say that you're doing a subdivision and you've got to do in addition to the uh you know for public improvements you got to do curves and sidewalks and different coats or uh or you know of asphall okay you generally will bond for those you for B bond for those improvements sometimes there are other Pro improvements to be bonded for in many cases uh in some cases it might be landscaping though generally trees and things like that are generally the subject of the maintenance bond which which kind of comes later so I'll focus in on the performance bond but the performance bond uh is a security which works to the benefit of the municipality and against the uh applicant because the applicants has to support has to post substant iial Monies to to get the bond and what happens is the engineer in order to value determine what the value of the bond should be the engineer no one else really the engineer reviews the application reviews the improvements that need to be made uh and Michael you know if you want to correct me if I'm wrong but generally the engineer will will review what needs to be done and we'll prepare a letter which indicates the amount of improvements that that must be bonded that is provided to now some towns do it differently uh I know as the municipal attorney in Monroe I used to approve all those letters some some board attorneys do it so but but anyway the letter is prepared it's provided to the applicant the applicant provides it to the bonding company and the bonding company issues a bond at the cost to the developer now as each you know the the intention is that as each of these common improvements are constructed and completed the bond the amount of the bond can be reduced and the applicant would go to the applicant would would would get the approval from the uh from the engineer and provide that information to the municipality and and and the governing body generally will have to do a resolution to reduce the performance bond by let's say okay you built your sidewalk so that takes x amount of dollars off the amount du now how do you set the amounts du you know it's generally It generally is based upon the cost of the improvements there's often there's there are sometimes instances where ancillary costs are added in as they should be because there's you know some as in the military they sometimes say Cost Plus because it's not just just the amount of the concrete it's the amount of the Manpower and other related uh other related expenses that's why there's there's generally a uh those are pretty liberally construed uh and performance bonds should be reduced with great care when I say great care I mean not recklessly or arbitrarily uh basically a uh a bond is reduced when the request is made for the bond for the bond reduction by the developer the referral will go to mun the municipal engineer and the municipal attorney if the municipal engineer believes it is appropriate for the bond to be reduced really that's his legal his or her legal Authority and at that point the municipality can by resolution reduce the bond excuse me sorry um at that point as I said we at that point the bond is reduced but the remaining Bond remains in the hands as as reduced remains in the hands of the municipality the bond is not retired until everything is done and the and the engineer has determined that all the improvements have been made and related costs have been have been taken care of and that related work have been has been finished I me for you could be know could be I I if let's let's say let's go back to our sidewalks let's say the sidewalks are not done properly and you know the the the engineer can't can't really approve at that point the bond reduction the engineer will do a letter indicating that you know the uh I don't mean you know indicating that the sidewalks are not properly built uh certain items need to be done before they can be approved please do them and we'll approve and we'll approve the reduction um it's highly unusual and and frankly not always legally supportable that arbitrary changes are made in the bonding amounts uh either you know both the both the developer and the municipality need to be concerned about this because there is a process of significant scrutiny that goes through the engineer I mean the engineer is our friend if the engineer doesn't believe something should be done the board should heat it not the board the uh governing body should heat it uh and there may be instances where in fact the applicant has done its work and the board you know the pardon me the governing body may may feel reluctant or suspicious well in that situation it's not always such a good idea to you know to not approve it I mean if the if the if the if the applicant has done the job they should be allowed to get a reduction but if no work has been done you can't just take a meat cleaver and say we're cutting we're cutting this amount off a bond or something like that that's really really is uh highly legally questionable um and so what you have in a situation such as this is that we presume because the engineer is sworn to do this that that it will review in good faith all the aspects of the development and make the changes in the bond and make and and and direct the reductions in the bond if if in his in his professional opinion uh they they you know they're warranted in some instances the uh the engineer May consult with the planer or with the attorney saying here's the situation uh this is what I think sometimes you know they you'll need you'll need the assistance of legal counsel but that's how the process works and eventually as I said a minute ago eventually when all the improvements are done the bond is essentially fully released and extinguished and at that point the the contract that the bond uh signifies is is uh closed I mean that in a nutshell is how it works and and Somerville the unit price is the county are used to keep it right so the county comes out with unit prices every couple years from their bonding experience so there's 45 pages for to the extent possible those are given to the applicant to use as unit prices and then um the reduction can't be more than 70% so typically the reduce or the recommendation goes back goes to Kevin so Kevin's familiar with the letters I write y for both boards to reduce or re eliminate the bond upon subsequent so right uh that's the process uh we follow uh burough follows basically uses Somerset County unit prices and uh so it takes all that out of it uh the applicant writes it rreview it and uh they can submit a letter of credit cash or performance well exactly that's that's where we get involved because Bond sometimes bonds aren't worth the paper they're printed on uh what ideally cash is King as we all know but if you've got a reputable organization that uses a reputable bonding company and there are quite a few in this state you're generally all right um Mike is correct of course in connection with the unit prices I was just trying to think I'm trying to give you kind of the thumbnail I I teach the course for the ref I've taught the course for record for many years and so I'm trying to distill what I teach to planners and Engineers into a short uh presentation but that's kind of how it works the Cox books gives you a template of the language the Bon have I typically look at the language the language doesn't meet the template it goes to Cliff we just went through this with one developer we we simply could not get them to do right and and I kept disapproving the bond not that I'm happy about it but but the reality is is that in that situation if the bond isn't isn't proper as the form and content I always talk about form and content if it's not proper and uh I mean I've had more than one I remember one general counsel I won't mention the name for a bonding company that's defun now used to specialize in doing these little things and they would get sued and he would be able to say well the bond is defective I mean and and and what that means in English is that uh is that the municipal attorney possibly or the or the uh engineer may not have given it the scrutiny it needed and sometimes that's what happens and that's a bad situation how does it affect you pardon me does it affect me yeah right Civ I mean exactly I mean next time when you want to talk about the maintenance Bond we can discuss that in a separate discussion yeah what goes with the bond sometimes and it gets involved in this is items that have to be addressed prior issues of the construction permit and the reason being that it knows so much more than I do the UCC code says that if it's in a construction and they the developer asks for a TCO if it's not a public safety issue you can't hold it up so there's money owed or something's not right you can't hold up issuing a TCO so that's a big issue there's a lot of PRI approvals have to need they can't prior approvals then they post bond right so we need to when I say we we need to typically there's a lot of connection fees and stuff that has to be done first because if you let the horse out of the barn you can't you can't get it you can't hold a TCO hostage for fees and other improvements that you can hold a CO but not the TCO not the TCO and then they have the whole issue of have issuing a TCO you could go for months or years and then you have the whole issue how do you get from a TCO to a CO and it's just it's like that's another issue that's it can be a dreadful experience I can say that first if the building's being being occupied and you have tenants in that it's just it's the last thing you want to do so it's very important that these prior approvals bonding guarantees get done properly up front because it's very difficult to to get it on the back end very very difficult that's right warming up for the league of municipalities and next semester for ruers I know that the council and the planning board have discussed the ordinance the parking on on six West C Street oh yes Council I think signed off on it perance passed the ordinance passed so that's a done that's not an issue that's been done that's the two spaces in front of the Cliff Street that where the driveway was going there was something about whether it's striped not striped whether it's been maintained because you're going to lose a couple spaces if they're striped uh then Kevin uh let me know I think it was last week that that was through but one of the Silver Linings that having Kevin in the office is he lets me know what's going on with Council right one of the Civil one of the Civil LS right and just I just want you to come out support you Su semf 15s at people well bring a couple of football players oh yes we have a 10 foen G will be on the 4th yeah first Wednesday in November the first Wednesday in December so November 4th and December 4th I do believe it's both Force I'll check that right now but I'm always happy to you know give a summary as much of a thumbnail as I can provide Mr chairman it's always a pleasure excuse me it's the 6th it's November 6th is the first Wednesday November and 4th on December December 4th November 6th that's the first Wednesday theard oh Roberto you will not be at the next meeting okay yeah thank you in front of the board on November is the Veterans Memorial Drive application so we have one application on November and then we have Bell on December okay there's an application for a house on the west side vets heading towards uh East Main Street that's November that's 106 veterans M yes correct yes so it's 106 veterans it's it's it's currently not occupied it's a home that the municipality actually owned and auctioned off a couple years ago right next to the steel fabricators okay yeah and that's off for November that's coming that's off for November okay good just yes any other business to come before the for