##VIDEO ID:cv_YsH0PQGg## action will be taken on the following items at the regular council meeting on Tuesday November 26 2024 in council chambers Sparta Township Municipal Building 65 Main Street Sparta New Jersey uh the time is 719 uh the regular meeting is now open all Council meetings are now live streamed and can be viewed at the following link www.youtube.com at spart wp/ streams adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the public and the Press on January 5th 2024 by delivering to the press and posting on the township website a copy of the notice uh Madame clerk may we have a roll call councilwoman Quinn here councilman chero I'm here Deputy Mayor buetti here mayor Clark here I want to clarify for the record as well councilman Herzberg is traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday normally we have the meeting in the beginning of the month not the end of the month so these travel plans were in place already we don't need to do we we don't need to do this resolution just to salute to the flag CU we already did it thank salute to the flag all right uh may we stand and salute the flag please plge allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all before we move on the township lost an amazing asset last week Julie figarelli passed away she was a member of our Sparta Township family for quite some time and I think that it would only be appropriate for us to take a minute of Silence in her honor okay may we have a motion of silence please for okay thank you and thank you to her contributions to our community and thank you for raising that councilwoman Quinn uh next up we have to some minutes that we need to approve um may I have a motion to approve the September 10th 20124 regular meeting minutes as presented I will point out that um councilman Chell or you know councilman Herzberg were not at those meetings so they should abstain from voting I make a motion we approve the regular meeting minutes for September 10th 2024 I second the motion all all those in favor say I I I'm September 10th 2024 regular meeting minutes as and I have abstained be and one exstension um so the regular meeting minutes for September 10th 2024 have been approved may I have a motion to approve the September 24th 2024 regular meeting minutes as presented I move that we approve the September 24 2024 meeting minutes uh as presented and uh I will second it and I will note that uh Deputy Mayor blue medy was not at that meeting so he should abstain um so all those in favor say I I I so three eyes one exstension all right the regular meeting minutes for September 24th 20124 have been approved um now we are up to the manager's report uh manager Jim Zep thank you mayor good evening mayor council and Sparta residents the sparta fire dep Department Ladies Auxiliary has generously donated $5,000 to the fire department this donation will be used to purchase two new Rescue saws and three new combustible gas detectors the saws are essential for various rescue operations and will be placed on the new pumper apparatus expected to arrive before the end of the year the gas detectors are a new addition to the Department's equipment inventory enhancing safety due to the increased presence of natural gas in the township the lady's auxiliary which has been supporting the fire department for 101 years consists mainly of firefighters family members their mission includes providing funding equipment inventory Refreshments at emergency scenes and general community service they currently have 11 members and are open to new members from the sparta Community regardless of their affiliation with the fire department thank you to the sparta ladyes auxiliary I would like to thank Christine Smith and Mike barcelow of the public works department they were able to squeeze in an additional online auction to liquidate five Motor Vehicles the township no longer has used for the auction netted $1,651 to be used in next year's budget this past Friday the township experienced its first winter weather event for the season Sparta schools closed and the township received 4.2 in of snow in most parts of the town with more reported in the higher elevations gratitude and appreciation goes out to our Public Works and Parks departments for keeping our roads parking lots and walk way safe our Recreation and park staff are busy with the upcoming holiday events please contact the recreation department or visit our website under the recreation brochure for more information on the following events starting December 1st Sparta children can mail letters to Santa as well as request a phone call from Santa the annual December holiday home decorating contest register by December 6th and judging will begin the week of December 9th the annual Christmas tree lighting and visit with Santa Friday December 6 at Town Hall starting with Santa arriving at 6:30 p.m. and tree lighting at 7:30 p.m. with activities entertainment snacks and photos taken with Santa donations to the sparta food pantry will be accepted the sparta senior's annual New Year's Eve party is Monday December 30th please register with the recreation department as there are still some openings lastly municipal offices will be closing at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow and will reopen Monday December 2nd at 8:30 a.m. uh I said that was lastly and I was actually incorrect I have one other thing to add uh I recently learned that um councilwoman Quinn uh was a recipient of the 2024 Sussex County Municipal Alliance volunteer of the Year award I think she is well earned out an Applause for [Applause] that uh Chief mccarrick will now read his port of the manager report this concludes my report thank you mayor council Sparta residents I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving good evening thank you manager Zep thank you mayor thank you Council the sparta Township Police Department applied and was awarded the New Jersey Divi division of highway traffic safety drives over or get pulled over year-end holiday Crackdown the township was awarded $7,000 to be utilized towards overtime Personnel for DWI enforcement the project period for this Grant is December 6 2024 through January 1st 2025 just to compare some recent uh statistics from Sparta Township on DWI arest in 2023 from January 1st through November 25th we had 41 DWI arrests in 2024 from January 1st to date of November 25th 49 DW DWI arrest compared back to 2022 with that time period there were 60 dwiss so we are seeing them going down but we are head um from last year additionally this week with Thanksgiving we will have extra patrols enforcing DWI and these shifts are funded by the drunk driving enforcement funds which are sponsored by the state of New Jersey our Personnel is continuing to work on our motor vehicle crash study uh which will provide the actual reported cause of the motor vehicle crashes for phase one which we had completed once this is completed it will be posted on our department's website so we're working hard on that this Thursday is the annual Crow Turkey Trot please expect delays in the area the plaza area is expected to close at approximately 6:30 a.m. and will reopen once the roadway is safe to do so and that's usually around 11:30 a.m. um we had officers uh not this past weekend prior weekend at a stop and shop um for cram the cruiser raising money and collecting donations for our local food pantries last thing I have to report is in 2022 2023 I'm sorry the sparta police was awarded the community Project funding Grant with Congressman Josh goth heimer's office the purpose of this grant is to provide support purchase and purchase updated interoperable First Response communication systems to answer 911 calls with this funding our Township was able to revamp our outdated emergency radio and infrastructure the new equipment is installed and operating extremely well it's been uh two weeks since we had it fully finished and installed and uh it is working very good with this advancement we were able to benefit radio communication for our Police Department fire department Emergency Medical Service our DPW services and this project was visioned by the police department's it Support Services uh Joseph kusf and David Drew as a as a project became uh you know a reality the team was formed consisting of members from agencies that I just mentioned and also from the water department Cory long I would like to thank John uh dmowski from the sparta fire Ben Wright from Sparta EMS Mike barcalow from DBW Richard Barlett who is uh Bartlett who is one of our um Police Department Communications and records Clerk and also Cory long from the water department for making this this project come together I also like to thank the manager for his support during this project uh but I would really like to recognize both Joseph K YF and David Drew for my it support staff these two individuals put an extraordinary amount of effort in to get this done um this project has been a vision of theirs for many years um with the funding we were able to coordinate everybody in the township together and they were able to see it through and take lead in the project I'm been very proud of uh what they had accomplished and uh it's nice to see that excited from the beginning to the end to get this done um project total was $889,900 the community Grant portion uh from uh goth heimer's office was 632,000 and then we also had $257,700 it is it was paid for with uh all grant money so proud of that and the the basic rundown of this infrastructure rebuild is when our officers and our First Responders are out there communicating with radios they could hear each other so that concludes my report thank you thank it's been an issue for a long time so congratulations very long time yeah and I just um want to thank the the department I know that Chief mccarrick um pursues grants um like a dog on a bone I mean you really do a fantastic job with trying to find um where we can get money to update our you know infrastructure and you know you're not just hey we need this can you come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars and no you actually try to find sources that we don't have to incur ourselves and so my guess if we ever totaled up um how much uh we get in Grants that helps fund our the stuff that our police department needs those are things that we'd otherwise have to come out of the you know our our budget for that we don't necessarily have to because you know Chief mccarrick does such a fine job of of pursuing these grants so thank you very much and again um thank you uh councilwoman Quinn for your service with Municipal Alliance it's a very critical group in Sparta and we we appreciate all that you've done and I know the people of Sparta are very thankful for that thank you all right with that may I have a motion to accept the manager's report I move that we accept the manager's report may I have a second please I will second it all those in favor say I I uh the manager report is accepted we are now up to our first um public uh comment period uh this is for items that are not on the agenda so if you see an item on the agenda that you want to talk about now is not the time uh these are for items that are not on the the agenda so please approach the microphone uh and uh say your name and the record and please be mindful of the 5 minute uh period thank you Jenny Derek tap into Sparta um Corey is here I was wondering if there was an update on the DCR uh Diamond ship uh negotiations with the County planning board county engineers copol and Ed Matt syn also um do we have an update on the grant money for the master plan the highlands grant money um was supposed to be um approved in October and we haven't heard I haven't heard an update and then of course a Brownfield update do we have an update on the um reapplication process and the appeal process and the search for land to swap out for closing the landfill thank you did everyone get the three questions so okay okay I I I'll I I'll start backwards on that Jenny on the Brownfield there is uh some movement on that um we have the proposal set and it's uh uh they're trying to get it heard by the wetlands board uh in their January meeting uh so we're waiting for an outcome there um Corey I will bring Corey up to talk about that the yes the the the well there it's called the Wetland mitigation board as an arm of the D and uh Corey will will address those other two questions the the the second one though is actually on the agenda right the uh the part about the master plan we'll talk about that when we we uh we look at resolution 918 thank you okay it's okay we'll wait to discuss that one and then the other one with diamond ship and the uh uh discussions with the county um actually Jim and I both had a meeting with Bill copol and Matt sinki um the County engineer and assistant County engineer about the process uh uh that's uh proceeding right now with the uh with the intersection um analysis they actually have a subc consultant working for the the county and outside firm I think it's Boswell engineering is doing a uh assessment for that um for review and as they move forward they agree to keep us in the loop and actually be uh be um have some uh review of the documents that come in as they move forward the I'm sorry the last I I have from that um that covered the month the middle of the month of October through the beginning of November uh there was a a couple of documents from Boswell including a draft letter talking about um signal intersection that's the most way to go and they also talk about um taking in some land to expand the width of uh line press from 33t to about 50 ft uh they' have to take land from private land owners so I don't know if you had any update on they have they have provided information to the county the county did share their plans uh uh preliminary plans with us when we did meet with them um it's basically right now there was nothing can share the the anything being finalized but they did look at the possibility of singaling intersection and doing other uh um other improvements to the intersection to improve sight distance turning radi and things of that nature are they addressing the grade the 12% grade they they discussed the grade um it's uh they have some limitations to the grade due to the location of the railroad um but they're again it's everything is preliminary thank you okay Cory just a question to the extent that part of the the the plan that Boswell is doing um I understand you know what what gives the county jurisdiction is a county road but I know it intersects with the sparta Road what input do you understand that you can have or the sparta Township can have with respect to where it intersects with a Sparta Township Road will you have any input into that or do you just have to do what Boswell suggest County agreed that they would you know discuss it with us and take our input um but the the intersection itself s falls under the the jurisdiction of the county just like any intersection that intersects with a state do you know State Highway that falls under jurisdiction always goes to the higher you know um even where you have an inter if if the intersection one of the roads is County the other road is Township the for purposes of that analysis that Township Road is subsumed within the county right so you can't the idea is you can't have competing you know Sparta Township can't do its own engineering analysis just on the intersecting Road they got to work to eventually the county has the final say on it but I got but when it comes to the this uh this process the the County engineering department agreed that they would involve Us in the product before anything is finalized got it okay thank you that's very helpful thanks Cory any other uh public comment for items n not on the agenda okay see none we will uh move on um now up to expenditures Deputy Mayor blumetti would you please read the expenditures for November 12th 2024 I'd like to make a motion that we approve the expenditures for November 12th 2024 in the amount of $2 m30 and33 cents I will second it all those in favor say I I I the um November 12th 2024 expenditures have been approved uh Deputy Mayor Bui would you please read the expenditures for November 26 2024 I make a motion we approve the expenditures for SE uh November 26 2024 in the amount of 7,147 47054 and I will second it all those in favor say I I I the November 26 2024 expenditures have been approved um we have a few ordinances to be introduced tonight so again this is just the introduction um assuming it that they pass there will be a hearing on these ordinances uh at the next council meeting so Madam clerk could you please read the title of ordinance 2419 an ordinance amending chapter 7 traffic of the revised General ordinances of the township of Sparta amending section 7- 37.4 regulation for the movement and the parking of traffic on all other private property may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 2419 I move that we introduce ordinance 24-9 may I have a second I will second it all right to the anyone from Council have a a comment before we go to roll call maybe we could get an explanation yeah for the public so that they understand because we're not having hearing tonight so I think it would be wise if we could just for each one of the ordinances give a quick overview no problem with with this ordinance um this is uh directly related to Market Street up in the North Village complex it's a private road um and it's um basically overseen by an HOA uh the HOA had contacted us about concerns of illegal parking on Market Street um the is an Avenue for um a private HOA to uh get um law enforcement to enforce no parking U with that they have to uh uh file chapter 39 with the the the police department and basically petition that um the the law enforcement would have the authority to um enforce this ordinance and this ordinance basically takes Market Street and puts it on our list of other roads that there's no parking on on one side as it establishes uh and this will hopefully alleviate uh their issues up there and um basically we're adding their road to our existing ordinances existing streets of no parking in this particular matter is um is this snow parking sort of consistent with uh other probably HOAs that have also no parking that um yes okay it it is and and um our traffic and safety uh uh officer uh Kurt moris he evaluates the whole whole thing and and and and looks at make sure it's Justified and and appropriate which he has done okay um and who uh pays for the actual sign is that the HOA does um DPW uh put them up and installed them and the HOA gets invoice for it okay got you and then just obviously our our Police Department would enforce it correct okay got you but in order to have enforcement of a private road in an HOA they have to go through this route that we're going through now they can't just throw up a sign and say don't park here correct and then call the police and the police look at and say well if you don't have an ordinance that um allows it then too bad is that basically how it works correct okay got you all right with that um may I have a roll call vote Madame clerk councilwoman Quinn yes councilman chello yes Deputy Mayor buedi yes mayor Clark yes uh ordinance 2419 has been introduced Madame clerk could you please read uh ordinance 2420 an ordinance amending the general ordinances of the township of Sparta in order to adjust certain fees and escros all right may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 242 I move that we introduce ordinance 24-20 may I have a second please I will second it and before we go to roll call we just have a basic explanation sort of as as we did with the previous ordinance the purpose of this ordinance and um I guess it's s it it's adjusting fees uh what are the categories of fees that are being adjusted here there's uh several categories uh on various departments throughout the town that that utilized a fee structure for their services uh ranging from the police department the parks department the fire uh prevention uh inspector and our construction Department um what we did is we solicit a survey to to the department heads and um they have the opportunity to request uh adjustments to the uh fee schedules for their Department uh if they find that they're lacking you know to provide the service that they provide that the the service fee no longer um is sufficient so these are uh nominal adjustments to those fees got you so the the each department who is requesting a fee increase um they have to justify why they want it yes they do and okay they'll Benchmark uh a market value on those many times like I'll I'll read I'll read the justifications and it'll be uh what other surrounding towns are offering uh for the same service uh so they're not arbitrary in any way any other members of council have questions regarding um 2420 I do just one minor one caught my eye and not sure um Tom or Jim tell me if you want me to wait for the hearing for this um it just involves the framework for one of these so section six there's increased fees for inspection of um smoke detectors before closings of houses before people close on the house right and just my question really is about it's uh the closer it gets to the closing date there's like three tiers and the price jumps up as you get closer to the closing date I just struck me as odd I just wanted to there probably IR rationale but well I I have basically Two Fire Marshals or inspectors and they're part-time we don't have a full-time Fire Marshal so obviously scheduling their services is is you know a challenge and so the closer you get to those closing dates you're pulling them out of their existing schedule and it becomes more and more of an inconvenience and so that's really why it is an incentive to schedule earlier is really I got there appreciate it thank you any other questions from Council regarding 2420 see none um Madame clerk may we have a roll call vote councilwoman Quinn yes councilman cherell yes Deputy Mayor buetti yes mayor Clark yes ordinance 2420 has been introduced uh Madam clerk could you please read the title of ordinance 2421 an ordinance amending chapter 19 water section 19-4a water use rates of the revised ordinances of the township of Sparta sus New Jersey may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 2421 I move that we introduce ordinance 24-21 may I have a second please I will second it right before we go to roll call um manager clerk could you please explain the basis for this ordinance sure mayor um what what I've done tonight because this is a uh a significant ordinance uh I brought our assistant engineer uh Ralph garer here he's going to help explain um what's behind this ordinance and and um why we have it tonight yeah and hopefully that microphone is is working so if you do take a seat uh try to move the microphone as close proximity to your mouth as possible so the folks participating online can hear you I think it's good good evening how are you may you man our clerks uh would you like me to go Jim you want to talk a little bit about kind of the Genesis of the study so so what we've done is is we've known that the the water utility and the utility have been uh a problematic especially in our budget it's been straining our budget uh tremendously and one of the first things that I had done when I had taken office was we were uh you know Ralph and I had discussed this and Corey on on how we were going to tackle this and the best way that I thought to tackle this was we hired an outside agency to do a uh in-depth detail analysis of our utility and its fee structure and its uses uh and with that uh we did an RFP uh we actually awarded the the contract to uh laran Associates to conduct this rate study analysis um and in the rate study analysis it made uh a lot of observations and evaluations of of the existing uh issues within the utility and uh then made recommendations um the two utilities should be held you know separate uh they're they're not together as a unit so they're analyzed separately um any utility that that the township has or any Township for that matter should be self- sustaining it should support itself with its own fee structure usually based on user fees all right um our utility right now wasn't doing that uh and it was shed on us the it became evident that we haven't had a fee increase on the using since 2009 uh that's a significant uh uh fact and then uh the analysis uh proposed uh suggestions on fee increases that would be most palatable to the users in the council um and with that uh just so everyone knows uh earlier today I posted that rate analysis on the website it's on the water uh the Water Department web page and and you're welcome to to view it and it's add of the rate analysis that we have that uh these fee increases were recommended and proposed to us and thus we are implement men ing them in this ordinance tonight yeah and and I think also thank you Jim one of the drivers too with this primarily is a lot of the Capital Improvements that we are going to be needing within the next five years so a lot of the driver is of course we you know we believe we did a bond ordinance last year for for some of that to handle some of our Capital Improvements um with a lot of new regulations coming through particularly with posos that we'll talk a little bit about we have another recommendation for award a little later on but that is BEC a really large driver in expense and cost to every utility specifically ours um this utility is is Big it has 20 how many Wells cor 31 Wells three different water separate Water Systems here uh 19 different treatment points so it is a large complex water system there is a lot of compliance and there is also a lot of there are a lot of Capital Improvements that will need to be done um you know again a lot of this really kind of comes back to the new regulations that have come through for posos which now those regulations have changed as of April of 2024 this year with a five-year phase in for a permanent change in the MCL levels for p so that you know is driving a lot of these necessary improvements to our system and you know some of our system obviously here just like every other system New Jersey is older needs upgrades needs a lot of newer equipment um and it is you know a lot of that is built into was a major driver here for that rate increase on the water end the water end I mean if you read it the water is not is you know is sustaining is is is doing okay you know um these are just you know part of that if you read through it there's also a $20 Capital charge that will also be implemented through this rate increase that'll go into a separate Capital account which which we will utilize for Capital Improvements um actually the town I live in does the same thing actually so can I ask a quick question so also we have opted as you know to get in with a um a lawsuit where we are looking to um hold accountable the companies that were the biggest um contributors to the problem and there are many of them so the question that I have is understanding that a lot of this work has to be done be I mean some of it just has to be D because it's a large system and and updates need to be made but a lot of other different uh changes and and improvements need to be made to it because of this p and the new regulation so what I'm saying is if we are successful in getting money out of there then you know how do we budget that how do we how do we increase the money right now right how do we increase it without knowing if we're going to get those Monies to offset and then what happens when you get an if you get that offset are residents to expect they're going to get that money back I mean that's what I'm saying I I know it's tough and I don't mean to put you on the spot and it's a great question councilwoman and and I will tell you that I've you know we looked at this I worked with the auditor here to kind of put together a cost associated with some of the posos and other system improvements um it is in the millions of dollars I'm not going to tell you i' I've been doing this about 30 years I talked to a lot of different people who run different systems it is expensive to treat depending on the treatment method you use you know pis is the driver for a lot of water systems now it's it's the driver you know that has causing them a lot of a lot of different things here in New Jersey it's it's major but to your point we've built in capital money for the next five years now there there may be money coming from litigation but you know there was also Federal money that is out there there's also New Jersey infrastructure Trust Bank where we could get low interest loans for so it's kind of a combination of three kind of different funding sources too along with our capital but we cannot rely solely on we know we're going to get money from a lawsuit we know that's kind of a variable we don't know that's what I'm saying it's an unknown I understand It's Tricky but for people that have been hearing us talking about all of this and now see a rate increase I just wanted to put something on the record to let them understand that this increase is not all inclusive we are still budgeting in and hoping that we will get additional funding to help offset the rest of it abut but without the Pas regulations Chang in April we would still need to make some of these changes anyway so I just want people to understand that absolutely yes just to be clear though the the the fee increase um in and also with the Capital Improvements um it doesn't assume grant funding doesn't assume litigation funding this is you know we hope we get it we may not correct okay correct it does not not assume that am I right the two drivers of the fee increase are one um that there hasn't been a rate increase since 20 9 and so if you look at the rate of inflation since 2009 it's it's about 2.4% since 2009 that's now been compounded right so you can't if people are saying what what's why is this huge Delta you know the inflation rate from 2023 to 2024 is 2% how come your rate increase exceeds that it's because you have you're making up for since 2009 and since that first year of yeah got you so you're we're playing catchup here playing catchup Dr back to 2 and half% for the two remaining years got you corre if we uh if we did stay in line with inflation we'd be up over 6 per thousand gallons right now so even at the end of this we're still well below where we would be if we kept up with inflation got you so Ju Just so that's a very important point so what what you're saying is had we done you know 2% every year since 2009 we would be at about $6 right now and what you're proposing is $5 uh at the end of this yeah it would be just under $5 $49 97 yeah just just under I wasn't good at math but I I think I remember that five is less than six so um so okay all right thank you um and what what else I know we have to keep sort of the water and the sewer separate right because they have separate issues I understand what the water what's driving it is the two things the the fee uh the need to increase it which we haven't done in 2009 improvements and then Capital Improvements um what's the issue with the sewer utility and why do we have to increase rates on that well I'm going to interject that because the sewer is is a more serious uh problem that is also complex and we do have an ordinance tonight I mean a resolution tonight not for not for sewer this is strictly water water not sewer we will be addressing uh the sewer uh first thing next year okay so with this this this is only dealing with water rates nothing to do with sewer rates okay got you all right so in in January folks should stay tuned for a sewer discussion okay so yes got correct okay I have have a couple questions um so just to clarify it looks like the rates are going up thank you for being here too both of you appreciate it tonight um looks like there you know the rates are going up 5% for next year and then after that annually just 2.5% and then there's an additional uh small quarterly Capital fee right $20 okay correct so I saw that there was projections on the average bill for a resident and how they would go up in the report in the report yeah in the order yeah that's correct okay U you know I mean I read through this it makes sense we we haven't done anything in 15 years and more expenses are coming down the pike just the uh the one thing that caught my eye and if you could just talk a little bit more about those capital investment projections um they they are pretty extensive compared to what we've done in the past right which is probably why we're we're du to do them but so for for example and most of it is from bonds loans notes and the interest on that The Debt Service is what adds a lot to this so for the next five years it's next year would be 2 million then 2.25 million then 2.35 million 2.25 million 2.35 million each year those aren't accumulative total that's new new each year each new capital investment you just share a little bit of the the framework for that so the thought process with that is that as we kind of looked at the system there are really three kind of main kind of improvements that that we kind of tried to focus on one was obviously the new the posos regulations and mitigating those mitigating posos right two is we have 14 water storage tanks here that we actually just did an evaluation of all those tanks earlier this year and found that we've got about five that are in need of immediate yeah that that that need repair quite sooner than later okay so so you know we've kind of we also allocated for those also allocated for a kind of meter replacement program townwide also I understand it's been about 20 years Corey yeah roughly 20 years on average since water meters here have also been changed so right so meters tend to under regg over time right also affects Revenue so you know we've kind of built those into that for those fiveyear Capital Improvements the poses is I keep on saying it but it is such the main driver because depending on how we treat it what type of method is used how many treatment points we have it it could get very expensive so that is you know and that kind of ties back into you'll see uh you'll see a a recommendation for a water system analysis that was kind of the Genesis of that too because we need to tie that all back into how we're going to improve our water system so it's you know it all kind of ties together here and it drives our Capital Improvements as well okay so when the public hopefully some people read through this report so they can rest assured that the the capital projections for the next five years were not just done by this consultant only they had your input and they're um pretty concrete ideas yeah we were and you know we are yeah yeah we we've definitely thought it out okay thank you so Ralph I had a question as well um and and this came up also during our latest Council connect session so many of the residents in Sp have wells so the question is how do people that have wells a do this testing because I we know it's very it's it's minuscule right the particles for the past in parts for trillion which are I mean it's parts for trillion which is so the the question that we got and I think it's going to affect a lot of people that have wells that are asking themselves now um you know how do I test my well water we're going to make all these strides and all these improvements in the city in the public system right water you know the public the public system but what do people do that have wells um I'm get to the thir I believe when you sell a house now Cory am I correct that they they do test for for p I'm um but ultimately anybody that is interested in that there are links on websites for can you just U sorry yeah um ultimately there are uh there's links for state and federal um certified Labs that do that sort of testing so I I would have to defer to them because I'm unsure of the difference between homeowner versus m I can find out I mean I I I can get that we can get even on the township website would be helpful for people have priv because I think it's clear that we're not going to be um you know it would be great if they would do what we did with the radon testing for the water and everybody gets a kit and a little kit but because of the small particles in this obviously I'm sure they're not going to be free and I'm sure they're not going to be itty bitty little kits that we're just going to be able to give out of town hall so if maybe we could put that information out on our website to make sure that for people with Wells that have concerns um you know I think that would be beneficial to the we could look into that reaching out to the county health department too I know and I'm sure that you know they deal with this and I'm sure they've got a criteria for for testing as well so that's thank you that's great yeah we'll put that on okay and for the um budgeting for the Capital Improvements um what do you if you for see what could affect those numbers either going up or going down whereby you say you come back to us in a year and say you know what we're way off on our projections it's going to actually cost 50% more than we anticipated for the capital Improvement is that something we can expect or what what are the factors that would would affect that we you know it's sort of you know not to quot one run what are the you know the know it's it's a great question I I I think you know part of part of that is going to be once we get an analysis of our water system performed we're going to look at kind of the treatment points the treatment methods for posos right so we may have to do we may be able to centralized treatment for f you know for five or 10 Wells at one location right extend the water M there do some interconnections and then now we're treating water from five or eight Wells at one location rather than treating it at 19 treatment points or you know at our 29 well sites so to do that and this kind of I'm gonna I'm going to jump a little all over the place because it ties back to our analysis we're not going to know that we can do that for sure and how it's going to work until we get an engineering analysis to look at the Hydraulics to look at a lot of different things in the water system to see the best way to kind of tie it all together and to and to see to see if we can eliminate and kind of streamline our treatment right and so the numbers I use were based on you know kind of current conditions and what the kind of going rate what the going industry rate is for posos and how to treat it but yeah you know those some of those may be subject to to change you know as we get a little closer but again there are different funding sources you know a lot of the engineering firms the one in particular that we're using is really great with you know securing funding through the ibank really low infrastructure Trust Loans you know and that'll go for five or eight or 10 years so you know and they kind of know how to get through use the ibank system so you know it's a bit of you know it's it's it's a lot of things combined together that are going to help us kind of char to path forward for this and are they also aware of any deadlines that are in existence for applying for those loans so I know the analysis will take some time I think my concern as a council person is that you know we we spend a lot of time the analysis by the time we're finished the deadline to to apply to the ibank or to a a a funding source is now lapsed I think the I bank is a revolving fund you can always you can always go and apply for funding with the DP um and you know I know the EPA now is supposedly going to be putting out also a lot of money for for posos because obviously they've they've kind of initiated this new regulation that everyone has 5 years to comply with and they've also put some money out there for you know towns and Water Systems to hopefully you know to go and and procure and and we will obviously pursue all of that as much as we can obviously okay that's helpful so so mayor I know we're jumping ahead here but one of the resolutions on the agenda today is for this master Water Analysis and it's tied in directly to everything they're talking about all right and it becomes really essential to to provide us with that that integral information to make the best decision on where to spend our money and um so that's what that that analysis is the other thing is is I'm I'm pretty happy to say that Sparta Township is really almost ahead of the game on this whole posos as you know we got in early on the the class action um the both Corey and both Cory's and cor and and um Ralph here uh we knew this was going to be an issue up you know right ahead and we've been on it for you know right from the get-go and now we're you know we're asking the council for the funding stream to address this and um I'm pretty happy with the way it's been going because I don't think there's anything else we can do other than what we're doing to address this situation um a lot of the small towns the small water systems that have posos they're going to go under and they're going to be bought out by much bigger outfits and they you know so I I I like the direction we're going here and I have confidence that that this is work working out the the best it can thank you any other one have any questions he with that U Madam clerk may have a roll call please councilwoman Quinn yes councilman Chell yes Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark yes uh ordinance 2421 has been introduced uh there are no hearings thanks for spending time with us yeah thank you very much thank you thank you thank you so much no problem thank you there's no hearing of ordinances uh we are now at our second uh public comment period this is limited to the resolution so if you look at um number nine uh in the agenda you will see um a bevy of resolutions so if there's one of those resolutions you want to talk about Now's the Time to do it uh you just have 5 minutes to do so please state your name uh and address for the record Jenny Derek's tap into Sparta I have a number of questions um number 99 can we get an explanation of what this emergency is for the solid waste um 910 the aformentioned hiring of the water um invest uh investigation company Boswell I've heard that there it was just stated that they're going to be looking at getting funding for low interest interest loans but what about grants will they be applying to the state for Grants to the state and the federal and those monies do run out so um is Boswell going to is that within the scope of their work and are we going to sit around and wait for the analysis to go through until we you know and then apply for the grant or how is that going to work to make sure we don't miss out on that money um is there any change on 915 is there any change in cost for Katherine sarmad having gone out on her own um 9916 uh why is Sparta late in using our grant money uh whoop 9918 um so that's the one that's going to get us the funding for the master plan if I'm correct is that correct thank you uh 9 19 and 19 and 20 um why are we just accepting the audit results of the the 22 audit now have we been incorporating the 19 recommendations um within that audit that was done in 19 in on the 2022 Bud 2022 budget um accepted or given to us in 202 three with 19 recommendations have those 19 recommendations already been um addressed or are being addressed or are we just starting that now that's it the audit was for 20123 just to let you know it was for the year of 2024 I mean 2022 I don't it was for the period ending December 31st 2023 that's M I think it's just a typo I believe wait oh okay yeah all right because it did say 22 all right thank you all right thank um mayor I know you normally go through these I mean I can we can um if you wanted just do it your way and I think we'll end up addressing a lot of her question because I I do plan on carving out those resolutions may make a recommendation since there's so many could we just go down to dis and have anybody ask any questions that they want to any the resolutions and then have maybe second pass to see if there's anybody want to carve out for a boat well I think the ones that I I think it's sort of obvious that we would be carving out um are because the ones that um uh mic mentioned were ones that I was going to carve out anyway um for questions so I'm I'm what I can do is um what I think un let's we can move on from public comment if anyone else you're going to get if you're going to get the ones everyone you mentioned I plan on uh dealing with separately great thank you I guess my point is if my question's answered I've got no need to carve it out so it might make it go faster but it's up to you yeah I think I think we may have I have some questions on on some of these as well so anyone else on on resolutions yeah Rick fle P Road I have a question on 921 and maybe it's just a better explanation but I see a lot of movement of funds um from into two like a half a million dollars to the police department is that a lack of budgeting or why did we need to shift that kind of money I see money's going to rec Services I thought they had their own budget so how did we find $85,000 for them um we just had a presentation on water you're moving it's only $18,000 but from the water department to e that's a retirement system so I don't understand the correlation between those um and then it said Solid Waste salaries I thought we outsourced Solid Waste that's like 151,000 so why is that even in the budget so I don't I don't are you going to get into I plan on carving that out and so I I'll try to see that those questions get answered on when we carve that out but I think you've raised um some significant and important questions and I want to make sure when we we carve that one out to to get those answered for you okay because you know the way the problem is if I go to the resolu it's it's helpful that you tell me your questions I want to incorporate them we go otherwise your question doesn't get answered right because you had no opportunity to to raise your issues so right thank you m any other uh comments uh related to um the resolutions yes okay Mark Scott N9 poblo Parkway just wanted a comment I was down with the uh Le municipalities the other day and they had a tremendous presentation uh on Pest and how Essex FS worked to Cle clean up their system they've been working for several years uh in conjunction with Suburban engineering and over the past three years they've developed the system that originally was going to cost $5 million ended up costing $9 million and they were able to obtain grants uh over the past few years to knock down the cost of that by approximately $66 million um I thought Suburban was very impressive and my my question is is I um spoke to Jim the other day and thank you very much for your time um but we talked about Boswell and Boswell is not going to have their their I guess their initial report done for a year um after that then comes the feasibility the design the bidding and then the construction uh I guess you really don't lock in the funding until construction but you can start on the grants a little bit earlier the grants run out on June 30th of 2027 so if we don't finish the plan for another year that puts us at the end of 2025 and then we've got feasibility designed bidding and construction to get done before we can even obtain any of that grant money I understand the state money is is starting to dwindle and the federal money ends in 27 um I spoke to Suburban I I just want to know why they they have no record of being contacted um and I just wanted to know if there was a chance that we could talk to them they seem to have a very comprehensive plan I just want to know will will BOS will be conducting all these bases feasibility design bidding construction when you're when you're finished Mark I'm happy to done take care of that um I'm going to let my engineer Ralph Kier here okay he uh he handled a lot of the most of the leg work on on this project great yeah come on up micophone microphone otherwise people that are watching can't hear you oh I'm sorry you know what it's just easier I'll St perfectly fine if you don't mind is that fine uh so what what we did is I we working with our purchasing agent we put together an RFP so we did a request for proposal for Professional Services and we we have uh an RFP that we put together with all different outlines of what the scope of the of this analysis would be um it was publicly advertised just so you know so everyone that had an opportunity to take a bid to to bid on Itor thank you so much so everyone it was is advertised out to the public and uh actually um happened to know Suburban who you spoke to there but I probably have dealt with them a lot in the past they're very good firm very reputable firm probably dealt with a lot of the engineering firms at the league um and I don't believe we've we did not receive anything back we received three proposals back from qualified engineering firms sir Burman was not one so um and with regard to how how this is going to kind of play out with funding a lot of times even with Federal funding we need to we need to capitalize that ahead of time so we have to front the money to kind of get reimbursed for the money too with a lot of federal grants but there is money out there and what what we will do with this analysis is we will look at it we will see how we're going to treat for p as I said we've got Cory 29 different Wells here 31 right and 19 different treatment points so the point of this analysis is to get a comprehensive overview of our system look at the hydraulics look at the best way to kind of minimize treatment points and once we do that then we can put together plans and we can get together a real plan on how we're going to treat it and the best ways to do it but as I said before I just want to kind of really accentuate the fact that this was done through a professional you know an RFP was sent out to bid we we actually here interviewed all the engineering firms that were here it was four of us that did it it was a very transparent and open process and uh yeah and and a lot of this we will know better how to treat it how to fund it all right I'm sure if you you know I happened to know Suburban well I'm sure they told you three or four different treatment methods you use for posos right that depends on the type of water with you know groundwater the makeup the chemical makeup of the water and that also is going to depend on how we treat it so there are a lot of unknowns here that we need to kind of find out as we go through this process with the analysis so we know the best way to treat it and the best way to kind of consolidate and the most cost effective way to do it too but you know I have to know Suburban they are they are a good firm yeah so what do you think of this the timing um I think once we kind of look at the hydraulics look try to get the analysis going we will I think they will have a general idea as to how we're going to be able to attack the posos right as that how we're going to treat it how we're going to move forward you know we like to try to get it done within a year we could probably get it done sooner but you know again we are capitalizing money for these improvements right and you know some of this is going to take a little bit time but we also want to do it right and we want to make sure that we're treating it right and we want to make sure that you know this is going to be done the most cost-effective way as well when you use the word capitalizing what do you say what do you mean uh budgeting for example we talked a little bit about the the water rate study and how we we do a five or 10 year capital budget right right so I mean well you want to try to project in capital ize out all the improvements that you need to do so you have an idea on how to budget in the future right it's kind of how utilities always so saving for yeah you're you're you're essentially putting into the budget for future years so you could project out what you will need going forward yeah I'm just concerned that we do our best to take advantage of any grants oh AB absolutely but you know to do that we will you know when I think we need to move on I'm sorry when you go to the D or EPA you also need to have it a plan you need to have obviously numbers and budgets for them to work okay thank you very much thank you and thank you for your time anyone else wishing to be heard on the resolutions for public comment okay seeing none we will move on uh to the resolutions I'm going to try to do a few of these uh in Mass um because there's few that are uh we've done repeatedly and aren't necessary to have a separate discussion I just need to pull up okay um I would like may I have a motion uh to approve resolutions 91 through 96 and 9911 through 9914 so the motion is to approve resolutions 91 through 96 and resolutions 911 through 9914 I move that we approve resolutions 91 through 96 and 91 through 9 14 yes okay may I have a second I will second it all those in favor say I I the resolutions 91 through 996 and 9911 through 9914 have been approved we will now handle the remaining resolutions uh one after the other may I have a motion to approve uh resolution 97 which is a resolution authorizing the purchase of bulk rock salt for the Department of Public Works via sux County Purchasing agreement for 2024 2025 no this is just a resolution to use the contract to purchase salt this is we have we don't we have a motion but we need a second I'll second okay okay so I think the question and may be what council woman Quinn is um my understand I thought we had plenty of rock salt cuz we had some pretty winners and um what's the necessity to buy salt uh at this juncture what do I thought we had plenty already we we we do have plenty in in Supply but we want to take advantage of of any pricing because we don't know if it'll go up again and what we do is usually when we dwindle the supplies down we'll replace it they replace it and um I'll be honest with you um we never filled the shed completely uh at any time when when the the new building was built um we're doing pretty well on the treated salt that because I'm using the dome for that uh the barn itself though um you know it there's sufficient supply for the town without a doubt but we do as we use the salt we'll repl a  and we need to by resolution uh uh designate the vendor that we're purchasing the salt from and this is a a co-op vendor uh suus County the best pricing out of all the co-ops we belong to and um we we do this every year so this just gives you the ability to buy it if you need it and when you need it y it's not saying you have to buy it it's just saying you are approved by it should you need it correct yes so these are uh essentially contract setups yes exactly and the other question I had was what happens when the rates fluctuate during the year so we're locked in now for a little while with these contracts what happens if the rate goes down we and we want to purchase salt then do we have to do new contracts or well what's unique about these co-ops is each Co-op they bid their contracts at different times of the season and so you'll see different rates and they are locked in and when you get a variable rate you know you're committed to the to the usually the one contract that you've done your resolution for all right but every year they go back out to bid depending on you know when when the contract expires and then that's why we we participate in all of them so we can maximize our opportunity to get the lowest price uh this year it's with Sussex County uh some years it's with Somerset some years it's with Mars Co-op uh we we're across the board but um you know it's such a short period of time that when the rates change uh you do try and jump on it with whichever Co-op was able to get the lowest rate okay all right thanks sure any other questions regarding 97 okay all those in favor of uh resolution 97 say I I I resolution 97 has passed um may have a motion to approve resolution 98 which is resolution authorizing uh the purchase of treated rock salt for the Department of Public Works via Somerset County purchase agreement for 2024 2025 so moved I have a second a second okay and I think our answers to 97 answer the questions that we would have to 98 uh so all those in favor of uh resolution 98 say I I I resolution 98 has passed um may have a motion to approve resolution 99 and this is Township of Sparta emergency resolution under 3% limitation I'll make a motion to approve 99 um I'm sure there'll be discussion and may I have a second please I'll second for discussion okay okay and I'll take it back to council uh Council Deputy Mayor blue Meda you said you had some questions regarding this I think we need to explain it first because this my understanding of this is this is to bridge a gap that occurred because at of the um hike great hike with blue diamond that was not forecasted in our budget is that correct but we we had a new contract last year that we had awarded for blue diamond and in essence this year's budget did not reflect the amount needed to pay for the new contract can I can I ask if I heard that correctly So when you say we didn't have the money to pay for the new contract so this is for $60,000 so we're saying that the new contract what we owe to the vendor this year was not covered in the new fee structure because of when we changed the fees or what happened there's a little Gap at the end of the year it's both okay because you'll see the fee part and down the agenda yeah I I saw that okay that's so and it's a little bit of both it it wasn't uh not enough was allocated this year and to help get corrected is is is this emergency appropriation under the three 3% and there is um the announcement of the the fee increase for next year okay okay so in essence we owe this to the vendor and we and ideally we would have collected this in fees throughout the whole year from residents for garbage pickup but we just don't underestimated or we right uh this is to get us to the end of the year yeah all right so we're paid up we're in good terms but in order to finish out the budget this emergency appropriation thus emergency needs to be made yeah and then next year the proper funding will be put in place to offset and the rate increase will go into effect which will keep everything at zero and you will not have to do this next year that's the plan okay any other questions with respect to 99 the uh account of professional Consulting and special services strikes me as odd is that normal for solid waste uh blue diamond is a professional service and so um out of the state budget structure uh all the categories are usually the same so whenever we use uh professional service whether it's attorneys your services your outside Services it'll usually be derived out of that line I understand thank you any other questions with respect to 99 see none um all those in favor of resolution 99 say I I I resolution 99 has passed uh may have a motion to approve resolution 910 which is awarding a Professional Services contract for the water systems engineering analysis for the sparta Township Water Utility I move that we approve resolution 9-10 may I have a second please I'll second okay we've had a a pretty lengthy discussion about the purpose of of this analysis I don't necessarily see the need for any additional I I will just make a comment that you know of what's been addressed that um My Hope Is that uh we will pursue with you know due diligence and speed uh any kind of funding that would be necessary uh whatever that analysis reveals of of the capital expenditures that will be necessary and that we do so uh without blowing any deadlines uh that would foreclose us from obtaining the necessary Capital Improvement funding so I think that's speaking for myself that's what I hope I know that's Ralph that's your intention as well um and so I just want to make that clear thank you and mayor you you'll you'll realize because of the the the way we're set up here is you folks will be uh authorizing those resolutions throughout the year so you'll become aware of every Grant activity that that that goes on thank you so we have a first and a second all those in favor of approving resolution 910 say I I I I resolution 910 it's been approved done 11 12 14 15 we're now up to resolution 9116 because we handled the other ones previously um 15 15 okay hold on oh got it um may I have a motion to approve resolution 915 which is a resolution of the township of Sparta a aing a professional service agreement for planning services to Katherine sarmad PP aicp and sarmad Planning Group LLC I move that we approve resolution 9-15 uh may I have a second please I'll second and um before we get to is this um what was the I understand you know Katherine has been with us for quite some time I understand her affiliation has now changed is that right yes um the unique circumstance where uh Catherine is separated from her employer and uh she she is uh uh operating uh on her own as an LLC and um this uh resolution is to carry her services with the township to the end of the year uh and then next year we'll do another professional service agreement and resolution and she would have been carried through the year um into you know had she not had separated from I believe it was Harbor we she would have been carried through to December 31st 2024 correct right and so this is simply because of the change in her affiliation it required us to basically change you know the name that her contract still goes through December 31st but it's under the uh surad Planning Group LLC correct okay got you and the rate is still is is it higher or lower than it was when she was affiliated with with Harbor do you know I think it's an extra $5 an hour more okay I believe anyone else have questions regarding uh 9:15 okay all those in favor of resolution 915 say I I I resolution 915 as passed may I have a motion to approve resolution 9916 a resolution granting approval to sub minute submit lx-1 award extension application on executed Grant contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the project entitled Sparta Avenue street skate project Sparta Township Sussex County I move that we accept resolution approve resolution 9-16 uh may I have a second please I'll second okay and um what why do we need an extension agreement for this I have uh Corey here he's going to help uh explain this okay uh this extension agreement is um related to a New Jersey U Department of Transportation M way grant that was acquired on fiscal year 2023 um uh Grant processes actually was awarded in 2022 um for a project it's called Sparta Avenue streetscape project but it's actually the name says Sparta Avenue streetcape but the scope of the project was to bring sidewalks uh from proxy um you know Mohawk Avenue up to the theater the sparta theater complex um the project itself um you the town receive Township received 232,000 $890 you for that Grant um the only issue with that is that it's a million dooll project and in the last two years it was never funded for the rest of the project so um we um after talking with Jim I tried to move have the the department move the funds to another part of the roadway U for instance spart Avenue which we applied for this year uh so we can go you know try to maintain the the the sidewalks and improvements that we have today that are deteriorating in need need of repairs but they would not um shift it from a different section of town and had to stay within that that part of the project so with the um uh the funding not in place for the municipal part of this project uh discussing it with the dot they had recommended us to request an extension and then we can possibly rcope the project a little bit scale back um um uh but don't lose the funding so what right now we're asking for an extension which will give us an extension until we have so we have some time to work with the dot and probably uh come up with a project that will both um be a little bit uh uh fall inside the grant specifics but also allow us to put some funds in 2025 budget so we can actually afford it afford the project and my thoughts this project a good portion of this would be to extend sidewalks from Mohawk up to uh um W Nota Parkway there's sections there there there's no sidewalks that'd be a good good location it's designed is actually was done um about half a dozen years ago it's completed at least mostly completed we can scope that project we can give some estimates we can work with the dot um this extension allows us some more time to work with the dot and come up with the project that could work with us work with the Township in scope and budget okay so just just so I understand um the grant was for $232,000 890 um but the when you did the actual analysis of what you actually want to do it would cost about a million dollars so you have that Delta between those two numbers and it's that Delta of trying to get that million dollars down to where you're paying for more than 23% of the project because the the grant now is only basically 23% of the project right when I say the million I'm rounding up a little bit um sure when they did the grant um estimate back in 2022 was $830,000 I think today's cost I think you're you're you're going to be dancing close to a million dollars when it comes to the construction we have RightWay we have easements if if anybody's familiar with the the area from basically wona Parkway up to the theater it's some tough Terrain in that area where you can have retaining walls and some sizeable project to get the site um uh to get the construction up to this point um so my estimate right now is probably it's going to be approximately a million dollar to do that work and um and that's again it was not budgeted in 2020 um three or 2024 and um that's why the project hasn't gone anywhere but I think if we can get the extension we're basically requesting about a six six month extension to U um uh refine the scope of the project and and come up with the project that we can a bid that the do will approve and'll fall inside a budget that we can um live with with the township thank you for that if I can ask uh and councilwoman Quinn uh you might have to jog my memory because my me it's a little bit fuzzy here but this goes back five six maybe seven years ago I remember seeing designs for a a project to bring sidewalks up to Theater District and my my I remember that project being in the 900,000 range and I thought we had a grant for that and then when we re-evaluated the project the grant money fell short of that right and so I guess we didn't act on that Grant so we didn't we didn't uh receive the grant how does that if that if my m correct how does that relate to the 200,000 is I think it's separate I think it was a separate funding source it might have been do funding but it was a separate uh you know Grant you know um uh period for that those funds that did not go through um I haven't um wasn't involved with that haven't researched that I just know this one in front of us um uh This was um when you talk about when it was done I think the the plants uh the preliminary plants I have for dated 2017 um sound right it's been for a while actually my father-in-law you know did a scoping for this project probably 15 to 20 years ago and um and then the design went in 2017 they moved it Forward uh the grant when they applied for the grant um which is a little odd they it was you know say it was 830,000 they applied for the whole $830,000 which I understand the the motive you know trying to get as much money as you can but um when you come back with 220 and you had 8:30 you know um budget at that time that's a a large um balance to try to come up with in your capital budget I think the other thing was if I remember correctly um we applied for the budget monies originally and did not realize that you needed a shovel ready like you needed to have the plan done to get the shovel in the ground the day you got the money and the first time we put in for it we did not have those plans the second time we put in for the money before we put in for the money we had the plans so that on day one when we got the money we would be able to move forward but these are different some of the things that we have Implement over time it's like a patchwork quilt you can't do you can't go from like woodport road all the way down Main Street so when the the grants and whatnot come in there specific as you know to the different pieces of the project so it's frustrating because it feels like you just wanted to kind of get into a flow and get the whole thing done and instead it's it's sort of done patch work but we'll get there well Jim and I talked about trying to maintain some of the streetcape you already have which is important like for instance last year the the funny we have for 2024 was um Main Street MH we have that designed um you preliminary design we're going to be putting that out to bid in 2025 for constructions that's one item we're going to you know put into 2025 U budget um we also um we did apply for uh the 2025 fiscal year here which um we got awarded 115,000 for redoing some of the sidewalks on Sparta Avenue when I say spart Avenue different spart Avenue I don't know why this is titled Sparta Avenue but it's actually um you know woodport Road um but the spart Avenue in the area you know unerman hin Park and uh you know the the ice cream you know Burger King and those type if anybody goes through that roadway you see how it's deteriorating through the salt content coming of the state highway so that's why we did get about 115 ,000 this year which we're going to put that in a budget as well um because we that's kind of um I think the focus I'd like to do is try to clean up what you have um but this 220,000 is too too good to give away so I think it's a a good idea to get the extension work and try to get there's a missing link there if anybody's walked along you know from um Mohawk have so why I know there's no sidewalk there into a large section so I'd like to try to Target that with the funding that's absolutely so just to be clear you have those access to those plant CU I remember I definitely remember seeing them so you said you have them right um and uh that's a million dollish project uh we're going to hold the if we get the grant to 200,000 is Grant in abeyance until we get the rest of it or we're going to fund the other 800,000 through a bond or we um this is the first step you for I put it there's a system called PM pmrs which Clark you probably get CC on every PMS posting because you're the mayor um that's we we started the the the process of the extension because it we're at the limit now uh this this uh resolution will give us the opportunity to um you know uh work to save the Grant and and extend it once we receive it what I'd like to do is work with the Department to bring the scope down because I you know whether or not we come up with a million dollars um I think uh it's going to be important that if we we uh were able to uh extend the grant that we come up with a buildable project in 2020 um 2025 so I think we're we're going to reduce the scope um and then later on we'll apply for additional funding if we decide to move contined up to the theater it's a great project it's just a great project cost and while the chief is here if I can if I may um there might be I don't know if there's a study or if there's something that you that the department can add that would say that um there is a safety concern there that might uh be used as a iFit is to the project as well like I don't know if You' if you have a uh I mean that you have it at your fingertips but if you can research there have been how many pedestrian accidents or so and so that might help us this push us along with this project I a research that thank you and just so I'm clear I think that the councilman Sherell touched on something that um did we have a grant for sidewalks to go um from woodport Road up to the theater and then we ran into the same problem that we're running into here which is the grant isn't sufficient to cover the cost of the project so the not only did we lose the grant funding but we also basically had to ditch the project because it was too did that happen with respect to the uh you know the sidewalks going to the sparta theater I know that may be before your time it's definitely before my time but I think councilwoman Quinn basically did at that at that time they had a grant applied for a grant they didn't have a ready project and um when I say ready sometimes you don't have to have the design ready 100% but you do have to have the land available to do the project and when I state that these projects there's so many walls and slopes easements and things of that nature and right away that are required uh sometimes heard so it's it and that's not the first time I heard it there was another um Grant I think the do told me the same thing that there was a grant before that was rescinded and um uh I don't know the year of that but this one here is a 2023 and this is the one we have in front of us and we can save this one that's that's my okay got yeah cuz I think you know there are two separate issues one is you can't get the grant because you don't have a shovel ready project so you don't get the money at all that's a different that's in a different bucket in my mind uh the separate bucket is you get the grant money but you never get around to expending the funds because there's such a Delta between the Grant and that and so with with with it sounds like with respect to the grant we did actually at one point receive a grant for sidewalks to go up to the theater but it it was too it was too costly to do and so that that we that those those fundings rescinded at some point is that they expire Happ they expire okay got you that's like this one's going to expire yeah so that's the whole point we don't want this one to expire and then you're then you have zero Al you know then then you're starting with having to come up with the entire amount now you like like I stay before at the limit of this grant this resolution allows us to file the extension and requested the department could still say you know you're you know you you run out you haven't awarded during the time they could say no um but I think the chances are are low if we have the the council's backing and have the extension is there an opportunity for safe roots to schools grants to come into play and maybe and I don't know if we have an answer now but um might be something to okay that good yeah I think we should pursue all efforts to you know close that gap between the the Grant and the uh amount that would be needed to complete the project and if that means another funding source to come in is councilman Chell I think we we would be interested in that could be a different it could be another phase I mean sure I mean if you look at the beautification you know project I I saw a map I think Jim Shar you found one at one point that I think we're up to phase four or five when this uh you know on this project so you can definitely um you know um add another phase to it um and uh when we we submit the grants typically we don't submit them for the full dollar amount we normally you know we have an idea what the municipal Aid grants are going to go for and uh make sure we plan for you know um a project that's doable with the money that we think we're going to get you get more great but U uh trying to apply for the whole thing is um optimistic at best got you okay um all those favor of uh resolution 9916 say I I I resolution 916 passed may I have a motion uh to approve resolution 917 resolution of the township of Sparta setting the solid waste utility service charge I move that we approve resolution 9-17 may I have a second please I'll second it and um oh I'll second it okay we have a second and what uh what is the solid waste utility service charge what is this for garbage this is for the curbside trash recycling pickup this is along the same vein of of not having the utility appropriation set up uh in the first place um happy to say you know obviously we got new Finance Finance staff uh and we are correcting a lot of issues that we're finding in and other issues that the auditor is finding um and by correcting this with this ordinance this will set us straight for the remainder of the contract which is four years okay so as you alluded to earlier the the goal of a utility is to make sure that the fees that you receive for that utility are sufficient to fund the operations of the utility correct right and so what we've run into is that sometimes the fees aren't sufficient to run the utility and that's what we're what we're encountering here with respect to the trash yes okay I I think the U the understanding here is that this increase is the adjustment that we'll need now going forward for the next four years right a 5ye contract correct so in I I think it's important for the residents to know I'm not sure if is if tonight's sufficient maybe maybe there's some messaging we can put with the bills that instead of increasing it a little bit over the next four years now that we're kind of doing this now and spreading it out and these the intention is to keep this set right for the rest of the contract exactly you're you're absolutely correct and it it it puts some stability a lot of residents like to schedule out their payments especially their online payments stuff like that and um we did this uh with that in mind and uh I'm pretty confident that we're good for the next four years is there a way that we can communicate that logic to the residents so it doesn't it seem like it's a random increase or that's going to happen every year right we can put that on the next bill and I I work pretty closely with uh our tax collector who does the billing for this and we can put a message out okay wa for that thank you all right um all those in favor of resolution 9917 say I I resolution 9117 has passed uh may have a motion to approve approve resolution 918 authorization for submission of a Highland's initial assessment Grant application I move that we approve resolution 9-18 they have a second please I'll second okay matching th Cory what um he left oh there you are I didn't have my glasses what's this one for I assume this is in your wheelhouse yeah that that's why I didn't move okay um okay one of the uh questions we had earlier was regarding the um where we stood with the u u proposal that we had submitted to Highlands for um help with funding with the master plan um the uh the master plan um process everybody knows is is is underway uh one of the issues was trying to pain enough funding you know you know to um to pay for the master plan and one of the options we had is the uh utilize Highlands funding you know sources uh to help assist with that program my understanding is the the highlands had approximately $110,000 set aside for Sparta Township for planning um um planning efforts in Highlands we used about 20 uh approximately $20,000 went for the open space Plan and there's approximately $90,000 that they they still have um set aside uh for for Sparta Township okay um I worked with uh Katherine um on the uh the township planner uh on the scope of work to submit um to to Highlands um basically kind of following her guide um if uh if you recall she had like a almost like a bar chart chart kind of schedule of the proposals for the master plan um we uh I I I I took the information that Katherine had PR prepared and put it in a scope of work submit it to Highlands okay this is back in July um they came back with some more information is the fact that uh it led to the the the discussion about they would like to help funding our master plan however they want to make sure that whatever you know that we review our master plan versus The Highlands Regional master plan and they wanted a Highlands element to see if the the planning activities are in line with the Highland Regional um um uh master plan a lot of times of the Highland Regional master plan you you um it's not difficult at times you you you're looking at the environmental you know we be environmental sensitive we um um you review their preservation and planning areas and and you discuss you know what's what's being proposed in those areas and are we being environmentally sensitive to you know to what uh exists in that areas inside the highlands region um after that discussion I add added some information into our proposal about a Highlands adding a Highlands element to our master plan and then we got a call about the um request for a meeting and we we sat down and discussed the um in order to have the opportunity to get the funding from Highlands they they really want that to ask Sparta Township to um to um review uh do the Prof Professional Services to do an initial assessment uh application well the assessment of the the township basically they're asking a town to do an initial assessment to determine if plan endorsement would be a good idea for Sparta Township okay how much does that cost excuse me how much does that cost I believe it's going to be in a range of about $ 15 to $20,000 so at the end of this thing after you're done with it after you're done with all this R roll to get the money you're looking at $60,000 or $70,000 you're going to get if subtracting out 90 yes that's what I'm saying yes so you start off with 120 or 110 then you're down to 90 because of the open space uh plan that they're reviewing that actually I have concerns about that we could talk about that later then on top of that now they're saying well and then if you want this money you know then you have to do this thing which is going to cost another x amount so by the time you're done with this thing and you go through all this and now you've you've you've gone in line you've gotten your um Highlands check now you're looking at maybe getting $65,000 correct that part's correct 70 to 75 well yeah maybe I'm not good at math either this is feasibility of of of of joining the regional ma The Highlands Regional master plan so a Township independent of Highlands could consider doing that and would undergo expenses to do so right okay and what this does is it allows us to undergo that analysis but then get funding for that analysis as opposed to a Township that says hey I'm interested in doing the regional master plan for Highlands and then incurs a bunch of expense for which they have no grant money yeah but the grant money but the the grant money is specifically tailored to what the analysis that you're doing but there's no condition that you join the Highlands Regional master plan as a condition of the funding right well let me back up a second okay back to um councilwoman Quinn's comments about yes you're right the money would come out of that $90,000 okay um typically I think they would have Grant out opportunities that would um you know they might you know do that on top of the 990,000 but I think this year they have a you know particular their funding where they are right now basically been told it come out of the $90,000 but that doesn't that does not mean that you they won't give you additional funding on top of that and as long as you keep playing by their rules and align yourself with their plan and none of that has to do with the original objective which was simply to put a committee together underneath the planning board to just simply relook at the master plan for Sparta so my concern is does the money justify the additional work and what is all the additional work due to the schedule can I make a correction now this does not obligate us this is70 to $75,000 for the master plan and then 15 to 20 to go towards analyzing assessing whether what the benefits are and what the requirements might be if the township later on should decide for the planning area to opt into being conforming so it's not committing us to anything so we still he's saying you have to do this plan in order to get this money this is just we're saying that yes we agree we're going to as part of the master plan work we're going to also assess a requirements B benefits and and how much is that going to cost that's what I Cory said it's probably about 15 to 20 of that 90 but that's where I'm trying to get um Let me let me finish um that you're both corrected the fact that the 15 to 20 that's a preliminary assessment they want us to do that as part of you know the work that we're we're doing at the master plan the um uh when it's said you they didn't State I have they have nothing that they have stated to me this that you're not going to get additional fundings if you say no okay but there's nothing that says that they you know they will not okay so all I have is right now is the commitment to you know do the $90,000 the preliminary assessment cost will be you know taken off of that and whatever is left it be the master plan so if your master plan is 30 $130,000 or whatever number that was being floated around I think was $130 $35,000 um you may qualify 65,000 but there's no guarantee you're going to get the other $65,000 that that there is no guarantee and that window opens up again next second or third quarter next year I believe it's around I think their fiscal year the state fiscal year is July 1st I think I think it that when to open up next summer okay to reapply I'm a little confused and on the August 27th meeting resolution 9-9 we applied for a grant for the master plan from the highlands coal uh um Council and I believe that was in the neighborhood $150,000 how does this action relate to what we took on August 27th what was the action specifically we passed a resolution 9-9 approving the submission of a Grant application and the execution of a grant agreement with the New Jersey Highlands Council for the master plan okay I think that was that was probably Dan and maybe I'm wrong but I think was that not the money that we got for the open space doesn't say that the open space was 20 I don't remember doing the resolution for that but I I do know I'm looking at it maybe it just never got submitted that was the I think that resolution was for the initial Grant application okay there wasn't a Grant application we submit a proposal you know for grant funding okay maybe that was the support of the the grant funding at that time you know the $150,000 I did uh appli that not terrible I I it's probably correct with the numbers I did have an app one at one point having additional funding in it for engineering and uh uh attorney fees so that probably where the 150 came from um but but that is the application you know the uh the proposal that was submitted to Highlands I've been going back and forth with Highlands since that date on different revisions they asked of for us to do a Highland element I added information to the proposal you know for that and now they've come back and they asked us for the subliminary assessment the uh basically I think the uh the discussion was that if they're going to be providing that kind of funding they'd like to use the township to consider you know do the preliminary assessment see if there's anything that is would benefit or it be a detriment to the township if if they went through that process so this is one and the same process is what I understand because the again the title and from August 27th say resolution approving the submission of a Grant application and execution of a grant agreement with the New Jersey Highlands Council it sounds like this is one of the same it is thing and we they just came back with some more questions and we have to reffect it or something it's the same Grant and everything it's just they've been coming back to us and and putting more criteria on on on the grant itself and they wanted more uh uh Corey I remember reading that you know they wanted Corey's scope to be a little broader and to include this but it is all the same Grant and now uh they want assurances that we would consider uh uh uh the the regional aspect of this voluntary conformance just as it says in this but it is all the same Grant yeah okay but that request has did not come back until the last month you know for this assessment the funds were it started at 150 and it's it's dwindled down now because of of availability from what I understand from now I thought it was 165 at one point yeah I think it was 16 then I mean it was a lot I'm just the only reason I bring this up and it's fine I mean I'm not saying I don't support the the master plan because I've said a million times I do I don't like playing games with the state I don't like playing games with the state agency I don't like getting involved with hooks and carrots and and all that kind of crap and every single time we get involved with this there's a hook or a hidden thing or a you got to give us that or in order to get this and I'm just wondering it's been since August what has it cost us on top of everything else to keep going back and forth with them and everything just fund the master plan and and then stop going back and forth with them and stop being entitled to all these state agencies and the agencies that represent the state that really want to take control and you know what I mean I think we really need to be mindful of this seriously what is this thing costing us at the end of the day we're going to get $70,000 for a lot of aggravation and have to promise now to go do even more work and you know line up with their plan if we look at the scope again I'm just saying sometimes what you get is not worth what it costs you so what I'm saying is if we go back to the original scope of the master plan none of this stuff was in it none of this stuff was in it it didn't the scope that that uh the township planner had it did not have the elements for the highlands you know the highlands element the review of it uh in accordance with the Highlands Regional master plan I think the the master plan comes with elements but they would look at the environmental you know aspects of it that that's naturally inside your master plan but it did not have these requirements that Highland is now putting on I I don't disag agree that we've been adding we they have added items um as as a continues on on getting the funding like to share two comments one is we're not required to opt in regardless of what happens here we're just assessing which is information that's good to have even if we did opt in you could always opt out right I mean there's a town you can eventually opt out you're not required to stay into the planning area I believe right I think stated at I don't know what mechanism or how hard that will be once you in I think um I've always thought the um you know you know the um I like the idea of the township controlling their own you know you know Planning and Zoning with with with land use and Zoning I have not you know I've only have one of my towns that has opted in it had a very small you know area so a planning area yeah it had a very small planning area but so it's not like Sparta you know either way this is not a block this is not locking us into join by doing this this is just saying we're going to assess the benefits and the requirements right I think this assessment will be very and then and to fund the cost of that assessment so I think it's important to remember Sparta is in the highlands and I think a reasonably prudent town that lives in the highlands should at least consider right whether to join the regional master plan or not so a town would go through the analysis to consider it what this is doing is saying for the costs that are incurred for purposes of that analysis we are getting grant funding now a town could say I want to be considered joining the regional master plan of Highlands but I don't want to deal with the highlands at all we'll fund it ourselves right they could do that right they could say I want to look into whether it makes feasibility to join the regional master plan of Highlands but because I don't want to have to deal with the highlands itself I will incur those expenses and will not receive any grant money that's something that we could have done is that right absolutely there's nothing that says you have to take Grand money I think Sparta has been very um um resist resistant to taking a grand money because of the possibly the fears of whatever may come with it yeah yeah and and what is coming with this is what the highlands is asking you to Simply do is hey if you're going to take our money at least look into joining us you don't have to join but at least look into it and we'll cover the cost of you looking into it that's my understanding of what this resolution is doing am I wrong about that no when it becomes to preliminary assessment that is the idea you're supposed to they want you to look through the you do the preliminary assessment to determine if um plan a d you know going the plan endorsement process and opting in your planning areas is is a viable option that that's that they're asking you to do so the other thing that they were asking us to do too was do this open space Recreation report and and my understanding of that was not that that money was coming out of this money my understanding was that money was separate than this money so I didn't understand that that that that 20 was coming out of this money but I just want to draw everyone's attention to the fact that when you get involved with the state with these plans next thing you know I'm reading through the report and I'm calling Jim on the phone saying hey they want us to give uh all this to the state this there's something in it for the state I've warned about this for years years and years you have to be careful when you get in and start taking money and and you know everything sounds great until it's not there are always hooks there's always a trap um and you know what I'm I'm very mindful of that and I hear all of this and I think you know what it's like okay now you're in it with the open space now you're in it with the recreation now you're going to be in it with your master plan now we got you into the highlands where does it end and again let's stick to the objective of the master plan let's get that done before that ends up taking double the time it did and next thing you know we get a grant for 75 but it cost us $200,000 because it's now two years later or a year and a half longer because now we have to adhere to all the stuff that the state wants us to do that's what I'm worried about I would rather see us pull it out you know fund whatever it is we're going to fund and get it done in one swoop rather than keep getting going back and forth with the state on these things and just keep control of Our Own land in our own zones and our own place and if we decide after the master plan we want to get into the highlands fabulous but it shouldn't be a condition I don't think well again I think it's been stated over and over and over again there's no requirement that we join the Highlands Regional master plan by accepting this grant this simply allows us to get funding for the analysis of whether to do so and if we didn't do that we could go ahead and do the assessment but we wouldn't get it it would be coming out of out of our pocketbook instead it's coming out of the Highlands uh council's pocketbook and to me if we can get funding from the highlands Council to look at the feasibility it seems completely prudent to do so particularly when there's not a requirement that you actually have to join the regional master plan so that I mean I think we've belabored it but I I I just want to be clear that there's you know just so it's we are not saying that the condition of this funding is we have to join we're simply paying for getting funding so we can uh cover the expenses that are incurred to do the analysis and that that to me seems makes complete sense regardless of the Hoops they make you jump through they're still paying for the analysis that you're doing that you'd probably have to do anyway uh given the fact that you live in the highlands and you're redoing your master plan I think it's reasonably foreseeable and prudent for a town that lives in the Highland to maybe take a look at whether joining the highlands makes sense or not and this simply allows a funding source for that okay we can agree to disagree they should pay for it to move it's their program we should have moved on a long time ago I'm just saying be careful it's all I'm saying noted all those in favor of resolution 918 say I I I resolution do we have any NOS I'm going to abstain okay so we have i' rather just see it funded than get involved with State okay so we U resolution 9918 is passed with three eyes and one exstension may I have a motion to approve resolution 9919 annual report of audit I move that we approve resolution 9-19 may I have a second please I will second it all right um and this annual report is something we have to do every year is that right that's correct okay got you so this there wasn't a an extenuating circumstance that let us to have to do an audit it's we do it every year and we have to do an annual report that's simply okay it's actually part of our best practices yeah this is the annual report of the audit for the year 2023 M yeah sure um all those in uh does any council person have a question about uh resolution 919 no questions okay uh all those in favor of resolution 9919 say I I I resolution 919 has passed we are now up to 920 um resolution 920 resolution authorizing acceptance of the 2023 corrective action plan so I need a motion to approve resolution 920 I make a motion to approve resolution 920 may I have a second please I'll second it okay um so this correction corrective action plan for 2023 is a result of the annual audit that we just approved right correct okay um I think my question has to do with um did did we take a look at the audit for 2022 and I and one did we do that two was there a corrective action plan for 2022 and have we looked at the corrective active measures for 2022 and compared them with the corrective active measure 2023 to say we keep having the same corrective active measures year after year after year I want to make sure that's not happening that is not happening and in last year's uh there there is always a corrective action plan the orders always find something that you can improve on uh in last years I don't have it in front of me uh but they were not as extensive as these were um only a couple of them if I remember right like two of them you have them in your file they're in your um in one drive yeah I don't think they've ever been this expensive since I've been no there there hasn't but we we've done some changes um we we have a new finance department and um I've been really uh uh having a lot of correspondence with our Auditors um and um this is reflective in those actions and have we um analyzed or determined whether the any of these recommendations are not feasible like we can't you they're great to have a recommendation but the recommendation is only as good as you can actually execute on it as you see the responses each recommendation has a response and and um my finance team had carefully you know put those all together um they didn't they never came to me and said Jim this is not feasible we can't do this um I believe they're all attainable and the fact that we had such an extensive agenda already and you see a lot of Corrections that we're already making uh one is is uh I don't think you guys have ever seen so many transfers uh because um you know this is how we're we're we're supposed to do it and so there are some changes you're going to see you know from this point moving forward and as I also wanted you and the public to be aware that um you know part of 2024 is going to have similar recommendations because we haven't started to address them until this month so just be aware of that well honestly most of them say um action will be I mean I I thought that this was a very good report so I'm I'm referring to right now A which is a listing of each one y of the findings and then underneath it so what's the problem what's the analysis what's the corrective action and what's the implementation date and when you go through every single thing here every single thing says effective immediately effective immediately already implemented blah blah blah so I think in looking at what is shown here as well as what is on the audit report that the team has done a great job in really looking at everything with close you know with with in a very close scope to identify exactly what it is articulate what it is they're not fluffy fixes that are like you can't figure it out they've charted down what is the corrective action that's going to be taken and they've given you a timeline and all of it I mean this was done last last week so all of it is effective immediately um one of them was implemented in September of 2024 one of them says ongoing review other than um and other than that uh you have November for finding number 12 every other one is effective immediately so I don't think we could have asked for a better response time you know to to address and again you're dealing with all new members we have members that were there for a long time that retired and I think that you know it's a growing year but to me I'm very confident in the plan that you presented and the team presented with to the level of scope that it is I think it brought it really down into layman's terms and it's obvious that you're taking action and addressing everything thank you sure second any other comments with respect to um 920 all those in favor of approving resolution 920 say I I I resolution 920 uh has passed we're now up to the final resolution resolution 92 no it's not the final there's a 922 um resolution 921 a resolution authorizing the transfer of calendar year 2024 budget Appropriations we have a motion to approve resolution 921 uh make a motion to approve resolution 9-21 uh may I have a second please I'll second it yeah I think we had some questions with if you look at and it refers to a schedule B and am I right that what schedule B is uh attempting to show is showing the transfer from one account to another account right right so this is uh an extension uh the recommendation number two that all budget transfers shall be approved in compliance with njsa for a that's for you guys to do that so now we're doing the the proper transfer by resolution and what these transfers do is they're covering shortfalls in the budget account lines right believe it or not this is actually is done every year uh and you would have seen this done every year um but the shortfalls here are extensive uh I'm not going to Sugar Cod it um but these are necessar these transfers are necessary to get us to the end of the year here to be uh um fiscally soluable here so that's why the these are being done and it's it's being done with my finance team and uh uh input from our Auditors um to get us uh you to the end of the year um that that's what you're looking at and you're seeing the froms and the twos how do we how do we trace it is what I'm trying to figure out is I can't read this in a way that says you know on the from line it has we'll start with the first one account number 012020 101 254 that's where it's coming from now where is that account going to how do I find that well the Box Bel below it where it says two accounts from accounts then to accounts mhm so I I I I don't know if they just correlate with each other it's not a one for one add up all the top you add up all the top and numbers at the bottom then goes to those in bulks you can take $2,000 One account and put a th in a second and a th in a third so in other words the ones on the top have uh back of letter better terms excess right now exactly and we're th those combined equal 900k and then the ones on the bot next column down next row down that 900k is being distributed across all those accounts because they have a deficit right now to get us to the end of the year okay I got it so the but there is no legal requirement that you're aware of that where you're moving from one account to another that there has to be some type of symmetry between what you're putting it into so for example uh from on you know the first account is purchasing we had $6,000 I guess extra right and now we're taking that $6,000 and putting it somewhere on the two line but we have do we have we have complete discretion to where to put that they do and it's it comes down to timing though is you can usually only do this in the last month month and a half of the year um this is more on the accounting controls and I I got to admit to you that I'm I'm not the the finance guy here I I lean on my professionals on this but as I understand it though that these transfers they happen commonly but usually it's at the end of the year and it is to cover shortfalls that were you know unforeseen I think the other thing you keep in mind is not only are these shortfalls but also in the audit it detailed out the fact that some things in the opinion of the auditor were not in the correct line items so what you're seeing I believe also are not just the shortfalls but the corrections that the udor recommended with hey that money really would be better in this in in this pot and also what you're looking at is you're not looking at a bank statement you're looking at a summary sheet so you know if you were to I'm sure go ask Dawn tomorrow and say hey show me where this you know a line to line transfer like a an actual worksheet rather than a summary page she would be able to tell you where all of it goes it's not just going in a lump sum in in nowhere land you're just looking at a summary sheet of it right now right so we have a surplus in some accounts and a poity in other accounts and it's toward the end of the year and we need to pay our bills under this account so it's we're just making sure it's paid out of the appropriate account okay and just so and then there's no requirement that there be sort of uniformity between where you're going from and two you just take the money find out where you still owe money and then and put it in there so the fact that you know you you know you have a deficit and say engineering you I mean a surplus and the engineering of $216,000 um you're like hey work do I have an outstanding expense that's under 216 I still need to fund yes I do you know the police need 209,000 and for a police for police cars I can take the money from engineering and theoretically apply it to the police car where and that would cover it and that's sort of what we're doing here although you don't need to line up the from and the two got it okay Jim can can I shouldn't be this intense I say next to see this next year but it won't be as involved okay okay so I was going to ask too in the in the the two where the money's going to there's a few that stand out and I think Mr fle asked a couple of these uh there's Finance for 100,000 there's Recreation for 85 and there's three police rated related ones for 482,000 so those are all pretty big ticket items are what are the drivers so do we think that we under budgeted in these so back in the spring when we budgeted we missed something where we didn't we whatever I mean Finance needed another 100 okay some so now we got we have to be careful a few months from now when we're looking at the budget again the new budget to be careful well the new budget we will do the yeah yeah we we will do the the proper accounting and all this this sheds light though of where the expenses are where the hits are and stuff like that and I think um uh between the capitals and the grant monies um this is straightening it out okay okay and the last question that at at the bottom so I believe we have freedom to do this as long as they're in the same fund right so the whole big top section is our main budget the current Fund in the middle there's one item in the water has to stay within water I presume and the same with the solid waste has to stay within Solid Waste okay because they utilities yep exactly all those in favor of resolution 921 say I I resolution 921 uh has passed we do have a late addition uh as if 21 resolutions wasn't enough uh we have a 22nd but I think when people Hear It They'll understand why we're doing it so it's resolution 922 a resolution supporting amendment of The Fair Housing Act uh FHA as proposed by the New Jersey Institute of local government attorneys uh so may I have a motion uh to approve uh resolution 922 I move that we approve resolution 922 uh may I have a second please I'll second and uh Deputy Mayor blue medy could I think you stumbled you know Came Upon this uh last week um would you please kind of Enlighten us what why we're P why we're uh exploring uh passing this resolution yeah so this this resolution um there's a a group of uh government attorneys the NJ LGA New Jersey Institute of local government attorneys um who are who have been studying on a very close to the affordable housing legislation and the the rules the numbers um they have been putting together an amendment to the New Jersey Fair Housing Act and with this resolution does it's a resolution of support that they go through with that Amendment um so this is being considered by many municipalities across the state um what it does is this looks at how the base number of affordable housing units uh was calculated and what this will do if the legislation approves this it would reduce the total number to make it uh more appropriate more representative of reasonably likely to occur housing just at a high level what's used today and what they used for this is that they used uh something called a household change so we were looking for the base numbers for the last 10 years they looked at household changes and this is in a sense saying that it's more appropriate and more uh within the powers of towns to use use um a methodology based on housing units so literally housing units net housing units or certificant of occupancies so what this is looking to do is this just a non-binding this is saying that Sparta Township supports the effort and uh is asking that the uh New Jersey legislature can consider this and enact an amendment to the fair housing act um that would then create a recalculation of the numbers to something that's more uh realistic and appropriate and uh if and when this is enacted or approved it then goes to our legislators so our our state senator and our State Assembly people um and we hope that um you know that enough support comes from municipalities that the our state representatives will see this and be in support of uh legislation to adjust That Base calculation for the numbers and I think there was some uh legislation also from our local and uh you know State officials that supported changes to this that thought this was outrageous so just a little background in the nutshell the housing numbers we've been through this before in Sparta this is our fifth iteration this will be our fifth iteration of it so I have been here for um a few of them but what ended up happening what ends up happening is the state says okay we're going to go to a book we're going to go to a formula and instead of going out and really taking everything into consideration they say okay here's our formula you have uh 35 square miles 40 square miles 8 square miles however many square miles put the formula in and out pops your obligation so they did this last time in one of the big problems especially for places like Sparta was we we don't we have a much different landscape than other parts of New Jersey whether it's South Jersey or in the cities like norc Patterson Loi places like that um but what happened was this sort of formula if you will was just kind of thrown at everybody and if you didn't like it or you didn't think you could do it then you had to take pay the money and have your professionals go and negotiate with what at the time was COA now it's different they've taking COA out it's affordable housing um the issue is and I think Dean correct me if I'm wrong the purpose behind us putting this in this resolution was because this formulation of what is being recommended by this group of attorneys could reduce your um requirement up to 75% so it is extremely significant so just think about it if if the state came in and gave us the same calculation as they gave norc and yet we have Highlands Wetlands restrictions Lakes you know all this other kind of stuff you could see how it's outrageous so that's why we're passing this to Really voice our displeasure with it future action will be coming most likely but this is our starting point to be able to fight back and say no no no and what's really upsetting again is that when they came through right before they gave out all these calculations they specifically said oh we learned from last time this time we're going to take into consideration all of your wetlands and all of your blah blah blah so you know there would be different formulations depending on what the Vista and land Escape is and they absolutely did not do that so here we are again but um this is step one and it's been updated to include information that is specific to us so we wanted to give that to them to provide numbers and I'm really I'm thinking that this is a great first step it's a small timeline a small window where you can fight back uh and then they have a window to fight back per usual um so I think this is a good start so I move that we um you know I think it's it's it's just great and I'm glad that we're doing it yeah I think it's an important step um and uh just to to Echo that and just to clarify the you know this is um a a resolution of support so this is not a litig it's not litigation and this is not our response yet that's coming as councilwoman said correct in terms of our number exactly this is for a you know support for the Statewide um movement to help amend the current however we did get our number and we do think it's outrageous yes we do just to clarify in case anybody was wondering yeah yeah so th this is simply a resolution to support a change in the statute right because as we all discovered when when you go in front of the DCA and people start yelling at them why did you use this methodology why did you use it they look at you and say we didn't the the state legislature told us what to use we don't have authority to change what the the the the state legislator said we should use as a methodology so we're you know currently the only way you get that change is persuade the legislature to change uh the standard of of one of their components of the methodology and I applaud uh the New Jersey Institute of local government attorneys for identifying um a standard that if they if if they're right and they can get to agree would have a significant reduction uh in the fair housing requirement but again uh um municipalities even the DCA is at the mercy of whatever the legislature passes and uh they're not you know they're without authority to you know change that so the only way you do it is to get persuade the legislator to go back to the drawing board and change one of these standards so I think it makes complete sense uh to do this so with with that um all those in favor of resolution 922 say I I resolution 922 has passed um we are now any other surprise resolutions we got tonight all right we got through all 22 um okay uh we are now at the council liaison updates and I'll start to my far right and move to my left so councilman chello um yes just a second [Music] um committee uh committee reports uh the environmental commission last uh our last meeting was November 14th at that meeting we were greed with a presentation of the recycling programs offered at schuma the um and uh we also reviewed two applications um but it was a actually very well attended event uh for us uh our business development committee meeting from November 13th was cancelled our next meeting is on December 11th uh we have a u mayor Clark and I have a meeting with our Board of Ved as our leaz resp to them uh on December 9th uh we did have a meeting of the sister city committee on November 18th uh we talked about some event planning what the structure of the days might look like at this point our working model still not um final but our working model is to have it over the Columbus Day weekend on October 2026 I will also point out that uh while at the league of municipalities uh conference last week uh I did attend event about holding Mass tourism events that are a seminar about Mass tourism events and I did raise a question to the panel and mention that uh we we were planning this event and I was very pleasantly surprised at the very warm reception they got from those in attendance that everybody seemed to peque their interest and I had no less than four people come up to me after the meeting and ask me how to get involved or how I can come so this is a it's um it's an exciting event to be planning and um that's all I have for Council leaz on updates thank you so uh update on the planning board from the um last two meetings first there was a joint session on November 6th right in this room um it was nice to see so many uh uh people on volunteers and elected officials together it was planning board Town Council environmental Commission and also several employees and uh some of our professionals as well were there and it was an overview presentation and discussion of the open space and Recreation plan uh which has been driven by the environmental commission who's done a a tremendous job with that and it was created by the Land Conservancy of New Jersey uh second the planning board also had a discussion on uh cannabis at the council's request the council had uh drafted ordinances and requested that planning board start looking into possible land use and Zoning opportunities uh particularly for retail businesses and third uh there was a a special or an Abridged meeting on the 20th uh to hear application 24722 which was approved and it was uh for the Lake Mohawk Tennis Club regarding pickle ball courts the next planning board meeting is on December 4th and there will be one following that on the 18th and that would wrap up the uh rest of this year that's all I have thanks you um Council the on updates for our we had our first meeting for the uh Trails committee uh probably like three weeks ago uh we had a gosh about 10 people showed up and um we're uh at in the process now of you know getting uh the mapping that is necessary to figure out where where the gaps are uh in the Trails um I'm I'm very lucky that we have um Glenn dystra is also in there and he's done a ton of survey work with respect to these trails and so we're getting you know uh a lot of sort of professional level uh mapping done of where these gaps are um we're going to sit down and and try to figure out what what makes the most sense um tackling these uh gaps and the trails going forward um but we have a very enthusiastic group and I think we were meeting next Monday um for our second meeting um with respect to the um spart of film ready um we are you know again we submitted our application we're still in the queue uh the film commission is having somewhat of a delay processing the applications uh because they want to review the ordinances submitted by various townships to try to get some kind of consistency and so they've now they meaning the um the state commission has asked a request for the Attorney General's office um to kind of look at a you know a template for a an ordinance um through which the commission can then judge uh other ordinances are coming in the idea here is to get some consistency um uh in New Jersey because you know what do we have 562 municipalities um if if we have 562 different film ordinances um a production company looking at that trying to decipher it uh will just go nuts so for example in New York um all five burrows follow the same ordinance um so if you're filming in the Bronx you know what you have to do it's the same as if you film in the queens and they're trying to have that because it will facilitate it um better but even despite that um uh right now they are projecting about a billion dollars in Revenue as a result this um of entertainment direction there's 15 active uh movies being filmed right now in New Jersey and um I know the Bob Dylan biopic which is going to be released in December which they have a few of the scenes were done over in Still Water um that that is uh that was wrapped up and that will be released but there's a whole bunch going on but we'll have a better idea by the end of the month um when we will hopefully get approved and then when we do uh we do intend to have uh an event for the public for which um members of the film commission will come and speak and um also there will be a um release of a um a trailer or what they call a Sizzle reel which is simply a video that you use to persuade um entertainment companies to pick up your uh project um that will be that was shot completely in Sparta that will be part of that and that's hopefully that will happen sometime in February so that's uh the film committee um with uh rev 250 um we are in in process of looking at you know what what events that we want to do um and you know we have a whole list and I thank councilman Chell um for his tenure there and he he he got it very organized and um also a lot of different you know a lot of it is trying to figure out you know all the all the great ideas that people have um we can't do all of them we have to kind of figure out which ones we want but there are going to be some very neat ones for example like what we call Tavern talks where you can go into a local restaurant and they you have people from the you know the revolutionary era kind of even dressed up like way and you know you'll learn a lot uh about um again you know Sparta's you know uh what revolutionary activity occurred in this area a bunch of other things so right now we're trying to C that list down and try to figure out exactly what we want to do but um again um due to the efforts of of councilman Chell and others on that um we're we're pretty well ahead of a lot of other towns I know I went to a presentation at the league and a lot of people hadn't even heard of it they hadn't done you know anything and and so we're we're pretty far along comparatively so I applaud everyone who got involved in that um with the we did not have a a Rec committee meeting uh because uh we were all at the league I think there's probably one going to come up in December um and maybe councilman councilwoman Sher uh Quinn may have more to add but that that is all I have for my Council liaison updates before we move on I have a question about the film ready committee I was looking and I could not find and I I might have missed and I might be there uh any resolution ordinance that formly established the committee or its responsibilities in scope now that they've moved on from the film Readiness ordinance I think if we want to establish this with a committee with some specific responsibilities like it seems like now that they're they're providing some kind of administration function of of um reviewing applications that come through and you mentioned that there's going to be some standard that going to review it against I feel we need to have a resolution to establish their scope and responsibilities something to consider for next year yeah we have um you know good I didn't add that that yeah we've had uh organizational meetings where we've now come up with an organizational structure for for the committee and whose certain responsibilities what their roles will be um and also you know you know obviously we're we're limited what we can do also by virtue of the ordinance that that that we pass there's you know some of our our role with respect to the ordinance is you know kind of very clear that we're advisory um a lot of that falls upon Jim and and and input by Chief mccarrick and others but but there will be you know a an organizational structure uh to it in addition to kind of what want to do and I know we've been as a council we would you know we've been talking about having a a sort of code of conduct and rules that all non-statutory boards that would have to apply and so we figured that also um we've been waiting for that because I I think that one would govern us right we're not going to seek a carve out uh for the film committee with you know rules that apply that should apply to the business development will also adhere to um you know the film ready but I think that we've been talking about having um a code of conduct rules of the road etc for all our committees and and hopefully we can get to that and then that will also form a a framework for us I think what talking about is a little bit different um that you know we should have passed a resolution maybe at the beginning next year that says here's the committee here's the composition of the committee here's the scope of what they do and the uh the boundaries of of the responsibilities here is how often they meet just like we have it for any any of our other non-statutory committees just to tighten that up we asked about that Dan actually we had asked about that and we're told that that was going to be what was going to basically be in included in like the application was more of like a more of a structure and stuff like that but I think it never happened that way so you guys are going to have to go back and put something together so that it's just need to be memorialized where what's going on yeah no I think you're you're um either misinformed or remembering incorrectly U that wasn't the application you don't need to put in what your organizational structure is um there are other requirements that are spelled out in New Jersey film commission but I mean it's I think it's a good point that that councilman gell raises um and that you know we will be working on a a resolution that um you know does put out set forth the topics that you're um requesting but we were asking about things like who's going to decide who what movies go in there what's going to be like the structure like that like if you read the ordinance that will answer your question so I'd recommend reading it um don't be flip with me Neil don't even start I'm just saying I think that Dan's bringing up a great point and clearly um maybe the way it's written or whatever maybe it's not clear so maybe we do need to go back like we do with every single other committee and spell it out and that's what Dan's recommended so I think that that's a really good idea and we should stay consistent and I'm I I don't know maybe you missed it I I said I agreed with Dan with that what I was trying to point out is that for purposes of the ordinance you didn't need to do that and and for purposes of the application you didn't but it's a it's a it's a it's a valid point and we'll do it thank you that's all I have what did you just say I said that that's all I have it's it's your turn so you're up so the municipal Alliance so um great news the municipal Alliance is wrapping up for this year um open items are all being closed out as we speak we're super excited uh each of the schools is going to be given an option for speakers we've been talking about this for a long time a request went in to give the sparta food pantry their second installment check for $33,000 if you remember the alliance was a able to leverage monies that we got from the um opioid settlement and after lots of months of work what we were able to do is come up with a three-year commitment for each of those years last year this year and next year the sparta food pantry would receive $3,000 out of those funds so that uh request has gone in um I do want to thank everyone on the teams for all of their hard work Lisa Lombardo from the county as well she's always been a huge cheerleader of ours and many times she has said that Sparta has the strongest um Alliance in the county that all comes through really hard work so thank you to everybody who's on that committee the seniors had their last meeting of the year um in during that conversation the executive director from n Heights was present Francesca and uh she was giving an update and I thought there was some interesting information to share there first and foremost in her tenure of 9 years at NL Heights the wait list has been opened for a collective Collective 1 hour and 10 minutes every single time the wait list opens she said it's usually open for 10 minutes and then it closes so I think that's something to keep in mind I sent everyone on this Council correspondence with regard to this update that she gave [Music] um you know with the lot of the statistics in there something else that's very important um you know we've been doing a lot of talking about low-income and affordable housing and the requirements that are going to come in and there are some really great ways to address that to limit infrastructure in the towns and meet other needs that we have one of which is senior housing um nll Heights if as you know the township entered into a pilot agreement with them in their existing Community they cannot build out any further at that site because they have no more space but um this is a great opportunity I think for the township to reach out to n Heights we have a lot of space we're going to have a need they have a need it's a great model so I I would recommend again I recommended this a couple months ago I'm recommending it again please reach out to them because the seniors really need some help with housing um they're they're just it's so limited um another really great way not to to go too far off the track with the senior update but another great way for us another way thing for us to think about with housing is Veterans housing this is a big issue as well and something that people don't take into consideration but whether it is getting into an agreement with the veterans whether it's tiny homes or housing or whatever it might be this is also another demographic that is suffering dramatically throughout the county um and this is another great opportunity that would I would really recommend everyone looking at to be able when you're talking about the COA obligation and what it's going to be think outside the box and look at some of these other communities that really are looking for help um so with that said uh this is the last meeting that that they're going to have for the year salute 07871 um again the the orders will stay open until February of 2025 all the work there will continue without delay um we'll continue to work with the town and put those banners up and we're very excited about all the new ones that we will be putting up in 20125 um the health department continues to do you know Steve continues to be very busy with different reports especially now going on the winter months where we're starting to now talk about RSV and other you know the the other some of the other illnesses so again the website has been updated please take a look out there um we did have also have a council connect Dan and I and uh as we said before some of the thing we want to thank everyone that came first of all to to meet with us and what issues came up well streetscape so Corey we were talking about that for quite a while tonight that came up um Traffic Safety chief that came up and and I saw captain already had gotten back to the resident which is fantastic um and the water testing so I think the water testing everybody in the room is here perfectly here for all the things that that we were asked and again we do want to really thank all the Resident residents for taking their time to come out and voice their concerns um also uh I think there I had questions around the um the logistics so you've all heard me at nauseum be screaming about you know all these great things that have absolutely no logistical systems behind them to help Sparta Township staff be able to handle so food things like food truck or um licenses and everything they need to be credential dogs Li dogs and cat licenses things of that nature also online systems um and paperwork and that we need to get the film ready permits and the long-term rentals you know a lot of people don't know but every single home in Sparta that is rented so as of January 1 2025 no more short-term rentals but every long-term rental also needs to be registered with the township that is by ordinance so I know we talked about in 2025 really imposing the um fees if people are not registering because we really need it for Public Safety and what not but I I cannot stress the importance of you guys looking at some kind of system to help the staff be able to manage all of this from an end to end because it is extremely timec consuming it should all be done electronically there are systems out there that do this and before we start getting involved like Neil was talking before about the amount of licenses for film ready and all this other kind of stuff the staff's going to be bombarded and it's it's really there are tools out there to help them so please please please look at that that's all I have oh no I don't I have one more thing for the alliance I was chosen to be a one of the judges along with some of the police officers as well we had a good attendance there from Sparta for the what's your anti-drug contest and I will say it was amazing it was held at the center for prevention um it and what the initiative was is children in all the area schools dependent on their grade either made poems or Draw photo draw pictures or took photos of what is your anti-drug and then winners were selected out of every single school district and the amount of entries was staggering and the the quality of the some of the stuff that these kids did was unbelievable so I'm not going to steal anyone's Thunder and and talk about Winners or any of that kind of good stuff I just want to thank the center for prevention this was also um an initiative that we supported as well they do great stuff for everybody um that's struggling in these areas so that is all I have for um bis on updates and one thing I can't remember if I brought it up at the last meeting was that I I did attend um along with Chief mccarrick the O opioid uh settlement fund um they have quarterly meetings um Chief mccarrick was uh represented Sparta extremely well um identifying um what you know Sparta is doing with with some of the funds including um considering um getting now LAX own dispensers and uh I think it was I know there was some other like Talent administrators that were were looking at him and writing copious notes because we were sort of leading the way there so thank you chief mccarrick for for being there and and and um putting Sparta in such a good light appreciate it absolutely and now we're up to any unfinished or new business and none for me I have some okay so again I want to warn everyone around the state agendas and the state requirements and all the grants and all that stuff sound great please please please moving forward just be mindful just be careful um the same thing with you know when you get involved with like the land Conservatory or the highlands Coalition they're great groups but look at where they're funded from and just be mindful read the fine print before you get into into um you know the grant monies and stuff like that because as I said before sometimes it can cost you you know more than than you're getting um so just be mindful of that as my advice um also i' I've asked Jim to please send me some reports so I will be sending out some recommendations for or potential recommendations for ordinances to the next at the next meeting I'm just waiting to get the the those reports back um I mentioned in the beginning of this meeting that an ex an employee of this Township passed away last week her name was Julie she worked here and had a lot of friends here this was her family for a few years now many years now actually um she was an active employee at Sparta Township and in the past when um an employee that is still working here passes there's different things that are done as memorials for them um there are trees there are little gardens there are things of that and what I am asking is for the township to do the same for Julie and that possibly whether it is a tree planted in her in her name or a park bench that is put there in her name I am asking that she be given in the same um respect that the other employees have been as well um I understand that she wasn't here for a little while but that was because she obviously was not well but she was still active and um she was big part of the sparta Township family so I'll be following up with you on that the other thing I want to talk about you know we talk about threats and and this and that and I do want to encourage sooner rather than than later for some kind of uh policy change or policy to be put in place to handle the dangers around 5G networks um there's a lot of studies that I've been reading lately believe it or not that really talk about how dangerous this is and we are getting into situations now where you know obviously and we have for decades now this the celf carriers and different carriers and whatnot are putting poles all over the water with the water tanks which is fine um you know for what it was I guess but now more and more of these things are coming and what's happening is they're starting to be on private property sometimes depending on the height and whenever they're getting into the different deals I think it's very important that we put some kind of guidelines around where these things can go where they can't go where they shouldn't go um I don't think they belong near Parks necessarily I don't think they should be around where children are all the time you know or people are all the time it's one thing to have it up on top of a mountain where it's miles away or or thousands of feet or hundreds of feet or whatever it might be but I think that we should be protecting the residents of Sparta by saying that we do not want these things or they're not allowed in certain spaces where children or adults in the town are spending a lot of time Outdoors uh Without Shelter around these things and I'm not trying to sound like Chicken Little I'm just trying to you know as techn continues to advance I think it's very important that we stay aware of what's going on I don't think these things should be like I said Parks I don't think they they should be anywhere near there I think we need to protect the children I don't think they should be near schools I don't think they should be anywhere where people are for a prolonged period of time um even a place like town hall or the library for that matter um I think we need to Shield people from them because I just don't think there's enough out there right now now to counterbalance the concerns and I'm again not trying to be Chicken Little but I feel like this is very important and something that I would recommend that we that you do here as a policy change to protect the people within our community when it comes to 5G um so with that said uh that's everything I have okay so I I first just uh I attended the league convention last week and uh it was again very valuable great sessions a lot of Education uh met a lot of interesting people and I think there's a lot that we gained from there we could bring back to the township to benefit it uh second item is uh I believe that we uh the council passed cannabis ordinances introduced them in October and then sent them to the planning board for consideration master plan consistency review um they were deficient in terms of they didn't have the detailed zones in there which I think we knew we wanted to just get the planning board's initial feedback uh but they're unable of course to do a consistency review and I think you know we kind of discussed this that now it might be most appropriate to resend or withdraw those introduced ordinances now just to C formally can do that or at the end of the year they're simply going to die from uh not being acted upon okay I mean the planning board knows that they can't act on them I know there's a requirement they respond in 35 days recommendation though Mr Ryan would it be just cleaner to resend them or withdraw them or does it matter really uh I I I really don't see a difference six one half doesn't the other so I think it' be the pleasure of the council all you want you want a motion to resend that would be it' be a motion to withdraw the uh the introduced ordinances yeah what's yourp I can make a motion to withdraw them if you want this is an ordinance yeah it it would be ad ministerial action yeah it doesn't seem necessary to me it's going to die regardless and you know and there's not going to be any obligation upon the planning board to act on an the council is going to have to reintroduce have to reintroduce it so ordinances uh in 2025 it seems like a belt and suspenders approach that probably just isn't necessary but we should do something final should we not so the planning board knows that they no longer have to take any action on it rather than just let it linger out I think that well that's up to the liaison I mean do they need anything further from the council no I mean we've heard from our professionals that there's the understanding that they are deficient and they can't act on them I send a note that says CER defici and I can't act on these I certainly can confirm it with the uh the planning board attorney we'll be take note for the yeah I think it's it's clear yeah I think it's clear um if there's no preference either way then that's fine okay yeah I I will do that okay okay just wanted to make sure that got out there in case we had to do something uh that's all I have uh I have a couple of things um uh we have a meeting scheduled with our state uh assembly and and state representatives uh on December 5th I believe next week um I'm not able to attend that meeting I do have um prior work obligations um just to let you know uh I after having uh previously earlier in the month attended a preparation for being a teacher for a day the actual event is December 3rd so I look forward to I believe their fifth grade uh and I believe it's um language arts in the morning and fizzed in the afternoon um so I've always actually when I was in college I was determined to be a teacher and uh I just never did it so it's something I'm looking forward to because I think teaching is cool uh I want to say that I enjoyed the Veterans Day ceremony on the uh on Monday the 11th a couple weeks ago so it's always um a moving Mo uh event uh councilwoman Quinn already mentioned that she and I participated in the council connect program at the library on November 15th uh I uh along with others I did attend the league of municipalities convention November 19th 21st I attended do these six different seminars uh one on food waste and uh this is something I've been exploring for a while and uh it really became clear to me that the state just lacks the infrastructure to really support this and um I'm not haven't exhausted all my Avenues yet but it's um it's it's a hard problem to solve uh second one was building better streets to enhance mobility and I I feel that once the trails committee finishes their task which is to create a Trails plan I think that group or maybe the next incarnation of that could eventually be um one that becomes a uh a safe mobility better biking and pedestrian for streets there's a uh Committee in Highland Park that is uh dedicated to that and I think this is a natural progression of that once their initial uh tasks are complete um the third was about Pres Ving historic buildings I did uh attend a seminar similar to that last year and met with the historic preservation Society office in New Jersey and um I believe that is something that we still should explore I think that's going to be part of the master plan uh review where we might consider setting up a historic commission to make sure that we don't knock down our historic buildings because once you knock them down you never get them back uh I did attended the annual risk management seminar which gives us our taxpayers uh some relief credit toward our insurance premium uh the I attended a FIFA World Cup 2026 preparation meeting uh which is uh just to find out what the uh host committees up to and one of the things they encourag because there are only so many tickets to sell for for uh the games in the metal lands and Philadelphia that uh and millions and millions of people want to watch that perhaps every uh neighborhoods could could uh can host a like a watch party so I think I'd like to explore that in spart it' be great to get all spart of people together and watch the us or whoever we um whoever we want to see play um together it's a I've been to those before it's a lot of fun to do it in person um and last one as I mentioned earlier was handling large scale tourism events um seminar took us through some of the dos and don'ts and what to look out for those so that was a interesting uh seminar as well um last year uh councilwoman Quinn and I participated in a holiday decorating Department decorating contest um where there was some talk about broadening it um just putting that out there see so it was at the police department last year was the police department phenomenal it was a great were talking about if you were going to extend it to just floating the idea um I'll leave it at that we're already on it so I'm I'm sure you are I think you started it was amazing amaz it was so impressive good everybody has fun we had a good time no I need judges though what I need some judges so we'll be sign us up I'm in and uh I it's finally i' I'd like to make two motions uh first I make a motion to put on the agenda for the December 10th meeting that we fly the flag of the United States national guard on December 13th to honor the anniversary of the founding of the US National Guard so that is my motion that I'm making I will second it all those in favor say I I I we have three eyes and one exstension um for flying the flag of the National Guard thank you uh and secondly I'd like to make a motion to put on the agenda for the December 10th meeting that we fly the flag of the United States space force on December 20th to honor the anniversary of the founding of the US space force I will second that all those in favor say I I I will fly the flag of the space force did you note that I abstained yeah one exstension for that I think they take through all of our branches of the military that we okay try to honor this year that's all I have thank you think we have reached the in uh may I have a motion to adjourn no no there in public oh I'm sorry sorry I always skip that one because it's usually like midnight um sorry we have a final uh public comment period for um what I call the grab bag so anything that you don't see on the agenda um or a resolution you can come to the the the the microphone I have two quick questions one is um I've heard the opioid settlement fund mentioned a couple times over the last few months how much did sparter get and where is the money going besides the food pantry yeah sure is that public information on the website or has that already been shared yeah the money comes um Chief I think you're going to probably answer all this but the money comes in drips and the money comes in in drips and drabs um he'll give you the exact amount so far but it goes all over the place the food pantry is a very small benefactor of where the money actually goes chief I think you had it all did you have another question just so we don't gobble up your five minute time besides the opioid recovery um the other question as you mentioned the the COA or the affordable housing and there's some efforts to maybe dispute what I what uh Sparta has been assigned what has Sparta been assigned 427 427 units how many 427 but it's important to understand the preliminary number coming out of the DC CA no I understand I've heard a number out there and I heard it's not too good for sport we going to fight it but I never heard what the number was so right very preliminary and just just for anyone interjects you have any other questions I don't want to again gobble up uh not a question but a comment sure as some of you know I was on the school board for seven years and when I I'm familiar with the transfers from into and the process and it's not totally uncommon but I want to make sure that these are shortfalls and not sort of a grab bag that we have this extra money at the end of the year and let's give some to the rec department 85 Grand let's go buy three new cars let's do this other stuff that maybe wasn't budgeted maybe not even needed but the thought is the money's there let's use it and I don't think that's the right way to use taxpayers funds so I'm not saying it's being done that way but I've seen it done that way in in uh public uh situations and it's it's not a good thing so it's a valid concern and I agree with you good all right Chief uh opioid recovery settlement fund okay so I was going to report on this a few meetings ago but there was a a larger presentation so I kind of deferred to that so ob8 settlement funds are um it's a settlement from the state of New Jersey from litigation for uh addiction and so our uh Township opted in to this suit and we receive funds so there is a projected amount um it's on the State website there is a website uh the State website and a drop down for the opio settlement funds and how much we're projected to get and how much uh we got thus far I don't have the exact number in front of me on how much but it was is over $100,000 uh they're saying it should be coming in through 20 38 um we don't have any real schedule of when it comes in sometimes we'll just receive checks um and that's really so we really didn't have much information the first year and then the state put out some guidelines on you know just a Clarity it's total of 100 plus or minus 100,000 it's over 100,000 that we've gotten that far um and I want to say maybe we spent around 18,000 um we're I'm coming up with a little bit of more of a strategic plan for the future but some of the things that we spent it on uh already are some uh Community engagement events such as sport a day Su County day police police youth of uh programs our junior Police Academy lead day uh Municipal Alliance program so we have a lot of different speakers as uh councilwoman Quinn have mentioned have gone to schools um different programs from the center for prevention and counseling um also uh as she mentioned the sparta food pantry and also training for some of our officers deescalation first aid CPR AED uh the uh Naran deployment Crisis Intervention um these funds could also be used in in conjunction with mental health a lot of times with uh addiction um in op in the opioid world we see uh mental health issues with that too um so there's different you know categories that we look at when it comes for spending prevention harm reduction treatment and recovery and uh there's a lot of different things that I'm looking at prevention mostly uh community outreach programs Municipal Alliance support like I mentioned um harm reduction so some of the things that we would purchase as Naran um and the state had uh passed a Senate Bill 349 which has First Responders when they respond to um somebody that may have suffered from a an addiction I'm sorry a um overdose um whether they go to the hospital or not we can relieve them or the family we have to with uh Naran also uh we're purchasing uh fentanyl test strips so to to give out the public and we do that at our community engagement events our community engagement events as I mentioned before we bring in the center for prevention and counseling I'm not sure if you're familiar with that but they are a hub for our County when it comes to all areas of of addiction and Recovery I don't want to I don't want to be rude or interrupt I was wondering based on this fund is it it doesn't go to the um families affected by it it it well the it goes back into the to the community community on the way that it should be used as far as these categories which I'm explaining to you right so this settlement itself is not geared to the families that lost loved ones b i I do have some familiar that that's sort of my area of practice that we weren't in the opioid case but there's a separate class action dealing this is this is class action is is focus on municipalities that had increased cost and expenses related to treating the epidemic and so that the settlement is related to you know efforts that municipalities can make um you know to you know because they had to expend so much money treating the epid there is a separate one a separate class action that will go to the victims you know if you lost a love one or something so that's separate so that you know would be mixing funds if they were to take the opioid settlement fund from municipalities and then give it to but there I know with with in speaking to Chief mccarrick I know a concern that he has and I have is making sure that you know we do help the people who are in recovery right now and and know the Center for Disease um and prevention and they're very good on that I heard them speak and they're you know really treating our recovery Community um is important and so the extent that we can can help that out I know we're focused on that yeah thank I could give you a couple other things that we're doing I I just wanted to understand the allocation of money I know personally families that have been affected by it so I just didn't know if I have a few minutes I'd like to explain it just you know I started this already um you know some of the other things with harm reduction I'm looking into um like the mayor said before is purchasing a a vending machine that supplies harm uh reduction items such as Naran T test strips um and things of that nature um we also uh I'm sure you've seen our operation takeback with used medication um all that comes into Sparta at the police department um we store it package it and then we work with the DEA uh twice a year they take it back and we I noticed I got moved from outside the mailbox outside to inside the lobby right always been inside the lobby never outside yeah um we do get a lot of medication uh in this town when we Sparta shows up we we show up with a lot truckload so um some of those other things as far as treatment um in that category again we work with the center for prevention and counseling on a uh uh it's called operation um helping uh um sorry operation help hands so we'll go door too with people that we know that may be addicted or just suffered a an overdose or or maybe were just arrested um with uh narcotics alcohol anything like that and try to help them get into treatment um we also you know we've been a part of uh clear which is Community Law Enforcement addiction and Recovery where somebody could show up 247 in our lobby and say hey I need help I want to go uh go to detox or whatever I need to do we have that partnership with uh with clear to point them in the right direction and get them the help that they could give there's a lot of different guidelines that go with that but you know we work them through that and then um obviously there's more areas that I want to investigate with recovery um what I would like to do is you know meet with some of our local um AA and na uh organizations and see what we could do to help them what funds they may need and um we always support the uh covery uh annual recovery addiction walk what takes place in uh Franklin it's a very big uh 5K that everybody comes out for we always help with that out and um so those are just some of the things that we're doing uh I know that there is a um a survey out right now with the master plan and everything I want to create a survey and put it out to see how the residents of Sparta think that or would see the needs of this money to be used I just don't want it to interfere with the survey that's out right now um but if you want to talk more about it or anybody from the public public please don't hesitate to talk to me um the reporting is done annually through the state which is on the State website great all right thanks for going through that you're welcome appreciate it je can I can I add to what you just said sure So I think the the other thing that the alliance did this past year with the addition of the opioid settlement funds was to expand out also into a big piece of all of this is prevention and you know like it has to be a balanced approach across all the demographics in the community all ages everyone um and a big piece of this is again let's not get into that situation so when we talk about physical and mental health and well-being one of the things the alliance decided this year was to um add this component called live your best life and this was all um about being able to get involved and support some of the programming to help people have an alternative to doing things so getting PE giving people alternatives to staying engaged and being associated with something um you know if you're not um a a kid that loves playing contact sports for example let's provide something else another different kind of program um for the senior citizens you know it's alarming um but without even realizing it we're really seeing a lot of issues with seniors now not because they're going out and um you know doing what they think is bad it's just the medications that they're taking are so strong and in some cases you know um there might be a senior that's had a scotch and Coke every single night for 40 years but all of a sudden they get a new medication and that scotch and Coke with that medication now puts them in a situation where they're at risk for you know y or or DWI or whatever um so anyway there this live your best life thing also allowed us to be able to reach out into a different way with a positive message in addition to all of the other support and help to really not go with the same message all the time don't do it don't do it don't do it but hey hey here's an idea let's do this or let's do this new thing that's all I just want to I think it's just an interesting new Dynamic and component and also something else that's new this year is um the screenagers so a lot of mental health problems and addiction problems that they're seeing now in children and some adults is stemming from misuse of social media and phones and all that kind of stuff so we looked into that and actually as SP of school systems are going to be starting to implement us the screen edgers program um starting next year so I think if we can address things there as well thank you chief any other public comment and D's tap into to Sparta I just whoops sorry keep doing that I have a quick question couple of quick questions um is chapter 39 in play in all of North Village or is this just we're adding one road is it in the talk about title 39 I'm sorry title 39 yes it is so it it's so all of North Village so this was just one different type of coverage that they're getting this alternate side of the road CH it's North Village has some public roads and has some private roads okay right it's it's got different sections to it this section where Cypress Keystone Market Street are all in that that um private private there right behind um did Chelsea there okay and the one road uh Market Street was having parking issues so the HOA reached out to us to an enforcement on no parking and then they went through the process and the procedure of filing the the the the the title 399 Force title 39 it's just like Lake Mohawk they went through the procedure years and years ago so we could go in enforce title 39 by so but it's not just on that one road or is it just on that like if someone blows a stop sign are you able to stop pick Rite a ticket okay that's what I'm question um so in March the township passed a resolution about the water Bell maybe it was an ordinance forgive me it's late um I don't need to tell you that um in March the ordinance um was to increase the uh the waste Solid Waste bills by $25 a quarter and it said that that was um the ordinance established the rate for 5 years but now you're changing it and now it's going to go up $40 a quarter right it was going up to $100 a quarter now it's going up more and so if we knew what the contract was when you signed it back in March and had that ordinance that established the rate set it in stone for five years that was the quote then why are we changing it now what changed did the contract change contract did not change but the budget did it was underfunded so the the contract the numbers in the contract though were what they were it's a utility right the trash and curbside pickup is a standalone utility it needs to sustain itself right in order to run the utility you need more than just a contract for outside service okay that's what I'm asking that's so so it's above whatever we're pay you're playing The Blue Diamond correct um which brings me to kind of an overall question with all of the N all of the items that were on the agenda tonight that have to deal with rejiggering for lack of a better word make fixing mistakes looking at looking at issues that have come up or just been detected or are now being addressed do we have confidence in our finance department are we going to be looking at you did mention that we're probably going to be looking at some of this stuff again next year because it's it's no November and we're just now getting to incorporate some of these um some of the items that were brought up in the previous audit so are we worried about it are we worried about our financial standings are we you know we're spending a lot of money in past and and DCA and and it's all warranted I'm not saying it's not warranted but tonight's budget tonight's agenda was worrisome with all of the changes and all of the seeming issues that are just being addressed now at the end of the year are we worried about this are are we going to be okay with our budget for next year our our water bills are going up our our and I get it I understand that these things happen but it seems like there's a lot of issues that are being addressed or having to be addressed there is a lot of Correction being done Jenny there I I won't deny that um but I'm confident that the corrections where we're making are are correct and they will put us on the right track moving forward and I think we tried to be as transparent as possible with the cause and effect on these um those Corrections started as early as September uh and and from this point forward uh I have high confidence that we're doing the right thing for the township and it will you know uh bold well go moving forward um those utilities need attention and and full disclosure that sewer utility as you'll read about in the rate study that'll need to be addressed and the council is aware of that and uh first thing next year uh we'll be addressing it okay thank you yeah I think we we have full hope and expectation that um the finance department will be in better stead um this year and that that's obviously something that the council's concerned about and I I know that um you know we there's no risk to uh jeopardizing Bond ratings or things that was sort of questions that I I had asked when I saw a lot of the changes but we're still financially fine it's just you know some of the allocation of the budget and what fund what um accounts they went to needed some correction so um and I and I applaud Mr Zep for being on top of it and and trying to correct where we can just to build on that um I want to re airm that you know a couple months ago standard and pores reaffirmed our doua Plus credit rating said our credit was excellent and um said our our cash reserves are exactly where they should be um so um and we and I believe in 20 in early 2025 all of our Capital bonds all of our debt will be paid off the longterm debt so um we're in fin fine Financial shape that's what I was looking for thanks and Chris just one quick thing the concern you have about the township um being roped into things um by by virtue of funding from the state I understand what you're saying the open space was triggered the the requirement to to join the open space was triggered by re by accepting that $500 something, grant for the for the um so I appreciate that but that's not just it so normally when you first of all before we even put in money and I've I've talked to you about this before we even put in for that Grant before we even put Dime One or minute one into it I had said over and over and over hey make sure that we don't owe them anything hey make sure but because it was an inclusive playground you know I I look my job is to bring it up no no but I want to be I want to be transparent about this because and I want to be clear and I'm glad you brought it up so I had been warning and warning and warning and warning against this I never saw the final contract I kept saying be careful be careful be careful that's a lot of money let's make sure we're not you know giving away nope we're not giving anything away everything's fine don't worry about it everything's good next thing you know know you get this report and not only does the report shockingly so yes you have to do a Rossi but that doesn't mean you give them every single park in that in your entire okay so the original Rossy that you have to do after doing this which I found out about after that thing came in because I was told this was not going to be a problem after warning everyone about it forever so yes you do if you take that money I mean when I first heard it Jim will tell you I called him I said give it back and tell them thank you very much we'll bond for it in a bigger Bond down the road in a couple years you know this is exactly what I was afraid of because then you get these organizations that are funded they get their money to be able to give you a grant because they're getting their money from the state what makes me nervous there is it's what's best for the state not the town when they come back in and and say oh well you're going to take this money so instead of doing the bare minimum and keeping control of your playgrounds and your parks what we're saying you should do is just give them all your Parks just give them everything and I called him and almost had a nervous breakdown and I will tell you right now I served as mayor during Co I've said this before I cannot underestimate the importance of you keeping of us keeping control of our assets we never closed our Parks during covid never we closed the playgrounds because you had to by law if you look every state park was closed Stokes all all of them you could not even go in we said no way people need to walk they need to get out they need to whatever so we followed the the the stuff that had to be closed no Sports the playground whatever but our fences to and our gates to our Parks were always open if you give stuff away to the state once you give it you are never getting it back and you will lose all control anytime you want to do a a a project anytime God forbid a waterline I'm sure you guys right if a water thing breaks or you need to dig something up forget it it's no longer your DPW and your water people now you got to coordinate with the state because technically it's their property and trust me on this in my experience of doing this for 12 years maybe that's not a lot to a lot of people but I have picked up some things and one of the things I am very mindful of always is watch out what the state's going to give you for free because trust me it's going to cost you more than it's going to save you okay with that just like just like to add a clarifying comment on um just in defense of the open space plan um I know Council I know you're coming from but the um the open space plan needed to be done I mean it's supposed to be done every 10 years the last comprehensive one was 1997 so I don't think we just did that because we were asked to BU the state or Green Acres when I gave you from two years ago yeah but the open space plan yeah that was just a list of inventory of open space that wasn't a full comprehensive open space plan that's another thing too we got uh grant money but then our staff ended up putting in all kinds of work that costs even more and while I appreciate it I'm not saying I don't I'm just saying when you get involved what looks like you know what do you what's the saying there's no such thing as a free lunch I'm just saying be careful yeah yeah and also I agree with that we' have to be careful and um also I think that the rosi the rosi doesn't necessarily give the land to the state right just it's on the inventory list now to be preserved conserved it's not like we're actually it's being owned by the state right just a little clarification I don't want people go away with the wrong it is actually parts of it are and once you take that money it's on the state like that that that stuff that state so go to Verona Park go to any of those other places wherever you're taking the money from they're the controlling factor and in in the rosi yes you're you're knocking it down but you're also ending up with that those things being on Registries all over the place and everything else so I'm warning you I'm just warning you you know look I it's just my opinion take it leave it whatever it's fine just be mindful y okay right with that I'll make a motion to adjourn may I have a motion to adjourn I move that we adjourned may I have a second a second second all those in favor say I I we are adjourned happy thank