##VIDEO ID:7PvJkzty8xc## good evening I call to order this meeting of the Verona Township Council for Monday 7th October 2024 Madam would you madam clerk would you please read the open public meetings act compliance statements the notice requirements of the open public meetings act have been satisfied with respect to this meeting Council the meeting time and date were included in the public meeting notice along with the public internet link and telephone call and information notice of meeting agenda was posted in the municipal building and sent the official newspapers of the toship our Ledger at Le 48 Hours proceeding the start time of this meeting the agenda and public handouts can be viewed online Aton comment period will be held in the listed on the meeting agenda and instructions on appropriate time Holland here McGrath here councilman Roman mayor maoy mayor Timo manager Kevin myself munal clerk Jen K thank you madam clerk whatever please stand for the of alance to the of the United States America and to the the mayor's report today I had the opportunity this SP Saturday to attend the stable brona electric vehicle Fair uh which was quite an event um there were about 20 Vehicles there from various different dealerships and individuals I think are my Council colleagues Deputy Mayor makoy and councilman Roman for including their vehicles in they were both talking is uh during the during the event um we had people from all around coming in and uh the dealers were very supportive as well want to thank Theon environmental commission um and the members of sustainable for Manning the table there as well as the J Tree Commission in order to reach out there's some food vendors there as well and um Electric area to test ride those which was very popular um so it's really really a great event so thank you for putting that on and I hope that that'll continue we just before the meeting held the the opening dedication of our accessible inclusive playground on next to Veterans Field on the drive um in the community center complex it was great to see representatives from um Senator Cado and Sen baros from present as well as representatives from the county community development program who helped to finance the installation of the bathroom uh which was significant as well and children our former director of recreation Jim Cunningham was able to join us which was which is right nice surprise and uh various other folks from our committees our rec committee and our Mi um so it's great to see and and I hope to enjoy it that everybody enjoys it I hope to enjoy myself there's adult exercise equipment there um but there it was already uh getting a lot of attention even while we were there so uh that'll be good and it's really a great addition to the township and look forward to continuing that really thanks to our Township Administration for getting the job done once again and to our public works for getting the job done once again and to our attach of engineer for getting the job done once again it is a extraordinary team effort and uh we have done so much in in just the time that I don't the council that uh it really is toed to a fantastic staff um we are going to be doing some recognitions tonight we have a couple more coming up we have be doing recognition for our Girl Scout silver award uh earners as well as our softball team for their uh Championship season as well so look forward to those we'll be doing soft the upcoming meeting then silver award we're arranging a date and time for that to do it near one of the installations um if you haven't seen them you can uh go near where our uh shelters for people catching the bus are and there's some need things already there so I encourage you to check those out as well we've notice them just walking the dog and so on right for recognitions this evening I'm sorry I have one more item I received correspondence from the Fairfield Police Department thanking the Verona Police Department for providing coverage after they had a an untimely death of one of their uh officers and uh it was really a lovely a lovely letter showing that cooperation people don't know um the West ASX police departments become like one Department don't they helping each other they have an interoperable radio channel um hosted by Verona and various other things to keep the security of this area up at night and it's just great to see that collaboration and always of course thanks the leadership of our police Administration there so first off we would like to recognize DCH Monclair Acura for um donating the amazing refurbished sign that is in the the triangle um at the intersection of Bloomfield and PP that Avenues it is a is a big Verona maroon sign it is it's really beautiful uh item so we do have some background on that um the uh the recation process done with great care in order to protect and maintain the beauty of the original sign that was made by a beloved Corona resident and local businessman Matthew Beni McGrath uh Mr Beni McGrath was um was killed in a horrible pedestrian accident uh not far from where the sign is um if his work is visible all throughout ex County he was really an artist and a master sign maker just a great guy um so it's great that we could preserve that these signs are part of a legacy that Mr mcrath Left Behind the signs can be seen throughout Essex County including the Environmental Center Brookdale Park he once said the sign is the voice the mission the space the sign restoration project is part of a larger initiative aimed to revitalize Verona's visual identity and enhance our public spaces the Arona pool recently received a sign sponsored by leide Delhi New signs are bright and inviting and will be strategic place not only to serve as wayfinding tools but also symbols of extreme Community Pride and collaboration uh so just like mon Acura did setting the example for everybody in town there are several opportunities for residents business to get involved and support the sign project there how many two left Mr Dio two left so um if you're interested contact Mr diaro he loves taking money people on our behalf um so can I thank DCH enough they are a great business to have in town uh I did of course ask them to change their name to DCH Verona Acura um Mr reposo aged right before the meeting so um you know we're we're in good shape there um but we do have a certificate that we'd like to present um thanking DCH for uh for their contribution so here to accept that recognition is Mr Kem respose so Kem come on up we're gonna come out in the front here [Music] one son you like to say anything you're welcome to uh just an honor to support the town love being part of the community and if you guys ever need anything Joe knows how to reach me the uh the deputy mayor just pointed out to me that Mr M just also did the sign that is behind us as well a little piece of History um in addition we have it's always exciting this time of year to recognize the Leona Junior uh Women's Club for their work with Verona fites hunger week um this has been going on for many years and uh was actually put into effect by our ear own Council mcrath so it's wonderful to see this project still going it really does engage the entire Community Food and security is significant in this area uh despite being a um relatively affle in place there are always people in need uh especially with Rising prices and um and things like that it's significant so I I think bottom of my heart when I was in U in high school as a deacon in my church help to run our community Fu pantry and I understood at a young age what the impact of that was so anybody that is uh that is helping on there is significant and I'm going to read a proclamation and we'll invite Mana to come up and you're welcome to address the council at that point the proclamation reads whereas the junior Women's Club of Ron Incorporated it's a versatile organization that has been involved in Social and charitable work in the community since its Inception in 1926 and whereas the Arona Junior Women's Club continues to be a group of dedicated young women who attempt to reach all people in the community by doing their best to bring to life the junior Women's Club motto of joy and service pride and achievement and whereas the number of suburban residents living in are at risk of poverty and hungry hunger has risen dramatically in recent years whereas a 2020 study of financial hardship issued by the United Way found that of New Jersey 3.3 million plus households 10% live below the federal poverty line and 37% earn less than the basic cost of living for our state whereas the same report shows that in Verona 21% of the population earns less than the basic cost of living for our state and 4.5% of our residents live below the federal poverty line whereas last year over 25 businesses Civic groups Charities religious organizations and each School in the township participated in the food drive and whereas the success of the project collectively acred over 8,000 bags of non- perishable food items and nearly $177,000 in monetary donations for local food pantries on an annual basis whereas on October 19th 2024 the Juniors will arrange for Cassel and Son's Moving Service to bring all the collective food to the human needs fantry and the township Rona will be offering their assistance to this worth while cause and therefore I Dr Christopher tamboro mayor of the township Verona hereby recognize the junior Women's Club of Verona and especially the Verona fights hunger committee the township thanks them for organizing this townwide food drive and appreciates the time and dedication the members give to Verona and his residents witness whereof I here onto set my hand and cause the official seal of the Town Corona New Jersey to be fixed this sth day of October in the year 2024 Mania why don't you speak first and then we'll hand you the we'll do the proclamation it's ear day yes you gotta give us the details well thank you very much uh to the council for for recognizing this very important week um I I wish that uh what I loved most about their Proclamation is you call this a group of young women but the the sobering reality is that the 2020 stats that you uh read off are those numbers are much higher now unfortunately we uh have much um much higher level of poverty in our community even Verona even though it's quite invisible the food insecurity here but it's here um and so I am once again so uh overwhelmed and grateful by the support of all the local businesses um who have stepped up and sponsored uh Verona fights hunger week this year uh PR funeral home is uh and Kings Supermarket once again has joined us but we also have new sponsors Aldi Supermarkets is uh been quite generous um this year which is uh wonderful new addition um and then we have other as I said we have Kings we have other returning sponsors doos and Jeep uh has been extremely generous once again they uh will be helping us haul some groceries from one of our Sho and drops uh this weekend kareim it's not too late to become a just like your competition across the street um but but also restaurants local restaurants have uh stepped up this year um to put together three dine and donate nights um which I think will be a lot of fun for the community to go out and support um they're going to be donating a percentage of their proceeds to brona fights hunger that's brona in Verona American Grill and Parkside social so we're very grateful to that addition as well um so I really I from the bottom of my heart I thank the Town Council for supporting this effort um it gives me although it is a sobering reality it gives me incredible Joy uh to to do this for the community and to to plug in and engage in this way and I also want to recognize my children Rose and Max pashman Rose and Max um they uh were really hustling at the supermarkets this weekend for our first set of shoing drops and then I also want to recognize uh the Juniors board members that are here Ivon Nolan and Heather ASAP as well and yvon's daughter Lucy so thank you for coming out to support well we have everybody come on up are I want this be here she won let idea oh thank you for helping okay making connection uh we are waiting for our Barnstormers team to finish football practice apparently this is quite an athletic group so we will alter the order of business when they um and we'll move into Mr diaro C management thank you mayor um Mr weekend I been looking at my mail for the weekend wel came in my new grandson I was in New York two days um that is being scheduled for you so we can meeting again we another me a meeting coming up with cwell University relative to additional pickle ball space there and the use of their gyms U as our Recreation programs are expanding and investing at the SCS that may prove to be very helpful for us the township attorney is working on the town SEAL issue Department budgets have been sent to all the department heads we'll be working on all of their budgets uh over the next couple of weeks getting prepared for presentations to Mayor councel and um we are in negotiations with opu those meetings are every Friday it's going very well I have addressed the May's question which I could discuss in Clos session but I don't think we have to have a Clos session tonight or that's all I have unless the council has any of the items on the 24 items on my list and we can roll into Deputy managers report projects any questions for maner on May councel uh the um I'll go through my list as as quickly as I can hopefully before the Barnstormers yet here um but we have the pool rate study and strategic plan uh we are expecting to have that uh draft version of that circulated later this week and lining up for a discussion at the October 21st Town council meeting uh with our Wastewater um projects our smoke testing is complete we are working with Boswell to put together a list of a summary of findings and and prioritized recommendations uh we have provided the updated plans and the construction management contract of the ibank for our our primary clarifier pumping station project project we are hopeful to have that project out to bid in the coming weeks uh we have also kicked off design for the UV disinfection system and the micr screens at the Wastewater Plant again those three projects will uh provide a great deal of uh benefit to the Wastewater shoting Plant um we are also uh advancing a an Emergency cleaning project on the sanitary sewer trunk line uh which runs parallel to pman behind all the way from Bloomfield Avenue all the way to the wastewater treatment plant that project is currently underway uh there were some findings during the smoke testing which indicated that there were likely a number of root intrusions so we are currently in the process of jetting removing roots and retevis that sewer line for the entire home trunk line with the w water projects We are continuing to move forward with the lind Drive well that project should be that well should be back online by the uh end of the year Fairview Avenue well is still pending the I bank's approval to go out to bid Claire's Drive Pump Station we have final design plans ready to resubmit to the ibank uh similar to what we did for the uh primary clarifier pumping station for the Wastewater Plant the I bank will need an executed construction management contract so you will see on the agenda for tonight um storm water there is uh under new business tonight there is uh an amendment to the recently adopted storm water um ordinance that was adopted earlier this year is uh we can discuss that in new business um parking meters are up and running in the municipal Lots uh for we continue to work with our consult for the uh local government energy audit we have received draft reports for all the facilities except for the Wastewater Plant we are expecting those uh reports this month so we will be able to schedule presentation from that audit team uh at an upcoming meeting uh we are also working with the consultant on the uh solar projects uh they are taking into account the comments that were received during their feasibility study discussion they're shifting their their new presentation to proov of concept plan which will answer all the questions previously discussed uh number of road projects are are completed and you'll be seeing close out resolutions at upcoming meetings uh the next project that will become uh more vocal more um center point of discussion will be the lyen Avenue project we have a temporary demonstration scheduled for the week of October 14th uh this will be there will be three different methods of traffic control that will be temporarily installed on Lynden Avenue to try to control uh some of the traffic and speeding concerns on that section of Road uh there will be a full um walkthrough audit of those facilities once they're installed we'll also be seeking input from the community on the effectiveness of those final design will incorporate the elements that were successful and obviously we will rule out the temporary demonstration elements that were may not have been successful so that'll that'll be coming up the week of October 14th with the walkth through audit scheduled for October 24th so we will incorporate all those into design through this winter and uh incorporate them for the construction next year Evert field project is uh in design we've kicked off design uh the pickle ball courts in the pool have bids out we will be receiving bids October 16th hopefully we'll be in position to recommend award contracts at the next mayor and council meeting and um similarly we have the phase one of the town hall repointing and window replacement also out to bid uh we will be receiving those bids next week as well and similarly we'll we hope to be in position to award a contract at the uh the next mayor council meeting uh we also have uh some some updates just from the affordable housing perspective uh we still currently wait the ground four figures to be published by DCA we expect them no later than the October 20th deadline uh in anticipation of the upcoming announcement uh there is a resolution on tonight's agenda for affordable housing Council to prepare the fourth round affordable housing element and fair share plan that will be um there there's still some uh determination on how the uh DCA and and fair share housing will uh Implement and roll out the actual requirements of the fourth round so uh that will require a good amount of discussion back and forth between mayor and Council and planning board and uh the contract on the resolution for tonight will assume and incorporate those efforts to uh effectuate the the next steps for the township additionally Conifer opened applications for the Verona Flats on October 1st of received 1,59 applications over the first two days and they will continue to accept applications at their temporary leasing office in the coming weeks uh they will also simultaneously begin processing the applications in the order that they have received them and that completes my report unless there's any questions any questions for the council I just wanted to ask about the um sewer trunk lines I thought we it was like a normal thing for us to do an annual uh cleanout on those lines and root removal uh just was kind of curious was there anything different this year that was emergency work or as opposed to just annual maintenance uh the the smoke testing uh certainly identified a number of of items within our collection system that needed um that need attention uh the durent Avenue TR client identified some some items that may be contributing to um more immediate emergent needs so that was the uh the reason for for uh implementing that project on an emergency basis okay I had a similar question do we anticipate that the cleaning of those lines would will solve the issues that we're dealing with right now with those neighbors so the the cleaning and the removal of the roots will solve the issue the televising will identify the locations that roots are actually infiltrating the sewer line so there will likely be part two of that project which will be potentially Point repairs or slip lining certain sections to eliminate the roots from regrowing into those sewer lines 12 or 24 months from now okay and uh the uh as far as the applications for the Verona Flats they just so people know because actually came up to the EV fair this weekend and asked about it because they were there for an application so I did Point them towards the article in my Verona that gave uh just so people know for the public that you can uh continue to put in applications but you have to call and set an appointment to do so correct and they they office space something they do have a temporary leasing office so yes that is correct thank you stad that uh I reiterate this to several people who have reached out the township has no involvement in the Sig signing this is a private developer manages these units we have no involvement in this aside from renting them our space for that purpose so I just want to put that out there I know there's people on social media thinking that we have something we really don't we have no oversight on who gets what a Buton first conf first any other questions for mran thank you Mr right I believe Mr Sarah and uh yeah good evening we have Dave Ganon here from pkf o Davies um if you have questions on the um you should have gotten a hard copy about two weeks ago an electronic version about two weeks ago as well um did you to go over specifics in it I mean it's a very large document but if if you want to give maybe a brief um summary of the the positive and a brief summary of what we need to work on that would be great okay um in current fund our Revenue increased by 1.5 million from 2022 which was great um our expenditures though increased by 1.9 million um which is why you see that the increase in Revenue was about almost $400,000 less than it was in the previous year but fund balance is um still higher than where we were at last year by 900,000 and our ending balance is up about 500,000 for current Fund in water sewer we had um excess revenue of $864,000 this year so much better than it was in the previous year previous year was 239,000 um we also decreased the um Surplus that we used in the budget this year from 800,000 to 5294 um which made our ending balance about $345,000 more than it was in the previous year in po our revenue from 2022 uh decreased slightly our oh running out of time okay our expenditures increased slightly our uh Surplus that we used decreased so overall we're up about $35,000 in our ending balance from 2022 and uh do you want to Rie Mr again want to review findings and recommendations go over the findings sure our report if you can let get in because people home can't hear that M fa so there's two items that require corrective action by the township uh one relates to utilizing excess cash resources to pay down B station notes uh this is you know been a recurring and since the last couple years uh thought it had know self correct at some point uh so we included a formal finding this year A lot of times what happens is for instance you may receive grants but you're also authorized within that ordinance to sell thatb uh the grand award the grand reeds are somewhat inconsistent as the one they actually or receive you you need to utilize those debt proceeds to then you know Advance the project cash M comes in through but you still have all this Deb outstanding it's it's it's a timeing issue you know Bond station not get renewed one year at a time uh so T needs work with financial advisor Bond can right size those dead offerings make sure they're utilizing excess cash paid on that debt so obviously you're not paying interest on uh second item it's just general leer maintenance uh and accounting for funds and this financi offices needs to do a more uh little more effort little more diligence and just making sure the general ledger uh is more accurate when presented for what thank you you know I think it's amazing I love getting you know sever 100 page long reports um and and I read all of them which is you know even more um and I have to say that with the the tens of millions of dollars that going to this town um two findings two recommendations is really evidence of great half of our finance team uh and I appreciate think time D is really deling in in those things and making recommendations as well um they can only improve what we're doing and uh and how we are the codian of this money for the taxpayer so I appreciate both of your work and uh honestly for anybody in the public if you if you're looking to really get insight into our operations this document the auto report is something that you might want to request you throw um better do we post this onsite I haven't looked because I got my SP copy but look through the aut it should be basic reading for anybody who is interested any any my colleagues have any questions comments for I will certainly Echo what you have said mayor uh I know a lot of work goes into this uh and it does seem like a very big document and be like ah another couple hundred pages to read but as you go through it it's you slow down and you start reading it's it's very interesting there are some areas in there that I will I would like to reach out and sit and talk about a couple of items uh but thank you for all your hard work and and putting this together and keeping us on the street uh some more comments just thank you for all the effort that went into producing this audit report um one of the things I find about it is it's uh very readable and you can actually as you start to understand the language of it and it's it's got great references internally it actually is an excellent road map as to the financial condition of the township I refer to it as a coffee table book because that is like quite literally where it stays for a while with me um just again Big Nerd um but thank you very much for all the effort that goes into uh reviewing all of our accounts and uh thank you to the finance office and to everyone else in the township who manages money this is uh one of the just the most important responsibilities we have here is the respectful and appropriate use of uh of taxpayer and rate payer money um and the thing about this is there are so many things that everybody has to get right throughout the course of the year to come to an audit that is this Comm you so I I appreciate all the diligence of everyone in the Township in terms of being good custodian all funds thank you other comments thank you Mr gon go home go home we have to make a couple resolutions resolutions all right so before you want me to hang out up here first do you want me to hang here first or yeah I we can just we can introduce okay I'll hear a motion to introduce we have to do these one at a time correct um to introduce e3a which is the certification of the 2023 audit motions made by coun R there are seconds second second made by the deputy mayor at this time we more than any items related to the the audits so all three all both motions we'll do 3A and 3B for public comment Adam clerk the public comment statement please anyone from the public wish you to speak on any matter please raise your hand by arting the raise hand button on your monitor Val by phone press 9 you're attending in person please approach the lecture once recognized you state only your name and Township of residence for record you are not required to provide your street address however if you do please note that these names will be posted from the Township's YouTube channel and addresses will not be reeded for any purpose you have four minutes to address the council and there can for dialogue during this time after everyone wishing to speak has been heard the council May address your comments and request public comment any Council discussion on 3 e3a hearing up call please Council mov Holland yes Council mov McGrath yes councilman Roman may maoy yes mayor Tor yes mayor or uh e3a will be thank you this time contain motion on resolution e3b which is the corrective action plan motions made by councilwoman Holland as there a second second seconds made by the deputy mayor any Council discussion hearing none Madam CL call the V please councilwoman howand yes councilwoman McGrath yes yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor maoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor e3b will be numbered 177 the David conclusion of the meeting all right thank you thank you you all are the lucky ones after your hard work let's bring on the barn stormers I think uh Lieutenant schaer went down to get them but my phone playing music all the seats are open on gentlemen sit in the front there you go there you go look like a dug out Miss certification there's another Dan G well welcome to the Ron Township council meeting you missed a riveting conversation on our Municipal audit okay it's about as exciting as a baseball game we like to think so we feel special uh really is a pleasure to welcome our 10U summer usab Northeast Champions the uh from Verona uh I have some stats to to welcome you with first is the there were 93 runs scored uh this summer to only allowing 14 runs which is a great ratio there the team had a batting average of 342 um which is I believe higher than Mickey mantel was uh at uh the height of his career team had an earn run average of 1.375 which is fantastic as well and out of 245 chances there only eight errors leading to a 96 967 96.7% team Fielding percentage um all those are great stats especially the perfect 110 record on the season and most importantly this team beat Cedar Grove seven to four um seriously beyond your amazing accomplishments on the field it's important to note that what you do on the baseball field and your accomplishments are not just about sports but about greater values that we all appreciate like teamwork and dedication to something that you are interested in um to sportsmanship and Leadership all those things are what matters that's what develops us as people and those are the lessons you'll take so I hope you find joy not only in in your accomplishments but the way that everybody's grown this season as well uh and this is also evidence of a dedicated team of volunteer coaches so gentlemen players if you would clap for your coaches please so we have certificates of recognition for everybody I'm going to read just the the top I'll show it to everybody and then we'll call folks up one by one down down there so reads and recognition of your perfect record of 110 beting s Grove 7 to4 to become the 2024 10U summer us a Northeast Champions and the certificate has everybody's name on it and a wonderful pouch of seal uh thank you madam clerk for always making everything look just right and at this point we'll go down and call all of the names out and ready gu council members join us down more do the photo with everybody we have to kind of f you mind handing out and we'll shake hands and read all right so for our players number 17 Brady Alworth oh he's not here uh number 10 Harrison armenti Harrison haris there you go you can just kind of wait up here there you go uh number 42 Anthony kamacho sorio also not here all right number 44 Ryan danielli all right number 13 Joseph Joey Davina Gracia hopefully I got it all right number 27 Joseph JJ espacito number 24 Reese Greco number two and my neighbor Martin Marty Bole number 14 Eric Schumacher number four Wyatt schaer number 29 Dominic Sheridan uh Gia Dominic okay number one last one not least Aiden Watkins I'd also like to invite our coaches up to St on with the team chrisan yelli come on up if you're here no Lenny areny we have certificates for you guys as well we too thank you thank you congratulations Nick danielli no okay boys Wen here right joito Bo and last but not least Bob schaer all right and now they tell us're get behind you tell us where we're looking K first ready you're welcome to the stand wherever you want full weight it's rewarding oh yeah are you the lucky congratulations congratulations guys on to council member reports mayor Mr Mayor uh couple of repeats but uh I'd like to thank you for recognizing EV Fair uh Saturday it went very well uh they did have as the mayor said over 20 cars uh the the dealerships uh local and some of them from outside the area that brought the cars we are very thankful for them it went very well it was a pretty steady group that came through during the day so I'd like to thank them I'd also like to thank uh Verona the Public Works workers that were there all day to help out and break it everything down at the end of the day so we're very successful and we're looking to the game a little bit next year so hopefully uh we'll have as lovely a day as we did Saturday next year when we do it uh the uh we did do the ribbing cutting tonight the playground so I thank everybody that was involved with that there was a whole list of people I'm not going to go through them but especially uh you know the Essex County uh group that showed up uh we very happy that they can uh help us out financially to put the uh help out with the bathrooms up there I think it was a great addition to that area and definitely needed for not only the playground but for also the uh the field up there uh we also had uh last week the community garden ribbon cutting uh I'd like to thank uh Carol Thomas individually because she put so much time into that Garden but there were several others uh uh sustainable Jersey that gave money and the lansburg foundation that that financially helped out also but along with all the other volunteers uh a couple people there were like asking names of people like I see her working here all summer long and and so so there are others that put a lot of time into that garden and it's just from what it started at to what it is now it's just really unbelievable uh it's down behind HB at the end of Park uh off of Bloomfield Avenue there down behind Lakeside deli so I encourage people take a walk down there and take a look at it it's it's a it's a great transition of an area that turned into a really beautiful spot uh and then lastly uh thank you to uh Church of the Holy Spirit every year they do the blessing of the pets here in the center of town they did it yesterday uh it's a wonderful event it started off as an event for uh pet adoption uh and they they have a couple of uh groups that come in that rescue pets and try to get them adopted so if you uh interested in adopting a pet you can reach out to think Rosy's Rescue Ranch was there but were a couple others but it was a a beautiful day for that also and I thank the Church of the Holy Spirit for continuing and that is all that I have thank you may Council Roman thank you Min are also repeats but I'll go through these quickly just also thank you for the evair um one of the dealerships that was there specifically asked if we'd be holding this again um so just want to thank them for all their participation as well as the electric bike vendor that was there that was another very popular one and then the other local being food vendors and other services uh so congrats to everyone that was involved in putting that event together and then also my thanks for the uh event tonight at the playground uh the facility just looks absolutely beautiful this is um this project the design and everything came together very well it's a really nice addition to the community center and uh once we got going with construction and see here rolled forward pretty pretty well so our project management was on point on that so just thank you to everyone with in the township Administration and Township staff that work to put this together and make this a reality it's a great project and that's all have thank you Council councilwoman McGrath um thank you um I too was able to attend the opening of the community guarden and to Echo what the deputy mayor said it's really one of these magical Verona places the effort that people are putting into their plots the coordination with the board of ed for learning opportunities the um the um multiple commun Verona Community groups and sponsorships from the region that have gone into this community garden and making it what it is is really just a it's just a lovely thing um I wish I had the green thumb I don't so I'm jealous of everyone's uh vegetables I saw growing there but again thank you to Carol Thomas and all the volunteers the board of the community garden and everyone who stepped up to make it such a wonderful place there was definitely talk of expansion um and a second location if we can find one because there's just a lot of enthusiasm for uh this type of project um unfortunately I was under the weather this weekend so I missed this EV Fair um which I'm very sad about I also missed our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration which was uh the Multicultural inclusion and accessibility advisory committee um organizing in partnership with the Run of Public Library I'm sure it was a big success um since our last meeting the mayak committee did meet um and they have set a date for the annual Dali celebration which will be on octo October 30th at 6 PM uh sh Tre met this evening and spoke about a variety of projects and finally I too was at the ribbon cutting for the um Ada our first Ada accessible playground again this has been a long time coming um and really marks just another um achieve ment of accessibility in our community um you know we did great work at the Verona community pool to over the years to make that accessible for both adults and children this playground is now another important chapter and our March forward towards progress and I look forward to um having a second um Ada accessible playground um at ever field when it's renovated and moving forward on other accessibility projects in our community um so thank you very much to all of our Administration to our Advocates um and to um all of our partners and sponsors including partners for health that helped us get to this next step and that's my report thank you thank you Council woman holl can I add something real quick just for the public that playground we were told tonight is not officially open yet so we don't want people rushing up there we have to get it signed off by uh inspectors so just want to that sorry thank you councilwoman Holland thank you um I I share many of the sentiments that have been expressed by my my colleagues on the council so I'll I'll limit my remarks to two topics first um with regard to Recreation I I do want to say that it brings tremendous Pride to to see the new playground realized after so many years of having the equipment in storage and watching the old playground deteriorate ultimately needing to be removed because it was no longer safe and finally seeing it brought back to life and not just brought back to life brought back to life in an inclusive way that that really um moves Verona forward so I I I really want to compliment the administration thank you for driving this project through to completion I know that you you definitely got a lot of feedback from those of us on the council it was definitely something that we were very motivated to do I personally was very motivated to do we discussed extensively in the rec committee um meetings um and there was a lot of enthusiasm there and we we you know just really wanted to see this project get done so it's really nice to see that we're starting to make that progress and that that we did make the progress with the Verona uh pool but that we're also making progress here and looking forward to Everett field as well so um I you know it is really it is a really positive story so thank you so much for all of the work that you've done thank you to all of the sponsors that helped us get there and I know that the kids are just desperate to get on there to play so I really hope that we finish this punch list it sooner rather than later um also you know to my second topic I do just want to on a more somber note acknowledge the fact that we are still very much in hurricane season and acknowledge the dev ating effects on the southeast of hurricane Helen and now we are anticipating another very powerful storm hitting Florida with hurricane Hilton and while Milton excuse me and while the storms are far away from us in New Jersey um today we do get these effects of these storms coming through and you've we saw it in 2021 with hurricane Haida which by the time Ida got to New Jersey was just a tropical storm but it brought such a substantial you know torent of rain with it that it was very very devastating to our state um so I do want to just encourage residents to prepare if you are able to support those who are in desperate need at this time and for those of us here in these seats on the council and for the administration to continue doing the difficult work to maintain our infrastructure and improve it to address um the devastating impacts of climate change so thank you that concludes my remarks thank you okay this time I'll open the meeting for public comment on any item that any member of the public would like to speak about the same public comment statement applies that was previously read but list is on anything hi my name is Kathleen NY I'm a longtime resident at Verona I've spoken to this extinct group before as well as the planning board and sent emails to several people I represent a group of residents who are concerned about the impact of our taxes with affordable housing uh we understand there is a need for it we know there is going to be more but it appears from the um studies that would Wastewater traffic uh a number of other things but no one talked about the impact of taxes there's seems to be a discrepancy between what this board thinks and the Board of Education thinks in terms of uh the impact of our schools so I am asking for uh with the residents as well on what this uh board thinks will be a high or a low estimate on our real estate taxes as we go forward thank you than any other comments close public comment Mr lo I think you started looking into this correct yes so I worked with the administration and we the administration looked into it and apparently there was no analysis done I also spoke to the resident and indicated that such an analysis can take many different forms from analyzing I'll call a positive impact because all of the different that the township undertook actually took hundreds of units out of Verona and therefore the impact the overall impact on the school is a very minor where you can look at just the impact of this one development and how many kids well I guess we'll knowly right because but that would just be a guess so you could look at it as a negative way but there's so many different ways to look at this from a financial impact based upon all the different actions that Council took that was a collective um idea that the council came up with um but unfortunately there is no uh current study or no analysis done by the township as you know I'm an attorney so I'm not you know uh an accountant or whatever but if the council wants to I'm sure the administration will hire a professional to try to put some numbers together that's a oh you know a worthwhile thing if you if you wait to see the kids that might answer some of the questions I'm not sure I what to tell you other than to say there was no analysis um I did describe and the administration knows we reviewed it to try to figure out if there's anything looking put together but because there's so many different ways you could do such an analysis um it was overwhelming opportunities to put something together and how you want to look at it any comments Council um I'll just follow up on what Mr oloya said that's I like how you kind of put this in context of what some of the other possibilities we were facing were and I think it's you know important to have that historical perspective that before we came up with this revolution or our affordable housing obligations we had what 500 units or so roughly on the table um they would have been a combination of market rate and affordable rate units um and you truly don't know how many of those would have brought children into the school system but certainly there would have been children brought into the school system out of that level of development when we looked at that level of development we felt there was actually risk of larger infrastructure improvements needed one of the uh areas that was proposed for development in particular we were concerned about water pressure requirs foral water tanks upgrades to Municipal infrastructure Etc so our Target during this entire process was to bring down the total overall development number in the town to bring down the number of units that were going to be constructed and added to housing stock um to the lowest number that would achieve our goals of meeting compliance so that's really the context is there was a lot of C of w Ence that I feel went into this as well because I think that supporting 500 units would have a much larger cost for the township than supporting the number that we are bringing in um the schools are a separate governmental unit um we do not have supervision over their budget um if they have you know if they have done some enrollment projections and assumptions um that is a body that would probably be better able to speak to any potential Financial impact from the additional residents that are coming in when we look at our own service costs um very frequently as to meet specific metrics I'll give you an example is as we've uh looked at growing our Police Department a little bit that is something that is responsive to population but it's not responsive necessarily to the number of people it's responsive to our time spent on calls for service and our ability to respond to calls for service so it's a post effect metric and that was we authorized you know as we authorized increasing the size of our Police Department we looked at okay how quickly can we respond calls what's our call volume what's our metric so things have to happen first because we can't always forecast the effects so that's one of the challenges that we run into is that we're trying to meet certain service levels and we have to see how the township changes how our obligations look as a as a whole it's very hard to say okay we're adding X many units and we have a service unit cost per housing unit of X doll it just doesn't always lay out that way as as as townships grow and the schools basically face the same sort of thing schools for example will encourage additional cost if they have to split a class and hire a teacher but up to a certain point they may not necessarily incur that cost so while they may have an average birth student cost they may not necessarily incur the salary cost of another teacher until they hit a class siiz Target so to actually develop a model for this that is something that's accurate enough that we we'd be able to stand behind it would be very very difficult which is why we don't have that that data unfortunately I do understand your your concerns but that was as we went through this whole process of figuring out how to solve our affordable housing obligations that was really our goal was the lowest possible number of units that we could possibly do while being able to meet those obligations so sorry that we don't have the exact number you're looking for but that's a little bit from our perspective as to how we look at this Cofe Council mcra uh thank you um I don't uh disagree per se with some of what I've you know heard tonight but we do have simple if if residents are asking what did the affordable hous in cost I mean we had to purchase land about $7 million worth we bonded for that and we were hoping or we were planning that there was another development that was going to then have a pilot that would help us pay down that debt and that project is not yet even Broken Ground and I'm you know I'm not even sure it's current status so I mean I can certainly you know our Administration they came on board after these decisions were made but yes the township purchased land you know and and everything that was said is true this was the best least costly option for the township overall because it kept the number of students to the lowest possible amount but I think the big picture to remember is that the state of New Jersey mandated a process and they didn't care there is an affordable housing crisis and every municipality whether there were costs for infrastructure or school children the state mandated this process and while I was elected and came in in the middle of it with um the deputy mayor and with um councilman Roman at the end of the day it was a very difficult situation and the township did decide on a route that kept the number of total units low but land was bought and was you know as the way these projects were they were it was given to a developer certainly those costs you know can be provided to taxpayers were transparently done so at the time but I think where the financial model at the time versus where we are now years later we thought there was going to be another project also being developed with a pilot that would then offset some of our Municipal costs and that hasn't materialized but as taxpayers you're already paying for this project you paid it's already baked into your taxes it's not anything like new the school impact is later and we've been you know as we have conversations with the school board we were imploring them to develop their own models on what may happen um and that really is their you know they are their own governing body with their own finances so you know that what how that this impacts them as it actually plays out in reality we're all waiting to see um I think one thing that hasn't been mentioned is we've always had a great deal of cooperation between the municipal side and the Board of Ed we do a lot of shared services for the Board of Ed we also are able to use some of their spaces at no cost so there's a lot of collaboration I hope that you know should any new housing in Verona whether it's affordable or not kind of generate you know some sort of financial um pinch or crisis with the Board of Ed that there is an opportunity for us to collaborate to see what can be done so you know this is a situation that we're just in together um because we do need affordable housing and the state of New Jersey mandated it in a certain way and we are about to start and on the agenda tonight we have to start preparing for the next round of affordable housing and by June 30th of next year we will have to have finalized some pretty significant decisions so the five of us are about to you know with the planning board undertake a very very difficult process so we appreciate residents being engaged and I'm certainly I will follow up with the administration on some of my old notes because again some of the cost of this particular building is well known and public so we should be able to provide that to you thank you thank you I think at this point the the applications did they tell you Mr suvan when they would actually start assigning units uh they uh then they will really not until that point then we see school registrations and leas signed they'll actually know the student impact and how that will uh affect I know the district has been working on their owny plans for that um it's you know just from that perspective it's a little easier to um to absorb students from the middle school and high school because of how they're structured it's the elementary schools that are really going to be kind of the immediate concern but um at that point they'll have to do that and go forward the but we we won't know honestly until they tell us what their class impact is or how they allocate the resources it'll depend on how they move people throughout the school district people are talking about it affecting FN Brown School disproportionately and depend they the district is not required to put all the students in that neighborhood school so it may be a different situation on that at this point we haven't had any we've been progressively increasing the police department out of necessity as councilman Roman had said before um but we've been doing that within the 2% tax capap regardless um and making some of those decisions on that area reallocating things doing shts services like our our M School Court to free up some money for other items um and so we are we don't see necessarily you know the services we still have our water system we don't think that this number of units would is going to require any more water infrastructure at this time based on the the study that we just did um the the building the land will be managed so we won't be plowing snow things like that so on the municipal side we're not looking at a you know aside from the fact we paying for the land not necessarily look at a huge service increase at this point um for the 95 units but when we start talking about hundreds more potentially with in the next round that could potentially change um I just do want to point out that as a as an elected official here I have advocated with State uh legislators I've attended meetings of the municipality I've spoken to people like uh the leaders of the the Constitutional leaders of our um of our state government and caucus leaders and it reminded them that uh that this process um has really significantly affected our communities and I'll be honest the aside from our ld40 Representatives who are supporting us and are in agreement um is there hasn't been a lot of um uh listening done by our legislature the majority of our legislature it's it's actually they just don't seem to understand the local impact um and and how speak done the process and even the revised process is very complex um and it you know reviewing what they have and have more presentations on this um you know is significant so it's unfortunately we have very little control over the area and while I was gone on the council when these decisions were made I do think that they were made in best interest of the municipality and that that was the best option that do at that time so but as far as right now correct me if I'm wrong Mr diarco but aside from the land purchase we have not necessarily engage any additional spending related to this and the school budget is 55% of your taxes the town budget is about 27% something like that and uh so were we in the you know basically quarter of the tax levy so anything you're going to see is probably going to come from the school board and they're in the same situation that we are um as far as being able to manage the situation is really unfortunate that they move in for this is in the middle of school year because that does challenge things a little bit more but at the same point on the other hand it may actually cause more creative and less expensive Solutions during this year so it could be an opportunity as well brief yes anything I say it's fair in terms of discussing operating expenses the township also have to retain an administrative agent for affordable housing and then throughout the process of going through our settlement we did incur fairly substantial legal and planning expenses um just simply litigating and negotiating the you know what are affordable housing number was and going through the settlements with these and that's every single municipality in the state unfortunately ends up having all of those costs put on them and all that process put on them if you want to actually go through and settle settle your number and come to a compliance plan um and the state recognizes that municipalities are going to incur costs related to affordable housing but they tell us you simply are going to have you you have to absorb those costs that's the issue with affordable housing is if you need more water infrastructure you are just simply required to expand your water infrastructure if you have to expand your you know your Municipal Employee base to serve that's an expectation they have of the municipalities there's not State money that comes in for it it's a burden of us existing within the state of New Jersey and I agree with the mayor's comments it would be nice if there were better legislative solutions to this but in reality they don't appear to be forthcoming we have to work within the judicial framework that's here and comply otherwise the situation gets far worse there is a nonpartisan group of municipalities um that have engaged in legal action to challenge the basis of the law and how it's done um and uh we have the option joining that so uh we'll review that information and see if that's something that we should proceed with doing as well uh but it is that is actively being pursued at this point and they are seeking additional support from other um other municipalities owns do that uh and there isn't really a municipality that that is not affected by this especially the this room so I'm sorry we can't provide you necessarily more information from that um the other the only other tax impact that came just came into my head is that we are not collecting the property and Improvement taxes on the camoo um Factory and the two homes that were uh demolished for the the purpose of this facility so we can get you the numbers on what camoo was paying um and what the two homes on Pine Street were Mr dico Mr or Mr you add that to your list Norther land ass who that much for you correct and the as well so if we're looking at this it's interesting we have to we have to separate this one development versus the whole plan and um it is something uh significant that's right um we are going to move toward hearing uh ordinances we have no hearings in ordinances this evening the first and only ordinance on the agenda is label H1 for first reading Madam clerk would you read the title of this ordinance to the record Bond ordinance providing for the Improvement of sewer light near the pekman river in by the township of Verona in the county of essic New Jersey appropriating $60,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $57,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance part the cost there so move the or question is made by councilman w for a second second second mebody Deputy Mayor at this time is there any Council discussion on this councilman yes um so earlier today I asked a question of our CFO um but I'm still confused with these changes so is this bond out of the water and sewer utility or is this a bond out of the general fund this will do we need to say that in the title I spoke to no I spoke to Bon Castle this afternoon okay we AG on this okay so this is going to come at water and Stor cor okay thank you any other comments questions just for the public edification um there as Mr solivan pointed out in his report there have been some issues with um items from the sewer ending up on the property of uals there is a sewer line that for which we have an easement that runs through under the backyards of multiple people along derw Avenue um and there have been multiple cleanup attempts we've been putting a lot OFW labor into this as well and that's this point any of those mechanisms really stop Gap Maneuvers and it's come to the point that authorizing respond is really only option as far as identifying those issues but Mr O pointed out previously if we find rooting verion taking the roots Out means there holes in the pipe so we're going to have to do something to to fix the pipe there are some solutions where you don't have to dig up the pipe um and we're going to hope for those first if we are digging up the pipe this is a significant very very very expensive project to do this um and uh so but it is a good first step m c call the RO please Council woman Holland yes Council regret yes councilman Roman yesy mayor maoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor H1 passes 5 will be numbered 202 24-34 will be published according to all and public hearing will be held on October 21st okay all right at this time we are moving on to the consent agenda will somebody please move J1 and K1 through K15 so mov motion is made by councilman mcrath is there a second I'll second it second made by councilman this time I'll call for public comment on the consent agenda item only the same public comment statement applies that we are limited to okay heing n i close public comment I did have uh two questions on the for the administration I apologize for not getting to you earlier but I've not been home today it's been one those things um for the the contract for the community energy plan um I and looking at the DMR memo I didn't really appreciate any statement of qualification for this so just wondering what dmr's background in doing these plans is and who you who would be doing this and and why they were chosen or being recommended as the vendor for this project so DMR they were the first professionals meet Community energy plan adopted in uh K and through a number of other Comm energy fans adopted in the state but they were the first actually neighbor nearby now thank you um and on K8 which is the uh the DMR contract for the fourth round affordable housing element and fair share plan um in looking at the the memorandum and I believe you've had conversations about this there was I think the memorandum was more boiler plate than specific to Verona so um mran and I sit on the the the master plan committee for the uh for the planning board and I know that committee and the planning board would like to take a more active role as there is a significant uh portion in the master plan about affordable housing so I want to make sure that we're not in an environment where DMR is coming to us and we're sending it to the to the planning board so the my understanding is that DMR will have multiple meetings with the planning board as requested and before we get anything the planning board will have contact and review and dirt for as many meetings as they need on that is correct necessary process for that they are aware that understand excellent thank you any other questions Council MRA um thank you yes just on that I mean fact too when I read the memo like this is so we have a very specific timeline we have to hit so I I appreciate and I think it would be transparent to you know have a process with multiple meetings but you know obviously we all know we have to hit a certain timeline but when I read this with this project scope and I saw well only one meeting with the Town Council I mean I'm like that would be great but this is complex and so I understand they need to have a scope but we also have to be realistic that we're not going to we're going to need this is you know this is the first time any municipality has gone through this process so we're going to need some flexibility and it just as long as the scope works out yes right again that's that's the actual of this fourth round so again understanding that there will with both may counsel aware that that will be the process okay my only other comment on consent agenda is just the Grove Avenue emergency condition um and normally I may have missed a step I don't know if we were no see maybe we were and it was the end of the summer but also I just on that one that untimeliness you know I would have hoped we would have gotten this maybe on an earlier agenda um but normally the administration is really really good about telling us about emergencies so uh but this one I saw the work on Grove Avenue but I was a little um I didn't realize that it was an emergency also I just hope that we are circling back to our asset management plan for the water system like was this pipe identified was this a surprise like because again we have a lot of we haven't even started on that Asset Management plan on some of the pipe work so you know just to make sure we're being you know we keep our eye focused and being proac um into the okay thank you so two questions the uh for K8 the uh affordable housing fair share plan was DMR the low bidder on this just go out do we put RFP out for this or TMR is the it's the team that I brought in here with Cod you know for housing Lon when I got here in 2022 to move us through the the continuing of for that shifting would be I think problematic very honestly firm is excellent they do produce they are high so we didn't this didn't go out for our we did well we did last year they were all held we didn't point on so you're everybody was on a hold over where clerk is putting out your P again but this is literally round Forest time sensitive if I don't start now you're going to be way behind me um then that's the reason I'm moving through and their performance for us for us has been excellent we coordinate with planning board that'll go very well okay like back to I mean this is we knew this was coming and it's not not anyone here but it's the state that's why you know all of a sudden now they're pushing these deadlines on us and kind of doing what they did to us in 2017 uh my other question was uh the road project on Grove Avenue I mean I know it was a we put a significant water main break but on other water main breaks do we do we have to bring engineers in and as I knew usually they're just overseen by public works and obviously our public works department is more than qualified with our water main repairs why did this one why was this one any different then so significant break it and uh significant that was the severity of it that we needed to bring B for this for this we riew Services between our own staffs the engineers and and balance those out so if not 100% just engineer it's it's a combination of our staff sh the engineer essential to bring them thank you madam clerk call please councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor maoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor resolutions K1 through K15 will be under 178 through and including 192 thank you right we are going to move on to new unfinished business while we have an addendum I'm just going to fold the addendum into new business because it is a new business item uh we have two appointments for the Parks and Recreation advisory committee uh we have Miss Shannon curtain for a term unexpired term ending 63025 Mr Michael Duda for unexpired term ending 630 2027 that of conversations Town CLK because in the past we've given the longer term to whoever applied first but in this case uh one of the applicants requested a the the shorter term to uh test the to test the waters um so which is a a certainly virtuous um a decision I will hear a motion to approve the appointments labeled Na and then one and M1 A1 made by councilman Roman is there a second yes seconds made by councilman Holland is there any discussion on this item heing none CL please councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yep yes Council enr yeah mayor makoy yes mayor Tor yes where uh equipments are unanimously unanimously approved thank you I appreciate notifying them of the same yes we're moving on to a discussion on ordinance amending chapter 150 the zoning code article 25 the storm water management controls and requirements of theen SOA is this you I no not really okay well who would like this is actually just updates so this I give the clerk credit actually I think right CL I believe so I want I don't want to take looking at like he did um so the clerk the CL is this is actually they've changed the state is updated um the storm weather management so um the clerk is nice enough to make changes uh so we now meet those requirements I believe the red line is there and anybody have anyu issues that prevent this being on first reading unless it can be int um was I like to move this uh well first is any any objection to moving this to um being introduced hey here on would somebody like to move the ordinance La Ben two so move thank you is there a second second is made by councilman McGrath any Council discussion please counc yes counc M yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor M yes mayor Toro yes May N2 will be numbered 2024 d35 as well as the planning board for brief consistency with the master plan all right and on to the the fee ordinance discussion did not see yeah this document in our binder there there's no change in um in any fees but because what used to be 150 2.14 now becomes 150 2.13 that's so there's no change in the monetary Val the fee of schedule Fe itself that is excellent does anybody have any any objection to that will have to be on first reading because I don't have a ordinance in front of me to amend the code so we'll have to have that on first reading next it's not going to matter till we pass the ordinance anyway corre CH is absolutely right he said we have to wait a couple meetings for all right um any other new unfinished business okay um at this time I public comment on anything anybody would like to talk about yet again same public comment statement applies none I will close public comments yeah um I do not believe we're having an executive session no executive session all right is there a motion to be made Mo close thank you Council McGrath makes the motion to adjourn is there a second second second no debate all those in favor I I anybody opposed may stay for as long as they wish we'll see you in two weeks thank you very much