all right good good good I call this meeting to order good evening everyone and welcome this is the council's business meeting for March 26 2024 roll call gaas here bers here mandal here Weiss here Whitfield here have have we been adequately noticed for this meeting yes we were adequately noticed on Jan January 19th 2024 to the packet the times filed with the clerk and posted would everybody please rise for the salute to the flag uned States so under ceremonial matters this evening uh we have Helen Ranken who is chair of the shade tree commission so she'll be giving us a report on uh 2023 activities of the commission Helen if you want you can move up to here if it's better than there whichever you could sit then you could sit yeah might be easier to hold your speak thank you you're welcome Michael share thank you very much thank you council president vice president and members of the council for your time this evening to allow the West Windsor Township shade tree commission to present our annual report to you my name is Helen Rankin and I'm honored to chair this important commission other members include Vice chair Farrell Mixon Ellen Clancy and Dana gar Gar Garcia excuse me for several years now we have been fortunate to have a council representative as an active member and we are thrilled that this year we have Mrs Jers as our Council Leon additionally we acquire acquired a new adviser Mike Shu who has been active in the past on various environmental initiatives and who from his college years has been passionate and knowledgeable about trees in general because Mrs Jers is a council Leon and has been briefing the Council on activities of the shade tree commission I will make my comments brief this evening we are thankful for the attention by the administration and by councel on the pending shade Tre ordinance that has been the subject of many meetings and discussions I am confident that the final version will be an excellent example of governance and will be the high bar against which other municipalities across the state will try to reach we are thankful too for Township landscape architect Dan dor milski and for his years of service in so many environmental activities across our great town I first met Dan in the mid 1990s before he was even a Township employee we will miss him on the shade tree we will miss him as the shade tree staff Leon and I will personally miss him very much I wish to focus my time this evening on our tree City USA certification in January of this year we submitted our application for recertification of our tree City USA designation to the New Jersey Forest Service as we met all criteria for 2023 we are proud of our community forestry accomplishments including that January submission for art for 45th time Additionally the township continues to focus efforts on its comprehensive ashre treatment and abatement program with a combination of Institute treatment and removal currently there are approximately 210 ash trees that are being treated and there will be approximately 50 removed this year finally approximately 170 replacement trees were planted in 2023 but the invoicing of that work will be processed later in 2024 finally please accept this personal invitation to attend our annual Arbor Day celebration on April 20th in past years the program will include a school district art contest and various other related programs and displays we appreciate your interest and past years in attending attending this event and we look forward to seeing you again please expect an official invitation in the next few days again thank you for your time this evening and it is my honor to serve as the West Windsor Shay tree commission chair we members of the commission just do not have words to fully express our appreciation for Dan for his friendship for his sense of humor and for his years of service thank you thank you very much thanks appreciate all the work that you do you have done this year and in past years and thank you to all the Shay Tre uh commission members advisors and thank you you you know you come each month and you review things and you make it uh West wisor a better place so we appreciate all the all the effort and certainly there was a lot of effort on the uh on the tree removal ordinance which we're set for I believe introduction gay on April 8th yes ma'am right so we're making that deadline I appreciate all all the hard work any other comments we we put in for that um Tree City every year we did H except for we started in 1979 and my understanding the rumor has it there's only one other municipality in the state that beats us with a number of times I think they started in 1978 we did have a lapse year in 2020 I think because of um other PR matters during that time in our careers so um we're very excited to hit number 45 okay and and I assume we're we're doing well that you don't see any issues right we're doing exceptionally well there generally four criteria that needs to be met in order to be recertified and we hit it every time great thank you and we really appreciate that I mean and we all love our trees and we're also all going to miss Dan but that's another great thank you if you could give it cleric a copy the report just we have it thank you all right we'll begin public comment if you'd like to come up to the microphone make a a comments to state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes okay seeing none we'll move on to Administration comments good evening um my name is Marina Schmid I'm the acting mayor buus administrator mayor uh returns I believe on Sunday um March 31st um he is on vacation so I'm filling in for him big shoes to fill so I'll switch over to announcements now um as of yesterday um the uh Millstone Road Millstone bridge is closed from 7:30 am until 3:30 p.m. weekdays while utility relocation work uh takes place uh this is an anticipation of Mercer County receiving bids this summer fall for phase one I'm sorry for uh the replacement of the entire Bridge um should the county be successful in uh getting a competitive bid um the tentative closure of the bridge would be sometime in August 2024 and the replacement um it's expected the bridge is expected to be closed for approximately five months with a full detour there'll be more information as we get closer to August um the project impacts not only uh West Windsor Township in Mercer County but it also imp p uh Plainsboro Township in Middle sex County um DPW is at work collecting brush and leaves in zone four this week um uh tomorrow March 27th from 1 pm to 6 o'clock P.M at the West Windsor municipal building in room a room we're in now uh Mercer County will be hosting a passort for Clinic if you're traveling internationally uh and you need to renew an expired passport apply for a new passport or have a passport photo taken um please um come to the this um event um what you'll need is the following a current driver's license and a government issued birth certificate or an old pass passport um you will need to either bring a check or money order um the county clerk's office um is not going to be accepting any cash whatsoever um it's advisable for you to RSVP with Mercer County Clerk at 6099 989 6473 other events being sponsored by Mercer County the Mercer County Improvement Authority will be hosting a hazardous waste and E-Waste recycling um afternoon actually it's morning and afternoon on March 30th that's this coming Saturday um from 8:00 am to 2m at the Dempster fire training school at 350 Lawrence Station Road in Lawrence Township um there there is information about this event as well as the paper shredding event that the county is offering on April 6th from 9:00 a to 12: noon that event will be located in Trenton at 651 South Broad Street which is across from McDade Administrative Building it's open to Mercer County residents proof of Mercer County residents will be required upon arrival at both events um the information I'm going through is on the current um updates uh on the township website uh the township of West Windsor is also hosting on Monday April 1st and Tuesday April 2nd um the um mobile motor Vehicle Commission um van which is able to service um individuals who may need driver's licenses uh non-driver identification cards real IDs registrations um you can surrender license plates um obtain placards and exam permits um the van uh or the mo mobile van will be um located in the parking lot near the senior center at 271 Clarksville Road the event again is Monday April 1st and Tuesday April 2nd 10:00 a.m. to 2 o'clock pm. there is a registration link to schedule a appointment it's highly recommended that you do so the last event was extremely popular um and this information again is on the township website um we're closing in on uh the income tax filing deadline um so uh through April 9th on Tuesdays um please um call the senior center if you need uh assistance preparing your taxes um there will be assistance available at the West Windsor Senior Center 271 Clarksville road you can schedule an appointment by calling the senior center at 60979 968 please remember to bring copies of your 2023 federal and state income tax returns as well as tax forms and documents that you received in the mail for tax reporting purposes final announcement is municipal offices will be closed on Friday March 29th in observance of Good Friday there are no changes to trash collection for the week of March 25th or April 1st and the Public Works facility will be closed Saturday March 30th for drop off those are the announcements I have and again they're all on the township website front and center good thank you right we'll move on to uh council member comments Martin sure I will go first um just want to thank the shade tree commission uh Helen Rank and Dan dumber milsky and all the work he's done for the township and Helen and the rest of the shade Street commission obviously has been presented many times in the last few years that we have so many different organizations commissions uh that make up the Vibrant Community that we have um obviously it takes a lot to have this type of Township and um I just want to thank them for all their work um in the in the community throughout the years and that we they have our full support obviously moving forward uh the same I think today niche.com just came out with its rankings in 16 municipalities and townships um in the state of New Jersey uh were ranked as best places to live and once again um we were on that list Princeton Junction so it was a great thing West Windsor it's great for us to be able to have a community that we live in and have different organizations and residents you know who make this community so good um last thing I just wanted to say briefly as I always am um I just want to you know we just had three uh budget meetings here um that were open to the public and we've had obviously many different uh Council business meetings in the evenings and I just want to thank Mr church because he's always he's always here um so many residents ask us about meeting times day night things of that nature and I have five kids work and different things so I understand everyone can't make into these meetings but there's ample opportunities uh for the public to attend either the three budget meetings we just had in March or the council meetings in the evening so um Mr church is always here I just want to just acknowledge Him um because he's fully engaged in this Township fully engaged in this community has been for many years and that's a wonderful thing um because when he has questions or concerns you know he hears so much of what's going on in this Township and I think individuals like him and many other individuals in this town um who may or may not be able to make it should be acknowledged um for their support of the township so that's all I had for this evening thank you good thank you Dan no comments other than maybe we can make John a honorary council member it's a special status it can come almost John's kind of already and honorary Council um Andrea okay I guess I'll be longer um I'd like to wish everybody a happy holy a happy purum and a happy Easter week uh I hope we're all enjoying the spring school break um as people are celebrating um I was thrilled to visit with the councilwoman Sonia gais this past week and see how well she's doing and um we're both looking forward to Spring weather and being out and about in the community together um today I had a a really fun time watching a demonstration of our new DPW leaf vacuum truck sucking up leaves from the side of the road uh thank you to Tony and gay for setting this up for us uh the long hose reminded me of an elephant's trunk Council was first introduced to this truck in 2021 during a DPW vendor demo during that budget season and we've been looking forward to the efficiencies of needing one person and one truck to pick up leaves since then Sona Linder Mike uh Stevens and I were excited to support the purchase of the truck back then and were of course disappointed when the supply chain issues delivered delayed the delivery it's now an operation and we'll be looking to purchase more trucks to serve the whole town you may have noticed the work uh one for this year one for next year uh to order in the budget and please remember to separate your leaves and brush don't choke the elephant we have just finished two long budget discussion meetings with with Council staff and the public in addition to an excellent presentation by our land use manager Sam CZ on open space plans and funds our open budget discussions prior to introducing the budget gives both council members and the public opportunities for Budget input well before the final hearing thank you for to everyone who participated on Saturday March 16th I enjoyed touring the Dutch neck science fair and reviewing the many impressive science projects I particularly like talking to our young future scientists and seeing how they come up with their projects and conclusions and talking about further possibilities the enthusiasm is contagious thank you to the parents and staff who worked hard to make this happen in the afternoon I judged a youth public speaking contest culminating Tara um tuna romani's local power speakers unlimited program there I saw young people speaking on a variety of topics and entertaining yet logical short speeches we have incredibly talented youngsters in our town I'm happy to be part of the opportunities they have for EXC excellence and growth on the other end of the age Spectrum thank you to our West Windsor Senior Center and to the Friends of West Windor seniors for fun music concert with the blue jersey band on Friday there was a lot of clapping and I will admit that a few of us couldn't resist a bit of dancing FY as opposed from FS supplied a nice spread of cakes and croissants to add to the party if you're a senior I urge you to get on the email list for the senior center and take advantage of these great programs lastly I'd like to invite everyone to the grand opening of Pasar Milan a new restaurant tomorrow in Nassau Park mall over on the side where the Home Depot is the ribbon cutting will be at 1 pm and they will have festivities until 4 thank you thank you Andrea Sonia thank you Linda um thank you Helen from um shatri um commission for the wonderful presentation and thank you for all the members um for all the work that they do um to certify Westminster um for tree um City USA happy puram holy and Easter week for everyone celebrating um I just want to thank Council women Linda Jers and and Andrea Mandel for stopping by early um a couple days ago to see me um and we ended up having long discussion on um all the three um holidays that um three of us are celebrating this week so it was really wonderful to um have that conversation and the commonalities between um all the three holidays that was wonderful to um Talk um I just want to thank everyone I am doing well I for but I just want to thank everyone for the hundreds and hund hundreds and hundreds of messages um emails phone calls um that I've received in this past two weeks I'm doing well um it's U two weeks exactly today that I had my surgery um I do have to take it slow for two more weeks is what I've been told and then I can get my physical therapy done and I should be back I I'm looking forward to being back in person and I think my hope is that next meeting I will be back in person so I'm looking forward to that thank you that's it thank you Sonia we're so we're just so very happy that the recovery is going um fine according to schedule and you're getting you know stronger so we're we're just uh thoughts and prayers are with you we're proud of all you're doing trying to get through this and keeping up with all your Council responsibilities too so oh thank you thanks okay so thanks to director of Public Works Tony ESP pazo for giving council members a demonstration today on the Township's uh new leaf pickup truck uh there the truck has one person in it as opposed to our other system of picking up leaves where you might have two or three um DPW workers doing that and a couple of trucks and all so um it's just save on um um time for for the workers so they can attend to other activities that they need to get to uh so there's a long arm of the truck that can extend out about 16 feet um it is important um that the residents do not put like branches out by the curb and then bury them with with leaves on top of that um because that that's um not permitted but it can also um damage this new truck um so just try to remember do piles of leaves only at the curb um and then if you have uh branches do a separate pile um for the for the branches uh the 2024 Municipal budget will be introduced at the April 88th business meeting and the public hearing uh gay that'll be on the 13th May May 13th uh the budget materials are posted on the municipal website and the special budget meetings can be viewed on YouTube I just want to say uh Happy holy happy porum um and have a very joyful and happy Easter uh this coming Sunday thank you any comments from the clerk's office no ma'am all right we'll move on to the public public hearing 2024-25 fees section 82- 26 lead safe rentals adding 82- 26f this new provision will allow the township to enter into a Professional Services agreement with a certified Leed evaluation contractor who will be able to collect fees directly from the property owner for inspection services and filing fees this Arrangement will streamline the process for both the property owner and the township so the public hearing is open if if anyone would like to make a public comment please come to the microphone state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes okay seeing none uh motion to close the public hearing so moved second roll call gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes can I have a motion to adopt so moved second gwas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved right move on to the consent agenda bills and claims anyone need anything pulled from the consent agenda okay seeing seeing none can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda so move second gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved move on to recommendations from Administration and Council clerk 2024 r84 authorizing the refund of property tax overpayment 2024 r85 reauthorizing the mayor and clerk to execute the reimbursement agreement with The Muse at Prince injunction apartments for solid waste collection cost for 2022 2024-the the West Windsor Police Department to continue participation in the defense Logistics agency dlaa law enforcement support leeso 1033 program for 2024 2024 r87 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a memorandum of understanding for the trans ER of a 2005 ALU trailer to the county of Mercer prosecutor's office 2024 r88 authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to increase the Professional Services contract for the law offices of Mueller and Bailey PC for affordable housing legal fees for 100,000 2024 r89 authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to increase the Professional Services contract for bird Pur just Associates Inc for affordable housing planning services for 10,000 2024 r90 authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to increase the contract with shidler excavating company Inc for snow removal services by $60,000 for a total not to exceed of1 130,000 2024 r91 authorizing the business administrator to purchase a replacement power backup UPS for Public Works and miscellaneous items from Shi international corporation the state contract vendor for $651 29 2024 r92 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional service agreement with Martin appraisal Associates Inc for professional Appraisal Services for the ACT acquisition of rightaway easements from block 15.03 lot 46 and Lot 4 6.01 Hunter property for $4500 2024 r93 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional service agreement with Center State Engineering for professional construction Administration and observation services for the project known as 2022 annual Road program for $43,750 2024 r94 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute Amendment one to the Professional Services agreement with Aurora and ass Associates PC in the amount of 29,300 for the project known as West Windsor Township's Capital Improvement program for a total not to exceed of2 $200,300 2024 r95 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute change order number one with ceri Builder Inc for an increase of 3,700 $20.75 for the project known as metal roof installation at the skank Farm said project for a total not to exceed of $ 51,9 63.75 and 2024 r96 authorizing 2 quarter 2024 emergency temporary Appropriations and this does require a 2third vote all right so what we'll do is um can I have a motion of to approve 2024 d84 through 202495 so move second just before we vote does anybody need anything pulled okay double checking gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes gers yes motion approved okay I need a motion to approve 20 24 r96 you want to Gove I'll say Andrea and then Dan yes gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved we'll move on to introduction of ordinance 202 24-6 and ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the township of West Windsor 1999 chapter 4 administration of government to add section 8218 police section one or section I concerts festivals and outdoor events and carnivals I have a motion to introduce motion to introduce second dwas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes jerse yes public hearing will be April 8th 2024 okay this is the uh second opportunity for public comment if you'd like to make a public comment please come to the microphone state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes thank you madam President John Church 11 Princeton Place um I will not be here on April 8th at your next meeting where you're going to do all kinds of interesting things uh I'll be hopefully viewing the total eclipse of the sun another location and here uh you'll have a very deep partial eclipse uh so things will get a little dim in the afternoon but they sun will come back never fear so anyway uh so I won't be able to uh be here in person for your April 8th meeting as you know I did circulate a memo about some suggestions about the possible tree ordinance so uh if if that's post I guess that will be posted on the agenda before I am leaving to see the eclipse so I think you may anticipate that I'll send around another memo with the remarks that I would have made but since we don't have zoom anymore I won't won't be able to make those remarks in person on the evening of April 8th so anyway I want to thank Mr Woodfield for his kind remarks and uh we do what we can and uh wish other people would come but uh uh they're not doing it right now I urge them to come back and uh because I think the council would like to have public comment in person as much as possible so all you people out there if I may address you please come to these meetings they're they're very informed so that's it for now and thank you very much for your attention thank you and have a good trip okay Council reports discussion uh oh actually there is no other person in the audience so I'll close public comment I have to officially say that I guess um all right Council reports um discussion new business Dan actually both um the human relations Council and the parking authority met since our last meeting um so a couple of quick updates uh human relation council is working on a diversity Day program um right now the the thought is to model it after the um the diversity key program that they had last year and to build on that do something similar uh and there's actually another meeting since next week already is the first week of April so having another set of meetings with them to to further that discussion um parking authority uh they are working on a detailed proposal for the um the replacement of the parking garage and and resurfacing those lots so they'll be working with the administration when that proposal is done I don't have exact timeline on that uh the goal B basically is to make it as cost neutral as possible for both parties so I'm eagerly waiting to see did you mean garage or do you What did I said you said garage the you mean the lot you mean the lot yeah you mean yeah you mean there's no garage right yes there is there's a physical building that's what I call it's the old public work no the the new one is going to be a lot right correct thank thank I just want thank you Sonia yep um parks and wreck um met on uh March 6 um registration for all activities are now open for spring and summer um pool memberships are open as well and um the committee is very happy to report that the membership is already um higher than last year for non-residents um so the you know the pool memberships are going well so they are open um they do have some summer job positions open especially for the um pool so if anybody's looking for temporary summer jobs um please um get go to the website and take a look at what's available um as of uh the park courts should be open as of last week um so all the courts U tennis courts pickle ball courts all of them should be open um the um districts school districts cricket team um is to use the Township fields and um last week's um Board of Ed meet during Board of Ed meeting our um school council students um did report that they had their first practice last week so which is really good to know um there is some discussion on the bike fest the participation has been um going down um in the past few years um last year there were only 40 registrations so um the committee is discussing about um the feasibility of um putting the to put the bike fest um together um so they have not announced anything yet on that um Community Day is scheduled for September 21st with rain date of September 22nd the next meeting is next week April 3D um oh April is next week already um Board of Ed met on um March 19th the Town Center um elementary schools um open their new uh playground on March 19th which includes um inclusive U play space with many sensory elements um part of the new playground so I think that's a really great addition to um not only to our schools but also available to our um Community um there were many uh retirements um that were announced uh for later this year um among them um um I I would like to highlight three of them um who have given um the township 30 plus years um Andrea Bean math supervisor Gerard Dalton um milr um School principal and Dave Ares um dck um principal those were the three plus there were few others um that were announced Dr aderhold presented the tentative 2024 25 budget um and anybody who's interested the video is available um on W wisor Plainsboro um School District's YouTube channel um public budget presentation and hearing will be on April 30th um Council will have an opportunity to review the budget um the same evening at 6: PM um all my colleagues should have received an invitation for the same so if you're interested um in going for that uh meeting please do respond um to Ash um just one thing to highlight is the um the school districts of the budget is going up by 2.8% increase for the local tax Ley um uh for the next tax season so that's something to look at and see um how it's going to affect um Everybody um lastly High School North and High School South ice hockey um program is looking at a shared Cooperative um program just like um the football and the softball that is it thank you good thank you Sonia and encourage all the council members to attend that um annual meeting with the with the school board um it'll be your first and um but it's good it's it's very good very well organized um uh Andrea yeah um look I look forward to diversity diversity day uh was it was really nice last year with the te's and everything so um that's it's good to see they're looking at that again um the uh affordable housing committee did not meet um and their next meeting is scheduled for April 4th and the next meeting for environmental commission is April 11th environmental commission did meet on March 14th uh they discussed several projects including some Scout projects um including one on recycling that they're uh one of the scouts is looking to do uh there was some updates on community solar and the environmental commission is being tasked to work on a street lighting project um and uh the there was a little discussion about uh that the budget for Street lighting had or the proposed budget for Street lighting had gone up uh think it was a 6.13% increase and the environmental commissions being looked asked to look at um various pros and cons uh from a scientific point of view of additional light in the area so they're going to be um U I believe that was an assignment from engineering um so that's a project they have um that they're going over now um and and uh as far as um open space there was a little discussion on that and um that's pretty much it I U mentioned there was there was an EV show at Trenton computer Festival which which I had gone to for um as part of environmental and um they're looking forward to uh doing some more Garden work thank you thank you Martin yes thank you um the planning board met on Wednesday March 6th um Chick-fil-A was before the planning board on that evening uh many of their representatives uh from operations uh traffic Representatives um did a full presentation on traffic on uh the work that they will be doing with the Wawa this is going to be on Route One right on on Route One uh near Wendy's in the old Clarion Hotel so Chick-fil-A will be uh it was approved that evening should say that so it was approved that even by the planning board uh but they did a thorough presentation at that that night on also on signage signage placement um uh close to Route One on the side roads and as as well uh driveth through um the Chick-fil-A that's nearest to here it's on Lawrence uh in Lawrence on Route One uh North uh this will be on Route One South uh that Chick-fil-A I think has uh 22 to 27 U cars uh that will fit in their drive-thru this one's U going to be close to 50 so it'll be a definite bigger lot uh they'll have seating I think 22 uh seats for outdoor dining as well so it's going to be a little larger space so it was approved that evening on March 6 and the next uh planning board meeting will be on April 17th thank you very good thank you uh Shad tree commission has canceled its March uh meeting the commission continues to prepare for the Township's Arbor Day celebration which will be on April 20th at the Ron Rogers operum if it rains the ceremony will be moved uh to the senior center like it was last year um I also wanted to thank uh Township's landscape architect Dan Dober milsky for his work on the shade tree commission um he's going to be retiring uh by May 1 and it's always been a pleasure to work with him he worked along with the commission and also Township engineer Francis gik on the shade um on the tree removal ordinance which will be um coming up and I believe we're gonna introduce that um at April 8th meeting that'll come up good good right U can I just say also with Dan on the environmental commission um he's done the spearheading for us to get the sustainable Jersey uh which we have to put in every three years and um that's just coming up again next year and uh he will be you know very very missed um not just for that obviously but that's that's something that is very critical and that um the environmental commission considers very important getting these s um uh sustainable Jersey uh certifications so uh I want to thank Dan for all the work he's done over the years with that good thank you um just something under new business it's it's kind of post wrap up to the budget meetings um that we had uh when the mayor gets back I just want to talk talk with him about um having line items for any committees or commissions who who are requesting money um I think that those requests each year should should come from the chair on behalf of the committee um to the council and um I always feel it's a much cleaner type of um thing if you if you have a a line line item in the budget um you know for them and then they they know what their budget is and and and then it's charged to that account so just a a comment on that um Administration updates anything new anything else to add no seeing seeing none uh is there any need for a closed session no okay so uh motion to adjourn it's in order so move second second okay all in favor opposed okay this meeting is adjourned