yeah just well we got we gota wait for I we could do and stuff but yeah we do need oh you L Lyon isna okay well Martin's here pass it everybody has signed in yeah yeah Martin Martin hey J how are you that's for snow that much tomorrow one think here one or two up north is going to get more down here the lines changing hit the switch okay I don't know the it's a good thing we built that r95 they can go on the slopes this coming weekend it's like they the only ones who have nothing broken right now so it's going to be warm afterwards so like I saw like they announc D yeah yeah it's my I think it takes pictures of us okay how are you thank you for turning that Stu just taking this I appreciate just to let you all know we're not on Zoom or not on YouTube toight they switch out the computer and I don't have to T for for YouTube Google account it's recorded we upload it first so Linda should announce that that's right no one's we need to announce it's not we had to switch out computers and gu something okay I'm ready Linda when you take I call this meeting to order it's the Board of Health meeting for February 12th 2024 roll call Bas here Jers here Mandel here Weiss here Whitfield here everybody would please raise rise to the have rically noticed for this meeting yeah I'm pushing it sorry January 16 2024 to the Princeton packet the times posted in the municipal building and on the township website now would everybody please rise for the salute to the flag flag of the United States of America all right if anyone would like to make a comment this is the Board of Health meeting please come up to the microphone state your name and address and you'll have um three minutes to make any comments that you may want to make he seeing none now for Action tonight uh minutes Board of Health November 13 2023 I get a motion to approve so move second any discussion seeing none roll call vote go was yes Mandel yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved so we we have Jill Swanson our health department hello how are you okay um just a few items um we do have a proposed amendment that was distri distributed and it's amending the fee ordinance um chapter 8226 related to the lead safe rental ordinance which we recently adoped Ed the proposed re revision will allow the township to enter into a professional service agreement with a certified lead evaluation contractor and allow that firm to collect the inspection fees directly from the homeowner rather than um moving through the township and under this model um the fees will be agreed upon within the um professional service agreement and stipulated and this approach will streamline the process for both the property owners and um for the township the administrative work for the township um any questions on that um yeah the opposed amendment is f um is there a copy of the amendment or is it not yes did was I thought that was distributed no it was adding one Clause to the fee ordinance that we had adopted previously and that Clause would allow us to use this model as opposed to establishing um fees within the township charging the fee and then paying the contractor on behalf of the homeowner course the copy I have ends at e right there was a proposal for f which was the new Clause February right February yes it there wasn't a set in there it was just what we were going to it wasn't it wasn't an actual change it was just a sort of discussion this is just discussion tonight right so there's no actual proposed F it's just the discussion of what we're going to put in F there was correct verbage did that not go to council should have yeah I thought it was distributed it was one paragraph I have it here if you like me to read it yeah read it to us that would okay so 8226 F in the event the township enters into a professional service agreement with a third party Leed evaluation contractor to offer the township facilitated inspection option and such agreement specifies a fixed fee structure all fees shall be paid by the property owner directly to the contracted professional or as specified in the Professional Services agreement filing fees required under 82 - 26a collected by the contracted professional shall be remitted to the township as specified by the terms of the executed agreement so if you recall when we originally adopted this ordinance we set a fee for inspection and a separate fee for filing um and the filing fee includes a $20 fee per inspection that must be forwarded to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs so rather than have in this model rather than having um a property owner come to the township pay fees and this then us dispatch a third-party contractor to go out and do the inspection um those inspections would be scheduled directly with the contractor that we've entered into this agreement with under fees that we've established within the agreement they will collect the filing fee and the inspection fee and um once a month we the township would receive the filing fee portion the contractor would retain the inspection fee for the services right and keep in mind that the property owners also will um have the option of using a private contractor and not using the township facilitated inspection so that's important to remember so will that be the only so if somebody wants a quote Township and inspection um oh okay we just got one thank you hot off the press um so the only inspection um through the township will be through this contract or are we leaving an option that we may want to do some of those later so the township will not do the inspections the contractor the party that we contract with um if a property owner chooses to use a Township facilitated inspection our contractor will do that work but the property owner could also say I've worked with XYZ firm for the last 10 years on my rental properties I want to stick with them they they can do that and simply submit the certificate to our office right so that wouldn't come under this that would be that would be separately where they're Allowed by law by state law to do their own inspection but if they do an inspection through the town that will always go go through the contractor and they will pay the fee directly to the contractor right right we will um and that will be the option F that we're proposing um I'm also recommending that we keep the fees for inspections that we added to the ordinance uh keep in mind it's it's a new state law so we're kind of filling this out as we go so a few years down the line we may find um that we want a different approach and we may not cont contract out with a firm in this manner um so then we would um have the option if retain the previously adopted ordinance we would retain that ability to directly charge if we're doing those inspections or Contracting differently so that stays there this becomes if we decide to do this it gets done this way the only thing time we would have to change the ordinance is presumably if we change the fee because that would have to be done by ordinance right exactly if we change the fee or if um there would be the option with under the Professional Services agreement that we enter into if we have a if we're dealing with a firm that's willing to collect those fees directly it can be agreed upon under the Professional Services agreement okay so okay because according to this one it says that the fee has to be paid directly to the contracted professional yes so we are going to do that and the $20 will cover it I'm sorry the $20 will cover whatever so the $20 is a separate fee for every under the state law for every inspection that's performed under this law $20 has to be assessed by the township to the property owner and those funds must be forwarded to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs so that 20 all right I I read that that $20 but are are we charging enough so that when we get the money and then you have to put it into account and then you got to send I don't know if you send a letter in a check or it's done electronically to the state are we covering our fees on our end to administer that $20 to the state so again you know this is a new law and we're filling many things out but we have chosen to include in the previous version that we've already adopted a $50 filing fee so whether they use their own inspector or a Township facilitated inspector they will pay $50 to file that lead safe certificate with the township $20 of that $50 must be forwarded to the DCA so we're estimating in general right right right the $30 administrative cost um review it make sure everything an order yes there there is some oversight still on our part to um ensure that those properties that are subject to this that there's some follow through there's education there's Outreach um we suspect that that oversight will diminish over time um but in general um we've are assessing that $30 as an administrative cost for the town's work towards us and the and you're far enough in the contract negotiation to feel that that's going to be pretty much within what the numbers are going to be that yes the the actual inspection fees will there'll be an additional inspection fee on top of this that the the property owners are subject to per property okay this has to be done by July 1 it has to be done by July 24th of this year for the initial inspection and then there is a requirement every three years or a tenant turnover whichever is sooner okay okay any other comments questions seems like an easier way to do this yes we will put this on for introduction at the February 26th meeting 26 the first one in March so hopefully just by the beginning of April the 20-day stole will be done and it will be in effect for Jill to move forward right yeah thanks Jill appreciate it oh you're welcome are there any issues from um any of us any Board of Health members council members any issues uh for this Board of Health meeting okay seeing that I just had a few more quick updates if I second um so Ron test kits will be available in the health department soon we have placed an order and we've partnered with New Jersey D to make the kits available to Residents free of charge while supplies last um so we will put provide a notice on the township website as soon as they come in we encourage all homeowners to ensure their homes have been tested rown has been identified as the leading cause of lung cancer and non-smokers and prolonged exposure causes approximately 500 deaths in New Jersey per year it's relatively inexp inexpensive to test and reduce the levels in your home if they're found to be elevated um and a few more updates on vaccination um for both covid and flu the insured population is encouraged to um seek out um covid updated vaccinations at your primary care or your local pharmacy um however there are some gaps and our Public Health nurs has worked very hard to ensure that we can fill some of these gaps um we've enrolled in an adult vaccination program which is f Federal funded and that makes covid and flu vaccination available to uninsured and underinsured adults over the age of 19 so those appointments are available by appointment and that's um new in our office as of January we're also participating with the state under state funded vaccine Supply again this was recently made available and through this we're able to offer home visits and the nursing staff has been out providing home visits to Hometown residents again um the the uh requests can be made directly to our department and um we're also doing some targeted clinic for at risk groups and housing complexes group homes and similar settings we are um backing off of the senior center clinics uh we held a clinic recently and we're continuing to see about 50% of those who um register for those clinics appear so you know it's no longer really advantageous for us to continue to partner with the pharmacy to host those clinics but anyone who's seeking a vaccination and you're unable to find a location they can certainly reach out to us um I also have an update on our child health clinic we've just moved the clinic to the grace Norton Rogers school in heightstown and this Clinic is offered in partnership with East Windsor Health Department and we serve the children from height Town West Windsor and East Windsor at that clinic any questions the at home visits um is that only for people who are say uninsured or underinsured or no it's also for insured um what we found were um although you may be insured it may be difficult if you're homebound find someone to come in to do the vaccination um so yes and we've done several over the last few weeks since the vaccine has been available to to us for this specific so that's anybody over 19 that would need that and that program is available to any age the home B um we're also able to vaccinate there are some young children who um can only be vaccinated at um they can't be vaccinated in a pharmacy so um say um you know six months one year old um so the state has um provided some vaccine for us if if you're in a situation where your pediatrician does not carry the vaccine and you're seeking out a vaccination we are able to accommodate you and that's by appointment in our office any questions anyone uh any recommendations on the covid how often to get the newest Co chart or anything like that so the recommendation is to um receive the 2023 updated Co vaccination um if you've already received that then there is not a recommendation to receive um an additional booster and if you have any doubts where you are in the process you can certainly give us a call and we'll help look at your records and walk you through that process we do get a few of those calls um and obviously we are still very much in respiratory Sy season right now um flu is high Statewide so it's not too to get a flu shot um covid is still circulating and indeed if you're traveling and and you know preparing for that spring break it may not be a bad idea to look at your vaccinations and see where you stand okay good thank you thank you very much good thank you Jill thank you appr thank you hey any further comments mayor Marina any any comments ministration as usual thank you thank you all right uh is there any need for the Board of Health close session no no need right for close session here next me good all right this is second opportunity for public comment like to make a comment please state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes seeing none and again we're we are not uh live on YouTube because we have we're having technical difficulties but the meeting is being taped and we'll be um broadcast as soon as we can get that up so can I have a motion to adjourn the Board of Health meeting so move second all in favor I okay this meeting is adjourned okay I call this meeting the business um session meeting February 12th 2024 okay call to order gaas yes Jers yes mandal yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes this meeting was adequately noticed on January 19th 2020 four to the times the Princeton packet filed with the clerk and posted in the township web or Township building okay we already done this salute to the flag yep and under ceremonial matters this evening it's uh we're celebrating black history month so we're going to begin uh with Martin uh reading a proclamation for Black History Month sir thank you madam president uh celebrating February as Black History Month Proclamation whereas Black History Month is a time to commemorate the historic struggles of African-Americans to gain freedom and equality and to recognize the importance of these struggles to our country's history and ideals and to celebrate the many achievements African-Americans have made to our economic cultural spiritual and political development as a nation and whereas Black History Month grew out of the establishment in 1926 of nego History week by Carter G Woodson and the association for the study of African-American life and history and where as in 2024 the national theme for observance is African-Americans influence on the Arts in the United States the focus will be on poets writers visual artists and dancers and their contributions over the years and whereas the observance of Black History Month calls our attention to the ongoing need to enhance our understanding of black history to overcome racism and to build a society that lives up to its democratic ideals and whereas the township of West Windsor continues to work toward becoming an even more inclusive community in which all citizens past present and future are respected and recognized for their contributions to our community the county and the state and whereas the township of West Windsor is proud to honor the history and contributions of African-Americans in our community such as our senior center and schools throughout New Jersey and the nation now therefore be it resolved that mayor Heat morate and the township Council of the township of West Windsor hereby proclaims febru as Black History Month in per perpetuity and encourages all citizens to celebrate our diverse Heritage and culture and continue our efforts to create a world that is more just peaceful and prosperous for all in witness where we here unto set our signatures and calls to be a fixed the Great Seal of the township of West Windsor This 12th day of February 2024 thank you was part of our black history month celebrations very very special guest tonight joining us Martin's daughter so pakala Amos Whitfield is a graduate of High School South and is currently a senior as an art education major at the College of New Jersey so in honor of Black History Month Michaela is here tonight to do a presentation on the many contributions African Americans have made in the area of the Arts in this country throughout the years thank you welcome thank you all right I'll just reintroduce myself I'm Michaela Amos Whitfield I am a senior art education major at the College of New Jersey and so I'm just here today to talk about influential black artists but before I start we did talk about how February is dedicated two people who created black history and my dad actually created black history he is the first African-American Westwind councilman so I just wanted to give him props before I get started with the artist but yeah who is that guy he looks too good all right so today I'm G to be talking about four different type of art mediums there's obviously more than four but I want to highlight these four so I did drawing and painting I did music poetry and acting so I'm going to get started with drawing and painting my first artist I have today is John Michael basat and so he was born on the 22nd of December in 1960 in Brooklyn New York his father Gerard was was born in port Al prince in Haiti and his mother m was from New York and she's a native Puerto Rican descent so a lot of his artwork he shows a crown which is signature artistic Motif and acknowledge and challenge the history of Western Art so he liked to Adorn black male figures including athletes musicians and writers and with the crown he raised these historically differentiated artists to Royal even Saint Lan statures and then in 18 1982 at the age of 21 he became the youngest artist to actually ever exhibit and document menta and Castel Germany and he had 60 of his paintings featured in this exhibition my next artist is kendi Wy so his art Journey began with a classical education in art history Bachelor of Fine Arts from San Francisco art institute and then he went to have a degree in the master of Fine Arts from school of Yale University and at Yale he secured a prestigious art residency at the studio Museum in Harlem and he further equipped himself with deep understanding of artistic Traditions techniques and styles so what's interesting about kendi Wy is that his unique approach to selecting his subjects he actually Street cast them which means instead of using professional models he would go out into the streets and communities and engage with different individuals and he would hire them to be his Muses essentially in his paintings so he had D diversity of real people elig them to the status and power traditionally reserved for white Aristocrats featured in heart history and he also exhibited all over the world his position in a prominent figure in an Ever more globalized art landscape so as you can see the first picture at the top he would do a comparison between the major European art history and then he would influence black women and try to compare and contrast them my next artist is Cara Walker so she was born November 26 in 1969 she is an American contemporary painter solst print maker translation artist filmmaker and Professor who explores race gender sexuality violence and identity in her artwork she is best known for her room siiz Black cut paper Silhouettes and she was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 1997 at the age of 28 and she was the youngest ever recipient of the award she also believed that her historically inspired art deals with history but rather than it responds to history so she quoted embedded in that statement that she's dealing with history this is a desire for a hero who can fix this problem in our history and racism she also said that she doesn't think that her work is actually officially dealing with the history she thinks that her artwork is submerged and consumed by history so now on to musical influences I start off with Lou Armstrong so he was one of the first popular African-American entertainers to cross over to wide popularity with white and international audiences and his influence extended Beyond Jazz reaching popular music and General so his collaboration with Ella Fitzgerald and appearances in films further solidified his cultural significance he also holds the honor as the greatest jazz artist of all time simply because he had a technique that was immaculately close to Flawless so playing the trumpet Armstrong took the jazz music genre by storm in the late 1920s and he was praised for his sharp sense of Harmony as well as his ability to time his inflections he was no ordinary trumpeteer dazzling Jazz patrons with his stage performance which is complemented as well as his crafted Melodies so these techniques were some of the reasons why jazz music became popular in America my next artist is Kendrick Lamar so he is known for his thought-provoking and introspective lyrics he often tackles issues such as racism violence inequality and sparking conversations with raising awareness so in 2018 Kendrick Lamar made history by becoming the first rapper to win a polter prize for his album and a prestigious award recognizes for his cont contribution to the music industry Kendrick Lamar often incorporates social and political issues into his music his song all right became an Anthem for the black lives matter movement and earned him critical Acclaim Kendrick Mar has lent his music talents to film soundtracks his contributions to movies like Black Panther and Creed have earned him critical Acclaim and my final musical artist is Whitney Houston so her self-titled 1985 debut album Whitney Houston is her bestselling album Saving All My Love For You was her first number one hit single in both the US and UK she scored a further two hits of this album Greatest Love of All and how will I know the later introduced her to MTV audiences and made her one of the first African-American female artists to receive heavy rotation on the network Whitney Houston is only an artist to chart seven number one Billboard Hot 100 hits in a row Saving All My Love For You How Will I Know Greatest Love of All I want to dance with somebody didn't we almost have it all so emotional Where Do Broken Hearts go she's also the only artist with at least one Grammy Emmy MTV Music Video award MTV movie award People's Choice Award and Billboard Music Award making her the most awarded female artist of all time according to the genius of Book of World Records so now on to poetry my first poet is linkston Hughes so linkston Hughes was American poet social social activist novelist playwright and columnist from Missouri one of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called Jazz POI Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance he famously wrote about the periods the Negro was in Vogue which was later paraphrased as when Harlem was invoked the weary blues is a poem by American poet Langston Hughes written in 1925 The Weary Blues was first published in the Urban League magazine opportunity it was awarded the Magazine's PR her best poem of the year my next poet is Zora M huren she's known for her work in writing books novels and short stories she has also written a number of poems during her career which includes the famous poem entitled how it feels to be colored by me Zoro hurston's research made her a Pioneer writer of folk fiction about African-Americans in the South she is prominent writer in the Harlem Renaissance their eyes are watching God published in 1937 is her most celebrated novel and my final poet is Maya Angelo so she was American memorist poet and Sil right activist she published seven autobiographies three books of essays several books of poetry and is credited with a list of plays movies and televisions shows spanning over 50 years she received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees Maya Angela won three Grammy Awards not for singing but for her spoken word albums she won her first Grammy for the poem on the pulse of the morning which she wrote for Bill C's Inauguration in 1993 her other Grammy wins refer the poem Phenomenal Woman and the Autobook version of autobiography A song flung up to heaven and now on to acting my first actor is Denzel Washington so he is an American actor producer and director in a career spanning over four decades Washington has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award two American Academy Awards three Golden Globe Awards and two silver Bears known for his engaging and Powerful performances throughout his career he has been regularly praised by critics and his consistent success at the box office how helped him to dispel the perception that African-American actors cannot draw mainstream white audiences and in the picture on the bottom right we have my father with Denzel Washington when no one knew and my second actor is Angela Basset so Angela Basset is an American actress known for her work in film and television since the 1980s she has received various accolades including two Golden Globe Awards in addition to nominations for two academ Academy Awards and eight prime time any awards so Angela Basset received an academy honorary award at 14th annual Governor's Awards an Academy Award honorary award is basically an award for a lifetime achievement within the film industry and an NAACP image award for outstanding lead actress in motion picture and my final actor is Sydney berter so Sydney Porter becames the first black actor to win an Oscar in a lead role it was Landmark victory for Porter who has gained a representation as a pre-eminent example of African-American leading actor so the presidential medal of freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor presented to individuals who have made especially contributions to the security or national interest of the United states to world peace or culture of significant public or private Endeavors and in 2009 Porter was awarded the presidential medal of freedom from Barack Obama and that's all my artist today thank you you thank you very much that's excellent now i' like to just take one minut to get a picture with Martin you and your daughter and then council members down there yeah you okay can we put this on the municipal website the presentation good thank you thank you very much [Music] that's okay mayor um you wanted to make some comments on 2024 r72 is which is a resolution to support srii International in their efforts to obtain funding through the the chips and SS Act of 2022 yeah thanks uh Linda asked me how this came about so I don't write memo so I said I'll just comment on it at the meeting so uh since I became mayor in 2017 I've been involved in many discussions with SRI regarding development of their property in West wi uh some of these proposals Council has been aware of because I didn't discuss it with them somewhere only in discussion phases and never went anywhere uh the focus was always on what's best for West WI residence and during these discussions one thing was clear both to Sri and to me that no matter how that property was developed uh the it must include the pens neck bypass that has only been talked about for so long so recently I was very excited when SRI discussed a proposal uh that is the best so far and something that I enthusiastically support and urge Council to support as well Princeton is known around the world as an El Educational Institute West Wier is known as the town where the Martians landed a lot of people don't know that West Wier has uh been a place of significant scientific breakthroughs uh such as color TV LCD technology digital TV electronic ignition of cars just to name a few and sarov research SRI and all its predecessors have been played a significant part in these breakthroughs and and most people uh even West win residents don't know that so SRI has applied for funding under the chips and science Act of 2022 to enlarge their current facilities in West Wier as mayor I enthusiastically support their application and this is the best proposal that of all that I have heard from them so far uh they have an established record and are welld deserving to be granted the funding they're also working with various State organizations to secure the funding obtaining the grant will make the SRI campus a thriving research facility that will help the US maintain our lead in chip Technologies having observed other entities that have been funded under the act so far and you hear them on CNBC all the time SRI is as deserving as any of them giving the proximity of Princeton University and the talent that is offered by West wi or residents this is an ideal location to establish a facility for the state-of-the-art research facility the township has agreed to work aggressively with SRI to expedite the construction of the facility if they are so granted the uh funding so one of the requirements of funding is they want to make sure that the local government is in support of it and they're not going to fight uh for any new construction so that's the reason for this um this Proclamation showing our enthusiastic support report so I will urge the council to support the resolution after you pass it I'm going to urge the request the county executive and freeholders also to pass a similar resolution expressing their support and they are all all already working with the state uh to apply for this funding and I'm very optimistic that they will get it and that will make Mercer County a leader in Hightech research thank you that's exciting for West Windsor long history with s R and technology and all is in West Windsor and um so whatever we can do to help our existing uh businesses would be great and so much explosion in technology and chips and Ai and all these different things that you know we should uh be a hub here for Innovation right yeah any other comments anybody um yeah I had the opportunity uh when I was on planning board the other year 2022 I think to to uh tour SRI and um because there was some proposal was being discussed and it was an interesting uh to look at one on one hand I got to see David sof's office which was really fantastic um and on the other hand uh there was a lot of equipment there that sort of reminded me of when I started in engineering a number of years ago um so there's there's a lot good going on there there's been a lot of great people and but there's a lot that could be put into there to really bring them up um they do have a clean room one of one of the benefits they have is that they are good enough in some of the old technology that they've been actually keeping um a lot of our defense and our satellites and and other things working whereas if you went into a totally new facility they wouldn't have had both the capability um with their with equipment or they wouldn't have the people that would know how to do that so SRI kind of provides this blend of having the ability to do the older technology and the ability to do the newer technology in clean rooms that I think is is really going to be um made into something wonderful if they can get this money here and the fact that it's coming into West Windsor hopefully coming into West Windsor is something that uh I really feel we all should be supporting and and I would look forward to thank thank you anyone else yeah this is this is exciting I think it'll also bring um more employment I think and also you did touch on the bypass as well so that would be part of something that we would work I mean first they have to let let's wait till they get the money no I know but but I'm just getting ahead of you know always thinking of that that we need that bypass yes I was gonna say that they need it everybody in that area the yes we haven't we haven't forgotten that okay but this is great really it's great to hear this all right so we'll move on um we have a proposed resolution 2024 r73 and um that is a resolution stating opposition to New Jersey bills s50 and A4 in n current form um this has to do with um affordable housing legislation for the fourth round um so later later in this meeting under recommendations from the administration and Council and the cleric there's there's this proposed resolution it affects the upcoming fourth round of affordable um housing obligations which is set to begin in July 20125 so it's it's coming up pretty quick um I I know I I think a few of us Andrea Dan myself maybe Sonu you were on with the uh Zoom webinar last Friday with the New Jersey League of municipalities on these two bills um and as reported uh by the New Jersey League of municipalities I mean a A4 was on the assembly board for a voting session scheduled for today uh and Senate bill s50 was reported favorably out of the Senate community and urban Affairs committee on January 25th and second reference to the Senate budget and Appropriations Committee the SBA the bill is subject to further amendments if and when it progresses to the Senate the SBA is scheduled to meet on February 22nd and the full Senate is scheduled for a voting session on March 21st of course all these dates are subject to change so it's it's an ongoing thing and and we'll see how this all uh plays out so it's it's a work in progress nothing um has been finally determined just yet um so we the idea here was to give our state legislators um some you know thoughts and some feedback on the legislation um and some of the the information that's in it that um we we would hope they would take a little closer look at so um does anyone have any comments I I have some prepared remarks and um because I think it's important for us to sort of set the context uh about this issue and if I get anything wrong I'm sort of drinking from the fire hose to learn this so if I get anything wrong don't hesitate to call me out and correct me um but affordable housing is essentially it's a constitutional requirement as ruled by the New Jersey Supreme Court in a case known as the Mount Lauren Doctrine uh nearly 50 years ago in 1975 and this case set the precedent that municipalities have an obligation to provide their fair share of affordable housing for low and moderate income residents a principle that has since been upheld and further developed through subsequent Court decisions and legislative actions this Landmark ruling aimed to combat exclusionary zoning practices and promote socioeconomic diversity and inclusion in New Jersey commun uh communities the Council on affordable housing also known as COA was established in 1985 and was tasked with overseeing the development and implementation of affordable housing policies in New Jersey its primary responsibilities included included establishing affordable housing quotas for mun municipalities monitoring that compliance with those quotas and allocating funding for affordable housing initiatives however over the years COA faced numerous challenges and controversies that impacted its Effectiveness one of the most significant issues was the prolonged legal battles and legislative gridlock surrounding the methodology used to determine each municipality's fair share of affordable housing obligations this led to delays in the implementation of affordable housing policies and created uncertainty for municipalities and to make matters worse past gubernatorial administrations failed to appoint members to fill vacancies in COA leaving the council unable to carry out its duties this lack of leadership has further exasperated the challenges of implementing coherent affordable housing policies Statewide so without a functioning COA affordable housing disputes moved into the courts where municipalities were assaulted by numerous lawsuits resulting in lengthy and costly litigation in 2018 a superior court judge ruled that West Windsor had not met its affordable housing obligation and needed to zone for the construction of 1,500 affordable units by 2025 uh this figure represented a 15-year backlog as well as a 10-year forward view um the ruling came after years of litigation and negotiations West Windsor is grappled with the challenge of meeting our affordable housing obligations while balancing concerns such as zoning regulations Community character and infrastructure capacity and in 2025 just one year from now all municipalities will be required to submit a plan to provide affordable housing for the next 10 years and our our leaders in the New Jersey legislature has has introduced legislation to prevent a repeat of what happened in the last round whereas affordable housing requirements were decided by a very costly judicial process so the new legislation introduces a detailed administrative process to determine fair share housing obligations to provide some protections to prevent costly Builder Le remedy lawsuits and moves the decision-making process away from the courts and under the jur jurisdiction of the Department of Community Affairs some aspects of the new legislation of note is that the next round is capped at a thousand units um with numerous opportunities to reduce the total obligation based on specific use cases like uh special needs housing and age restricting housing can account for as much as 30% of these units uh the reality of the situation is that legislation will be passed this year to address the administration of affordable housing requirements and it's not going to be perfect nothing coming out of pron is ever perfect um but having something in place will be a vast Improvement compared to what happened in the last round um where West Windsor incurred really significant costs due to litigation so our role as council members is to advocate for legislation that minimizes our risks and provides a clear fair and achievable process to Define and meet our affordable housing requirements so as as Linda mentioned over the past several weeks leaders in our legislature have been collaborating with leaders from the New Jersey League of municipalities to adopt changes to the legislation numerous changes have been agreed to that improved the legislation such as adding additional protections to municipalities and that's an excellent sign as it demonstrates that our legislators are listening and taking action based on our concerns uh the legislation process continues to be very fluid earlier today an amended version of the bill was presented to the assembly um that included no less than 23 items addressing the concerns presented by the league of municipalities uh we must continue to advocate for change areas of the legislation should be considered for further Improvement are as follows um an update to the obligations calculation so that it accounts for the financial burdens that will result from additional development including but not limited to the management of infrastructure Emergency Services environmental impacts such as storm Mor management and educational services and funding opportunities to mitigate those financial impacts should you know be included and there should be an allowance of additional time to determine the obligation as well as the submission of the plan thank you good thank you um that sounded like good that was good um Tes takes it back from I guess back from the start from 1975 I I do look at this and I say God this is 50 years every time I've looked at it that you know whenever they say oh there was restrictive zoning and exclusionary zoning and I'm saying oh gee 50 years ago they were doing this but um so I try not to go through what you did um first of all I would like to um to thank Linda for putting this together and spearheading this and I know how many hours she spent because um I know she's gotten feedback from everybody and she was massaging it and putting it together and and I think it came out really nice so thank thank you Linda um I've been I have and I believe a number of my colleagues have for I know I have been for like at least the last six years every time I've had the opportunity um I've if I meet anybody from any party uh in the state legislature or anyone with any power I bring this up it doesn't matter what the topic of discussion is where I am if it's a um this this has been the number one and the number one thing has always been can you establish something other than a bunch of lawsuits in the courts from the state to take care of of this issue uh it it's killing us the idea that we don't really know what's going to happen that um you know that it's it seems to be the whim of a particular judge it's a matter of people not law that make the make the um decision um and we really need some form of a ordinance from the state that sets out the rules rather than causing a free-for-all of lawsuits in order to make the decisions on on this and the free-for all for lawsuits doesn't um doesn't really produce any housing either it produces some eventually but a lot of money is spent that doesn't house one person so um it's it's a lose lose for just about everybody except whoever makes makes money in and these things some developers and um and we'd like to avoid that and we'd like to avoid not knowing um and I was tell Linda's been there a few times I know she's done the same thing and I know others have and basically we get everything from oh I didn't realize it to that's not on my priority list who I'm not going to touch that a lot of the time so I I was actually kind of surprised when last December there was a bill and it was okay we're going to pass it tomorrow and get it through the lame duck legislature and I'm glad cooler heads prevailed and they realized that wasn't going to happen um and and they stopped that and they're willing to um listen a little bit to uh some of the concerns that we have um as was mentioned um both L Linda and I uh I think we mentioned last time went to one of the hearings uh the one that was before the um the Senate uh we gave testimony I took my testimony and I emailed it to a number of people in the Senate and the assembly who are on the various committees um and in addition to our own representatives and the um League Got U the legue of municipalities got very more involved and on Friday Zoom call um they I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of good was done I think a lot of changes were made in the right direction um not not there yet there's still a lot of what to me are very major issues but I really want to thank the people in the league that did this because it was very obvious that um a lot of what was said was taken to I'll say heart um but that some changes were made um most that now that was only made in the assembly version now the Senate we don't we don't know what the Senate's going to do and there's still the things that we put into this resolution which we wrote what the day before Thursday when when this was done are still pretty much in effect um for instance the um the obligations and the formuls that we were talking about that basically the Jacobson decision is still left in there and I'd like to see that a little bit more codified rather than a reference to a to a um meth methodology that is untested is not is not sure and uh could could create a lot of problems through through the state um there's other things like the failure to meet deadlines still open open us up even if we're moving along in good faith and perhaps something doesn't get filed on the exact date we seem to automatically get opened up to legal action including Builders remedy and I believe they've expanded the terminology on that one um the um the bonus credits we're we still have a 25% cap so even though we're now looking at 30% say per senior and we're looking at nine I think we're up to nine different categories that are um eligible for bonus the entire uh amount is only 25% uh personally I think that's going to help it's going to really hurt the high hanging fruit because there are things on there like housing for disabled and if you have a 25% cap um a lot of and communities aren't going to go for some of the more expensive options because they'd probably rather go for the cheaper options so they may be hurting people by by including that cap uh the uh housing element fair share plan calculations um you know still these need to be challenged the Builder's remedy process I would like to see that removed I don't know of any other law that if you break break a law you don't do something uh that kind of gives everybody a chance to come and take shots at you uh usually it's a civil situation between you and the um and the governing uh uh administrative body that would either come and either find you or force you to do something but it doesn't mean that uh everybody else can come and try to make a make profit off of you so I would like to see that happen um and I would like to see this taken out of the courts as much as possible and of course there's the whole issue which is really the main issue for most of our towns is what does this do to everything from our storm water to our schools to our taxes um our infrastructure um unprotected Farmland all these things that now uh can be in the in the crosshairs or that are not uh taken care of in some way and that that's been totally uh ignored in this Bild that there's no looking at that there's a bunch of other things in here there's a bunch of things we didn't put in this that would be nice to see but these major issues are still there even with these amendments we don't know what the Senate's going to do so I think it's a good idea that we go ahead and still strenuously um tell the legislature and ask others to tell the legislature that we would like to see uh this these kinds of changes as this bill moves forward thank you and as the Senate takes you know takes this on um we can also see you know how the bills have evolved and we can always do if you want to do this resolution tonight do another resolution too because it's it's it's ongoing it's constantly changing and it's kind of hard to capture it in a moment next thing you know they're voting before uh we can get something out there yeah mayor yeah if I start talking I'll probably talk for two hours so cut me off um so minutes no I you three minutes so no I I I mean I'm not going to repeat uh some of the stuff others have said but this kind of reminds me of how I was in college I mean just Goof Off first 12 weeks of the semester and last two weeks try to cram and just uh wing it um Christie deserves all the blame for um abandoning coach not appointing people absolutely I mean that's one of the many things I blame him for but Murphy had six years and they were sleeping for six years and then suddenly woke up or working behind the scene in November and December they tried to Ram it through again Common Sense prevailed thank God and didn't go through but there lot of just disconnects in this when you try to just wing it like I did in college you make a lot of mistakes and a lot of these things uh first thing is the timing there's absolutely no need to rush it so fast simply because lot of towns haven't even Broken Ground on their round three obligation forget about round four I mean I can West Wier is one of the leaders I mean that's why I'm completely unafraid of commenting on that because nobody can take shots at West Wier we have approved on every project uh that was part of round three in fact when we went to court we went to court with engineered plans which nobody else did for round three NX EX for 400 steps I believe everybody has broken ground on on their property but when I look around um Mercer County lot of towns haven't even started their round three obligation not even broken so now to create a new Department within DCA to bring it up by hiring whomever they are going to hire to staff that department and to come up with numbers for every town in New Jersey in six months it's un heard of an unnecessary I mean the rush is unnecessary and then whether they come up with the numbers or not in August whatever date is the towns are obligated to come up with their numbers by January 15th I would like to know what the DCS numbers are before I commit to either saying okay they are good enough for me or no it doesn't make sense the second big problem is the lawsuits this doesn't prevent any lawsuits in fact this allows private developers to use the state to sue townships for minute things or Min minimum things if the township agrees with DCA DCA is the Arbiter that is the state has decided or state has chosen there's absolutely no reason for a developer to come and say that hey both DC and the township is wrong and the number should be higher or my property is better than his property and Township should build your so I don't expect any less money to be spent during next round than we spend in last round we spent roughly 500,000 over two years in last round I don't expect because every developer thinks their baby is the most beautiful and everybody else's baby is ugly and this law this law doesn't prevent that from happening so I mean the common sense is if we accept the DCA number then that's the end of it then let us figure out where we are going to build with the developers and then a individual third party shouldn't be able to sue the township simply because they don't agree with DCA or let them go and Sue the DCA and tell them DCA is wrong the limits that they put on various things as also the defeats the purpose if your aim is to bring lower socioeconomic people people with uh less social economic status in West Wier we should encourage West wi to build apartments in fact you should insist West wi should only build apartments and Jersey City should only build homes or town homes that are more than a million dollars I mean forcing West Wier to build homes is not going to make any dent in the socioeconomic balance of West wion I mean very few people who are social economically challenged can afford a $850,000 home that's the going price now I mean it's absolutely uh defeating the purpose to say that oh you can't get credit for apartments in fact if you want uh poorer people or people with less means to move into it they should encourage West Wier by giving higher credits to to houses that are cheaper seniors I mean New Jersey forget West wi New Jersey should make every effort to keep every senior in state most people retire go to Tech uh North Carolina or Florida I mean I just admire people who still live here years years and years after their kids have graduated from college I mean most people move there so they should make every effort to keep seniors here rather than playing games by offering credits on senior freeze this that again nothing against senior freeze nothing against the new program they have come up with as I've joked before it's just starting one year too soon um I won't be 60 I will be 64 when it starts but rather than doing that they should just fix the problem for everyone I mean the basic problem in New Jersey is cost of living and this does nothing to address that problem this will make when for example if we when we open a new development if there are 50 affordable housing units we probably get 250 applications and then 50 people whose number is chosen out of a lottery are the lucky ones the remaining ones are unlucky and that forces a about 10 20 people in town to move out because they can't afford high rent I mean I know so many people who moved out of West Wister when they rent went up um and they couldn't afford it so this just essentially replaces one group of people with another group of people so as I said in my uh my write up in the paper I don't have any magic solution because the issues are entrenched over a number of years and it will take steady steady steady work to unwind them and it will take many years to unwind them but a lot more thought should go into this and this looks like a bill that's favoring developers more than Township and by Township I mean common people living in Township as a mayor I have realize the most disadvantaged people are the middle class people because they don't technically qualify for any aid from the state but at the same time they find it really difficult to live in towns like West wisor um and then they move either to other towns or just move out of state and this bill or in in larger sense the state legislature doesn't do anything to address that problem and as Andrea said and you have said there are lot of changes that have been made to the bill but lot more work can be done and there is absolutely no rush simply because the round three hasn't finished yet I mean people haven't um even um finished building round Tre I mean even West wi hasn't finished building Round Tree although we have we are ahead and breaking ground so I hope Senate makes it better and then when it goes to the conference it it makes even better as you said uh Dan nothing is perfect nothing coming out of Trenton in fact nothing coming out of anywhere is perfect because there's no right solution to any issue but they need to do a lot more work and they need to fix it a lot more and the reason it gets lopsided is because common people don't contact the legislature and complain they will only complain that oh Avalon is building who why the may let Avalon build there well have may let Avalon build there because the state said you have to build some housing somewhere so it's either Avalon or in your backyard somewhere it's going to happen so if you don't want to complain to some future mayor 5 6 10 years from now that why you're building it here this is your time to let the state legislature know that slow down give the township the tools to deal with the issues and deal with the uncontrolled development and let them build slowly and steadily and truly encourage people to stay in town and truly encourage people to move into town thank you mayor it's very good you went over time no no thank you I think I think everybody covered for quite a bit and I want to thank Linda for s heading this I know we spoke in um in length um on last few days to get this resolution um I think the important thing is uh important point is what we are trying to say is um and I think mayor just touched upon that is um give give the township the tools give the municipals municipalities the tools to um you know work work on it as opposed to um just forc down through some Court um numbers um decided upon and Builders remedy has to go you know that is something needs to go but I I don't want to repeat everything I think everybody said um yeah they're beginning to call Builders remedy lawsuits exclusionary zoning litigations exactly CH they just changing that a little bit um yes yeah oh yeah now so I will be brief as I always say um but you know thank you Dan Andrea mayor um Linda you you all have dressed so much of the legislature part of this so I just wanted to give a different perspective for our Township and our residents um a little more in-depth look at affordable housing I've mentioned this before my family and I moved to West Windsor 18 years ago 2006 through affordable housing um I sat on the school board I've seen and talk to so many residents here in town um many of them minorities who have come to West Windsor obviously um through affordable housing and I've also seen so many of difficulties that have taken place in our school district um culturally um academically and I think you know we can talk and discuss legislation and things that nature but there's people involved and sometimes we don't spend enough time dealing and talking with the people and and what the issues the people may have um when they move into an incredible dynamic diverse communities such as West Windsor but there have been so many issues that I've spoken to so many affordable housing individuals who have moved out of Newark moved out of Trenton moved out of Yuan um and the difficulties those uh many single moms have moved into West W over the last 18 years that I've lived here and they've had so many so many difficulties and lack of support and help um to deal with many uh cultural differences uh economic obviously differences educational um opportunities and the differ um you know going all the way to sitting in classrooms and in cafeterias with individuals who may not look like them but sometimes people differentiate themselves and even younger people economically and who Haves and the halves and the Have Nots so I think that's something that we have to start thinking about you know in the future um when it comes to affordable housing is you know these laws and legislation these things are absolutely important but you know I haven't heard that many people you know talk about about the individuals they know or individuals that they've met or helping um people who to get more acclimated in a West Windsor or any other middle class to Upper fluent Community throughout the state and I think that's very very important because I've just seen so many issues and concerns that have come up from individuals who move from um different urban populations that are very different and they've had they've had a real real struggle um my family and I we've been blessed my wife and I we work very hard you know with our children and spend and so so do many others but there's a lot of single moms that move into this town and and and they struggle between two and three jobs and not having time you know to to spend a lot of time with their children so as we try to balance this socioeconomic issue that exists in this state um from the urban Poe all the way up to middle class I think we should start thinking about um ways and resources that we can give and Grant to individuals who move here in West Windsor that's all I have to say thank you well thank thank everybody for for all the um passionate statements and there's no doubt whatever finally gets approved um will have big impacts on West Windsor so um again I did I did feel um and I believe everyone else feels that it was important to to make our our thoughts known so uh just to to wrap up is um this is on for vote uh later in the meeting is is there anything anyone else needs to change or or are we set to go we okay with it yes okay all right good all right thank thank you you know we don't discuss this very often but I I think this is a moment in time where we really needed um to do this all right so we'll continue on with the agenda now uh first opportunity for public comment if you'd like to make a comment please come to the microphone state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes okay seeing seeing none I'll close public comment uh Administration comments with the weather forecast um bringing some uncertainty I would ask residents to monitor our website and assist us um in anticipation of snow um if you have Leaf Andor brush in the roadway please remove them in order to prevent any hazards with the upcoming storm debris can get thrown um by the plows into um uh people's property as well as into the public right away and into oncoming traffic um the other ask the township pass is that if you live near a storm drain please be sure that they're clear of debris or if you need assistance clearing the debris contact Public Works um the melting snow needs to be able to drain um from the roadway into the um storm Source um I also would like to remind residents that there are two code Township codes with respect to the responsibility of uh snow removal and the placement of snow Township Pro property owners are responsible for snow removal on sidewalks within 24 hours after the cease of after the end of snowfall um Municipal Code section is 150 2-8 and the Township Code does appear on the township website under the Township Clerk um the other ask of um Property Owners is please do not Place snow or ice on Township streets it creates a real Hazard um Property Owners sometimes hire contractors to um have snow removed from their driveways and any snow should be um any snow that's removed from private property should be placed along the RightWay and not in the center of the roadway it also hinders um response First Responders from getting to uh calls in a timely fashion for emergency services and then finally um I'm going to shift gears the West West Windsor Senior Center is providing free income tax assistance with the help of um uh tax preparers who are trained uh by the American Association of retired persons and they work with the IRS and New Jersey state income tax department the program is available to West Windsor seniors Tuesday morning mornings from 9 to 12:30 the program began February 6 and will continue to April 9th 2024 individuals or residents are reminded to bring copies of their 2020 three federal and state income tax returns as well as all tax forms and documents they received in the mail for tax reporting purposes it's important important that you have an appointment for this service appointments can be scheduled by calling the senior center at 609 799 9068 again I would like to encourage residents of the importance of um signing up for the Township's ebulletins um which can be done um on the township website and the police department alerts which can be done um also through the township side no is it a nixel alerts yes right right and we have provided we've actually have the police nixel alert listing connected to our web page because it provides useful information the two sites were separate and by Maring the two pieces of information I think it's a lot easier because I tend to gravitate toward the township website and all the police department messages that have been sent out are actually archived basically just scroll through it thank you quick question um I've noticed the number of did I did I use all of my time did you use your time for for the next meeting or no I have I will be very quick uh just couple of things uh as Marina briefly mentioned uh depending on the model we may get a lot of snow or we may get no snow I hope for the latter but uh DPW will be out at 4:00 a.m. uh salting the roads and they will start at 4:00 a.m. and then depending on how the snow goes they will decide so please be careful tomorrow morning if you have to go to work uh be very careful roads will be salted at 4:00 a.m. uh starting with Inner Street streets and then the main streets but again it's very unpredictable we don't have any guarantee of how much snow we will get because we are on the line so thanks Dan question yeah so um I've noticed that there are still not sure a handful if not many households that have debris Garden in their Garden debris in the in the streets is there uh any type of process that our Public Works are going to can take to help inform folks to you know clean that up yeah I mean if somebody points that out to us we do send somebody to give them notice to pick it up but we don't go looking around but if somebody complains that XYZ and we won't take your name okay uh that XY John complain we will never see that if we if if an address is provided I do some self-reporting myself because I do field Shield inspections as does driving into the office um I actually noticed a pile and I have to compliment the resident I think the pile is on North Post Road and it's on the person's property it's not in the roadway but I have OB observed some situations where it's already in the street oh yeah we have it plastered on the current news section on the Department of Public Works page um all I ask is if some if if residents can report the information I can then report it to public works and then a notice of violation has to get issued due process and it gives the resident an opportunity to comply and oftentimes when that happens the residents are there Cooperative so it's constant education I think ALS so Marina and tell me if I'm wrong but the storm water letter that just went out the yearly that has all of that information and every resident who owns of the property gets that as well you're assuming that they read it well people need to be tapped on the should that's my that's my pet PE people people need to read and you know I I I probably am OCD but I look at the inserts in my bills because there's useful information from the utility company so it's just taking that moment to read and not automatically recycling without sh they throw it in recycle that's our biggest turtle and the best way to stay stay informed is through the Township's official website and I think you know when people are doing it it's not that they're doing it maliciously they just don't no so you know friendly reminders we've had wild weather so you know I know I've been picking up debur where I live and I haven't been putting it in the street I've created a nice little pile on my property exact all right thank you and the de debris can be dropped off at the DPW site yes and we have publicized that um actually that that is on the township website under the current news and residents who have that need to get debris off their property are more than um they they have the ability to drop the debris off at public works from Monday through Friday from 8 to 2 PM or Saturdays from 8 AM um to 12: pm and if a resident has a contractor that's cleaning up the degree residents are welcome to accompany the contractor to the public work s to drop off any of the debris and the reason why we allow that is we just don't want any yard companies or landscape companies picking up material that may not even belong to Township residents and dump you know dump it illegally so we we put that on the website as well um I will tell you I've with the mild weather our public works department has been able to do activities that they haven't been able to do in past winters during the off seon of when the crews are not out collecting um um yard debris and leaves I also want to remind residents with this freezing and Tha if potholes develop please go online you you can report them to Public Works directly and if if you choose to you can call a Town Hall and we'll take it from there but we I just wish we had a lot of eyes and ears out there and we have to look to the residents for assistance with them sure thank you good okay all right we'll move on to council member comments Martin thank you I just wanted to first uh thank my daughter Michaela for a uh Dynamic presentation this evening um since it is Black History Month uh I just wanted to you know touch note on a few things obviously is very important for any ethnicity in this country to be recognized for their contributions um to their to this country to their state their area their Township um I do have a poster I brought Michaela can you just hold that up for a second second um this poster has uh many of the African kings and also African-Americans um and it's titled emancipation um of the we've carried that we've had that in our home for many many years um so it's not just um African-Americans but it's also Kings um from the world but many most of it are are African-Americans and their contributions so it's it's very very important black history and the reason why I also wanted to bring that poster um when we talk about Africa you know and the title is emancipation um you know we're only 160 years removed three to four generations From Slavery and you know many of us talk about the atrocities that have taken place throughout this world um from genocide to Holocaust to many other things um but I think I just want people in our community to be to recognize that the you know the largest atrocity to African-Americans took place on this soil on this United States of America that so many of us have contributed to and so many of us still love so dearly and work so very hard so you know to some of the artists and and Poets and musicians that Michaela talked about um to you know Marcus garley Harriet Tubman s Jour of Truth Frederick Douglas Michael Jackson Michael Jordan Muhammad Ali Barack Obama I mean the list can go on and on I just want people to think about you know the things that those individuals and some of us are still going through to this day have had to go through here in the United States of America um the land you know the free and a democratic democracy a land of democracy and have still fought through racism oppression discrimination I even think of my grandfather who was born in 1883 and he was you know he was born not that long after slavery and and I never got to meet my grandfather but I just know he did so much work in the 50s and 60s in South Carolina Georgia uh for the civil rights movement and I just want to thank him and also my parents who are both retired Educators my dad taught Correctional uh kids jailed kids in New York for 35 years and my mom taught Urban kids in New Brunswick so they worked very hard for us to be for me and my brother to be cognizant uh not only of the issues and the plight of African-Americans Hispanic Americans but just people in general and is why I'm so uh committed to humanity so committed to individuals um regardless of race culture identity I I look at you know human beings and it's a blessing to be able to um thank all those individuals lineage before us and also thank those going forward um and also I just mentioned especially since it's Black History Month and we talk about civil rights and civil rights activism I mean if we look at this Das right here I mean we we talk about the diversity that we have and the inclusivity that West Windor has um many of this would not have ever taken place without you know the sacrifices that many African-Americans made you know from slavery on to the mid 1900s and still to this day so as West Windsor is an incredible Melting Pot of diversity um so many individuals probably wouldn't even be able to live in this in a town like this um if it wasn't for those contributions of many who have fought racism discrimination and things that nature so I just want us to not only honor uh the contributions of African-Americans to this country but you know the contributions of each and every ethnicity and the value of humanity and the value of um serving and and contributing in ways that each person uses their gift and talents um to be a blessing to others and sometimes it's Generations Generations down the line just like my grandfather who I never met because he passed away before I was born he would have never probably thought that I would be the first African-American councilman in in 227 years in a West Windsor because at the time when he was living um these things just um weren't permitted or allowed so I just wanted to take the time to thank all of my family and those uh individuals incredible individuals who have contributed um to this nation and to this world thank you we thank you also for your contributions and and your family's long history and and all that they've done to make a difference in people's lives have a much much better life when they Thrive and um that that's very very important so thank thank you Andrew always hard to go after Martin thank Martin I'd like to thank Kayla for the um wonderful presentation on the artists uh I some of those are contemporary with my time and I know you were looking on them as historical but uh um I've appreciated them um I would like to wish everybody a very educational meaningful Black History Month uh I'd hate to think of my childhood without the charel of chaon or my life without the more serious africanamerican art and music and comedy that came after uh Friday I was New York City and I stopped at the Museum that's inside the main Public Library on Fifth Avenue um spent some time there and there I saw the famous 1770 engraving of the Boston a massacre um in it there was chrispus addex who was a former slave and he's featured in a confrontation with British soldiers in the Boston Massacre which was a skirmish that was crucial to igniting the fight for us independence uh but I learned that for years the depiction was whitewashed and his African-American ancestry was wiped from the picture uh there was another book called called the brownies book from May of 1920 uh this was an African-American publication showing pictures and citations of black American heroes of World War I and of course there were other um other uh exhibits with uh later references to World War II and and um the um different African-Americans that fought there mostly in segregated humans these exhibits gave me a further understanding of African American contributions to our military and contributions to our freedom that should be Tau taught to each generation and without obviously the whitewashing but giving full credit to um to those that participated on Tuesday January 30th I went to the senior center to welcome the senior bus that is in loan from the county parks department until ours gets fixed I wanted to thank mayor morathi the township staff and County Executive Dan Ben son for putting this deal together so that our seniors can have a bus again and on Wednesday February 7th I attended the asup pink Watershed workg group as put together by The Watershed Institute uh there was a discussion for a need to cooperate with other nearby towns in this particular Watershed we're we're in a couple of them and possible additional funding opportunities that may come if we do so uh so I look forward to um continuing to work with that group thank you Sonia I don't have much to say I just want to touch base on um on the presentation that was um done um during the last council meeting um but before I start that um I just want to wish everybody a happy year of the dragon I think it was um this past weekend um um many of my friends um uh talked about eating fish St you start eating fish the day off and then you don't finish it until the next day so you get there there's a whole myth behind it I think every every culture has some myth yeah so it was it was interesting to learn that um thank you Michaela for your beautiful presentation um just wanted to touch based on the presentation by the bik bicycle and pedestrian Alliance last um during last U meeting I wasn't here in person but I did watch the presentation and I've spoken to many of the um trustees and the board members um I used to be one of the board members um a few years ago um um I'm happy to see that um they U they were present they presented it to the council so thank you Linda for inviting them um I've been working with them trying to get them into Board of um Ed um for a couple of last couple of years and also through ptas um and um they are going to be presenting to Bard ofed and uh the PTA pres uh presidents in May um meanwhile we have already started working on going into schools and uh uh doing those uh presentations with um the ptas during their um uh board membership meetings with their parents the first one already happened for for Morris Hawk um and they're looking at U presenting the next one at Community Middle School for um very soon um during the uh Board of Ed meeting last week um couple of um students um who are also student advisers at the with the bicycle and um pedestrian Alliance um presented and advocated um for more Road Safety uh one of the projects that I think I had reported on um early January was something that I had reached out to Plainsboro Township and School administration was about the crosswalk between Community Middle School and High School North um so um these these students have um um gotten really um something that um needs to be looked at because there are many thousands of students are there in those two schools many students cross that crosswalk either because they're Walkers and they go back home or to go back and forth between the two schools after school for after school activities and whatnot and that area is pretty pitch dark um and um so the one thing um I did talk to U Plainsboro Chief couple weeks ago and um happy to report that Dr aderhold met with the Plainsboro Chief and um they're looking at they've reached out to PSG to see what can be done uh meanwhile they have put s some safety measures there there are some cones put up there are some digital signs put up so hopefully that's helping and alerting um a lot of our community members um these uh high school students use the word um aggressive drivers and many times these aggressive drivers are our community members and parents who are dropping off their kids and they're running late so I just want this has been my pet peeve please give yourself that extra five minutes so you're not rushing um you know so I just want to remind everybody that you know don't rush give yourself five minutes extra right use the bus trans School transportation please put your kids on those buses so you're not driving them and rushing them the transportation budget we'll we'll talk about that later it's a lot of money and it's going up again oh yeah it's a lot then you see these empty school buses going around because parents think they're saving 10 minutes or giving extra 10 minutes to their kids but then guess what they're waiting in traffic for next 15 minutes right and then the students are toy to school because they are late being dropped off late so we really not saving anything well I know what you're saying I have three kids so I remember those days Dan uh thank you Michaela for that wonderful presentation um really it's really good to continue to tell stories about our history um past and present and thank you Martin also for sharing um again really important to continue to to tell our stories and that's all good okay again thank you Michaela and uh we really appreciate it was good having a a High School South lanni here so uh we're proud of you and you'll be uh graduating I guess in uh May so um congratulations it's coming up we're proud of you uh thanks to the mayor uh for getting that senior bus here you know for with the county executive Dan Benson for working everything out to to uh get that lease going even if it's temporary uh the seniors are very very happy about that County Executive uh and John Mar worked with him so right yeah good good I just wish they let me drive well you gotta get your CDL license special license for that then we'll have you drive all day we'll say okay uh so last Saturday I also attended the Maurice Hawk science fair so it's amazing how smart and articulate uh these students are at such a young age and uh the fair is a testimony to the strong math and science program that is uh taught by our dedicated teachers uh Happy Lunar New Year to everyone this is the year of the dra Dragon so enjoy all the Chinese celebrations and delicious dishes uh and Happy Valentine's Day to everyone for this uh upcoming Wednesday so enjoy your day with uh someone special close to you okay we'll move on to public hearings oh chair anything of gay anything from you I'm good good I think you've said it all and then some yeah we remember I'm holding my three minutes for each meeting for the last meeting this year that I'm at so sit back relax bring the popcorn we'll give you 30 minutes I'm gonna take my time well we're gonna have popcorn bring popcorn 202 2401 Capital Improvement ordinance providing for Capital Improvements and other related expenses in and for the township of West Windsor County of Mercer state of New Jersey approp roating the amount of $330,000 all right and for anyone just listening this is for Bikeway improvements for North Post Road connection to South Post Road uh Bikeway at Village Road West and this $330,000 is coming totally from a New Jersey do Grant okay um hearing is open if anyone would like to make a public comment please step up 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 public comment public comment was a hearing I said hearing but well okay yeah so move second he roll call dwas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes gers yes motion to adopt so moved second roll call gaas yes mandal yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes 20242 an ordinance to amend and supplement chapter 150 of the revised General ordinances of the township of West Windsor by modifying Provisions pertaining to storm water pollution prevention regulations this is for deicing materials right this is coming from the New Jersey D has issued these um draft store um draft standards which we need to approve unfunded mandates unfunded okay public hearing is open anyone who 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 seeing none motion to close the public hearing so moved second roll call gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion to adopt moved second any comments okay no oh no it's there's a model ordinance we've we're going to watch the salt okay gas yes mandal yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes okay motion approved uh consent agenda the bills and claims okay anyone need anything pulled seeing none uh motion to approve the consent agenda so moved second roll Callas yes mandal yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes okay motion approved okay recommendations from the administration and Council and clerk okay sit back rela 2024 R53 authorizing the appointment of Anthony Esposito as the Director of the Department of Public Works 2024 r54 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional service agreement with wman Roth LLC for reappointment as labor attorney for 2024 for $50,000 2024 r55 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional service agreement with Warren and kicki of supple Clooney and Company for reappointment as Municipal auditor for 2024 for $3,550 2024 R56 authorizing the mayor and Clerk to execute a Professional Services agreement with Phoenix advisor LLC for reappointment as financial advisor for 2024 for $4,400 2024 r57 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional service agreement with David P lonsky for reappointment a special tax counsil for tax appeals for 2024 for $40,000 2024 r58 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a Professional Services agreement with M McManaman Scotland and Balman LLC for reappointment as bong Council and Redevelopment attorney for 2024 2024 r59 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a Professional Services agreement with pats and Associates for reappointment as affordable housing consultant for 18,000 2024 r60 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a professional service agreement with Robert's Engineering Group to provide engineering survey and Design Services for the project known as the 2023 storm sewer repairs 87,00 2024 r61 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a Professional Services agreement with spel Architectural Group Inc to provide architectural services for the West Windsor Township Fire EMS roof replacement project $16,100 2024 r62 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute execute a contract renewal with on-site Landscape Management Inc rep public lands maintenance culdesac and Street tree maintenance and replacement $130,600 2024 r63 authorizing the business administrator to purchase 2024 Microsoft Exchange licensing from Shi international corporation aate contract for vendor for $925 120 2024 r64 authorizing the business administrator to purchase desktops laptops monitors and related accessories from Shi international corporation a state contract vendor for $17,300 and 99 2024 065 authorizing the business administrator to purchase HP toner from Shi international corporation a state contract vendor for $122,000 2024 r66 authorizing the business administrator to execute change order one with Montana Construction Corporation Inc for an increase of $43,900 for the project known as Duck Pond Interceptor Phase 2 for a total to date 4, 38739 2024 r67 authorizing the business administrator to execute change number one with Buzzy's carpet Inc for an increase of 2,110 for the project known as West Windsor Senior Center carporate replacement project for a total of $32,950 930 2024 r68 authorizing the business administrator to execute change order number one with cazer Builder Inc for an increase of $1,514 65 for the project known as West Windsor Township Police Department detective area Renovations project for a total of 67,8 65 20246 69 authorizing the reduction of performance guarantees asso associated with private onsite improvements for the project known as nastal Park pavilion Gateway out parcel pb1 19-04 2024 r70 authorizing the release of performance guarantees associated with the monumentation for the project known as Edenberg Animal Hospital pb1 12-3 2024 R7 1 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a memorandum of understanding with the county of Mercer for the temporary use of a 20201 Ford E450 county-owned vehicle 2024 r72 resolution to support SRI International in their efforts to obtain funding through the chips and science Act of 2022 2024 r73 resolution stating opposition to New Jersey bills s50 and A4 in their current form okay um anyone need anything pulled okay see none I just wanted to make one comment um about the McManaman Scotland and Balman um some of you may have read that Ed McManaman uh recently passed away and I worked with him for many many years up here on Council so on behalf of the council and mayor just wanted to express express our deepest sympathies uh to his family and uh we'll be represented by the firm and uh his nephew Kevin McManaman who has um worked with us for a long time too okay so motion to approve 2024 R53 through 2024 r73 so moved second okay roll call Vote gaas Yes Mandel yes wiise yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved introduction of uh ordinances second roll call Vote gaas Yes mandal Yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes gers yes motion approved this is the second opportunity for public comment uh if you'd like to make a comment please come to the microphone state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes okay thank you Madame President John Church 11 Princeton place I'm very glad to see that the council members are very are engaged with our legislature and trying to clear up the uh bills that are before the assembly and the Senate now while I'm at it I would like to encourage council members to raise one point with the legislature that I have raised before years and years ago at a council meeting I think Miss Jers may be the only one here who remembers what I said I'm not sure that Mr Herbert was the uh attorney at that time but I complained about the misuse of use or misuse of the word fair in Fair Housing now you see this word fair shot through and through all these bills that they're talking about nobody agrees as to what is fair and what is unfair it's what uh you might call a question begging epithet it's not defined what's fair to one person is not fair to the next person I would just like to see this loaded word Fair removed from legislation it's just it's just uh nobody agrees what's what it is so if anyone should use uh well- defined language it should be our legislators uh I mean really so to the extent that you can if you're interacting with the legislature I would recommend although I know it's not going to happen that they remove the word fair and substitute words that have a real meaning that everyone agrees on thank you for your attention okay thank you we'll take that into consideration okay see seeing no one else from the public uh we'll go on to council reports discussion new business um Dan yes so I had uh my first meeting with the human relations Council last week good introduction um couple things are planning well first I talked a lot about um sort of a recap on the MLK um event which I thought was quite successful so um well done uh there's two other major events that theyve planned over the course of the year one is a A diversity day which will either be late May or perhaps early June and uh Peace Day which typically is um in collaboration with Community Day um I don't know if Community day has been scheduled yet but um proba it's usually it's usually in September I don't know if there's an exact dat so there there're going to probably make some inquiries on when that is um the other thing that came up is um they're currently operating without a budget and um they've made some like personal outof pocket um expens payments for expenses and I don't think I mean it's very generous of them but I think we should um look at U being able to have a small budget and so I've asked them to sort of prare and outline and we're probably talking about maybe $500 per event it's not a whole lot so I'll bring that up with our Administration to figure out how we can make that happen okay good thank you thanks Sonia um yeah um board of ed u met on February 6th um there was a um report of um early school start um start committee's um recommendations uh was presented um board has decided not to pursue um a shift um in school time um at this time um the full presentation and statement can be watched um on the district's um YouTube channel um about two weeks ago um the district did close on the purchase of the 28 Acres um uh Farmland off of um South Road for future growth um nothing is planned right now but um that is something probably come down 10 15 years later but it's something that they're looking at um that was um so the closing has been done so that's um that was successfully purchased um Dr Russo presented the 2024 prel budget um to the board um again um just couple of points um the elll and the special education cost um is going to see an increase um the transportation increase is going to see approximately 88.6% it's a big big big amount that's why I said year compage yeah so they mentioned like in the last five years Transportation has seen an increase of $19 million yeah some programs it's it's a lot of money like you you know our our taxes we pay a lot of taxes have our Municipal budget what do they attribute that increase to um is it cost cost there are couple few things the cost maintenance cost um um fuel cost cost in general like you know the the payments to the contract and um providing additional Services part of that or is it just there there might there might be some um like you know the also out of District transportations that um also and what the department of education allows some new programs where you students can apply for programs outside of the district and then we have to bus we have so it contributes a lot of things but you know 60% of our taxes goes to district and a big portion of that goes to transportation and that's that has been my pet peeve that that's why you heard the statement I said earlier when you see empty school buses driving around and then parents complaining about the traffic in the morning of driving kids to school like you know if you have an emergency their kid misses a bus and things like that you know fra fractured bone and you need to drive or compassion like I have been doing last couple weeks I had to run my daughter to school because she had a concussion so we didn't want to put her on the school bus things happen yeah well 20 30 years ago that was the common you know uh dentist appointments doctor appointments obviously you had to pick your child drop from W now it's like a two mile A Mile Line yeah now now half a mile line you can't even drive P yeah you can't even drive P know I had I had a conversation with uh both the town's Chiefs and one thing that um they mentioned to me is that they saw a pattern um begin during covid yeah um of parents not wanting and understanding not wanting to put their kids on the bus because of health issues whatever or whatnot and that pattern has not gone back that has continued to stay where it is so it's become a habit now of driving so that's the the the the increase that we saw during covid years in 2021 their parents were dropping kids off more um has just but we're still we we're still paying for that student to get on a bus exactly for the seniors we have to it's a state mandate we have to provide the transportation even for the seniors who are driving themselves we still have to provide transportation for them um so there was something that um the board members didn't bring it up saying that is there something that we can look into different way of can we look at transportation in a you know different ways um something that just jumps at me and like you know that something that our neighborhood always talks about um from our neighborhood our kids go to Community Middle School and High School North which are literally across the street and we have different school buses coming and both of the school buses are pretty much fairly empty again high schoolers dry most of the time um can we look into some ways of you know I have no idea what I don't know what the answer maybe they should sign if parents should sign if your child's going to drive then up and but we but we give a parking spot we give them no if we give a parking spot somebody can make a choice you either get a parking spot no legally I don't know again I don't know what the right answer is growing up I remember when I started either biking or mopeds I used to take moped for high school yes I had to pay for my parking well we we had public we had public buses if you want them to walk a little bit further if you want to get you know depends where you live just to touch base on earlier what I mentioned about the students who were advocating for um better lighting or uh flashing light or some sort of um safety measure at the um crosswalk between High School North and Community Middle School um these students and student advisers have come up with the petition um for Plainsboro Township and they're asking community members to support them so if anybody um wants to um support these students on this petition reach out to me and I can get you that petition uh Parks and Rec meet on February 15 so I don't have a report from them right now and that is something um they would be discussing about the community day during next meeting so at next at our next meeting I'll have a report on that good Andrea um yep the affordable housing committee met February 1 uh the reorganization Tom Calabria was again elected chair and Jean Jacobson was a again elected vice chair this is my first meeting with them um as council member I gave them an update on the affordable housing legislation and we had some discussion on that um with their their um consultant Pazer is the process of migrating their um registration for affordable housing system to an online system which will be an improvement from everything I understand and under new business they're going to be requesting standards for mold in the residential units apparently there was some issue with one of the uh buildings and it turned out there was no uh state standard of any kind and there's really uh no regulation when it comes to residential so they're looking at uh putting together some kind of um legislation that would cover any anybody in terms of residential units uh environmental commission met on Thursday February 8th first meeting of the year um I want to I know was mentioned I think Linda mentioned last time that Dan delam milski will be leaving on April 30th and retiring um and you know everybody wished him well but we do realize that that's going to be some major change um some of the projects and and and personally I'm going to going to miss him um uh some some of the projects we were talking about were the meadow project that's in community park we're not sure how Dan's leaving could possibly impact we have some boy scouts that are interested in that project so hopefully it will go ahead um there's a few other uh projects that we're looking at we're also looking to do some upkeep on the pollinator Gardens the rain Gardens that we've put in uh Arbor Day is um April 20th which is being held by the shade tree commission but the environmental commission is planning on having some various displays there and that's going to be at Rogers abum and um there was some brief discussions on things like uh recycling uh Wildlife observations and the environmental farming Museum okay thank you Martin thank you uh plan board met on last week of February 7th there was a continued and lengthy presentation questioning testimony discussion and Q&A pertaining to PB 22-2 and it's phase one and phase two proposed site plan for the corner of 571 Princeton heightstown Road Southfield Road and mric Lane uh this included testimony by Transportation experts regarding traffic flow and recommendations in addition to project site planner questioning and testimony uh there were several revisions presented including sign revisions canopy revisions and adjustments decal placement sale promotional signage which would be located on 571 Southfield Road in addition to traffic flow suggestions in reference to traffic flow there will potentially will be a need for mric Lane to turn into a one-way Road from 571 to the proposed entrance to the site and project obviously that code would need to be presented to and then revised by Town Council for approval at the conclusion of the meeting PB 22-2 was approved next planning board meeting will be Wednesday March 6th thank you good all right thank you um I have no uh committee meetings to report on just uh once again YouTube technology is uh not working tonight we had some problems uh but the meeting is being taped and uh will be put back on YouTube is that correct G yes okay uh any Administration updates anything further mayor anything anything further Administration updates no seen none spoken for two meetings yeah well or three or four all right um we we have a reason to go into close session uh mayor gay discuss litigation you need a motion in a second okay motion to go into uh exe close session so moved second all in favor post okay okay whereas njsa 10412 allows for a public body to go in close session during a public meeting whereas the township Council West or Township has deemed it necessary to go into closed session to discuss certain matters which are Exempted from the public and whereas the regular meeting in this Township Council will Rec convened and whereas the below stated subject matter shall be made available at such time as the issues discussed therein are resolved and disclosure would not subvert any particular exception for convening a closed session now therefore be it resolved that the township Council the township of West Windsor will go into closed session for the following reason as outlined in njsa 10412 for the discussion for a litigation update okay and we will not come out uh voting on anything right no we're gonna come out and and adjourn the meeting right okay good all right so motion to uh adjourn oh no no sorry sorry after the exective okay may what do you want me to do the coun motion toour here we need a motion to go back into Open Session oh yeah yeah right yep have a motion to go back into Open Session Some Mo second yes all in favor I I okay we are in Open Session now um motion to adjourn solute second all in favor say I I I this meeting is adjourned I challenged my kids one time we did like a contest try to see I they know I'm a history