##VIDEO ID:w-QcpterxgY## something said some like one more button I think we waiting for just check see how YouTube to go like like one more button just check one just check okay I call this meeting to order it is the B business session meeting of council for September 23rd 2024 roll call please gas here gers here Mandel here Weiss here Whitfield here have we been adequately noticed for this meeting yes we were adequately noticed on January 19th 2024 to the times in the Princeton packet um posted on the township website and the Township Municipal Building um and and uh tonight joining us uh for Township attorney duties is Dennis fras sir sure okay good okay all right great um salute to the flag please stand for the salute to the flag we have no C monial matters this evening so we will move on to the first public comment if you'd like to make a public comment please state your name and address and come up to the microphone and you'll have up to three minutes Sylvia Sylvia ascarelli 27 Melville Road I'm speaking in support of the resolutions um to support uh for the County's plans to lower speed limits on parts of Old Trenton and Clarksville roads and I hope not only that you support this but that this is the start of a bigger process that we will see speed limits that were set back when West Windor was much smaller and much more rural or had far fewer people and was more rural that we will also reassess more um those speed limits on other roads that have become more thorough faires I'll throw out pen ly as an example um and that it is not just County roads but like pen ly a Municipal Road thank you thank you okay Susan Gul I'm here today to um make a complaint and try to find a resolution for a lot of trash being thrown on my property oh I'm sorry yes name address pleas name and address Susan G 230 South Lane um I'm having a lot of trash thrown on my property consistently um today I even took a picture I have cat uh poop on in a bag with cat litter on it um also tons of just trash regular trash Pringles um I have been political in the past and I feel that this is politically motivated to some degree because it's been consistent over the past few years and I've been politically active since 2016 um and it's just consistent I had the police out a couple of weeks ago and my resolution to the police was to put up a a littering fine of $250 um like on the corner with also a camera my mother was going to come because it's her property um and but she's not feeling well tonight so I would like to have a $250 or more sign for littering on that corner of 230 2:30 South L Village Road East as well as a camera so you can give tickets people who are doing it and I also um would just like it to stop and the police said and said that I should buy the camera but um my parents have been here for 50 years and they have paid between I i' guess over at least over $200,000 in taxes easy and I just feel that that should be taken care of and plus there's always accidents on that corner anyway so I just feel that having AER stop sign instead of the stop sign but I know they installed a stop sign recently within the past five to 10 years they put a stop sign there or maybe less than a little more than five years somewhere within that time we have a stop sign that has flashing lights and I just want this trash resolved may not seem like a big deal but it seems like the more and more people that's come in the trash here everything gets and I don't think having cat poop in a bag with cat litter and I have took the pictures today is something that is a it's not coming from somebody's car that was like definitely deliberate so and I'm just tired of cleaning up trash and I'm tired of because I have to cut the grass for my mother having to deal with this all the time so I just want it resolved and that's about it all right thank you we'll have the mayor um later can respond okay but we'll take note we have your address and the complaint and and I I also filed it with the police but they told me to come here so okay because I came I called earlier I um I think I called someone in the township and they said you could probably talk to the police about it because I was called I think the zoning I didn't know because I was wanted to do the the $250 fine and then they said the best place to come would be to hear so I could address it to everyone to make a decision on it all right well thanks for bringing that to our attention we'll get some more action done to uh okay get this problem and I guess like people like this this is the problem like okay next for public comment um looks like Dan Dan marks 28 Westminster Court Crimson Junction New Jersey um I just want to say that I strongly oppose the ballot initiative and I'm encouraging everyone to vote no M as we probably all know a lot of problems at the national level and I don't think that we should bring those National and state problems have into our attack it seems to work very well for 31 years we Chang the system and I we can just keep going thank you thank you okay um Joe Charles Joe Charles n's LOF Drive independent voter and voting no to partisan politics citizens of West Windsor I have a question for you when there's an election do you want to have a choice between competing candidates or would you prefer zero choice just a ballot with a single candidate running un opposed who was chosen by a partisan political party committee well the latter is exactly what's happening in the neighboring towns that have partisan elections look at the November General eltion ballots for Princeton Ying heightstown Hopewell and Pennington for 13 Municipal seats Only One race has more than one candidate running for the other 12 seats all the candidates are running unopposed in the general election furthermore for all of those 12 seats the person running o unopposed in the general election also ran unopposed in the primary election because no one dared to challenge the party machine that selected them so basically both the primary and the general elections are meaningless for those voters whoever was chosen by a political party committee runs unopposed in the primary election and then unopposed in the general election those voters have zero choice if we go partisan West Windsor the same thing will happen here and a political party committee will pick our elected officials instead of actual voters who's on our local political party committee here in West Windsor that will pick our officials well big surprise uh many of the people who are proponents of taking our town partisan just happen to sit on the Party Committee in fact one of them who's in this room is the chairman of the local Party Committee the chairman whose own personal political power will immensely benefit from going partisan that's what this divisive partisan ballot question is really about a selfish grab for power hidden under a completely phony cloak of quote transparency voters do you want to have a choice in all our future elections if so keep West Windsor nonpartisan keep your choice vote no on the ballot question thank Youk thank you is there anybody else that would like to give public comment please come up and give your name and address Kathy Brennan one courtne Dr um I'm I'm I'm here to support the council to vote Yes for the resolution 192 and 193 and my comment about resolution regarding the Clarksville Road resolution is that they're lowering the speed limit which is terrific from 45 to almost 35 but they're starting from Blue Jay and going to Landing Lane at 35 and then Landing Lane to Cranberry to 30 and I encourage the council and the the administration that really that should almost be 30 miles per hour because you have two crosswalks on Clarksville Road one by um Avalon and the other one up by Blue J and then you come here to the municipal complex and this whole area is very walkable and then from North post to 571 we have two schools so that should definitely go down to 30 I mean it's currently 35 and they're leaving in at 35 so I do encourage that that little tweak would would make a huge difference the um residents on Clarksville Road from North Post 2571 have for years who some of you know have been trying to lower the speed limit and that area is used in the summer on the weekends it's just a lot of kids families on bikes walking using the high school facilities and Maurice Hawk so I think it's wonderful what the county is doing and I'm glad the town is supporting it but that would be my only suggestion for a tweak is to go from 35 with the crosswalks there 35 is just really fast for somebody to stop for somebody in the crosswalk and I really think that extra 5 mil an hour slower would make a really big difference for the safety of pedestrians thank you thank you is there anybody else that would come up for public comment Dave K 11 Scott Avenue just want to Echo uh my support for things that Sylvia and Kathy said regarding resolution 192 and 193 to support the County's um move to reduce speed the speed limit on two County Roads um and also like syvia said to not stop there but keep thinking about other areas where the town could be could be made safer for people that walk and bike and like Kathy said think about where crosswalks are uh the slower car is going if it hits somebody the less likely that person is going to die and also lowering the speed limit is one thing but to a small extent enforcement can help but to a big greater extent the design of the road is really what is going to keep people that are driving from from going excessive speeds and make it safer so in conjunction with lower speed limits please also encourage the county and town to narrow travel Lanes uh add bike Lanes or protected bike Lanes on these County Roads and other roads um and do things like that to really make a difference um because people will drive as fast as the road allows no matter what the speed limit is thanks thank you is there anybody else that would like to give public comment Mike Gario three Rumford way this non-agenda public comment sometimes it draws things out so I've been living in West Windsor for 12 years uh I've been teaching AP government politics in West Windsor for 15 14 or 15 years sometimes I lose count um and I need to preface what I'm about to say with my thoughts and opinions that I'm about to relay our M and mine alone and I'm not here as a representative of the school district I moved to West Windsor uh I was surprised at how our local elections ran I was surprised that all the candidates would go in one bucket uh I was a little confused by it at first uh but I quickly realized how much more I like the system of having all those candidates in one bucket um I really like the fact that there weren't the party labels attached to those candidates um and I really really liked how competitive our elections were and how they were often by they were often decided just by a few votes um but some of my thoughts and opinions are going to bleed over into my you know experience as a teacher in the district um so I've had the pleasure of having some of your kids in class and I can tell you as a teacher I've navigated some pretty crazy elections on the national on the national level especially presidential elections from 2008 to 2024 which have included some of the worst mudslinging campaigns that I remember um since I've been alive uh including some wild midterm elections like back in 2010 with Tea Party Surge and things like that um and I got to tell you most of the outrageous rhetoric and toxic toxic part party slogans and branding um they remain distant from my classroom uh we were able to navigate that with Grace and openness um and I believe this is in part by generally our overall politeness in the community um but I also think it's in part because decades ago some folks had the vision and the courage you know to remove the party labels from our elections uh kids in my class I've had kids in my class parents running for office and we've been able to talk about their campaigns without a lot of the negativity that's assigned to the national state and even county level um and it's been nice to be able to discuss those campaigns without throwing kind of the nasty you know Marxist Democrat or Mega Republican labels on their parents of kids that are sitting in my class um um so I'm going to urge people to vote no as a citizen of this community um I think we have the opportunity to provide our kids with something better than would exist in other places and I don't think we should lose sight of the fact that political parties in this country have one fundamental purpose and that's to win elections thank you thank you anybody else that would like to give public comment please come forward hello my name is Corey saffron my address is 10 Spring Hill Drive I want to start by saying that I am overwhelmed wizard residents replay of my spe the encouraging is what keeps us motivated to not allow partisan politics into our te we continue will vote no to the partisan referendum question on this year's ballot sharing some of the feedback most residents had been unaware of the scheme playing out in our community that is being led by the candidates who lost in the previous municipal election and who are trying to gain votes with selfish political motives without any regard to our community perh perhaps the angriest reactions we are hearing are from the residents who were misled and lied to by the hired and volunteer petition workers and were then swayed to sign the petition with false information but now thanks to Joe Charles and others who are bringing to light more information we are learning that the referendum vote is only step one of the grand scheme on Sunday September 15 three partisan politicians from from from the Mercer County area who are registered to vote in local who are excuse me who are not registered to vote in local West Windsor elections came to speak at a gathering in West Windsor This Gathering wasn't publicly advertised but we have seen the pictures of the democratic heavyweight politicians in attendance these three out of town partisan politicians who came to speak in West Windsor did so because of one reason these are Le leaders of the democratic political party whose goal is to wield their power over our town and if we go partisan this committee will effectively have the unilateral ability to pick our Town's leaders and then Dan Weiss who is the chairman of the West Windsor Democratic committee will get exactly what he wants which is to have complete political control and West Windsor will be his own fom Dan it's ironic that your group keeps criticizing our elected mayor elected mayor for having complete control over how this town is run the mayor can be voted out of office anytime you come up with an in an inspiring leader that people want to vote for your group's scheme to take the UN to take uh the unopposed control of this town and manipulate our elections is seen by all so to Dan Weiss and your partisan Partners I know that you hear and see the pain and concern from fellow West wizer residents at these meetings and on social media and your response to concerned residents continues to be the repeated Hollow and deceptive sound bites about transparency and democracy Dan you were president at the August 26 speech that I gave here can you respond to anything I got wrong please this is only public comment period and it's been three minutes I'll finish right now West Windsor residents are highly educated and see through your scheme we will overwhelmingly vote no anybody else that would like to give public comment please come forward seeing none okay no one else all right okay we move on to Administration comments yes I have several announcements this evening uh DPW began collecting brush and leaves in zone four this morning I want to remind residents that uh the township is back on once a week trash collection schedule that started on Monday September 9th so there's one pickup per week um there will be a blood drive held on Wednesday September 25th at the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company number one at their banquet hall 153 South Mill Road Princeton Junction New Jersey you can register by going to uh the Red Cross blood.org website and enter wwva fc1 to schedule an appointment if you'd like to also municipal court has been cancelled for this Wednesday um notices have been sent out to individuals who were scheduled um to appear before court but I've been asked by the court administrator to make the announcement and it's been posted on the township website as well this Friday September 26 7 the senior center cordially invites you to their fall lunch in they will have a jazz concert by Straight Jazz Productions lunch we will begin around 11:30 a.m. and the concert will start at about 1:00 p.m. there is a minimal cost um for the event and the cost is $8 if you are interested in um attending you can reach out to the senior center at 60979 n968 to register and then there are several um flu clinics that have been scheduled for fall 2024 they're all listed on the township website I'll review the ones in West Windsor that will be held at the senior center um one will be Thursday October 3rd from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday October 9th from 4:00 p.m. to 6 o'clock p.m. and Thursday November 7th from 4 p.m. to 6 o00 p.m. appointments are suggested but not necessary you can uh visit the uh Township's Health Department web page and register online if you'd like to have an appointment um our health department also serves the towns of htown and Robinsville and uh the flyer for those clinics are also available it is also available on the township website and Township residents who may not be able to make the ones in West Windsor are more than welcome to go to the um clinics that will be held in heightstown and Robinsville West Windsor Public Works is having another paper shredding event October 5th from 8:00 am to noon the event May end prior to noon if the shred trucks reach capacity this is open to West Windsor residents only it will be held at the Department of Public Works 70 Southfield Road West Windsor and at the same time please consider bringing um non-p perishable items um food donations are needed to support important programs like send hunger packing West Windsor Plains F and the little free Pantry also please don't throw out any um clothing that's been lightly used um it can be Don ated um right right at at the site uh Goodwill will be there collecting items as well the uh information for that event is also posted under news and notices the mobile Motor Vehicle Commission on wheels will be at the West Windsor Senior Center parked outside on Tuesday October 15th and Wednesday October 16th from 10:00 a.m. to 2 o'clock pm this is a popular service that is offered um through the Motor Vehicle Commission and the township you can make an appointment you need an appointment and to do so you can make it online and that allows you to obtain a real ID renew your registration um apply for initial uh permit a non- driver ID and duplicate replacement title or R registration if you want to surrender license plates handicap veterans or purple heart placards no appointment is necessary you can just walk up and um hand them in at the mobile van that's all I have for to right thank you mayor thanks Linda uh think the lady who made comments about liter left but uh in general we we do have plans to put cameras for Traffic Safety and other measures but not for littering uh one other point that I keep making to the public whether littering or speeding is that police can't write a ticket unless they see the act themselves that just the New Jersey Law um unlike Australia the speed camera can't write you a ticket uh so that's that's what makes it difficult you as an individual can file a complaint with the municipal uh Court yourself if you see somebody speeding and have a proof and especially I hear a lot of complaints about cars going past uh stopped school buses which is terrible police do try to patrol often but they can't Patrol every school bus and every stop so if you can gather evidence you can file a complaint in the municipal code yourself lot of work but you can do it the police by lock on Do It um we had a great Community Day on Saturday again some of the examples what makes West win so special uh thanks to Ken Jacobs uh DPW folks Rec commission and everybody else who made it possible I see constantly cars coming and going and lot of people enjoying lot of kids enjoying the rides um and a good day was had by all I mean I was surprised to see so many small businesses in town having a booth there and I didn't know now I know four or five different kinds of maths if I had any kids I see a young one you can do Singapore Math Russian math whatever math there so many math math boots there so it was good to see small businesses uh uh participating in that and just before this meeting uh Linda and Andrea went to Princeton pong to celebrate their 10th anniversary again it's great to see a a small business start in West wi Thrive survive for 10 uh not only survived for 10 years but produce really great results I was uh very happy to learn that a kid who walked in Princeton pong a few years ago as a seven-year-old kid uh was an alternate on Australian uh uh ping pong team for Olympics that's really uh that's really a a great thing to hear from town like us we are known for our academic powers in both high schools but a lot of people don't uh realize how many good sports people we have produced um so it was great to see a a small business and that whole complex is full of such uh Princeton pongs there's uh that ax throwing there is a soccer facility uh really a good use of use of space um Mike is not here I was going to wish him happy birthday he's probably out partying he celebrated his birthday last week and U congratulations to Linda Jas he was named Lion of the year I think last week at the Lion's Club function uh it's really a a great achievement I I can tell you that uh having being a lion for probably 25 26 years uh it's a very rare achievement it's given to the person who has contributed most to the Lions Club uh during the past year and she has taken a lot of initiatives I know every year she takes initiative to uh clean up the Nash Park um there uh so that's really a great honor congratulations ler um she does that above and beyond reading 100 pages of each uh agenda and reading every bill on the bill list which runs into like 800 pages so I don't know how you do it but congratulations um thank you now um couple of items people have been asking about uh the pickle ball courts that have been a not a good experience for the township they it has been very hard to work with the contractor but the pickle ball courts are finally open for play there are now four horts available uh to enjoy but uh unfortunately under the state law we have to go with the lowest responsible bidder and uh uh this particular contractor was very hard to work with and um we try to push and uh do the best we can but finally after probably over a year the uh quods are open to play um and one good news for the uh West a taxpayers thanks to Brian arenson for following up but psng and njbpu approved our application for the replacement of police code building HVAC system under the clean energy install program so what that means is uh out of the total replacement cost of over $1.4 million West Wier is responsible only for 56.8% of it or roughly about $800,000 and which is even better that that will be built to us over a 60 monthly payments uh interest free so roughly about $ 13,800 per month for over 60 month for the entire hvsc system for a project that would have cost taxpayers roughly $14 million so that will save total uh taxpayers roughly about $629,000 so again thanks to Brian and everybody who followed up the process to make it possible um coming to couple of comments about speed limit we continue to work with the county to make West Wier as safe as possible in every possible ways as possible um I often count comment I wish I was a king I can do whatever I want but the speed limit is determined by various laws regulations all of which I don't understand so we will go back to the county and ask them to consider reducing it but they have to follow whatever the rules and regulations are and um doing the speed uh uh speed uh and I always tell people when they do the speed study just drive very slowly on that and lower the speed limit because at least I don't know if the regulation has been repealed but at one point there was you could only set a speed limit 85% of the average speed of the on the road so if you anybody if you see anybody doing a speed study for put setting up a speed limit Drive dri very very slow on that road uh just to lower um again the so the working with the county on those two speed limits is one example at the last meeting we had a agreement with the county to put flashing beacon on sidewalk across from Ron Rogers arum um last month um I think we met with the county executive County engineer uh the people from the mosque and people from element to discuss the traffic issues East Wier was supposed to put a light outside the development in East Wier uh the mayor did challenge that but eventually she has agreed to put it on but the development won't be online for another two years or so so county has agreed to put a temporary light at their expense and we have agreed to do the work on the road that's necessary to put the light on so uh sometime in near future we will see a under light which will allow left turns out of the mosque at the end of service which will make Old Trenton Road a much uh much safer space um so I think that's all for me today thank you good yes thank you mayor n the reducing of the speed limits requests I we we hear you but as council members the mayor even the administration you I'm sure you know that the has this comes from professional recommendations and or traffic studies that are done by the county and we uh here up here cannot arbitrarily say well we don't like it and we're going to lower it U because we think it should be that way we if if there was an accident or something we would have the liability of that so um we're moving in the right direction slower and as a mayor said he'll be um you know continued talks W with the county over that so but we we appreciate the uh support for moving in the right direction on this okay all right we'll move on to uh Council uh comments Martin sure uh I just want to uh reiterate what the mayor has said about Community Day uh it was actually a fantastic event everyone came out U was very unified and um I shouldn't acknowledge it but it was the exact opposite of the sign that that gentleman actually had on there so um you know when we have individuals like that who I'm quite sure between me and him has never experienced the racism that I have experienced that my family has experienced my children my parents my grandparents in this country um I'd love to have a conversation about that uh at another time but this is not the time I would share experiences that I have but we have a child in the room so I don't want to do that um but Community day was absolutely incredible and that that's what we need more of actually I I wish we had more Community Days throughout the year because it brings um all the residents out uh to really learn about the different organizations uh the different committies and things that are going on they incredible performances um see the talent the gifts of some of our young people people and we just to get to speak to each other in a respectful and civil way so I just want to say thank you to all that have put together Community Day because it was an incredible event thank you thank you uh Dan you um want to Echo something that Marina said about flu shots so last week I got both my co booster and my flu shot uh and I would encourage everybody as we move into the season not only to protect yourself but to protect your family and protect our entire community um and speaking of community I Echo Martin sentiments it was really lovely with beautiful beautiful weather it's nice to see everybody come out um for those who were there at the beginning the Human Resource Council put a really beautiful music program together for the first 30 minutes so we caught that you enjoyed that uh also wanted to remind people we chatted about this last time that our tree ordinance is going to be going into effect in in October which will require a per new permitting process uh so just keep keep that in mind when you're removing trees uh I know Francis is working to get the word out to let people know tree licensed tree removal organizations are aware of that and they will probably be the best place to guide residents um and finally um folks started if you've been um if you've registered to vote by mail your ballots are in the mail they might even be in your mailbox I received mine on Saturday which I was stunned because the county was obligated to start mailing them out on Saturday so how I got one on Saturday and a number of people in West Wier received their ballot so that's great the um the box here um right by the senior center is open that's the one drop box in in West Windsor uh this is being a presidential election we expect a really high turnout as West Windsor typically shows up to vote for presidents um and to avoid lines and sort of the challenges on Election Day the county is really promoting early voting which is for folks that don't want to vote by mail they like the experience of going to the polling station um but you can actually have that exact same experience an entire week before election day so there's uh and you can do it at any County early voting location go to the County website to to find them but it's same exact machines that you would see on on Election Day and there's rarely any lines and it's just a much more pleasant experience um and speaking of sort of the last thing about voting um and the elections um po workers are really really needed uh if you have the time to sign up there's you get a small amount of money but it's really not about money it's about you know providing a service to our community um I did it for the first time this year and it was um it was a great experience I'll be doing it again so if you're interested in that again and go over to the County website uh to sign up for that thank you good thank you Sonia thank you um well congrats Linda for um naming the getting the U line of the Year award so let me congratulate you for that um I want to Echo um the same uh feelings about Community Day it was a wonderful it was a beautiful day um last year I think um the Community Day was rained out and the rain date was rained out too so we had to cancel Community day but this year um it was a beautiful um fall afternoon um it did get a little hot at some at one point at least for me uh but um everybody was having a great time human relations um put up a really nice um musical event as well um this coming um Saturday September 29th um the Gratitude and abundance um group um is holding its seventh annual gratitude walk in community park um at 12:30 so I hope to see Community come out um for that um October um is just around the corner October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month um so there will be um just keep a lookout for some um events that the health department would be holding um um next month um one of the one event that's happening locally is also on Saturday um at the Grover's Mill coffee shop um on Saturday from 3: to 5:00 p.m. so I hope to see everyone there as well thanks Andrea um I want to thank everybody who spoke today it's hard to believe that people have already received their mail and ballots I think we were told um was going to be sent out on Saturday so that was a a little shock here in the office um and people suddenly came and said hey I got my ballot on Saturday uh there's still time to request vote by mail ballots just because people have already gotten them those are people who have previously requested uh please do so I encourage anyone who isn't sure that they're going to be able to vote in person to do so as soon as possible I know a lot of people have great intentions and then something happens where they're late at work or their kid needs something or they fell asleep and they missed uh missed election day and I don't think anybody wants to do that plus uh we're going to have I believe five voting locations in town where we used to have something like 11 at one point so uh there'll be less of those locations um so it's you're probably going to have to travel a little further depending where you are on on Election Day make sure you do check your if you are going to vote election day make sure you do check your um sample ballots when they come in because your poll location may not be where you think it is so uh vote by mail is simple easy there's a box right out here people have taken pictures in front of it and they enjoy doing it um I noticed that the ballot public question to change West Windsor's government from nonpartisan to partisan is on the back of the mail and B bot um that's this the first time we were able to see it when the ballots were received so nobody got a warning to look at the back so I hope everybody has been looking at the back of their ballots and some people have told me that the layout and the wording are confusing so just to make be sure if you want to keep the West Windsor government nonpartisan in other words keep it as it is and not change to a partisan government then the correct vote is to vote no this year's September 11th ceremonies were made special by the visit again from 100 for 911 who stopped by in September 10th on their long hike uh thank you to our police Fire EMS Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts the High School South choir Rabbi Blum of speth kayam and our residents for taking part in our annual September 11th annual Memorial uh on September 11th I also attended the Watershed Institute asup pink Watershed meeting uh we went over maps and discussed possible collaboration options as well as had a short discussion of the D real proposal as it relates to Inland storm water on September 16th I attended the grand reopening of the Mercer County Holocaust genocide and human rights education center at Mercer County College in West Windsor in addition to the members of the New Jersey state Commission on Holocaust Education there were presentations and discussions by two Holocaust Survivors who had been hidden as children the center is open for Limited hours and is small but has a number of reference works and displays I encourage people to visit you may want to call and check on the hours and make sure somebody's available before you do so I also want to thank the recreation department and Ken Jacobs for putting on this terrific Community Day this Saturday I know I probably didn't sit down for five and a half hours something like that it was a rather massive event um yes I was exhausted after uh in addition to our own Council booth there were many nonprofit organizations the West Windsor environmental commission and human relations Council various West Windsor departments including engineering DPW the health department and of course Recreation um our Engineers were there explaining the um the new um uh shade tree tree ordinance and trying to uh with the shade tree commission and explaining the new ordinance and when you would have to um uh do a permit when you wouldn't and there were a couple of tree services over there so I made sure to tell them to go over and talk to the engineers so if anyone does have anything I think Linda probably is going to talk to about that on shade tree a little bit later um thank you to all who participated and I enjoyed visiting all of the booths um we had a great seventh annual West Windor electric vehicle show that's that's why the shirt this is my seventh seventh one that we've done in West Windsor uh it gets bigger every year with more and more choices of EVs and I want to thank Andy shamsu for organizing and having a rec department for their cooperation that's a big event back um when we did the first one there wasn't any electric vehicle show in this entire area of Central Jersey and we were the first ones um also want to remind about the Gratitude walk on Sunday it's at 12:30 and right after that you can go on over to Grover's mil coffee and honor Sonia um which we're very proud of of of our of Sonia and also proud of Linda uh who by the way also as part of the Lions group does um does some of the um Memorial areas around Moran Memorial Day and cleans up too so uh she's a she's a real trooper for the um for the Lions Club and and does a lot of work in the for the town with them I want to remind everyone that rashash Shana starts the evening of October 2nd and I want to wish all who celebrate a sweet New Year Lana Tova thank you thank you Andrea uh just want to say congratulations to Princeton pong on the 10th anniversary just seems 10 years ago I was there for the grand opening with mayor Shay um and he was playing ping pong and myself and tonight it's May marate and I were were playing there too and it's a good workout yeah there too so you know you can you can you know get a nice workout just doing that so they have uh you know leagues lessons whatever so uh want something different to try TR I off of Alexander Road there so we wish them all the best in their continued success uh thanks to uh Ken Jacobs Recreation manager for uh coordinating uh the 911 uh ceremony thanks to the uh Department of Public Works uh members who are cleaning up the the whole area and making it look very nice and preparing the grounds uh thanks to Beth Kai and Rabbi Adena uh Blum for her prayerful words of inspiration so we will never forget those who lost their lives that day and grateful to all the fire police and emergency uh Services worker that that tried to uh save people's lives uh as Andrea mentioned I just want to say Happy rashash Shana it's coming up um October 3rd so hope uh you enjoy celebrating the new year with with family and friends and peace to all uh as everyone has said it was a great Community Day this past uh Saturday weather was beautiful a little hot in Sun but but it was beautiful and uh the children enjoyed the rides there were games also of activities for the kids uh I want to thank Ken Jacobs and the Recreation Commission for uh running the event uh and also the police and DPW for making sure that we were safe uh also thanks to the West Windsor human relations Council for organizing their Peace Day celebration which which was also held during Community day and we we had our uh stage stage there and there some of the kids were singing there was dancing um words of Peace uh from from the children and and some adults so it's just a nice way of cultiv cultivating a culture of Peace for everyone uh as Marina mentioned there blood drive at the West Winds Volunteer Fire Company number one and again it's uh let's see Wednesday September 25th 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. H and that's 153 South Mill Road uh so visit redcrossblood.org and enter WWV fc1 uh to schedule an appointment because they are definitely in need of blood they always in need uh but supplies uh do get low okay then um Allison you had some comments I'm gonna Echo some of the other election comments um the vote by mail ballot dropboxes are now open throughout the county and will remain open until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday November 5th the West Winds vote by mail dropbox for West Windsor is located in the West Windsor Municipal complex which is next to the senior center um if you have signed up to receive a mail and ballot and you have not received one yet in the mail um you may please call the county clerk's office at 609 989 6494 the deadline to apply for a mail and ballot is October 29th or of course in person at the county clerk's office at by 3M on November 4th and uh these dates and all other election information can be found on our website good okay we will move on to uh the public hearing ordinance 2024-25 and ordinance to amend and supplement chapter 168 traffic and parking of the revised General ordinances of the township of West Windsor so this is an ordinance to amend chapter 168 of the township code to add title 39 enforcement action to the Wawa project block 7 lot 59.0 one per a request by the developer open the public hearing if anyone would like to make a public comment please come to the microphone state your name and address and you'll have up to 3 minutes okay seeing none uh I have a motion to close the public hearing so move second gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Woodfield yes chers yes uh motion to adopt 2024-25 motion second are there any comments from anyone mayor do do we know um when the Wawa might open everyone's kind of excited Wawa just filed a permit so I don't know why people were claiming they going to open they had never not even filed for permit they were having some issue with the sewer I think last week they filed for permit so I can find out when they going to open but um when they advertise to open they hadn't even filed for permit yet so they didn't have a CO okay all right so it's coming it's moving along so it's moving along it's moving along good good okay ready any any other comments no okay so uh then we'll take a roll call Vote gaas Yes Mel yes voice yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved okay consent agenda okay bills and claims right there is a um a bill that was submitted by by me for gay Huber's flowers on behalf of the township you know when she retired we gave her flowers so um I'm just getting reimbursed for that so I don't know if I have to accuse myself from that but it's somebody somebody had to pick up the so I it's okay then okay yeah think we I'm just let you know I don't think we've ever done it before mention it yeah if somebody picks something up oh it's just getting a check back we're doing that that's all I'm stating okay so we um it's a motion to approve the consent agenda salute second roll call gaas yes Mell yes voice yes Woodfield yes steers yes motion approved and recommendations from the administration and Council clerk okay 2024 D r181 authorizing the request by Jonathan Cruz for 100% disabled veteran exemption and allowing the tax collector to refund the amount of to cancel all subsequent taxes per state statute 54 colon 3-30 2024 r182 refund of escrow funds prage sadron ZB 23-2 2024 D r183 authorizing the release of cash performance bond for subdivision monumentation for Princeton Executive Park pb1 19-15 202 24- r184 authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to increase the contract with Parker M PA by $55,000 for a total not to exceed $130,000 2024 D r185 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a contract with MTB LLC for the West Windsor Police Court and Fire EMS building roof Replacements project $1,390 2024 D r186 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a contract with mtbl LLC for the West Windsor Arts ccel Building roof replacement project 214 $14,600 2024 D r187 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute a contract with George custus painting and Contracting LLC for the West Windsor Arts Council Ada Mobility lift replacement project $74,400 2026 2024-the the assignment of the remaining two years of the Agricultural lease agreement with Farmdale Farms to Rustin farms for the period January 1st 2025 to December 31st 2026 2024 D r190 authorizing the mayor to execute amended Green Acres project agreement number 16 with the state of New Jersey Jersey D to increase Green Acres funding by $700,000 for a total of 9,225 th000 in funding 2024 D r191 authorizing the business administrator to purchase new rifles and equipment for the police division from Lawman Supply Company Incorporated under New Jersey state contract 17- f-74 $128,000 400 $28,495 2024 D r192 endorsing the recommendation by the county immerser to implement several reduced speed limit zones along Old Trenton Road in West Windsor Township and to establish a 25 M per hour school zone for the Tom Thomas R Grover Middle School 2024 d r193 endorsing the recommendation by the county of Mercer to implement several reduced speed limit zones along Clarksville Road Grovers Mill Road in West Windsor Township and to establish a 25 M per hour school zone for West Windsor Plainsboro High School South okay uh does anyone need any resolutions pulled no okay seeing none um take a motion to approve 2024 D R1 81 through 202 24- r193 salute second roll call Vote goas Yes Mandel yes voice yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved we have no introduction of ordinances so we'll move on to the second uh public comment period if you'd like to make a public comment state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes okay seeing seeing none uh we'll move on to council reports discussion business uh Dan yes uh the Westwinds are parking authority met on September 11th a couple of um interesting things going on um they put out to bid a for quote RFP for a fence to be put up um this is on the side where um The Wallace permit lot is there's sort of a tree line and a a green spot between the sidewalk and the parking lot that they have tried to to to grow and they plant things and it doesn't it's just not conducive for growing it probably doesn't help that it gets lots of salts from during the winter time so they're looking at a um fence option there so we'll likely see that uh in the coming months uh the paving is is all done on the west side of the train station uh the probably a few electrical things still being worked on but looks beautiful and it came in way under budget that thing and they have started the uh the planning for the pocket park where the old busted good okay uh Andrea okay the environmental commission met on September 12th and um went through a number of their regular projects like the rain garden and updates on some of the Scout projects um they've divided up the New Jersey D draft real rules and uh there was some discussion on different pieces of that by different uh different members and and also by um by Francis uh they planned for the West Windsor R uh Community Day participation where they had a very nice table and um there was some uh discussion a um uh citizen came in resident came in on U the natural landscape um one of one of the Commissioners is looking at some of the various laws um around places of the country for various types of natural landscapes uh one of the residents came in to complain about a particular property in her neighborhood and how it had gotten wild and to ask um if the commission was thinking about some kind of regulations for that and um that's pretty much it anj is having their annual meeting on uh Friday which is the association of New Jersey environmental commissions and um hope I'll have some stuff to report from that thank you thanks Sonia I think that uh fence on Wallace Road would be really appreciated by by the residents who live right across I remember in 2020 um my first year on Council when I was the um leaz onto parking authority we were having conversations about re possibly replanting bushes or doing some sort of would look nicer it was but um I I remember having those conversations um with the commission at that time that uh we have to do something because you know when the cars park facing the road Road the lights go straight into the houses there so I think the residents will really appreciate that um parks and wreck uh meeting is next week so I don't have anything to report from that uh Board of Education met on September 17th um the a new athletic web page has been created for middle school and high school um so there are two links one for Grover's Middle School and High School South and the other is for Community Middle School and High School North the links are present on the website so it's a very easy way to um find what's happening in our um Sports in our schools um their calendar is very good and something that I recently learned is you can actually download the calendar and sync it with your own calendar so you don't have to you can keep track of your um kids activities um having two right now very active in sports is very difficult to keep track of so that was very helpful um High School North math teacher um Kathleen McDowell is retiring after 24 years of service um so congratulations um Miss McDow um hope she has a good retirement thank you thank you Martin oh the planning board has not met since our last council meeting uh next PL meeting is slated for October 16th thank you thanks uh the sh tree commission uh meets this Wednesday September 25th at 6:30 p.m. in in the municipal building here a draft of a 2025 commission budget will be discussed um under our code the commission is to submit to the administration in September a budget for consideration uh for the following year so the commission is also finalizing the list of suggested um trees and prohibited trees um so you need to take one down you're adding a tree you know to your your property so by the end of October the new tree removal uh ordinance will be in in effect so um I know Francis gik is is working on information and we have a new consultant tree consultant so they're pulling it all the information um you know together for the public okay um yes Administration updates yeah I just want to follow on your line of um explanation um I was in uh discussions with Francis this afternoon and he has um provided um the information that was given out to Residents during Community Day that information has been sent up to um the um Shad tree committee guidelines and policies page um I understand a very informational handout was provided um for tree removal permit changes for single and two family residents um these um requirements go into effect uh starting October 27th 2024 um the requirements include mitigation for the removal of healthy trees information on changes um made to the ordinance are detailed out um at length on the website and there'll be followup information posted as well yeah um the commission had had discussed that um so I kind of said a few months ago like this is this is a lot this this ordinance a lot of information in it to to read and to absorb so it would be helpful if we we had a um yeah I just also information to give out I just want to also mention that um there is an exemption um for Dangerous trees and I don't really want to get into the details because it I've had to digest this this afternoon myself um but there is a handout and I would recommend that our residents uh take a look at it and get familiar with it and I'm sure you know feel free to send emails to the township and we'll do our best to get back that might be because we're almost almost too uh October um so maybe when hit October is to have uh like the ebulletins or or the front page of the website kind of highlight this um because I think you mentioned October 27th yes I think if we can put that information on the website I think it is on the website but we'll get it under news and notices um and these requirements are uh requirements that were mandated by the state of New Jersey and the township Council and mayor um spent a lot of time and effort along with their advisory uh committees um discussing drafts of ordinances and the storm water management ordinance was adopted I believe in I think it was before April and then um there was um the adoption of the uh tree removal um uh ordinance and the changes that were made to it um were in fact codified so this is not something that's just unique to West Windsor it's happening in all of the municipalities throughout New Jersey because there's a real problem with storm water runoff it's coming through the D yes and there's supposed to be a list of um preferred trees and trees that are not considered okay to replace with and like and they've discussed that a work in progress so right and that's is referenced in the in the ordinance so hopefully that'll be available so that people can plan for what kind of trees they can replace with and hopefully people use that as a guideline for planting trees even if they don't come under the specific ordinance yes so we'd like to you know push that also I think okay um any need for a closed session no none okay can can I have a motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor say I I I okay this meeting is adjourned thank you everyone