Township Council - Regular Meeting

I hereby call this meeting of how Township Council to order. Alzen, will you please read the opening statement and call the role? This meeting is being held in accordance with the provisions of the open public meetings act and adequate notice of this meeting has been advertised in the manner prescribed by law. This agenda is complete to the extent known and formal action will be taken. Councilman Nadell is not here yet. Absent. Oh, absent. Uh, Councilwoman O'Donnell here. Councilman Rubel here. Deputy Mayor Fischer here. Mayor Legio here. Resolution R26-154. Mr. Gross, is there a need to go into executive session this evening? Yes, there is.

May I have a motion to enter into executive session? Motion to enter executive session. May I have a second? Second. Councilwoman O'Donnell, yes. Councilman Rubel, yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer, yes. Mayor Leio, yes. All righty.

Roll call, please. Councilwoman O'Donnell, here. Councilman Reubel here. Deputy Mayor Fischer here. Mayor Leio here. And Councilman Nadell's absence this evening. Welcome everyone. Please rise for our pledge of allegiance and a moment of uh prayer. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. All right, on to proclamations. We have several proclamations this evening. Arbor Day, Mayor's um Monarch Pledge will be read by Lisa Dow of the Environmental Commission and Shade Tree Commission, and she will have a couple of announcements to make. Is Mrs. Dow here? Good evening. Hello.

The National Arbor Day proclamation. Whereas the very first Arbor Day took place on April 10th, 1872 in Nebraska with approximately 1 million trees planted that day. In 1949, the New Jersey legislature set aside the last Friday of April's Arbor Day to promote the planting of trees and to encourage the protection of our forest from fires and pests that destroy the beauty and usefulness of our woodlands. And whereas half of New Jersey's total land area is forested or tree covered. And whereas trees play an important role in the ecosystem in which we live, and trees reduce the erosion of our precious top soil caused by wind and water, clean the air we breathe and the water we drink, produce oxygen, provide habitat for birds and wildlife, and reduce heating and cooling costs by moderating temperature. And whereas trees are a renewable resource, giving us paper for fine literature, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and countless other wood products. And whereas trees provide increased property value, enhanced economic viability, and pleasing aesthetic qualities along streets and properties in municipalities. And whereas tree planting in yards and farms, in schoolyards and parks, and along streets and highways creates an enduring heritage for generations that follow. Now therefore, the governing body of the township of Hal does hereby encourage observance of Arbor Day, April 24th, 2026 in Hal Township, and we urge all citizens to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands to support our township's urban forestry program. Further, I urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden hearts and promote the well-being of present and future generations. The mayor's monarch pledge, April 2026. Whereas the monarch butterfly is an iconic North American species whose multigenerational migration and metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly has captured the imagination of millions of Americans. And whereas 20 years ago more than 1 billion eastern

monarch butterflies migrated to Mexico, but in the winter of 2014 only 60 million made the trip. And whereas cities, towns, and counties have a critical role to play to help save the monarch butterfly. And the township of how will be launching a milkeeds for monarchs programmed. Whereas every citizen of how can make a difference for the monarch by planting native milkweed and nectar plants to provide habitat for the monarch and pollinators in locations where people live, work, learn, play, and worship. Whereas on behalf of the community of Hal Township, we look forward to creating healthy habitat for these monarch butterflies. And whereas the environmental commission with the support of the Hal Township mayor have signed the National Wildlife Federation's mayor mayor's monarch pledge and encourage other township officials to join to ensure the monarch butterfly will once again flourish across the continent. Now therefore, the governing body of the township of Hal does hereby proclaim April 2026 as mayor's monarch pledge month in Hal Township. Um and just a couple of announcements from the shaitree commission. Um, one for the mayor's monarch pledge. I just wanted to make everybody aware, um, it's springtime. We know there's a lot of mosquitoes that are going to be coming out and there's also a lot of lawn spraying going on. Um we just ask everybody to be cognizant because um the spray that is used to kill mosquitoes um especially by companies who do mosquito spraying is a broadspectctrum insect insecticide that not just kills mosquitoes but kills bees, butterflies, caterpillars, ladybugs, dragonflies and other beneficial insects along with the mosquitoes. So, um, as part of our Monarch pledge, um, all of the areas that we are planting in town are insecticide free and we will not be spraying any of them. For the Shay Tree Commission, um, we did

receive our 2025 Tree City USA recognition. It is our 27th year as a Tree City USA. Um, and also for Arbor Day, uh, 2026, the House Sha Shade Tree Commission will be doing our Arbor Day program with the house schools on Friday, April 24th. We will be giving seedlings to all the third graders and we'll also provide a tree for each house school. Our spring seedling giveaway is April 25th at the DPW garage from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Uh this year we'll have the Mammoth County Nature Band there with naturalist from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Uh we also received grants from the National Wildlife Federation and the Arbor Day Foundation to support the seedling giveaway. And we want to extend our thanks to our uh great DPW crew for all their help. We just couldn't get this done without them. And also thank you for the council members and the township for their support. We also are holding our tree care uh selection and workshop this Saturday on the 18th at 1:30 at the How Library. It will uh teach you how to select the right tree for your yard, proper tree care and pruning. Um and we recently did um with a grant from First Energy, we planted eight trees at Middle School South and provided 108 red oaks to the students there. I also want to congratulate the green team who along with town officials and departments for achieving the sustainable Jersey silver certification. This is our second time for getting silver certification. We are one of 63 towns that are silver certified out of 180 towns in the state of New Jersey. The green team also was a recipient of a $20,000 PSEG grant for a detention basin retrofit which we will be doing at the Cascades Basin um in the spring. And we recently completed two rain

barrel workshops uh with Brick MUA with over 50 attendees and have a wait list for our next upcoming fall workshops. So, thank you. Appreciate your support. Lisa, thank you so much. All the work you do. Well done.

Alcohol awareness uh month proclamation will be read by Deputy Mayor Sue Fischer. April is alcohol awareness month. Whereas one in 10 people in the US ages 12 and older had alcohol use disorder in 2024 including 775,000 adolesccents ages 12 to 17 12 to 17. And whereas excessive alcohol use is a leading preventable cause of death in the US. And whereas alcohol use disorders among mental disorders with the lowest treatment rates due to a lack of awareness, denial, stigma, and limited access to support resources. And whereas underage alcohol use can impact normal brain development, increase the risk of alcohol use disorders across a lifetime and contribute to serious negative consequences including sexual assaults, alcohol overdoses, motor vehicle crashes, homicides, and suicides. And whereas the Howell Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention and Mental Health Awareness remains committed to community education and awareness on the prevention and treatment of alcoholism, alcohol misuse, and underage drinking to save lives. Now therefore, the governing body of the township of Howell does hereby proclaim April 2026 as alcohol awareness month in Howell Township and commend its observance to all citizens. Nice.

Next, we have the Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month Proclamation, which will be read by Deputy Mayor Sue Fischer.

Whereas this month, the township of Howell joins communities around the world in recognizing April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. And whereas autism spectrum disorder or ASD is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication, and behavioral challenges with signs that begin during childhood and typically continue through a person's life. And whereas many people with ASD also have different ways of learning, processing information, or interacting with, or reacting to things. And whereas autism varies greatly from person to person with no two people being exactly alike. And whereas Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month emphasizes the need for public awareness to promote acceptance, celebrate the differences, and prioritize the inclusion of autistic individuals and their families. Now therefore, the governing body of the township of Howell does hereby proclaim April 2026 as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month in the Township of Howell and urge all citizens to become educated on the subject of autistic spectrum disorders, to promote early diagnosis and intervention, and to advocate for continued research, and to celebrate all with autism. Thank you.

All right, on to our presentation. I hope everyone's here. We are proud to recognize two Howell Township of Cheer teams who won at the Quest Recreational National Championship in Orlando, Florida this year. Howell Rebel Rebels Rage and Howell Rebel Super Surge. We are going to come down and read off and if you're here, please come up. We'll give you your proclamation. Start with super. Okay, we're gonna recognize head coach Carly Doyle.

Caitlyn. Oh, okay. Ashley Vargas, assistant coach.

Okay, we'll give these to you then. Daniela and Mary. Okay, we'll start with the girls. Okay. Lennon Murphy, GRIMSON,

Emma Clashy. Eva Alamita,

Kylie Pinski,

Amelia Secularis, ALEXANDRIA COLEMAN and Emily Sheski, Skyler Johnson. pictures. Okay.

They know how to They sure do. And now we're going to acknowledge the RAGE HEAD COACH ALEXANDRA DOYLE. DOYLE,

I will say this the American way. TIFFANY SAVES LAUREN. LAUREN GITLIN, ASSISTANT COACH. Is assistant coach Joe here? Where are you? Joseph. Maggie, you guys want to take Maggie Maguire?

Emilyn Savaris. DALIA HERNANDEZ DUBAI. Alicia Milacho.

And say that last. Emily Chimcharo. YES. CONGRATULATIONS.

Thank you real quick. All right. THANK YOU.

Clear out of here. Yep. There we go. Wait one second. Let all the noise go. Yeah. Yeah.

Byebye. Me. All right, everyone. On to acceptance of minutes from our previous meeting. Uh, February 17th, 2026, a workshop and March 18th special meeting executive session. May I have a motion for the acceptance of minutes of February 17th and March 18th, 2026. I'll make a motion. Second. Second. Call. Councilwoman O'Donnell. Uh yes, on February 17th, abstain on the March meeting. Are we going to do March 10th separately? Is that separate? March 10 is going to be separate.

It's the 17th. This is for I'm sorry. Yes. Yes. On February. Okay. Thank you. Uh Councilman Rubel, yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer, yes. Mayor Leio, yes. Now I have a motion for the acceptance of minutes from the March 10th, 2026 which Evelyn. Yes. Yes, I am. Can I have a motion? Motion to accept. I have a second. Second. Councilwoman O'Donnell. Abstain. Councilman Rubel. Yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer. Yes. Mayor Leio. Yes. On to reports of township department officials. Mr. Gross.

I have none. Mrs. Caitlyn. All right. On to hearings of citizens and public comment on consent agenda items and general matters. May I have a motion to open the floor for the hearing of citizens and public comment. I'll make a motion to open the floor. May I have a second? Second. All in favor?

I. Each person shall first give their name and address to the clerk. The council should be addressed as a collective body, not as individual members. Each person shall have one turn to address the council and comment shall not exceed a total of 5 minutes. Speakers shall be notified when their time has run and no time extensions shall be permitted.

John Bombck. Yes. John Boundbox, 7 Lexington Road. Hit the Hit the button at the bottom. The little green light will come on. There you go. John Boundbox, 7 Lexington Road. Thank you.

Candlewood is experiencing a wave of new homeowners. homeowners who think our land use laws don't apply to them. These new homeowners are using deceit, halftruth, and willful omission when filing permits or no permits at all. And deceit when when dealing with their neighbors and the township. Tonight, I'd like to talk about a specific address, 11 Lexington Road. In March of 2025, the new owners started construction in their backyard. After uh I after I witnessed four Clayton cement trucks delivering cement to their backyard, I called a town to see what they were building. And as it turns out, they had a land use permit, but no building permit. And construction continued for the next five months. I went to the town a few times to talk about this and I was told that they are not allowed to visit the premise while the permit's open. So, in August, I came back for a face-to-face meeting with an inspector, pleaded my case, told him what I knew about the property and the construction and how I knew it. Uh, and he went and looked at the site. So, on August 14th, there was a violation for illegal work done. And on the 18th, the building department went back and stopped work at the premises. and there's been no no construction since August. So two weeks ago I went and requested a foyer application. And in that I found out that their land use certificate talked about walkways. No building at all did they mention in that. And here's this here. Okay. Okay. They all just talk about walkway, a small walkway.

And yes. And yes, on I also have the paperwork that on on August 14th, they were issued a summons. The summons read the shed conversion without permits. So, we got that down. Still no word from the from the homeowner about this. Fast forward to October of 2025. They reapplied for an application and their application was denied because as in times I've discussed this before that they omit uh important things on these permits. So in in this case it was actually stated in the in the denial of the application that they made no statement of use. They just they just put the put the put the application in without proper filling it out. So January 2026, they applied for a development application. They've at this point they've hired an a a consultant who is filling the forms out for them and they've hired a lawyer. And on page two of this application, it states here's the first truth that they've said about the whole project in the past year and a half under items of proposed development. Line E, it says description, provide brief description of proposed development. And then the four words after that, it says legitimize mikvah in the shed. The first time they've told the truth. So when they use the word legitimize, that means that they knew it wasn't legitimate. Right. Mikvah, a Hebrew word. And what does that mean? Community bath. Let me say that again. A community bathtub. They've been working on this thing here for almost a year putting that in until they were stopped. So, it's basically, we know what they want to do. They're

going to come before the zoning board and say, "Well, we've already got it somewhat built. You should let us continue." Right? They've also they've also marked down here that this a hardship for them here. That's a joke, too. Okay, I'm running out of time as I see I got caught the last time here. So, the the application was denied on February 17th and there's two pages of emissions. They've hired somebody to apply to fill out the application and yet there's two pages of emissions on the application. Come on. when it comes before the zoning board, I will be here again and I hope the zoning board does the right thing and remove this from the property. Which brings me around full circle to what I talked about last meeting, which is 126 Darion.

It's 5 minutes. Thank you. The town's got to wake up to 126 Darien. Paul, they're building they're building a daycare center there. It's obvious. We all know. Why don't you come and speak to me after the meeting? I'm sorry. Thank you.

Paula Samurell, Heritage Point. Boy, we have some really great programs going on in how it's a great town. Um, I'm sure that many of us are experiencing harassing phone calls, flyers, and unannounced visits by realators telling you that they have a buyer for your home willing to pay way over your home's value. I never thought that the real estate industry could make such dynamic changes to the entire makeup of a community, but it can, and it's happening right here in certain parts of HAL, namely Candlewood, Glennon, and Heritage Point. Who knew that a call to people to move out of Brooklyn and into the surrounding areas of a town called Lakewood would set in motion what some call a settlement movement? Who would have thought that this settlement movement would have put into action a real estate strategy called neighborhood farming? When you think of farming a neighborhood and its goals, you normally think of cultivating, nurturing, and tending to the heart of a community. Unfortunately, these are not the goals of the neighborhood farming that is taking place in hell and is being carried out by those who are participants in this settlement movement. It's more like disregarding, alienating, and weeding out people currently living in the communities that these realtors have set their eyes on. They do not market your home to all areas, bringing in buyers from all over the state or even the country. They implement market manipulation, bringing in their own buyers that are also a part of the settlement movement who will pay above the asking price. Now, that very same town of Lakewood that I spoke about earlier is experiencing a different a different type of neighborhood farming. Low to middle inome families are being pushed out of their own cultural communities to make room for those that are able to afford million-doll homes being built there. If you are planning on selling, I know that the above above the asking price is hard to resist. And I know I'd be hardressed to say no if someone offered me a ton of money for my home. But I've stood up for the underdog my whole life. and Hal is the underdog against the settlement movement and I just can't let this go down without a fight and neither should you. Why would you use the first realtor that comes

along? Selling your home and buying one is the biggest investment that you will ever make and placing it in the hands of someone that cold calls you or stops you on the street is not wise. As a realtor friend of mine advised advised me, you need to educate and empower yourself in picking out a real estate agent that is known to be experienced and reputable. We cannot use realators that practice this type of neighborhood farming whose only goal is to bring success to the discriminatory settlement movement that has been slowly creeping into HAL and surrounding neighborhoods. to current residents of HAL. If you love the schools that your children attend and the extracurricular activities, including the parks and recreation, if you love the convenience of local businesses, restaurants, and local houses of worship and everything else Hal has to offer, then stay. We need to be our own realtors of sorts and market our great town of Hal to people of all walks of life. Our neighborhood farming strategy should be to present our long-standing strength and core belief of practicing mutual respect that transcends to people of all religions, faiths, cultures, and all walks of life. Our goal to cultivate and nurture those people that share our core beliefs, including our children, and to tend to the heart of our community. If you are happy living in a community that practices these core beliefs, then stay put. If you're looking to move into community that practices mutual respect for everyone, then you should make Hal your home. Thank you.

Anyone else from the public? Yes, sir.

Joe Bzonos, 150 Colts Neck Road. I don't have anything planned um necessarily, but I'm here for a reason. I think uh I agree with everyone that's been speaking so far. Uh I'm a member of the community. Uh I've been a business owner for about uh 10 years. I'm in and out of people's homes and I've seen some of these things in person that people are talking about. Uh so consider this my uh in-person interview. I would love to be on the zoning board. Uh I have a background in contracting. I have uh like I said, I've been a business owner. I've been a Jersey boy my whole life. Um I don't like certain things I'm seeing. Uh anecdotally, I have uh I tried to do a couple things on my own property. Tried to go about it the correct manner. I was shut down by Howell Zoning for uh saying the this change or that change. I was trying to replace buildings that used to be there. And I and then uh similar to that gentleman over there, I'm in and out of communities and I'm seeing things just popping up overnight. And I'm someone that believes in America. I believe in the American dream and I think that should be for everybody. So, I don't need 5 minutes, but I get used to my face, everybody. Thank you very much.

Anyone else from the public? I'm seeing none. May I have a motion? Oh, you got Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, Megan Howell, New Jersey.

I just have a couple questions. I want to know what's going on with code enforcement. I know I was told in the past that you guys are lacking in that area and that you're going to hire people and I wanted to know what's going on, if there's people that are good candidates for it, if you need more people. Um I also spoke to um the manager last time about the rental registration list. I know that he said there might be a problem with enforcement with that, but I think it's very important um for us to start getting that rental registration list going so we can report to you guys what renters we see out there that you don't have. Um and I also wanted to talk about I know there's ordinances um for shs and houses of worship. Uh, currently the ordinance that I saw was that you have to have 2 acres of land. And I don't even know if they're registering being registered these houses of worships in these shores, but I think that as a township, we really need to start looking up to the ordinances and seeing if they're being followed. That's it. THANK anyone else. Seeing none, may I please have a motion to close public comment?

Motion to close. Second. All in favor? I. All right. Response to public comments. Uh, Mr. Gross. Thank you, Mayor. Um I I just wanted to um comment in in terms of the one question that that uh this particular um property is going before the zoning board. So it would be inappropriate for us to comment on that. it's gonna it's going to go before the the zoning board and

uh and that and in general on um enforcement of some of the we you know we we've been questioned about uh potential houses of worship and things of that nature uh in in in the communities and we've written to the attorney general's office as well as to the um DOJ federal DOJ to get their guidance on how what how what we can enforce, what we can enforce, what we can't enforce. Uh and so that we can do so and and report back to the public uh as to what we can do, what can be done about these these issues that are being brought to our attention. Um and um then if whatever to whatever extent there there is enforcement that will occur, uh we will move forward with that. Kayla. Um, I'll just comment on um I if if you see anyone who is directly soliciting at homes, we do have a solicitation license that um realators um have to get registered at the township and they have uh so so so my suggestion is if you see someone who you suspect does not have a license um or if you are on our no knock registry and you're getting solicited, let the town know so we are able to come out and issue a summon or something like that because if we know after the fact we can't really do anything we can't do anything with you just telling us we we have to have somebody there who's seeing it who can issue the summon so let us know and and maybe we can be yes send somebody out um that same day um and as far as the gentleman who uh was saying he wants to be on the zoning board we We

love volunteers. Uh applications uh typically we take at the end of the year um for new slots. Um I don't think we have any current vacancies but um look for those applications at the end of the year uh probably around November December. I'll be here in the meantime. Great. Mayor, I have one more.

Go ahead, sir. Um in this evening we're uh put before the council a the 2026 budget for introduction. Uh as part of that budget there is funding for a um a number of open positions. The code enforcement department has included with that uh with the introduction of this budget we are moving forward with um interviewing and getting to make appointments for those open positions. So I would expect to see that h action occur within the between now and the next meeting or at the latest the meeting after. So I'm fine. Thank you. Sue. Nope. That was going to be my All right. Michael.

Uh no. Our professionals covered everything.

Before I make uh my comments, I just like to um address a few things that happened over the weekend. If we if some of you here were at the our big event that took place of soldier memorial, I'd like to take a moment to congratulate everyone who participated in our wonderful pre-ceelebration of our 250th anniversary of the birth of this nation. In particular, I'd like to acknowledge what a terrific job the township's Steven Fetcher did in organizing this event with his team and managing all the food chalks games and rides making it a family event of the year. So far, number one, our second one, I believe, is July 2nd, pre4 Fourth of July, which is that will be the anniversary for 250 years. I'm also very appreciative of the Antique Motoring Club of Mammoth County who was instrumental in arranging their vehicles in the image of an American flag captured by one of our drone cameras and displayed on our website. Also, I want to thank the DPW um workers, our police department, EMS, and anyone that was part of making this event, you know, happen. And it went so smoothly and it was a beautiful day. It was packed and we we received a lot of positive feedback on it. And that's what we're here to do. Give you guys a little bit back of your tax money. We have the facility to do it. and I, you know, have spoken to the rest of this council moving forward with, you know, every year we're going to try to do more and more events as long as it's in our budget and, uh, to keep the community, uh, engaged and, um, happy. So, that's one thing. So, uh, Mr. Gross already mentioned, you know, that we got a pres budget presentation tonight, which I wanted to take this opportunity to inform the public that after reviewing and studying, you know, he after he reviewed and studied our operations,

okay, during the first 6 months that he's been here, um, at the direction this of myself, the council, we, you know, he's made a decision that we are going to be moving our housing inspection efforts from code enforcement to the fire bureau. Okay. This move will will provide both uh efficiencies and increase effectiveness as many of the required tasks are shared by both agencies. Also, this action will provide advancement opportunities for staff as well, further improving our operations. For instance, current housing inspections require both a housing inspector and a fire inspector to issue a license. Soon, a single inspector will be able to complete this process alone. Mr. Gross has advised me that this is an example of the type of efficiencies he's looking to promote townwide, which believe me, we are all in favor of and I'm sure a lot of residents are in favor of. Okay. Tightening everything up. Okay. So, that's that. Uh Mr. Bombck, I can't comment on what's going on with that Lexington Road or Darian Road. Okay. What I can say, sir, is that currently and in the past, we got residents all over town who feel like they ask for forgiveness instead of permission. Okay, that's always gone on. All right, is it more prevalent the last couple years in certain neighborhoods? I'm I'm seeing that, of course. All right, but I want to assure you that the township is aware of everything that's going on, okay? Whether it's our building officials, our zoning officials, our code enforcement officials, the house, we are aware, but we as a municipality have to be very careful on how we handle things. So everything in this building is done very slowly. That's municipal government for you. I've learned a lot in the year and 3 months that I've been here, folks. And

I'm trying to speak to you guys every meeting in a matter of not getting myself too wound up because I'm not happy about a lot of stuff that's going on just like the rest of the people sitting on this council. Okay? But we do have bad actors that don't care about our zoning, our building, our code, our housing uh requirements, whether it's at through the ordinances or what we have in zoning. That's just the, you know, it is what it is and each case has to be handled at each case level. We are aware. So, please understand that. But unfortunately, our hands are tied with some of this stuff and it takes a process. I don't like it, but that's the way it is. Okay. Um Paula, if people are soliciting, it could be a solar company, a landscaper, fleeing tick spray, realtor. If they're doing that and you have a no knock or in the neighborhood, like Caitlyn said, please call the town and we'll find out if they're on our list and if they're not, they'll be, you know, our our officials will reach out to them not to be in the neighborhoods. Okay, that's that's as far as we could go with that. Will they listen? Maybe, maybe not.

And then, uh, Joe, thank you for coming up. I appreciate that. end of the year. Get on a list if you're serious about volunteering if there's any openings whether it's there planning uh shade shade tree open space you know there's a lot of boards zoning and planning are are too c too crucial to maintaining our character of the town and maintaining you know a foothold on what our zoning is right so Megan you heard what we said about code enforcement

we we we just made this major switch into this housing division to tighten everything up to make it more efficient. It's something that we've wanted done with the with the work of Caitlyn and Mr. Gross and other officials in this building. We have got it. We've gotten it done. Okay. And it's going to tighten a lot of stuff up and it's going to make it definitely make it more efficient and uh stop a lot of the back and forth with one department getting this email, one department getting this email. you know, one official should be able to go in if he sees or she sees something, they should be able to handle it right there instead of it going to another department and then it doesn't get looked at for a week. And you know, sometimes that does happen here. We're a very large town. We're very busy, right? And as far as the shores, Mr. Gross. Like he said, we're looking into what can be done at the direction of our the DOJ cuz surrounding towns have had these issues and I don't even think it it is two acres. I believe we're it's we have five acres zoning right now for

for for a church or yeah any new church or sh is five is five acres. Um not sure moving forward if that's going to be moved to two acres, but we don't even have that issue going on. Some of the houses that you're referencing to that we are know that we're well aware of are just in the middle of regular neighborhoods. So not even just like an Yeah, I understand. We're same thing as as Mr. Mr. Bombback. We are aware. Yeah.

But we have to try lightly at the direction of our attorneys and our manager and figure out everything little by little. It might not be the answer that we like or you're going to like, but that's just the way it is sometimes. And I I I apologize. The only way maybe things could change is reach out to the next branch of government, our assemblymen, our congressmans, our senators, the state, the DOJ themselves. So that's uh I I just wanted to add Joe real quick. I just looked it up. There's two uh two zoning board members and one alternate that are up at the end of this year. So definitely apply and we'll keep you in mind. Yep. Thank you.

Okay. Moving on to consent agenda items. Does anyone wish to vote on any consent a consent agenda item separately? No. All right. So, resolution R26-135 all the way through R-261 150. May I have a motion to approve consent agenda items consisting of 261 135 through 150. I make a motion to approve SIDA resolutions.

I'll second. Councilwoman O'Donnell. Yes. Yes. Councilman Reubel. Yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer. Yes. Mayor Leio. Yes. The consent resolutions pass. Unfinished business. Adoption of ordinances. Uh code-2609. Allison. An ordinance repealing chapter 204 article one of the township code rent stabilization and control and dissolving the Howell Township rent stabilization and control board. I have a motion to introduce ordinance. I'll make a motion to to introduce said ordinance. Second. Councilwoman O'Donnell. Yes. Councilman Rubel. Yes.

Deputy Mayor Fischer. Yes. Mayor Leio. Yes. This ordinance is properly introduced. All right, folks. Now to the exciting stuff.

Got a pillow, some popcorn. You know, I love how on the Facebook pages and all the other pages every day or a couple times a month, we have the keyboard warriors talking about how the town should be ran and how things should get done and how we don't do anything for the taxpayers. And you know, all we do is waste money. But here we are. Look at this room. Where's everyone for the introduction of the budget? Maybe you'll be back after it gets introduced. This budget was worked on very hard. L Palazo who's our CFO CFO is here. Okay. And we are going to continue with the presentation moving forward. You ready, Lou?

Let's go, sir.

Good. Good evening, Mayor and Council, members of the public. Thank you for this opportunity. We prepared a a um this um presentation this evening. It's a PowerPoint. It's about 32 pages. I'm not going to read each one. Um I'm going to go through and give you the highlights somewhere in the of it. But we are going to it it will tomorrow it'll be posted on the website and so anybody can go and look at it and in in depth u and at the end I'm going to give you a uh give everyone an email address. It's the a budget at township of how um NJ. us um where you can send any questions you have and we'll we'll attempt to answer every every question that's that's raised to us. So um we also expect to have more documentation uh on the website by the end of the week uh and so that you'll have a full picture uh of all the data. The uh budget timeline will be introduction tonight uh advertising tomorrow with a public hearing on May 12th and the proposed adoption assuming that everything goes well on on May 12th. Where do your tax dollars go? This is something we run into all the time. You have six different taxing units that you pay for your taxes. The municipality is only one of them. You'll see up there it's number one. It's 16 16.54% that was for 2025. So of your tax bill uh roughly uh one um 8th or one one 187th

uh of it was the municipality. The rest goes to the school district, the regional school district, the county, the fire district and open space. to cut to cut to the chase. Uh the 2026 budget by numbers um the current budget is as proposed is 67.4 million an increase of approximately 3.1 uh 4.8%. Uh the amount to be raised by taxes, which is your tax bill, moving from moving to 37,102, which is an increase of 1.7 million of 4.99% in taxes. Average average residential property value uh last year was 595,000. Uh this year that is 640,000 and that's an increase of 7.46 46 in property value. The average home in the township of how U. That translates into a in the year 2026 for your municipal taxes. The average taxpayer will be paying $1,85 a year in municipal taxes. Now, that's just the municipal portion. That's 16% about 16% of the total. That translates into about $76 a month increase. Sorry,

that's annual.

I'm sorry. Annual. Annual. I'm sorry, not a month. My apologies. U 70 $76 annually. Um roughly $6 a month. Um your the tax bill, municipal tax bill is if you're looking at it by the month is about $150 a month. And just to put that into perspective, you the average cost of a a family's cell phone bill is about $170 a month. The average cost to lease a a new car is about $199 a month. and and the the cost of a uh Starbucks coffee and muffin is about $7, which is a little bit more than the monthly increase in in the tax bill for the average for the average home. Um I I bring that up because it's often that you to put some perspective um in in in the services that you get. So for a hundred50 you receive police fire um DPW roads every all the services that we provide senior center and I'm going to talk about that in a second all for that amount of money. It's really actually pretty reasonable when you think about it. Um, no one likes to see their taxes go up and we understand that and we work hard to try to to limit those increases. But I think it's also important that we that we remember and and look at it and see the value that you're receiving for your municipal tax dollars. Uh, so what's the municipal tax impact uh by residential? 20 20% of residential homes in the town will see an increase

of $56 or less. 43% of the homes will re will see $75 or less. Over half will will see an increase of $80 or less and 80% of of the homes of of residential properties in the township will be less than $99. This is a chart of all the different revenues that go into the tax. It's with that that goes into your tax bill. U with the bottom of it being amount to be raised by taxation. But there's surplus miscellaneous revenues which are fees that we collect. state aid, which you'll note, state aid has been is even this year. Uh to we we would like to see we would love to see more money come from the state, but the reality is we're lucky that it's not being cut, which it has been done in the past. um grants, other revenues, um delinquent tax collection, and and again, the amount to be raised by taxes, all totaling up to the 67. Um s uh surplus is is always an an issue. uh we we are anticipating this more a little over a million dollars more than we did last year. Reason being is that we actually uh collected more or or actually generated more. So we were able to put that into into the budget. Um it's always important to limit the use of surplus to offset taxes the amount you generated the previous year. You don't want to run out of surplus. A lot of places a lot of times you think of a surplus as a rainy day fund. Uh it's

certainly a a funds that can be used for other reasons perhaps um one-time expenses because again it doesn't necessar doesn't always regenerate especially if you use more uh and then we like to have extra just to so we can smooth smooth over the bumps in the road. One of the things we're looking to do this year that we'll be presenting to the council for consideration is to allow fees to be set by resolution instead of by ordinance. And this would allow us to evaluate all user fees to ensure associated costs are considered when setting the fee amounts. And we could review and set fees annually instead of periodically. And that will get more money into the budget and less money to have to collect from taxpayers. Again, we talked about state aid at this year, it's even and there's really no opportunity for us to get any additional revenue. Grants um this grants uh this year are a little bit down, although by the by the end of the year they'll be up um generally speaking. But one thing we did this year is we've actually engaged a professional grant writer uh to help us find grants and to assist the departments with composing and writing grant applications. The grant writers are expected to raise at least twice the amount of money that we spend. My experience has been that it's way more than that. Uh and you know grants we're looking for grants to for things that will provide direct taxpayer relief. the other revenue sources um delinquent taxes and the amount to be raised all relate back to taxpayer and that's the that's the the area we're looking to reduce

wherever possible appropriations again I'm not going to read all of these but these are the different categories of appropriations souring wage other expenses insurance uh capital improvement debt service and and reserve for uncollected taxes these are all the different categories uh and and we we can look at them in a lot of different ways uh and we could break them down. Salary and wages again u they're salary wages are up about almost $2 million. Uh a million and a half of that is u already settled by collective bargaining agreements. So we really don't have control over over much of that. The other expenses um are up there this year 38 million501 up about a little over a million and again uh of that 85% 86% of them are fixed expenses and so we don't have control over um most of that money uh it is repetitive and it really don't don't have aren't don't have an ability um to really reduce them without affect affecting the level of service that we're providing. If you look at this list, and I'll leave it to you to go through it, you see the the the factors that are driving the this year's increase, including uh employee health benefits, road maintenance costs, as well as insur other insuranceances. When you take a look at, you know, breaking down, one of the things that's interesting and I always like to do is to take a look at our person, how much of what we spend actually is personnel costs. It's not just salary and wage, it's benefits, it's insurance, and it's uh pensions. And if you take a look at that, you see that those are those three

categories. For this year, it's about almost $45 million in personnel. personnel costs in a and if you look at that center section you're talk you see the 45 million it talks about u you know it shows that that 82% of what we spend is from on personnel cost and that only is 18% of other expenses and in when you're talking about personnel 55% of what we of of of a of a salary goes to benefits, pensions, and insurance. And what that means, for every dollar we spend in salary, we spend 55 cents in tail costs and additional costs. And that's an important thing to keep into consideration. This this budget includes about 17 open positions as I mentioned earlier that we'll be looking to on once this is introduced looking to to fill this and and move forward with that. The many of these positions have been left uh empty for at least three months and some more uh pending this the introduction of the budget.

Yeah. Let everyone understand these are not new hires. These are workers that were already here no longer with us. So, we're not 17 new hires. We're just replacing what we had to get each department back on track. Okay. That's important to understand that. That's correct.

Cuz I can tell you in other other large other large towns, we've won very tight here. Okay. As far as our police department numbers, DPW, this entire building, the courts, you look at other towns, far more employees. So when you look at these numbers and you see all these money for the employees, which Mr. Gross has put out on the table, which being very transparent with you guys, look at the money it cost to employ the people we have here with their their um Teamster contracts, their health benefits, everything that goes along with it. Okay, it's it's insane, right? So it's it's it's really the numbers is crazy. But like I said, it could be a, you know, you want us to hire more people and these numbers would be increased.

So, I'm not going to read them all tonight. And the next few slides uh are are basically narratives of of things that we're doing uh to prepare for next year as well as to make sure that we meet our objectives in this year's budget. Um, so and this will all this is all going to be up on the website and I would encourage you all to take a look at it at at your convenience and your interest to to see what we're what we're doing here on a day-to-day basis to try to help make sure that we manage your your tax dollars properly. This is the total budget 6749 um which is a three $3 million higher than than what it was last year 4.87%. And when you take a look at the fixed expenses and the settled collective bargaining agreement obligations of that 67 million, that leaves $550,491 that we actually have some level of control over without impacting services. Uh the truth of the matter is we need that money in order to do the services. We've already cut uh probably about 700,000 out of this budget to get it to this point. Um but it's a it's an that 550 is what we can control um have some level of control. The rest of it is pretty much dictated to us based on the service levels of what we're providing. This is the by the numbers again that we had at the beginning. Uh just to reiterate where we stand uh we we think this is a comprehensive budget. This will provide all the services uh that the the the town has committed to

provide um in the past. Uh and and we're looking for additional ways to provide additional celebrations and other services as well. Um the staff is committed to moving forward in the interest of the taxpayer. Uh and that's why we're here tonight. Um, I'll leave a question. There is a a a email address for you to send in any questions you have about the budget or any of the documents we're going to put up online. Um, and we we encourage you to ask the questions and we're happy to answer them.

Just to add a few things. Uh, I like, you know, let the public know that Mike and I were here the other day, I think for like

almost four hours. 4 hours and we sat with Mr. Gross and and uh Lou and asked a lot of questions line by line went back to 2025. Okay. When I got here last year, I did the same thing. I took like four years of budget. I looked at everything and you know historically what I've seen over the years and this may not be popular for me to say this but I'm going to say it because you know guy you know I like to say what needs to be said right when it's an election year they like to go flat on the budget so that way you know the party bosses could pound their chest. We're not raising taxes this guy this year guys. Well that happened the year that I ran for mayor. We kicked the budget down the road and last year we had no choice but to raise taxes. Okay, here we are this year. It's an election year. There's three seats up. Do you think it's responsible if we kick this down the road and then next year when we have our three new elected officials, we're going to raise taxes by maybe 10, 12, 15%. It'll be responsible to do it this way. Correct. Even though it's not popular. Okay. But with the raises and the and the contract, you know, guarantees with all our employees with the health benefits, we are in a position that if we're not responsible and we do a flat next year, you guys are going to come in here with pitchforks. Okay? So, I don't want to raise taxes, guys, or I don't think anybody up here wants to raise taxes, but we don't have a choice. you want us to be fiscally irresponsible, we'll do it. And I'm not going to say yes on it. Okay? We've sat down and when I tell you it's every department is running thin, okay? It's running lean. All right? And that's very important, right? But we also have obligations and we also have capital

obligations, you know, for for equipment and we have a 64 square mile town. We need to spend some money. Okay? So just just understand that we sat down for hours going over this to get to this conclusion which I think is very very fair. It's not going to be popular but it's the facts are the facts. Okay. If they want to kick it down the road to next year then kick it down the road. I'm not in favor of that. So,

and just to add some perspective as well, some of the things we discussed during the budget talks, um, where we were at before we got here, um, we were somewhere around $55, correct? Um, over that assessed value prior to the winter. And because we had such a large amount of snowfall and and over time associated with clearing the roads um you know it was one of the top five I think snowfalls in the last 40 years. It to we were we were at $55 instead of 76 before the winter. So which was almost half last year was what $91 increase. So we still went down. We were almost at half. It went up to 76 because of that.

You know excuses are excuses but it was acts of God. So, we're still low going up less than we did last year, but it would have been almost half if not for an unprecedented snowfall.

Yeah. And also remember that our tax rate dropped, correct, Mr. Gross? So, our tax rate dropped out like our our tax rate went up. But we have to also every year deal with this assessment that comes out of the county assessing the home. So, if your house on your block, you know, your neighbor sells for 800 grand and a house on that block hasn't sold for the last 10 years for anything more than 300 or or 400 and all of a sudden now it's 800. Well, guess what? Then your house, all neighboring houses that are, you know, comparable to that house, your assessment just jumped and that's what you guys keep seeing in your increases with the assessment has nothing to do with with us here. It's the this this is this this is and then if we keep having homes sell for big money. Yeah, it's great if you're selling. I get it. But if you're not selling, you know what's then? It doesn't matter to us. I don't I don't care if I can get 900,000 for my house. I'm not moving. But you know that's we can't control that folks. And if you are moving that that's great for you. I just talked to a couple in Candlewood in my neighborhood. They've been there since 1961. They paid 40 grand for the house. They just sold it for 925. It's

not great. Okay, think about that number. That's great for them. Happy birthday. Merry Christmas. Yeah, but they need that money to buy some place.

Well, but but that's that's just the way it is. But they're but they're they're leaving. They're aged out. Their kids are aged out. Their grandparents. It's great for them, but now it's not good for the rest of the people on the block. Oh, by the way, that's on my block. So, so we're clear, okay? to be transparent with you guys. So, we worked very hard, guys. Mr. Gross worked very hard. Mr. Palazo worked very hard. We're we're we're trying to make it, you know, and just don't forget this is just the municipality. Get ready for school boards and the other stuff that comes with it. 25 bucks every quarter for the to run our town at the municipal level. Think about that number. It's about 25 no less than 25 bucks, right? 75 for for the year. You know, it's less than $25.

Yeah. And think about that number to run to run your household in this beautiful town that we live in. I think that's a it's a very good number is going to be a killer with the transportation. Well, that's school board's another whole animal. So, all right. On to uh resolutions. Right, Mr. Gross? Resolution 26-151. Ke I mean resolution of the township council of the township of how establishing three-year averaging method in computing the reserve for uncollected taxes. May I have a motion? I'll make a motion to approve resolution. Second. Councilwoman O'Donnell. Yes. Councilman Rubel. Yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer.

Yes. Mayor Leio. Yes. Resolution R-26152. Resolution of the Township Council of the Township of Howell, County of Mammoth, State of New Jersey, certifying compliance with the United States Equal Opportunity Commission's enforcement guidance on the considerations of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions under title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I will make a motion to approve said resolution. Second. Councilman Councilwoman O'Donnell. Yes. Yes. Councilman Rubel. Yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer. Yes. Mayor Leio. Yes. Resolution R-26-153.

Introduction of the 2026 municipal budget. I have a motion. Motion to introduce. Second. Councilwoman O'Donnell. Yes. Councilman Rubel. Yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer. Yes. Mayor Leio. Yes.

All right, folks. Our next regular meeting scheduled uh will take place on April 28th, executive session at 6:00, regular section at 7, and we are anticipating a full house because of the budget meeting. So, if you guys want to come back out and that'll be your chance to come to the to the day here and complain and cry and uh blame me and Mike and everyone else sitting up here and Mr. Gross and our, you know, Lou, I'm going to definitely make sure Lou is here. You know, he's our CFO. So, uh, you know, just trying to be a little little funny with this, guys, because you know how once this hits the Facebook pages tonight and all the other pages, it's going to be, you know, it's going to be a circus. So, um, excuse me, mayor. Yes, sir.

The public uh, hearing on the budget will be proposed for uh, May the 12th. Oh, May 12th. Yeah, I'm sorry. April 28th. Correct. All right. Correct. Yes. It has to be out on the uh, street for a minimum of 28 uh, days legally calendar legally. So May 12th will be the budget will be the adoption the proposed adoption date and and the public hearing of the budget. Right. Okay. And if I if I might and so as a point of information people can uh go to the email address and and ask their questions uh directly to management. Um now are copies of the proposed budget available if someone should stop in?

Yes, we will. It is normally made through the clerk's office. We will make a a a few copies. Obviously, non-paper copies will be available on the website. I've already created the PDF document. So, it's it's but we absolutely can make a paper copy available if needed. And that's available tomorrow. It will be. Yes, ma'am. Do you leave it out? You leave it out at the desk next to the clerk's office. Maybe we are required to be easy to grab, right? Yes, sir. Mhm. For the residents. That's fantastic. All right. I'm seeing no further business. May I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. A second. All in favor?