Borough Council - Regular Meeting

is out of the country. We'll uh now the recording has started. We we have reconvened with all members uh present except for uh Councilman Range who is out of the country. For those who are able, please rise for the pledge of allegiance. We have a flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag

United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And let us uh take a moment to remember uh sometime Madison residents that lost over the past few weeks. David Green passed on January 21st. She was 75 years old, born on October 24th, 1950 in Jersey City. Son of Methodist pastor Roy uh and Edith Green. Um he spent his childhood in se several communities including Jersey City, Bound Brook, and Philipsburg as well as Port Jervis where he graduated high school. He went on to uh attend Drew University in Madison of course and while working uh as a student there, he was working security for Mrs. Dodge at uh the Dodge estate. In 1973, he joined the Madison Police Force, serving for 20 years before retiring as sergeant in 1993. He went on to uh to continue his career in corporate security at JCPO, which he retired in 2012. He also served as a certified lay servant United Methodist Church right here in Madison. Inheriting his wander lust from his father, Dave embraced a lifelong love of travel often incorporating his interest in genealogy and family history on his travels. He enjoyed many adventures by cruise and RV with his husband John Bear, who he met on Valentine's Day in 1994. And nearly 27 years later, they were married on the steps of Hartley Dodge on December 19th. I had the honor to perform that ceremony. Um, and travel rem remained central to their life together with Italy becoming their

favorite destination. Dave survived by his husband John, his son Brian, and daughter-in-law Michelle, his three grandchildren, and sister Nancy, among other family relatives and friends. And we also lost Gus Papus, uh, age 87 of Harding, but with a strong Madison connection. He passed on January 21st. Born in Greece, he resided in Harding for the past 44 years, but most people know him for the fact that he lived the American dream. He was a proud owner of the Nautilus Diner for 60 years before he retired in 1997, passed on the reigns to his son Chris and Peter. In his spare time, Gus loved to play back gamon, cards, tennis, and fishing in Melbourne Beach in the winter and of course going back to visit Greece in the summer. He survived by his wife of 64 years, Christine, his sons Chris and Peter, and survived by four grandchildren as well as two great-grandchildren. He was predecessed by his daughter Anna. And we also remember Dana Marie Espazito. She is uh she passed on January 17th at the age of 58, survived by her beloved husband of 32 years. Uh that's Steven. two daughters, Alexis and Sophia. Two sons, Steven and Nicholas, four sisters and a brother. Daniel was born in 1967 in Marstown, raised in Basking Ridge, a graduate of uh Ridge High School in 85. Went on to earn her bachelor's degree from Glboro, now Rowan University. In 1994, Dana and her husband Steven were married. Eventually, the two settled right here in Madison, where they raised their family. For many years, she worked as an ABA teachers aid. that's applied behavior analyst at Central Avenue School where she helped so many children with learning disabilities thrive and learn. We also

remember Doris Clara Solants who passed away age 79 on January 17th, born in Philadelphia, lived in Madison for the past 56 years with her predesceased husband James. Uh Doris graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in ' 64. later received her certification a registered nurse from Thomas Jefferson Hospital in ' 67 and she was a member of nurses association. Among her many hobbies was her garden which during the summer months uh she grew an arrangement of flowers and fruits and vegetables. She also took pride in cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles football team. She was such a devoted fan she earned the nickname coach from her husband and her immediate family. She has survived by a daughter Christy as well as three grandchildren and she was predesceased by her husband James in 2020. And lastly, we remember Christopher Boyce Baker who passed away on December 28th after a short illness. He was experienced sailor, avid cyclist, recreational scuba diver, pianist, sports car enthusiast, a voracious reader, and a collector of canned spam memorabilia, which is I thought was very interesting. Um Chris was born in Planefield uh to Vernon and Charlotte Baker, attended school in Fanwood and Scotch Plains, graduate from Brown University, uh with a bachelor of science and engineering. He spent his business career telecommunications starting at Bell Labs as an engineer, went on to hold management positions at AT&T and Lucent. He met his beloved wife Janet at Bell Labs. They married in ' 82 and settled here in Madison. He was prediced by Jan by about a year. He leaves behind three siblings and their respective spouses. So let's take a moment to remember David Green, Gus Papus, Dana Espazito, Doris Solance, and Chris Christopher Baker. And let us pass our thoughts on to the family and friends that they leave behind.

Thank you. And could I have a motion for the uh reorganization minutes of January 3rd, 2026? I'll move them. Second. Any discussion, corrections? And there were a couple sent in have been incorporated. All in favor? I I oppos or abstensions. Okay. and then um neglected to discuss these in executive the executive of January 12th, but unless there's any changes, I'll entertain a motion to approve the executive minutes of January 12th, 2025. So moved. Second. All in favor?

I I And then the regular minutes of January 12th, 2026. Motion. So moved. Second. Any corrections or changes, discussion? All in favor? I I.

Thank you. So, welcome all to our first uh virtual meeting in uh five almost five years. Hopefully, everyone has dug out of the largest largest snowstorm we've had in about a decade. I want to commend DPW for all the work in the last 36 hours to clear our roads. They'll be returning to uh clear the downtown and uh some parking lot followup. As we know with the forecast for the next week, this snow is not going anywhere fast. Uh also, police, fire, our EMTs, electric department, we're all ready to respond. So, thank thanks to all for being ready. We dodged a bullet with the limited amount of ice that came down. Um and we might have been able to hold this uh meeting in person as roads are now clear. Most people have dug themselves out, but uh we did have to make a decision. So, we were ready to go in the event the storm lingered a little bit. So, here we are. As I said a little while ago, a little flashback to uh COVID council meetings. A few things going on the past week. On January 15th, I attended a New Jersey Transit webinar on the portal bridge cut over work. Um, this is a multi-phase process of switching the two tracks on the original 115 year old bridge that was built by Pennsylvania Railroad to the new bridge. Uh, which they won't need to use a sledgehammer to, uh, close, uh, when sometimes when it gets stuck. Um, so starting on February 15th, uh, the work will commence on switching one track to the new bridge. And during the cuto off uh over work that will end on March 15th, there will only be one track in operation requiring all weekday Mars and Essex trains aka trains from Madison being diverted to Hoboken. Um there will be weekend trains to Penn Station. Uh several trains will be

cancelled during this four-week period or one month period. Um and that's primarily due to redundancy with the current Hoboken train schedule. Hoboken tickets will be cross-honored by PATH and New York waterway uh fairies, but you have to make sure you buy a Hoboken ticket and not a Penn Station ticket. And upon the uh scheduled completion of the March 15th on March 15th, the one track on the original bridge will will be in operation and one track on the new bridge will be in operation until the second cut over will happen later in the year and we'll go through this whole process for a month once again. So, for those that commute, please check uh the New Jersey Transit um website for full details. And last Tuesday, I was honored to attend the inauguration of Governor Mikey Cheryl. Quite an event and quite an honor to be there to support our governor. And uh this past Friday, I hosted the Tory J second grade brownie troop as they learned about local government. the the ordinance that they proposed um during the mock meeting was that all people in Madison should be treated fairly and which was I think a very noble ordinance. The discussion covered the concept that Madison should be welcoming to all. There is also a little comment that it should cover how babysitters treat their children. I'm not too sure the background on that comment, but u it was very important to the person making the motion. Um, and it was interesting that the ordinance did pass unanimously, but in a surprise move, the mayor vetoed it. And I think it was more about showing veto p power as opposed to opposition to treating all fairly in Madison. Thankfully, the veto was overridden by a 5 to1 vote. So, there we go. Browy's making sure we're all treated fairly. And lastly, just uh uh something I have not been doing for a while is sharing some updates from the

library. And just a few highlights from 2025.und over 123,000 items were checked out in books, DVDs, etc. And there were also over 61,000 digital checkouts, which are ebooks, e audiobooks, and so on. There were 887 new card holders for a total of 11,000 patrons registered. The Chase Auditorium hosted 43 community meetings and four multi-session mini courses from June to December because it was not available for the first half of the year due to construction. And one of their most popular non-fiction books was a portrait of the Rose City, the history of Madison uh by Frank Espazito and the Madison Historical Committee. Thank you and uh thank you for all those that have uh joined us on online tonight. And now let us move on to reports from committees. Uh community affair affairs pres uh council president for time.

Thank you mayor from the DDC um and the director of business development. The next meeting of the downtown development commission will be held on February 19th at 7:15 p.m. in the second floor committee room of the Harley Dodge Memorial Building. The public is invited to attend. Information and applications for the 2026 season of the Madison Farm and Artisan Market will be sent out before February 1st. From the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber's third annual Rose City Chocolate Walk is scheduled for Saturday, February 7th. Please visit the Chamber website at madisonjamber.org for more information. Easter Funfest is scheduled for Saturday, March 28th. from the community arts center. Every Tuesday from 1 to 4 pm, seniors are playing Maajan and canasta. All are welcome to attend if you're a senior. Wednesday, January 28th at 7:00 p.m. Show us your shorts. Every fourth Wednesday, local film members submit and show their short film in an open mic type format. Wednesday, February 4th at 7 p.m. The platform literacy open mic brought to you by Arts by the People. Friday, February 6th at 7:30, the Summit Film Society is showing sentimental value. Saturday, February 7th at 7:30, Work of Heart Productions presents Bringing Broadway Home. Wednesday, February 11th at 7 p.m. is Music Open Mic, which is every second Wednesday, local musicians perform two songs each, and all are welcome to perform or attend. Friday through Sunday, February 13th to 15th, Cafe Theater is back with eight short romantic comedies served with coffee and cake. Wednesday, February 18th at 7 p.m. is a comedy open mic every which is every third Wednesday. All are welcome to perform or attend. And Saturday, February 21st at 7 p.m. Come original showcase featuring local bands and

vendors. Monday, February 23rd at 7 PM, the Madison Environmental Commission and the Nature of Reading present how birding can change the world. Tickets uh can be found at Madison Community Arts Center events homepage uh and the calendar rosenet.org/mcac. Uh and mayor, I will also do the finance uh committee report tonight from the tax collector. Um, we want to remind everyone that the first quarter property taxes are due Monday, February 2nd. Property owners are reminded to mail their payment or use the online portal which can be found on rosenet.org. From the finance department, while the council has already had multiple financial presentations over the last few months, tonight we are starting the budget process in earnest. This evening we will hear from the electric utility superintendent Vince Patty, public works director Bob Duffy and Ryan Furry from the water utility. We are blessed to have excellent, reliable and safe electric and water services in Madison as proven by the recent snowstorm where we have virtually no outages. Tonight you will hear about what steps our utility staff are taking to maintain and and improve our distribution systems. We will also hear about the financial performance of our water and electric utility. Our utilities build over $24.8 million in 2025. Our single largest budget line is the entire budget document. In the entire budget document is the procurement of electricity which we buy and then distribute to our residents and businesses. You will hear this evening that the utilities performed well last year, but there are significant issues ahead. The most important issue being the increasing cost for electricity and related expenses. Finally, I want to say that voting on the budget is one of the most important actions that the council takes. We work hard as a governing body to be transparent and to make information available to the residents. Tonight, we'll have our first of four

scheduled bud budget presentations. On February 9th, we will discuss the municipal budget. On February 23rd, we'll meet with department heads. Then on March 23rd, we will have one final discussion on the budget, including strategic planning guidelines. Immediately after that discussion that evening, administration will ask council to introduce the official state budget document. As per state statute, we will have a we will take a four-week break so that all residents have the opportunity to review that budget document. Then on April 27th, we're scheduled to have a hearing and vote to adopt the budget. This will be a challenging year due to increased costs in various departments. As a reminder, all budget information is available on the annual budget process page on Rosenet. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Public safety, Mr. Landry.

Thank you, Mayor. From the police department, last week, Chief Mishell was notified that he will be awarded the 2026 Law Enforcement Executive of the Year Award by the Italian-American Police Society of New Jersey. This award is presented in recognition of exceptional leadership, professional excellence, community engagement, and a sustained and a sustained commitment to the advancement of law enforcement. Chief Misha will be formally recognized at an awards banquet scheduled for late March. Last week, the Madison Police Department command staff met with Chris Monaco, the head of the internship program at Madison High School. The Madison Police meet with Mr. Monaco annually to discuss opportunities to host students interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. The department is scheduled to host one to two high school interns later this spring. Residents are reminded that there have been recent attempts to steal motor vehicles in surrounding towns near Madison. These incidents involved unlocked vehicles. Please lock your vehicles, remove valuables from view, and report any suspicious activity to the Madison Police Department at 973 5933000 or 911. From the fire department, the fire department experienced a very ex active weekend due to multiple fire incidents and the recent snowstorm, a structure fire on Maple Avenue on Saturday. units responded to an unreport to a reported structure fire on Maple Avenue. Upon arrival, a crews observed heavy smoke coming from the rear of the garage. The fire was traced to a compost bin and several sections of fencing. Fortunately, the garage was constructed of was constructed of masonry which prevented the fire from spreading further. A second alarm in Mars

Township. While crews were were completing the cleanup on Maple Avenue, a second reported fire occurred in Mars Township. A second alarm was transmitted and Madison Engine One was dispatched as a rapid intervention team. Smoke in investigation Main Street and Station Road. As the Morris Township Fire Department fire was brought under control, a report of heavy smoke in the area of Main Street and Station was received and after investigation. No hazards were found. And in regards to the storm response, the department maintained additional staffing throughout the snowstorm in response to 15 emergency calls during the event. As a public safety reminder, we ask all residents to assist with clearing snow from around fire hydrants. Our crews are working to address this as much as possible, but community assistance is greatly appreciated. and finally from the joint court. When comparing revenue, Madison's revenue had a decrease of approximately 19.4% in December of 25 compared to December 24. This was a slight decrease compared to the previous month. as well. In 2025, Mattis had an overall revenue increase of two $24,100, which is an increase of approximately 14.37% compared to 24. The Madison Joint Court had a decrease in revenue of approximately 12.3% in December 25 compared to last year. This is a slight decrease compared to the previous month as well. In 2025, the Madison Joint Court had an overall revenue increase of $20,359, which is an approximate 39 3.9% increase compared to 2024. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. And uh public works and engineering, Mr. Holland Cutis.

Okay. Thank you, mayor. Hello, everybody from the community, whoever is in attendance. uh from the Department of Public Works. We know that they've had uh their work cut out for them uh since the winter started. They've had uh 13 events uh in between the first start of the snow and uh ice events and everything else in between. Uh this weekend they worked all day yesterday clearing snow. uh this morning very early came back and started salting the roads and replowed the commuter parking lots because the snow continued and we got a winintry mix overnight. Uh unlike most towns who were experienced a shortage of rock salt, Bob Doppy and Chris McDougall, the the department heads did an excellent job keeping up our salt domes to be filled to capacity. Uh so we're very fortunate to be in that position right now and everybody should be able to move around pretty well tomorrow. Uh in addition to the storm, like I told you, they handled several quite a few snow and ice events in the month of January, which used a lot of our resources and manpower. Uh the DPW and the burrow asks that you remember to clear your sidewalks of snow and ice. If there is a fire hydrant near your house, please help the fire department by clearing the snow from the hydrant as well. Uh the sewer department had responded multiple times to pump station alarms. The residents are again reminded not to flush feminine hygiene products, wipes, or even floss even if they say that they are flushable because they cause system failures around the community. regarding the Rosedale skating rink, which is a big uh winter outdoor

activity uh center for the community. Uh the snow didn't help the ice. We're going to try as soon as possible to clear it. Right now, we have other priorities, but we continue to ask the community not to throw anything on the ice or leave anything on the ice when you're not there. Uh if you do clear the snow or ice, please shovel it all the way to the sides of the pond. If you leave it in the middle, it will just freeze up and ruin the surface. Uh regarding any remaining Christmas trees in residents homes, they can be put up put out to the curb for pickup by the DPW through January 31st, which is this uh Saturday. Well, I guess maybe they'll pick up on Friday. I'm not exactly sure. Uh if you don't do that, residents can bring their Christmas trees to the recycling center on Saturday, February 7th, which is next Saturday. Uh let's see here. And from the environmental commission, just a quick message. Mayor, the MEC reports that Bridget Daly, a longtime member of the Madison Environmental Commission, is doing a Zoom breakfast talk with the Great Swamp Watershed Association on bird friendly yards in the winter. The talk is at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, January 28th. That's this Wednesday. Those who are interested can register at www.greatwamp.org. One of Bridget's top tips is to leave dried seed heads standing so birds will have f food during the snowfalls like the one that we are experiencing right now. That's all. Mayor,

thank you very much. And utilities, Miss Hanahan.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, from the electric department, uh, there were multiple standby calls um, with reported wires down the second week of January. There were no reported losses of power uh due to those downed wires. Um a transformer malfunction alarm came in at Kings Road substation. Uh that was corrected and no power outage was reported. And the electric department continues to respond to calls completing markouts, street light repairs, and daily substation inspections and readings. The water department uh dug and repaired three curb stop valves, repaired an 8 in water mane break on Cook Avenue. After the initial shutdown, the break was further isolated, so the commercial district was uh in service and a 2-in water meter replacement for the housing authority at Cook and Central took place. Also, chlorinators are scheduled to be tested and rebuilt in the coming week. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. And with health, Miss Cohen, super s short and sweet. Our next meeting is Monday in person at Hartley Dodge. That's it. Thank you. And now we move on to communications and petitions. None received. Mayor.

All right. Now we're on to our first of uh two invitations for public comment. This one is limited to our agenda discussion items or our resolutions. If you want to comment on other topics, uh we will have a another comment period a little bit later in the meeting. So our agenda discussion tonight is budget hearing as already mentioned on public works, electric utility and uh water utility and utility fund balances. And these are the resolutions that you may comment on. These will also be part of the consent agenda at the end. Uh resolution 60 is a resolution setting salaries for full-time non-UN personnel. Most uh union employees are covered by union contracts and this takes care of the uh good performers in the bureau. Uh resolution 61, resolution authorizing adoption of a 2025 Mars County uh hazard mitigation plan update. Resolution 62 is authorize an extension of contract for preventive maintenance of sewer pump station equipment with AC Schultz Incorporated. and uh it was awarded last year and resolution 79 for one year but had a uh option for renewal. Uh resolution 63 is a authorizing contract with Boswell Engineering for design and grant program management for improvements to Spring Garden Drive, Ashlin Road and Tooth Place. And this is amount not to exceed 37,000 and it's covering the 2026 municipal budget. Resolution 64 is promoting Alfred Jiro position of mechanical foreman in the mechanical service department public works and compensated in accordance to the uh collective bargaining agreement.

Resolution 65 is appointing Craig Elms position of first class flyman uh and by salary uh dictated by the collective bargaining agreement of $97,197. So those are the uh resolutions that you may comment on or at one agenda item. Anyone wishing to comment, please uh use the raise hand function. You will be promoted. We ask you to keep your comments to three minutes. Uh but you are given a one minute grace period. Anyone wishing to comment on those items, please raise your hand. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting and we move on to the agenda discussions and our budget hearing or budget uh discussion.

Jim,

thank you, Mayor. Um I'll start off here. I'm hoping that Michael will um project the uh presentation that we have uh for this evening. Uh Michael, if you could launch that. Um uh tonight we have um Bob Duffy and Vince Patty and Ryan Fury. Um and Michael, if you advance to the second slide, um we're going to do a quick review of the budget process, which council president Forte has already really done. Um we'll have a review with Bob Duffy of uh public works goals, objectives, and capital needs. Same with Ryan Fury with regard to the water utility. And same with Vince Patty with regard to the electric utility. We'll review our electric utility financial performance and the water utility financial performance. We're not asking for any recommendations this evening. We're just um this is just an information. Michael, next slide, please. Uh this is a slide that talks about transparency. Council President Forte mentioned it. Um we include it every year. Uh for anybody that's watching, you can always go on to the burrow rosenet and have access to all the presentations that are given. Uh, next slide, please. Um, council president Forte mentioned the proposed hearing schedule. It's here, um, so everyone can see it. Um, this presentation itself, as I mentioned, um, will be available on our financial, um, annual financial page, annual budget process page on Rosenet. Next slide, please. Our tax breakdown, um, and I think it's just important to note that, and I don't know, can you see my Can you see my arrow on the screen, Mayor? You may or may not be able to. Michael's pointing it around. Um in any event, um as you can see, um over the last 11 years, burrow portion of residents taxes have gone up 15.6% um while county and school have both gone up 30%. Um that's important. And also the notion that the municipal budget um is uh only uh 29% or 22.9% of

the total tax um tax bill. That should be 2025, not 2015, I believe. And um as uh Councilman Walowitz said many times, if you're here to complain about your increase in your taxes, you're probably at the wrong meeting. But I just wanted to pay homage to uh to Ben. Um with that, I will hand it off to Bob Duffy um with public works.

Good evening. All right. Uh we'll start off with accomplish accomplishments for 2025. We assisted the engineering department with completing the Cook Avenue project and the Dodgefield playground projects. Uh the Wellbe water project is now virtually complete. We're just waiting for some uh inspections to be done. We were able to complete a new bargaining agreement with our union, so the DPW employee. So we're have a agreement for the next this year and three more years. Uh lastly there for accomplishments, the burrow was recognized by the Mars County Municipal Utility Authorities for achieving a recycling rate above the state's mandate. The state's mandate is 50%. While the national average is 32%, the state municip well municipal average is 38%, Madison is over 50%. So that's a good accomplishment for the burrow in a whole and hopefully we can just keep uh building on that. The next slide, please. uh for 2026. A lot of our goals have to do with continuing to reduce our carbon footprint. Uh as you can see, the first one is there to finish the replacement of the DPW garage windows. We have a big old garage and we want to put more energy efficient windows in to keep some of the heat in the building. Uh we also are looking to take delivery of battery powered tools. They are on order. uh their commercial grade ego uh system so that we can uh use battery powered backpack blowers. We're also purchasing uh some trimmers, chainsaws that are all battery powered so that we'll also with chargers so we can change the batteries out in the field. Uh hopefully we can get a good period of time out of those batteries. Uh we're also looking to replace the DPW boiler uh the heating

system there. Uh the old system is about 25 years old. It's not very energy efficient and it's about the end end of its life. So we're moving to a more energyefficient model. Uh the next down is the uh emergency generator at North Street. That is the sewer pump station on North Street. Needs a new uh battery or excuse me an energy emergency generator. We're also doing that with a redundant system. So if we were to have a power failure and the emergency generator failed to start, we could actually bring in mobile portable generator and plug it in there and use that. So we'll have redundant on top of redundant. And lastly, there is the uh we're finalizing placing a order for a jetack truck which is in the bottom picture there to the uh right of the slide that uh has many many uses. uses we can use for uh storm drain cleaning, valve box cleaning, it can be used for hydro excavating, uh and it can be used for trench rescue in the event that you fire department. So, we're going to do some training with all of our departments and with the fire department with that piece of equipment when we take delivery of it. Uh next slide, please. Um, you can see on there for 2026, one of our, uh, items we're looking to get is a new salt dome. Uh, we want to be able to have more salt on stock. Hopefully, that'll be an insurance policy that we won't need all that salt, but at least we'll have it so we won't have to worry about it. Um, and also on there is a new the heater boiler at the DPW garage. Uh, next slide. Uh, for 2026, there's a couple things on there. Uh, replace another mason mason dump. That's a smaller one of the dump trucks. Uh, we can use for plowing and

we can use for multiple other things in the burrow. And the miscellaneous equipment, the Steiner uh machine can be used to do sidewalks. It can be used to um as a backup ice machine to be able to go over and get the snow off the ice on Rosedale. And we're also looking to get a ball field groomer with some of that money there, too. So, that's they're together, the Steiner, machine, and the miscellaneous equipment. Um, any questions? I know I went through that quick, but you have other presentations pretty concise and have a lot of things going on. Uh Deb,

just real quick, um love to hear about the reducing the carbon footprint and already the electric tools. The senior van that's on the budget for this year. I know at one point it was being looked at to go electric, but there were some issues there. Do you know which way it's going yet or? We're still moving uh forward with that. There was some issues with the contract and the delivery date and tariffs and other things. So I know they're trying to get put everything together and I'm sure sure Jim Bernett was he has been looking over this very intently to make sure it's done correctly. So it is in the works but it's not done yet but it will be electric. That was really what I was asking is we're headed. Okay.

I would say that's the hope. I would say that that's the hope. We're still trying to work through contractual issues and if we can and purchasing issues and and there there may be a solution. Ray and Kevin have been working on a creative solution that we can hopefully get uh to the finish line, but if for some reason we get stalled, no pun intended, um we're going to need a new van no matter what at some point. So, we'll we'll come back to council with an update on that in the coming weeks. Great. Thank you. And uh Tom.

Yep. Thanks, Bob. Good presentation. Nice and brief. There was a lot of other future budget items that I guess we'll continue to review as we get closer to the f to the to the next year's um the Steiner um snow plow or snow removal equipment that you're mentioning. Do we have one of those? Cuz I saw something small working around the burrow this morning. Yes, we have uh it's uh that is a track list that we use to do the uh sidewalks and also to it does plowing and it also salts. This would be a backup to that but in addition it would be able to be used for other things and not just that.

Right. So who would be using that when when they they would be using it simultaneously when we're clearing the burrow? Yes, we can do it with put two people out. Right now we only have one piece of equipment that can do that. So we only can put one person out to do the sidewalk. the burough sidewalks. Right. So, the truck that you're requesting to add um uh there was a small small dump truck. Is that what you commented on? What are we using now? We we are using a small dump truck, but uh the body it's a 19 90 something vintage and it's uh rusting apart and it's about the end of its life.

We try to get as much time as we can out of things. Yep. Now, I know that. And obviously for something like that, there's not an electric option. Not as of yet. No. Be able to plow with it and they don't go 24 hours, right? Yeah. Yeah. Understood. Okay. Well, appreciate it, Bob. Thanks very Oh, and then the dome will probably something we have to we have to talk about. That's Yeah, one of the biggest investments, right? So, and we understand that may not happen this year, but we want to get it in the queue to get it at some point in the near future. Yeah, first I'm hearing of it. So, let's let's see how you've managed up to now what the potential benefit which which you explained briefly to us.

Yep. Thanks, Bob, for managing everything. You started off the year with a lot of work. Yes. Did a lot of storms. Not what you were hoping for. You're not getting into a year. Thanks, sir. Mayor, we'll jump right now to a water utility and a report from Ryan Fury. Just double checking. No other questions from the council for Bob. All right. Thanks, Bob.

Hi everyone. Uh good evening. I'm Ryan Fury and I'll be uh presenting on the war utility today. Uh next slide, please. So, uh some accomplishments uh here. Uh so, as Bob was saying before, uh wellbe project rehabilitation is uh coming to a close. Uh but one of the things I wanted to highlight was uh the liquid carbon dioxide that um the burrow participated in which was basically like a revival of the aquifer and uh in the first bullet point you could see um some of the uh effects of doing that. Um as you can see the uh static water level which basically is like an indication of how much water is replenishing into the aquifer um is going up which is a good thing. So, it's like counterintuitive like if you you would think that it' be kind of lower, but the more that you're the more closer it is to the top like where the grade is in the uh well casing the better. So, as you can see in Q4, I mean obviously um there's going to be less usage right in the winter time. Um and that'll probably help attribute with the higher uh static level, but you can see that it's trending in a good direction. So, we have plenty of water in that in that aquifer, especially for well B. Um, and well B is our primary well that we um run pretty much all the time. So, that's a very good thing uh to see. Um, another thing that the bureau participated in with other municipalities was the Dupon and 3M lawsuit for PFAS. Um, to date, we've already received about $1.1 million from that lawsuit and settlement money. Um and we should be receiving the rest of it by 2033 in grand total of about um a little north of $1.6 million. So that's going to be extremely helpful um for the foreseeable future because the PAS installation for treatment is going to be quite expensive. So um any money that we can get um outside of taxpayer money, it's definitely helpful. Um and the final bullet point is just calculated

water loss for the system. So uh the statewide average is about 15.9%. Ours is coming in for last year at 14.8% which is good. Um we're right below we're below the average and you know it's a good indication of how well the the system's um working. So like a lot of the water that we're pumping into the system is not being lost. So that's a good thing and it's getting built for. So next slide please. Okay. So um by now I'm sure everyone knows all about POS. Um you know it's been in firefighting films. It's pretty much used in anything you could think of at this point. Um, it's a a big manufacturing product. Uh, the thing that I wanted to highlight here is that uh the EPA is looking to finalize their four part per trillion standard for PFOA and PFOS. They backed off on the hazard index of the other um compounds that you could see in the third bullet point. But um you know what I wanted to uh emphasize here is that if they do go through with the four part per trillion standard um you know the burrow should be ready to uh start implementing treatment for all of our PAS I mean uh for all of our water treatment plants. So the proposed treatment installation would be by April 2031. But, you know, being proactive about it now, you know, utilizing that settlement money, you know, getting design builds, contacting engineering firms, which we are doing, um, it gets us ahead of the curve because, you know, we're going to have to be competing with every municipality in the state. So, this is something that will not go away. Um, and, you know, we'll get more direction from the the state and the federal government this year of which direction they are going to go. Uh, but what I want to do is try to position us in a way that we actually have options. So if they don't go through with the four part per trillion standard, no problem. I mean that that's better for us cuz then it's less money that we'd have to spend. But if we do, at least we're ready and we have the design builds and the um bid specifications

ready to go. So uh next slide please. The water towers uh this was um so uh the top picture is Madison tank um and the bottom one is Midwood tank. Uh we have two water towers in our system. uh 500 g 500,000 gallon and 750,000 gallons. Um they're both constructed in 1952. Um as per the Water Quality Accountability Act, we had to get these tanks inspected every 3 to 5 years. We did our um we did an inspection last year actually. Um happy to report that there's no uh critical needs or failures of the um tanks. So that's really good. Uh but they did have some recommended uh maintenance items and you know cleanings and disinfections that we could do um to the tanks to ensure that we have you know continued longevity for these things and um we can maintain them and and ob obviously produce the best water quality that we want for the burrow. So uh next slide please. Uh so our our goals for 2026 for the uh water utility um we're like I said we're looking to do PFAS uh pilot plant studies and like a master plan design for the treatment plants if you know the four part per trillion standard does um come through. Uh we're looking to inter uh refurbish our interconnection points um with our neighboring utilities at no cost to burrow which we've already started engaging with New Jersey American and um Southeast Morris. So that's a good thing. um they you know they obviously want to it's to their benefit to have the interconnections working because you know it's easier for them to give us water and if we if we needed it we can we can buy them. So that's something that's good for us. Uh and then we're just going to do continued preventative maintenance um normal things like bow turning aquifer cleaning if we if we can with like the liquid carbon dioxide treatment um and

some main replacements um when possible. So, uh, next slide, please. And then this is, uh, just an overview of the projected 5-year capital plan. Um, as you can see, the water tank repair is a big, uh, capital item. Um but again like the thing if you could see underneath the treatment plant upgrades PFAS um it's that that'll probably take precedent over the water tank repair maintenance um line items because that's going to be a lot of money up front. So, uh, you know, when when we kind of figure out how the the government's going to be going forward with the new regulations, we'll be able to get a better idea and an understanding of where to actually place the money and what's actually invested uh for the near future. But for now, this is like what we can come up with as to uh make sure that the water utility is attended to and and taken care of. And um I think this is the best strategy for us, you know, cuz it gives us options and it and it keeps us um flexible and and ready to kind of move in whatever direction we need to. So, um and next slide. Oh, and uh yeah, that was that's pretty much it. Um if there's any questions, obviously feel free to ask, but uh sorry if it was kind of short.

Yep. Very good. Ryan covered things very well. We'll go Melissa, Deb, and then Bob. Thank you so much, Ryan. Um, I'm just curious, you went over that we have about a little around 14% water loss. What sorts of things account for that just in general?

So, normally, um, it would be like, uh, leaking, right? Like water leaks from like mains, um, you know, aging infrastructure. It just that's just kind of common. That's just kind of what happens. Um, meters also come in uh kind of um can get into like uh skew the numbers as well, but we actually um took care of that already with our meter replacement. So, uh yeah, that's so that's that's a really good thing. Um the pro not problem, but like it's hard to account for water for like say for example like you're fighting fires, right? So like a firefighter is not going to put a meter on and then like you know start fighting the fire. he you know they like I would want them to just focus on the fire and make sure that that gets um accounted for rather than like metering the water. So like you know we kind of put projected numbers in there. Um but like I don't want uh like when I account for the like fire flow or hydrogen testing or um you know just flushing a mains um we I kind of just put like a base number in there that's like a D standard. Um, so it's normally going to be lower than what actually is used. So that's what kind of makes that percentage go a little bit higher. Um, but 14.8% is like that's really good. Um, you know, and uh, for the few years that I have been here, you like we've been averaging around 14 15 around there.

So it's pretty consistent. So, um, that tells me that the system is, um, pretty much responding to like what it's like what it's putting into and what it's producing to people and then what we're billing. So, um, sorry to kind of go on and on, but I hope that Oh, that's super helpful. Thank you very much for the education. Yeah. Quick question before we go to Deb. Do do you know what it what it was the ratio was before um the meter replacement? Did did we see it any

um yeah like the old records uh forgive me for pretty uh if I get this wrong but I think they were around like 18 19%. Again like that it could have been because of the meters right because if the meters are old like they're not going to read correctly so they're not going to pick up all that usage. So I I would argue that uh the meters might have skewed it a little bit higher. So, uh, but you know, that's kind of where you guys were at in the past. Um, but that's not an indication of how the water department was like ran or anything like that. It's just it's just numbers kind of. So, yep. Okay. Deb and then Bob.

So, um, two quick questions if there is such a thing. Um, with the PAS, uh, Michael, can you go back to the budget slide? Yeah, that one. the treatment plant upgrades, which obviously we have to do, and I'm glad to see that at least the majority of the funds will be coming from legal settlements, if not all of them. But I found it a little concerning, and I know it's a it's a balance of, you know, monies that water tank repair maintenance is going to potentially lose money. Now, I don't you know, is that something that do we usually spend the $500,000 for maintenance per year? I don't need an exact number and if you don't have answers, you know, because it's kind of out of the blue, I know, but I'm just trying to figure out um or were you talking about just the work in general needing to happen to the treatment plant versus the water tanks?

No, that's a that's a good question. Um, so the the way I parcled it out, right, cuz um, you know, the water tank repairs are going to be a large capital expense mostly because mostly because there's like a lot of disciplines that go into it. Um, and you know, so, you know, you're going to have to be paying it's it's something that's out of the scope of like the water department, right? Like they cannot and no offense to anybody there or even myself, like I couldn't even do it, you know, like I would need people like other contractors to actually do that work. So, um, this was just kind of like starting to allocate the funds so that way we can kind of do it all all in one shot, um, over time. Uh, so it I don't want to say it's like you're going to take away from the water repair like or like the the money from the water tank maintenance, you know, it's just that the treatment plant upgrades are going to, in my opinion, would be more pressing and more of a priority than the water tank repair. So, like if you know we could swap them numbers around or move.

Yeah. No, that's fine. And I know it's it's all unknowns at this point, so I'm not trying to put you on the spot. Um, but the one question, and again, I'm putting you on the spot, so if you need to get back to all of us,

is there a way that we could share services, these these new up plan upgrades that we're going to be competing with Chadam and Floren Park and Summit and Morristown and everybody else for the same contractors, for the same things at the exact same time. Again, lack of knowledge, but is this something we could, hey, go to Chadam and be like, hey, let's do this together and get them to do both of us at the same time. Maybe get a little reduction in price as well as, you know, get on the schedule higher because they can bang out a couple of people.

Um, I mean, I I I love the idea. I just don't know the uh uh the like the legal end of it. Uh how how that kind of comes into play, you know? I don't I mean if you know if we can partner up with other towns to make it like a volume based thing where you know contractors are you know they'll get volume out of it and you know obviously beneficial to them to stay in Chadam and and Madison they're right next to each other right so it's like um yeah I'm all for that. Uh I just don't I don't know I've never really been a part of something like that before so uh but you you know I'm I'm open to it or I can at least explore it.

All right. Thank like I said I wasn't expecting a complete answer but I was just curious um if it was something to possibly think. Sure. Yeah. Go to Bob and then Tom. Okay. This may be a bit of a naive question so just bear with me. When I saw that the water tanks were built in 1952 I believe you said. Yeah.

That was probably to support a population somewhat less than what Madison is right now. uh with the proposed developments coming online, um will these water tanks as they stand right now be able to support that increased population and will maintenance be enough or will this are going to be really out of the ballpark question, but will we need bigger tanks? I don't know. I'm just asking the question.

No, that's a No, that's a great question. And yeah, I mean, so as of right now, uh we, you know, we did a a utility study uh with um Dubberry um engineering and they cleared us for the water side. Uh we have plenty of capacity right now um especially with our allocation permit. So we we use about like 2.5 million gallons a day um uh in like the peak season. So like uh I would categorize that from like June to maybe Septemberish. So basically the summer. Um so and we're allocated for about 4.9 million. So we have technically quote unquote we have the capacity to to handle you know more buildout. Um but you know if it's if we start building um more I guess we'll have to continue to you know do that um that exercise of um you know looking at the utilities and making sure that um you know we can handle it. I mean, one of the things too with the with the water tank maintenance, um, you know, one of the ideas that that we could float float out there, um, is, you know, potentially, um, upsizing one of them, right? So, Madison tank, for example, like he could take it down and, you know, maybe make it a a 1.2 million gallon tank, you know what I mean? So, um, rather than, um, you know, refurbishing it and and and kind of I don't want to say mandate it, but, uh, you know, just keep kind of using what you have. Um they have fiberglass tanks now, right? So you can like knock that down, put up a new one, put a bigger one um you know to kind of um ease or or address what you what you asked there. So that's an idea. I mean, not saying that we do that, you know, I you know, I know that it's going to it's going to everything is going to cost money, you know, but you know, we can definitely look into that. So

you answered the question. Thank you. That Sorry. Tom and then John. So Ryan, thank you so much. You're giving us more information than we've gotten in a long time on the water utility since, you know, this is one of your primary skill sets. We're pretty lucky to have you working for the burrow. Um are are we at a PA fast water level right now that's over 4 million trillion parts per trillion million parts? Uh what that equation means you know that

right? So um so the current regulation is 13 and 14 parts per trillion respectively right. Um we are fine with those. Okay. If it goes down to four then um you know nobody's fine. Nobody's fine. Yeah. No. Even though we don't really have contaminants going to our down to our aquifer. Nothing like that. Nothing. That's

No. No. I mean, POS is like, you know, it was part of what's called the UCMR. It's like it's an unre it was an unregulated contaminant, but now it's an emerging contaminant and it's like, you know, kind of um jumping up the priority list for the um environmental uh regulators. So, yeah, like to answer your question, the four the four part per trillion, it's not just going to be a Madison problem. Let's just say that. It's going to be going to be a lot of people problem. So, no, it's everywhere in my industry too. The packaging and disposable products that I sell, everything now has to be free. So, yeah, exactly. They use it everywhere. So,

all the manufacturing's changed everywhere, which is for the better of of all of our health. And then is is the is if the community demand even grows even more, which is kind of, you know, following up from what Bob asked, we have enough water, do we know? Do you know if we have 17,000 residents now and we go to 18,000 residents now? No problem.

Yeah, that won't that won't be a problem. You know, again, like depending on what kind of buildouts are happening in in town or, you know, what's being built or, you know, what's what's coming down, you know, we like that's the whole point of getting that utility study because now we have um basically a computer simulation that we can play around with where we can plug and chug numbers and then I could literally um kind of produce scenarios for everybody. So like you know say you're going to build a thousand unit um development somewhere and now I can input all that data into that hydraulic model and then it'll spit out like numbers for me and say like okay like you know you'll need capacity here but you know you might not have enough service um here. So it's like it's an overall evaluation of the system um that you know cuz there's a lot of valving and piping and and the treatment tanks as well. So, you know, we had to keep kind of keep all that into account and that's what the that um whole utility study um basically did for us. So,

okay. And the line the line item on your budget which you just generalized the number for water tank repair maintenance $500,000 a year. I don't recall seeing us at that cost level in the past. you know, $250,000 over the next five years. So, we can elaborate in the future a little more detail, but it's good to have that, you know, that you're on that that uh track to make sure, like you said, that's it's so important to have those tanks and all of our water uh supply, right? Yep. Totally agreed. But big numbers there. That's your biggest

Yeah. Yeah. And that Yeah. And like I said, like you know, we can work with those numbers, but I just wanted to just make sure that we had um funding uh available, you know, because like they're like I said, they're big capital items, so it's definitely got Jim Bernett's attention. I'm sure. Thanks. Thanks, Ryan. But when is the next when is the next water quality test? We have one every year, don't we? Uh well, so we do we do testing all year round. Um so we report to the communities. one report that goes out.

Oh. Oh. Oh, yeah. The uh the consumer confidence report. Yeah. So, that's due um July 1st, but I we usually get that um I'm actually work That's funny that you brought that up. Actually, I'm I'm working on that right now. So, um but it's due due July 1st, but we usually get that out to you guys um a little quicker than that. So, um I would anticipate I think last year we got it out by like May maybe. I mean, sure, Michael correct me, but um but yeah, that's that's the target deadline. Okay. Hopefully it's as good as usual. Yes, sir. It will be. Thanks, Ryan. Okay. And John,

thanks Ryan. This is very thorough. Just curious, what's the lifespan for those water tanks? Like they're 74 years old right now. How like how long do you go with them before you really start thinking about a replacement?

Um, that's a great question. Um, you know, the reason why we go through these inspections, right, is to, uh, kind of evaluate those kind of questions, you know. So, um, what we would like to do is do like a cost analysis of, you know, like I was saying before, possibly knock like if we do knock down one of the tanks and, you know, if we do if if it is time for that um, point where like the cost of just refurbishing it kind of outweighs, you know, knocking it down, building a new one, and then possibly upsizing it. So that way, you know, we're kind of set for, you know, far out into the future. Um, that's something that we've actually been talking about and looking into. Uh, so, uh, I don't really necessarily have an answer for you. Maybe 75 years is, you know, that's it's quite a bit of that's quite a bit of time with it, you know. So

it is and that's what has me thinking and I'm wondering you know should we do the analysis and sort of understand what the capital allocation would be to you know rebuild or acquire new tanks whatever you call it because I you know while I'm certainly supportive of doing what we need to do for the current tanks I would really like to understand the analysis around how much are we going to continue throwing into them versus what would what are we going to have to spend at some point when when do we believe that point is and then you know we make a determination to say all right you know let's start shifting to a different plan it it's sort of like an old car right I mean you you get to a point where you just don't want to keep throwing money into it sometimes you say it's time to buy a new one and I think maybe we should run that analysis and and get that answer so that we can you know if it's if it's midterm capital planning or long-term capital planning, that's fine. But I I still think we should probably understand where we're at and and aim for that.

Yeah, I I totally agree. Um because like I said, like you know, with these old tanks, they you know, a lot of them used um lead paint for example, right? So um you know, if you had to continuously sand blast and, you know, repaint it and sand blast repainted or, you know, do a lot of interior work, like you know, you're kind of just throwing money away. And like that was a perfect metaphor. the the car. Like that's kind of what I would equate it to. It's like you're kind of bandating something that, you know, maybe we should maybe look at the uh you know, just replacing new and kind of see where that goes. So, and and the thing with the new fiberglass tanks is like, you know, you eliminate all of that, you know, uh paint like repainting and all that. It's basically ready to go and it's it's done. So, like a lot of it will just be preventive maintenance from that point forward. to like cleanings, disinfection, like rovers, divers. So, it's going to be a significant reduction. Like, you won't see these $500,000 um line items anymore, you know? It'll be probably a lot less. So,

thank you. I think it's definitely something we should look at just to understand where we're at and where we need to go. Yes, sir. I agree. And I would assume a study would also have to consider uh running on one tank for an extended time and what the impact is. Um I another community I'm involved with I know they built built a new tank and then decommissioned the old tank because they started a whole new location but uh we may not may not have that flexibility,

right? Yep. And that's yeah that's where the the model comes into like it'll help us you know maybe understand that or you know give us insight of where we can maybe place a tanker truck that can basically work as a pressure tank um for the system. So that's something to think about for sure. All right. Thank you. A lot of lot of information. No problem. All right. We'll now bring up Vince Patty, Superintendent Electric Department. Welcome Vince.

Oh, good evening. All right. We're going to start out with the 2025 accomplishments. We installed new riser pole transformers at Kings Road School, the high school and junior school. Installed new riser poles to power 28 Walnut Street. Installed new riser pole to power the form on Community Place. Installed new riser pole to power Madison Mall Apartments. Installed new riser pole to power 120 Madison A. We installed two level three EV fast chargers in the parking lot at the police and fire building. Uh interconnection for the MRC solar carport. Installed new feeder protection relays at Kings Road substation. Enabled underfrequency load shedding at the substations. Replaced post lights at the train station parking lot to LED heads. implemented an asset management software for all of our inventory. Replace old poles and transformers as needed and training. Next slide, please. 2026 goals and objectives. Upgrade relays on the 34 side at James Park substation. Upgrade pilot wire relay at James Park Road substation. Install install SCADA system. Update circuit maps infrastructure upgrades. GI GIS implementation. Replace enunciator at the substations. Install 12 new capacitor banks. And then continue replacing old poles, upgrading transformers, continuing upgrading tie points. Next slide, please. And some of our ongoing activities.

Substation, substation testing, maintenance, uh test twice a year, uh meeting with contractors, discussing upcoming construction projects throughout the town. ilation removal addressing one of the numer uh numerous streets that have very old undersized deteriorating secondary cables. Install new cables. Energize and transfers all services to new poles. Remove old cables and hardware. New service installations approximately 95 anticipated. Pole transfer installations approximately 25. Anchor down guy installations 15 anticipated transformer replacements approximately 20 markouts approximately uh 1,500 we completed 15,037 in 2025 street light traffic light repairs approximately 80 anticipated line clearance uh the electric department will be doing the tree clearance this year emergency work that requires immediate attention, down wire, storm damage, carpole accidents, equipment failure, no power calls, uh flickering lights, etc. during after hours. Bianual substation maintenance, maintenance of batteries, filter replacement, leaf removal, repairs, and general housekeeping. Annual inventory of materials to determine replenishment requirements. Installation of the burrow Christmas tree lights placements on the wreaths and lamposts. Special assignments with Bottle Hill Day and with the request of the other departments. Testing of rubber goods, safety equipment minimum twice a year. Next slide, please.

And for 2026, we're going to be looking to replace our bigger Derek truck. It's a number 131. That's a 1990. Look at 35 year old truck. Looking to replace a superintendent vehicle, which is 2013. Um upgrading primary distribution. We're looking at old greenhouse lane, traffic signal cameras, uh Dodgefield light maintenance. Another big one is the uh reverse fund for substation repair, and then various material transformers uh for $300,000. Um next slide. I think that's it. Yep.

All right. Covered quite a bit there. A lot going on as always. Thank you for maintaining a great grid. Any uh questions or comments for it, Melissa? Um just a question about the the superintendence truck. Is there a budget line? I didn't see number next to it. I just wanted Yeah. What? It didn't get removed. So, it's listed twice there. So, on the Oh. Oh, okay. Yeah. So, it was supposed to get removed. So, and I'm sorry, that's going to be for 27. So, Yep. So, Okay. here. Sorry. Thanks.

Anything else? All right. Well done. Thank you,

Mayor. We'll jump in to talk about the uh utility uh electric utility financial report and then the water utility financial report. There's a really cool old picture of the power station. We actually generated electricity here in the burough of Madison years ago. the end of Station Road is where we had our power station. So, had to throw a little bit of history in there, mayor. Next slide. Um, more history. You all know I found this annual report in my dad's stuff when I was going through and cleaning up. And, uh, in 1944, it talked about uh, all sorts of different things. Very interesting report I have here in my office if anybody wants to look at it. and it talks about there being a utility transfer from the electric utility to um reduce property taxes way back in um 1944. So that's an interesting little tidbit. Um the big thing that's going on, next slide, mayor, is the proliferation of data centers and the significant impact that it has um that that that is has on the electric rates. Um PJM, the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland grid is the regional transmission operator. They're the one that coordinates the electricity in out of in 13 states are represented in there and uh they're doing load calculations and load estimates and there's so many data centers that are looking to open and it's becoming a real challenge and uh the the PGM's trying to deal with it but also all of the uh individual states and the federal government. Next slide. in a um an interesting uh bipartisan action. All 13 state PJM state governors and the federal government Trump administration um signed up together to call on emergency market reforms um with PJM. So uh the board of directors of PJM is aware of this. They have their own proposals. It is going to be a continuing and interesting process, but

is one that has a significant impact on electric rates. Uh years ago, we were buying a megawatt of energy for $25 a megawatt. Now, it's $50 a megawatt. That is for the moving electrons. That doesn't have anything to do with the capacity charges or transmission charges that we know are going up. If we go to the next slide, Michael, um you'll actually see um on E6, that's the block contracts. That's the as Mick Mr. Booker taught me the moving electrons. Um I see John smiling. Um uh Mr. Booker was our physics teacher in in high school. And uh electricity is moving electrons. Um costs associated with an electric utility are the actual electricity, the capacity and the transmission. As you can see from E6 and E7, those costs have increased significantly from 2024 to 2026 to our our estimated budget. Transmission has as well. And uh so ultimately E15 our total expenses have gone up um and our total fund balance that's being generated is going down. We are going to need to advance a capital bond ordinance for uh funding for the Drew University uh purchase of the forest. and that uh while we won't have a long-term bond, we'll have short-term bond anticipation notes, we will need to get our rating um reviewed by the rating agencies S&P and uh standard and pores and they don't really like to see a drop in fund balance. However, uh we have the strategic planning guidelines which are uh tremendous uh arrow in our quiver to be able to uh go back to them and say look we we have uh we we monitor this every year and in

any event um E16 is something we need to look at um because we are seeing a reduction in the generation of fund balance we are going to need to reduce um E18 which is the amount that's utilized in municipal budget are transferred over. This gives us um debt and this gives us debt relief and helps pay for uh capital in our municipal budget. We'll be talking about that more in two weeks when we present the municipal budget. You'll see the impact of that. Uh but it is just something uh that administration feels we need to do. Um go to the next slide. Um this shows our uh MRC solar carport energy. It is generating energy nicely. Um, typically solar generates about 50% in December, January of what it does in the summer. So, we shouldn't be alarmed to see that we're not generating as much as um we thought we would over if we annualize this over a 12-month period. But, uh we're we're happy that it is working well and it will it's going to generate a lot of energy during the days when we have peak energy issues and when our capacity prices are set. So, it will actually be a great hedge for us to kind of keep our capacity prices down a little bit. We go to the next slide, you'll see what this is um our our new electric meters. I've shown this slide in the past. This is what it looks like when someone plugs in their uh electric vehicle. Tom's Tesla, my Tesla, um Peter Freeds, um whoever has an electric vehicle, um when they plug in, it just spikes the electricity. So we have been encouraging and most of the EV owners have been shifting to time of use rates which means that they're going to be plugging in and their charging is going to happen overnight. So it does has less of an impact and is when we can buy energy cheaper. It's

just interesting to see that. More interesting is the next slide which shows uh a a particular home. U Michael if you could advance the slide uh where it shows solar generation and then electric consumption and an EV charger. So it shows the the blue is when they're net generating their refrigerator's running they're using electricity in their house but they're uh um but their solar panels are generating more electricity they're consuming. Then the little lower areas are when they're consuming electricity, maybe at night, and then the big spikes are when they plugged in their EV. So, it's just very interesting to see. Um, think of the blue as almost really should almost go upside down. It should go down um below um the line and show kind of show generation versus consumption. But um that's an interesting um thing. If we advance to the next slide. Um please, Michael. There we are. Flushing hydrants. Melissa, that's some of that unmetered water that we talked about. And you can see our old water tanks. I should look that up. I'm not going to do it right now, but we'll look find out. That's the Midwood um when we had the stove pipes that were installed originally um when we first became a a municipality. Um thanks to Mayor Albbright. Uh that was one of the first things that the bureau did was establish a water utility and have uh water um distribution where uh we were able to have fire hydrants in town. If we go to the next slide, we'll go to the water utility performance. And as as Ryan said, PFAS are really going to impact things. Um line W6 shows the capital improvement portion of the budget. Think of the top section as the um the the budget, the income and expenses and think of the bottom as almost uh the the performance of the utility. So the top section is showing revenues and uh

expenses and you can see um capital improvement we have pegged at $600,000. Might need to make that a little more. Definitely going to need to deal with the PFAS down the road and this potential new water tank. um or at least the conversation of of the new water tank. We're definitely going to need to um uh to increase capital improvement down the road. That's something we need to keep an eye on. Uh fund balance um which is W13. This is kind of the water utility performance. Um it was doing very poorly in 2021 2022. uh but we were able to stabilize the utility and stabilize the financial position of the utility and now it's in a strong position where we're able to increase um the use of capital and uh strengthen the position of the utility in general. So uh W13 which is fund balance at the end of the year that the rating agencies love to see that oh well well done your your your fund balance is stabilized in the water utility. So, uh, we're, um, uh, anticipating, um, as I said, $600,000 in capital improvement expenses. Beyond that, uh, we're just going to continue to operate, uh, the water utility. I think we do need to study, um, the purchase of a full tank versus the repair. Um, does the average water tank last 75 to 100 years or not? We need to look into all of that. And then the PFAS are a big unknown. Ryan talked about $1.6 million coming in. It's going to be multiples of that that we need to treat the PFAS stuff that we need to deal with in the next two, three, four, five years. Um, but we're trying to position ourselves to be to be able to handle it. Any questions?

Michael, can you go back to the electric slide that looks like this? that one. Thank you. Um, so two questions. The capacity charges which significantly rose in addition to the the block contracts are and I don't remember are the capacity charges are those what AI is causing the significant increase. So, we're going to see that continue to rise as law as more and more of these data centers happen or is that the contracts for the electricity?

It's it's uh predominantly the block contracts, but PJM changed rules on how they value different generation. It used to be solar and others had a higher value and therefore the solar that was in the system got uh paid more. They derated it. They reduced it and it's a supply and demand situation. They basically reduced how the value that solar was putting into the system and there and and other generation was putting into the system and the net result was they changed from a situation where there was more supply than demand to now there is less supply than demand and we all know from economics um and Mr. Cherkall caught another high school teacher. Uh John shaking his head. The uh the um you know supply and demand when it when it inverts like that, prices uh prices go up. And so we're seeing a significant increase in capacity. It we had a crazy low capacity prices in 2024. Now we're paying the piper. If uh it's always good to reiterate this, our capacity prices are set based on the five hours that are non-coincident over the summer where we have the highest consumption in total in the distribution system. So they will say, hey, what did Madison consume on June 29th, July 15th, July 17th, July 19th, and August 1st, and and August 2nd? They'll add they'll look at those five hours. uh the each an hour on each of those days and say, "Well, this is your capacity price for the year." So, time of use rates and other strategies that we're looking to employ will hopefully reduce consumption between 3 to 7:00 p.m. and that's when we have the highest um that that's when

capacity prices are set because that's when the utility peaks. I always thought, oh, the sunniest time of the day, noon time, that's when, no, it's 3:00, four o'clock, because the sun's been baking, the buildings are hotter, kids are coming home, so energy is being still being used at the commercial level, but also being used at the residential level. That's that's when we tend to peak. And that as as Councilman Harland Pudus can tell you is when his solar panels on his uh warehouse are really generating and when our solar panels will be really generating on uh over at the MRC.

All right. And then my other question and I am a huge fan of time of use. Um we've been doing doing it almost the whole year. I don't remember when it started but I have also watched our electricity bills significantly decrease. So what impact does that have on the I mean ours were never huge to begin with and people laugh when I say what they are um and I say they were reduced but as people's reduce them because they do participate in time of use or just because they're changing their light bulbs or whatever what kind of impact is that having on what we're bringing in that is obviously also going to cause issues with the total fund balance because if we don't have as much coming in and we have more going out. We all know how that works.

Correct. Um our time of use is only um currently happening with residential customers which are um our smaller customers. I think it's a really good tool to explain and teach to residents that there is a difference in cost. Everybody's bill shows peak off peak and regular consumption which I think is important and I think our our residents are becoming more and more knowledgeable of it. We need to and we're working with but it's going to take some time more than a year maybe two years to get a timeofuse rate structure and the metering working on the commercial side. Um what was it mayor 50 of our top customers in the bureau consumed 40% of our electricity. So, if we can get uh Gary's Wine and Marketplace and Stop and Shop and Drew University and some of these other big consumers on the office parks on time of use, their their building managers are going to find ways to cut electricity from uh 3:00 to 7:00. And so, that's our next goal on our side. But I think it's really an important educational tool and I think our residents are getting more um educated on it and therefore uh it is it is going to help but it is not going to move the needle significantly as much as if we can get the commercial um customers on time of use.

And right now it's a pilot but are we looking to make it so that everybody's on time of use residential? I'm just talking residential. I won't get into commercial because I know that's a whole other beast. I think that's council's decision. It's a pilot program that keeps going and we're getting good we're collecting good data on it. Um, anybody that has solar jumped right on it because they are producing electricity during the peak times um and are getting even a little bit better deal than they were getting um before. Uh EV people are jumped all over it because you're when you purchase an EV, the first thing they ask you is, "Hey, check with your town to see if you have time of use rates and if so, program your car to charge." And um you can program your charge car to just start. You plug it in at 6:00, but it won't start charging until 10 p.m. So, um, so those are those more sophisticated customers are more in tune with solar and with EV um, have signed up for us. But, uh, it's going to be a council's decision on whether to make that mandated. I would much prefer to focus on the commercial side and make the commercial mandated first.

Okay. I think eventually we'll drag the residential there. I know if Councilman Range was here, um he would be advocating for uh the residential to be all times of use now. Uh but I think we should focus going the other way and not upset a number of residents by just changing things. We have some residents who don't know look at their electric bills at all. We have some say, "My bills up by $4. What happened?" So, uh I think I think it's best for us to put our energies in the commercial side. All right. More to discuss on that, but I'll let it go for now. Uh John and then Tom.

Thank you. Jim, just a quick clarifying question. You brought up this issue of uh two neighbors both plugging in their EVs at the same time and having an issue with the power. Uh it was my understanding that we are doing our level best to remedy that by upgrading our transformers and as you know as they age out or even I think we've been proactive at times where we know there's an issue on a particular street or what have you. Can you just confirm like that's that's still what we're doing, right? And

yes, the the easiest thing to do is to is to upgrade transformers when they need to be exchanged or when we're having problems. Uh, someone installs an ice skating rink in their backyard, which has happened in the burrow of Madison and the transformer keeps popping. Um, you know what's going on? We go to the backyard. Oh my gosh, that's a totally what's going on with this load. You know, a transformer, if you look at it, you'll see two, three, four, five homes are tied to it. So, there's a problem. It's easy for us to look at the metering and to understand what that consumer is uh consuming and say, "Oh, you know what? The the transformer is failing. It's not an issue with the consumption or no, it is." But typically if if it's a 25 KV uh transformer, Vince will replace it with a 375. If it's a 375, Vince will replace it with a 50. That way, if people voluntarily choose to electrify their homes, we still have the rebate program for that. Um I have an aircooled heat pump hot water heater, which is really cool. Um and uh and but it draws electricity. If more people do that, that transformer has already been upgraded. So yes, we are working on that. um we have not had any um other than that one unique situation where the transformer kept popping because of a huge load. But the more information we have uh the better we are to proactively respond.

And I think it's great that we're doing that. And I know uh in Vince's presentation he had $300,000 or so for transformers. And I think that's certainly money well spent because I know when we're switching them out, we're increasing the capacity there which we know we need. So, thanks for that, Jim. Yes, sir. And Tom. Okay. Thanks, Mayor. Thanks, Jim. Jim, you're doing a great job managing this electric utility. So, when will you have your 2025 actual results? That whole column is all estimates, right?

Yeah, it's always it's always an estimate. Um, we're obviously closing the books now. Our annual financial statements will come out, unodudited annual financial statements will come out in April and then the audit will come out in July. The audit will be the final numbers. So, um, you know, we end up just adjusting I sometimes, Tom, to be honest with you, it's it's $10,000 to $20,000 adjustments here or there. We're usually pretty good at at our estimates being pretty close. um at at this time.

Okay. So, your estimate, which is great, you're estimating an extra $2 million because we raised rates 10% for this year, right? So, you're going to get another $2 million. And your costs, if you're if your 2025 is close, like you said, you're going to be at $9 million and then in 2026, you're going to be at $10 million. So, you're going to go up a million dollars in cost, but raise revenues, too, which is great. You'll have more surplus. Well, no, I want to point Tom, take a look at E15. E15 shows expenses of 2025 of 18 million. Yeah.

And cost of 20 million. So, it's going up by 20 point. It's going up more than the revenue. Good catch. Good catch. But you're But it's all estimated. You don't know what your 2026 is going to be. It could be 239. It could 24, which is almost $24 million. You know, it it tends to be pretty spot on because, as you know, our block contracts are locked in. Our capacity and transmission costs are locked in. Our admin and operating, we know what the um uh the the union out the the the costs that we need for um paying the staff and stuff like that. So, our our our total expenses typically don't change that much. Um, no. I didn't think they would. I'm talking about the revenues might go up.

Oh, the revenues. I'm sorry. The revenues you're you're right. We really that can fluctuate. It can fluctuate a lot. So, so the fund balance that you're going to carry of 8 8 point and and now the the new um state of emergency or whatever the governor called it where she puts a freeze on rates is also at the wholesale level. So, whatever you're buying electricity at now should stay. They can't have any dramatic increases if you need to buy more. Is that right? Or is it only for us to charge? It was a directive to the BPU. So it

yeah it it it it's they're they're working on and as we know Governor Shapiro had worked with PJM to cap um uh some of the auctions on uh capacity but the uh block contracts um that we're buying uh you know it's it's a little bit of a different animal and they're they're not um they're not controlled by that legislation. I do want to refer to that and look into that and get back to you confirm that, Tom. But the concern and what all the governors and the federal government are trying to do is to address the block contracts, as you said, and try to try to resolve that. One of the things they're looking to do, which I think makes a ton of sense, is to say, if you're going to open up an AI center, you need to provide your own generation. and uh that that that would completely change the landscape and we would be in a much better position if if that were the case. And I know that there are a number of governors that have been advocating for that. So, uh and and als I'm I I don't think the New York Times is listening in. I don't want to get officially quoted on this, but I would I think New Jersey and Pennsylvania should consider talking to PJM about leaving PJM because all these data centers are being built in Virginia. So, we're feeling the effects that Virginia is doing all that development and um so there's also some uh items we need to look at locally. We we don't really want to encourage a data center to come here into Madison. So there may be some land use and some rate structure action that we that the planning board can take on the land use side and we can take on the rate structure side to um not have an office park converted to a data center. I'd rather have the office park converted to an office park or assisted living or something else,

right? Or go residential, but that we're already doing that. So we know we're going to get some revenue back that we've lost just by having two vacant properties. So hopefully that'll be a 2027 uh benefit to us. So the last thing and I want to let you go because it's getting late. The free balance that we have now is the second highest that you've had in the last five or six years. Um is that what you want to average moving forward even though you never averaged that much? Not even close. It's more than double what you your peak which was in 2023 and now it's double.

Yeah. So, so if you think about it, if you add those two numbers together, it's the beginning balance. So, if you take E E17 is basically um E17 minus E18= E19. Gez, that sounds terrible. Let's let's talk about specific numbers. 14.6 minus 6.3 equals 8.3. Yeah,

in years past we were taking 34 of the fund balance and that was a rate um you know was a no no for S&P. So and it was a no no for us. This gives us protection in case something really bad happens in the future that we have a glide path or a cushion to be able to kind of softly land and not have to take really aggressive action. Um, like I said, right now our block contracts have more than doubled in price, but if you from what we used to pay to what we're paying now. So, at record lows,

why why is it not going up double from 2024? And I think you all know the answer, but we should highlight it that ha we were smart enough collectively with council's guidance to buy half of our need going out all the way to 2029 at under $30 a megawatt. You mean why isn't the municipal budget portion that you contribute to pay down the municipal budget going going up double? I don't understand. It is double. Your fund balance is double what it was in 22 and 23. So you're you're right. Am I misreading this? The balance at the beginning of the year was 14. We put 6.3 million towards um budget budget uh support.

Correct. You still have $8 million left. Correct. In free balance. And you and you and three years ago you had $4.3 million left. So you got an extra $4 million. Now maybe you can explain it to me offline. I we don't need to discuss this. Sure. I mean we were we were in financially challenged position in 2023. We're in a more solid position, but it's a more rocky future with the contracts. So and and the costs. So, why why don't you want to estimate that you're going to get more revenue in the community when you add some residential units that you don't have that any of that usage right now. But anyway, let's discuss that offline.

Yeah, we can talk talk about that offline. Yeah. Yeah, it's great, Jim. Very thorough. Thank you, sir. All right. Anything else? All right. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Good start for the presentations. We now move on to ordinances for hearing. Will the clerk please read the yes statement? Yes. The ordinances scheduled for hearing were introduced by title and passed on first reading at the regular meeting of the council held on January the 12th, 2026. They were posted and filed according to law. Copies were made available to the general public requesting same.

I call up ordinances for second reading. Ask the clerk to read said ordinance by title. Ordinance 1-2025. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison, excuse me, the Bureau of Madison supplementing chapter 7 of the Burough Code to add a new section 7-5 regarding 100% disabled veterans tax refunds. I open a hearing on ordinance one. Anyone in the public, please use the raise hand function if you want to comment on ordinance one. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 1-2025. Second. Any council discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeren,

yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Hon, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes. I declare ordinance 1-2025 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice there of newspaper and file the orange accordance of law. Ordinance 2-2026. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $620,000 from the general capital improvement fund for capital improvements to Shady Lawn Drive, Dogwood Drive, Harvewood Drive, and East Street. Mayor ordinance two. Anyone wishing to comment, please raise your hand. Seeing none, I close the hearing.

Mayor, I move ordinance 2-2026. Second. Any council discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrean, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes. I declare ordinance 2-2026. Adopt and finally pass. Ask the clerk to publish notice there of the newspaper and follow the ordinance accordance with the law. Ordinance 3-2026. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison amending and supplementing chapter 45 of the burrow code entitled Shade Tree Management Board to include commemorative tree application fees.

I open the hearing. Anyone in public wishing to comment, please click on raise hand. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 3-2026. Second.

Any council discussion? So, mayor, just so you know, I was at the Shay Tree Committee uh meeting last week, and we explained this briefly to the community at your last meeting. In case anybody's listening now, this is an application if you want to have the burrow put a commemorative tree for any reason uh to there's a committee that reviews it and then there's a small fee, but there's also the charges uh from the shade tree or the the burrow to plant the tree after you select the type of tree. But and they do there's a few of these a year. Uh and you could put a plaque on your tree. There's plaques all over the burrow. They're going to try and control that a little bit better, too.

Thank you for explaining effort to standardize. Good to have. Yep. Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrean, yes. Mr. Harold Pis, yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes.

I declare ordinance 3-2026 adopt and finally pass. ask the clerk to publish notice there of a newspaper and file the ordinance accordance with the law. We now go on to our second of um two public comment periods. This is when you may comment on any topic. Anyone wishing to comment uh use the raise hand function. Uh when you are promoted, please state your name and address. Try to keep your comments to three minutes, but you we will give you a one minute grace period. Anyone wishing to comment, please raise your hand and we will promote Bridget Deli followed by Tina Monahan. Bridget, bring her up.

Thank you. Um I just have a question really for um based on presentation. Name and address first. Oh, sorry. Yes. Sorry. Bridget Dailyaly, 28 Keep Street. Yep. Go ahead. Uh, so I just really have a question based on Ryan's really good presentation. Um, it's interesting to hear that the um peak consumption season for water is June through September, which I think it's probably fair to assume is due to uh mostly lawn irrigation. So, as a point of comparison, I would just like to know how does that compare to the non- peak periods during the rest of the year.

All right, I'll uh capture that and I don't know if we'll whether be able to get the answer, but we'll try. If not, we'll get back to you. Thank you. Any other any other comments or questions? No, that's my only question.

Okay. Y Thank you. Thank you, Bridget and Tina Mahan. Good evening, Mayor Connley, council members, and fellow residents. I'm Tina Monahan at 19 Greenh Hill Road and a member of the Friends of the Drew Forest Steering Committee. So, on behalf of my committee, I have three quick items to share. First, I just have to mention that we are still feeling the buzz of appreciation for the perseverance over the past five years by all involved in purchasing the Drew Forest at long last. So, many thanks once again for making that happen. Secondly, as surprising as this may sound today, once it warms up a bit, winter can actually be a great time to take a hike through the forest where uh bird activities are easier to see without the foliage. Animal footprints are very fun to track. And of course, the physical and mental health benefits are endless. It's an invigorating experience no matter what time of year. Truly a fourseason resource for Misonsonians. Just wanted to mention that. Last but not least, just a reminder, as many of you are aware, the Friends of the Drew Forest committed to raising 2.5 million to be matched by private philanthropists as part of the total package securing the forest's preservation in perpetuity. We're thrilled to be part of this historic effort and its fundraising component. And just wanted to mention that if anyone would like information or to help, please contact us through our website, friendsofthedrrewforest.org. And that's it. Thank you for your time.

Thank Thank you very much, Tina, and thank you for the update. And um yes, we're still feeling that uh great excitement, but as you pointed out, we still have to raise the total of $5 million with the two and a half million. So um thank you for bringing that to the forefront. Anyone wishing to else wishing to comment? Please raise your hand. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting. Um I see Ryan, you're still logged in. I don't Would you be able to address that question related to how much of an increase we get in water usage, which is in this summertime, which is probably primarily irrigation, maybe some swimming pools. Welcome back.

Sorry. Yeah, I don't know if you could hear me. Yep. Uh yeah, so uh that was a good question. Um so normally in the summertime, like she said, uh that's normally due to irrigation. So we're like in the 2.5 million range per day. Uh when it's off peak, we're kind of hovering between 1.7 to 2 million gallons, something in that sweet spot. So I mean you could it's you know significant amount more in the summertime but like I said it's kind of mostly due to the irrigation. So I think you're so uh 20 I think you muted it again. Sorry.

I was hitting the space bar and my finger was slipping. But um so we're looking at a 20% plus uh variance from uh offseason to irrigation season which Yep. And and I think Bridget's point is if we could uh reduce our amount of irrigation, which is really not necessary, we could make a a major difference in the uh aquifer. Sure. Yep. All right. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you for sticking around. No problem. All right. Now we move on to introduction of ordinances. Will the clerk please read a statement?

The ordinance is scheduled for first reading have a hearing date set for February the 9th, 2026. All will be published in the Madison Eagle, posted on the bulletin board, made available to members of the public requesting copies. I call up ordinances first reading. Ask the bureau clerk to read said ordinances by title. Ordinance 4-2026. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $500,000 from the General Capital Reserve for renovations and restoration of the east wing of the Hartley Dodge Memorial. Mayor, I move ordinance 4-2026. Second.

And uh this is not only appropriating money for the um renovation east wing, this is represents the $500,000 um payment from the um Madison Historical Society who uh in exchange for use of the main floor to create a museum for Madison, they're putting $500,000 in into the project. This does not include the actual improvements they're doing in their area for exhibit space and and so on, which would come out of their own uh coffers. Any other comments? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrean, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte,

yes. Miss Cohen, yes. Ordinance 5-2026. Ordinance of the Bureau of Medicine appropriating $180,000 from the Open Space Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund with $20,000 matching uh funds from the General Capital Fund for improvements to Rosedale Field. Mayor, I move ordinance 5-2026. Second. And this is well needed improvements to the uh field there. Any other comments,

Melissa? Yeah, just to say that uh I think this is a great example uh of a pilot program of natural turf going back into instead of um artificial turf and making sure that we um maintain that field appropriately. Um we have some great leadership with uh good education um in Brian Monahan from the open space uh recreation and has a great deal of um knowledge from Ruckers on turf management. So I think this could be a great example of natural turf for our kids to plan.

Thank you. So, mayor, the goal the goal is that we're going to have it installed for the spring and rest it for the spring. So, there won't be any activity. This is the Rosedale soccer field, right? And this is uh you know maximum that we already have some estimates and some quotes and and the reason we are doing it doing this ordinance right now is so we can be y get this out out on the streets for the bid and and get it going in time for Yeah. right around the corner. Thank you. Thanks, council. Any other comments? Okay. Uh, roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeren, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Hanahan,

yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Coat, yes. And ordinance 6-2026, not all but read by title, but I think we uh it said it's best to read the full ordinance into the record. Yes. Yep. I could do that. Actually, it was a a late posting. Okay.

So, this is ordinance 6, 2026, ordinance the burrow of Madison authorizing the purchase of the Drew Forest and Madison House. Whereas the bureau of Madison in the county of Mars, state of New Jersey, a public corporation and politic of the state of New Jersey is authorized by NJSA4A12-5 to acqua acquire any real property by purchase. And whereas Drew University is a New Jersey nonprofit educational corporation having a campus at 36 Madison Avenue, New Jersey 07940, more formally identified as block uh 30001 lot one on the burough's official tax map. And whereas pursuant to a settlement of claims asserted by the university against the burrow in the matter entitled in the matter of the application of the bureau of Madison Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division Mars County docket number MRSL 1694-15 the litigation the bureau agreed to facilitate a purchase of a portion of the property commonly known as the Drew forest and another smaller parcel identified in the settlement as parcel A consisting of approximately 36.724 acres parcel D consisting of approximately 10.594 acres and parcel F consisting of approximately.987 acres collectively the property for $24,200,000 and whereas the settlement of claims in the litigation was memorialized in a settlement agreement dated January February the 11th, 2026. And whereas the property is a governmental designated environmentally sensitive area and identified habitat

for the federally endangered Indiana bat and a recharge zone for the buried value uh buried valley aquifer, a sole source aquifer for the burrow and other municipalities with a United States Forest Service score from 97 to 99 out of 100 for importance to serve surface drinking water index. And whereas the property offers attractive public passive recreation and educational uses and environmental benefits. And whereas the bureau has determined acquisition of the property for permanent preservation will benefit the public. And whereas the burrow will facilitate will facilitate the purchase of the property by coordinating by coordination of various federal, state, and county grants, burrow funds, and private donors. Now, therefore, be it ordained by the council of the bureau of Madison, the county of Mars, and state of New Jersey as the as the follows. Section one, the best interest of the bureau and public are served by acquiring the property. And section two, the bureau authorizes any and all necessary and appropriate actions by municipal officials, including the mayor, clerk, and professionals to acquire the property. Section three, this ordinance shall take effect as provided by law. That's

thank you for reading that. You can take a drink of water from the aquafer at this point. Can I have a a motion for the ordinance that was just read into the record? Mayor, I move ordinance 6-2026. Second.

All right. And uh just obviously this is a a uh monumental step for us and as uh Tina um Mahan kind of set the stage for this another big step. there'll be a lot of resolutions and ordinances that will be passing to make this uh become a reality. Um and all that confusion in that one whereas so the Drew forest um consists of the area which is normally identified the forest but also land at the corner of um uh Glenn Wild and Green Village Road which typically is not considered part of the forest. That's why I talked about miscellaneous other properties. Um area D is the Zuk arboritum and then uh area parcel F is the Madison house and the immediate property around that. So that's where we that all come together. Any other discussion, comments? Roll call vote, please.

Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. And Miss Cohen, I need to recuse myself. Yes. All right. And now we move on to consent agenda resolutions. Will the clerk please read a statement?

Consent agenda resolutions will be enacted with a single motion. Any resolution resolution requiring expenditure is supported by a certification of availability of funds. Any resolution requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda. All resolutions will be reflected in full in the minutes. Mayor, I move resolutions R60 2026 through R652026. Second. Any discussion or any that need to be pulled? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Harlon Pudis, yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes.

Miss Cohen, yes. All right. There is no unfinished business. Uh, approval of the vouchers. Will the clerk please read the voucher totals from the current fund? 4,713,794.95. From the general capital fund, $24,63083. From the electric operating fund, $774,51426 from the water operating fund, $34,400.84. and from the trust $21,498.33. Total is 5,568,83921.

Motion. I'll make a motion to move the bills list. Second. Okay. Any uh discussion? Any questions? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Harold Pis, yes. Miss Hanahan. Yes. Mr. Forte. Yes. Miss Cohen. Yes.

All right. Under uh new business like to make the following appointments. This is a followup from a reorganization meeting. Appointment of burough officials, housing officer Michael Plesier. This is an annual appointment. Downtown development commission. This is a cleanup from um the uh reorganization meeting. Just making sure uh terms line up properly. Unexpired. three-year term through December 31st, 2028. George Coronis at large rep and local emergency planning council for 2026 OEM coordinator Captain Joseph Longo and deputy OEM coordinator Michael Plesier. I request a motion and approval by the uh council.

Mayor, I'll move the foregoing appointments. I second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any oppose? any fain but the record reflect is unanimous and will entertain a motion to adjourn. M mayor I move to adjourn the meeting and hope to be in person in two weeks. Yes. Keep hopefully this fingers crossed we won't see another storm like this before the next meeting. But thank you all and uh for those in the public thank you for logging in and um joining us tonight and keep warm and um don't shovel too much. Bye everybody. Good night. Everybody