Borough Council - Regular Meeting

So we don't Let the uh record reflect. We have reconvened with all members present. For those who are able, please rise for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I apologize. It is a little on the warm side in here. So, if we end up taking off jackets, it's certainly understood. Uh, may I have a motion for the executive minutes of February 9th, 2026? I'll move them.

Second. Already been discussed. All in favor? I I. And a motion for the regular minutes of February 9th, 2026. So moved. Second. Any corrections or changes or comments? All in favor? I.

I. Welcome all. I apologize. as we ran a little over on the executive and have a slightly late start here, but you do have to love this time of year. Two weeks ago, we were meeting virtually because we were digging out of uh the second major snowstorm in a month. And yesterday, probably like many others, I was drilling on the deck. So, uh let's enjoy this teaser, but we know spring is not here yet officially. And a few other things going on last couple of weeks. Um, on February 26, the mayor and council hosted a dinner for the Madison Volunteer Ambulance Corps volunteers. This included those who were recently active along those who had stepped down over the last couple years due to other other obligations. And it was uh great to see what was kind of a reunion as they gathered around the tables and um to just get together, share their memories. But uh most importantly it was a great way to thank the many volunteers not only who were there that night but who have stepped forward over the decades. And um last Monday on the March 2nd I attended a Ramadan if at the Madison Community Arts Center. It it is a evening meal that breaks uh the dawn to dusk fast that Muslims uh follow during Ramadan. And I did did learn a lot more than I had previous known about Ramadan as I joined our Madison Muslims and and their friends for the meal. Uh it was noted by Vasim Chhatery who um led the call to prayer that they're all looking forward to uh anar next year that will be held at the mosque which hopefully will be opening uh late May, June. And then also on May 2nd, we held a Waverly Place stakeholders uh meeting. Um and this was an opportunity for the

property and business owners to see the proposed improvements for Waverly Place. We will have a town hall style meeting uh similar to what we did for uh housing and development in December. It in the council chambers here uh and so that's open to anyone in the public. It will also be um broadcast as we do with all our council meetings and recorded for those that want to uh watch it from home or watch it after the fact. But the uh the council will be here. No decisions will be made that night, but there will be council discussion. Uh tomorrow morning, Tyler Merson and I are hosting Madison Chambers business over breakfast. Uh and this will be including a tour of the Heartley Dodge Memorial. So this is a monthly thing they rotate around town. So, we're looking forward to uh that. And to uh clarify a misunderstanding from the last meeting, we have not prepared an ordinance on gas leaf blowers, but we are sitting down with landscapers in the near future. Um it'll be Tom Tom Tom Howard Putus um Melissa Hanahan as the chair and vice chair to uh public works and engineering and environmental commission and myself just to get feedback from landscapers and uh use that information to uh possibly inform development of an ordinance. Uh but we will keep everyone in the loop as um this progresses. But I will remind all those in the meantime who have contractors hand handling their yard work, please talk to your contract about limiting the use of leaf leaf blower maybe to spring cleanup, but don't touch your plant beds. Leave the leaves in the plant beds and limit it to fall leaf removal. You'll be doing your yard, your neighbors, and your health a favor if you can cut out the in between uh use of uh leaf blowers.

And um yesterday I attended uh Dicky Dibiosi's memorial gathering and I know council president uh John Forte recognized Dicki with a moment of silence on February 9th but I I wanted to share um some of the experiences I had with Dicki as I shared with his uh son and daughter. um you know he would pre periodically call me into his office which was uh for those that don't know about it was a very impressive man cave on the second floor of what was he called the dark horse uh saloon on uh central avenue. Um even uh I remember early on visiting him there where he had rigged up for a friend of his who was a um disabled and this showed uh Dickiy's engineering expertise. He got his hands on a um a chair from a ski lift and hooked up a cable to it so he could crank and bring his friend up to the second level. Um but uh back to my meetings with Dicki, you know, he would call me in to share his ideas for solutions for all of Madison's challenges. Um, and the setup for these ideas literally would include war stories going back to uh World War II and Korean War. And you know, after about 20 minutes, he'd say, "Don't worry, Bobby. I'm bringing it around. I'm bringing it around. You see where I'm going with this? I'm bringing it around." But uh you know he would finally get to his idea of the moment which typically were very grand and maybe a bit costly such as um parking garages and pedestrian bridges connecting to the train station and I think he even suggested a uh underground people mover to get people to Waverly Place. So you know I would often leave well over an hour later uh well entertained with my head spinning from his ideas. I did learn in a few years that probably by my second term that whenever Dicki invited me over I

would ask my wife to give me a call in 45 minutes and say your dinner is ready. even if it was lunchtime. But uh so anyway, for those that didn't know Dicky Dibiosi, I'm sorry. And for those of us that knew him, we certainly lost one of Madison's great ones. And um we were all made richer by having him part of our lives. And um the last thing is um before I go to a proclamation, the uh employee for the month of March, director of uh public works, Bob Duffy. Bob coordinated his uh department's uh cleanup efforts before, during, and after the large snowstorms he had in January and February. Thanks to his planning and follow up, our roads and sidewalks and downtown was uh cleared quickly. We were the envy of many towns around us. And as a little reminder, the work recovering from these storms has has not finished. If anyone drove under the Prospect Street overpass this weekend going towards uh Main Street, you probably came across the mother of all potholes uh in there. If you were not paying attention, well, if you drove it today, it's already been filled. So, it shows that the really managing uh DPW. So, congratulations for um to Bob Duffy and a big thank you to all of our members of our DPW for their great work. And let me come on down for a proclamation. This is a proclamation proclaiming Women's History Month, March 2026.

Whereas Women's History Month provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the countless contributions women have made to our nation, our state, our local community. And whereas women have played a vital role in shaping our history through leadership, government and education, business, public safety, healthc care, the arts, science, and civic life. And whereas generations of women have broken barriers, expanded opportunities, and walk and worked to advance quality and opportunity for all. And whereas the 2026 Women's History Month theme, Leading the Change, Women shaping a sustainable future. We should have Rachel here, too. recognizes the leadership of women in advancing sustainable solutions that strengthen communities, promote economic opportunity, and ensure a more resilient future for generations to come. And whereas the Burough Madison has been shaped and strengthened by the leadership, service, and dedication of women who contribute each day as elected officials, municipal employees, volunteers, educators, business leaders, and engaged members of our community. And whereas Madison's benefited from leadership and dedication women who have served as elect officials, including Connie Stober, the first women elect to the Burough Council, Betty Bumgardner, the first woman mayor, Mariana Holden, the second woman woman to serve as mayor, along with two among of our longest serving council members, Austri Bailey and Carmela Vitali, and the current leadership current members, Melissa Hanahan and Deb Cohen. And whereas Women's History Month is time to honor both the trailblazers who paved the way and the leaders of today who contribute to inspire progress and positive change. Now therefore, I Robert H. Connley, the mayor of Burough Madison, together with the Madison Burough Council, dear hereby proclaim March 2026 as Women's History Month in the Burough of Madison and encourage all residents to recognize, celebrate, and

reflect upon the achievements and contributions of women throughout history and within our own community. Thank you for accepting us on behalf of All right. Move on to uh reports from committees. Council President uh Forte, Committee Affairs.

Thank you, Mayor. From the Downtown Development Commission, the Director of Business Development, the next meeting of the Downtown Development Commission will be held on March 26th at 7:15 p.m. in the second floor committee room in the Heartley Dodge Memorial Building. The public is invited to attend. Applications for the 2026 season of the Madison Farm and Artisan Market are out. New vendors can request the information by emailing Lisa Ellis at ddcrossnet.org. Madison Green and Clean is scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd. It will include the traditional arbitary ceremony and then the focus will be on the townwide cleanup projects. More information will be sent out shortly. Please email dcrosenet.org with any questions. From the Chamber of Commerce, Easter Funfest is scheduled for Saturday, March 28th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Comedy night is scheduled for Thursday, April 23rd. The show begins at 8:00 p.m. Ticket information will be available soon. Taste of Madison is Monday, April 27th at 6 PM uh is VIP admission and 7 p.m. for general admission. Superhero Day is May 2nd and Ladies Night is scheduled for Thursday, May 7th from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. From the Madison Community Arts Center, every Tuesday from 1 p.m. seniors play Maang and Canasta. And Wednesday, March 11th at 7 p.m. music open mic. Every w every second Wednesday, local musicians perform two songs each. All are welcome to perform or attend. Saturday, March 14th at 5 uh p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Extensions Dance Project will be performing Company Collection 2. And Wednesday, March 18th at 7 p.m., comedy open mic, which is every third Wednesday. All are welcome to perform or attend. March uh 20th, which is Friday at 7 p.m., local noise number two is a showcase of local math rock bands. Saturday, March 21st at 6:30 p.m., musical dialogues for violin and piano.

A concert from uh Eet Goran and Evelyn uh Estava featuring works by Mosart Duzi and uh Proco FV. Uh, Sunday, March 22nd at 4 p.m. Summit Film Society is showcasing Cay Malaga and uh the rescheduled date uh from the U Nature of Reading presentation of How Birding Can Change the World is Monday, March 23rd at 7 p.m. Uh, Wednesday, March 25th at 7 p.m. is show us your shorts, which is every fourth Wednesday, local film members submit and show their short films. And Friday, March 27th at 800 PM, Steal the Spotlight 2.0 is a drag competition show. And Saturday, March 28th at 7 p.m., come original showcase featuring local bands and vendors. And Monday, March 30th from 12:00 to 5:00 is a Red Cross blood drive. Um, for ticket information uh for these events at Madison Community Arts Center events homepage and you can look at the calendar at rosenet.org/mcac. And from the Madison Community Pool, uh the Madison Community Pool Advisory Committee continues to meet weekly. Members of the committee tabled this weekend in downtown Madison, and we're getting the word out in other ways as well. Hopefully, you have seen some of the road signs that are up around town. Please keep your eyes open for a postcard mailer that will be going out in the next day or so. As of this morning, we've reached 30% of our revenue goal, which is in line with estimates. There's no surprise that seniors are leading the signups. This is the last week to sign up for the most discounted rate. Early bird rates end on Saturday. Please note the pool does offer discounted rates for service members such as EMTs, police officers, and firefighters. And we also offer discounted rates for those needing financial assistance. Those interested in signing up or learning more can visit madisonpool.org for more information. Thank you, Mayor.

Public safety, Mr. Landeran.

Thank you, Mayor. from the police department. Earlier this evening, Chief Misha and members of the Madison Police Department met with representatives from Winds of Spirit, Mayor Connley, Councilwoman Han, and other members of the community as part of ongoing discussions regarding immigration and the safety and well-being of all residents in our community. This past month, all member all department members have been compete completing mandatory New Jersey police training commission training in entitled mental health and special needs. This training reinforces officers knowledge and skills in responding to calls involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis or those with special needs. On Friday, March 6th, members of the Madison Police Police Department's community policing unit participated in law enforcement night at Men and Arena. Officers had the opportunity to meet with visitors, display department equipment, and discuss the role and responsibilities of our department. Events such as this provide additional opportunities for our offices to build relationships and strengthen connections with members of the community. On Tuesday, March 17th, the Madison Police Department will have additional officers assigned to targeted enforcement focusing on DWI and aggressive driving. The enforcement initiative is funded through the Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund, DDF, and is part of the department's ongoing efforts to deter impaire impaired and dangerous driving while making roads safer. Okay. from the fire department. The fire department responded to 185 calls in February. The EMS division res transported 94 people to the hospital. The latter truck has been returned to service after having the motor rebuilt. The new utility vehicle known as Ranger

1 should be finally operational within the next two weeks. The department will start fire and EMS operations training this week. It has been used this winter for snow removal with great success. The department met with the medical director to review operations and to make sure the department is following the state's new advanced protocols. The medical director also provided a class on how to handle a person that was struck by lightning. Fire prevention conducted 49 inspections this month. This included 16 home sales and rental and rental changeovers. We would like to thank the burrow's mechanics for their hard work on several emergency repairs to the ambulances and fire apparatus. There have been several issues including both major and minor in the past few weeks. Each time they have been able to make the necessary repairs to keep the fleet in service. Thank you, mayor.

You finance clerk, Mr. Range.

Thank you, mayor. uh somewhat of a shorter finance report tonight. Uh this week we are on a buy for the budget process. Um so we do not have uh budget presentations this evening. The finance department however is in the process of creating the official state budget document. This is the document that the council will ultimately vote on and is the document that goes down to Trenton to document our municipal budget. We do have a big meeting planned in two weeks on March 23rd. First, we'll discuss the municipal budget again and review the strategic planning guidelines. Then, we'll have one final discussion of the budget along with the introduction of the official state budget document. As per state statute, we'll take a four-week break so all residents have an opportunity to review that budget document. Then on Tuesday, uh, April 29th, we are scheduled to have a hearing to vote and adopt the budget.

Is that right? Tuesday the 29th or is it Wednesday the 29th? Wednesday the Wednesday the 29th because of uh TA Madison on that Monday, right? Yes. So, uh,

Wednesday the 29th, we're scheduled to have a hearing to vote and adopt the budget. Uh, as a reminder, all budget information and presentation materials uh are available on the annual budget process page on rosenet.org. Uh, one other note uh on the bill list this evening, state statute requires that the bureau reimburse condominium and apartment complexes that privately pay for their garbage and recycling as well as snow and leaf removal on their internal roadways. The burrow annually calculates a per unit cost for providing these services and then the condominium and apartment complex submits applications with their actual expenses. The bureau analyzes the information and issues reimbursement payments, some of which are on the bill list tonight, typically based on a per unit reimbursement cost. That is all from finance tonight. Mayor, thank you.

Very quick editorial report. Very well timed with that last thing. I had a call this morning from a resident in one of our condominium projects complaining about the fact that uh he could not take advantage of bulk pickup and uh he said, "Well, we pay taxes." I said, "Well, we we do reimburse your condominium association for the services they get uh or they don't get but pay for." So, excellent timing. And let's go to public works and engineering, Mr. Hen Pis.

Thank you, mayor. Welcome the community members uh from the road department from the the road from the DPW sorry uh the road department started patching potholes last week and continuing this week. It will take time but there is a list of potholes. Sorry, there is a list already that has been compiled of potholes that the uh DPW has seen and some of that have been reported. There was some big woods on Lincoln Place which I mentioned uh to uh Bob Duffy and have already been repaired. Uh the street sweeper is back out now that the weather has warmed up at least for this week. It's going to take some time, but it will take care of all the debris around the central business district and outside of our downtown. Um, the DPW handled quite a bit of snow and ice events the last two weeks. The blizzard of the last decade, last 10 years was handled very well. Um, we were actually able to be up and running the next day. I thought that was very commendable compared to what I've seen in other towns. Uh the sewer department repaired storm basins and started clearing them. There is now mechanical services being performed, maintenance on our snow plows and our salt spreaders to finish up the year. And in the event there's another event, we should be ready for it and then hopefully put those to hibernation for the summer. And now we're starting to do maintenance on our back holes, front loaders, and other spring and summer equipment. Uh, the park crew has parks crew has finished painting all the bathrooms at Dodgefield and the MRC, so they should look very fresh for this sports season. Um, the DPW assisted the water utility with a water main break and valve repairs. That's probably on Melissa's report.

Residents are again asked to check their sump pumps. that they are not being discharged into the burrow's sewer system, which means the system that takes your sewage out of your house. Because if we're doing this, this causes the burrow to be charged for rainwater, groundwater, and it does back up our sewer system during heavy rain events. Uh for the entire community, the curbside yard waste collection resumed last week. We actually can uh set bags on our curbs now that the snow is finally melted. Anybody that needs yard waste bags, they are available at the DBW garage and in the clerk's office, uh, please check the recycle coach or recycling newsletter to confirm the day that your street is collected. So, mayor, can I say two something for two seconds about the recreation activity?

Sounds good.

Committee meeting that we had last week. Uh we have another year with huge participation and great organization from all the burough volunteers for our spring sports and we finished up a good season of winter sports. We have boys and girls lacrosse very organized uh actually overs subscribed. They had to turn away a few residents because they couldn't handle anymore with the teams. They have over 200 players for each program. Uh there is a modified spring soccer program also with about 300 participants. Girls softball uh starts at kindergarten now as a new uh director Mike Martinez is in charge of girls softball and he's uh revamping it and the seventh and eighth grade girls are going to be traveling playing other towns in softball. uh the pickle ball courts will be adding some new lighting thanks to the burrow and uh some of the volunteers reviewing it with our electric department. Hockey finished up very strong and uh the little league parade for anybody that wants to make note of this is scheduled for April 11th. We'll report that again. April 11th at noon we meet at the town hall. Is that right, Mayor? And uh the youth ski club, I think they are finishing their last run this Friday or it might have been last Friday. They had 270 kids participate and uh it was reported this was the best year of snow at Peter Mountain. And that's all there.

Thank you very much. Yes, sir. Utilities. Miss Hanahan.

Thank you, Mayor. uh from the water department. Uh there were they dug and repaired three main valves in the distribution system on Woodland Road during the road shutdown for PSEG upgrades. Um there was an emergency repair when Jim Trimble noted a leak at a customer's abandoned house. The alert came from a new meter. So that is excellent. Um meter uh work continues as the meter Replacements and curb box repairs continue throughout town. Uh they repaired a water 6-in water mane break on Siri Lane caused by a frost heave and reattached 3/4 inch service line affected by the break. Responded to two sistn collapses which damaged water lines requiring two curbs excavations to assist in repairs from the electric department. Uh standby was called for multiple mark emergency markouts including beach cor beach beach avenue corsenway and winding way and the electric department had two crews and ready to respond for the snowstorm. They responded to numerous wires down which ended up only being communication cables. There was one outage from a broken cutout box that affected two customers and they plowed two substations in the yard throughout the night during the big snowstorm. Um, and the electric department continues to respond to calls completing markouts, street light repairs, and daily substation inspections. A big thank you to uh Chief Misha, Captain Longo, and Sergeant Morales for meeting with Wind of the Spirit, the mayor, myself, and uh the Madison area call to action, also known as MACDA, today. And really, the kudos is to the police department for building such strong, trusted relationships with the

community. That's it. Thank you. And health, Miss Cohen. Thank you. Uh during the month of February, the health department completed the following. They inspected 10 different retail food establishments, followed up on 11 environmental complaints, seven school immunization audits were completed, they provided three vaccines for non-insured residents, uh one home visit. Um and then on April 8th from 2 to 3:00 p.m., the health department will be hosting a consumer goods lead testing event. Residents can bring household items such as plates, children's toys, and spices to be tested for lead. Keep an ear out for more details on location. Thanks.

Thank you. Now move on to communications and petitions.

Yes, mayor. Mayor and council received a few emails. um one dated February the 26th from resident Kirk Mole of Old Bright Circle who raised concern about a ban on the gas powered leaf blowers. We received another email on March 4th from Jojo Starbucks of uh Pomeroy Road in favor of in favor of an ordinance to ban gas powered leaf blowers. an email dated March the 6th from resident Mark McBride of Prospect Street um regarding amendments to the burough's master plan uh regarding the proposed development at Drew University and another email on March the 9th from uh Rebecca Shaloo of Beverly Road encouraging a gas powered leaf blow leaf blow fan.

Thank you. We now move on to our first of two invitations for public comment. This one is limited to items on our agenda discussion and resolutions. If you want to comment on any other topic, you'll have to wait a little bit later in the meeting. So the there is no agenda discussion tonight. So these are the resolutions you may comment on during this session. And again, if you want to comment on something else, that will come up a little bit later. Resolution 96 is appointing reappointing Captain James Blair to the position of fire official in Burough of Madison and this is um compensated in accordance with the burough code and the FMBA union contract. Resolution 97 authorizing purchase orders under Educational Services Commission for various technology uh supplies and services uh not to exceed $53,000. Uh resolution 98 is um authorizing cooperative purchasing uh alliance Bergen County for various computer equipment and supplies. Um and this is uh through public bid contract through uh 2026. Resolution 99 is ratifying the appointment of intern Javier Iso as part-time unpaid intern for the police department. Resolution 100 is extending the contract to Honored Tree Services of Madison for Tree Pruning Removal Services. Uh this is through December 31st. Uh resolution 101 is adopting an updated affirmative marketing uh plan for affordable housing, part of our affordable housing obligation. Resol Resolution 102 is ratifying the appointment of William Dalling as summer intern for public works department at uh the rate pay of$,750 an hour. Resolution 103 is uh adopting affordable housing trust fund spending plan. Another part of our

obligation related to affordable housing. Resolution 104 is authorizing a special event permit to allow the use of Summer Hill Park by the Girl Scouts on May 15th to the 16th. And uh resolution 105 is um authorized an elite implement implementation grant. And this is a shared service grant to support the implementation of uh shared service on behalf of the Mars Minutemen EMS township of uh Mars. And so those are the resolutions you may comment on. If you wish to comment on any of those resolutions, you can step up to the lect turn, state your name and address and the resolution you're commenting on. Try to keep your comments at three minutes, but we do give you a one minute grace period. Anyone wishing to comment those resolutions, please step forward. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting. And as previously announced, we have no agenda discussion. So we move on to ordinance for hearing. Will the clerk please read the statement?

The ordinances scheduled for hearing were introduced by title and passed on the first reading at the regular meeting of the council held on February the 23rd, 2026. They were posted and filed according to law and copies were made available to the general public requesting same. I call up ordinances for second reading and ask the clerk to read said ordinance by title. Ordinance 10-2025. Ordinance of the bureau of Madison to amend chapter 195 section 46 land development article 8 affordable housing development fees. I open hearing for ordinance 10. Anyone wishing to comment on ordinance 10, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 10.

Second. Any council discussion? Uh just a note, this is one of several ordinances and resolutions that we have to pass um to comply with our affordable housing requirements and the deadline is next week, so we'll make it. Yep. So, thanks very much. Good news. Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Mahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. M. Cohen. Yes. I declare ordinance 10-2026 adopted and finally pass and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof newspaper and file the ordinance accordance with the law. Ordinance 11-2025,

an ordinance amending the land used ordinance of the Bureau of Madison to address the requirements of the Fair Housing Act regarding compliance with the burough's affordable housing obligations by establishing an affordable housing overlay zone designed as the fourth round AOH district and modifying the zoning map. I open hearing ordinance 11. Anyone wishing to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 11-2026. Second. Again, this is the second one of the ordinances. Uh, any any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harlon Pis, yes. Miss Hon,

yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes. I declare ordinance 11-2026 adopted and finally passed. asked the clerk to publish notice thereof newspaper and follow the ordinance accordance to the law. Ordinance 12-2025 an ordinance to amend chapter 195 development regulations article 9 affordable housing policies procedures and administration. I open hearing for ordinance 12. Anyone wish to comment please step forward. Seeing none I close the hearing. Mayor I move ordinance 12-2026. Second. This is a third of the three or Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Landrean, yes. Mr. Range,

yes. Mr. Harlam Pudis, yes. Miss Hon, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes. I declare ordinance 12-2026 adopted and finally pass and ask the clerk to publish notice there of a newspaper and file the ordinance accordance to the law. Ordinance 13-2026. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $200,000 from the general capital improvement fund to purchase security cameras, card access, and other items for the community pool and Rosedale ball fields. Open hearing on ordinance 13. Anyone wish to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 13-2026. I second.

Counc discussion and this is an expansion of uh what we've been doing with many of the parks already. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeren, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Hon, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes.

I declare ordinance 13-2026 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice there of a newspaper and file the ordinance with accordance to the law. And now we're on to our second of uh two invitations for public comment. This is when you comment on any topic. So, uh, if you wish to comment, uh, you step up for lectern, state your name and address, write the same on the clipboard. Uh, try to keep your comments at three minutes, but we'll give you a one minute grace and stop you at four. Anyone wish to comment, please step forward. Just step right on. Merido Makuji Defonso. My address is 12 Washington Avenue in Summit. My husband and I lived in Madison from 1986 to 1994. My father grew up here. My family still owns property here. That's why I'm here. So, I'm on a Madison Facebook page and apparently this town is forcing potentially um the landscapers in this area to switch to electric equipment. I think this is absolutely ridiculous. And I'm not going to lie. I'm from the generation, and I'm sure most of you here are where my your political affiliation is nobody's business. Well, I'm gonna come out and say it. I'm a Republican and I think this is absolutely absurd. And I'll tell you why. I called one of the landscapers and I spoke to him and he told me it would cost him up to upwards of $24,000 to purchase this equipment that he's being asked to purchase. And he would

have to purchase batteries for said equipment. and he would have to purchase charging stations for set equipment. So, we hire a landscaper to to maintain our property. I'm just going to say down in the orchard in Madison. He told me that he would have to either double or trip possibly triple his prices because of these these uh potential ordinances. So you have a small property owner like me, I can no longer afford to maintain his services. So now you're going to have a ripple effect. I have to fire him and now my husband will need to come up to Madison to go cut the grass again and and maintain the property because I can't afford to to maintain this landscaper anymore. Or I have to pass down those fees to my tenants. Now, I know for a fact that let's just hypothetically say that my tenant pays $2,000 in rent. So, either I have to let the landscaper go or I have to pass the services on to my tenant, some of whom I already know are struggling. How do I know that? Because you guys send me a bill when my tenant doesn't pay their electric. So, so I could just find new tenants, right? No, I don't want to. Our tenants have been with us some 10 years, some as much as 30 years, and they pay every month, and they pay on time, and they take care of their utilities for the most part. So, it's very easy to stand up in there and say, "Oh, you could just find new tenants. I don't want to find new tenants. I like the ones that I have." So besides that fact, let's just again take this number of $24,000 that this landscaper would have to shell out.

One minute.

I charge. Let's say I charge $2,000 a month rent. We just had to put a heating unit in one of our houses at a cost of $16,85 to replace the heating unit. So, let's say if he I'm paying this landscaper $6,000 for the season. How much am I actually taking in for my income? That's just a heating unit. What if we need other repairs done to this house? Now, I my rent has gone an entire year. I haven't made any kind of profit because I have to pay these fees and I have to put in a new heating system and I have to call the plumber or whatever. My husband repairs as much as he can, but sometimes you have to call a professional. So, the other thing is the cost of your electric bills. I don't know about you guys, but us in Summit, we have JCPNL. It's going through the roof. When we first moved to Madison, we had electric heat

in uh time. Okay. My uncle one month was $300 for the heat. And that was 1986. So that spring he had gas put in my house. Ma'am, thank you. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Thank you for your comments. Appreciate it.

Hi, my name is Sarah Murray. I live at 52 Hamilton Street in Madison. So, good evening. I've had the joy of living in Madison with my family for seven years. I also serve the community as a physician in family medicine and functional medicine. I've held faculty appointments at Georgetown University and Harvard Medical School and I'm on staff at Overlook Hospital. I'm also a member of the Chamber of Commerce for my small business, Cura Functional Medicine where I care for pediatric and adult patients with chronic conditions, autoimmune disease, cardioabolic disease, and toxic exposure. As a physician and parent of young children, I'm happy that the bureau is pling to pass a public health ordinance to regulate the use of two-stroke gas leaf blowers. I support a seasonal summer and winter moratorum transitioning to ending the use of gas leaf blowers after a year, giving residents and landscapers time to plan accordingly. Gas blowers are not just loud, they are too loud. They typically operate at 10 to 35 dB louder than the burough's noise ordinance allows, which is a maximum of 65 dB. Decb measure sound exponentially. So a 10 decel increase is perceived as approximately doubling the loudness of the sound. Most people agree that the noise from gas leaf blowers is annoying. But more importantly, this level of noise is a community health risk. Noise pollution can contribute to a persist a persistent ringing in the ears. It can lead to heightened sensitivity to everyday sounds that can be debilitating. It can cause hearing loss. And children have unique sus susceptibilities to noise exposure. Noise pollution can cause sleep disruption. Just think about all of our shift workers and new parents trying to sleep during the day. Prolonged exposure to noise pollution can cause high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, heart failure, and even diabetes. Noise pollution is linked with cognitive decline in adults and reduced attention

and impaired learning in children. Noise pollution is associated with increased anxiety and depression particularly in children and adolescence. It can increase stress and alter our levels of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. And this stress is not just an annoyance. This is a health issue. Stress has clearly been linked with three of the top 10 causes of death in Americans. And in my clinical practice, it is the clear number one driver of disease. Last week, I had the pleasure of breakfast with my husband at Madison Bagel Cafe. I got their aromatic fruit tea. One of the most beautiful looking, tasting, and smelling beverages I've ever had. We were crossing Waverly on our way back to the car and I was enjoy as I was enjoying just a few last sips. Suddenly, a worker a few steps ahead of of us turned on his leaf blower and this amazing fruity aroma was replaced with the smell of gasoline. The calm I had from some restorative time with my partner was replaced with the jarring sound of an engine and I felt my body tense up. I've experienced this so many times walking in our neighborhood as well. It's sad that in the fall I often don't want to go on walks

one minute because of this anticipated noise. Nature offers us so many health benefits and we as a community could be taking advantage of them instead of polluting them. Maplewood and Montlair have been living without gas leaf blowers year round since 2023 and so have numerous communities in New York not far from us. They and others have proven it works in communities like us. Madison families and workers deserve the same protection. Thank you. Thank you for comments. Anyone else wishing to comment? Please step forward.

Hi, I'm Denise Delio. Cats on Parkside Avenue in Madison. I am reading a letter from our neighbor Jojo Girtler who can't be here tonight but would like it heard in the public. Dear Mayor Connley and Burough Council members, thank you very much for working on a public health ordinance to limit and then end the use of gas leaf blowers in Madison. I'm grateful that you are prioritizing health protections for everyone in Madison ahead of perceived convenience. This policy will especially protect children, landscape workers, and other particularly vulnerable community members. As a lifelong athlete, good health and a healthy environment is very important to me. It's important for all of us. As you know, the low tech combustion engines on two-stroke gas leaf blowers create air pollution that can significantly impact the lungs. A combination of dangerous chemicals as well as fine particulate matter is inhaled by people using the equipment as well as people nearby. Even short-term exposure to particular particular pollution and the ozone forming chemicals generated by gas leaf blowers has been proven to cause or contribute to health concerns like asthma, heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, COPD, a progressive irreversible lung disease and cancer. Additionally, the noise created by gas leaf blowers can be around 90 dB which is very loud and it carries over long distances. Jamesows explains it well. Quote, "Hearing damage is cumulative. When the tiny sound sensing hairlike cells called stereocyilla in the inner ear are damaged, usually by extended exposure to sounds of 85 dB or above, they are generally gone for good. For the landscapers and homeowners who use gas powered blowers a foot away from their ears, the most powerful can produce

sounds of 100 dB or more." Robert Meyers, an ENT specialist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told me, "Each time I see these crews, I think to myself, 10 years from now, they'll be on the path to premature deafness." Again, thank you for making this important step to make Madison a safer and healthier place to live and work. Sincerely, Johto Girtler Pomemoroy Road. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Good evening everybody. Um, I'm Jerry Frost from Froso Landscaping. I'm not going to stand here and tell you that I moved here 7 years ago. Address, please.

Address

22 Brook Lake Road, but I own property in Madison, so I kind of feel like I belong here. And I can speak for some of the landscapers that are here. Um, I'm third generation landscaper here. My entire family's been landscaping here and the the fact of them saying that possibly deafening all that, whatever you want to say. I've been landscaping since I was 12. I can hear perfectly clear. It's all the it's all the way of how you maintain it and take care of your stuff because the machines that we use have to go through the state regulations and they do and they pass. So, if we're buying equipment that is passed by the state, where does it say that a certain town could regulate us on what we can do and what we can't do? I'm the one who posted that post on Facebook saying, "What's going on with the blowers?" Because everybody's turning around saying that, you know, we're we're doing harm. We're doing this and people are saying that they're having their home offices and they can't concentrate and this and that. So, I responded to someone and said, "Listen, if that's the case, soundproof your room where you're working because if you can't make your Zoom calls and stuff like that, uh, put a window in that's noise defafening and do the room." The lady said to me, "Why do I have to spend my money on, uh, doing that to so I don't have to hear you? Why do we have to spend money?" And she's right. It's over $25,000 for us to get equipment, new equipment for blowers and stuff like that. There's kids here that are just starting out. They're not going to be able to afford it. How are they going to do it if they're going to start a business in town? We're already established and it's not, believe me, it's not going to be easy if we have to do that. Secondly, these things run on lithium batteries. Okay? They say when you first get them,

they run strong. Maybe for two weeks they'll run strong, but then after that the batteries are like $250 a piece. Where's the charging stations going to go? If we don't have the charging stations on the trailer, we're going to have to put a generator on the outside of the trailer. Would you rather us quickly blow through your driveways? And I understand that you guys are saying we should regulate it, okay, from a certain time period of the day. I'm not I'm not saying I'm against that. I'm saying I'm for that because you know what? There's some guys that go out on a Sunday. I'm a landscaper. I don't want to hear it myself on a Sunday at my house, but they do it anyway. Okay? I'm not I'm not saying I don't want to work with you guys, but you guys can't ban us completely because one, these lithium batteries, if they only last a certain time, where are we going to put them? Where are we going to dump them? There's nowhere for us to put them. Two, if we have generators on the tongues of our trailers, they have to run all day because those batteries only last maybe two houses. And then for them to charge, it takes three hours because you have to let them cool down and then start charging them. Okay? I'm not I'm not

one minute.

I'm not I'm not arguing and I'm not and I'm not going to say you guys are wrong and we're going to do what we want anyway, but you guys got to work with us because people say, "Oh, Montlair and and uh uh Maplewood and Milbour." Do you know that Montlair, they're the only ones that are still still keeping it? Milliburn and all the other towns, they're already starting to back out of it because they know that their towns are getting filthy and dirty looking because you can't do nothing about it. How do you how do you expect us you can't expect us to do properties up on uh Woodland Road, Pomememoroy, Prospect? Okay. Well, how are we going to do all these houses if we can't get the equipment in there and then we're going to get yelled at? On top of if your house is a $200 a month maintenance, you're going to go up to $550. I don't think any one of you guys are going to want to pay that. And we don't want to charge that because we want to try to stay what's fair. But if you're if you're going to if you're going to handcuff us, then we're going to have to raise the prices. So, I mean, that's something you guys got to think about.

Thank you very much. All righty. Thank you everybody. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward.

Robert O'Donnell, 78 Britain Street, Madison. I'm a uh fifth generation in Madison. My children obviously are sixth. And I just heard what this woman had to say here from what she described. And before I came here, I looked up on the internet and I really did not find anything related to blowers in general of u people suffering. Um the uh this I I don't know where these statistics are coming from, but I'd like you need to address the council only. Okay.

I'd like to see that. Um, so the um the lithium batteries, if you're concerned about the environment, what it costs to mine the minerals to to make the batteries for this equipment, what it takes to dispose of these batteries when they're done, it's a disa it's more pollution than anything. All the the equipment we use is held to governmental standards for noise and pollution. all held to the standards. Um, I've had I've been in this business for 35 years. Never have I had uh a workers's comp claim for environmental issues. Never ever had an issue for hearing issues. Nothing. Nobody's ever had a problem. Um, as far as uh what what the impact it's going to take to to purchase the qu I know some people are saying 20,000 I did for my um what I the research I've done. It's going to be well over $40,000 for batteries, charging station, the amount of backpacks we need to um to make up for. The machines are inferior to what we're using now. They don't last. They don't um complete the job when we we need to do it. Uh why we are I I it just baffles me. I've been in my home. I've heard my neighbors being serviced. It doesn't sound any different than than a uh construction job with a generator going and and you know is that what's next? the air hammers going like what we need to have tolerance and this

is the way I am able to feed my family to pay my taxes to make a living and if you do this to us this is going to be a burden and at my age I don't know what I will be how I will be able to make up for this and I just don't understand this and just to I just heard that you're having a transgender competition. And if you want my uh input, that's more of a impact to our children. one minute

impact to our children than a leaf blower, you know, going on and on and uh I this needs to be I I and I want to see the statistics which the previous speaker was talking about and what the hospitalizations and who who's being hurt by this is what I really want to know and uh that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wish to comment? Please step forward.

Hi, my name's uh Vincent Costa. I'm third generation in this town. Uh by both sides of my family, both grandparents live here. Address 248 Kings Road.

Uh I am a landscaper in town. Um I coach in this town. I coach kids in this town. Um, and I all I I want you guys to look over here at this painting over here. We all know who that is, right? Gerald Dean Dodge. Do we all know the story of this of this town uh council here that this um Madison memorial that she gave work during the great depression to our fellow Misonians to build this very Matt Madison moral that you guys work in and you guys want to take away work for people like me where I got to pay you know probably $30,000. I can't do that. I'm 23 years old. I may not look it. I may carry myself a certain way, but I can't afford that. I'm going to be out of business. I went to I went to school. Some of you guys, some of your uh kids. Um you know, my father from Madison Little League. You know, I you know, I played Madison Little League. I played football here. I was a captain of two sports. I graduated 2020. Unfortunately, CO happened. Um, but listen, I think it's you guys really got to consider the damage that you're really doing to small businesses. I know that this is a community that we all love and support and it's a very nice, beautiful town that we should all be backing each other here, but you know, you really got to look back and take a step back. If you really did this work, you would really realize that like my fellow landscapers said, all this stuff is is passed by environmental, you know, scientists that, you know, by the by the by the state. We can't just buy this stuff like off the black market or nothing that this is coming from approved approved, you know, government things that that we're buying these these equipment from. So, just take a step

back and realize, you know, how this may actually impact small businesses cuz this community is all about helping each other. You know, I I help out kids. I coach kids for free. I volunteer. So, I'm all for it and you guys should all be for it, too. And and take a step back and just breathe and realize, hey, you know, this this may impact more than what we're actually doing. So, let's take a step back before we actually try to push this through and see who it's going to impact and how it's going to impact them. you know, this is my way of living and I would love I love landscaping. I love, you know, um turning homes over, making them beautiful, but you know, I if I can't do that anymore, it's going to crush me. So, and I got to find a different way to live. So, thank you guys taking consideration.

Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. My name is Anthony Caparaso. I live at 19 Hunter Drive, Madison. And I own a two family at 88 Park Avenue in Madison. And they tried this in Summit, and it cost me $3,000 to buy all this equipment. And the people in the town went crazy because they said, "We couldn't charge the battery." I kept telling them, "I can't charge the batteries fast enough." So I said, "We can't blow off your driveway, your patio, your backyard, or whatever." I said, "You have to understand." And I said, "You know what?" I told the guys, "Don't even worry about the street because let the town take care of it, and we'll blow whatever we can in the driveways and the the sidewalks." So, it cost me $3,000. And guess what? They shut it down because it didn't work. It didn't work because all the people in the town, majority of the people went to the mayor and they complained and the mayor got a big backlash out of that. So, you can look it up in Summit and they stopped it in Summit. Now, we're able to use our blowers again. And like I said, every night I would have to go home and you c they tell you you can't charge all this stuff inside the house. So I'm got cables outside and I'm charging. They say it charges two batteries at a time. No, one battery. You put two batteries in, it charges one battery and then you

got to sit there and wait. By the time two hours comes up and it charges that one, then it charges the other one. You put another one on. So, I'm going to bed about 10 11 o'clock at night because I'm charging batteries because I have to work in Summit because I have to use a battery uh backpack blower. So, I think you guys like everybody's saying, you have to think about what's going to happen. There's going to be a backlash because it happened in Summit and now I'm out $3,000 because I got all this equipment sitting at 88 Park Avenue and the only backpack blower I'm using because I don't make noise on Sunday. So if I'm blowing out my garage or I'm doing something like that, I use it because I spent the money on it. Would I have bought it before? Never. I use it and I blow out my garage or if I'm cleaning something in the yard real quick and that's it just to keep it there just to keep it going because why do I have to waste $3,000? So I try to use it for something. But that's all I have to say. So I can understand the order in this. You start somebody you say you can't you can start at 7:30 in the morning and then you shut them down. You say 5:30 you say, "Okay, start shutting down." By six o'clock, everybody's off. Big construction, everybody. So then when people come home from work, they don't have to hear the noise, they can eat their dinner, they can go to sleep, and then on on Sundays, Short Hills, Summit.

What? One minute. Yep. Yeah, I'm short now. And Summit, Short Hills, New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Sunday. No commercial vehicles in the area shut down. I can't even go into short hills and do any work unless it's an emergency. Like if we had snow or something like that, we go in and we plow them out. But that's what you guys have to think about. But I'm telling you, it didn't work in Summit and there's a lot of leaves and there's a lot of leaves here in Madison when we blow up in here in Madison. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward.

Good evening. My name is Colette Crescus, uh, Albright Circle. I, uh, was asked by Renee Shaloo, who submitted, um, she's on Beverly Road, who submitted, uh, an email to the clerk, um, that Elizabeth mentioned earlier. So, I'm going to read, she asked me to read her comments. Um she's third generation Madison a Madisonian. She said, "I want to thank the mayor and council for planning to put in place an ordinance to regulate gas leaf blow blowers and I urge you to pri prioritize our entire community's collective health over uh short-term profits. Madison can lead on public health or sit back knowing our residents and workers will continue to be exposed to a known public health threat. Collective health communities start healthy communities start with prioritizing children, the elderly and people with disabilities over profit. Every sector of our society evolves. Landscaping companies and the machines they use must evolve with the times and that is a normal cost of doing business. The technology is available and ready. We cannot continue to cater to archaic methods that harm everyone's health as well as harming the environment and significantly significantly contributing to climate change. Increasing restrictions on egregious sources of air pollution and harmful noise levels is one of the most responsible and proactive things a small town can do. Make the right decision for current community members and for future generations and restrict the use of harmful gas leaf blowers as soon as possible. Leave a powerful legacy to your children and grandchildren. Protect community members with responsible and common sense leaf blowing restrictions. Thank you, Renee Shaloo. I am Am I allowed to make my own comment at this point?

You have a You have I have a minute. 15 seconds. Um I completely understand the financial aspect of replacing gas leaf blowers with um with electrical electric leaf blowers. It's tough. It's difficult.

These men work really hard um and keep their you know to keep their family solid and moving forward, excuse me, financially. I just have to say I am as a nurse I am passionate about people's health over profit. Um before being a school nurse, I worked at U Marstown Medical Center um in in acute care uh ICU as well as general medical floor. And I took care of many many patients who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which is related to to um air pollution and pollution from leaf blowers, oil and gas, um cars, trucks, etc. It is a really tough illness and a really tough way to die and it it it's hard. It

one minute. Okay. Thank you. It's hard. I um my heart goes out to people who need to change their finances to purchase uh electric leaf blowers, but again my passion is the health of the community um particular particularly asthmatic children, elderly etc. I could go on. Thank you so much. I appreciate your kindness. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Only get one.

Hello, Mr. Mayor. Council, my name is Jessica Vanassel. I live at 17 Fairview Avenue in Madison. Um, we've heard some of the statistics about health risks. Um what helps me when I read some of these is to put things into context. Um the emissions from these perfectly state emissions legal two cycle engines when run for an hour are the equivalent of an automobile run for 15 hours. So, what one leaf blower operating for an hour is about the same as driving to Orlando. If you don't like Disney, you could go to Michigan. Or if you don't like either, you could go to the middle of Kansas. Uh, and make the same number of emissions. It's the California Air Resource Board, I believe. Um, this is going to be a tough thing to get off the ground. I trust that the committees are going to be working with the landscapers on a transition plan. Um, anything short of that would be absurd and would doom this to failure. Um, and I am not so much here to complain about my lungs as much as the lungs of the people who are holding those machines and breathing those fumes in directly. Yes, there is an impact to all of this um of this onto all of us, but it really goes straight into their lungs and I don't think anybody should have to put up with that. Um, thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward.

Hi, Bridget Daly. um a Madison resident on Keep Street. Um also um a member of the environmental commission and a Rucker's environmental steward. Uh I want to echo the comments of u Dr. Murray and uh Colette and others who have mentioned the health harms associated with this one tool, gas leaf blowers. Um I know that I realize that we were not aware of the health harms before. This is just coming to light for many of us. Um, I would recommend googling icon school of medicine, uh, which is at Mount Si. Google that with gas leaf blowers and that gives a really good summary. Um, and for anyone who's hesitant, I really hope that protecting the health of everyone who lives and works in Madison is the highest priority. That is not up for debate. Um, I also want to point out that the use of leaf blowers in general, gas or electric, has become excessive and much of their use is really unnecessary. Um, instead of blowing grass clippings off lawns, excuse me, um, that organic matter should stay there to feed the lawn. Likewise, removing leaves from planted areas only to replace them with purchased wood mulch is counterproductive. Homeowners and commercial operators can and should do more by doing less. That's not part of this ordinance, which is solely focused on public health harms of one specific tool. But blowing less is a simple and smart solution for those who are worried about not being able to to use gas leaf blowers here. Leaves are a natural resource. They're the most natural and beneficial mulch, and they provide food and shelter for butterflies, lightning bugs, bumblebees, and countless other creatures we need for a healthy ecosystem. We should not be blowing them out from under shrubs and trees and around perennial plants,

for example, with wind currents equivalent to a category 6 hurricane. No exaggeration, but instead leaving them in place to do what nature designed them to do. I'm proud that for a number of years now, Madison has been supporting commercial operators and our DPW by helping to reduce customer demand for unnecessary leaf blowing with our green grounds resolution, our native plants ordinance and ongoing communication, I'm sorry, community education by MEC members, myself included, on the importance of leaving the leaves, not just why, but also how. I am asked all the time if I know a yard maintenance company that will not blow away all the leaves from their garden beds. That's obviously not going to be every customer, but there is a demand for less blowing, and it is growing as awareness of the need to take care of birds and pollinators grows. Thank you, mayor and council, for not just considering a gas leaf blower ordinance, but for thoughtfully planning for it. Thank you.

Thank you. And anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting. Uh just to uh I want to thank all those that stepped up to uh make a comment. Uh this is part of the process whether you're supportive of uh a um leaf blower blower ban or supportive of uh keeping gas leaf blowers uh uh in circulation. Um we are, as I mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, we'll be sitting down with a couple landscapers. So, it was great to listen to a couple landscapers here tonight that'll help uh guide the any decisions that are made by this council. We also uh learn from other towns that implement uh whether it is leaf blower or any other regulation. You know, sometimes it's good to lead the way and sometimes it's good to learn from others. And so, uh this time we're in that latter category of learning from others. So there will be certainly more to come as uh research is done and we get the feedback and um there is no ordinance to share at this point because it has not been developed. But thank you again for taking the time to join us tonight. And now we move on to introduction ordinances. Will the clerk please read it statement?

Yes. The ordinance is scheduled for first reading have a hearing date set for March the 23rd, 2026. All will be posted on the public bulletin board and the burough's public notice page and made available to members of the public requesting copies. I call up ordinances for first read and ask the burough clerk to read said or words by title. Ordinance 14-2026. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $104,500 from the general capital improvement fund for funding of an environmental site investigation at the Drew Forest and additional burrow properties. Mayor, I move ordinance 14-2026.

Second it. Council discussion obviously is in support of our purchase of the Drew Forest and uh is part of our due diligence that we are doing. Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harlon Putus, yes. Miss Hon, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, I need to recuse. And ordinance 15-2026,

ordinance of the Burough of Madison adopting the redevelopment plan for certain properties known as three Geralda farms located block 3303 lot 1 as shown on the official tax map of the burrow of Madison pursuant to the local redevelopment and housing law NJSA48 col2A-1 to 89. Mayor, I move ordinance 15-2026.

Second in council discussion. Mayor, this uh this is the redevelopment plan for three Geralda as it notes in the in the title. Uh this was passed through and uh to the planning board and discussed at three separate meetings um including two versions of this, both of which pass master plan consistency. Um, so we're voting on the latest version of this uh with this ordinance tonight. Thank you. Further discussion. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrean, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Monahan, yes. Miss Forte, yes. Miss Cohen,

yes. And actually, yes. And 16. I'll go ahead read that title. an ordinance authorizing the Bureau of Madison in the county of Mars, New Jersey to enter into a financial agreement with RNO Madison Urban Renewal LLC for a subdivided portion of one draw to farms block 3303 lot 2. Mayor, I move ordinance 16-2026. Second council discussion. This is the basically a pilot agreement as has been discussed on the Gerald one. All set. Okay. Okay. Call vote.

Mr. Landrean. Yes. Mr. Range. Yes. Mr. Harland Pudis. Yes. Miss Monahan. Yes. Mr. Forte. Yes. Miss Cohen? Yes. We now move on to consent agenda resolutions. Will the clerk please read the statement? Consent agenda resolutions will be enacted with a single motion. Any resolution requiring expenditure 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 R96-2026 through R1052026. Second. Any discussion or any that need to be pulled?

Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrian, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harold Pudis, yes. Miss Donahan, yes. Mr. Forte. Yes. To all but 99-2026, which I want to recuse myself from. Okay. And Miss Cohen. Yes. Okay. Okay. There is no unfinished business. Move on to approval of vouchers. Will the clerk please read the voucher totals

from the current fund? $419,72.39. From the general capital fund, $37,2649. From the electric operating fund, $756,855.15. From the water operating fund, $18,76018. And from the trust, $7,18650. The total is $1,239,80.71. Mayor, I move approval of the vouchers. Second. Any discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landeran, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pudis,

yes. Miss Hanahan, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes. There is no business. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Mayor, I move we adjourn the meeting. Second. And all in favor? I