Borough Council - Regular Meeting

Oh, you got your packet.

Let's turn this off. Yeah, I think that's

got a little out of control. Mayor medieval torture to Oh, okay. I will. I don't think it is. Remember when I always make you read the full resolution? That's definitely adoption. But I'm going to look up my notes. Yeah. At the adoption. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Let the record reflect. We have reconvened with all members present. Uh Councilwoman Hanahan is absent, excused on as she's out for business. For those who are able, please rise for pledge of allegiance. I ask you to remain standing after the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Let's take a moment to remember longtime Madison residents who we lost over the last couple of weeks. Peter Cakuza, longtime Madison resident, passed away on March 20th, age of 88. survived by his two daughters Donna and Kimberly and the respective f spouses along with five grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife Dorothy Anne in 2022. Born in Newark in 1938, he was the son of the late Peter and Mary Kakuza, proud alum of uh Satan Hall University and also honorably served United in the United States Army Reserve. In 1975, he married the love of his life, Dorothy Anne. Together they built a beautiful life in Madison where they raised her two daughters and shared 46 years of marriage before her passing in 22. He was a longtime parishioner of St. Vincent Mark Church. He was a skilled and dedicated electrician with a long and accomplished career. Spent nearly three decades with very typer in East Hanover before retiring. We also remember Joseph Lawless, longtime Madison resident, died March 15th, age of 85. Born in 1940 in Newark, he was a son of Jack and Helen Wallace. Spent his early years in Newark before moving to Verona during the sixth grade. He attended St. Benedict's Prep in uh Newark where he distinguished himself at both as a student and an athlete serving as a captain of the school's golf team. He went on to attend Satan Hall University where he was a founding member of Delta Sigma Delta fraternity and earned his bachelor's degree in history. A p a proud patriot, Joe served in Marine Reserves from 1962 to 68 during the Vietnam era. Joseph devoted 33 years to Essex County Probation Department where he first worked as probation officer and later administrator. An avid golfer, Joe enjoyed spending time in the

course and later a ranger at Pinchbrook Country Club after his retirement. His friends loved playing with him, even if meant they often lost. He met the love of his life, Anne Freda, during the summer after he graduated from college. The couple married in ' 65, shared many years together. Um, and they traveling Ireland, Italy, and other ex excursions. Joe and Anne were frequent visitors to Atlantic City where his favorite game was three card poker in case you're wondering. He survived by his wife Anne, his son Greg, his daughter Beth, and respective spouses and two grandchildren. We also remember Antonio Tony Baselino, longtime Madison resident, passed away on March 13th at age 76. Survived by his wife of 52 years, Stella, his son Sam, who's a member of our DPW, his daughter Carmela, and four grandchildren. Born in 1949 in Italy, he immigrated to the United States with his family in 1965, made Madison his home, where he built a life centered on family, hard work, and community. He was a proud owner of Tony Baselino painting and decorating. Dedicated many years of to his trade, earning the respect for those who knew and worked with him. Took great pride in his work and providing for his family. And he enjoyed many many of life's simple pre pleasures including playing cards, golfing and botchi. He was also deeply involved with the forum club. And then we remember James Jimmy Lesley Predescini passed away on March 7th age of 71. Born in Newark. She lived in Madison for 44 years. He graduated from Lemonson High School after graduated from Satan Hall University in 1976. Earned MBA from Fley Dickinson was a member of St. Vincent Marty Church, Elevated Life Church at the Madison area YMCA who I kn I knew as our chair of our

member services committee for many years. and the Kowanas Club survived by his wife Alvino Hina, his children Elizabeth and Matthew, and two granddaughters. He'll be remembered as a man of deep faith, adventurous spirit, immense love for his family. He had a passion for travel and saw most of the world completing an incredible 207 cruises over the years. He also faced life's challenges, remarkable strength and faith. after bravely battling multiple miloma, he passed away peacefully. And then I just received this this afternoon from fire chief Wickman. We regret to announce the passing of retired fire captain Edward Hoick. And as many know, Ed's son Troy followed in his father footsteps and he's currently one of our Madison's career firefighters. Ed was hired in 1972 and retired in 1997. And interestingly, when he retired, Kyle Wickman was hired um to to join the fire department. Troy reported that his father passed away doing what he loved, golfing near his home in Delaware this morning. And I will share more information on his life at at the next meeting. So, let us take a moment to remember Peter Cakuza, Joseph Lawless, Tony Baselino, Jimmy Pettisini, and Ed Poic. And let us pass our thoughts onto the families and friends that they leave behind. Thank you. All right. Can I have a motion for the executive minutes of February 23rd, 2026?

So moved. Second. All in favor? I I I. And a motion for the regular minutes of February 23rd, 2026. So moved. Second. Any discussion or corrections? All in favor? I I and a motion for the special m meeting minutes of March 12th, 2026. So moved. Second. Any corrections or changes? And for the uh public's knowledge, that was a uh one agenda item meeting to pass a resolution related to the uh our affordable housing plan that had been already previously passed by the planning.

All in favor? Hi. Hi.

All right. Welcome all. Few uh things to catch up on here. As part of National Reading Month centered around Dr. Seuss's birthday, I joined reading nights at Kings Road Central Avenue, Tory J. Schools. I read such books at great books as if you give a dog a donut, if you give a moose a muffin and if you give a pig a pancake. My last book uh at Central Avenue School is I read with uh Captain James Blair of the fire department. We uh the one I read was If I Built a House and my initial review on the book was it seemed to start very quickly and then I realized was missing about four pages in the beginning of the book. So I think they need a new copy of that. And then this past Thursday, I hosted uh Lead Mars, which is a program Mars County Chamber of Commerce. And this was for their local government day. The program which I'm a 2003 graduate of provides a year-long experience on everything Mars County. And it's part of it is to prepare future nonprofit board members. And as part of the day, many of our board members shared information on the work that we do in the municipality. And then this past Saturday, I was honored to attend the Italian-American Society of New Jersey, their annual gala, as they recognize our police chief, John Misha, as the long law enforcement executive of the year. It's certainly a well-deserved honor for the chief who's currently serving as president of the Mars County Police Chiefs Association. So, if you see Chief Misha, please congratulate him on this honor. And I also want to remind everyone that um we will have a town hall style meeting a week from tonight, Monday, March 30th in this room at 7 PM. And this is um on uh this is open anyone who wants to uh ask well it's presentation on Waverly Place and it's open to anyone who wants to see the

proposed renovations, ask questions, and share their thoughts on the project. And while this is currently on our 2027 capital budget, it may be pushed to 2028 in order to upgrade underground utilities in advance of the road construction. We are looking at um the needs right now. And this meeting will be available live um on YouTube live live and will be rec recorded for those that can cannot attend. And then um last item is council members Tom Harren Pudus and Melissa Hanahan and I had a very productive meeting with a group of landscapers last week. We heard their cons concerns on what uh gas leaf blower restrictions could do to their businesses. This included the cost of equipment switch over battery life increased labor cost. So we will schedule another uh meeting with landscapers who are currently using electric equipment whether it's 100% e equipment or just part of their service model. Other steps will be to look at towns that have successfully implemented restrictions, towns that undid their ordinances due to enforcement concerns and also review of the legal challenges to implemented or ordinances. So that is to say it's clear that a whole lot of work needs to be done with this before making any any decision or any action if any on on a uh ordinance. So clearly there will not be any instruct restrictions put in place for the 2026 landscaping season and um we'll just keep use this time to uh research and if we do anything make sure we're doing the right thing. And as I said before and as we heard on News 12, there is a passion on both sides of this issue. For landscapers, there's a concern on how they deliver their high-quality services. For property owners who use these services, there's appreciation of the look of a perfectly kept property.

And for others, there is a quality of life and health issues with loud equipment and the emissions from the two stroke engines. One comment that was shared and echoed at our meeting last week was the high expectations from residents who use landscapers to maintain their properties. It was said that if blades of grass are left on their walks or patios, they might get a call back to come back and clean it up again. U so we know people really are passionate about the look of their properties and while um legislation is often used to address quality of life issues is always preferred to address through education and modification routines. So as I said at the last meeting for those who have contractors handling yard please talk to them about limiting the leaf blower usage during spring cleanup. Again don't let them touch your plant beds. the leaves are doing just fine right where they are and the fall and and limit it to their fall leaf removal. You'll be doing your yard, your neighbors and health a favor. So, it'd be great to if we can cut back on our own and not have to worry about legislation. And come down below because we have some very special guests tonight to be honored and recognized. Have Ron Dibiosi come forward with all the Vietnam veterans in the audience. And here we have many of not only our Madison heroes but heroes from neighboring towns. And thank you so much for coming out tonight because this is a very special thing to do. And we often

forget to recognize those who have stepped forward to serve our country. And what is especially important is to remember those who stepped forward during the Vietnam War. Whereas from 1955 to 1975, millions of Americans served honorably during the Vietnam War throughout throughout Southeast Asia, answering the call to defend liberty and protect the ideals of our nation's founders. And whereas more than a 100,000 New Jersey residents served during the Vietnam War,500 making the ultimate sacrifice, including nine from Madison. Whereas on March 29, 1973, the last United States combat troops departed Vietnam, marking the end of America's direct military involvement in the conflict. And whereas many service members suffered not only physical wounds, but in also invisible wounds of pro post-traumatic stress. And whereas tragically Vietnam veterans often return home without the recognition and appreciation they deserved. And is fitting that we take this opportunity to properly acknowledge their sacrifice with gratitude. And whereas Vietnam War Veterans Day provides an opportunity for us to honor and recognize the courage and unwavering patriotism for all those who served during the Vietnam War. Now therefore, I, Robert H. Conley, mayor of Burough Madison, on behalf of the body, do you hereby pro proclaim March 29, 2026 as Vietnam War Veterans Day and encourage all residents to reflect on the valor and dedication of those who served in Vietnam and honor their sacrifice. Ron and all of you, thank you so much.

Thank you. My name is Ron Diosi. I'm a Vietnam veteran. We'd like to thank the mayor and the council for this wonderful proclamation. When Vietnam veterans came home, other than our families, nobody knew, cared, or was wondering where we were, what we did. We lost nine of our residents in Madison to the Vietnam War. They'll never They've only thought of now will never have the opportunity to see what they could have done. Other veterans in the area served and were not acknowledged. We would like to thank you for now acknowledging what we did. Thank you very much. Move on to reports from committees. Community affairs. Council President Forte.

Thank you very much, Mayor. Uh, from the Downtown Development Commission and 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 of this 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 Arbor Day ceremony and then focus will be on the townwide cleanup projects. More information will be sent out shortly. In the meantime, please email dcrosenet.org with any questions. From the Chamber of Commerce, the Easter Funfest is scheduled for this coming 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. and ticket information will be available soon. Taste of Madison is Monday, April 27th. 6 pm is VIP admission and 700 p.m. will be general admission. Superhero Day is May 2nd. Ladies night is scheduled for Thursday, May 7th from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. From the Community Arts Center, every Tuesday from 1 p.m., seniors play Ma Jang and Canasta. Um, the Madison Environmental Commission uh is having uh their event tonight at 7 PM. Uh, how birding can change the world. That was rescheduled. Uh, Wednesday, March 25th, uh, at 7 p.m., Show Us Your Shorts is every fourth Wednesday, local filmmakers submit and show their short films. And Friday, March 27th at 8 p.m., Steal the Spotlight 2.0 is a drag competition show. Saturday, March 28th at 7 PM is Come Original Showcase featuring local bands and vendors. And Monday, March 30th from 12:00 to 5:00 is a Red Cross

blood drive. And from the Community Pool Advisory Board, um the Community Pool Advisory Board and Burough staff have been extremely busy getting the pool ready to open this summer. Uh here's a list of some tasks they've been working on. First, the burrow will be posting to hire a membership manager and assistant membership manager in the next several days. These are two extremely important positions as they'll support pool operations, ensure the pool is operating safely, help organize various programs and events, communicate with members, and organize the swim lessons. Please email rosenet.org if you're interested. The the bureau is working on various operational related matters. A code of conduct is being drafted which will be similar to the recreation code of conduct. We're working with our attorney, risk manager, and pool operator on various other items. One important item to note is that some of the younger swimmers that passed the deep water test in the past will be required to take it again this year. This might not seem like good news to some, but safety is always going to be our number one priority. And another safety item we're working on is the minimum age for a child to be dropped off at the pool without a parent, a parent or guardian. We will communicate the policies as soon as they are finalized. Uh speaking of safety, we will have a table at the Madison High School this Wednesday during lunch. so we can connect with students and encourage them to apply to be lifeguards this summer. We will be joined by the owner of Laughler Pools, who is the pool operating company that will be running certain aspects of the pool this summer, including the management of the lifeguards. In terms of the facility, there's a significant amount of work we need to do in the next eight weeks to get the pool open. We are working on hiring a mason to do some repairs as well as operator to do special testing of the pumps and to get the pool open in time for Memorial Day. There is also a significant amount of work that needs to be done on the building and grounds. We appreciate Chris McDougall and all the staff at the DPW for their help with getting the pool ready. In terms of fun activities, there are a number of

programs on tap for the pool this summer. We are planning on a teen and pre-teen party, noodle days, musical performances, and other popular events from last year. There are a number of new programs as well as including a cornhole tournament, mindfulness Mondays, free chair yoga, senior potluck, and other events. Stay tuned for more information on pool programming or better yet sign up to become a member and you'll receive email notices of the events. Regarding membership signups, I'm happy to report that they're going well. We have 699 memberships so far out of our total goal of 1,200. We're ahead of last year's schedule, but the advisory board is not resting. The pool is a wonderful facility where families and friends gather. The best way to ensure that the pool is here for years to come is to sign up and become a member. Those interested in learning more should visit madisonpool.org. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. Public safety, Mr. Landeran.

Thank you, Mayor. From the fire department, the fire department has been busy training on the new Polaris Ranger utility vehicle. Firefighters and EMTs have been training in its abilities in the woods behind the Department of Public Works. The vehicle can transport injured people and have and has firefighting abilities. Secondly, there's been a lot of talk recently about class B foam in the United States. This is there is a law in New Jersey about the use of class B foam. This law which becomes which became effective on January 8th, 2024 restricts the use, sale, manufacting foam containing intentionally added PAS in New Jersey beginning in two in January beginning on January 8, 2026. PAS which is forever forever chemicals are harmful chem chemicals that persist in the environment and are linked to health risks. Class B foam. It was designed to prevent or extinguish fires in flammable liquids, combustible liquids, petroleum greases, tars, oils, oilbased paints, solvents, lacquers, alcohols, and flammable gases. The state has been collecting class B foam from all departments all over the state. The Madison Fire Department has disposed had disposed of all its class B foam in 1999. The department utilizes class A foam on all fires. Fire department uses FOS check foam which is approved for all use by the US Forest Service. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. And finance bureau clerk and utilities, Mr. Range.

Thank you, Mayor. From the tax collector this evening, senior residents should have received a new PAS booklet which was mailed out by the state last month to all previous applicants. This booklet is a single combined application for the senior freeze and anchor programs as well as the stay New Jersey program which provides additional tax uh property tax relief to qualified individuals. If you qualify for one or more of these programs, if you are a homeowner or renter over 65 or who is receiving federal social security disability benefits, the deadline to file is October 31st and you can file by mail or online. The tax office has blank booklets available should you need them. And for more information on these programs, you can visit property taxreief.nj.gov. from the finance department this evening. This evening, we have three important steps that we need to take as we near the end of the budget process. First, we'll have a presentation and final review of the budget. The budget is one of the most important decisions that the council will make in this year. The entire budget process revolves around the 2014 strategic planning guidelines. We will review these guidelines this evening and continue to be guided by this important document and the work of former Councilman Ben Walowitz. Second, we are introducing ordinance 17-2026, which is an ordinance to establish a cap bank. The state of New Jersey issues two laws that limit municipal spending. The first is a levy cap, which limits our tax increase to 2%, but there are certain exceptions such as increases in capital. The second cap is the appropriations cap which limits the increase in appropriations to a certain amount. However, if the bureau passes an ordinance, the budget appropriations

could increase by 3.5% with the difference being placed in the cap bank. The cap bank holds two years of excess appropriations in it. Doing this gives flexibility to future councils should there be a sudden or significant increase in expenses for things such as rock salt, fuel, natural gas, and al like ordinance 17-2026 will estab establish that appropriations cap bank and we'll be voting to introduce that ordinance this evening. The camp bank ordinance typically has been ministerial action that we can complete just in case. But over the last few years, we've had two situations where we've actually needed to use the appropriations cap bank. The first time was when we took over the ambulance core services. We have revenues to offset the expenses, but the appropriations cap limits the increase in appropriations in the budget. The second was this past year when we took over the community pool operations. Similar to the ambulance services, we will have revenues to offset those expenses. Having the appropriations cap bank gave us the flexibility to absorb these expenses on both of these operations into the municipal budget. Finally, the third important step we're taking this evening is an introduction to the official budget document. We have had five discussions and presentations on the budget during public council meetings uh going back to December of last year. The process is very transparent and all presentations are on Rosenet and all discussions are available for viewing via the burrow video. The budget includes a 2% property tax increase which is the equivalent of about $5.34 a month uh on the average home in Madison. Resolution 107-2026 will record our vote to introduce the budget this evening. After the budget is introduced, state

law mandates that it be available for public viewing for at least 28 days. The document will be available on Rosenet and available upon request as required by law. We will also post the document called the user-friendly budget. This is a mandated this is mandated by the state and has the same numbers presented in a slightly different format. As a reminder, this year we are in a self-exam year for our budget. Because the bureau is in a strong financial footing, the state only reviews our budget once every three years. The state reviewed our budget last year. So this year, we are permitted to do what they call a self-examination, provided that we pass a resolution stating those intentions. Resolution R126-2026 is on the consent agenda this evening to do just that. And finally this evening, I'd like to thank all the staff involved in the budget process from the department heads to Jim and his staff uh to make sure that the budget is ready to go. And I also want to thank my council colleagues for their insights, questions, and comments throughout the entire budget process this evening from the water department. The water department operated wells manually over the last two weeks to facilitate state required PAS testing. The water department responded to a water leak on Kings Road just across from the train station entrance. That leak was in an older iron service that was no longer in use and it was shut off and the main was removed. The water department has also uh excavated and repaired four curb boxes, excavated a sinkhole on Valley Road uh proved to be a collapse from a previous gas installation and repair and is scheduled to be paved uh in the coming weeks. And lastly, they communicated with the

contractor for a draw to one uh in regards to utility shut offs uh and uh shutdowns allowed testing and operation of valves for the project that is ready to kick off there. and from the electric department this evening. Uh the department has been busy with many routine and standby calls including uh a class for New Jersey one call for markouts. Sta standby was called out to the Madison Plaza and neighboring properties for reported loss of power on the 7th. On the 9th, the standby crew was called out to 14 Cordiso Way for an emergency markout called in by New Jersey One Call. On the 10th, the electric department assisted with repairing the clock on Waverly Place. On the 11th, the standby crew was called out to Greenwood Avenue for a motor vehicle into a pole with wires down. On the 15th, standby was called to 25 Union Hill Road for a power partial power outage. And that same day, standby was called to 14 and a half Elm Street for a report of a wire down and houses without power. On the 18th, they installed lights that were sent out previously to be refurbished back into the Cook Avenue alley. And on March 19th, the electric department went to Chester Burrow at the request of the mayor. They had a tree damage some of their poles on municipal property. Unfortunately, those poles were all privately owned by the burrow. Several hundred feet of inactive primary wires were tangled in trees and remained uh along the roadway that hikers use. Our electric utility was able to secure the secondary wires and remove the primary wires. And lastly, on the 19th,

the standby crew was called out to uh 165 Central Avenue for an emergency markout for PSE and G. That's all from utilities and the finance department. Thank you, mayor. Good. Thank you. Public works and engineering, Mr. Alipus.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you, members of the public for attending. Uh, from the DPW, not too much activity since the last meeting. Mechanical services with the electric department repaired the Waverly Place clock as Councilman Range mentioned. Also, they changed the clock lights to LED lights. So hopefully it'll be uh much more efficient in the future. The parks department is preparing the fields for spring sports. Should be kicking off right at the beginning of April. There's probably already practices going on around town. The roads department is repairing potholes, which we have many of after this harsh winter, but it will be making our roads smooth as soon as possible. The street sweeper, hopefully you've noticed, is back out on the roads in the burrow cleaning the downtown daily. The DPW assisted the water utility with water leak on King's Road. Residents are again asked to check their sump pumps to make sure that they are being discharged into the street and not into the burough sewer system. If it goes into the burrow sewer system, we are being charged for remediating and cleaning that water instead of letting it go into the sewers. Uh a reminder that yard waste bags are available at the DPW in the clerk's office as curbside yard waste is being picked up again. Uh can I say something from the MEC and the SHA tree management board? They send me a report.

All under purview. So yes.

Yes, sir. Thank you, mayor. So, the MEC is reporting that it sold out event, which is being held tonight. That's probably the reason we don't have that that many people from there in attendance here. How birding can change the world. It's being held at the community arts center. 100 people have signed up to hear about the transformative power of falling in love with birds. The event, which is co-hosted by the nature of reading bookshop, features these speakers tonight. R.J. Kersio. He's an ecologist who found his calling as a Drew student studying in the forest. Teter Whitman, director of the Kora Heartsorn Arburedum and Bird Sanctuary in Short Hills. And the MEC's very own Bridget Delhi, who will be talking about how to turn your backyard into a bird feeder. From April 1st to April 12th, the MEC is hosting three stewardship events at the MRC Conservation Forest. Uh for those of you who don't know where it is, the MRC is our recreation uh property uh recreation fields at the end of Ridgdale right after the high school and there's a conservation forest in there with walking trails. Volunteers can get on the team's list by emailing the MEC at rosenet.org. Forest stewardship includes learning about the planting for biodiversity as well as the hazards of invasive plants which often arrive in the forest via birds who carry seeds from plants found in homeowners yards. Many invasive species such as Japanese barbar and the burning bush are still sold at nurseries, but that practice will end when the state's new invasive plant wall takes place later this year. A reminder for the community, on April 11th at noon in front of Hartley Dodge, the little league and girls softball parade will start. I don't know if the mayor will be there that day to host and uh

I won't be throwing out the first pitch though.

You won't be throwing. We'll let them kids do that so nobody gets hurt. And then from the shade tree management board, update on Spring Street tree planting. Uh Spring Street is going to be planting a whole bunch of trees. They sent out a quote 90 trees that to be planted there with a packet of tree care information for the residents. Uh we're reviewing a violation possible violation with Floren Park at the end of the MRC along route 24 where possibly some trees on the burough's property will cut down be more to advise later on. And the shade tree management board will be distributing 60 free red oak seedlings which is the New Jersey state tree to residents on February April 24th which is going to be Arbor Day in Madison. It'll be held in front of the Heartley Dodge and the remainder of trees will be available at the Arbor Day celebration on May 2nd in front of Hartley Dodge. That's all. Mayor,

very much. And now health, Miss Co.

Thank you, Mayor. The health department wants to remind everybody that on April 8th at the Madison Public Library from 2 to 3 p.m. they'll be hosting a consumer goods lead testing event. Residents can bring household items such as spices, dinner wear, and children's toys to be tested for lead. Uh, influenza type B is still out there. We are seeing elevated levels in the community. Test positivity for influenza in general remains elevated and hospitalizations continue to be among patients 65 and older. The number of hospitalizations due to RSV has increased as did the test positivity cases case rate for RSV. Hospitalizations are predominantly in children four and under and individuals 65 years of age and older. That's it. Thank you

very much. Move on to communications and petitions. Yes, mayor. Mayor and council received um emails uh supporting a gas powered leaf blower ban ordinance from the following residents. Mary Nakis, um Jill Rhodess, Bridget Daly, and Christina Pinda. And uh Email was received regarding the restoration of 170 Main Street, that's the Heler Center, from resident Ashley Corales. Very much.

And now we move on to the first of two invitations for public comment. This one is limited to agenda discussions and resolutions. If you want to comment any other topic, that will come up later in the meeting. So these are the items you may comment on. Um there are no items for um agenda discussion but our resolutions which will also be part of the consent except for this first resolution will be uh dealt with in the front part of the meeting resolution 107 which relates the introduction of the ordinance. I mean the budget resolution 108 is um the mission of Mars County Historic Preservation uh trust fund grant for architectural plans restore the Hartley Dodge memorial clock uh tower and related work and this require a burrow match of up to $64,000. Uh resolution 109 is authorizing negotiation execution redevelopment agreement with RNO RNO Madison urban development which is the uh inclusionary market rate building one. Sorry, a lot of pages. Resolution uh 110 which is a similar resolution for the uh redevelopment redeveloper agreement related to the 100% uh affordable project uh connected to draw we also under the one this is supportive housing and family uh affordable units resolution 111 is authorize an extension of contract for HBAC services with air systems maintenance of Kennallorth uh uh is covered in the um 20 2026 and 2027 budgets and at the rate in the current contracting vendor proposal. Resolution 112 is a proven raffle license for the

YMCA. 113 is um awarding contract and lease for wireless communication antenna monopole and ground facility on burough property on the Madison Avenue water tank to um singular wireless um actually AT&T wireless annual rent of $58,000 and 114 similar resolution for T-Mobile for the same 58,000 Additional 58,000 not the same. Resolution 115 is uh ratified appointment of Grace Monk as Monks as a paid intern for the police department at 1750 hour. Resolution uh 116 is approving a film permit for Sophie Epstein at 27 Kings Road which I believe is uh the um Sunday Motor Company. I drew a blank all of a sudden. Resolution 117 is ratifying appointment of uh intern Lucas Cohen as paid intern for the engineering department at the 1715 hour. Resolution 118 is authorizing purchase of police vehicle radio equipment and other related equipment from uh using a police outside duty account and this is not to exceed $7,650. Resolution 119 authorizing the uh annual and weekly um farmer and artisan market. And this will be starting on May 23rd and going through December 12th. Resolution 120 is declaring Madison Green and Clean Day, 2026 to be held on Saturday, May 2nd. Uh and resolution 121 is authorized the first annual youth day of service to be held on April 26 sponsored by um uh the

Grove Project. Resolution 122 is approving temporary signs for the Madison Education Foundation 5K race. These signs will go up in April and be removed on May 6. Resolution 123 is ratifying the appointment of Jack Leonard to as a summer intern position engineering department at 7:15 750 an hour. Resolution 124 is confirming membership of Drew Sardini in the Madison Hooken Ladder and volunteer company number one. Resolution 125 is confirming membership of Richard Carol in the Madison Hose volunteer company and resolution 126 is a self-examination of budget resolution which was mentioned by Councilman Range. So you may comment on any of those resolutions if you wish to comment on those resolutions. Please step up to the lect turn, state your name, and you just need to state the town you live in, but we ask that you write the full address on the clipboard. Uh, and then the resolution you are addressing, and then you can start your comments, try to keep them to uh, three minutes, but we'll give you a one minute grace. And a reminder, if there's other things you want to comment on, that'll be coming up later. Anyone wishing to comment on those resolutions, please step forward. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting. And we now move on to u our two parts. The introduction of the uh capback bank ordinance and the budget and tax resolution 107. Want to do your presentation first and then we'll do the uh

uh mayor I think it's okay if you want to introduce the ordinance just and then we'll go to the presentation of the budget and then the the resolution. I call up um ordinance 17-20226 for first reading and ask the clerk to read ordinance by title calendar year 2026 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank. Mayor, I move ordinance 17-2026. Second discussion. This was explained very well in report, but anything else to uh share? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landan, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pis,

yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Mhm. Yes. Go with presentation on the budget and then ask for an introduction. Thank you, mayor. We'll have an introduc uh the presentation on the budget and then we'll have a resolution. This is a very unique resolution that's actually part of the very unique um state budget document. Believe it or not, this is a 72page word or um Excel document that we have to fill out. It's

yeah, it's it's very interesting. But this is the actual document that you're voting on this evening. It is summarized in the presentation that we're going to give this evening. Michael, if you'd advance to the next page, please. This is just a short um uh schedule of what we followed. Um and Councilman Range has mentioned this multiple times at previous council meetings and the fact that we need to wait another month until from uh introduction to adoption. Next slide. Um as Councilman Range mentioned, all of the items are uh available on our annual budget process page. All presentations and information um and they go back for multiple years along with financial documents for multiple years. Uh, next slide. Uh, this evening we're going to go through updated schedules and budget information. We're going to go through this GTA planning guidelines and then we're going to ask for you to vote on that resolution to introduce the budget. Our guiding principles have been listed before, so I'm not going to go through them um in in detail. However, we've always focused on trying to limit tax increases and maintain services and maintain our capital funding and most importantly ensure the long-term financial stability of the bureau. So, the next page is near-term concerns and and to be honest with you, these five concerns were concerns that I presented last year at this time. So, um it is something that we're continuing to work with. The purchase of the Drew Forest is now very close to becoming a reality. It's something we have to deal with. uh the future electric utility energy costs are even more murky now given everything that's going on in the Middle East. Water utility PFA regulations which we'll discuss. We have a revaluation order and we have commercial property tax appeals. But our biggest issue is dealing with the PFAS. We anticipate it costing the bureau over $12 million to remediate and install the appropriate equipment so we can treat um for PFAS at our water utilities. Our water utility only brings in three and a half million

dollars. So, we've got to spend $12 million on this business that only generates three and a half million dollars a year in uh in revenue. We have unbelievably inexpensive water. It's a few cents for for a cubic foot of water. I don't know why we do cubic feet, not gallon, but we've been forever. And so, it's something like three cents.5 cents a gallon for water. Maybe 08 cents. I don't I'm not going to do the math in front of you, it's over seven gallons in a cubic foot of water. And um so it's it's incredibly inexpensive and when we compare ourselves to the water utilities, it's inexpensive. But that's a challenge finding $12 million, funding $12 million when we only generate $3.5 million in revenue. So if we go to the next page, these are the major budget um challenges. Uh we have increasing energy costs in our electric utility of $2.1 million. That's on top of 3.8 8 million last year. So, it's a total of $5.9 million in our electric utility in increased costs. We have $ 1.5 million increase in expenses along various budget lines listed there. Um we have we're funding the pool and dealing with the pool. Uh we have uh we're only getting $344,000 in um in new revenue by increasing the property taxes by 2%. two lines up, we're talking about a $ 1.5 million increase just in those lines. So, it is it is a challenge nonetheless um to try to figure out how to fund this funding for the PFA equipment um and uh and in years past, we'll talk about this. We always had revenue from new ratables, but this year we don't for various reasons. So, all of this has resulted in a um significant drop in the amount of money that we can put into capital. um general capital dollars this year and they'll that'll be shown in in future slides that we have. Um next slide

please. Michael's on it before I can even say it. Um so as discussed um the budgeted electric um energy cost increased by 5.9 million over the last two years. That's lines E6 through9 highlighted in yellow there. And then um in order to start saving money for the PFA's treatment, administration is recommending that we temporarily put a hold on additional funding for sustainability projects. This is line E11. We paid for the MRC solar carport with this line. Pay for it in cash, which you can see if you add up um all the numbers there. Um 900,000 for a couple years and then smaller numbers for um the outy years. So, uh, but but unfortunately, um, this is the decision we have to make to be able to have enough money to dedicate just to regular general capital dollars to pave our roads and things like that. I do want to I do want to say that I mentioned this to Councilwoman Erlic, um, who was a big advocate for this and she put it in a very unique way. She said, "It's a real shame that municipalities like us have to spend $12 million to clean up something that the corporations uh polluted in our waters." So, I I want to make sure I mention that. So, um we need to uh we need to watch and are always watching the fund balance numbers and those are um numbers E16 and E21 here. And uh those are numbers that we monitor to make sure that we have a sustainable budget. Like if we go to the next slide. Um so our water utility um was structurally out of balance. We talked about this a few years ago. Um that was shown in line W13 which was the fund balance at year end dropping significantly. But because of the actions taken by council um it is um on strong financial footing for its

general operating. Um the challenge is uh the funding of the PFAS. So this year administration is um making the recommendation that we no longer use any funds from the water utility um to go into the municipal budget. We would transfer money from the water utility into the municipal budget and fund for roads and other capital projects. We're not going to do that this year. So, that leaves a $670,000 hole in our municipal budget. That's represented on line um W10, which is uh on the um uh slide towards the bottom there. So, because of this $12 million huge uh cost that we're going to have in the outy years, um we need to build up the capital reserves of the water utilities. So, we're not going to transfer anything out of fund balance um into the municipal budget and um we're going to let the fund balance dollars W13 grow. Um and and you'll see that tonight we're actually introducing an ordinance, ordinance 192026, excuse me, this is for $ 1.5 million. This is just um for engineering designs and initial costs for the PFA um treatment project. Um Tom asked me this question when we were talking earlier today and last week. Um how much did we get in um lawsuit revenues for the PFAS? We did receive dollars because there were lawsuits that were filed that we were part of um that uh we were one of the claimants and and we received 1 million uh $255,000. We received basically about 10% of the cost of the total. So, we're going to be stuck with the other 90%. Specific dollars, Tom. 1 million25512.19 um in terms of dollars. So, that is um

the biggest overarching thing we have going on in this budget is dealing with that problem. Next slide shows the municipal fund balance. This is the fund balance that's generated in the current or municipal budget. Um, and it's just important to have a stable um, stable use of fund balance. And so we track what's called free balance, which is line S10. And if you see the little arrows, every year we generate a certain amount of fund balance, which is the upper box. And the following year, we use it for tax relief in in preceding years. And you can see those numbers tend to align what we generated last year versus what we're using this year. We're actually using a little more this year than what we generated last year. We only generated 6 million22,000. We're going to use 6.2 million because we need some dollars for capital. You'll see that in a minute. So, we go to the municipal budget. I'm going to say at the outset, there is one number change that's going to be in the official state budget document that came in tonight at about 6:15 p.m. So, I didn't get a chance to change these. It is going to be a small change in the grant revenue and grant expenses of $4,15. So, it's just a small bulletproof grant that changes the total dollars, but it's changes the revenue and the appropriations. So, it's not um it's cash neutral and doesn't change any of the other numbers here. Um and doesn't impact voting on the resolution this evening. Um, I want to point out that, you know, Councilman Range said it really well when we talked about appropriation cap and things like that that we're able to absorb the the ambulance services and we're able to absorb the pool because we have the appropriations cap. This year we have $900,000 in new pool revenues in line B2, municipal revenue sources. It only went up by a million dollars. So almost all that is the anticipated pool

revenues. And then we have 1.1 million in pool expenses reflected in u municipal operating expenses at the bottom in line B27. I I the earlier slide referenced some very um uh significant increases in the police department and sewage processing in the library. Those are reflected here in B16, B28 and B29. Um, uh, B16 salaries for police and fire going up by 579,000. Sewage processing B28 is going up by 350,000. And the library, which is completely dictated by our um, equaliz assessed ratables and a statemandated calculation, is going up by $250,000. That's well over a million dollars in three lines. And as I said before, if you look at the third line down, property taxes when we increase by 2%, we're only generating 344,000 and we've got to fund a million dollars. So the end result, if we go to the next slide, is that um line B32 um which is the capital improvement fund, the money that we're setting aside for the capital improvement fund is dropping significantly this year. I also want to point out that B10, it's revenue from the water utility. I mentioned that a few minutes ago. We're not going to transfer any of that money over. We're going to keep it as revenue um and funds reserved in the water utility. So, that made those are serious challenges that we had to deal with um within this budget. And it's a is what it is. So, in years past, we always talked about Connleyville and how awesome it is when we have increased um uh assessed ratables. Um but in conversations we've had this year um in multiple presentations, and I'll show

them in a few minutes, we've had some serious um loss in ratables in the valuation of office buildings. What's cool and how we end up surviving only increasing property taxes by 2% is that when new buildings or when improvements like the uh movie theater building which went from a low value to a very high value when those buildings get improved they pay more in taxes. from the year 2017 to 2024 um we had a significant increase in assessed values and the end result is um last year $813,000 of property taxes were being paid by those new ratables and as I said new ratables are awesome um unfortunately we don't have any new ratables this year because what happened in the office parks we're going to flip through these next slides quickly because you've seen them before this is draw the farms with woodland going up the corner lanica way running AC diagonally from the bottom up to the top and then Madison Avenue across that V-shaped building should be very um visible and that's prominent from Lanica away a lot of empty or near empty buildings we go to the next slide Geralda 3 dropped from 53 million to to was sold for less than $8 million Geralda one in um 2007 seven sold for 52 million. In 2020, it sold for 16.5 million. Draw the seven um which is the V-shaped one on the corner that I just mentioned in um 2007 sold for 78 million. In 2021, it sold for 29 million. Just think about houses. A house in town, what it was valued at in 2007 versus what it' be valued at today. Half maybe. So, a house that was $500,000 would go to a million dollars.

an office building that was worth 78 million went down to $30 million. So that is um created um significant challenges for us. Um and Geralda 2, which was recently purchased to be a new corporate headquarters um sold for 53 million in 2014. It's now down to $8.5 million. There's probably four or five homes in town that if we put them together would be equal to that entire huge office building in terms of the valuation. This next slide shows that the awesome revenue from the new ratables um and what we've had every year. And if you add those up and then add a compounding effect of tax increases, that's where we get over $830,000 in new um in new taxes from the new ratables. Um and this year it's at zero and that that adds additional challenges to the budget. This was cool. We pulled this together at the last minute. I was having a conversation with Eric and he was councilman range and he said well boy it' be really interesting if we could kind of compare ourselves to other towns and I want to take a minute to look at this. This is exa basically exactly the tax amount that they um have in their budget um on a yearly basis from 2020 to 2025 for Madison and all these other um nearby towns. Um, and if you look at the increase, so if you look at um, and I'm just going to point here a little bit away from the uh, um, microphone, Mayor Madison, in 2020, we raised 13.59 million in taxes. In 2025 was 15.81. It's light gray numbers. If you compare those over a five-year period, Madison increased their t our t our um, municipal property taxes, not school property taxes, by 11.7. and that shows what the other towns um increased their property taxes by. So, we are a um a

leader in good stewardship and you are a leader in good stewardship and keeping property taxes um from increasing too much. So, because of this $12 million huge bill that we have, um we need to re completely rework the five-year capital plan. And that's what this is here. Ryan Fury presented it um earlier in January. This is a completely new one that has $12 million for the treatment of PFAS um highlighted there. And if we go to the next slide, this shows our five-year capital plan um unchanged except for the um huge increases in the water utility. So you see the lowest line there, the huge increases in the water utility. As I mentioned, we're only setting aside a little over a million dollars in capital. Yet we in our budget were hoping to be able to spend 3.8 million this year, 6.4 million the next year, 3.9 million the next year in general capital. It's not including utility capital. That all needs to change. We need to actually put a freeze on the majority of our capital spending um until we can resolve how we're going to fund the PFA project and see if we need to push some of the items out. If you look at the fire department, for example, we are preunding a um a new ladder truck in this budget 2028, 2029, and 2030. We've already notified the fire chief that we may have to push that off a few years. So administration is going to be working with the department heads in engineering to try to rework this plan and um and figure out funding. I I you all know but it's important for the public to know that we have money that we put into the general capital fund in the budget of a million dollars

that we talked about. We also get grant money where we did a project and then the DOT or the county gives us reimbursement grant funds. So, we'll be able to fill that coffee can, the the general capital fund back up with that. And then finally, if we have a project like the 2024 road reconstruction project, and we set aside $2 million for it, and we only spent $1.7 million, we cancel the rest of that appropriation, and that $300,000 goes back into the general capital fund to be appropriated. So, there are some sources to help support that, but it's not going to be enough. So, we need to re we need to rework the five-year capital plan. We're going to go strictly to this quickly to the strategic planning guidelines um that Councilman Range uh mentioned. And these help um us form a basis for just talking about the budget in the in the public. And because of this weird, not weird change, because of this drastic change we have to make um in the budget, um if you go to the next slide, Michael, um you'll see that we were in compliance with some of the guidelines, but now we're not. That's the whole point of this is it's going to throw a red flag out that this number here is way lower than it should be, right? This number should be we shouldn't be spending putting $1.1 million in a general capital fund. we should be putting three or4 million dollars in the general capital fund. So that shows us being out of compliance with that particular strategic planning guideline number five. The others were in compliance with with the exception of the operations shortfall that was created by not pulling in the water utility fund balance and also created by that huge increase in all those expenses. We don't have an increase in corresponding revenues. go to the next

slide. It shows some of the general other guidelines that are not as numeric um and we're compliant or need to monitor um all of them um and uh guideline 1C surplus in excess of the upper limit may only be used for capital improvement fund. We're not doing that. We need to use that fund balance to fund municipal operations. So, I have really gone through a lot of this quickly and I know there's a lot of questions. Um Tom and I had a long conversation today and I've had conversations with Eric, Councilman Range, and others. Um but I just want to point out this is all that you're getting for that for your municipal dollars. And as Councilman Range said, it's only $5.34 increase on the average home um in municipal property taxes this year for 2%. And I went to one of the new coffee shops in town. I couldn't even buy one of their fancy drinks for $5.34. It was more than that. So, um, and you know what's unique about this is during all of this, during the last few budgets, including this one, we have absorbed the ambulance services and now, um, the community pool management. So, we we and you have really stepped up to fill leadership void in certain areas and to make sure the residents of the Burough Madison continue to get the services that they deserve. With that, I'll stop talking.

A lot of information. Very good. Start with Eric and then go to Bob.

Thanks. A couple of comments and then a couple of questions. Um the other thing I just from the perspective of the tax increase visav the appropriations increase. The other reason we're able to see increases in appropriations of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25% in some lines and only raise taxes by 2% is the fact that over the course of the last few years, we've been able to do a 2% or less tax increase. And each time we've gone to you, Jim, and said, "Hey, Jim, sharpen your pencil a little bit." And in a line that maybe we know would have $100,000 pretty continually fall to fund balance. Let's make that 50 and we'll use some of that extra money rather than having it fall to fund balance fund regular operations. This year we have sharpened the pencil and we're down to our little golf nub. Um there's really not a whole lot of wiggle room left in the budget when it comes to um you know not doing things where we're right up against the the line. So we are kind of reaching the point where we can't sharpen that pencil uh anymore. But that's uh kudos to you and your team uh for being able to kind of keep this because unlike our neighbors, we have kept our municipal tax increase reasonably low. Um all while all of these other challenges are happening.

Um great point. I want to jump in on that real quick because um we all know gas prices are going up. And if you look at line B 24, I know I'm going boring with these numbers, but it's really easy. There's a lot of numbers here. So if you look at B24, utilities and fuel, we know we charge ourselves for electric. So we know that rate went up. We know water went up because we charge ourselves for water. And we know that the price of gasoline has gone up. And we're not increasing that because we have a little bit of extra money in that. Now we're going to have less because of the pencil sharpening that you talked about.

Uh a comment on the corporate rates. Um one of the things that is good and we've been talking about those the draw to office buildings I think every year since I've been on council how the you know bottoms falling out. Um and we have to be really cautious. Um the good news is tonight we're introducing some ordinances to um move the redevelopment project at draw to one forward. Um as part of that agreement uh outstanding tax appeals that would basically have us writing checks to that property owner um are going to go away. Um, and as that redevelopment happens, we'll see our municipal portion of the taxes collected on Geralda one when that property is developed and fully occupied go from $400,000 and change to more than a million dollars. Um, so, you know, there's some relief on the horizon um on that. And then my last comment is just related to um the sustainability reserve and the PAS projects. Um while we will be suspending the sustainability reserve um funding extra money into it, the good news is as you pointed out, we were able to uh fully fund the uh solar carport at the MRC with the dollars we had previously set aside. And as we bring in the SREC and the tax credit money um which is the revenue we'll get from that uh project, we'll put those dollars back into the sustainability uh trust fund, if you will. Um and not use them to otherwise offset. Uh so there'll still be some dollars coming

into in to fund those uh important sustainability projects. And as it relates to the PAS, um we really have no choice but to take the 600 almost $700,000 a year um from the water utility and put it towards that. And you know, there'll be some forthcoming very hard decisions on how else we're going to fund that. Um because a utility that brings in $3 million in change of revenue um is not going to be able to just magically fund a $12 million project. Um even if that $12 million project doesn't have to be done till 2031. Um you know, we got a million dollars to spend this year on design and other things. Um so that will be an ongoing conversation beyond the budget um as we move forward. Um, and I think those are my comments. I'll let other people talk and maybe circle back with a question.

Just speaking a quick little echo on your the shifting of sustain the sustainable funds. What is more sustainable than clean drinking water? So, I think that's a very good point, Mayor. Certainly a good justification for use of those funds. Uh, Bob. Yeah, I'll just wait for you to get back up there. I'm talking about clean drinking water. He's grabbing a Coke.

Jim, first you are very gracious in complimenting us all on the work that we did with you, but in reality, you really sat up probably late at night coming up with these numbers and working them through. Thank you very much for this budget. Um, it shows me what good stewardship is and what good for thinking ahead is. I mean, you know, this shows good planning. Um, I'm not going to go through each line item. You did that very well. One thing that wasn't mentioned was um our credit rating. You know, right now I think we have a double or triple A. We we are triple AAA and um with the funding of the Drew Forest um we are going to need to issue bond anticipation notes. We'll be having conversations about that later on in the year because we're going to be doing that. I have some more work to do. We'll have to go to the rating agencies and present to them and tell them how great we're doing. And so I think that we can show them these small 2% tax increases, this strategic planning guidelines, the judicious use of fund balance um all point towards us um deserving to get a AAA rating. And I've been near promised it, but I told him I said I'm I'm not promise isn't good enough. We need to get the AAA um just because it's important. So that's why I want to focus on that because nobody likes to borrow money but sometimes you have to and I know we went through this a few number of years ago where we actually sat with the uh was it done at Brad Street and uh actually worked with them to keep that rating in place. So to me that's a key element of this and thank you Jim for everything you've done with this.

Just a couple of questions um on the health insurance. So what is that B18? That's for everybody in the municipality, police, fire, and all other employees or is that just all other employees?

Library. It's a the the auditors always ask us and not the auditors, the state always asks us this question. We're like, "Wait a minute, you have like a three and a half million dollar bill. How come it's only that?" Some of it's in the utilities because the electric utility staff, the water utility staff and um the library staff that get um health insurance, their numbers are in the part of library appropriations. So, it's significantly more and that's only our portion of what we pay. The employees pay about 30% of the total bill, which is a lot.

Yeah. Um with regards to uh Geralda one and three the things like the utility connection fee which we get when do we start getting that? Is that once they're ready to be occupied or is that once construction starts? How does that work? Get that on the early side. Right. I'm looking at uh our esteemed administrator Okay.

50% hasn't used his microphone in a year and a half. No. 50% at at building permit and 50% at CO. And we will get Councilman Range referenced the um pilot payments and the taxes that we will receive from these. We will get significant utility dollars um including a water utility connection fee. administration wants all of that money to be reserved to go to the PFA system.

Um, and then the pilot, just so that it's clear to everybody, that doesn't mean we give less to the schools. The schools get what the schools need. I know there's always a lot of confusion with pilot and what does that mean for school funding, but they are still fully funded even though we're doing it with a pilot. Um, and then two more quick things on the municipal tax comparison chart with Maplewood, Springfield, etc. So, Michael, can you go forward? I think it's two slides from where you are. Oh. Oh, that's right. You added all this all the other ones. So, keep going. There you go. That one.

So, I just want to point out that in 2020, we were able to lower the tax rate below 2% but then maintain that 2%. If you look at like Cranford who great, they lowered it to 0.1% increase in 2020. They were at 8.8% last year if I'm reading this correctly. So great, you know, so we we have tried to keep it as even as possible. I know we always hate to raise taxes and see increases to our taxes, but I found that just to be interesting, and they're not the only one. Summit was the other one who did had their big increase in 2023 and 2024.

I'm going to jump in on that if I could. Um, Parcipan is going to be increasing a 9 and a half% tax increase. Um, I believe our friends to the west in Chattam Township are going to be increasing a 10% tax increase. and Milbour, they have a huge ratable base because they have the living uh the mil the Short Hills Mall um and they're a bigger community. They are going to be increasing um uh their um municipal taxes by four and a half% this year. All being driven by the health insurance costs. And I can tell you that in talking to the board of ed, I believe they're going to be increasing, the board of ed side of our property tax bills will be going up by 7%. And they, even with that, have to lay off and have to find a million dollars in savings in their budget. And they're doing this because of the health insurance costs.

I can tell you in public schools, health insurance went up anywhere between 17 and 24% depending on the district and what the plan is. Um, One last question. Strategic planning guidelines um chart. So the guideline 6A where it says property taxes in the municipal budget should be maintained at prudent levels etc. And you say we need to monitor. That's because we're keeping going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. It's towards the end. One more.

Yeah, that one. Um it says we need to monitor. That's because we're trying to keep taxes at the 2%. And so is that where that saying should be maintained at prudent levels that we theoretically should be increasing it a little bit more potentially?

I I know we haven't had this conversation, but you are exactly teeing up a point that I need to bring up and then my esteemed colleague right next to me, Mr. Harold Buddhist, will have questions about this. All of our costs are going up by more than 2%. We need to at least in our mind's eye be thinking that we may have to do more than 2% tax increase. Having said that, I want to be sensitive to what Councilman Range said and what Councilman Harold Pudis I know is going to say because we spoke this morning, which is in three years the debt will be rolling off for the renovation of this building, the renovation and the building of the public safety building. And that is where is that on here? You think I could find it really quickly? That's line B33. That's two two $2 million. So we will no longer have a $2 million um debt bill in 2029. Better than 2031 when we have to do the water pas. So we that two million will come off and then as Councilman Range mentioned the pilot payments from these underperforming assets, these corporate office buildings that will be um go through a redevelopment process, we could easily see between all the development that is being considered $3 million more in revenues. So those two items could completely solve our lack of funding in capital, but they're not going to happen right away. So we're going to have some belt tightening years, as my dad would say, and some lean years where we'll have to manage that.

And I don't think you mention MRC debt. When are we done with that? Oh, that's good. So that's paid out of the open space trust fund. Okay. So um it's not on the budget here. It's paid out of the open space trust fund. that also a chunk of that's coming off in a couple years with the turf um field. However, we're going to need to refund um and and build a new turf field. Um and you know, we're hoping reskin the turf field, not bu not build a new turf field. The clarification um we're going to reskin the field and um we're obviously going to use as much of our open space trust fund as possible to fund the Drew Forest acquisition so we don't need to do as much borrowing.

Great. Thank you so much. And as everybody's already said, thank you for all of the hours and hours and hours of work you do and your your team does. Tom, I know you're chopping bits, so we'll go. He wants he wants to beat me up last.

I'll make it quick, Jim. So you covered so many things and you know I wish that we would have had a little time before the meeting to discuss the PAS obligation that we have. Uh it is very preliminary. I have been reading about it. My business is very involved in it too because a lot of the products that we sell in the world of disposable restaurant supplies at PAS now they had to remove it and it's just changed the whole nature of costing and sustainability which is great but we've done this already with our other capital uh expenses is we would re would review what what's involved in financing something we had the money to pay for some of the buildings that we built and some of the projects we did, but the funding was usually something that was a good consideration in l of taking out millions of dollars of the current taxpayers money to pay for this upfront. So, let's say you have $1.5 million from the settlement of the class action suit and maybe in the next few years you save a couple million dollars and in 2031 the parameters all change. More expensive, less expensive. Who knows what it will really cost then when you have a hundred different vendors who have some options of how you can filter the PAS out of the water in L of it costing 12 million which you estimate no it could be five I don't really know but we're probably going to be able to finance part of that tell us now that we have to raise $12 million by 2031. That's what I'm hearing. Maybe that's not exactly what you're saying.

I don't think we can. I think we have to I think we're going to have to borrow in the water. Yeah, but you know, if you're gonna if you're going to plan right now with a lot of money for something that's going to happen in five years or six years in lie of continuing to fund some of our other sustainable projects, which taxpayers are paying us to do, I don't know if that's as prudent as just putting some money away, but then waiting and let's see what happens. We could finance $8 million and over 30 years or 10 or 20 years and it will it will be less than what we've been spending to finance the public safety building and the construction of this and the MRC when we bought the MRC. So, there's different ways to look at it. We we didn't have a chance to talk about it.

Yeah, I I do want to jump in on that.

I don't think we should be using our general borrowing for the water utility. We need to raise the money through the water utility. The whole point of creating a utility is that it is a self- sustaining entity and a self-funding entity and actually there is um an important calculation where we have to prove that the um uh utility is self-liquidating that it can pay for its own bills and so um that's an important fact. The second important point is initially they said we had to do all this PAS remediation by 2029 they changed it to 2031. We are We're kind, this is a wait and see year, so we didn't change too much other than not putting much in capital improvement. Um, we are supposed to be getting final rules in a couple of months. Everything is indicating to us that it's going to be the same levels, so we're going to have to treat and right now the POS um remediation level is here. We're testing to here, so we're fine. If they drop it to here, great. But they've been saying they're going to drop it to like parts per billion or something like that. So if that's the case, we have to treat if that changes, we're we're okay. But everything that we're hearing is they're not going to change that. And everything that we're hearing is they're not going to change 2031. But we do have time between now and then to figure this out, which is why we didn't change anything in this budget with the exception of what are we going to do for capital this year. That's the only thing we didn't.

You're talking about Sorry, interrupt. are also talking about us not funding some of the other projects that we we know that we need for the community and we're already you know predicting fearing that we're going to have this tremendous expense which the water utility could pay for a bond if you had the bond by 2031 part of the money that you generate from your water utility could pay for the year or bond. So that that's that's a good question. Yeah. So then the council needs to be comfortable. You need to be comfortable with increasing water utility rates significantly to generate the funds to pay for that off. But we don't have to do that now.

We don't have to do it now. But if if if you're saying don't save now because we can bond later. When we have to bond, we'll have to raise the water rates to pay for the bond. We we can save some. But if you want to save $670,000 a year for the next five years, that's a lot of money. That would be fantastic. Instead of letting the future um residents who are going to be living here using the water pay for a bond to use their water that has the new regulation, you're going to put some of the burden on all of us here who might not be here in five or six years. Who knows, right? We look at that. When are you moving? Only when you leave. Jimmy,

the other thing too you got to notice and hopefully it won't change next year is your salary obligation went up almost a million dollars. Huge. And not that you all don't deserve it. We all approved it. So, you know, we knew what we were doing. We voted on it. We discussed it. What's it going to be next year? Is it going to be another million dollars next year or is it going to be $300,000 next year? Going to be 3%. Is it going to be more? So, that's something to consider. Doesn't get pointed out, but it's a lot of money, right? And

so, I'm going to jump in on that. We have um funding for pool staff. Councilman Forte mentioned today that we're going to be hiring for pool staff that's embedded in here and we have over half a million dollars in funding for the EMTs that we hire. They're part-time EMTs. They're pdeium EMTs. So, a lot of these increases um over the last years have been due to this situations where we have um revenue to offset. But I understand you're saying this year it's going up by a million. Is that B17? B um 16 and 17 16 is police and fire was exactly what that is. Well the EMT the EMTs are in B16 so they

police fire and EMTs. Yep. But that's also a revenue stream. So they're paying we did pretty well. It was a great idea that everybody had I wasn't really as involved. I just supported it which was fantastic. Which is why if you look at 2025 to 2024 municipal revenues B2 it went up from 3.8 million to 4.2 million. Yeah. because we had an increase. We knew there was going to be an increase in EMT revenues. Yeah, it's great. There's other little things I could pick up, but I could talk to you about that after. One thing that jumped out at me is we paying another $100,000 for waste removal. We do we have a contract paid already, or was that just in the contract?

Um, we have a contract. The tipping fees, the the the cost of us have the garbage taken away by the um this is an important point. We don't talk about this, haven't talked about this recently, is something called a waste flow order. We are required to take our garbage to the Mars County facilities. We know that because we're on the eastern end of the county, we could take it to other facilities towards the east, the Coanta facility in Lynen and other places and actually pay less, but the county orders or mandates that we support that fac those facilities and so we have to pay the tipping fees for that. and um it is a public entity they go through but prices are going up but I think if we had expanded that to like 2022 and 2021 you'd see waste removal went up

very little I always watch the four or five years oh that's why it jumped out at me now I've been watch all right yeah 2% is still responsible 0% is better but I might not get that zero okay only when he was running for office we did less I don't know how that worked out any on that go to go to John and then Eric you have a comment please

just real quick on the PAS Tom I totally hear you on the PAS I think Jim's point in the future years where these are things we have to consider nothing in the out years is something we're going to decide tonight or frankly even decide um this year um those will be part of future councils and future future budget hearings. But what we will be dealing with over the course of of this year is that planning process and and sort of saying in our in our mind's eye today and some other council could come in two, three, four years down the road and say it's great that they thought they should borrow money or it's great that they said they shouldn't borrow money and they want to do it other ways. Um but those are conversations we will certainly have and figure out what we need to do to start laying the foundation and do we want to raise six you know raise half and borrow half do we want to do a one-/ird 2/3 I think all of the above will have to be on the table because again a $3 million revenue entity is not just going to be able to produce $12 million over the course of the next three or four years and Jim the work has to be done and we have to be filtering by 2031 which I don't know how extensive of a project this is but I would imagine that that means the work has to be done in either 29 or 30 because come 31 we've got to be doing whatever we need to do to filter out the pas um so that's not actually a 2031 budget discussion. It's a much sooner budget discussion,

but not tonight. So, the only impact tonight is that we're not moving the $600,000 and change out of the water utility and that we've tweaked a little bit on the general capital. That's it. Correct. and and and we're introducing that ordinance tonight to start the design work so we have as much time as possible to figure out how we're going to do this between now and 2029

it's going to change I would love to help you if you want me to be on any kind of committee you want to organize see how we can you know deal with that responsibly and one more thing you're coming up one more thing so again sustainability we want to spend money we're going to borrow money to save the D forest. Same thing, right? So, and that's a much smaller producing revenue. The the open space tax produces a fraction of the water utility. So, we are you're not afraid to do that. We're going to do it right. Well, so one of the reasons we're doing that Go ahead. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. We're going to end up getting grant money and it'll be paid down hopefully.

That's exactly it. So, we we we are paying for it, but then we're going to get green acres dollars for 15 years, Ray. For a number of years, we're going to get Greenacres dollars. So, we pay for it now, but that's why we're going to be doing it in um in short term in bond anticipation notes because we don't want to borrow for 15 or 20 years because we're going to be pay it off in nine or 10. Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Jim. Thanks, Eric.

And John, thank you. I will try to be very brief now given all the commentary here. No, it's okay. Um so, just a few things. I think number one, Jim, I really appreciate the budget, the work that you and your team do to get us to this point, but then also uh sort of the the analytics and the discussion and the care that comes from the administration in total, but then also from the council. I think um there's a lot of uh restraint uh mixed with foresight um and also responsiveness, right? We have the things that are the nice to haves that end up in the budget and the things that are the must-haves that end up in the budget and we've got to do our level best to balance those. And I think, you know, we we ended up with probably the best equilibrium here that we can possibly have given the circumstances that are before us. It is prudent and wise for us to slow down a little bit and think about what's coming around the curve, which I I know we've done. and and it's clear in this budget. I also think that um well I know there is no public official probably anywhere who loves the idea of raising taxes one iota. However, I think it would be completely disingenuous and uh illconceived for us to sit here tonight and say that we would not do that because uh we would just merely be kicking the can and compounding an issue that looks bad today but worse tomorrow. So for those reasons, I think you know this is quite prudent. Just I think uh because it does stand out the the the issue of salaries. I just want to make a comment to the public who may not um have the benefit of sitting in the seats that we're in with the front row seat to how the business of government in the

burough of Madison works. We demand and we pay for I believe the best public service that we can get. And that is because we believe the people of Madison deserve to interact with the best. when you call. We want you to have the best service you're going to have and we want the best thinkers thinking about the most complex issues that are coming before local government. I've been on the council now for a few years. I can tell you what you see in public is uh a little bit more glitzy than what you see in executive session when you understand the the real issues that are before us in terms of litigation, etc. I want to pay people who know what they're doing. So for those reasons, I think very prudent for us to uh be committed to that. And I think uh while 2% is uh it might seem like a lot, in the grand scheme of things, it's not. And we have had the benefit of two utilities that offset tax revenue or offset the the uh the burden on the residents and uh in the upcoming budget that does not yield the benefit that it it has had in the past. Um but I I think you know as I look through this storm I kind of see the sunshine around the bend because as you've said you know tax revenue will swing the other way. we see things happening with Geralda Farms and with the debts uh the debt that will be coming off. Um so I'm positive about that. But in the meantime, I think it it we do not take this lightly what we have to do, but it is the most prudent thing for us to do. So thanks, Jim.

I'll just reinforce a couple of very quick things since one of the the um reused tonight it's sustainable and obviously cutting back on capital is not sustainable that uh you know pushing road projects people see that a whole lot faster than they would notice a uh filter a very valuable filter on our water system and so we we do have a plan to get us back as as it's already been noted with the um pilot coming on board and uh retiring a debt and so we know this is not a sustainable plan but it's a good plan for this The other related to sustainable is I've now changed. I used to say zero heroes, but I think a zero non-hero is the uh better phrase of and and Deb, you alluded to it. You look at these towns that tried to hit a zero in the tax increase and what happened probably new council members came in and said, "Oh my god, what were we left with? We we now have to make up with it." A 2% increase when everything else is going up. more than 2% obviously is not sustainable, but we have a plan to do our best in the coming years. So, that's very important. And just to remind the public, utility connection fees are what new connections kind of put give back to us for all the capital investment that our rate payers have been paying for decades. And we've actually paid for that project. They're paying our share, but it is now money we have back in the utility. And you pointed this out, Tom, that that will become available. So certainly a water connection fee going back into water capital aka uh PAS uh filtering is very justified as uh we we work on our plan to cover this $12 million which I'm a little scared about because not only is it as Eric pointed out you know just five years away but if every utility is going off going to bid on water filter projects uh that's going to be

challenging in the uh the cost of these projects. So more to come, but we will be sustainable. So uh with that, let's uh can the clerk please read the uh introduction of uh budget statement?

Upon introduction and adoption, the 2026 budget and tax resolution will be placed on the bureau's website. That will be March 24th, 2026 with a public hearing date set for Wednesday, April the 29th at 8:00m at which time and place all interested individuals have an opportunity to be heard and there will be consideration of the final adoption. A copy of the budget is introduced will be filed in the Madison Public Library as well as the county library and posted on the bureau's website for public review. and reinforcing that the hearing is on a Wednesday not a Monday because we have rescheduled council meeting that week to do taste of Madison. So resolution 107 2026 resolution of the bureau of Madison adopting the 2026 budget and tax resolution.

Mayor, I move resolution 107-2026. Second. Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrian, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pudis, yes. Mr. Forte. Yes. Yes. There are no agenda discussion. So we move on to ordinances for hearing. The clerk, please read the statement. The ordinances scheduled for hearing were introduced by title and passed on first reading at the regular meeting of the council held on March 9th, 2026. They were posted and filed according to law and copies were made available to the general public requesting se.

I call up ordinances for second reading. Ask the clerk to read set ordinance by title. Ordinance 14-2026. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating 104,000 $14,500 from the general capital improvement fund for funding of an environmental site investigation at the Drew Forest and additional burrow properties. Open the hearing on ordinance 14. Anyone in the public wishing to comment on this ordinance, please step forward. Seeing none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 14-2026. Second discussion doing our due diligence on the purchase of the property. We'll call vote, please. Mr. Lander, yes. Mr. Range,

yes. Mr. Harland Pis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Cohen, I need to. I declare ordinance 14-2026 adopt and finally pass and ask the clerk to publish notice thereof of a newspaper and file the ordinance according to the law. Ordinance 15-2026. Ordinance of the Madison adopting the redevelopment plan for certain property known as three Geralda Farms located at block 303 lot 1 is shown on the official tax map of the burrow of Madison. Pursuant to local redevelopment and housing law NJSA48 12A1 to 823.

I open the hearing on ordinance 15. Anyone wishing to comment, please step forward. See none, I close the hearing. Mayor, I move ordinance 15-2026. Second. Discussion. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrean, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pudis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. M. Cohen, yes. I declare ordinance 15-2026 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice their newspaper and file the ordinance in accordance with the law. Ordinance 16-2026 is uh being withdrawn. It is going to be replaced by ordinance 18. Do we need to

and the number will be retired and the if anyone's here for a public comment um on that ordinance you'll come have to come back for the reintroduced ordinance 18 hearing. So now we move on to uh invitation for public comment number two. This is when you may comment any any topic. Again ask you if you're coming to comment step up to lect turn. State your name and your town. Please write your full address on the clipboard. Try to keep your comments to three minutes but we do give you one minute grace period and ask you to end we'll have you stop at four minutes. Anyone wish to comment please step forward. Good evening everyone. My name is Renee Shalhoo. I am a resident at 37 Beverly Road. Uh before I proceed, may I hand a visual to be passed around? No. Okay.

See, it can be handed to the clerk, but not to the Okay. After your comments, um

Sure. Okay. So, I am a special education teacher, community organizer, and concerned citizen. I work with people of all ages with various disabilities, including those who have hearing loss and are neurologically and physiologically affected by noise and air pollution. Uh this evening, I would like to bring attention to noise and air pollution caused by gas powered landscaping machinery. Uh I did print out some graphics, that's okay. The CDC details air pollution as ground level ozone caused by gas powered vehicles and machinery. It is associated with many health problems including increased hospital visits, increased emergency room visits for asthma, and even increase in premature deaths. The CDC details noise pollution as loud noise that can damage your hearing. and they are considered how hazardous by how loud the sound is, how long the exposure lasts, and how often the exposure is repeated. This includes sounds that are 85 dBA or above and includes lawnmowers and gas powered landscaping machinery. This is all detailed by the CDC on the website. We all know if we live in Madison that the gas powered machineries that are used in neighborhoods around the burrow last all day as early as 7 a.m. and can go until 8 or 900 p.m. depending on the property owner and the company owner. Since these machines are used all day every day in the spring, summer, and fall, we are all susceptible to elevated risks of noise and air pollution. Everybody is affected by noise and air pollution. This includes small business owners, landlords, property owners, renters, children, people that are disabled, elderly, immigrants, undocumented, and people that are

homeless. Those people previously mentioned unfortunately are not represented here tonight and do not have a voice. As someone who spends every day with these community members through my lo local mutual aid group, we have the right to uplift their voices and advocate for them. Everyone, even folks that are opposed to this or ordinance, benefit from this preventative, proactive, sustainable, and long-term beneficial ordinance. We must do things that are hard and even unpopular, especially when they benefit society and environment as a whole. Lastly, it is absolutely our collective responsibility to take care of one another, educate one another, and recognize the power that legislation has on our environmental and community health. Thank you.

That I'm sorry. You can if you want to give the Oh, great. Okay, I will. And I'll just sign in. Thanks.

Anyone else wishing to speak, please step forward. Um, hello. I'm Jack Summers. Um, I live in Madison. I'm a junior at Madison High School. Um and I'm here to speak and advocate for the banning of gas leaf blowers. Um so gas leaf blowers should be banned because of the health issues. Um they release toxins in the environment including carbon monoxide, formaldahhide, benzene, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons. Um this has been linked to asthma, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and pulmonary diseases. Um the people more susceptible to these health risks are children. Um, I used to walk to school every day at the junior school, Tory J and the high school. Um, and I would often pass by people using gas leaf blowers and this put me at risk. Um, and everyone else who would do the same thing. So, they're at risk just by walking to school. Additionally, I play sports at the high school. Um, I'm a varsity tennis member and I did varsity cross country. Um, also I did wreck track and soccer growing up at the MRC. um at the high school um we use gas powered leaf equipment on the fields and um then when sports schools finished sports go out we run around in the fields we go on the track the tennis courts and we're breathing in these toxins um that put us at radical medical risk. Um in a study published inv environmental international um these chemicals can hang around the field for um anywhere between minutes to days. Um, kids should be able to run around and play sports without the risk of developing medical issues from the

landscape equipment that was used. Um, my sister at Madison Junior School told me about how every time there are leaf blowers used at the school, the teachers have to go over and close the window and it's just a major disturbance. In addition to the harmful effects, gas leaf blowers are also harmful to the environment. Um uh according to California Air Resources Board, 30% of gas and oil used in the leaf blowers is unburned and released direct directly into the atmosphere. This can decrease air quality, contaminate soil, so soil and water and contribute to global warming. Um myself and the other kids growing up in Madison will see the consequences of this usage in the gas leaf blowers. Um now electric leaf blowers are easily accessible alternative. In fact, in a study published um in the orgon state's legislative assembly, electric leaf blowers were less expensive than gas powered alternatives after 10 months. Um we need to pass a ban on gas powered leaf blowers in Madison in order to protect against medical consequences and save the environment. Thank you

very much, Jack. Thank you for carving out time and hopefully you got your homework done before you stayed here very long to Anyone else to comment? Come on up, Denise. Hi, I'm Denise Catz in Madison. I'm reading a statement from Bridget Daly, who can't make it here because she's at the MEC speaking. Uh, dear Mayor Connley and council members, I support a public health ordinance to regulate and end the use of two-stroke gas leaf blowers in Madison. Thank you for leading by example by equipping our DPW with safer and quieter battery powered blowers. Please work to pass an ordinance that's effective June 1 so Madison has a safe, healthy summer this year. We know that extensive e evidence exists on the adverse health effects of the chem toxic chemicals and particullet as well as the very loud noise emitted by gas leaf blowers. This includes cardiovascular disease, stroke, respiratory disease, cancer, neurological conditions, premature death, effects on prenatal development, hearing loss, and more. Both short-term and long-term exposures are implicated. Just a few words of caution from the 10 pages of warnings in a 2024 steel backpack blower safety manual. Warning. As soon as the engine is running, this product generates toxic exhaust fumes containing chemicals such as unburned hydro hydrocarbons, including benzene, that are known to cause respiratory problems, cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. Warning, bystanders, especially children and animals, should not be allowed in the area where it is in use. and warning. Take care when handling

gasoline. For health and safety reasons, avoid direct contact with the skin and avoid inhaling fuel vapor. Another exclamation point here. I'll point out that two-stroke gas leaf blowers are fueled by a mix of gasoline and motor oil. And 30% of the fuel for this antiquated engine is released unburned as toxic aerosols. So operators are directly inhaling fuel vapors while using this tool. So why are we singling out gas leaf blowers? James explains it well. Quote, "Poundforound, gallon for gallon, hour for hour, the two-stroke gas powered engines and leaf blowers and similar equipment are vastly the dirtiest and most polluting kind of machinery still in use." quote, "But these machines persist in American landscaping because they are cheap and because, to be brutally honest, the people paying the greatest price are the hired lawn crew workers. Those workers are convenient to hire at the moment, but they are not likely to be in the neighborhood in 10, 15 years from now when they are deafened or have lung disease or need other forms of care as the worst long-term health consequences kick in." Mayor and council members, I hope that when it comes time to vote on this ordinance, no one will decide in effect that it's that it's fine for these low-wage workers and all of Madison's residents to sacrifice their health so some people can have less expensive lawn service. Bridget Daily, thank you all.

Anyone else wish to comment? Please step forward.

Good evening. uh Paul Dailyaly Madison. Um I'm also here to talk about the leaf blowers. And um I don't remember everything I learned in law school, but I remember nuisance law because whenever I hear the leaf blowers going, I pull out my old books and I look up nuisance law and I say, "Yes, these are a nuisance. It's a substantial and unreasonable impairment on the uh property owner's right to peacefully enjoy their own property. Substantial is, you know, it's changed over the years. I don't have a study. I'm not sure if there is a study, but I'm pretty sure there's a lot more leaf blowers now than there were 25, 30 years ago. Um, 25 years ago when I moved into town. So, it's become more substantial and probably varies depending on the the part of town you live in. I'm down in the Nwood section where fairly dense and you do hear them pretty much all day. Maybe in other parts of town where houses are the lawns are a little bigger, you don't hear them as much. Um, but it's very substantial down where I live. And in terms of the unreasonleness, there's a risk utility balance that has to happen, right? So, you're balancing out what's the benefit versus the cost. We heard a lot about the cost already and uh Mayor Connley mentioned a little bit about the benefit, which is that some people don't like any at all on their lawn. They don't want any uh blades of grass out of place. I just don't see how you could balance those two, especially when you can use an electric mower and electric blower. And I understand they're not quite as powerful. So, you might have a few leaves left on your lawn. You might have a couple blades of grass left out of place. Um but even with that, you have to also think about the uh issue of externalities, right? So your the homeowner is getting the benefit of this perfect lawn without a blade of grass out of place and all the neighbors and

the workers are bearing the cost of the noise and that's that goes to the unreasonleness. So I think uh the town is would be well justified in passing an ordinance that would ban these and phase it in obviously because you don't want anybody to have to buy all new mowers blowers right away. But something really should be done and Definitely time. And also, if I could very quickly say I did join the pool, Jim should get a commission for that. Oh, yeah. How'd you do that?

And if I have one quick suggestion on that, if you want to get a little extra revenue, maybe rent lockers so people can leave their their chairs there. I don't know. I'd pay for that. I don't know how much I'd pay for it, but I would pay something for it. Thank you.

Thank you, Paul. Anyone else wishing to comment? Please step forward. Um, hi. My name is Lily Tavish and I'm a student at Madison High School as well as one of the presidents of the environmental club. When I was younger, I loved playing on my neighbor's trampoline and they'd often clear the leaves off with the gas leaf blower. Even back then, I remember thinking it was gross because of the smell and the dust blowing everywhere. Now that I'm older, I understand that these blowers don't just smell bad, they also have real impacts on our health and their environment. I also see landscapers in my neighborhood using them frequently, which further adds to the problem. Experience like these are why I believe it's important to consider banning leaf gas leaf blowers in Madison. Very much.

Hi, my name is Bridget Bria and I'm another president of the Madison Environmental Club. I wanted to ask to consider getting rid of gas powered leaf blowers. In my neighborhood, there have been a lot of noise complaints and I've personally been affected by how loud and constant they are. I also play soccer at MHS and I've always hated the smell that the leaf blowers leave like when we go onto the field. So now after researching I have realized that the leaf blowers emit harmful chemicals that don't only smell really bad, they also put our environment in danger. I know that many communities are already moving toward quieter, cleaner electric alternatives. I hope you consider making that change here so that the community can keep its quality of life. Thank you. If our last two speakers didn't sign in, don't forget to sign in your information.

Hi, Damon Summers Madison and I'm here as well to advocate for the banning of stroke leaf blowers. Um, you know, I think this is really an issue of of health in the our community. It's been well documented. A lot of the prior speakers mentioned this as well in terms of the emissions from these gas power leaf blowers, the benzines, the formaldahhides, etc. In fact, three out of the four top cancer-causing compounds are admitted by the gas power leaf blowers. That's on top of the asthma cardiovascular list thanks to autism even with short levels of exposure. So, I think that these all really contribute to the feeling that we want to keep our community safe. We need to act upon actually moving towards banning the leaf blowers. That's on top of the other problems with the noise and everything else. And you know, on my street, very few people manage their own lawns or their own yards. What ends up happening is the yard crews come in, they go to one house, then they go to the next house, then they go to the next house, and before you know it, during the the peak, you know, blowing season, you've had an entire day or days on end of this constant den that's basically at an industrial level. And so it inhibits work, inhibits learning, and sleep. As speaker mentioned, it starts early, 7 a.m. even on the weekends. So it's time to to take a stand.

Very much. Anyone else wishing to be heard, please step forward. Seeing none, I close this part of the meeting. I won't repeat my comments I made in the front front of the meeting. I think most of you were here, but I'll just uh quickly uh some some things. Um just a reminder there there is not a proposed ordinance at this time. We have a Tom Howard Pis and Melissa Honeyan as chair and vice chair to DP excuse me DPW and particular environmental commission have been working with me sitting down with landscapers. We've got more meetings to uh to have. Our next round will be with landscapers using electric equipment. Uh we also need to learn from uh municipalities that have already enacted laws. Some laws have been challenged uh or in the and have been modified or in the process of being challenged. Some towns have put ordinances in place and withdrawn them. So we want to learn from others uh so we can do what what's right. And as I've said most of my comments, this truly quality of life issue. Um to Paul Daly's uh comment about uh leaf blowers, I had a landscaper make a comment to me after our last meeting when he uh said, you know, if worried about the environment, you know, the schools are putting air conditioning at schools and that's, you know, using that power and all that's not great for the environment. We didn't have air conditioning when we went to schools. And what I didn't say to him, but when I I thought about when I walked away, I said I thought, well, the other thing we didn't have when I went to school was gas power leaf blowers. So, so life life changes and as life changes, we need to manage that life. And so, this is a health and quality of life issue and we need to balance that and you we will we're dedicated to going through the process and hopefully doing

doing the right thing. There will not be any regulations for this season or we're too late into this season. All right, with that we move on to uh introduction ordinances. Will the clerk please read the statement? Ordinance is scheduled for first reading. Have a hearing date set for April 13th, 2026. All will be posted on the bureau's public web notice web page, posted on the bulletin board, and made available to members of the public requesting copies. Call up ordinances for first reading. Ask the burough clerk to resent ordinance by title.

Ordinance 1826, 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 Geralda Farms block 3303, lot 2. Mayor, I move ordinance 18-2026. second.

And as a reminder, this replaced um ordinance 16, which was retired. Um they've the only difference between the two ordinances. There were a couple of clauses that were moved to the redeveloper agreement which is covered by the resolution coming up. Um and so this is fairly consistent as far as the financial agreement. Any further discussion? Okay. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landrian, yes. Mr. Rain, yes. Mr. Harlem Pis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Co. Yes. Ordinance 19-2026.

Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $1,500,000 from the water capital improvement fund to design and install PAF forever chemical treatment equipment. Mayor, I move ordinance 19-2026. Second. Council discussion during the budget. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Landan, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pudis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes.

Ordinance 20-206. Ordinance of the Bureau of Madison appropriating $100,000 from the general capital improvement fund for engineering design and perimetering services for Glenn Wild Road and Green Village Road sanitary sewer replacement upgrade and related work. Mayor, I move ordinance 20-2026. Second.

Council discussion. Most of this work is related to the development of all the farms and there will be a fee that the developers will be paying towards all the improvements related to this vote, please. Mr. Landeren, yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pudis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Miss Cohen, yes. 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 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 consent agenda resolutions R 108-2026 through R126-2026.

Second discussion or any that need to be pulled. I just want to comment, mayor, that I uh resolution 124 2026 and 125 2026. It's nice to see that we continue to get these are volunteers for entering into the fire department hook and ladder and Madison hose which is just divisions of the fire department right so the chief's doing a great job recruiting which was you know so one of his goals when he came just wanted to comment on that sure comments call vote please Mr. Lander yes Mr. Range yes Mr. Harland yes Mr. Yes, Miss Co.

Yes. There's no unfinished business. Approval of vouchers will cler

from the current fund. 4,593,824.85 from the general capital fund, $31,4928. From the electric operating fund, $296,17122. From the electric capital fund, $6557. From the water operating fund, $45,919.74 and from the trust, $37,7618. The total is 5,5,234.64. Mayor, I move approval of the vouchers. Second discussion call vote.

Yes. Mr. Range, yes. Mr. Harland Pudis, yes. Mr. Forte, yes. Mr. Cohen, yes. There's no new business. Mayor, I move that we adjourn the meeting.