Borough Council - Regular Meeting

Let the record reflect that the meeting has reconvened with all members present, with the exception of Councilwoman Honohan, who's excused this evening. For those who are able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. May I have a motion for the executive minutes of June 8th, 2026, which we've discussed in executive? So moved.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

May I have a motion for the regular minutes of June 8th, 2026?

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Okay, thank you very much. As all members of the public can see, the mayor is not here, and you are getting me again tonight. So hopefully he will be back soon, because as I am the acting mayor, that is it, I am just acting, and I'm a bad actor at that, but I'm trying to do my level best to represent Mayor Conley while he's out of town. Just a couple of notes. The employee of the month for July is Captain Rob Dunn from the Fire Department. Before the Marine Corps event on July 2nd at Madison High School, Captain Dunn arrived at the site early to meet the Board of Ed staff in order to get a head start on setting up, and he assumed responsibility for setting up the cooling station, which was critical since the temperature was greater than 100 degrees. His efforts likely prevented a significant number of heat-related health emergencies. And for anniversaries, we have Jim Finnelli, lead man with the Water Utility Department, who celebrated his 40th anniversary with the borough on July 7th. That's really terrific. And on the evening of July 3rd, as everyone knows, a severe storm moved through Madison. Our residents certainly don't need a reminder that that happened. Many neighborhoods experienced downed trees, snapped power lines and utility poles, and prolonged power outages. Rather than revisit the storm itself, I'd like to spend a few moments recognizing the tremendous recovery effort that followed, because throughout those days there was always something happening behind the scenes, even if it wasn't visible to the public. As I speak, you see photos of some of the damage displayed on the screen, which should be popping up shortly. There we are. The storm caused significant damage to our electric infrastructure. We experienced 13 broken utility poles, four damaged transformers, countless trees and large branches entangled in power lines, numerous downed wires throughout the borough, and multiple homes that were struck by trees. With the widespread damage, about 50 homes had their individual electric services ripped from their houses. From Friday evening through the holiday weekend and into Monday, July 6th, Madison Electric worked tirelessly until power was fully restored to all customers by 6.30 p.m., with the exception of those homes requiring repairs to their own electrical service. We're grateful for the assistance provided by our mutual aid partners from the Butler Electric and Acura Electric, whose crews worked alongside Madison Electric through the restoration effort. At the same time, our Department of Public Works worked throughout the weekend clearing fallen trees, supporting electrical restoration operations, and following the storm, completing a borough-wide collection of large storm debris that could not be handled through our regular yard waste program. Our police and fire departments also worked hand-in-hand with our other first responders, providing assistance wherever it was needed, and ensuring the safety of all of our residents throughout the emergency. Throughout the weekend, I toured many of the impacted neighborhoods and saw firsthand the extent of the destruction. As acting mayor, I also participated in daily coordination calls with our administration to ensure our employees had the personnel, equipment, and resources that needed to restore service as quickly and safely as possible. Just as importantly, we remain committed to keeping our residents informed. Throughout the restoration effort, the borough issued updates twice daily through Alert Madison and across our social media channels, providing the latest information on restoration progress, safety reminders, cooling resources, and debris collection. If you're not already registered for Alert Madison or following the borough on social media, I would encourage you to do so by visiting rosenet.org slash social media. These communication channels are the fastest and most reliable way to receive important information during emergencies. While some residents understandably waited longer than others, Madison's restoration was completed remarkably quickly, particularly when compared to many of our neighboring communities that experienced similar damage. This work was far from easy. Our employees gave up their holiday weekend with their families working long hours in extreme heat, rain, and difficult conditions and they never lost sight of their commitment to serving the community. During the storm response and restoration effort alone, Madison's first responders and public works employees logged more than 581 hours outside of their regular work schedules. That's a remarkable testament to their dedication to the Rose City. And as a small token of appreciation, I was happy to deliver lunch to many of our first responders and Public Works employees last Sunday to thank them for everything they did for our community. While restoration is complete, our work continues. The Madison Office of Emergency Management's working closely with Marks County OEM to complete preliminary damage assessments so that should the state or federal assistance become available, Madison is prepared with accurate documentation and data. Unfortunately, severe weather events like this are becoming more frequent. Thanks to the planning, preparation, and dedication of our employees, Madison was ready to respond and our team rose to the challenge. On behalf of the mayor and council, I want to thank our residents for their patience, cooperation, and understanding during those difficult days. Most importantly, I want to express our sincere gratitude to every member of the Madison Electric Department, Department of Public Works, Police Department, Fire Department, EMS, Office of Emergency Management, our administrative staff, our mutual aid partners from Butler Electric and Accurate Electric, and anyone else who played a role in this response. Your professionalism, dedication, and unwavering commitment to serving the Rose City made all the difference. And I will just say, again, I was around town visiting some of the sites and watching the crews work. They really didn't stop. I mean, they were they were tired. They'd go back, you know, grab some equipment, maybe grab some more food, some more water and just keep going. And I don't think we would have gotten the response that we had if we didn't have their dedication. We now move on to reports from committees and I will just start us off by a brief report from community affairs and then just an update on the Madison pool. So there's not much new report from the Downtown Development Commission, but the next meeting is this Thursday, July 16th at 7.15 p.m. in the second floor committee room of this building, the Hartley Dodge Memorial. All are invited to attend. The June meeting was canceled. The 2026 Madison Farm and Artisan Market is open Saturdays through December 12th. The market was closed on the 4th of July, and it will be closed on Bottle Hill Day. New vendors can request the information by emailing lisaellis at ddc at rosenet.org. Information regarding Bottle Hill Day 2026, which will be on Saturday, October 3rd, is now available on rosenet.org. And don't miss the Summer Stage Series sponsored by the Madison Downtown Development Commission on Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Madison Community Arts Center, 10 Kings Road, throughout the summer. The remaining dates are as follows. July 17th, July 24th, August 7th, August 14th, the 21st of August, the 28th, and then September. Can you imagine where they're already? September 4th, 11th, and 18th. There's something for everyone. These events are free and open to the public. The concerts will be outside if the weather permits, but we'll move inside if the weather doesn't cooperate. So please bring your own chair or a blanket for outside viewing. There'll be folding chairs and little tables if the show moves inside. And feel free to bring food from a local restaurant and enjoy the show. More information at rosenet.org slash MCAC. And from the Madison Community Pool, the Madison pool season is now about halfway through and it's been a fantastic summer so far. Our Madison Barracuda swim team continues to perform exceptionally well, winning its last three, sorry, four meets because they just won tonight, I was told, and representing Madison with pride. Our inaugural Cornhole League has also been a great success and will conclude in just two weeks. We're pleased to have introduced a new activity for members this season, and we look forward to evaluating additional recreational programming in the future. We recently hosted a very successful preteen and teen night at the pool, both of which were extremely well attended. Based on that success, we're looking at scheduling additional events in the coming weeks. We also introduced a $5 Madison resident non-member day, allowing residents who were not members to experience everything the pool has to offer. That event welcomed 78 families representing 171 Madison residents. During the recent power outages, the pool also served as a cooling resource for Madison residents without electricity. We were pleased to offer complimentary admission during that time, with 53 families representing 141 residents taking advantage of that opportunity. As we approach August, I'd also like to remind residents about our August-only family membership. If you've been thinking about joining the pool this summer, it's a great opportunity to enjoy the remainder of the season at a reduced cost. Registration is available at madisonpool.org. Registration also remains open for a third and final session of swim lessons, which can also be found on the website. Finally as this is the borough's first year operating the Madison community pool. We continue to learn improve and refine our operations every day We truly appreciate the feedback we received from our members and residents throughout the season if you have comments suggestions or ideas We encourage you to email pool at rose net org every comment is logged reviewed and helps us continue making the pool an even better experience for everyone and I can tell you as being part of that committee, which again I think it's a great group of really dedicated people they are really looking for feedback and they do want to incorporate you know ideas into this season and next season where possible that's all I have so we'll move on to public safety councilman Landrigan

Thank you. Okay, from the police department. The Madison Police Department command staff met with members of the patrol and traffic safety departments to discuss the new e-bike laws taking effect on July 19th. The department will soon begin an educational program to inform residents of the new registration, licensing, and age requirements. Recognizing that the registration process has only recently become available, office will focus on education and voluntary compliance during the initial implementation program. Any questions, call the Madison Police Department Traffic Safety Unit. More information will be coming on this. As always, we encourage all residents to enroll in Alert Madison, the borough's official emergency notification system. Alert Madison provides timely updates on power outages, road closures, severe weather, and other critical public safety information. During the recent severe storm, all borough updates were distributed through Alert Madison. Residents can sign up by visiting alertmadison.org. On July 8th, the Madison Police Department's community policing unit hosted cool down with a cop at Dodge Field Playground. Officers engaged with residents and visitors, distributing ice pops, encouraged proper hydration during the hot weather, and provided a visible police presence while fostering positive community relationships. And finally, on July 30th at 6 PM, the Madison Police Department officers will participate in Basketball at the Y, sponsored by Project Community Pride. Officers will engage with area youth through friendly basketball games promoting positive police community relationships, encouraging teamwork and sportsmanship, and fostering meaningful interactions in a fun and welcoming environment. Okay, from the fire department. During the month of June, the fire department responded to 187 calls. 78 people were transported to the hospital. Last week, the department responded to two Tulum fires. One was in Florham Park, the other was in Morris Township. The fire department also set up cooling stations at the Marine Corps event at the high school. Thankfully, the extreme heat was only, there was only one medical emergency. The department responded to several calls during last week's storm. During last month, the Fire Prevention Bureau conducted 41 inspections in the borough. There were also two fire permits processed. Captain Blair has been working with the State Division of Fire Safety and local fire hazard use businesses to bring overdue life hazard safety payments up to date. And finally, last, on July 2nd, the Marine Corps hosted a special event here in Madison at the high school in recognition for our 250 year birthday. They had a drill team, a band, and then finally the helicopters arrived. What was very impressive about this, aside from what they provided, was the work that the Patriotic Celebrations Committee did in a very short period of time to coordinate this event. They were outstanding. They had only worked with the Marine Corps, who, by the way, they made sure left early enough, because then they were going to do the same event in New York City on that same day. but they also enrolled the use of our own Brian Mortenson, who's sitting right back there, to film the event, and it's now up on YouTube. So I just want to congratulate them for the great work that they did, and as an aside, each one of the members of that team are combat veterans, so they deserve a lot of credit. It's all volunteers, and they're a wonderful group of people. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Finance and Borough Clerk, Councilman Range.

Thank you, Acting Mayor. This evening we've got a short but pretty important update. The tax collector reports that tax bills for the quarter that begins in August are delayed. So we're still waiting for our 2026 tax rate to be certified by the county. Once we receive that certification and the final rate, the tax office will work on getting the new bills out to residents as quickly as possible. Because of the delay, the grace period for the August quarter will be extended. The specific date for that grace period will be printed on the bill that you receive and predominantly posted on Rosenet, so stay tuned since that date will be somewhat dependent upon when we can finalize the tax bills. If you have any questions about your upcoming tax bill, feel free to contact the tax collector's office. And that's all from Finance and Borough Clerk tonight.

Thank you very much. Public Works and Engineering Councilman Harold Poudis.

Okay, I'm going to take some of Eric's time. So I want to say ditto to what John said about the community stepping up, the DPW stepping up the electric utility. Couldn't have been handled any better by any other of the public utilities in the state. From the Department of Public Works, the DPW, As we know, responded to the storms, continued to clear storm damage. It's still a work in progress. So for anybody listening or anybody here, I don't know how many people are actually listening to our meeting, but we are encouraging the residents not to put their grass clippings or regular yard waste out on the curb. We're just trying to pick up the debris from the storm. I asked the DPW, how much have you picked up and can you measure it? And I said, did you pick up? 10 truckloads, he said, we're doing 10 truckloads a day. So that's how much debris there is around the borough. And then I said, are you almost done? He said, well, it looked like we were done on Friday, and then we came back today, and he said, it looks like we didn't do anything last week because there's that much stuff on the curb. So there's a lot of storm debris. They're doing a fantastic job, and the electric utility too. The DPW installed a solar pedestrian traffic sign for the police department in front of the Kirby Center. They also are installing around the borough, maybe you've seen them, solar radar speed signs. They are very informative, they talk to drivers, tell them if they're maintaining the right speed, and if not, the police slow down. I think it'll be a huge benefit to keeping our streets a little bit safer from speeders. The mechanics in DPW have performed maintenance on all their equipment after last weekend's storm maintenance, chainsaws, wood chippers, and some of the police and EMS vehicles. The DBW continues to maintain the recreation fields. We still have summer soccer and summer baseball activities. And those fields were also hit with some debris from the storm. Also a reminder, if anybody needs them, the yard waste bags, the paper yard waste bags are available at the DBW garage and the clerk's office. From engineering. The Shady Lawn Drive reconstruction project has been totally completed. It included curb replacement, milling, paving, and final striping. It was all completed just this morning. Summer roadway line striping and crack sealing operations have been completed. The work was focused mainly on Kings Road and a few adjacent side streets. Curb replacement and drainage improvements have been ongoing on Dogwood, Harwood, and E Street. Milling and paving are anticipated to occur by the end of this month. Engineering interns who work for us in the summer continue to assist the department with a variety of engineering and project management assignments throughout the summer. Sidewalk and spot paving repairs within the Cook Avenue Plaza are expected to begin shortly. We're waiting for the contractor's final schedule and we will notify the businesses that are impacted which states the parking lot will be closed. Additional roadway striping. with emphasis on school crosswalks and pedestrian crosswalks will be completed by the DPW prior to the start of school. From the shade tree management board, each year the board members gather and survey all the Madison streets in order to identify trees that needed pruning. They get an arborist assessment for removing trees and potential new planting sites. The members were in the middle of completing the surveys when the July 3rd storm hit. So as a result of the storm, the DPW has identified 28 sites now where tree or electrical work was required, in addition to what was surveyed before. So the board members will have to be revisiting sites around the borough one last time. For newly planted street trees in front of residents' homes, the residents are reminded and we would like to encourage them to help water the trees while we go through this drought period. The last message, Mayor Forte, is from the MEC. Claire Wickham's here, so it's a nice little report. The MEC held its second pollinator plant giveaway of the season at the farmer's market this past Saturday. It featured five species of native plants potted up from Joan Macari's garden. Madison residents were able to reserve a free plant in advance of the sale. The turnout was fabulous until the rain let out. Those who were rained out and those who want to get in on the action can email MEC at rosenet.org and you will be subscribed to the newsletter which will have announcements about the August 11th giveaway and a form to reserve more free plants. Also at the farmer's market, the MEC talked about the multi-town quiet summer initiative to pause gas leaf blowing. It's an easy way to make summer quieter and healthier for all. The YMCA, the FM Kirby Children's Center and Grace Church have joined the quiet summer initiative by asking their landscapers to pause gas leaf blowing in the summer. United Methodist Church and the Colony Pool in Chatham are also following suit, not using electric leaf blowers. Madison DBW is outfitted with electric blowers that they are using daily around the community. And that's all, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Health, Councilman Cohen.

Thank you, Acting Mayor. Short tonight, there will be a blood pressure screening on Monday, July 27th from 10 to 11 at the Madison Library. Walk-ins are welcome. A lead consumer goods testing event will occur on Wednesday, July 29th from 2 to 3 at the Madison Library. Walk-ins are also welcome there. You can bring spices, toys, dinnerware, and other consumer goods for testing. And then the health department, during the storm and after the storm, assisted restaurant by providing guidance to retail food establishments that had lost power, inspecting, reopening retail food establishments, and directing residents to cooling centers, as well as any advice they wanted on fridge and freezer length. And just want to add my shout out to DPW, who was in front of our house from 12.30 to 3 in the morning. getting the tree off the wire and reconnecting everything. So they were out 24-7. Thank you.

Thank you. And I'm going to circle back to Councilman Range, who has utilities in the absence of Councilwoman Honohan.

Yes, thank you, John. From the electric utility, in addition to the storm issues that we've already covered, on June 21st, standby crew was called out to Beverly Road for a wire down in the storm drain. On the 24th of June a 12 kilovolt breaker trip at Kings Road substation was alarmed while responding to the substation the police department notified The electric utility that they had received a call about a lot loud bang and sparks on top of a pole on Kings Road And as a surprise to no one the cause was due to a squirrel On the 26th, we started underground vault inspections and maintenance throughout the borough. And on the 27th, a standby crew was called out to Del Barton Road area for multiple reports of hearing a loud boom and losing power due to a squirrel in the transformer. On the 29th, they set a new pole on Prospect Place. And on June 30th, standby was called out to the Kings Road substation again for a transformer malfunction alarm. And standby was called out that same day for Edgewood Road power outage. on the first standby was called out to morris place for a power outage and as a result they ended up replacing a transformer standby was called out on the second to crestwood drive and rosewood drive area for a power outage and also on that same day to power outages on central avenue and woodside avenue woodside road And then before the storm on the third, standby was called out for a power outage on South Oak and North Oak Court, as that was before the storm. One note. In addition to what we've mentioned about the storm already, the crews on July 3rd at 744 p.m. received alarms from both substations, which were due to the 34 kilovolt line from JCP&L that tripped out from the storm. And of course, as we know, and we've already reviewed tonight, the storm caused a great amount of damage and power outages throughout the borough. in addition to all that work the electric utility continues to make great progress through tree line clearance throughout the borough and this sort of preventative maintenance really reaps rewards obviously with a storm like we had on friday you know with massive trees coming down there's nothing we can do but for somebody who grew up in the country where they don't maintain their power lines in the trees around them. These sorts of things can really help prevent power outages on a regular basis. And lastly, of course, they continue to respond to calls, completing markouts, street light repairs, and daily substation inspections and ratings. And from the water utility, the water utility has also been busy and have dug and repaired main valves on Anthony Drive and Wayne Boulevard, dug and repaired four curb boxes and shut off valves throughout the borough and moved a fire hydrant from Bellow Avenue Access Road, 40 feet to Chateau Theory curb front for better access. They've also assisted the electric department and TBW during the storm and cleanup, ran the wells manually, markouts for pull replacements and assist in general debris removal throughout the storm. They've also installed a new inch and a half tap and service for newly constructed home on 162 Kings Road and install a new one inch tap service for new construction of a sewer pump station at Cardigan Lane for Florham Park. Upcoming, notable upcoming events, they'll continue to manually run wells B and D to meet demand during the communication change for the SCADA monitoring and alarm revamp system. And they're scheduling a dig on Hillcrest Road services to verify iron and copper service replacement so they can replace any iron services found with copper. And lastly, they'll be scheduling hydrant replacements throughout the borough, six presently earmarked to be replaced due to age and limited operation. And that's all from the Water Utility tonight. Thanks, Jeff.

Thank you very much. Communications and petitions?

None received, ma'am.

Okay, thank you very much. So now we come to our first invitation for public comment. We open the meeting to that and during this portion of the meeting, members of the public may ask questions and comments on any discussion items on the agenda or any resolutions. There will be another invitation for discussion later in the meeting for any other subject. If you have any questions or comments, please proceed to the lectern and give your name and address and print the same on the sheet provided for the record. Please limit your questions or comments to three minutes or less, but we will give you one minute grace period. Tonight we have one agenda discussion item, which is from the Madison Environmental Commission called Skip the Stuff, and then we have the following resolutions. We have R212-2026, Resolution of the Borough of Madison appointing Ms. Christine Bugle to the position of Borough Engineer. R213-2026, Resolution of the Borough of Madison authorizing contracts under the North Jersey Wastewater Cooperative Pricing Council pursuant to NJSA 40A-11-11-5. resolution 214-2026 resolution of the borough of madison authorizing change order requests from denville line painting for the 2026 mill and overlaid line striping program r 215 2026 resolution of the borough of madison awarding a contract to altec industries for the purchase of one articulating telescopic aerial device with material handling insulated 41-foot bucket truck under source will contract number 110421-ALT. R216-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison authorizing a novation agreement for the transformers with North American Transformer Company. R217-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison approving renewal application for livery owner's license for traveler's taxi and limousine for 2026. R218-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison renewing application for livery driver's permit for traveler's taxi and limousine for 2026. R219-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison approving raffles license application submitted by the Madison Athletic Foundation. R2-20-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison approving raffles license application submitted by the Thursday Morning Club. R2-21-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison authorizing an Eagle Scout project at the Madison Recreation Complex. R2-22-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison ratifying appointment of intern Gavin O'Connell as volunteer for National Night Out for the Police Department. R223-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison renewing a liquor license in the Borough of Madison for the 2026 to 2027 license term. R224-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison authorizing execution of an amendment TO KRE MADISON NEW JERSEY URBAN RENEWAL LLC DECLARATION OF CONDITIONS COVENANTS EASEMENTS RESTRICTIONS COST SHARING OBLIGATIONS AND LEANS FOR LOCKS 8.01 AND 8.02 BLOCK 3001 R225 2026 RESOLUTION OF THE BOROUGH OF MADISON AUTHORIZING THE INSTALLATION OF A PEACE POLE AT JAMES PARK DONATED BY THE MADISON ROTARY R-226-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison approving a walk-in Madison for Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, sponsored by Mother Therese Katulska. R-2027-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison authorizing a contract to re-sod the Rosedale Avenue soccer field under the Camden County Educational Services Commission contract number 66, CCEPS. R-228-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison rejecting bid for on-call emergency storm support and authorizing negotiation. And R-229-2026, resolution of the Borough of Madison appointing Shawn Leonard to the position of office assistant in the finance department. Anyone wishing to comment on any of those, please step forward.

My name is Brian Monahan, 19 Green Hill Road, Madison, New Jersey. I'd like to ask just a few questions about the resolution 227, 2025, 26, about the residing of the turf of the soccer field on Richdale Avenue. All right. This resolution is just for the purchase of sod, or is it for a contract to have a professional sports field contractor come in and do a job, or what is this particular resolution for?

Thank you. So we don't typically engage public in this session. It's really more for your comments and any questions. We can do it at the end.

Well, so I'm chairman of the Open Space Committee for Madison.

And back in, memory's not very good, but June, July, January, February, somewhere in there, we advised for the approval of $200,000 for this project. Very important in our opinion because this is the first time we're actually going to be very serious about using real turf as a sports field as opposed to plastic, in which case it wasn't going to work there anyway for so many different reasons. So it was our understanding that this was going to be a bona fide project, and I'm not sure where it went. It seemed that from talking to Jim Savage, who I realize is no longer here, that that was going to be postponed. Apparently the recreation group wanted to keep this particular field open throughout the summer and throughout the fall. So when I see that this is coming up, then I just was wondering where we are on this or what's going to happen or what the thoughts are or something along those lines.

Thank you.

You want to respond now? I can respond now.

And Tom has been a big supporter and advocate for this project. This is the actual purchase and installation of the sod. And the reason for the delay was the state legislature, despite the best efforts of Senator Buco to oppose it, there's a change in the regulations affecting co-op entities that no longer can provide contract services for construction based on a time and material basis. So we had to work with the borough attorney's office and the co-op we were using and the contractor to restructure the entire contractual arrangement to convert it to a unit price, lump sum, fixed price contract, which was months of delay. Then we had to go back to the co-op to get approval for the amended version of the contract. That was all done on Friday. That's why it's kind of a last minute thing to try to get it done. The contractor is available to start work immediately. It'll be a grass sod surface. There's already an irrigation system, so that'll be retrofitted to make sure it's all operational. And the goal is basically to finish it this summer so that we'll allow the field to rest and that the soccer program that we've met with will then have a full fall season, which is their goal. They could afford to lose the facility for one season a year, but they didn't want to lose the spring season and the fall season. So right now we can meet that request and the work should start within the next 10 days to two weeks and be completed before the end of the summer.

Can you tell me if the sod will be, the current turf will be removed, it'll be regraded, it'll be then?

Complete soup to nuts. We have our soil conservation permit pending. Everything will be removed. Four inches of loam, the reconfiguration of the existing irrigation system, and then the installation of the new sod to go on. Yes.

Okay.

It'll be soup to nuts. It's going to look great.

Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Senator Bucco, welcome. We're always happy to see you in Madison. Thank you for coming.

I'm always happy to be in Madison. I just stopped tonight for just a couple of minutes to congratulate the council on what will be the adoption of the bond ordinance that will fund the acquisition of the Drew Forest. It's another step in the process to get this property preserved, and it's been a long process, one of the many steps that has to have been taken. I understand why we have a blood pressure screening coming up. But I have to admit that when we started this process, I had many concerns. And as the price continued to escalate, whether or not we could put the team together to make it work. But with the help of the folks from the Save Drew Forest, with the community support, cooperation at all levels of government, we were able to accomplish that. And I think that's something special for Madison, and I think that that's something special for this region. and it will have an impact, a beneficial impact, on generations to come. And we should all be proud of the hard work that went into this and the result that will be achieved when we sign that contract and the final deed is transferring the property to be preserved. So thank you. I appreciate it. I enjoyed working with everybody throughout this process. And this is certainly a feather in Madison's cap. So thank you. And please convey my best wishes to the mayor.

Thank you, Senator. Anyone else wishing to comment, please step forward. Seeing none, I'll close this portion. Now we're on to our agenda discussion. The Madison Environmental Committee, skip the stuff. Thank you, Claire.

Thank you all for this opportunity. This bill, skip the stuff, passed the legislature last day of Murphy's term. He signed it. And then I kind of forgot about it. And fortunately, I'm happy to say that Lisa Ellis is totally on it. So I'm just going to give you the generals. And if you have questions, she's your girl. All right. Well, as many of you may know, we helped pave the way for this bill indirectly. We passed the plastic bag ordinance and we went, we had posters in all the windows in shop. We did a lot of, you know, grassroots stuff. And the result was that 130 towns, including Madison worked for the Chathams as a joint ordinance, passed plastic bag ordinance. This led to one of the strictest state plastic laws in the country and it covered single-use bags and straws. Skip the Stuff is the next phase of this. It addresses the takeout items that most people just toss. It's the plastic forks and knives and the condiments. And what it does is say it's voluntary. you have to ask for it. It's not banning anything. It's just setting up parameters where it doesn't create automatic waste. And this was proceeded by only 63 local ordinances. And as Eric Range knows, the MEC talked to him about doing an ordinance, and we just never got the wind in our sails. And the state did it, so it's really great. Okay, it applies to restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, diners, food trucks, takeout, delivery establishments, and drive-through restaurants. So it's pretty much a lot of things. I don't know if it applies to Bottle Hill Day. What's really cool is ordering platforms like Grubhub, they have to default to no utensils and no condiments. You have to ask. There's regulations on, oh, restaurants with 10 seats or more must provide reusable washable utensils rather than single-use items. Casual establishments, there's, you can have dispensers or self-serve systems. And interestingly, you can't provide bundled packs of items after a year from August. So you can ask for condiments or disposable items, but it's up to you. So how does this impact the food establishments? The research shows that it's really a cost saving. They're able to spend less in a time of tight budgets. And as this assemblywoman, one of the prime sponsors of the bill said, this legislation is about awareness, choice, and cutting back on waste that hurts both our health and environment. So what might a plastic fork do? Basically, I saw this thing on one of my environmental nerd sites that said every plastic fork you've ever used still exists. And it's really a kind of stunning problem. There is a need for certain situations where this occurs, but there's $200 million worth of unused cutlery annually, and Clean Water Action found a study in Red Bank, and when they passed an ordinance, they're experiencing 94% reduction in cutlery and condiments. So this bill can have an impact, it's not gonna be life-changing, but this is what we need to do. We need to take steps to eliminate the low-hanging fruit. Okay, so why reduce plastic use? I mean, basically it comes down to petroleum. The production is highly polluting and hazardous. Often there's a lot of cancer clusters in the adjacent communities. And the problem with plastic is it never biodegrades. It just breaks down into smaller bits. This is particularly true of the plastic fibers, polyester, nylon, acrylic and spandex. They shed microfibers in the wash. The Great Swamp sees microfibers in the water testing they do there and it's getting to be an increasing problem. And even the recycled poly versions that, you know, sustainable brands tout, they shed. I worked for a sustainable clothing company and we never said that recycled poly was eco because of this problem. Plastic is found in every, it's polluted every New Jersey stream and river. There's particles in your food, fish, cosmetics. Tea bags are a problem and bottled water means you're drinking microplastics. The microplastics enter your body and they can travel via the bloodstream to any organ and they have recently been found in the brain. So I'm going to take you back to the heyday of passing the plastic bag ordinance. And we did a flyer for Plastic Week in Madison. We won an environmental award for it. And our action items were skip the straw, bring your own bag, don't drink bottled water, say no to styrofoam. You can, by the way, recycle hard styrofoam, the kind of packing material at the DPW. I see a lot of it on the curb in my neighborhood. The plastic ordinance from the state outlawed styrofoam for food packaging, which is a huge benefit because that's a pretty toxic item. Bring your own mug. And bring Tupperware for restaurant leftovers. I've done this with, I learned this when my kids, my dad only liked to go to Charlie Brown's, and my son at age eight thought it was the best restaurant in the world, but he'd only been to one restaurant. But the servings were so big that I started taking a shopping bag of plastic containers to take the leftovers, and I still do. And I have it in my car. I travel with, yes, plastic forks in the glove compartment. I have them in my backpack over there. It just becomes a habit. You can use bamboo. You can use something much chicer. I've just got the leftovers. But there's easy ways to cut waste so that you're not in a position to use these items. Okay, so Skip the Straw was an idea that was really responded to the youth. They came up with this at the Green Vision Forum, and these high schoolers and a fifth grader trailed around Madison, went to all the restaurants, handed out this flyer. What happened at the state level was that straws were in the voluntary category. They didn't want to ban straws because plastic straws are useful to people with certain disabilities and ailments. But theoretically, you're supposed to ask for it. It's not supposed to be handed to you with your meal. And that has really lapsed. It's confusing because they can hand you a paper straw, they can hand you a straw made of some non-plastic material. So it's hard for a diner to know what the situation is, but basically, it needs to be revisited, and Lisa Ellis said she would raise this with the restaurant community when she reached out about Skip the Stuff. So that's it. This is something a child did back when we were doing our plastic campaign, and I just love it, so there it is. So thank you, and any questions?

Thank you, Claire. Any questions?

Bob? Well, this is more of a comment, and then I do have a question. I like your approach to this because it's not mandating. Like you said, it's having these restaurants, places, phase it in, which you and I have had this discussion about different things. It's a good way to do it. The other thing I like is what you mentioned about the water bottles. I've had this argument with so many people who always carry around the water bottles. Drink tap water. It's better for you. It puts the plastic, the chemicals, the plastic leach into the water eventually. The last piece is, will this eventually apply to, let's say, like an Amazon? Because when you get a delivery from Amazon, if you look at the way it's packaged, some, they're starting to use more paper, but a lot of times it comes with styrofoam or like the bubble wrap. Do you think this eventually will go to something like an Amazon or a similar type company which uses plastics to wrap their products?

It's a huge problem, Bob, and you're absolutely right. What happened with both the plastic bag ordinance and this is it was a grassroots activity and environmental commissions across the state organized with councils to solve a need, but you can't, You can ask Stop and Shop not to give out plastic bags and they are a large corporation and they can adjust for Madison and Chatham. But I mean when we, back when we had an isolated ordinance, so all these ordinances were isolated to start out with. I don't know how you honestly tackle Amazon.

Yeah. It was just a thought that came to my mind, because I get deliveries from them all the time, and I'm always saying, look at all this garbage, and I'm just for a little bottle of pills, and you've got this box with all this stuff.

I'll tell you, I measure how I shop by how they package, and when somebody shops responsibly, I shop there. I don't shop in Amazon, partly because I don't like the way it comes. There you go. Your option is to find a better.

Yep.

better place to get your item where they aren't so profligate with plastic. And just as a side comment, you know, the petroleum industry is seeing a decrease in gasoline And, you know, conservation is reducing their demand. And plastic is what they're betting on to make up for it. So there's a huge push to plasticize everything, including the drive. So, you know, it's complicated.

Thank you, Claire. Any other questions or comments?

Just a quick comment. So the challenge is going to be now, Claire, I'm in this industry, so I happen to message some of my customers who are distributors of restaurant disposables, and I think out of the 10 people I sent the messages to, eight of them said, well, how's it gonna be policed? Who's gonna actually watch? Is it gonna be just people who know about it, how is it even going to be publicized? So what is going to happen? Is the health officer in the town going to go to each restaurant when they renew their license annually? Do you have any idea or am I just stomping you now?

No, actually, I think it's in the information. I think Lisa Ellis has that.

Okay.

But Lisa Ellis is not going to go to all the restaurants. No.

Because it's something that's not really public.

The first violation is a warning, the second is a fine.

$100 fine and $250 fine. Is that what it is? Yes, that's what it is. But it's a matter of, like I said, policing it, getting the notice out to every establishment that does takeout. That's primarily for takeout or maybe some in-house dining, like you said. They don't want you to have a plastic. cup that's going to go to the garbage or a plastic color they want you to have reusable colors but it's it still has maybe some more um it's going to require a little bit more involvement well i think i think there also has to be some citizen involvement to to not yeah well you have 12 people here who know about it so you have to get about 16 000 more people in the community to know about it And I'm behind it.

Yeah, I don't actually know because it's like skip the straw. It's kind of you're not banning an item. You're just telling people to use it differently.

It was banned. It was banned for a while, the plastic straws. And then the ban went away nationally, if you remember.

Oh, okay. Well, you would know better than I.

It was ridiculous.

So basically, as Madisonians, we have to work to help our restaurants and help. A lot of it comes through apps like Grubhub and things like that. So I don't order takeout because I don't like to waste. Eric? I'm not in charge.

Just a note on the enforcing body. It is actually administered through the New Jersey DEP. So violation notes can be sent to the state or the county environmental health folks or the county health department. And I don't know what our plan is at the local level, if any. But it looks like it's primarily New Jersey DEP is your enforcement.

body which that's why it may or may not uh be a good thing and and it seems like with like with other things the hope comes with the children because based on the drawing and based on the kids that got involved and went around business to business the kids seem to be like they're on it and they'll probably if they're like the kids in my house they'll keep their parents honest and make sure that everything is going the way it goes

So just two things. I don't have an answer to Eric's question, but Joe B., who's in the audience and is president of the Board of Health, and I will be at the meeting August 3rd, and we'll make sure we get it to the health officer before then so she can have something kind of ready if we want to discuss it.

And it may or may not be her. Right.

And she may know who exactly it is. And I do know, at least locally, if you order any restaurant we've ordered takeout from, I don't know for how long, but have had the option. Do you want the utensils? Do you not? And sometimes we say yes. More often we say no. But every so often, if we're going, you know, eat in the car, kids, sort of thing. But it is there, and you do have to select it, which I thought was great. And I didn't know there was a law behind it, so...

President Madison, Board of Health. We just had this discussion with Bridget Daly just today about actually straws. So the health inspectors will be, we will remind them, we will remind the health inspectors

and the health officer about this on August 3rd at our next meeting.

And as the health inspector goes to all the restaurants, he will be reminding them about this, you know, about skipping the stuff. Yeah, so he'll be telling them. You know, but again, compliance. It's good for Madison residents. My suggestion would be if you get this plastic store, you didn't ask for it, just remind the restaurant owner that I didn't ask for this and that you really don't want it. Thank you.

Okay, moving on to ordinances for hearing.

The ordinances scheduled for hearing were introduced by title and passed on the first reading at the regular meeting of the council held on June the 22nd, 2026. They were posted and filed according to law and copies were made available to the general public requesting same.

I call up ordinances for second reading and ask the clerk to read said ordinance by title.

Ordinance 31, 2026, ordinance of the borough of Madison appropriating $245,000 from the electric capital improvement fund for the purchase of a new bucket truck and accessories.

I open the hearing. Anyone wishing to comment? Seeing none, I close the hearing.

May I move ordinance 31-2026?

I'll second it. Any council discussion? Roll call vote, please.

Mr. Landrigan? Yes. Mr. Range? Yes. Mr. Harlan Putis? Yes. Mr. Forte? Yes. Ms. Cohen? Yes.

I declare ordinance 28-2026 adopted and finally passed and ask the clerk to publish notice and file ordinance in accordance with the law.

Ordinance 30 to 2026 is a bond ordinance to authorize the acquisition of real property known as the drew forest property for open space and other public purposes in by and for the borough of Madison in the County of our state of New Jersey. to appropriate the sum of $23,800,000 to pay the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriations and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds.

I open the hearing. Is there anyone wishing to comment on this? Seeing none, I close the hearing.

Mayor, I move ordinance 32-2026. Second.

Any council discussion?

Just a note on this. This authorizes the borough to issue these bonds up to $23.8 million, but this covers the entire purchase price, much of which is coming from external funding sources like our grant uh from then representative cheryl and senator booker uh the county grant other funding sources so as we as we are able to draw some of those we will be able to draw down early and have that money available to us at time of close those are dollars we wouldn't have to go out and bond full 23 million so we had a presentation not too long ago on kind of the net net but this authorizes us to do the whole thing should we need to but the actual issuance of debt when we get to that portion of the proceeds will be much much less than the number you see on the page here thank you for that helpful clarification any other council discussion seeing none roll call vote please

Mr. Landrigan? Yes. Mr. Range? Yes. Mr. Harold Poudis? Yes. Mr. Forte? Yes. Ms. Cohen? I have to recuse.

Thank you. I declare ordinance 28 2026 adopted and finally passed and asked the clerk to publish notice and file ordinance in accordance with the law. Now we come to our second invitation for public comment. Um, you can again, you can now comment on any topic and again, the same rules apply. Anyone wishing to comment on any topic, please step forward, state your name and address. Please try to keep your comments to three minutes, but we will give you a one minute grace.

Pam Hogan and 17 Broadview Avenue in Madison. I am reading a statement that I feel requires your attention. It's from Tori Williams, who is also a Madison resident. My name is Tori Williams and I have been a resident of Madison for 44 years. I am strongly in favor of an ordinance restricting gas leaf blowers. In addition to the environmental damage, the damage to health is substantial, not only to residents but to those who must use the blowers. Under the guidance of my physician, I monitor my blood pressure at home, and the systolic number rose 30 points after our neighbor's landscapers used gas leaf blowers for over an hour. Madison should follow the examples of other towns and prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers for the health of all and for the preservation of the environment and for our children. Thank you very much for your attention to this and I read it because I thought it really Hits the spot in terms of just drawing your attention to health Thank you on it. Okay.

Thank you very much Anyone else wishing to speak please step forward?

My name is Stuart Seidenstricker, I live at 34 Ridgedale Avenue, and I'm a member of Win the Spirit, which has office at 2 Green Village Road here in Madison. So today we immigrants and members of Win the Spirit would like to highlight your support in making us feel welcome. There's especially important times like that we are living in these days. Several months ago, before this current federal administration even got sworn in, we came to you and asked you to pass a resolution in favor of ETA, Immigrant Trust Act. This was a piece of state legislation that would protect immigrants, and doing so, protect the community at large. You considered, passed a resolution unanimously, and at the very beginning of that campaign, you connected with other towns, influenced their decision, and that they follow your example. Several other towns, actually 36, passed resolutions, and six counties passed resolution. So your administration was very well represented in Trenton, not only as witness, but ready to testify in support of the Immigrant Trust Act and the different versions that it changed into. Today, we have some of ITA, Immigrant Trust Act spirit at the law in New Jersey, not exactly what we worked for, but we have something. Thank you for your example and commitment. These particular signs that you might have seen around town were produced under collaboration between Macta and Wind of the Spirit. So we're offering them to each one of you here representing the town on the work that you do and hope to express our gratitude to a town that is constantly working to welcome the other. So we'll have them here after me and we can give each of you one of them. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else wishing to speak, please come forward. Seeing none, I'll close this portion of the meeting. We have no introduction of ordinances. We'll move on to consent agenda resolutions.

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 and full in the minutes.

Yes, Mayor, I move consent agenda resolution R212-2026 through R229-2026. Second. Any council discussion?

Just a note on 216 concerning the transformers. These are much needed transformers, especially after the storm. And just kudos to our purchasing department and administration who worked through some tariff nastiness to make sure that we can get these in a timely way and not need to address the tariffs. So thank you.

Thank you.

So, Mayor Forte, Acting Mayor Forte, I want to comment on Resolution 221. The Eagle Scout Project is a young man named Ryan Egan. He is renovating, helping to clear the trails around Madison Recreation Complex, and he's going to be installing bird boxes over there to keep the native birds protected during the season when they're there and they need a home. And then the Resolution 225, which is the installation of a peace pole at James Park, for anybody who cares. The peace pole was founded in Japan as a response to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the last seven decades. an international monument to peace. The peace poles have been planted in over 250,000 communities worldwide on every continent. And this is from the Rotary. Rotary's involved in planting some peace poles internationally. It's supposed to ignite the flame of peace which lies within every human heart. That's it, Mayor.

Thank you very much. Roll call vote, please.

Mr. Landrigan? Yes. Mr. Range? Yes. Mr. Harold Poudis?

Yes, except Resolution 223, 2026, I have to abstain.

Mr. Forte? Yes. Ms. Cohen? Yes.

Okay, there's no unfinished business. Approval of the vouchers.

From the current fund, $410,108.25. From the general capital fund, $33,845.61. From the electric operating fund, $804,448.05. From the electric capital fund, $1,311.41. From the water operating fund, $12,635.83. From the Water Capital Fund, $2,512.80. And from the Trust, $43,052.06. The total is $1,307,914.01. Yes. I'll move the approval of the vouchers. Second. May I have a roll call vote? Yes. Mr. Range? Yes. Mr. Harlan Pudas? Yes. Mr. Forte? Yes. Ms. Cohen? Yes.

Okay. And we have no new business. May I have a motion to adjourn?

I motion we adjourn the meeting.

Thank you very much.