Village Council - Regular Meeting

Council regular public meeting. The date is March 11th, 2026. The time is 7:30. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a posting on the bulletin board in Village Hall, by mail to the Ridgewood News, the record, and by submission to all persons entitled the same as provided by law of a of a schedule, including the date and time of this meeting, and as per public law 2025, chapter 72, was also posted on the village of Ridgewood's legal notices page at ridgewoodj.net. Roll call.

Council member Mortimer here. Deputy Mayor Perne here. Council member Whites here. Council member Winterrad here. Mayor Vaganos here. Will you all please join us in a salute to our flag 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. I move the bills, claims, and vouchers and statement of funds on hand as of February 28th, 2026 be accepted as submitted. I second. Mortimer, yes. Haron, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes.

Vagianos, yes. I move that the village council minutes of January 14, 2026, having been reviewed by the village council and now available in the village clerk's office be approved as submitted. I second. Mortimer, yes. Perin, yes. White, yes. Wiggrad, yes. And Vianis, yes. And now we have some proclamations that we will read. Frank, will you lead us off, please? It's me, poison. Yeah, you're

Oh, you're absolutely right. Oh, I'm happy to refer to you, Frank, if you like, but all right, I got it. All right. Whereas National Poison Prevention Week, established in 1961, raises awareness about the dangers of medicines, household products, chemicals, and other harmful sub substances. And whereas this year's theme, when the unexpected happens, poison health is here for you, highlights the free expert assistance available to the public. And whereas poison centers nationwide use National Poison Prevention Week to promote life-saving services and educate communities on preventing poison exposures. And whereas the New Jersey Poison Control Center at Rucker New Jersey Medical School provides 247 medical advice and prevention education at no cost through the poison help hotline reducing unnecessary emergency room visits and supporting statewide monitoring of poisoning exposures. And whereas poisoning remains the leading cause of injury related death in the United States with ongoing concerns including drug overdoses, lead exposure and carbon monoxide poisoning. And whereas residents are urged to seek immediate help during potential poisoning by calling 1800222122, texting 973390702 or chatting at www.njpes.org. And whereas all residents are encouraged to save the poison help hotline in their phones to ensure quick access during emergencies. Now therefore, be it resolved that the village council of the village of Ridgewood does hereby proclaim March 15 to 21st, 2026 as National Poison Prevention Week in New Jersey and encourages all residents to help protect the safety of themselves, their families, and their community.

Thanks, Evan. World Down Syndrome Day.

Down syndrome caused by an extra 21st chromosome affects about 6,000 babies in the United States each year or one in every 700 births. And whereas Down syndrome is a lifelong condition that can involve intellectual and physical disabilities and early services can help babies and children with Down syndrome reach their full potential. And whereas people with Down syndrome have the right to be accepted, included, and valued as equal members of the community. And whereas the United Nations established March 21st as World Down Syndrome Day to raise global awareness. And whereas the 2026 theme together against loneliness calls attention to the isolation often experienced by people with Down syndrome and urges collective action to be brought to build connection and belonging. And whereas Rididgewood supports organizations that ensure individuals with Down syndrome receive needed services so that they can lead fulfilling productive lives. And whereas the date March 21st simplify symbolizes the tripification of the 21st chromosome and promoting inclusion is the most meaningful way to honor this day. Now therefore, be it resolved that the village council of the village of Rididgewood does hereby proclaim March 21st, 2026 as World Down Syndrome Day in the Village of Ridgewood, New Jersey, and encourages all of our residents to learn about Down Syndrome and commit to strengthening our support systems.

Thank you, Frank. And now we have proclamation for World Autism Day. Siobhan,

sure. So whereas a autism is a lifelong neuro develop neurode development condition that affects communications, social interactions and behavior and currently impacts 1 in 36 children in the United States. Whereas autism exists on a spectrum, meaning each autistic person experiences it differently and may require different levels of support. And whereas autism has no cultural boundaries and is found across all races, ethnicities, and gender identifications. And whereas the United Nations establish April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day to promote understanding, inclusion, and opportunities for autistic people worldwide so they can lead full and meaningful lives. And whereas autistic individuals continue to face barriers in employment, education, health care, and housing, and their contributions to our communities deserve recognition. And whereas World Autism Day celebrates the achievements of neurode divergent people everywhere and champions for the equal rights and dignity of all those living on the autism spectrum. Now therefore, it be resolved that the village council of the village of Rididgewood does hereby proclaim April 2nd, 2026 as World Autism Day and encourages all residents to learn about autism, support early diagnosis, and help build more welcoming and inclusive communities to support autistic people.

Thanks, Siobhan. Let's go right to public comment. Each speaker is limited to three minutes. At one minute, the bell will ring and then when the timer goes off. I will say time is up. Seeing no one, I'm going to close public comment and we will go right to our manager report.

Um, thank you, mayor. Um, this morning the Ridgewood Fire Department and Police Department responded to Graden Pool for a reported garbage truck fire. Upon arrival, they found our sanitation crews who was in the middle of bulk pickup. Um, they were dumping the load at the grain lot. Um after the truck caught fire, uh the crew on the sanitation division jumped into action and utilized a portable fire extinguisher to hold the fire at bay until the fire department was able to arrive. They safely dropped the load and gratefully there were no injuries and no damage to the vehicle. The Ridgewood Fire Department uh finished extinguishing the fire with support from the streets division. Um and they did a full cleanup of the area. I want to thank all of the involved departments uh for their coordination and efforts this morning. I especially want to thank our three sanitation employees for their quick thinking who were assigned to that truck. They limited the potential injury and prevented costly municipal equipment damage. As a reminder to the public, I just want to remind everyone again not to throw rechargeable or singleuse lithium batteries in the trash or in bulk refu. Button cell, singleuse lithium, and dry cell rechargeable batteries weighing up to 11 pounds should be brought by residents directly to the recycling center so that it can be properly disposed of. Be sure to place non-conductive tape over the terminal ends before handling the battery batteries to any of our attendants at the recycling center. And please make sure that you bring outdoor power tools to the recycling center for disposal. This is not the first time that we have had a fire in the rear of a sanitation truck. The last time it was due to a disposed of laptop. Um, and this does create dangerous conditions

for our crews. So, we're just asking residents to be v vigilant and properly dispose of any hazardous waste in the appropriate way. In addition to that, um I want to announce that over the last few days, we have had tree removal at the Shedler property. Um, all of the trees that were removed by our parks division this week were identified as necessary to be removed for the purposes of the remediation that we are about to undertake on the property. Uh, those trees were dropped in place and will be disposed of and removed from the site during the remediation process. I want to stress that we have approval from the Bureau of Solid Waste at the D and we have approval from the state historic preservation office to undertake that work and the work that will come shortly with regard to the remediation. While we're speaking about trees, um you may have seen some social media posts or an update in our weekly e-news that PSCG is planning to do tree pruning throughout the village this year. Uh we anticipate that that work effort will start midmon this month. Um, and I want everyone to know that the village has been proactive about meeting with representatives from PSENG along with their contractor to ensure that the pruning is done in an appropriate way. We all care and love our tree canopy here in the village. And as PSENG comes in to do this work, we want to make sure that it's done right. But I also want to stress that we do not have any direct control over the contractor who's actually conducting the work. With regard to yesterday's budget address, um I had the opportunity uh to be in Trenton yesterday. Uh there was a lot of anxiety prior to the governor's speech

uh with regard to the impact on municipal aid. um as it was presented yesterday, which is one of the reasons that we held off introducing the budget back in February and moved it to tonight. Um it looks like at this point in time there are not going to be any recommended cuts by the administration to municipal aid. Um so that puts us in a good position tonight to introduce our 2026 municipal budget. Last night I had the opportunity to speak before the League of Women Voters at an event at Park West Tavern. Um it was about local government. They called it a uh a civics night. Um and I just want to thank Amber and Walsh and Robin who coordinated the event for the opportunity to participate in that and share a little bit more information about how our government works here in Ridgewood. And finally, uh we had a central dispatch meeting yesterday morning. We hired three full-time dispatchers, which for the first time during my tenure here in Ridgewood brings us to full staffing when it comes to our um cooperated dispatch center in the basement of the Peas Library, which we cooperate with Burrow of Glenrock. So, I want to thank uh Tom Pomeroy, the director of Central Dispatch, for his vigilance in trying to recruit new talented people uh to help work our dispatch center. and I'm very proud that we are finally after three years at full staffing at that location. Just a few reminders. Um the parks and recreation department will be holding a seasonal summer job fair this coming Monday, March 16th in the community center in the youth lounge here at Village Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Uh please come down and explore a wide variety of full-time and part-time positions that will be available this summer. The recreation department also has an array of programs uh to keep kids active and connected after school, including quite a few programs that are scheduled to start this month. Please

visit uh community pass to sign up for those specific programs. The Village Arts Council presents Children's in the Arts on Sunday, March 15th at 2 p.m. at the Ridgwood Public Library in the art studio. This is a great program for children and adults of all ages. The Rididgewood Health Department will be hosting a blood drive on Thursday, March 26th from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm in the youth lounge of level one at the Village Hall. You can register at nybc.org/lletesia. Liz Zia A. Council chat will take place on Saturday, March 28th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the caucus room, which is located here on level 4, right outside the council chambers. Call for reservation to the clerk's office at 2011-670-55000 extension 227. Residents can attend council chat without an appointment. However, reservations will have priority. The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce presents Easter in the park at Bennis Square on Saturday, April 4th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There will be an egg hunt, Easter bunny pictures, music, games, vendors, and more. Please contact the chamber for more information. And finally, village council upcoming meetings. March 25th, we have a work session. March 30th, a work session. April 8th is our next public meeting and is the scheduled budget adoption date. And April 22nd is a work session. All those meetings start at 7:30 p.m. And that concludes my report. Mayor,

thanks Keith. Let's go to our council reports. Frank,

thanks. And uh Keith, thanks for stealing my thunder because I'm also gonna say that met with the art council on Monday and this Sunday as Keith said is children in the arts and that's at 2 p.m. in the art studio in the library and this is a really cool event that children that are involved in the arts in like the one of the people will interview them to get to understand what their motivation is and what their passion is for being in the arts. So that's something exciting for this Sunday at 2 pm. Um, and I also wanted to give a shout out to Ridgewood Water. As uh many people know that Ridgewood Water has um is going around to to replace the water line from the street into the house. Um, mine happened today. It took less than two hours and it was fantastic. Um, they were super professional and it was like a NASCAR pit crew of how they just all did what their job was to get it done so quickly and efficiently. So, if you're on the list to get your lead replaced, it was great. So, thank you to Richwood Water. And that concludes my report. Mayor,

thank you, Frank Siobhan. Sure. I have no council reports, but I did just want to thank the full council and staff who covered for me last week while I was away. Um, they picked up for me, so I'm thankful to all of you. All good. Evan?

Yeah. Really briefly, um, historical preservation committee met uh, Monday. Unfortunately, I had a work commitment, so I couldn't make it. But do just want to thank Stacy Saparis who chairs it along with all the other members. Uh and last Thursday I had the real privilege of sitting on an Eagle Scout Board of Review meeting which um I was not a Boy Scout as a child. Uh I've come to really um appreciate and and really have a deep deep deep respect for what they do do and really took it as a huge honor that I was invited as a council member to sit uh on that Eagle Scout board of of review last week. Thanks. S Pam, I just assumed you had been a Boy Scout. They didn't really have him in Brooklyn, so not so much. I I kind of assumed he wasn't a boy scout.

Okay. I I first would like to amend something I said in the last couple of meetings about uh POS in our water and the level of POS during the winter and and the level of POS in water that we buy from other outlets. I uh one of the um resident two of the residents questioned me about it after the last meeting and I checked with Richard Calby and he said that we buy water from Paic Valley um water authority and other outlets um if their POS level is lower than ours and not that they have to be POS free but their level is lower than ours and um and that in the wintertime it's not that everybody in Ridgewood is getting POS free water but in the low-lying zones um on some days the water is completely compliant that is POS is non-detectable um but there are days when we have to re redirect water and or blend it and so it's not a certainty that every day in winter uh the water would be POSFree. As to updates, Green Ridgewood met last week and um we talked about various things like the new law on skip the stuff and how to educate the the merchants downtown and things like that. Um there is also an opening uh vacancy on Green Ridge Rididgewood if someone wants to apply and also another vacancy on the green team. Forms to apply to be on the committees are in the clerk's office and online. Um I do want to thank the League

of Women Voters for putting on the event where Keith spoke and others spoke. Um, it was entitled, "Who's Really in Charge?" Uh, and it was very informative as all League events are and very thoughtful and and and well balanced. Um, so thank you to the league and to uh our manager for speaking. Um, central business district advisory committee will be meeting down here on the fourth floor. I correct myself. um in the caucus room tomorrow morning at 8:30. And that's all I have.

Great. And I have nothing to report. So, let's go right to our agenda. Keith, why don't you kick it off?

So, mayor, tonight, uh we are going to present the 2026 municipal budget for introduction. Um I want to first thank our department heads and the council uh for their indulgence during this process. I know we were originally scheduled to do this last month. We decided to do to put it off a month due to the heavy agenda with affordable housing. Um and some of the murmurings we were hearing as I alluded to earlier out of Trenton uh relative to any potential cuts to municipal aid. Um we are in a much better position tonight uh to present this budget. So, as you know, this budget process began last summer and extended right through the past few days. After three rounds of formal meetings with the department directors and our supervisors, we were able to present department requests over the course of five village council budget meetings in January and February to discuss our priorities. I say priorities because that's what a municipal budget is, a living document that sets the council's and the administration's priorities for the calendar year. I'd also like to say that this was an especially tough budget year. As you will see in the presentation this evening, skyrocketing health care costs, snow removal after two historic storms, and the impact of current world affairs and what that will have on fuel costs this year were all pressing concerns. These challenges are challenges that are shared by our neighboring communities and are faced by towns and counties throughout the state this year. I want to thank our chief financial officer, Bob Rooney, and his team, Steve and Olivia, in the finance office, along with all of our directors and our supervisors, who all had a h a hand in helping to prepare their budgets,

outline their needs, help prioritize their asks, and in the latter part of the process, work to make reductions and cuts to get us where we are tonight. So with that, let's present the 2026 municipal budget. So we're actually going to start where we normally finish, and that is that the budget that's being presented to council tonight delivers a 3.98% increase in the tax levy over 2025. The major driver of increase this year comes down to health benefits. and it's an approximate $3.1 million increase in that expenditure alone in employee health care, prescription costs, and hospitalization. I'm pleased to report to both the council and the public that with the implementation of the high deductible option through our state health benefits plan and the implementation of the difference card, we were able to avert a 3.2 2 million increase, which equates to the 36.5% increase that was passed along by the state to government entities who offer the state health benefits plan. So, we averted a $3.2 million increase and we landed at a $1.3 million increase. This budget also maintains reserves and our trust accounts. It protects the village's AAA credit rating. It presents responsible negotiations with all collective bargaining units, which represent village employees. It continues to invest in village and Rididgewood water infrastructure along with our local park systems and our

roads. And there are no cuts to services that will be felt by residents. It also maintains an employee headcount flat over 2025. As you know, just over a year ago, S&P S SNP global rating reaffirm the village's AAA credit rating. Uh the opinion stated, and I quote, "We expect the village to experience continued tax base growth while maintaining its extremely affluent economic indicators. Sound budget performance has led to positive year-end results and an increase in fund balance, which we'll talk more about as we get into the presentation. We expect the village will maintain stable operations as it looks to balance growing expenses and stabilize infrastructure projects while increasing revenues. And finally, we view budgeting practices as well-grounded, realistic, and proactive. Here we have our tax history uh dating back to 2021. Um this year, as I mentioned, we will be at a 3.98% tax increase. That's in comparison to the tax increase last year that was felt by the taxpayers of 3.14%. Working backwards, in 2024, it was at 2.77. 2023 was a 4.67% tax increase. However, I will note that was the year that the $2.6 million in COVID aid was discontinued by the federal government. And you also saw a 23% increase in state health benefits that year. Just to put it in perspective, the 36.5% increase that we're seeing this year is on top of that 23% increase from

2023. Um, in 2022 it was 2.14 and in 2021 it was 4.46. 47. With regard to fund balance, also known as surplus, we have good news in that space. Um, our 2026 unodudited surplus number is $7.5 million. That surplus reflects an increase by nearly $2.5 million over our 2022 balance. In the same vein, when we look at the fund balance with regard to Ridgewood Water, comparable numbers, the 2022 fund balance was 10.8 million. We end we start 2026 again unodudited at $13.2 million. That's about a $2.4 million increase in fund balance over 2022. Our equalized valuation over the last five years has grown by 46.8%. Um, some of this has to do with new taxable properties. Um, some of it also has to do with the work of our tax assessor, uh, Bill Palumbo, who is very v vigilant in following up on building department permits and being out in the field to make sure that work that is being done here in the village is followed up and properly put on the tax roles. So, let's talk about some of the major budget impacts. Um, obviously our employee base and our contractual obligations to those employees um is a heavy weight. However, all of our contractual increases in 2026 are at or below 2.5% as listed in the right column. Uh the increase in police salaries and wages this year is just over 345,000.

Increase to the fire department is just over 145,000. Our blue collar increase is 203,000 and change. Our white collar increase is just under 108,000. Our increase to our supervisors is just under 32,000. And we also are going to tap terminal leave trust fund which I'll talk about in just a moment. Uh with regard to some of our retiring employees, we're using trust money um to pay for their terminal leave rather than um hitting the taxpayer for that. Pension and health care increases, although in the case of New Jersey pensions, it's actually a decrease. So we did receive some good news from the state. Uh we're down just under $21,000 in pension costs this year. Um but as I mentioned earlier, our increase to health benefits is just under 1.3 million. Um and our cumulative increase in all insuranceances including health care um is just under one is just over 1.3 million. Some of the other major impacts um are things that quite frankly we can't predict. Um storms are very hard to budget for. Um, and this year, unfortunately, we're just entering, we're just getting into uh mid-March, and we've had two historic snowstorrms uh that our blueco collar employees have had to contend with. Our snow removal costs for three storms, the two major storms and then one minor ice snow mix event, uh amounted to over $417,000 in costs for equipment, overtime and materials such as salt. Um I want to thank again our bluecollar workers. Um both of these storm events started on a Sunday. Um, in that case, when we bring in folks to respond to an emergency on a Sunday, we are paying

double time u because they're giving up that Sunday with their families uh to come in and to respond to that emergency. Um, so we had to contend with those costs because we know them going into the introduction of this budget. We've also prepared for increases to fuel. All you have to do is turn on the news and see the state of world affairs to know that we are going to see increased fuel costs. Uh so this is a change that we made to the budget just within the last week or so. Um but we have increased our gasoline allocation by $325,000 based on where we project fuel costs to go uh due to the current state of world affairs. And our debt service for the general fund this year, the increase is $641,000. So, a summary of major budget impacts. Uh, contractual increases come out to an increase of 925,000. That's, uh, two slides ago. That's the cumulative increase across our bargaining units. Uh, terminal leave, um, social total insuranceances, again, 1.3 million, snowstorm recovery, fuel, and debt service. So with those daunting numbers, we then turned our discussion with our directors and with our CFO to where do we cut? So some of the major budget cuts um that I want to highlight for the council and for the public. Um first, the funding for our court-ordered reassessment um which we will have a presentation on before council at our March 25th work session. Um that was something that we attempted to budget for. Um however, knowing the state of the budget, we are going to pursue an e a special emergency appropriation which most communities use for a reassessment or a revaluation of

all equalized property in their community. That will allow us to spread out the cost of the reassessment over a 5-year period. So, we started off by cutting back a half a million dollars for that endeavor. We cut the reserve for tax appeals by 75,000. We cut back our costs for professional planning services by 130,000. Uh that would affect the planning board, the zoning board, and the village council. Um we're confident in making that decision. Um first, some of those costs um are going to be covered by escrow. some of those costs are going to be covered by the affordable housing trust fund. Um we also feel that we are over the lion share of the 2025 2026 work when it comes to professional planning on the affordable housing side. While there will be applications that are made or anticipated applications made before the planning board um that money will again be supplemented by escrow funds. Uh on the insurance side, uh we did cut that number that I discussed earlier uh by almost $900,000. Uh we created that projection based on our first two months of payments to the disiff difference card. So the difference card for those of you who are not familiar with it um is where we provide our employees who have elected to go to the less expensive highdeductible state health care plan. We provide them with a difference card to cover all of their out-ofpocket costs um to supplement what their costs would be now that they're on the HD plan. Uh based on two months of bills um and discussion with the folks at the difference card to maintain um some consistency um we were able to ascertain that we had overbudgeted for the

difference card payments that need to be made and that was our justification for lowering that amount by 890,000. Terminal leave, again, we cut 175,000 because we're going to allocate that to the terminal leave trust. Um, overtime needs, we've cut back by about 125,000. Property maintenance, which is building and grounds. It's not the inspections of property maintenance, it's the property maintenance of our village owned buildings. Um, we cut that back by 24,000. Equipment maintenance and repair by 50,000. salary negotiation costs, which is our professional services, uh to support us in contractual negotiations by $50,000. Uh the only collective bargaining units that we have up this year are both of the fire unions. So, we'll be negotiating with them as we get into the summer months. Conferences and training, we cut back by just under 74,000. Utilities by 200,000. Uh chemicals for the water pollution control facility by 32,000. uh the project recycling containers uh 40,000, our legal costs by 35,000 and then our lower dollar amounts that we were able to cut uh is marked as miscellaneous and that comes up to 426,500. So with those cuts in mind, um what priorities are we able to pursue in 2026? Um, on the public safety side, we plan to complete the full accreditation of the Rididgewood Police Department. We plan to fund the certification of the Ridgewood Fire Department. We plan to order a new fire engine for the Ridgewood Fire Department with money that has been put aside year after year in a sinking fund. Um, these fire engines are expensive now. We're talking about $1.2 million for one apparatus.

Um, but the council has prudently put money aside in that sinking fund. This capital payment, which we'll talk about later in the presentation, will bring us to where we need to be in order to order the truck. We're going to begin the emergency operation center construction at the Douglas Place facility for OEM. We're going to implement villagewide security improvements, purchase new handheld portable radios, and replace body cameras as required by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. And we are going to maintain staffing at recommended levels for the Ridgewood Police Department and with the Ridgewood Fire Department for the first time in about five years. Our goals on the public works side, uh, design a new traffic signal at Oak and Glenn, fund a $2.75 million road resurfacing program with ADA handicap cuts and lot paving um, on some of our municipal facilities. We are going to update our tax maps in preparation for the reassessment. We are going to add new pedestrian intersection crossing signals throughout the village.

Yes. Make improvements to the recycling and parks garage facility. Purchase a new street sweeper sign truck and hydro sewer jet truck for our public works divisions. Replace two garage doors at fire headquarters and repair the habern park bridge. On the parks and recreation side, we're going to install a playground and gazebo at King's Pond to satisfy the DP Green Acres requirements to clear the South Broad Street diversion. We're going to match two grants to make improvements to Citizens Park and the Graden Skate Park. We're going to furnish and provide startup costs for the history and cultural center of Bergen County at the Zubriski Shedler House. We plan to provide staffing for expanded programming at the community center following the grant-f funded improvements which were provided by the Ridgerest Foundation. We intend to plant 120 residential trees and 130 parkland trees along with our 100 saplings that we plant annually this year in the ridge district in conjunction with the shade tree commission. And that will 120 residential trees and 130 parkland trees will bring us to the 250 trees to be planted in honor of the 250th birthday of our country. We're also going to fund hazardous tree removal throughout the village. On the Rididgewood Water side, Rididgewood Water has an aggressive plan for 2026. Uh they will be completing all PAS treatment facilities by quarter 1, 2027. And the only reason that the final PAS treatment facility, the one that will be

left at the end of this year, will not be completed was because the D required archaeological work to be done at that location, which held the project's time frame back. We'll utilize both state and federal secured grants for POS treatment and for our lead service line replacements to the tune of $2.5 million. We'll finalize the West Glenn Avenue distribution pump and install 5600 ft of new water man to better serve residents up on the hill in Ridgewood and Midland Park. I just want to say the existing water manes that are there were installed between 1910 and 1927. Just to put in perspective the age of these pipes, we will implement a private public partnership to advance asset management for the 10 storage tanks in the system. We'll launch a rebranding effort to incorporate the new website domain for Ridgewood Water and also launch a public education campaign about Ridgewood Water so that the service area residents understand what Ridgewood Water provides and what they do for our community. They will also receive an NJDP approval and incorporate new ICPMS testing equipment into the lab at Ridgewood Water, which will allow for testing of all metals in our drinking water. So, with those priorities in mind, what is the impact on the taxpayer? 2026 budget is $3.8 8 million under the tax levy cap. It's also 1 point almost $1.3 million under the appropriations cap. The 2026 average home in the village is valued at $715,000.

That's a $2300 increase to the average assessed home amount. Last year's municipal taxes in 2025 were 4,926 on that average home assessed at 715. This year's this year the taxes will be $5,122 which amounts to an increase of $195.89 on the average home. When you break that down to a monthly increase, it's $16.32. And as I started with that is a municipal increase to the tax levy of 3.98%. Just to review the capital budget um which will be adopted this evening um we have for paving 2.75 million Oak Street and Glenn Avenue traffic light 100,000 for the design the habernickel bridge repairs 40,000 the engine oh sorry about that the engine replacement in the sinking fund is $600,000 which gets us to that $1.2 $2 million to place the order. $21,000 for the garage door replacement, $100,000 for the history and cultural center furnishings and startup, $120,000 for the EOC to be established at Douglas Place, $65,000 for computer replacement uh for it, $120,000 for a discharge pump replacement at Grad and Pool, $50,000 for the Maple Field Sinking Fund, $160,000 for residential tree planting, $150,000 for hazardous tree removal, $100,000 for parks tree planting, $100,000 for replacement pickup truck

for the parks department, $268,000 to match the grant for citizens park improvements, $320,000 for the radio replacement for the Rididgewood Police, 125,000 for outfitting police vehicles, $125,000 for the attorney general required upgrade to the body cameras, $90,000 for villagewide security improvements, $75,500 for an F350 replacement for recycling, $30,000 for the garage and locker room improvements for recycling and parks, $43,000 for matching funds to Glenrock's commitment uh for an upgrade of the consoles at central dispatch. $35,000 for the Ford Maverick for sanitation. 48,000 for a new lift in the garage on Chestnut Street for the Fleet Division. $336,000 for the new street sweeper. $160,000 for the replacement of the sign truck, which will also have a plow. $50,000 for the pedestrian crossing signals. $370,000 for the hydro sewer jet replacement truck and $20,000 for route control with the water with the wastewater control facility. And mayor, at this time, we'll open it up to any discussion or questions that the village council might have.

Council, who wants to jump in first?

So, this is my favorite topic, so I'm happy to lead off. Um, so I will say I'm not happy about a 3.98% raise. Um, but I'm proud of the budget, Keith, that you've just introduced. Um, I would suggest to folks to go Google and look at what some other towns are looking at in terms of their increases as a result of the headwinds. Some of those towns are talking about 7 8 9%. The fact that we're coming in below 4% um speaks to the fiscal responsibility, the amount of planning we've put into uh this budget, and I think just the competence um of this village council and our village municipal staff. Um, as Keith discussed, some of these headwinds are ridiculous. Um, our health care costs have gone up well over a million dollars. But for some fast thinking by the village and Keith's leadership, could have been $3 million. As I said before, this is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. This is merely an issue of incompetence in Trenton. They need to fix this and not push these expenses down to us. Uh what is not the fault of Trenton was the snow over $400,000 that could not be avoided and of course the fuel costs which we have to pay and account for. Um I'm incredibly proud that this budget comes in with no cuts to services. Um there is nothing critical that we were asked for that we did not fund for this year. Again I think that speaks to the intelligence and the thoughtfulness that went into this. Um police and fire were not cut in any way. And Keith, as you pointed out, the fact that we have a full police force for the first time in several years, again, I think speaks to the fiscal responsibility and the safety responsibility of this village. Um, again, $2.75 million for paving, one of my favorite topics. Uh, roads in Ridgewood are notoriously bad. The last couple years, we've seen a significant improvement. This will continue that trajectory. The fact that we're funding a new fire truck, again, that's one of those needs to have, not nice to haves. Um the fact that we had the foresight to begin a um syncing fund last year allowed us to put the order in without having to take the full brunt of the

$1.2 million that have to go into this. Again, it comes down to fiscal responsibility and fiscal planning. And finally for me, the boring stuff. We got the boring stuff right. Um again, the sinking fund um that we have for uh Maple Field and again the fire truck. Um one of those things that um you know again goes without notice but shouldn't. the fact that our reserves at $7.5 million. Again, this is our safety net. Um, you know, if we wanted to play fast and loose, we could have reduced that, incurred more risk and could have come. It was a flashy number. We didn't do that. We did the right thing. We're fiscally responsible. That number, I believe, since 2021 has gone up over 50%. Again, goes to our fiscal responsibility that we've shown. So, I will end where I began, which is I'm not happy bringing an almost 4% increase to this village, but given the headwinds, uh the amount of um of work that was done, the fact that we're not cutting cutting any any of the um the fact that we're not cutting any of those critical services to our village uh makes me proud to vote in favor of this. And again, Keith, I thank you and your entire staff for the work that went into this. and and mayor, just along those lines, I don't want to identify some of our neighboring communities, but I've sat in meetings with fellow administrators in this area of Bergen County. As I mentioned, I was down in Trenton yesterday and I ran into a few other folks from throughout the state. Um, there's not many municipalities or counties that are not dealing with the same uh cost factors and increased costs on certain items. Um, we have neighboring communities that are between that are struggling with 8 to 12% tax increases um and are not close to introducing their budget the way we are because they're still contending with how to cut some of those costs. So again, without identifying them collectively around the state, I can tell you that this has been a very very challenging budget year.

Who else? I would just like to thank Keith and uh not just the directors um but also the staff itself, you know, because it's what makes me proud about this is that we're we're protecting and and supporting our staff, which being up here is one of the most important things to me because they work hard and they work with a great attitude. And so for us to be able to support them because they support our village so good is what I feel great about. So thank you Keith for putting this together. I just want to begin and I wish everybody at home could see that um on a Wednesday night our professional staff is here. We have all the directors which is amazing. So I'm going to start with a very positive thank you to Bob Rooney obviously um for the countless hours and for all of us all of our annoying questions. Um this is my fourth budget way better than the first year where we ran out of COVID money. Um, what I think is such a compliment about the staff is that everybody kind of on the capital asks waits, right? You know, John, I can't believe we're getting a fire truck. I mean, the first year we left Sean Hamlin without a garbage truck. And when you're watching these slides for me, obviously I'm a politician and I ran on a campaign. Those are lingering issues that we've kicked off. The bridge, um, look at that. That's a field improvement. You know, Nancy, the landing page had something we didn't even paid for. I don't know if you guys realized that. The first slide was a donation that NY's Parks inspired. Um, and I want to say that too to people. That's what's missing in here are literally hundreds of thousands of dollars heaven for grants that we've become so grant worthy. And um, I'm, you know, I love seeing the capital projects because that's the path for our town to maintain its charm and improve its infrastructure. And I'm just so incredibly grateful that I get to work with all of you, that we are here, um that you've built this team, you know, that we all work so well together even when we're not getting along. So, um I

just really feel very proud of looking at this and I'm grateful to work with such professionals and be the one who gets to vote yes to this is an exciting position to be in. So, thank you. I want to thank all the directors who have looked at all the details and the small amounts and and built it so that we only have to look at the overview. You're really down in the weeds and I thank you for that and and all your guidance. It really makes such a well constructed um governing entity here. Uh, I'm going to close this out by saying that I am uh this is this is really hard stuff. It's not easy in in tough years. As Keith said, um we know uh mayor and councils and and business administrators in surrounding towns that are dealing with 10 11% budget increases. um to bring this in at 3.98% which as as Evan said not initially thrilled about but when you see what other towns are dealing with and when you look at what's been done and and the credit goes to all the people in this room um you know that we have a a full police force for the first time in years that we've maintained our AAA budget budget uh excuse me bond rating that we've increased our reserves in this difficult budget year. Health insurance, you know, one one of the points that's really important here is nobody's health insurance has changed. Everyone still has the same coverage they always had. Um the innovation in

getting this done, and again I mentioned this last week, that was Keith. Um the the fuel and snow increases this year. Um new radios for police and fire. Um roads, water uh department and again as as as has been mentioned you guys without you we couldn't get this done. I mean this was never going to happen. And so really big kudos to the directors who provide the leadership and the balance to get this done the right way for the benefit of the people that we all serve. Uh who are incredibly grateful at the end of the day for the work that you do. Um I I I you know let's let's give these guys a big round of applause. Please come on. So, at the at the end of the day, um really Keith, you led a great team, did a great job. Is where's where's Bob?

Bob. Mayor, I'm actually going to ask Bob to come up for the uh the uh next phase of introducing the ordinance. Come on up, Bob. So, does anybody have any questions? No. Are we good to go? Okay. So, mayor, just from a house, I'm sorry. I did just want to note um and thank you just for my last point. Uh Bob and Keith spent about an hour with me walking me through this on Friday. Um which is going to mean we're all going to get home a lot sooner. So, thank you, Keith, for that.

I I needed to show him where all the cuts came from. Are you kidding? Um so, just from a a housekeeping standpoint, um and Bob can walk you through this. Um, we have an ordinance that needs to be introduced to establish the cap bank and we need to do a resolution uh for the deferred school taxes. So, Bob, do you just want to explain the mechanisms associated with both of those votes?

Sure. The cap bank that we establish is in accordance with the law allows us to go up 1.5% over uh what we normally would get. So, the cap is at two. This allows us to get to three and a half. And the reason for this is a safety net. um if we were to run into a problem next year where we have to get we get a close to a cap exception, this allows us some more breathing room uh down the road. So it's uh there's no impact on any any budget matters or anything else. It's just putting money aside down the road

on that with regard to the one slide which discussed how f far under cap we are right for this budget that will build us cap capacity moving forward for future year's budget should we need that. That's correct. Just so everybody has an understanding of of what the ordinance establishes. And I just want to make sure because there's been questions during the process that after we introduce tonight the budget friendly version will be posted tomorrow. No, it'll be ne next week sometime. It's a state document that's about 80 pages long that has to be populated. So it'll be on the on the website next week.

Okay. And after it goes in, we'll include that link in the e-notice so people Okay. I just want to make sure that when it goes live because people have questioned when they can digest it. So, so just on that schedule, this Friday, this presentation will be linked to the e-news. We've already established that. Next Friday, we'll get the appropriate links from the finance department and link um the links to the actual budget documents associated with introduction. Okay, great. All good. Questions for Bob?

Next one is the uh increased and deferred school taxes. Uh this has been a process that the village uses has goes back to the 1980s. Uh so every year that there's a change in the assess in the uh levy from the school, we're allowed to defer that um and actually realize income from it. It's a complicated calculation. Um but for that matter, it's just consistent what we've done in the past. Questions for Bob? I think we're good. H hang out here just in case. Just in case. I'm here. Shall we? Yep. Let's go. I move the first reading of for of ordinance 4090. I second. Mortimer. Yep.

Perin. Yes. Whites? Yes. Wiggrad? Yes. Vanos? Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4090 by title? Calendar year 2026. an ordinance to establish a CAF bank NJSA4-45.14. I move that ordinance 4090 be adopted on the first reading and that April 8th, 2026 be fixed to the date for the hearing thereon. I second the motion. Mortimer, yes. Perin, yes. Whites, yes. Winterrad, yes. And Vajanos, yes. The following resolution number 26-72 will be adopted by a consent agenda with one vote by the village council. It will be read by title only. Increase deferred school taxes.

So moved. Second. Mortimer. Yes. Parin. Yes. White. Yes. Wiggrad. Yes. Vagianis. Yes.

The following resolution numbered 26-73 will be read in full. Municipal budget notice of the village of Rididgewood County of Bergen for calendar year 2026. Be it resolved that the following statements of revenues and appropriation shall constitute the municipal budget for the year 2026 and be it further resolved that set budget be published in the Ridgewood News in the issue of March 20th, 2026 for the public hearing to be held on April 8th, 2026. And be it finally resolved the village council of the village of Rididgewood does hereby approve the following as a budget for the year 2026. General appropriations. Appropriations within caps 51,271,98083. Appropriations excluded from caps14,431,48612. Reserved for uncollected taxes 1,230,000. Total general appropriation 66,933,000. I'm sorry. 66,933,466.95 less anticipated revenues other than current property tax 19,580,950.94. Amounts to be raised by taxes for supportive budget $47,352,5601. Public notice village of Rididgewood notice is hereby given that the budget and tax resolution were approved by the village council of the village of Rididgewood County of Bergen on March 11th, 2026. A hearing on the budget and tax resolution will be held at Rididgewood Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey at a regular public meeting to be held on April 8th, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.

So moved. Second. Mortimer, yes. Parin, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad. Yes. Yes. And let's go to our public hearings. I move the clerk read ordinance 4084 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be open. I second that. Mortimer. Yes. Parin. Yes. Whites? Yes. Wiggrad? Yes. Vanos?

Yes. Will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4084? a bond ordinance providing for various water utility improvements in and by the village of Rididgewood in the county of Bergen, New Jersey, appropriating $4,955,600 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $4,77,600 bonds or notes of the village to finance part of the cost thereof. The public hearing is now open. Seeing no one, I move the public hearing be closed. I second. Mortimer, yes. Herin, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Vaganos, yes.

I move that ordinance 4084 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law. I second that motion. Mortimer, yes. Perin, yes. White, yes. Wiggrad, yes. And Bajanos, yes. Keith, do we need Bob to hang around? Um, just in case we have any questions on some of the things further on the agenda. Keep going. You look good up there, Bob. Yeah, I do like the tie. Mayor, if it is okay, I'd like to to dismiss the rest of the department directors. Um they put in a long day already and um unless they think there's anything on the agenda that might cause concern, um they can feel free to go home. Mr. Rooney needs to stay though.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for your work on this and thank you for being here tonight. Thank you guys. Have a good night. Don, you're not a director. You have to stay. You mean? So, you're looking at the door. So, I move the clerk read ordinance 4085 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened. I second the motion. Mortimer, yes. Per, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Vaganos,

yes. Will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4085? An ordinance to amend chapter 145 of the code of the village of Bridgewood fees at section 145-6 enumeration of fees relating to code chapters. I move the excuse me the public hearing is now open. Seeing no one I move the public hearing be closed. I second. Mortimer yes. Parin. Yes. Whites. Yes. Yes. Vanos. Yes. I move that ordinance 4085 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law. I second it. Mortimer. Yep. Parent. Yes. Whites? Yes. Yes. Vaganos? Yes.

Resolution for Richard Water. The following resolutions number 26-74 through 26-80 are to be adopted by a consent agenda with one vote by the village council. They will be read by title only. Award soul source contract software and support services for SKA system. Award contract soil testing and diso disposal of soil spoils. Award contract under source while cooperative purchasing materials supplies and equipment. Award contract under New Jersey start program by two minutes concrete and road repair materials. We send and replace resolution number 26-05 awards all source contract and authorized new name of vendor customer portal and invoice cloud for rigid water customers. Authorized change order 2026 water main replacements geohysical investigation and baseline investigation report. West Glenn Booster Station to Glenn Avenue water tank authorized change order professional services raw water mains construction phase services.

So moved. Second. Mortimer. Yes. Karen, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. And Vanos, yes. I move the first reading of ordinance 4091. I second that. Mortimer, yes. Haron, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4091 by title? An ordinance to amend ordinance 4020 to fix the salary, wage or compensation of and for the supervisory employees of the village of Rididgewood County of Bergen and state of New Jersey for the years 2026 and 2027.

I move that ordinance 4091 be adopted on the first reading and that April 8th, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon. I second the motion. Mortimer, yes. Karen, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Yes. I move the first reading of ordinance 4092. Second. Mortimer. Yes. Parin. Yes. Whites. Yes. Wiggrad. Yes. Vanos.

Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4092 by title? An ordinance to amend and supplement chapter three of the code of the village of Ridgewood administration of government to reorganize emergency management provisions by amending section 3-47 entitled emergency management council relocating certain provisions of section 3-47 and creating a new section 3-43.5 entitled emergency management. I move that ordinance 4092 be adopted on the first reading and that April 8th, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon. I second the motion. Mortimer, yes. Haron, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Vaganos, yes. I move the first reading of ordinance 4093.

Second. Mortimer, yes. Haron, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Vaganas, yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4093 by title? an ordinance to amend chapter 145 of the code of the village of Ridgewood fees at section 145-4 departmental fees as it relates to fees for authorizing cost recovery by the office of emergency management for non-emergency requests for assistance. I move that ordinance 4093 be adopted on the first reading and that April 8th, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon. I'd like to second the motion. Mortimer, yes. Parin, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes.

Vaganos, yes. I move the clerk read ordinance 409, excuse me, 4086 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened. Happily second. Mortimer, yes. Harin, yes. Whites, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Bajanos, yes. Will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4086?

A bond ordinance providing for various capital improvements in and by the village of Rididgewood in the county of Bergen, New Jersey, appropriating $6,799,545 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $6,459,428 bonds or notes of the village to finance part of the costs thereof. The public hearing is now open. Um see oops

I I would like to draw your attention to paragraph C1 which is under parks department and parks shade tree c uh commission and uh it says replacement of maple field turf, planting of residential trees, removal of hazardous trees and planting of park trees including all work and materials necessary therefore and incidental thereto. and the amount of appropriation is $473,800. I did ask uh Mr. Rooney for a breakout of those uh costs and I wanted to let the public know that with regard to replacement of Maple Field turf. That is the sinking fund where we usually um set aside $50,000 per year and um it is for turf either artificial or or grass, whatever a future council decides. And I've asked Mr. Rooney to see if our bond council can break this out a little more next year so that we can know what's what the Maple Field amount is. That's all I wanted to point out.

Anybody else? Seeing no one, I move the public hearing be closed. Second. Mortimer. Yes. Har. Yes. Whites? Yes. Winterrad? Yes. Yes. I move the clerk read ordinance. Excuse me. Sorry. I move that ordinance 4086 be adopted on second reading and final publication as required by law. I I like to second that motion. Mortimer, yes. Haron, yes. Whites, yes. Yes. Majanos, yes. And now I move the clerk read ordinance 4087 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened. Second. Mortimer.

Yes. Heron. Yes. Whites. Yes. Wiggrad. Yes. And Vatanos. Yes. Will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4087? and an ordinance to amend chapter 190 of the code of the village of Ridgewood entitled zoning at section 190-122 entitled signs and section 190-122H10 entitled blade slides. The public hearing is now open. Seeing no one, I move the public hearing. Excuse me. I just wanted to point out um one there's a typo. Uh, okay.

In paragraph B, third line down, um, there's an O. It should, it should be the word on. Do you see that, Heather? Um, third. Yes.

Okay. And then also we have had a request to um uh set up the blade sign or a ordinance so that second floor occupants can also have uh blade signs. And um what we did was we referred that to the historic preservation council and we can look at that at a future date but right now we'll just vote on this as is. And that was on the agendas for HBC's meeting last night. As I mentioned earlier during my comments, I was unable to attend this week, but I will get the notes and forward them to you. Thank you. Anybody else? In that case, I move the public hearing be closed. Second.

Warnimemer? Yes. Haron, yes. Wes, yes. Wiggrad, yes. Badas, yes. I move that ordinance 4087 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law. I second the motion. Mortimer, yes. Parin. Yes. White. Yes. I just wanted to briefly say thank you to Pam for all her hard work on this. These little things maintain our downtown, the charm, and thank you Pam for all of it. My pleasure. Yes. And Vaganas. Yes.

The following resolutions number 26-81 through 26-94 are to be adopted by a consent agenda with one vote by the village council. They will be read by title only. Award contract under source wall cooperative purchasing design supply and install playground at Kings Palm Park. Award contract under educational services commission of New Jersey cooperative purchasing design supply and install pavilion shelter at Kings Palm Park. Award professional services contract New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Compliance. Authorized change order public outreach for site and remedial investigation activities at the Shedler property. Authorize shared services agreement. Use a styrofoam densifier with the bur of Hillsdale. Declare IT property surplus. Adopt affirmative marketing plan for affordable housing. Adopt Bergen County multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan 2026. Authorize application to and appoint liaison officer for Bergen County Joint Insurance Fund Certified Fire Department Program. Appoint municipal housing liaison for affordable housing. Accept donation, removal, replacement, and installation of scoreboard for Maple Park field. Cancelled parking utility appropriations. Oh, I'm sorry. Um,

yeah, we are doing that. Uh, title 59 approval rebid impacted soils removal at the Shedler property and a contract removal of contaminated soil at the Shedler property. Have a motion. So moved. Happily say second. Mortimer. Yes. Yes. Whites. Yes. Winterrad. I just have to say thank you to Heather and the parks department because the diversion is one step closer to being done. Yes. And that Yes. And with that, we will go back to public comment.

Good evening, Boyd loving Ridgewood resident. Uh, with respect to the resolutions 2681 and 2682 that were just passed this evening, I would like to remind the council that there have been comments made from at least two residents on Lake View about the geese problem in the area in which you plan to build the park. And I hope that that uh is studied very carefully by the people who are designing the playground and designing the gazebo and if they can do something to mitigate the fact that all these geese are around particularly with the um known fact that there is going to be a playground there and that there going to be children in the playground on a regular basis. Uh I hope there is some mitigation done to prevent the goose poop from uh impacting the play of the children and perhaps being a health hazard. So as this area is being designed if something could be done to make sure that the there's some mitigation that's going on there. Again this was brought up by two residents uh of Lake on Lake View who were here when you were talking about the affordable housing issue. Thank you very much.

Thank you Boyd. Anybody else? Seeing no one, I'm going to close public comment. Would anyone like to respond to the comment? Mayor, we've uh Nancy and I are having conversations with the health department um about has how best to respond uh to the geese issue villagewide. Uh so more to come on that in the next few months. Uh but we're considering a variety of different options to address it villagewide um and have more access uh to being able to police our facilities uh with staff rather than with an outside contract.

Years ago, we had um we had geese piece where there were I I guess there were 25 or 30 volunteers who were trained by I forget who the fellow was or what his company was called. Mrs. Wing, but Mrs. Wing too from the league. Remember when Mrs. Wayne used to do it?

Yes. Yes. And uh so she organized it all and um and we oiled the eggs. We had to go in with umbrellas and and fend off the the gander so that we could get to the goose and get her off with the other umbrella. And then we would oil the egg. Well, first you had to make sure you had to float the egg to make sure that it wasn't viable. Then you had to oil the egg. And it was fun. And u I think it did uh reduce the population and then the county decided to come in and I guess a bunch of goosees geese.

I I do know that we had the Adeline discussion during the budget and we're moving towards that direction with Dawn. she presented on that and I'm just waiting for council member Mortimer to make his beaver joke where beavers are going to fight off the geese because as everybody knows we have had um the presence of a beaver up at King's Pond who ate get ready Evan several hundred dollars worth of trees. Um so and he's not even paying taxes. He's not he's definitely not. So, I was going to say, Sean, can we use the goats to attack the geese? That seems proat is since we're going to do the goats. We should get dogs that can herd the goats as well as the geese. Then we could have a village goat, excuse me, the dog herder would be great, too.

But all kidding aside, I know that the board of health does take this very seriously, as do we, and Nancy and Dawn are on it. So, should be good. All good. Yes. Let's go. Motion to adjurnn. So move. So moved. Second. In favor. I. Let's go. All right. I'm going to run. I'll see you guys. See you. Uh, if I run now, I can save my wife from having to pick my son up. So, I'm going to go get some marriage reports out of this. Yeah. Like never. No. Just said that. Yeah. I know how painful they are. They say because we've done a whole