Town Council - Regular Meeting

Um, what we can share? Use that one. Hello. Good evening. This meeting is being held with the benefit of public notice as required by the open public meetings act. Madame clerk, please call the role. Mr. Carell here here here here please rise for the salute of the flag in the invocation 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.

Dear God we ask for your guidance as we gather today. Grant us wisdom in our decisions, clarity in our discussions, and a spirit of cooperation and respect. Help us serve with integrity and act in the best interest of those we represent. May our work here reflect fairness, compassion, and purpose. We offer these intentions in your holy name. Amen. Amen.

Okay, we do have uh one amendment. Uh there's been an amendment to the agenda since it was posted on the website. Uh, amend resolution title for CA926201. Resolution authorizing continuation of the agreement for professional services with Greener by Design LLC for environmental energy consulting services for the Township of Hamilton to continue audit project until completion with a $45,000 maximum. Can I please have a motion uh to the amendment to the agenda? So moved. Second. On the motion, Mr. Parabelli. Yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Yes. For your consideration, we have the minutes of the water.

Motion motion. Second. Excuse me. Mr. Darell. Yes. Yes. Mr. Whan. Yes. Phillips. Yes. Yes. Uh next we have communication C1 is repeated documents regarding the result of the bond sale and note sale of April 28, 2026 provided by Eugene Poland, director department of finance. Uh can we do you want to do uh them separately or Yep. Uh C2 uh we have the proclamation for the month of May guard garden for wildlife months awareness day on forces day awareness month national ALS awareness month

questions or comments uh from council. Can I have a motion? Motion to move communications C1 and C2. I'll second. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. You call me a mess, right? Call you a mess. Hey, next we have consent agenda items.

Okay. Do a little recap of all the consent agenda items. We have um lease agreement for um Crosswix Hamilton Square Road property. We have two grants, the Justice Grant and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Alliance Grant. Uh we have several contracts mostly for maintenance and repairs. Uh several different locations, Pearson House, some for WPC uh HVAC uh maintenance and repairs. We also have um public works road materials there. Uh several refunds for real estate, sewer tax, and um security deposits. And that's the extent. Any questions or comments from council on consent agenda?

No, I'm just glad to see um we're continuing to partner with Isles on the affordable housing program. You guys have anything? No. Thank you. Anybody wishing to comment on the consent agenda items only?

Nothing. Okay. Uh have a motion. Council President, seeing no members of the public wishing to comment, I move that we close the public comment portion and move consent agenda items CA1 through CA13. I'll second that. Mr. Harelli, yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Phillips. Yes.

Mr. from New Jersey part 3 legislation section 550 land development article 3 district regulations section 550-81 RO2 45 research engineering and office district ma'am uh just a refresher this is removing uh warehouses from uh 24 and 5 correct research and engineering in office

uh yes Mr. president. Uh it is taking it as you as you will see as we go through the agenda. Ordinance one, which is what we're talking about now, is taking the warehouses out of research, engineering, and office uh zones, and we'll be putting it into the ordinance for manufacturing and industrial district. This is an ordinance that you'll be dealing with. I just want to clarify the language there because we're not adding uh any warehouses to any zones. uh warehouses are already included in the industrial zone. We're just clarifying language that refers to this ordinance. We're deleting the language that talks about warehouses. So therefore, you have to update the language in the second ordinance as well.

Correct. What? Well, then the the one after ordinance number two, does that clarify? Is that more clarification?

Yes. So my question would be and it might might tie into ordinance number two. Let's just say if it's in a research and development district which currently allows warehouses. Right now if a pharmaceutical company came in, right, and wanted to develop a certain parcel in the current way it's written and wanted to include a storage warehouse in that pharmaceutical, would that be allowed? I think I think that's a question for the planning and zoning board and and because without speaking in hypotheticals, I don't know. I can't give you a specific answer. I have to look at the plan and look at what what's being proposed and whether it's whether it's already included because they're already there. It there's a lot of variables that I can't answer in a hypothetical situation. Fair enough. Any other questions from council?

We will open it up to the public. Anyone from uh the public wishing to speak on ordinance 126014 on second reading and public hearing. Seeing none, do we have a motion? Council President, seeing none, uh, I'd like to close the public comment portion and move on second reading and public hearing ordinance number 126-014. I'll second. Yes. Yes. No. Yes. Mr.

Yes. Ordinance 22 26-015 ordinance amending supplementing the code of the county New Jersey part three land legislation chapter 550 land development article 3 district regulations section 550-2 manufacturing and industrial district the second public hearing. So this is a second part of what we were just speaking about. Um do we need any more clarification prior to voting? No, this is just removing the warehouses from that them district and putting it into the industrial districts manufacturing,

right? I mean, it's already it's already in there. just clarifying the language to make sure it's clear because it was a little confusing. I you know my question would be is currently got property listed for sale in these districts right that's labeled that would allow warehouses and I have a potential buyer for that property and now we're changing the language emitting warehouses does it open us up to any legal matters potentially well there's always the potential for legal let's face If you're asking a lawyer if this retention process, but I I would sure it would possibly open us up to some legal issues. Possibly

it might, right? But you know this but there there's certain things that that could happen that could that could work it out. I'm just saying if technically right now after we after if this ordinance passes, which I'm sure it's going to, um people would be not would they be notified? I mean it like for instance I know there's current properties that are for sale. There's no current application even though the property is for sale. If there was an application then that would be different but there's no application currently in that we know of. Right. Well if the town if the town wasn't made aware then we don't Okay. All right. And this is a public meeting so yes which they know it's on the agenda. Okay. And just to

it's been on for weeks. Yeah. And just to clarify, this this uh section of the code already allowed warehouses in the industrial section, but it did it by referring to uh all permitted uses in the REO or research and development section. And because we're now removing the ability to build warehouses in the research and development section, we're adding language here specifically allowing warehouses in the industrial section. On only.

Yeah. Any other questions or comments from council? Anybody from the public wishing to comment on ordinance number two? Good. Clonic Cornell Heights. Um, where is all this land that we're talking about that could be more warehouses considering I live by one gigo one at the moment? Well, there's some land still available like on Yarville Hamilton Square Road. Um, there's there's a house to house there's land. There's land. Well, she's asking where does this land exist? I'm telling her where the land exists.

She's asking where warehouses could be built. Well, on landed currently. Right now, there's a parcel on Yardville Hamilton Square Road across um near Kat Drive that could potentially, if we didn't pass this, could become a warehouse if it was sold to a developer that wanted to build a warehouse there. By passing this ordinance tonight, that'll take that ability for them to build a warehouse on that property. Oh, that's good. Well, I guess. Okay, we can build a more affordable housing or something like that. And you know, I mean, warehouses or they're all

there's lot lots of ideas. That's not that part's not up for debate tonight. Okay. Just just curious. I was just giving the example of where one is that would be eliminated. All righty. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak on ordinance number two? Seeing none, council president, I'll make a motion to move on ordinance two, the 26-015. On second reading, sorry. And yes, on second reading, I'll second that. Motion, Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. No.

Yes. Yes. Ordinance. Ordinance 32616 is an ordinance amending implementing the code of the council of New Jersey chapter 485 traffic article two parking section 45-9 parking prohibited at all times on certain streets.

Okay. And this this ordinance is uh for the restriction of parking in front of the bout box. Uh correct? Yes, Mr. Council President. This is only for a restriction of parking in front of the ballot box that's on Wolfford Avenue. Just a small area. Any questions or comments from council? Just clarify. Is this This is the one that used to be here, right? Yeah. So, it used to be here. It's moved to Will. Okay. Specifically, the Donna will Yeah. Anything else before open? Anybody from the public wishing to comment on ordinance number three? Seeing none,

Captain President. Seeing no members of the public wishing to comment, I move that we pass ordinance for 26- excuse me, ordinance three. 26-016 on second reading. I'll second the motion. Mr. Carelli, yes. Mr. Ty, yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Mr. 017 according to the reading of the bill. The code of the council of pend Jersey chapter 435 street law article 5 structures and right of way section 435-37 approval for placement required exceptions second reading of public hearing.

All right, this one this one made me do a little research. Um this is for groundwater monitoring wells sampling and testing. Uh it's going to improve the efficiency of the process and ensure timely testing. Is it good on that? Right. Um now, uh there's there's going to be a requirement um must submit a location map, a schedule, description of work, and uh access agreement. Any questions or comments uh from council? Good. Really just a a cleanup uh a cleanup ordinance here? Yep. It's good thing. Any any questions or comments uh from the public? Anybody wishing to comment? Ordinance 426017.

Council president, seeing no comments from the public, I'm going to move on ordinance number 426-17 on second reading. I'll second that. Mr. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Before we uh move the resolutions, just want to uh recognize someone in the back of the room. I didn't know she was here. Our school board member, uh, Dina Thornton, thank you for being here. You're always here to support us and, um, we appreciate that. We're sure we're on the same wavelength. I get a better angle. Okay. Madam Clerk, uh, you're on.

Yes. Resolution 1285, the resolution authorizing New York to read the state calendar year 2020 budget resolution by title only. So moved. Second. I'm sorry. I So moved. And second. Second. Mr. Parabell. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Phillips. Yes. Mr.

Yes. Open the public hearing on the interview budget. Um any comments or questions uh regarding this for council? Did you guys want to I I know I had um I have some statements. I don't know if you want to go ahead. We had about 12 hours of workshops. So I've had all my questions answered. Thank you, Council President.

Budget the budget season was uh difficult. It's a difficult year obviously um times across the not only the state but across the country. Um we did see an increase in our budget mostly due to healthcare inflation and gasoline. Um the storms didn't help us obviously uh at the end of the year and cost of goods. Um positive things we did um we didn't have to reduce our staff and we did avoid layoffs. We also were able to uh maintain our commitment uh to road repairs. uh maintaining uh our professionals for outside experts such as things uh ongoing things as Trenton Waterworks and um also our commitment to um uh maintaining our public safety levels. Um I know there were some challenges for the school district as well. Uh I know the town lost a lot of one-time revenues. We know you're going through uh some challenging times and uh we stand with you as we're put in a very similar position. So, um, we're with you. When you when you think look back historically, um, prior to even to Chris Christie being here, um, we were getting $25 million in state aid. Uh, currently we get less than 20. So, our state aid has been reduced in times that are so challenging. Um, we're we're we're trying to force a dollar to cover more than it can, quite frankly. Um, it was a difficult time. We worked together. I know offline we um disagreed a little bit and it was a it was a good challenge, but we got to where we had to get to um without going too far. So, I'll open it up if any any of my colleagues have any comments or if you want to save it uh at the end, that's fine, too. And um that that's really all I have on the budget.

Council President, I just want to thank you for your leadership during this uh budget time. It was a challenging budget. Um, we agonized over every line of this budget. Um, we were as thorough uh as we uh could be looking to squeeze a dollar and um we've done our due diligence and uh it's a tough year and we're going to make sure that we have financial stability for our community. We did uh because that is for the best in the long term.

Uh Council President, I just want to also thank you for your leadership in the budget. Um, but I also want to commend our directors and all of our employees as well who have been um who were very diligent in putting together their budgets and working with the administration knowing the situation that we were facing that um they were understanding some sacrifices they had to make and I just want to commend them again for putting together a very good budget.

I'll just echo what has been said. I want to thank also Eugia and Thomas for your work um and you know your your labor throughout this process. Kathy um for getting us some of the answers that we need. Um I appreciate it. Um never exciting when you know you're you're faced with a budget that's going to you know be dealing with some increases and uh and looking through the line items that we went through uh there was there was not a lot of fat in that budget. So, and um we went through it with a fine tooth comb. We asked some good questions to our directors. Um and I appreciate that they came prepared. Um but um yeah, we're we're working diligently to make sure that these um these issues uh moving forward hopefully are resolved, especially with the es increased health care costs that we're faced with. Um so hopefully we address some of that uh over the next several years. I think this puts us on sound footing moving forward.

Well, not to get too deep into it, but um Pat uh Council President, thank you for your leadership and and all the directors. Uh Eugene, your staff, Kathy, your staff. Alyssa, thank you for all your help and and our staff in the clerk's office for having us be uh prepared for the meetings with the information that was needed. I mean, it's it's tough. I mean, you heard us all say, you know, you know, increasing the budget, you know, nobody wants to raise taxes. That's the last thing I want to do is raise taxes. But at the same token, we don't want to lose people. We don't want to lay people off. But we're seeing it nationwide. I'm sure everybody's seeing it. 18% across the board on health coverage across the country, you know, and until we can get a hold of it nationwide to get control of health care in this country, which we should be able to do, we're going to be faced with this every year. Faced with it every year. But the last thing we want to do is reduce benefits for the people that work here, for the people that protect the town, our police and fire that that do a good job of doing that. But it they're tough decisions have have to be made. But at the end of the day, I I think we made the right decisions. We went over that budget with a fine tooth comb. And there's again 18%'s 18%. That's a big number to overcome. So that's all I have to say. Council President,

thank you. Appreciate. Uh we can now open it up to the public uh for public comment uh on the budget. Any questions or comments could be made at this time? You got one. Come on, Lisa. Lisa Williams, Briner Lane. Do you guys know how much is in the budget for food at the animal shelter? Sorry to put you on the spot. They didn't answer my question, so I'm here.

I don't have I don't have it yet. Look at Can we get it to her tomorrow? Can we email it to her tomorrow? Yeah, the clerk has my email address. Um because it's certainly concerning the post we see with empty shelves and we have no food. So, how much money is in this budget for food at the animal shelter? What level of animal control services does this budget support? Like when can we expect to get an animal control officer if there is a loose animal, injured animal, that type of thing? What does this budget support? The budget supports the same coverage that we currently have. And what is that? Do you know the hours off hand of of our animal control officers? Hours they work or how long their response time is depending.

We could start with hours that they work like what are the hours Monday through Sunday that there is an active animal control officer assuming that they're not all on vacation or call out sick on duty available in the truck via call to the police department or the shelter. And then what is the after hours coverage? Can we get help when we need it? Do you happen to have the schedule of the ACOS?

I don't and I know that it's varies. It's not they don't all have the same schedule. Some we have scheduled to come in later and stay later in the evening to cover a larger gap uh outside of regular business hours. So, but I can get you that too. I just don't know what off the top. No, I know it's tough things for you guys to answer. if they responded to my response to their comments on social media, I would have at least one of those answers, but they didn't answer me. When did you send that?

Uh, yesterday. They did a post on Sunday basically, we have no food pretty much is the short version. And I responded to it asking why is food not being ordered timely. Um, they said it was ordered timely and gave me this. As you know, we have a budget. I asked how much was included in the budget. I asked about specific tests. It's on the social med page. You're welcome to look at it. Um, they didn't answer my second question. How much is in the budget? So, I'm here. Many people on that post asked about whether our budget supports basic needs of the shelter like food or you rely solely on don donations for that. Many people got the same response about we have a budget. I mine started with as you know we have a budget. What is the budget? So, they didn't answer me. So, I'm here.

I'll sign that out. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to comment on the budget, town budget? Seeing none, can I have a motion? Seeing none, council president, um I'd look to move on resolution 126-205. I'll second. I'm sorry. Did I say that wrong? We were just opening this to the public. Okay. We don't need to close it after the public comment.

We're going to have public comment after each one of these resolutions. So I mean then we have with you we have to actually close or keep it open. So we're open right the process is you have to have the public hearing which you just presumably did on the introduced budget. The next two resolutions are the small uh amendments that we have. They don't require a public hearing, but if you want to have a public hearing, you may. It's just that it's not an amendment that trips any thresholds, but you can for the purposes of I rather have it for transparency purposes, open it and vote on it.

Absolutely. So, you would take those resolutions one at a time and so but you can close the public hearing if you want on the public hearing on the introduced budget. Then you have the two small amendments. One's for the operating budget and one is for the capital budget. Um, and then you would do a final uh consideration to adopt that amended budget or adopt that budget as amended. I prefer to be transparent and and vote on each one individually. That's you do you should do that on the resolutions anyway and then once you get to on the amendments and then once you get to the adoption that'll be a separate vote as well. Okay. We have a motion and a second. to close the public on the juice budget. Yep.

Okay. Thank you. I I made the motion. Okay. Second. Second. Mr. Farelli. Yes. Mr. Sai. Yes. Mr. When? Yes. Yes. Mr. Yes. Resolution 2262 is resolution authorizing the amendment to the calendar year 2026 current mal budget. This is going to hurt me. I'll hurt you. Everybody sit back and relax for a

minute. Current fund general revenue announced to be raised by taxes for support of municipal budget local tax for municipal purposes including reserve for unselected taxes from 129,591,57858 to129,942,2984. The amended amount being named 350,6 350,63126 total amount be raised by practice for supporting municipal budget 134,459,22788 to134,819,84 amount $350,63126 total general revenue 178 million. 782,3569 to179,132,99785. Amended amount $350,63126. Current fund appropriations, general appropriations, a operations within caps, fire department salary and wages from 20,995,500 to $21,110,500 amended amount 115,000 uncclassified utility expenses and bulk purchases from 5,751,542 to $5,951,542. $50 amended amount 200,000 total operations item A8A within caps1 138,272,274.78 to 138,578,274.78

amended amount $315,000 total operations including contingent living tax 138,272,274.70 8 to13,587,274.78 amended amount $315,000. Detail salary and wages 73,572,550 to 73,685873,685,550. Amended amount 15,000. Other expenses other expenses including contingent from 54,699,724.78 to64,899,724.78 amended amount 200,000. E deferred charges and statutory expenditures municipal within caps continues number two statuto expenditures show deferred charges and statuto expenditures municipal within cap from 19,783,7 to 19,7837 no change H1 total general appropriations for municipal purposes and in cash from 158,55,2 $281.78 to 158,370 1589370,281.78 amended amount 350,000 operations excluded from C storm reserve LSN 20264 and 20265 other expenses from 464 $1,54649

to $49 999,54649 amended amount 35,000 total operations excluded from cap 8,123,14453 to 8,158,14453 amended amount 35,000 total other operate operations excluded from tax 10,78,74758 to 10,1 $113,7478 amended 35,000 salary and wages 1,932,524 to1,932,52404 no change other expense 8,146,22354 to 8,181,2234 amended amount 35,000 H2 to total general appropriation form municipal purposes exclusion from 20,44,158659 to $20,79,15869 amended amount 35,000 oh general total general appropriations excluded from tax 20,44,15869 to 20 million7 20 million79,150 $1569 amended amount 35,000 L subtotal general appropriations item H1 and O from 178,99,447 to $178,449,44047 amended amount $350,000 reserve for uncollected taxes 682,92612

68 $83,557.38. Amended amount $63126. Total general appropriations from 178,782,35659 to179,132,99785. Amended amount $350,63126. Summary of appropriations page one total general appropriations from four municipal purposes within cap from $158,55,281.78 to158,370,281.78 amended now $315,000 a operations excluded from cap other operations from $8,122,1443 to81 $158,1443 amended amount 35,000 total appropriations excluded from tax 10,78,74758 to 10 million13,74758 amended amount 35,000 reserve for uncollected taxes $682,9212 to $683,57 amended amount $631 $126. Total general appropriation from 178,782,35659 to179,132,99785. Amended amount $350,3126.

You can take a break.

You can talk about that. Any any questions or comments on the uh information? No. Council President, no. Do I have to I'll open that up also, right? Yeah. I'm just scared to open it up to public comment. Somebody's gonna say, "What did you say?" Anyone from the public wishing to comment on uh resolution 226206? Seeing none,

council president, seeing no from the public, um I'd like to move on resolution 226-02 206. I'll second that. On the motion, Mr. Paramer, yes. Okay. Resolution 3, 20207. This is a resolution authorizing the amendment to the calendar year 2026 current municipal budget capital plan.

Sorry, capital budget 2026 technology and service estimate estimated total cost from $171,240 to $196,240 lended amount to $25,000. Two pages.

Capital improvement plan from 8,552 to 9,812. Amended amount 1,250. That authorized from $152,678 to $186,428. Amended amount $23,750. Vehicles and equipment. Estimated total cost from $4,83,112 to $4,89,112 $112 amended amount 6,000 capital improvement fund from $24,155.50 60 to 2044 45560 amended and out 300 that authorized 3,878,95642 to 3,884 65642 amended 5700. Estimated total cost is from 23,270,5155 to 23,31,5155 and then an amount 31,000 capital improvement fund from 522,973.13 to 524,52313 amended amount $1,550 debt authorized from 17,316,48942 2 to 17,34593942 amended amount 29,450. All total all projects estimate total cost from 23,270,5125 to 22,31,55 and then in 31,000 capital improvement fund from 5,0052,973.13

to 524,52313 amended amount 1550 that authorized from 17,316,4942 to 17,345 93942 amended amount 29,450 funding amounts for budget year project title technology and service estimated total cost 171,440 to 196,240 amended amount 25,000 um 2026 from 70,000 to 70,000 no change. 2027 100,000 to 110,000 no change 2028 110,000 to 110 no change 2029 60,000 60,000 no change 2030 90,000 to 90,000 no change 2031 80,000 to 80,000 no change vehicles and equipment estimates total cost 4,83,112 to 4,89 9,12 cent amended amount 6,000

2026 3,500,000 to 3,500,000 no change 2027 3,750,000 to 3,750,000 no change 2028 3,300,000 to 3,300,000 no change 2029 3,100,000 to 3,100,000 no change 2030 2 million 900,000 to 2,900,000 no change 2031 2,750,000 to 2,750,000 no change uh estimated total cost from 22,270,5155 to 20,31,5155 amended an amount 31,000 for 2026 686 6,850,000 to 6,850,000 may 2027 7,340,000 7,340,000 no change 2028 8,80,000 to 8,80,000 no change 2029 6,990,000 to 6,990,000 no change 2030 uh 6,925,000 to 6,725,000 have changed 2031 6,255,600 6,255,000 have changed. All projects estimated total cost 20 from 23,270,5155 to 23,315155 amended and out 31,000 for 2026 6,850,000 6,850,000 no change 2027 7,350 340,7340,000 no change 2028 880,000

to 880 000 no change. 2020 20 to 29 6,99,000 to 6,900,000 no change 2030 6,725,000 to 6,725,000 no change 2031 6,255,000 to 6,255,000 no change capital program 2026 to 2031 technology and service estimated total cost $171,240 to1 196,240 amended amount 2025,000 capital improvement $8,562 to9,812 amended amount $1,250 general from $162,678 to 186428 amended amount 23750 vehicles and equipment estimated total cost 4,83,112 cents 4 million 89,1123 and then an amount 6,000 capital improvement fund $24,15560 to $24,485.60 610 amended amount 300 general from 3,878 956428465642 amended amount 5700 estimated total cost 23,270,5155,31,155 amended amount 31,000 capital improvement from 96412198 to 955,000 7198 amended amount 1,550 general from 14,279,87842 to 14,39,32842

amended amount 29,450 estimated total cost 23,270,5155 to 23,31 5155 amended amount 31,000 capital improvement fund from 954,12198 to 965 67198 amended amount $1,550 general 14,279,87842 for 14,39,32842 amended amount $29,450. Thank you all for coming. JUST going to give you a minute.

I'm done. Any questions or comments on resolution 3? Uh, capital plan amendments? No. Anyone from the public wishing to comment on resolution 326207? Scared me in the back. I thought I was take a motion. Um, council, I'll make a motion to close public comment and move on resolution 326-207. I'll second that. Thank you. On the motion, Mr. Carelli. Yes. I Yes. Mr. Yes. Phillips. Yes. Mr. Pero. Yes. Resolution passes.

Resolution 426208. Resolution authorizing the adoption of the calendar year 2026 budget of the council. Questions or comments from my colleagues? Questions or comments from the public on resolution 426208? The adoption of the code. Seeing none. Council president, I'll make a motion to uh move on resolution 426-208. I'll second it. Motion. Yes. Yes. Mr. Yes. Phillips. Yes.

Yes. That's uh that motion was made uh the budget was uh adopted with the amendments. Yes. Good point. Making sure it's on.

Okay. First up is uh Frank. Come on up. just state your name for the or for the record. Frank Cusack uh throughout having you. Uh before I go into this, I just wanted to thank all of you for everything you do for our town. I also want to thank all of you guys in the back for what you guys do. Thank you.

Um so my name is Frank Cusack. I represent the Coalition for Healthy Water. We are a grassroots organization that represents Hamilton, Ewing, Lawrence, Trenton, and Hopewell. uh with uh regards to the continuing problems at Tren Waterworks. Back in August of 2025 at the Hamilton H2 open meeting, um it was brought to us by Ruff Telus that uh more or less there was going to be a 60% rate increase over the next 5 years. Um at that meeting uh I got into a conversation with uh other residents and the question was posed how do we start a coalition and it was this is how it begins and uh after that I started the vote no confidence in city council petition that is on change.org or that currently sits roughly at 450 signers uh stating that the Trans City Council has failed in their duties to provide us with safe, secure water. I've spoken at multiple Trans City Council meetings and I've worked on public knowledge on the issues at Trin Waterworks, which brings me uh to why I am speaking at the Hamilton uh council meeting tonight. Back on February 27th, 2026, I started two OPER requests at the same time. One with the township of Hamilton and one with the city of Trenton. Uh from the township of Hamilton, I've asked I asked you guys to provide me with uh what fire hydrant what fire hydrant districts are under Trend Waterworks and the bills. It took you guys all of about two weeks asking uh for an extension due to the blizzard. Um but I received all that information and it helped me dispel a narrative that we don't pay our water bills to Trenton.

Um on the other hand, uh Tren gave me four extensions. What was I asking for? I was asking for the entire unredacted reptileis rate increase study. I finally went to uh city hall and said this is absolutely ridiculous because under OPRA there's only two ways that really a OPER request can be extended and that is if there's open litigation or a security risk. Study clerk agreed with me and said absolutely and he provided me the information. Um, the study opens with a letter from Feifer Brandt. Uh, if anyone was at the Hamilton H2 open meetings, uh, that was the gentleman who spoke to Sean simple. I'd like to quote the second paragraph of that letter. We had to make significant assumptions which reduce our certainty about the ultimate revenue impacts of the rates. Under the data sources and assumptions section of the analysis, it quotes, "The study uses financial data provided by Trend Waterworks and its contractors." It then later goes on to quote, "Trendwater Wworks did not have all the data needed for the study and some of the data that was provided was not of a high quality. As a result, Rustellis had to make certain assumptions to complete the rate increase study. The study is limited in its ability because the city was not able to provide a proper asset valuation to Trend Waterworks. It also has quite a lot of unpaid bills that it can't account for. Uh Tren Waterworks is using outofdate water meters that still require onfoot readings in a lot of the city as well as their uh surrounding areas.

And a lot of the work that Sean simple overturn water works wants to do is honestly stalled because of the high rental property rate and absentee landlord issue in Trenton. Through a combined effort between myself and a local journalist by the name of Mark Leington, there has been increased pressure on Trend Waterworks. that we can we can't say for sure, but we believe that our presence at Tren City Council meetings, our postings on Facebook, uh Mark's Substack has put public accountability and pressure on city hall and my group will continue to put pressure for the surrounding area. So, uh, we allow all first-time speakers four minutes and then after we go through everybody that's here, you're allowed to come back, uh, for additional time. That if you'd like to come back up, you're more than welcome.

That is that's what I had to say. Thank you. Okay. You're more than welcome to come back a second time. Thank you, John. Thank you, Frank. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Timothy Young, you're up next. So, uh, oh, could I just make a quick comment before Thank you for your

Thank you. I just want to say regarding the Trenton Waterworks is thanks for joining us tonight. uh extremely important issu issue. Uh throughout our budget, there were a lot of flat budgets actually and one of the few budgets that uh we agreed to increase was for our township attorney uh because we are going to be we are currently and will be continuing to sue Trenton Waterworks uh seeking a remedy to the chronic issues that we're facing. So, we're not taking it standing. So, we appreciate that our residents aren't either. Thank you, sir.

Hello. Thank you for having me here. It's uh Tim Young um from Hamilton PBA Local 66. I uh represent the rank and file members of Hamilton Police Division. Um currently serving as our president. Um here today to speak with you about our current uh contract negotiations. Nearly two years ago, we entered in contract negotiations with the township's ad with this township's administration alongside other municipal unions. Since that time, all other unions, including public safety unions, have successfully reached agreements. Unfortunately, our negotiations remain unresolved. In recent weeks, the standard negotiation process has deteriorated and our attempts to seek alternative assistance have gone unanswered. Our goal remains straightforward to secure a fair and equitable contract that maintains parody with the other public safety unions within this township. At this point, without outside intervention, it appears we are headed towards arbitration. This outcome will result in significant and unnecessary cost to both our members and the taxpayers, particularly how close how close we appear to be in reaching an agreement. uh with respectfully we respectfully request the council's assistance in helping guide both sides back to a productive negotiations so that we can so that a fair resolution could be achieved without further delay or expense. Um with that being said, thank you for your continued support. Um uh you've always supported us in the past and um and we appreciate your your continued support in the future. And to the residents and businesses in Hamilton, their continued support, we appreciate that. Uh we do the best we can every day with what we have. um and we will continue to do so. Um with that being said, um I appreciate your time.

Thank you. And I know uh we can't comment too much because there's active negotiations going on, but um we'll we'll get to a resolution. We will get there. Thank you,

sir. You came in and you're wearing the same color shirt. That's great. That's timing. Timing's everything. Mr. Ames, you're up. Excuse me. I don't move as fast as I used to. I just want to say first thing I like to get off my chest to all the mothers in the house. Happy Mother's Day.

Thank you. You don't know how blessed you are cuz I wish my mother was still here so I could be a painful ass to her. AND I like to thank Mr. Pat for my vote count. Thank you, sir. First time I' seen you since you sitting in the big tier. Mr. Belly, and like I told you, I'm glad you moved the council meeting to the first Tuesday cuz the third Tuesday I'm at Bronson Post 414 in Lawrenceville, but I'm a chaplain over there. So now I can go to my chapter meeting without thinking about you guys. Welcome back.

You're welcome. And like I'd like to let you know that the PBA know that I'm a Vietnam veteran 67 68. I was in the army and I was over there during Tat time.

Thank you for your service.

You're welcome. Uh, next on the agenda is uh the creek that's in between Renie and Leader on Bordon. Thank you, Mr. Pat. When they came out, they did do the one on Renie side to Mary cut the trees up and done what they had to do. That's fine. But when I was going to school, my teacher gave me homework and she said, "If you don't do a little extra, then that mean you didn't pay attention." So these guys didn't look behind them. But anyway, we just like to know what can happen with the other end of that creek from Renie to leader on Bon. It like goes around a curve over to Hunt. So, and also um they're still using Hunt Avenue as a collection of items. Instead of bringing it to the dump or give it to the trash man, they decided to leave it like they normally do from Cedar Lane down to uh I think it's Samuel Street.

See if maybe we can get some of the dumping signs there. But that that doesn't kill. They're all there. They're there. But my thing is is I know the taxes went up this year in Hamilton. So if they could even get solar cameras or something to catch these folks doing these things in the township, if they can catch that guy, that guy that set that young lady on fire in the cemetery, I don't think you guys probably remember that. I don't remember. And uh I think they can try to do something try to alleviate people from just disregarding things. You know, it's not mine. I'm just throw it away. But I would just appreciate that.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. So before before you go, uh we talked before the meeting. Um so they did Bordon stand by Bordon and Renie was the area that we worked on, right? Uh you had mentioned prior to the meeting when we talked uh Renie and and Lita is the next area. Yes. So it's on board. Okay, I got you. Just making sure I have the streets right. Yes. Randy and Lita. Okay. And that's where the the creek that the channel that runs through there. Yeah. Yep. And then can I just ask too on the uh the collection of junk that's happening? That was Hunt Avenue, you said? Yes. Okay.

It's like a continuous thing. If the township I guess they call it job security, they come over there with the big trucks and everything like once a week and pick. Okay. This move that we're going to do this week. All right. Anything else for That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. So, it's board and between Lida and Renie. Okay. Is the is the is the area? That's all I have. Does anybody else wish to speak? Come on up, Miss Britney.

Good afternoon, everyone. And happy Mother's Day to all the moms. I'm also a mother, so happy Mother's Day. That is my father that I am proud of. And that's why I'm able to stand here today and just talk the way I want to talk.

Um, I just want to first, as I always say, thank you to each one of you that is here on the board tonight. Kathy, I did receive your email. So, I do appreciate your correspondence regarding my last month um concerns. Uh we actually had um the pleasure of speaking with um Sam Brown, a few people from the council um from Hamilton. Um they came out to our public meetings that we hold in Cedar Lawn and they were able to um give me some information regarding the park. So I am very excited um about revamping well um Snailless Wil Park. Um they are going to be revamping the basketball court. So, I am very thankful for that grant that was presented for the youth. Um, as I have expressed to Kathy, um, of course, I'm always going to look for more for our youth, but our community always come together to do what we can on our end and supporting um, as well as the Hamilton Township supporting us in our needs. Um, I know there was a few things that I had inquired about um, regarding the channel. Unfortunately, the channel does just channel all the way through that section between um Park Avenue and Cedar Lane. Um there are many complaints from the community in that area wherever it travels to that they have the same issue. Um we are working on the trees. It's like I said something about the trees and then I just find out the trees is now cut down. So it's actually, you know, it's exciting to know that it um you guys are very proactive at our public request and I just want to say thank you. Thank you.

Yes, sir. Come on up. Please state your name for the record.

Uh Jason from Hamilton. Yep. Um so I came by because Rick suggested um I volunteer at the animal hospital at the animal shelter last time I was here so we could reach some people. I did. And um I just I know you guys go through there sometimes, but it's really early in the season. It starts getting packed up, you know, in the warmer weather and they only have 10 dogs in crates and they barely get to go out because I know you guys know they're kind of short staffed over there and there aren't too many volunteers. So, I mean, not to get all into it right now, but I want to make a some kind of plan for some like emergency housing of some kind or something because they've been, you know, these guys are crazy for months, maybe 23 or 24. It's just not necessary. So, I'd like to see if we can do something about that. Come up with a plan. You know, it's getting hot. I was over there. I walked a couple of them and they do a great job. I love those folks over there. You know, I don't discuss things with them because, you know, it's politics. So, I come talk to you guys about it. Um, so yeah, if anybody's willing to maybe partner up with me, whatever, I'll do whatever work, give me some ideas or tell me if there's any prospects we could do whatsoever. Um, another thing, if you guys see any of the police in our town, I just can't keep these people in the fire zones anymore. There's four or five of them. I personally tried to kick them out of the fire zone, but they don't speak English. So, like I they just flick figure out, which is so mean and disrespectful. Back in the day, they kick it off for a while in the 80s. Maybe whipped you out of the car. I guess that doesn't work now. But I mean, I've been here 50 years. I hate

to see disrespect, you know. I think disrespect to police, too. And I appreciate you guys. So if you start now, I appreciate it.

Anybody else that would like to speak for the first time? Janice Janice Cornell Heights. Okay. Um your new municipal building is going to go up. Is there any room behind there to build another building? What building do you want us to build? We want us to build a preschool because we're having problems. There's no room behind it. There's no room behind there. What are we doing with the municipal building? It's going to be a museum. Museum. It's going to the school district. Oh, yeah.

We're preserving this building so we can keep the wallpaper and the wood paneling intact. Okay. Sounds like a plan. And the and the air conditioning. Okay. Okay. All righty. Because uh we're having problems with finding room for preschool this building and it's affecting schools and we need to get a building because the one they had proposed got knocked down. So, uh I just thought well in case you guys know more about available buildings, rentable buildings that you could throw something out to the school board about that. And on the budget item, you decided each one of those costs on the budget that that she read off. We were We were here. We were here hours.

Wow. Impressive. And you're still sane and not alcoholic. We didn't say that. We said we decided on every lunch. Okay. Well, outstanding job to do all that. That you still kept your mentality and kept your bottles under the table. And um then as for the police department, they're great guys. They do a great job. Give them a great salary. Thanks,

Lisa Williams. First, let's start with thanking the new volunteer for going walking dogs and wanting them to have a plan for how to deal with the over capacity. We've heard about this shelter being over capacity for several years now, and we've done multiple no fee adoptions because we're over capacity. The issue isn't the fee. We're $75 for a dog. That's pretty cheap for spayed, neutered, microchip, vaccinated dogs. The issue is marketing these pets. So, yesterday we had 31 dogs on the website or you'll see today we have 39. So, we put Lady back on the website. She wasn't there yesterday. Cute little dog. She came in mid April and today she's back on the website. Don't know what that's about. Finally added the 5B strays to the website. We added Bella, who came in on April 17th, and Harper, who came in on April 14th. The problem is no marketing. If you follow the Facebook page and looked at the Take Your Child to Work Day post, there was a rabbit and a guinea pig in there. They look like really friendly pets. The kids were holding them. Kids were holding one, a white cat with gray on the back of his head. I think it's Hannibal, but I'm not sure because I don't volunteer there. They didn't ask me if that answer my question. is at Hannibal. The point is, those are three very familyfriendly, kid-friendly pets. Nobody's promoting them. They sit in cages. I asked if Silbin and Buttercup had any homes. Silven is a yellow lab mix and Buttercup is a Shih Tzu mix. Those are pretty highly desirable dogs. All dogs should be highly desirable. People want little dogs. They want hypoallerggetic dogs. Buttercup, I don't know what Lady is. She's a little tiny thing. Um, they didn't answer me. Um, in the 125 days so far this year, from January 1 through today, I counted sitting there on Facebook, sitting in the audience on Facebook, 13 posts about

adopting a pet. So, for 13 out of 125 days, we did a social media post about a pet. There was one, I don't remember exactly which one. I'd have to look at my own page to see when I they they posted a pet and I shared it and said, "Oh, must be a council meeting coming up because they posted a pet." Like, could someone please do something? Can you please form a committee to how to improve the situation at the shelter? Love that there's another person who cares. I don't know how Steve shows up every day. I watch those meetings and I sit there and wish I had come to support him, but I was sick and getting caught up in my own house. How do we have animals in cages for hundreds of days? I mean, Merlin, if my memory is correct, it's over 500 days since he's been out of his kennel because we're over capacity. This is a self-created problem. We we show pictures of empty shelves and we say this is an emergency and we need food. It's a short answer of them. And to respond to me and say when I ask why aren't orders why isn't food being ordered timely, it is timely. It's not timely if it doesn't show up. Like, could somebody please, Council President Paperero, I ask you to please form a committee and try to get this right. You know, the stats are not updated for April, so I don't know where we stand on dog licensing. People don't like the dog licensing topic because it costs them money. Will cost every other taxpayer in this town money because you don't have the dog licensing revenue. It's just like people who don't get building permits. It cost all your neighbors money because the entire tax levy is broken up over total assessed value and you get your portion based on your assessed value. So if somebody doesn't get a permit, they are not getting their correct taxes and you're paying more. It's like I feel like a broken record. I said that earlier this year and you know everybody likes to say we've made improvements. Yeah, but this is a

problem. Some of these pets look super friendly. No one's doing anything. I'm sorry. My house is full. I mean, I I I've got two. My house is full, but I'll come back later. Thank you. While we're on the topic, yes, we've asked many times. We've offered ideas. We'll give you more personnel. We've said we have high school people that will come and post. There's literally no reason to not be posting every day about all the animals. The fact that we keep getting lip service is over. June 12th is our next board of health meeting. better come with a better plan cuz I'm done. I think it's Well, you can give a rice notice and we can have that conversation.

I don't think it needs to wait till June 12th to the next board of health. I think what we should have at the next board of health meeting is a progress report, right? And of something that has happened. We've continuously asked we've offered more more employees at at some point. Enough was enough. I think we're all had more than 13, but I get it. Yours are only They only do them around the council meetings, let's be honest.

So, well, no, they've been doing a lot more posts about animals that have been adopted and it's the good news story, but I agree with you. I think there needs to be more, but we still have, right? We still have this need and we still have these other animals that need to be adopted and have been here. Um, so and I think again their rating system that they have for the animals there are many animals that get out on a regular basis because they've been evaluated and are walkable, let's call it that, or some of the not all volunteers can handle every animal that's in there depending on their their evaluation. So again, I I don't think it's anywhere I do think it's better than it used to be even before I was here. I don't think it's where we need to be yet. Um, and so we'll we're going to have to take that back to them and and bring them these specific things and get some specific answers.

But the but the thing is we don't want to get it back to what it used to be. We don't want to get it back to become um a circus in a council meeting. Right. Right. Because we're not getting answers. I mean, I know Steve was here uh last meeting asking about the dog. I forget the dog's name. Who? It's Merlin. Merlin with the the the his red label because he bites at the leash. I mean, well, I listen, I'm not there. I'm not there. But did we get an answer on that? Has he been has he been re-evaluated since the last time we had a meeting?

So, yes, there has been a commitment to re-evaluate all of the red dogs that that we have. The other thing is is that they've asked Laura the trainer to get them out, get the dogs out, all red dogs, at least once per month so that they're not sitting for months. Um, they also have a program that they've been working that's fairly new and I believe they just reached out to Steve Kle to ask if he'd be interested in that as well. But what they do is they have a rescue that will uh foster one of the red dogs for um a day or two days, however long they want to assess the dog. They assess the dog and say whether they can find a place for that dog. Okay. So while it's out in foster then it's being cared for and given some attention that they may not get by being in their their the kennel here. Um and so they've asked Steve if he'd be interested in working with the rescues as well to help facilitate that. So again, a lot of the focus recently has been more on the red dogs and not necessarily on the whole population. So, but I I think we can't lose sight of that.

And you bring up important points. I'll come back at my two minutes. I know my time is up, but come on, guys. It's been years. There's no reason that they can't post about the dogs every day. If you're trying to sell a car, you don't post once a month. Yes. I'm tired of getting text messages that, hey, they posted something because it's the day of a council meeting. Tell them to do their job. Got it. Yeah. One one follow-up question on that. If um I'm glad to hear the red dogs are going to be re-evaluated, are they going to be evaluated by the same evaluator or are we going to be a second opinion? I've asked them to get a third party to to do treat it as if it's a second opinion. Good.

I'll come back later. And Kathy, this is a rescue organization that we're looking to have come in. the organization is aside from the evaluation, but they are doing an evaluation of sorts, but that's for their own determination to see if they're able to place the dog from their rescue. So, okay. Is it possible we could get a timeline on your scheduling for the evaluation? Can we see a schedule of that? I can I can ask for the reception. I know. Okay.

I do know. I feel it the same way. No Bellich check won Super Bowls because everybody did their J damn job. No, I believe he had before you did. Oh, sorry. See that? Look at that. What a gentleman. Hi, Juliana Carella. I was just going to add to the marketing thing a little bit. The last time I reached out to them about this was probably like over a year, maybe two years ago. But I did reach out to volunteer to come in and train their team or whoever wants to get more filming to understand Canva. And I am still happy to do that and I just want that on the record. Thank you. Thank you.

Sir, you're up. You tried to fit in. You went home and changed your shirt because So, first of all, thank you for your time. I spent time in this building but on the other side. Um so with that coming in the wrong door. You have to state your name, sir. My name is uh Frank Faldetta. Thank you. Resident of 57 Stratton Drive, Hamilton, New Jersey, a block away from Steiner High School Cotton Road. Good evening. Um first of all, apologize for coming in this door. I haven't been on the sign in a while. I guess I should have came in there.

You're fine. Don't know what I walked in on, but um very classy. Yes, happy mother's day. Um what's more important than that? Also um briefly great show of support for uh the policeman in this room. I'm 50 years old. I've been in Hamilton for over 25 years. I've seen them deal with all kinds of complex situations, especially one which I'm about to talk about. I'm here because it had a fire at my personal residence on January 18th, day before Martin Luther King Day at 57 Stratton Drive. And um as I was taught growing up in church in Trenton, you know, I'm here to ask for guidance, not asking for a fix. Um so going through the I wouldn't wish a house fire on anyone. It's been called a complete reconstructive gut. my family were renting for a minimum of a year and a half. Uh in Robinsville, everybody's fine, everybody's safe. There was never any danger that way. I speak to the police specifically. One of the things they did is there was all the snow on the ground and I my kids were crying and got them safely to a neighbors and I hand carried my dogs into a car and parked them on a side street so they could feel safe and they were safe. Um, it was a cop that came up to me 15 minutes into it and said, "Just want to be sure you didn't put that heat on high. Those dogs are just as scared as everybody else. They'll pay they'll pass out in the car."

So, whoever did that, you might be in this room. Thank you.

Um, so long story short, as I go through the process, I was advised to put together this paperwork, which and work through um, and I'm not name dropping here. This is just what's on the paperwork. Michelle, I have not talked to Michelle, but I was told to fill out this form for Michelle South in the assistant tax assessor's office and mail it to the appropriate email addresses in the mayor's office. Basically, what I'm doing is they've already agreed Dan Dan Gotti spoke to him. They've already agreed that the House is, you know, to drop the taxes 75%. Based on what happened and the struggle and everything we're going through, financial hardship and that reduction takes place January 1st of 2027.

I'm just trying to find guidance in how to get that um maybe applied now, which would be so helpful given us that we were only 18 days into 2026. it would be a great help to me and anybody's family just given that timeline on that cycle. So, um I'm not asking you to fix anything. I'm asking for guidance on if I've submitted the forms and haven't heard back. Um I've heard just like whispers of you should have sent the same thing to Hamstat. Um things like that on my file, but I'm basically just looking for guidance if there's a next step that I could take to potentially achieve this goal because it would make a huge difference for my family in 2026. Yeah, I don't know what the answer to that is off the top of my head. I know the assessor is bound by a lot of uh state law and statutes. Uh with regards to the assessments, I don't know who would have the authority to override any of those um specifically or if there's anything within um I I believe you had you had the opportunity for an appeal for your assessment. Did you file any of that? because I believe the appeal process for the current year's taxes runs from January when you get your card and says what your assessment is through April, I believe.

No, that's a good point. I I agreed with the assessment. This form, I guess, was created specifically as the appeal and it basically agreed with the assessment and just looking for it to take place sometime in 2026 rather than January 1st, 2027. did say that the fiscal year numbers are already done and I do understand that we all have budgets and things to kind of plan for. The human element of this is we were only 18 days into the year and um yeah, you know, kind of the situation is now, the hardship is now. So, uh does does Mr. Gaddy does he have your contact information?

He's got my whole file. I'd like to meet with him and discuss it with him and find out what his restrictions are or what his abilities are in order to do this and then maybe together he and I can give you a call and and discuss. Is that would that be okay? That would be wonderful. And he has a file too, right? I don't pretend to know everything on my own. kind of been doing real estate for 30 years, but he I hired a 30-year adjuster and he also has talked to my adjuster and has all that information on file. He's very experienced and just trying to figure out the next step. Thank you for that. Yeah. I want to find out what your options are for this year. Yeah.

Right. And so again, I think it's so far you've gotten some direction on what's going to happen for next year, but let's see what we can do for this year. I'm just not sure what the law allows. That's one of the most humble things you could do is if you don't know he does have your contact information so I can get with him sometime this week and then and then reach out and give you a call at an opportunity. Yeah, I appreciate your time. Should I do you go by Katherine or Kathy or Kathy? Gabby, should I email you direct or or should I You can certainly do that, but I won't know any information till I speak to to uh to Dan. So, okay.

But my our email exchanges are about the same. It's K. Monzo Hamiltonj.com. Okay. Maybe would it be wise to call him and say, "I came today." And sure, tell them what happened. That would be fine. Just go from there. Yep. Do do you anticipate being back in your home this year or next year? Is there a time frame that did they did they knock it down level yet or? Well, it's a good question. They didn't do that yet. There's ongoing insurance meetings. The earliest one was u there's one Tuesday of this week.

At some point, thank God for good insurance. Um, at some point there's going to be I guess like I call it a come to Jesus moment where you know here here's what New Jersey manufacturers will give you and based on that can you rebuild? Do you want to rebuild the way you want to rebuild? Right now the power is off everything. So um there's no timeline for that. I should have that in the next 60 days. Mhm.

What's going to happen and how it's going to happen? all kinds of issues wicking on the electric when it was a three alarm fire. The fireman did a great job, but lots of water. Uh lots of damage. Uh although you could drive by it and see it boarded up and all the windows broke, the inside due the severity of the fire was sure pretty. Frank, when did you and I'm sorry to hear about what happened. Uh when did you say the fire was? January 18th of this year. um the night before Marley beginning. Okay, that's devastating. I'm sorry for your loss.

No, no problem. Thanks for listening. Um you know, if you knew me my whole life, I'm not one to ask or anything, but I realized the emails and everything else. Um it's all going to go on deaf ears and I'm just trying to write find to an answer. Thank you. I'll try to help coordinate that so you don't have to be all over the place. So, yeah. I know. I appreciate the opportunity for a next step. Thank you for listening. Thanks, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much. Best of luck. Thank you. Anybody else would like to speak for the first time? We'll start the second timers. Who wants to go first? Lisa, did you want to come back up?

I'll let others go first. All right, recover. Anybody else want to speak a second time? Come on up. Come on up. Great. I'd actually like to comment on the um

Yeah, absolutely. Uh Frank uh Cusack uh Thrive Avenue. Um I actually want to talk about the animal shelter thing with the red tags. I I have a 60 lb yellow pity mix that um killed three nylon leashes in the span of a week uh when he was a puppy. And um my wife and I uh working with the dog trainer found a $16 solution on Amazon and that is a chain link leash. Um he bid it once and has never bid it again. So um and it's $16.

Thank you. Thank you. I'll donate one.

Lisa Williams, I'm going to piggyback on his. So, I listen and watch the meetings when I'm not here. And I think about what it was like when I used to volunteer at the shelter. So, there was once a dog, Pacino was the shelter dog name. He's real calm in his kennel. Take him out. Wild. I remember standing outside the office of the shelter thinking, "Please God, somebody to look out the window as this dog is I'm trying to get it to not get my face. He's lunging up at my face." The animal control officer came out and taught me how to hand how to hold the leash. If you watch those videos, all these dogs walking, nobody's holding the leashes correctly. It's the most basic thing. You're supposed to stand with your feet apart and have the leash in one hand and held on the second on the other side to have more control over the dog. When the dog is out here, you have no control. So, an acco who doesn't work at the shelter anymore taught me how to do it correctly. Pacino got adopted by an individual who had serious injuries from a car accident, walked with two canes, and never ever ever had a problem with Pacino. His name was changed and we'll just leave it out. Pacino lived out his life with someone who adored him and never had a problem. In this current environment, biting at the leash would have made him red. He lived with a handicapped person who's now in a wheelchair and he never had a problem. I'm not a puppy person. I usually get shelter dogs. I was offered a free puppy. It's been an interesting year and a half. And there were many things that my puppy has done in the past year and a half that I say, "Thank God you didn't end up in that shelter because your behavior, she's just an energetic young large breed dog. She's over 70 pounds. You know, if she didn't walk right on the leash or she jumped on somebody, she would get labeled. She's just a young dog. She has never gotten out. She has never hurt anyone. She is now, you know, running, playing at night. Just Somebody needs to train the volunteers and somebody needs to train the volunteers how to train the dog and stop labeling them for the most basic things

like growling. I welcome a growl. A dog that growls won't bite. If you respect the growl, you won't get bit. You punish the growl, the dog has nothing to do but bite. Thank you. Thank you.

Anybody else wishing to comment? First, a second time. You guys are quiet. You sit up front. You, you know, got to be called on. I don't blame you.

Anybody else wishing to speak? Come on. So, I just wanted to um add that they Jason Hamilton resident and taxpayer usually. Um so there's number one, there's a buddy program that they started. I'm assuming you know about it cuz you seem like you know your stuff over there pretty well. And um you can take a dog home and for everybody you can take a dog home um and like you get 24 hours you like take it to the beach for ice cream. You get to know it and then you know they've been stuck there like a year or something. Um I'm looking forward to taking my I have to take like one more class or whatever. But they have that and I think it's great. Right. But the woman who coordinated it just left. So they've lost their their volunteer coordinator's gone. And of course they're low on the staff. They lost a dog walker or two the other day unfortunately. So they're really short. Um and I'm really hoping Pat considers making uh taking her suggestion and maybe making a committee. I think it's a great idea to see Blanchford handle right there. All right, you just come in with a coffee approved, sign pressure, any of that. So, I'll talk to you about that. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. We lose an employee. So, um we Yes, the part-time um volunteer coordinator. She also works for the township in another capacity as well. So, she decided to put more efforts towards that position which is with recreation also. So, How long ago was that? Just a couple weeks ago, but we have advertised that we're trying to get another uh part-time coordinator in for volunteers very quickly. So, because it was it was going fairly well and the volunteer coordinator is part of the increased training efforts that have been made at the shelter

for the volunteers on, you know, and then pairing them up properly, things like that that they've tried to do in the past, but it seemed to be working fairly well. So hopefully we'll get that back in place soon so that we can continue to make progress on the training that they have been implementing. They've been doing increased trainings among other measures. We always want to increase volunteers but if you can't increase them if there's nobody there to train them and put them through the program. So it's a challenge. Thank you. Anyone else from the public before we close the public comment? All right. We'll start with our uh council comments. Uh who would like to start?

I'll go. Sure.

Okay. Um first off, I'd like to thank everybody from coming out tonight. Um especially our PBA. Um it was great sh sign of unity, which I think is always important in negotiations. Um and also sitting here um for the past hour and a half and being respectful of council and comments made and um negotiations are are tough. I've been involved in a lot of negotiations myself over the years and my hope is that that we get this resolved. I'd hate to see it to go to arbitration. I think it should be resolved here. I'll leave it at that. Um, as far as upcoming events, we got the Aelia Fest coming up on uh Saturday the 9th, uh, which should hopefully be a beautiful day, especially since Mother's Day is uh, on the 10th, which would be the rain date. Um, but other than that, um, all the mothers in the room and the mothers that may be actually listening to this meeting online, I wish you all a happy Mother's Day. Um, hope you enjoy it with your family and friends and loved ones. And, uh, that's all I have tonight. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'll also be very brief. I'm just going to I just want to thank our uh town of PBA for being here this uh this evening. Um I know we have a dedicated police force. Um I know you guys serve with professionalism and integrity. I know you have the trust of the community and I think that we'll I'm very confident we'll come to a resolution um with negotiations uh ongoing. Um, I also wanted to just thank the moms and grandmoms out there. Um, and uh um this coming Sunday, pamper yourself, enjoy yourself. Um, and hopefully your significant other helps in that cause. Um, and I just also want to just mention uh regarding the animal shelter, I also agree with Councilman Pero. It's been a while. We we should get some of these things addressed. the marketing of the uh of the animal shelter is an easy lift. It should not be a heavy lift. Um I also feel like um it's very important that we fill that role of the volunteer coordinator as soon as possible. And I'm happy to hear that you guys are actively looking to fill that um because that's immensely important as we move forward just to uh um you know, we never want to go backwards. So that's the bottom line. Thank you.

Yeah. Um, I just want to echo what Councilman Whan and Councilman Caribelli said. I'm proud of our police officers. Thank you for being here today. Appreciate the work that you guys do. Um, and you know, regarding our shelter, we have been talking about some of these issues for a long time. Uh, it would be good to bring them to a resolution. We've been advocating for to give you more personnel. Um, that's one of those few items where we try to give you more. A lot of times we're looking for things to take away

and this is an area where, you know, we see the need, right? And we know the outcomes are better when the shelter is properly staffed, when the animals are properly cared for, when they get walks. A walk dog is a well- behaved dog, right? Dogs that don't get walked don't behave as well. It's just common sense. So hopefully we can work out some of these kinks. Uh increasing the efforts to get the dogs out of the shelter either through fosters. I'm glad to hear about the initiative to work with uh an additional foster organization. Um and hopefully the the marketing of the available animals will improve. Um but otherwise, happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and we'll see you next time. Um, I'm just going to go ahead and echo again as uh, Councilman Tai said, but first and foremost, yes, thank you to our an amazing Hamilton Township PBA. Um, you know, one thing I think I didn't have a full concept of until I was on council was how big this township is. So, we know you guys are working really hard every day to keep us safe and we do appreciate everything you do and I you know um as a union member myself as a teacher I know that negotiations can be stressful and the outcomes but I'm also confident we'll come to a resolution. Um so thank you. Um I did speaking of teachers I wanted to mention is teacher appreciation week. Today is teacher appreciation day. Um, so I just want to thank I know my kids have had the blessing of going through Morgan, Reynolds, and Noddingham. I've my second one's a senior this year, so I'm almost through the system, but they've had such amazing teachers here in Hamilton. And really, I just want to publicly thank every one of them and our board of education for being supportive of them and all the services our schools. Um, we really do have some fantastic principles and teachers and programs. So um, so you might want to think about sending a

note. even know is like awesome as a teacher. I also just wanted to mention I know this is kind of far out but um I serve on the Janna Wilson board and we'll be having a fundraiser tricky tray on June 12th at the Robert Wood Johnson Wellness Center. Tickets are on sale online through Eventbrite or you can go to the center on Wilfr Avenue. Um this is our third year in a row. It grows every year. It's a lot of fun. I don't know how much you guys are interested but I can promise you your girlfriends and wives are. Um, and it it really is we really have a great time. I mean, bring your own food and drink and then we just we have some really great prizes to win. Um, and I guess that and again going to the animal shelter. Thank you Juliana for offering to help with the with the marketing. I I can I can you know attest to Juliana would have our dogs and cats and guinea pigs and rabbits on TikTok every day but in a good way. Um, so I really thank you if you know, let's follow up about that. I think that's a great idea. I'm sorry to hear we lost our volunteer coordinator if you want to apply for that, too. Uh, but no, hopefully we can get that filled soon. And again, I I like the buddy programming you mentioned, Jason. So, these are all good things, but I do think we do have some improvements to make. So, thank you again. Have a good night.

So, I didn't know it was teacher appreciation week or day. So, to I know we have at least two teachers in the room. Uh, so, uh, congratulations on that recognition. Next week is police week. You know what would be great for police week? Getting this contract done. It'll be a good time. It's almost like it was meant to be. So, uh hopefully hopefully we can uh make we we appreciate everybody being here. Hopefully we make some progress on that this week and uh next week for police week uh we could celebrate um uh the avoidance of arbitration and uh the settlement of that contract. Um happy Mother's Day to everybody that that that applies to. Um we appreciate all of you. Um you you know we spend so much time together. Uh sometimes I see you all more than than my own family and this budget season was tough. Um, we were here for a couple long nights and like I said, I know we had some arguments. I know we had some disagreements, but we got where we had to get to. And um, I appreciate all of you being uh, here for me and likewise, I'm here for for all of you. Hope you all enjoy your Mother's Day uh, with your spouses or friends or family or whoever it is and whoever's working. uh if you don't get to see your moms or wives or sisters or whatever it is that we call each other, I I hope um I hope they know that we appreciate all of you being out there. Um with nothing else, the meeting is going to be adjourned.