Council - Regular Meeting

Move on to read item four, please.

In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, it is hereby announced and shall be entered into the minutes of this meeting that adequate notice has been provided by the following. One, posted on the bulletin board within the municipal building on December 26, 2025 and remains posted at that location for public inspection. Two, printed in the Home News Tribune and the Cranberry Press on December 26, 2025. Three, posted on the Monroe Township website and four sent to those individuals who have requested personal notice. In accordance with Chapter 3, Section 17 of the Monroe Township Code, public comment shall be limited to five minutes unless further time is granted by the Council President.

Thank you. Moving on to item five, we have a few proclamations and a presentation this evening. Our proclamations, Flag Day, June 14, 2026, and celebrated Frank L. Cadella's 100th birthday on June 6, 2026. This evening, our presentation is recognizing the 2026 Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee. I'm going to ask Mayor Delina and Kyle Johannesson to join me at the podium. Kyle will be leading our presentation this evening as the advisor to our Youth Advisory Council. And students, as you come up, we're going to ask you to come stand here after you get your presentation, and we will take a five-minute break after the presentation for pictures.

It's a big moment. I get to speak at a council meeting. So as Council President Siegel said, I am the coordinator for the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council. So each year, Council President and I select 16 students from a highly competitive pool of over 300 applicants we have to serve on Mayor Delaney's Youth Advisory Council. So throughout the year, students meet monthly with Council President Siegel and I to learn about the inner workings of the township and the local government and directly engage with township leaders and departments. So every year we select new department heads for the students to learn from. So we had Carolyn Barna from the Recycling Center, Christine Robbins and Tanya Panucci from the clerk's office who stopped around, Emily Mazzoni and Mia Reiser from the library, Kevin McGowan, our business administrator, and of course, Mayor Delina. So these guest speakers provide students with a unique opportunity to ask questions and gain firsthand insight to the many services local government provides. As part of their term, students also are expected to complete a final project. So in celebration of America 250, Mayor's Youth Advisory is partnering with the Historic Preservation Commission to host a bit of a history fair this Sunday at the Dye Farm site from 1 o'clock to 4 o'clock p.m., Students have conducted extensive research on a wide range of topics, highlighting Munner Township's important role in the founding and development of our nation. So we encourage all residents to stop by this Sunday and support all the great students' work. And tonight, in lieu of that, we recognize these students for their dedication, hard work, and commitment to public service. And please note, with final exams underway, we couldn't have all the students able to attend, but we hope to see everyone at the Dye Farm on Sunday. So I will hand the certificates over to the mayor and we'll read some names. Perfect. All right, so our first student is Alexandria Pericho. Aiden Moody. Vanita Kanala. Samuel Lehman. Bella Srizafa. Arnav Japudi. Mahi Patel. Owais Daru. Daya Modi. Aditi Armanath. Anaya Kodicharela. Nehal Sen. Kava Kuntamakala. Lauren Euro. Anvi Kumar. And Arav Kumar.

Aditi.

Just getting the certificate. Aditi Armanak.

So we're going to take a five minute recess so we can take some pictures.

to item six clerk can you please read item six resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda at the june 3rd 2026 regular meeting r6 2026 111 through r6 2026 123. thank you council members please review the resolutions does anyone have any resolutions to be removed

okay great thank you moving on to our public comments limited to agenda items only five minutes per speaker may i have a motion to open second please all in favor any opposed agenda items only for this public comment section five minutes per speaker please state your name and address for the record

Prakash Parab, 33 Dana Drive. Good evening, President Siegel and council members. I'm in support of these resolutions, but I have some questions. R6-2026-120, about $2,395,000 for indoor sports facility adjustment rope. new sports facility. What we are going to use this means what is the sports facility we are going to design. I'm in support of it but want details because R62026121 Architecture engineering cost is $87,500. So what is the total cost and why we are paying $87,500 for architecture engineering consultant? So I'd like to know the details, please.

Sure, Council President. So this was a project that we talked about at length back in 2024 when the Council, just to remind the Council, when the Council put the funding in place for this, this is going to be a multi-use project. 80 by 100 building at James Monroe Park. It doesn't replace any of the fields or any of the other amenities over there. It's in a different spot of James Monroe Park. It will be designed with indoor turf inside, and it will be available to use for multiple township recreation programs. It's not a commercial facility. It is for our township recreation programs. Obviously, baseball being right there, they will get priority scheduling and likely the majority of the use as batting cages will be... Total cost, please, because I have only five minutes, so sorry for that.

Sure.

So the total cost is about $3.2 million with soft costs and hard costs. I can explain that if you'd like.

Why we are paying $87,500 for the $3.2 million budget. The entire thing is $3.2 million. Why we are paying $87,500 for consultation and engineering? This is a regular way or, you know, that's what I'm questioning.

Sure. Council President, last year we put a resolution on for the engineering design and bidding phase of this project. This 87500 is for our engineers at H2M Engineering to conduct the construction management and inspection as the building is being constructed. That's very common. It's what we do in all of our projects. construction projects here in towns, what every town does for all of their construction projects. So we put the money in place last year for the engineering and design, and this year we are authorizing the construction management.

So it is about 5% less, so this is normal, looks like. It is very normal, absolutely. Thank you very much, sir.

Good evening, Bob Valentine, 68 Union Valley Road. I just want to follow up on this topic a little bit and ask a couple of questions. How much, could you tell me how much we paid for phase one with the work on the bidding that was referenced in the resolution?

Sorry, bear with me one moment. If you have other questions.

I'll ask another question while you're doing that. Trying to understand a little bit, to educate me probably a little bit, but I assume that people doing the construction have a construction manager who's overseeing the project. He oversees the subs and does all that work. So when you talk about construction management paying this firm, I understand the permits and making sure that things are built to town codes and inspection. I'm having a little trouble with the management part because I assume we're paying for that with the construction company. So maybe you can help me understand that a little better.

Well, so the council president, sorry. And it was about 160,000 for the engineering and design and then 87,500 for the construction management. Construction managers represent the township, right? These are who we hire to inspect the project as it's being completed to make sure that it's being done to the specifications, to make sure that it's being done to code, to make sure that it's. happening on time and on budget. So while a contractor will have their own project manager, of course, the construction management firm works for the township and represents the township in making sure that this gets done correctly. Like I said, incredibly common in these projects.

So that person will meet periodically with the construction company and talk about how things are going. On a weekly basis.

Absolutely.

Yes. So how many hours did you buy for $87,000? How many hours of time did you buy?

It's not broken out hourly.

No, it's a flat fee? It's a flat fee, correct.

Well, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that. It's not that it's not invoiced hourly, but that $87,500 is not based on a particular number of hours that are estimated. So if the project runs over and the council feels that it's legitimate reasons that it runs over and we need additional money for construction management, we'd have to come back here to the council.

So how do you evaluate that in terms of the hours? I'll take the opposite. Things will really go smoothly, go as well as done very quickly. How do you know that maybe you should be, how do you know what the final number you're going to end up paying maybe should be $50,000?

So we receive a proposal, council president, based on the industry standards of a project of this size. And based on the project of this size, that's how those estimates are calculated. We could be a little bit under. We could be a little bit over and need to come back. Obviously, if the project gets done and there's not $87,000 worth of work, then that's not what we're paying. But this authorizes the council to give us a contract for this manager not to exceed $87,500. Right.

So just be able to, again, I'm just trying to understand. Sure. So how do you make that evaluation? Just educate me a little bit. How do you know that the value you're going to end up agreeing to, how do you get comfortable with that? Based on the project being completed successfully? Is there other things you're looking at?

Project being completed successfully. That's the goal line.

So as soon as we get to the finish. And within, on time, they're going to get $87,000. Correct. Thank you. You're welcome.

George Gunkleman, Five Kilo Court, Monroe. Council President, not to beat up on this same issue over and over again, PALPRO, is this a state-approved contractor? What do we know about this person or about this company?

Mr. McGowan. Council President, this company is the lowest qualified bidder out of 12 bidders, so they are fully qualified to do the project. They've worked with our construction manager on other projects in other parts of the state successfully and on time and on budget, and so they have all the proper state licensures and accreditations. They will proceed to hire their subcontractors per the bid, and we're confident that they'll be able to get the job done.

My concern here is we've gone through this exercise with the police department, very small expansion, 1600 feet or something like that, not a large amount. And here we are years later, not complete, unpaved, leaks in the roof, no recourse from the problems that came up from either the architects or the engineers. We haven't recovered any of that money yet that I'm aware of that's come up in the meetings. I just don't wanna see us fall down in that same hole again. And I'm not, comfortable with the information we have here is what protections we have in place if this, for whatever reason, this contractor declares bankruptcy and walks away like we had happen with the police department. So could someone tell me how we are going to be protected in this quite large, $3 million? that the township is spending. It's not chump change.

Council President, I can speak a little bit to that and if Mark has anything to add sort of generally on the process. So there's no question that the contractor at the police department did not fulfill their role. That's why we terminated that contract. We didn't take that lightly. It took a while to get to that point. We were trying to work with that contractor to get this done. Ultimately, we had to make the right decision for the residents and ultimately move on from that particular contractor. It's an unfortunate situation. In terms of the recourse of that, that contractor like this one has to post a bond. The bond company at the police department has now, and it's taken several months, but they have now negotiated with a new general contractor to come in. at the expense of the bond company to finish the project at the police department now that's not ideal but at least it's not additional funds out of the township's pocket um so that's happening starting in the next couple of weeks and we're hopeful that between the summer and the early fall uh the new general contractor will be able to uh to finish the job This project would have the same legal protections. I'm not suggesting that they're perfect, but this contractor has to post a bond. This contractor is subject to daily and weekly reviews by our construction manager. And ultimately, if they are not performing, then we take the legal steps that are available to any municipality. Mark, I don't know if there's any sort of generally...

Council President, I was just going to give the update that you did on the police station, that that is moving forward with the bond company. And the bond is our protection. I mean, George, you're in the industry. You understand that. You know, they have to post the bond up front. We don't have a crystal ball before a project is awarded. All you can do is you can review their resumes, review all the information. That's why we say they're the lowest qualified company. bidder when we award because they meet all the qualifications required by the state and they have the bonding in order, they have the experience in order. And the advantage we have on this project is our construction manager and design engineer has worked with this contractor before and has completed projects with this contractor. So a little bit different from the police station where we didn't have experience with that contractor. So I'm fairly confident with this one going in as the construction manager has already worked with this contractor.

Lastly, I'd like to ask if we've collected anything from the errors and omissions insurance that either the architects or the engineers had in the police project or police station project.

We have not.

A lot of errors, a lot of omissions.

Thank you. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Seeing none, may I have a motion to close?

Motion.

May I have a second? Second. Any opposed? All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Thank you. Moving on to item eight, meeting adjournment. May I have a motion to adjourn? May I have a second? Second. Roll call, please.

Councilman Cohen. Yes. Councilman DiPiro. Yes. Councilman Vanzora. Yes. Council Vice President Markell. Yes. Council President Siegel.

Yes.

The time is 6.56.

Great, thank you. Moving on to our regular meeting, may I have a motion to open? May I have a second, please?

Second.

Clerk, roll call, please.

Councilwoman Cohen. Yes. Councilman DiPiro. Yes. Councilman Vanzora. Yes. Council Vice President Markell. Yes. Council President Siegel. Yes.

Thank you. Moving on to item two, motion to approve the payment of claims per run date May 28, 2026. May I have a motion? Thank you. May I have a second?

Clerk, roll call, please. Councilwoman Cohen. Yes. Councilman DiPiro. Stay. Councilman Vanzora. Yes. Council Vice President Markell. Yes. Council President Siegel. Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. Approval of the minutes. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the following meetings as written and presented. May 4th, 2026, agenda and regular combined meeting. Thank you. May I have a second?

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilwoman Cohen. Yes. Councilman DePiro. Yes. Councilman Vanzora. Yes. Council Vice President Markell. Yes. Council President Siegel. Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. Clerk, can you please read item four?

Resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda R6-2026-111 through R6-2026-123. Council President, if I may. Can I just ask a couple questions in reference to the...

with the public just brought to our attention. If we could just put a little little clarity on how long is this contract good for? And what are the liquidated damages if the contractor would not fulfill this contract obligation to the to the to us?

Mr. McGowan. Council President, I believe the timetable or the end date of the contract is the end of this year, the end of 2026. We hope that it doesn't take that long, but that is sort of the end deadline. We're hopeful that it won't. I believe the default, we're in the default liquidated damages, which I think is $500 a day. And I can double check on that for you, Councilman. I don't have that in front of me.

It's something that, you know... In the past, as some of our residents brought that to our attention, we're going through a situation at James Monroe Park right now that's been going on and on and on. And I get constant questions on when's it going to be ready? When's it going to be done? So maybe we post that when we... put our website on what jobs we're doing, on what the completion date would be, try to give a little insight on everybody. Like our paving, we try to do everything before school starts, stuff like that. And I understand whether permitting, and there are some situations that our professionals are requested from the contractor to say, listen, I can't get the materials, or whatever the case may be, whether. But it just might be a little bit more insight to give our residents to say, here's a 90-day contract or a contract that's for six months, along those lines. Thank you.

Thank you. May I have a motion? Second, please.

Second.

Clerk, roll call, please.

Councilman Cohen. Yes. Councilman DiPiero. Yes. Councilman Vanzora. Yes. Council Vice President Markell. Yes. Council President Siegel. Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. Moving on to our Administrator's Report. Mr. McGowan.

Thank you, Council President. I'll be very brief. Just wanted to update the public. Our MTUD has had a series of complicated water main breaks in the last several weeks, and I just want to thank our utility director, Joe Stroin, and all of his staff for their outstanding professional work, often overnight, often on holiday weekends, to repair and maintain our water system. Not an easy task, and they do a wonderful job. I wanted to mention, you know, we've received a number of questions over the last several weeks regarding AI data centers in Monroe. The mayor is going to speak to this in more detail shortly during his report, but I just want to clarify that there are no data centers approved anywhere in the township, and we have no applications for development of any data center down at our planning and zoning office. and they're actually not, they're not a permitted use specifically in any of our zones in town. So the mayor's gonna provide more thoughts on that on behalf of the township, but I just wanted to make that point. And I wanna thank the council for approving the new indoor rec facility at James Monroe Park. The questions that we got from the public were well taken and are absolutely essential. Questions from the councilmen are very important as we move through an expensive project like this. This is being built mostly with grant funds from the state and from the county, which is helpful, and a little bit of funds from the municipality as well. So we appreciate the continued support by the council for all of our recreation programs. And speaking of recreation, it's a very big night for the McGowan family because the Knicks are in the NBA finals for the first time in 27 years. And I didn't even plan the color scheme of our wire microphones. So it's just the universe telling us that this is the year, Council President. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. McGowan. Moving on to the engineer's report, Mr. Rasmowitz.

Thank you, Council President. I have updates on several projects in town, pickleball courts and a parking lot at the Senior Center. The pickleball courts will be surface coated and striped next week, weather permitting, and completion of the project in about two weeks. James Monroe Park concession stand, the new electric service is being installed. We have about another week of electrical work, and barring any additional delays, we anticipate completion of the project by the end of the month. Lynx Drive. Lynx Drive, that was an NJDOT grant on that of about $552,000. The concrete work on that project is complete. The milling and paving of the road needs to be done. We are holding off until school is out so that the traffic is a little bit less out there so they can get that paving done. So that'll happen in the near future. Uh, the 2026 road project concrete work on that project has started. Um, we have about 18 township roads that are getting done. The milling and paving of that work will be, uh, in July and August, uh, over the summer. And let's see prospect planes, Applegarth road intersection. That's a Middlesex County project. There's a lot of work going on out there. Uh, there's lane closures, uh, please use caution. And the update I have from the county is they're working with JCP&L on utility pole relocations. There were some conflicts out there with some of the existing underground utilities, and they're waiting on revised utility layouts from Jersey Central Power and Light. And lastly that I have, this is actually the county intersection in Jamesburg, Half Acre Road and Forsgate Drive. They're planning on doing milling and paving next week, Tuesday, June 9th through Friday, June 12th. It's going to be nighttime work from 7 p.m. till 5 a.m. in the morning. There will be road closures at that intersection, so just keep that in mind. Again, that's night work. Next week, June 9th through June 12th, Half Acre Road and Forsgate Drive, actually, in Jamesburg. That's my report.

Great. Thank you. Moving on to council reports. Councilman DiPiro.

Thank you. I wanted to ask a question on the Opticom. I sent an email in reference to the traffic lights for first responders. So if we can get the traffic lights that are either county or township the Opticon lights to make sure that when the flashing lights from our first responders, it shuts the other three ways, direction of traffic turns the lights reds. It's very important for first responders to get to a call as soon as possible. So if there's somebody that could give us an update on the traffic light situation to our town.

Council President, if I may jump in, we do have a contract that's awarded to, I believe it's Genelectric. I reached out to them earlier today to get an update as to where that report is. They need to provide us an inspection of all the opticons in the township. So I did not hear back today, but as soon as I hear back, I will.

i will let uh the administration know and you as well all right thank you because the one right here in municipal plaza is not functioning at a rate and we haven't police coming out of here and first aid and fire um daily quite a bit on um applegarth road and center drive there's a beacon that's a fire uh district three beacon laying on in the median and there's a uh light pole down in the middle middle of the median so i just wanted to see if we can get some some get it to work because that that signals all the traffic when the fire trucks come out a center drive and it and it helps helps them be aware that there's a fire engine coming out i wanted to say thank you to the clerk's office for the primary that was yesterday congratulate everybody that stepped up It's not easy thing to do to make that decision and the families that sacrifice for the ones that make that decision to try to be an elected official, try to give to the community and help. So I just wanted to congratulate all the winners and also to say thank you to our clerk's office that They work incredible hours before and after and during. So I just want to say thank you to all the poll workers and everybody that made it happen along with our police department. So thanks for that. A banner reveal ceremony for Monroe Township Falcons High School varsity ice hockey. They're champions for GMC for 2023-2024 season and 24-25 season back to back. a great bunch of young men and coaches and I attended a little awards ceremony that they had for them and they put a banner, they had a nice banner that they had made for them along with the help of the school. So I just wanted to thank all of the coaches, the families and the players that hockey, let's not forget hockey in Monroe. It's a good sport and a lot of these young men go on to bigger places. The last one was in Colorado. There was a tournament that we sent a lot of people from Monroe. So there's... Along with the expansion of the rec center, community center, parking lot, I would just like to, once you get a plan, see what we're gonna do with the hockey rink. It's very important to them and also to the community that we can do as much as we can with that hockey rink. A lot of us, all of us attended Joel Greenberg's community garden. that the shade tree commission, we planted a tree and the plaque and the family was there. And it was just bringing everybody together for a man that did so much that I personally know Joel for a while and for many years. And sitting in a lot of meetings after he passed, they all sat down and they couldn't put together how much he really did because no one really knew what he did until he was gone. And then they realized who took care of the food pantry and who took care of the plant sale and everything that was done in the community garden. And everybody came back and said, well, Joel, Joel, Joel Greenberg was on the shade tree commission. I'm the liaison for the shade tree. It's something that's very important to our community. And I just wanted to say thank you to everybody for coming. And it was a great event. our shade tree commission put together and it was just it's sad to lose a great man but he he won't be forgotten and we'll miss him i attended a um at the senior center the monroe senior course had a broadway It was an orchestra. It was great. It was really good. David played the piano, and he was keeping up the tradition with telling jokes in between, and it was just really well to see a great group of 26 people singing. seniors that was really well and they said if anybody would like to join their their Tuesday morning at the senior center at 9am. So if you'd like to see what they do or be part of it, please stop by the senior center at nine o'clock on Tuesdays. The water tower on 522. Can we get an update on the water tower painting?

Councilman, we're in the process of just finishing everything up. The tank has been painted both inside and out. The foundation has been reinforced as per the design. And our plan is that within the next week, we're going to be filling that tank and putting it back in service. Wow. And how's the budget look for that?

You did it on budget?

Yes.

Got to love that. Great job, Joe. Thanks for that and your team. Thank you very much. Federal Road and Primeville Road has a couple branches that are hanging over the dead trees. So I'd just like to, as the liaison, we were talking about it at last night's meeting as well. So I don't know if we can notify the county. They did take some trees down on Union Valley after the last storm. Federal Road is township owned. We have a contract with the tree contractor, but it's something that PRIMAL ROAD HAS A LOT OF BIG LIMBS THAT ARE HANGING OVER, THAT ARE DEAD. SO I ALSO ATTENDED THE SENIORS, I MEAN, I'M SORRY, THE HIGH SCHOOL ARMED FORCES DAY WAS THEIR 10TH ANNUAL EVENT, WHICH WAS REALLY, REALLY NICE TO DO FOR THE ARMED FORCES APPRECIATION DAY. AND I JUST WANTED TO THANK EVERYBODY THAT PUT THAT TOGETHER. THANK YOU, COUNCIL PRESIDENT.

THANK YOU. COUNCILMAN VAN ZURA.

Thank you, Madam President. Not to continue with some bad news. Oh, sorry.

Just hit it.

There we go. Sorry. Thank you. Not to continue with some bad news, but there was another person that I want to be remembered in town. It was a Monroe resident, 39 years old. This was a fellow who was a New Jersey corrections officer. who died suddenly last Tuesday. His name was Matt Pellicane, and Matt left his wife, Lisa, and two young boys. He pretty much devoted his whole life to public service. He started out in our state prison system. He did some... work as a TSA agent up at Newark and over in Trenton. He also worked security over at Monroe Village, helped a lot of our elderly residents there before going back to Department of Corrections. So it was something that was kind of sudden. Two little boys and a wife, they had a GoFundMe page I saw that was posted. I don't know much else about it. I didn't know Matt personally, but It kind of strikes you when somebody's 39 years old. That's kind of tough for the family. So I'd like him to be remembered also, if possible. And if anybody can help out his family, that would be a nice thing, too. On a happier note. Last Saturday, the Monroe High School baseball team, which was the number nine seed. That means that they thought that at least eight teams in the county were better than us, but they weren't. We went on and took the county tournament over in East Brunswick, beating Old Bridge seven to nothing. So it wasn't even close. We've got to give a special shout-out. Our pitcher, Ben Fagan, who is really quite a good pitcher. He's only a junior, I believe. Had a no-hitter until the last inning and then wound up giving up one hit the whole game. Hung in there and got the win. But the team, you know, it's funny. The team was about a 500 team, but they came together as the season went on. And Ben and also there's another pitcher on the team by the name of Andre Love. who was also an excellent pitcher. So as they went through the tournament, they had two of the really better kids pitching against a lot of teams that were really highly respected. So for a number nine seed to go on and win the tournament, That was something I thought was really special. And it's the first time they won it since 2015. So it isn't something that happens every year. And I think that's the only other time they may have won it ever. So for the second time, but I was happy. I got there for the last inning or two, and it was nice to see Monroe celebrating. It's funny because they played Old Bridge, and both teams, the colors are purple. A lot of purple around there, but our purple and gold came through. So congratulations to the boys that did that, and nice to see. And one other thing I was going to say also, although they didn't win their tournament, out of the blue, we had a tremendous boys volleyball team this year. The regular season, they At one point, I know they were 19-1, which is really, really hard to do in volleyball. So they had a great year. They didn't quite get the same accolades because they didn't win the tournaments, but I wanted to give them a shout-out, too. So as being our... our rep to the, uh, uh, rec advisory board. Um, I'm glad to see that the things are coming along at the, uh, baseball fields and, uh, the refreshment stands are finishing up to the point where we're, uh, we're finally getting there. So, uh, all that good stuff. I think the, uh, the sports stuff is, uh, It really is good because not only is it good for the kids, but it brings a sense of pride for the town in its entirety. So, congrats to them. And that's all I have right now. Thanks.

Great. Thank you. Councilwoman Cohen.

Going to see... garden and they should have taught me to run a microphone would have been more helpful so I'm kind of waiting for the Knicks to win this tonight it will be a lot of fun to see that happen we also used to go and see the Dodgers play baseball at Ebbets Field sometimes we were supposed to be in school Just a couple of things. I was at the library this week, and for those of you who are interested in Mahjong, they are having a Mahjong thing on the 24th of June and July 14th. It is free. Bring your Mahjong set. Set up a table. Doesn't matter if you live in town. They are looking forward to having enthusiastic Mahjong players. They're doing something called American and Chinese Mahjong. I Do not know the difference. I apologize. And if you haven't looked yet, the Monroe Township Parks and Recreation Bulletin lists all of the events for July 4th leading up to the fireworks on the 4th starting on June 29th. So look at your... Bulletin, don't ignore it, because there are many exciting things going on, a different event in a different location in town the whole week. So it really should be a lot of fun. And I think that Joel Greenberg was my neighbor, and he and my husband used to shoot hoops in front of the basketball hoop in front of my house. So it was very nice to see all he accomplished here in monroe and that the committee did a wonderful job and a shout out to pam because she coordinated that whole event and it was indeed lovely so that is my report for today great thank you council vice president markell

Yeah, well, I just wanted to say, Councilman DiPiero mentioned the Armed Forces Appreciation Day at the high school, which is really unbelievable. It's a great event, and they should be commended on what a great job they do for us. to honor our armed forces um last month between the armed forces day and memorial day it was a time we thought about our veterans and the and and um the people that defend this country and give their lives to this country and i just wanted to mention um that I took some time this week since Memorial Day to look up the names and addresses of families of the 13 service people that died in this war we have with Iran. So I just think that it's really great to say a few words over the flag and say God bless them, but I think we should put a name to these people and a little bit of who they leave behind it's more than just thank you it's it's you we should know what these people are all about um the oldest person that passed was 54 and the youngest person that died was 20. so that's pretty young to end your life um i have that from experience so a little bit past that um i just wanted to mention that being armed forces day and memorial they just passed I'd also like to thank the clerk's office. I'm very involved in the election, and I don't want to tell you the amount of work that they do when they make it easy for us elected officials and the people that run. One other thing I'm going to mention is that on June 18th, um is our celebration here in monroe for juneteenth um that's the celebration of the emancipation of um slaves here in this country it was actually three years after um lincoln freed the slaves it was three years it took for the people of texas to know that they were free which is kind of an atrocity. Obviously, they didn't have the internet, but three years to be enslaved when they were actually free is pretty terrible. So anyway, on June 18th at the Senior Center, there's gonna be the Juneteenth celebration. Every year it's getting bigger. There's gonna be speakers and some light refreshments. Please join us. It's a very important event in American history. Very important for an important group of people here. And that's about all I have to say. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. A couple short updates from me in the spirit of we were recognizing our Youth Advisory Council this morning. I recently was reading something from our Middlesex County Replenish. Our Monroe Township Middle School students were recognized as one of the top 10 schools in the county to collect donations for Replenish this school year. The donations contributed to the 77,000 plus pounds of food collected this school year through the county. So I just want to give a shout out to our Monroe Middle School students. And I also want to share our, as we're moving into summer, lots of summer things happening. Farmer's Markets will be starting soon at the library and our summer concert sponsored by the Cultural Arts Commission. They will be Thursdays at 6 p.m. in Thompson Park from July 9th through August 13th. Look out for information for the lineup. They have a great lineup this year. So that's my update. Mayor Delina, pass it to you.

Thank you, Madam Council President. I have to bear with me a little under the weather. We'll call it allergies. Hope it's nothing more than that. So here in New Jersey, there's always something that excites the citizens in a not a good way. First, we had the aliens landing in Grover Mills. We had buses of migrants, we had drones to excite our residents. Now it's AI data centers. And certainly, despite the real information that gets ignored, misinformation rules the roost. So here in Monroe Township, as certainly mentioned by our business administrator, there are no applications. First of all, there are no data centers here in Monroe Township. There are no applications in line to be heard regarding AI data centers. However, I know there are truly legitimate questions and concerns around the topic from certainly multiple perspectives, pro and con. In Monroe, we always try to take a thoughtful, reasonable, and fact-driven approach to these issues, and that's exactly what we are doing now. We certainly have identified some studies. We look at other municipalities throughout the state and the pros and cons of their actions, and there are certainly dozens of other dynamics to be vetted. And again, to look at the potential positive and negative impact of these facilities in various municipalities. I was very happy to see that the leaders of our state have taken this very seriously. And in conjunction with what they do, I think it's also very important for us to be mindful of what they, some of their recommendations and how we can implement them here in Monroe Township. I'm certainly very interested to see in the safeguards that are developed statewide and together as a community, as we always do, we'll decide what makes sense for the citizens of Monroe Township. So with that again being said, one more reiteration, do not have any data centers here in Monroe Township, and there are no data centers on the books to be heard as we speak tonight. Yeah, there was a number of events that were touched upon. Obviously there's lots of stuff going on in June, July. But to be brief, I do want to finish on the topic du jour. No, not data centers, but Mr. McGowan's love for the Knicks. Kevin, as you know, that one of the players, one of their better players, Carl Anthony Towns, is a Middlesex County resident. And I think you do know that my son went to high school with Carl Anthony Towns and St. Joe's Metuchen. And my son texted Carl and said, win it for McGowan. So take that with you, Kevin. We're all rooting for you. And I hope when we come to our next meeting next month, that you will have in your shoes all of the confetti from the victory parade that they have down in Manhattan, the Canyon of Heroes, that you will be there and have all of that confetti in your shoes from that celebration. So with that being said, Madam President, I'm sorry I got a little silly, but that's just how I'm rocking and rolling tonight.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, moving on to public comments. May I have a motion to open, please? May I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Public comments is open, five minutes per speaker. Please state your name and address for the record.

33 Dana Drive. The primaries are over, but the November elections are very important. Finger pointing will go on, but the politicians have to understand the common people are in trouble. Affordability is one of the biggest question going around. Before the elections, they said affordability will be solved within one month. Now it is about two years. The elections are over. The president is there. And I looked at the BOE budget. I know in general I'm talking about how the government moves. Per family, the insurance is $85,000. Can you believe it? Per employee of the school, 85,000, and it's going on for several years. Last year it was 75,000, it went for 50,000, 75,000, 85,000. Do you think it is affordable? Why it is so? At the same time, the federal government funding has stopped. It goes on. But it is not affordable. The people who are drawing $100,000, paying taxes, when the government employee's insurance is $85,000, something is wrong. The math doesn't allow it. The healthcare costs are hitting the roof. Auto insurance costs are hitting the roof. Gas prices are hitting the roof. You know, groceries are hitting the roof. You talk to the Walmart CEO and say, the guys who are earning less than $50,000 are stretched. Guys who are earning $100,000 are stretched. Where the country is going, to the docks? So the elections are coming. Republicans, Democrats, or independents, we don't care. Solve the problems. Get the solutions. You know, you have to solve the problem, not finger-pointing. And come on, arresting people. First we thought arresting criminals. Now arresting common people who are working. My God, where the country is going? Okay? So think over it. So I'm tired of looking at the TVs, what is going on, and our Facebook. Oh boy. Yesterday, last week, someone went into the HOA community and the child and the father played. They said, please, this is not a public area. The guy puts on the Facebook. And this is near the Monroe Place, near Route 33. Children have no place to play. This is a half acre, not even a half acre, less grass-filled. Children are trying to play. So the township should look at it. We need a playground, no building, building, building going on. Children have to play somewhere. People have to meet and talk to each other. So take that into consideration. And I'm very glad that recreation center is going to come near the golf course. So someone give me the update when I know how the projects are going to move and when it will be going to go in place.

Council President, so I think last year Dr. Parab was referring to an idea that we have to partner with the Board of Education to maybe bring an additional recreation facility to the Applegarth Cranberry Half Acre Road area where the Board of Education owns a piece of property.

I don't have an update of where we are right now.

We haven't engineered or designed anything. I think as we mentioned last year, that's gonna be several years out, but it is certainly something that we wanna see happen in the next few years.

Thank you very much. Let us move on that point.

Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Seeing none, may, oh, sorry, go ahead, George.

George Gunkelman, 5 Kilocourt, Monroe. Council President, a couple of things. JCP&L, the engineer referenced what was going on there with the relocation of the poles, but an inspector from Middlesex who was overseeing some of the work, was there last week, commented to me that he didn't think that intersection was gonna be done this calendar year because of JCP&L. Now we had people come here, two men, to tell us how they were gonna deal with streetlights. Very nice. But that intersection being the way it is under construction, represents a hazard. Traffic changes daily. Our inputs of police are very high there on a regular basis. And it seems like the big problem is, once again, JCP&L. So I think we need to reach out to them. And the idea that they can't figure out where to put their poles without putting them right on top of our critical sewer lines next to the pump station and stuff is a little bit silly. There's the whole other side of the road with almost nothing on it. And the idea that the engineer needs weeks or months to figure out how to cross the road is a bit much. Engineering doesn't take that long. So we need to put some pressure on them. I just want to mention one thing about the data center issue that has been thrown around a little bit. When the aliens came to Grover's Mill, the cost of electricity for every resident didn't go up. This is different. It's impacting us all very much right now, even if we don't have a center here in Monroe. when I'm finished, I hope someone can tell me, the statement was made this evening that data centers are not a permitted use. I'd like to know what the basis for that statement of, what ordinance do we have in place that is going to allow our zoning and planning boards to reject an application if that's not a permitted use? I know other towns are in the process of putting in new ordinances to protect, and the state is working, as the mayor said, to help find ways to do this. But if in fact it's not a permitted use, I'd like to know what the ordinance is that is going to protect us.

Lastly, I want to talk a little bit about Route 33.

Went by there not too long ago. in the morning and dump truck after dump truck after dump truck is going into a Monroe site with fill. Normally in the planning board, one of the requirements of projects is they balance, meaning no dirt comes out, no dirt comes in to reduce the amount of truck traffic. Obviously, this site doesn't balance because the amount of truck traffic some mornings is horrendous over there. It's one after another. Phil should be coming from a tested and approved source. Every truck is supposed to have a manifest that says it comes from the tested and approved site. It's my impression that none of that exists here. The statement made in this room to Consul was, oh, they're doing it at their own risk. I want to remind people that this is the same developer that put contaminated fill in our township from the Ford plant a number of years ago. And now we're letting them apparently operate at their own risk. Put that in quotes. I think the risk is ours. and it needs to be curtailed somehow, and oversight has to be put in place so that site is not loaded up with contaminated fill. They're going ahead with all their site and service stuff, the underground for water and sewer, and they're putting curbs and roads, all without inspections and permits. I don't understand how that happens. I worked in this industry for a long time, and I never worked on a site where you could do things like that. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Seeing none, may I have a motion to close, please? May I have a second?

Second. Council President.

If you'd like me to respond.

Sure, Mr. Razumovic.

Sure. Sure. Well, first off, I'm not sure where you got information that they're doing it at their own risk. The site is being inspected. They are providing the documentation that you refer to, certifying that the material is clean. With regard to a balanced site, that was heavily discussed, I believe, at the planning board about the amount of materials that would be brought into that site at the time of the planning board approval. That's all I have. I mean, it is being inspected. Some of the comments are just not true. When it's saying it's, you know, it's being done without inspections, that's false. Doing it at the own risk, you said it's quoted, put it in quotes. I'm not sure who said that or where you got that information from. Okay. So, but the site is being inspected. It has an approved site plan. And they are providing the documentation, so.

Thank you.

Council President, just quickly, in terms of the permitted use, you know, there's no one ordinance that stretches across the entire township, obviously. But when someone wants to develop and wants to submit an application to the planning board, they have to meet one of the permitted uses in that zone. And we have many zones throughout the township. So not meeting that is sort of the first hurdle that any applicant has to jump through. And it doesn't meet that. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. We had a motion to close with first and we had, we had a second. Thank you. All in favor. Any opposed? Thank you. And we'll move on to meeting adjournment. May I have a motion please? And a second, please. All in favor. Any opposed? None. Thank you.

Meeting's adjourned. Have a good.