Township Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening everyone. Welcome to the May 5th, 2026 Township Council regular meeting. Regular meeting of the Council of the Township of Montclair is being broadcast live on channel 34. It's streaming live on Montclair TV 34 YouTube channel. It's available on demand and can and will be re-broadcast. This meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meeting act. The meeting was included in the revised annual notice of the meeting scheduled as set forth in resolution R 26-064 adopted by the Township Council at its regular meeting of February 10th, 2026 and advertised to the official newspaper on February 26, 2026. It was posted on the Township website and bulletin boards outside of the Montclair municipal building and has remained continuously posted. In addition, a copy of the revised annual notice is and has been available to the public and is on file in the office of our Township Clerk. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Madam Clerk, whenever you're ready, please. Thank you, Mayor. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Here. Councilor Birmingham. Present. Councilor D'Amato.

Here. Councilor Harrison.

Here. Councilor Toler. Good evening. Present. Good evening. Councilor Williams. Here. Mayor Baskerville. Present. Okay. Um so, at this point in time, we are going to um go into the uh executive session. We're going into the executive session to discuss matters that are um attorney-client. Oh. At At he's with us, attorney. Is he with us? He's part of the group. Yes. Okay. Attorney-client privilege and um municipal public um investment. So, I'd like to make a motion and personnel and personnel. Thank you. So, I'd like to make a motion that we move into the executive session. We're going to ask all people who are not directly related with the Township and the matters that I um announced to please leave at this moment. We expect that we will be in the executive session probably until about 7:00, maybe 7:30-ish, and then we we will return. Um All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you. Okay, at this point in time, I'd like to make a motion, please, that we um adjourn from the executive session and go to the public portion of our meeting. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Uh we'll take a 5-minute break and then we will resume with the meeting. Okay, we'd like to welcome all of you to

our May 5th, 2026 regular Township meeting. Um we had adjourned earlier into the executive session um and Councilor Bill Harrison, if you would just share um whatever we can with the public on the matters that we discussed 4 and 4A. Okay, we received legal advice from our attorney concerning the proposed resolutions to transfer the redevelopment agreement and financial agreement for the property at 65 Church Street and based on that legal advice, we decided to table action on those resolutions at this meeting. Thank you very much and uh the other matter um going to call on our chair of our finance committee, Councilor Eileen Birmingham. Um the other issue that was discussed with our attorney was um the Council has reached a consensus to work with the Board of Ed to have the um school the levy referendum that um in that was the question one um in the referendum to have that struck over four quarters um instead of two. Thank you very much.

other formal action was taken regarding that matter. Yeah. Okay. So, we're going to move on um Madam Clerk, are we going to do the approval of the minutes, please? Move and second. I'd like to make a motion, yes, um that we accept the minutes of the January 6, 2026 January 8, 2026, January 27, 2026 uh minutes. I I will second that with the understanding there will be a slight correction in the order on the 27th of January.

27th meeting with no change in the actual wording. Thank you. I I so move and Councilor Harrison second. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Yes. Councilor Birmingham. Yes. Councilor D'Amato. Abstain. Councilor Harrison. Yes. Councilor Toler. Yes. Councilor Williams.

Yes. Mayor Baskerville. Yes, thank you. Um May is an extremely busy month and we have um quite a few proclamations. We're going to try to do them in a respectful manner, but we're also going to be respectful of your time. So, at this time um if there are people here that are uh came to accept the proclamation for Older Americans Month, will you please join us at the podium? Okay, are there people that are here to come for the uh child care providers? Okay. And And these um proclamations, they're they're going to be available for people. So, this is um we we're fine and we're not giving anybody short shrift. We will make sure that the appropriate people get them. Moving right along to the proclamation for Asian American and Pacific Island ha- Islander Heritage Month. Okay, and is there anyone here for the proclamation for Jewish Heritage Month? All right. May I am proud to be Jewish and I stand with Israel. I stand with my Jewish brothers and sisters and I'm happy to have the Make sure trips. I just watched The Wire today. Everybody good? All right, excellent. Should I Yeah, go ahead. You want to do the whole thing? Okay. We were going to cuz we had so many, we were going to No, we're good. Okay. All right, great.

All right, good evening, everyone. It is uh my pleasure to read the proclamation for Jewish Heritage Month. So, here we go. Whereas the first Jewish immigrants arrived in American soil in 1654 escaping depression and discrimination, their presence, along with that of so many immigrant groups, helped to find America's promise religious freedom while embracing democracy, individual liberty, and opportunity for all. And whereas the Jewish American experience is a quintessential American experience, one that is connected to key tenants of American uh identity, including our nation's commitment to freedom of religion and conscience. And whereas, notwithstanding this promise, we are still working to full uh to realize full vision of the American ideal amid the scourges of racism, bigotry, and other forms of injustice is included a stubborn anti-Semitism. In recent years, Jewish Americans have increasingly been targeted of white nationalism and anti-Semitic violence it fuels. And in 2024, record number of anti-Semitic incidences occurred in the state of New Jersey according to the latest annual audit released by the Anti-Defamation League using information from victims and law enforcement. And whereas the Jewish community has consistently overcome challenges and adversity, remaining deeply and robustly engaged in internal matters as well as issuing faces issues facing society at large to with Jewish Americans have played major roles in all aspects of society and have worked tirelessly for social justice and equal rights often motivated by Jewish values to heal the world locally, nationally, and globally. Jewish Americans have significantly have made significant contributions in the areas of science, the arts, literature, civic life, and law. And whereas this is true here in Montclair where we are enriched to have two in-town synagogues, B'nai Keshet and Congregation Shomrei

Shomrei Emunah Shom- Shomrei Emunah Emunah Like you guys should be ashamed of myself. As well as the Chabad of Montclair Chabad of Montclair and two other neighbors, Temple Temple Ner Tamid Ner Tamid Tamid, also known as TNT, right? That's what people say. Temple Shalom, all of which serve Montclair residents and engender in their congregants a sense of spirituality and engagement with their history and heritage to perpetuate the values of Torah. The commitments are routinely expressed by enriching the community through interethnic and interfaith collaboration and participation in initiatives to create a more just society. Now therefore, the Mayor and Council of the Township of Montclair do hereby celebrate and recognize the contributions of the Jewish community and Jewish Americans both in Montclair and wider world and do proclaim May as Jewish Heritage Month in the Township OF MONTCLAIR. WOOHOO!

[applause and cheering] SO [screaming] YES. [applause]

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBERS, and neighbors. My name is Lonnie Summer Padia and I have the honor of serving as vice president of the Montclair Jewish Community Relations Council. I'm grateful for the opportunity to stand before you tonight in recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month. A time to celebrate the rich contributions, culture, and enduring values of Jewish Americans in communities like ours and across this country. This year, this moment is made even more meaningful as it coincides with the holiday of Lag BaOmer, a day that falls in the midst of a solemn period on the Jewish calendar. Traditionally, Lag BaOmer marks a pause in mourning, a day of light, resilience, and renewed connection. In the Talmud, there is a compilation of rabbinic writings called Pirkei Avot or Ethics of the Fathers, where it is asked, "Who is wise?" And the answer given is, "One who learns from every person." This deceptively simple idea carries profound weight. It reminds us that wisdom is not found in isolation, but in openness, in the willingness to listen, to learn, and to recognize that every individual has something of value to teach us. Lag BaOmer calls us to reflect on what happens when we fail to live up to that ideal. When we close ourselves off from one another, when we dismiss or diminish the perspectives of others. It asks us to acknowledge that such divisions weaken not only our communities, but our shared sense of purpose and understanding. But just as importantly, this day invites us to begin again. With humility and renewed awareness, we are called to honor one another, to see

the greatness in our peers, our neighbors, and even those with whom we may disagree. As one of our sages taught us, true strength lies in self-restraint, true wealth in gratitude, and true honor in honoring others. These values resonate far beyond the Jewish community. They are the foundation of any strong, vibrant, and inclusive society. Here in Montclair, where diversity is one of our greatest strengths, they serve as a powerful reminder of what is possible when we truly embrace one another. During Jewish American Heritage Month, we celebrate not only the achievements of Jewish Americans, but also the enduring ideals that guide us, learning, humility, respect, and unity. May we carry the spirit of Lag BaOmer forward, not just tonight, but in the days and months ahead by striving to learn from one another, to uplift one another, and to build a community rooted in mutual understanding and shared humanity. THANK YOU.

[cheering] [applause] OKAY, PAULA, LET ME INTRODUCE THIS IS Krista Rappaport. She is one of our board members on the Montclair Jewish Community Relations Council. [applause]

Thank you. So, you know, I I my my family's bluish, black and Jewish, right? And and quite a lot of other when quite a lot of other ethnicities, we're like the UN. But one thing they can say is say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud. And lately it's been very hard for them to like want to wear their Jewish stars or my son Ethan walked out of his campus at Swarthmore College and like he is he has marched for Palestine. He's pro-Gaza and he's like, you know, he has a big heart, but to see like the anti-Jewish graffiti was was disheartening. So, this is a holiday that means a lot and I thank Montclair. Thank everyone here for this because it's important. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can I SAY SOMETHING,

[applause] PLEASE? MY NAME IS NELLA GAYLE AND I am a proud life long resident of Montclair, a proud Jewish person, resident, a proud member of the synagogue congregation Shomrei Emunah, which is right here, our next door neighbor, and I am proud to stand with Israel. Free Israel. Thank you. Okay, thank you everyone. Thank you for coming and we're going to move on to our next proclamation, which is for the ambulance unit. Thank you. [applause]

Ooh, an extra cookie? Hey, Chief. Uh the proclamation of emergency services emergency medical services week and

I'm sorry. Yeah. Can we please show respect for the other proclamation oh Oh, they were still here. I wanted to be in the picture. Oh. We'll come back. You guys can take a picture. Let us finish this since we're here and then we'll circle back. I'm sorry. All right, go ahead. [laughter]

It's older Americans week, too. So, whereas National Emergency Medical Services Week, EMS Week, celebrated from May 17th through May 23rd, 2026, is a time to recognize and honor the essential work of EMS professionals who provide life-saving care and support to the Montclair community during times of emergency and whereas the Montclair Ambulance Unit has served the Montclair community as an independent non-profit agency since 1953 and whereas the dedicated EMS professionals of the Montclair Ambulance Unit work tirelessly to save lives, provide critical care, and offer compassionate support in our community's most challenging moments and whereas the Montclair Ambulance Unit's commitment to continuous training, collaboration with local health organizations, and dedication to the highest standards of care is a testament to their unwavering service in their role as a vital resource to the community and whereas the Township of Montclair Mayor and Council stand with the Montclair Ambulance Unit to express our gratitude and appreciation for their hard work and devotion to serving our community often under difficult and dangerous conditions. Now therefore, the Mayor and Council of the Township of Montclair do hereby proclaim May 17th through 23rd, 19 2026 as Emergency Medical Services Week and extend heartfelt appreciation and recognition to the Montclair Ambulance Unit for 73 years of outstanding service and dedication to the health and safety of our community. THANK YOU.

[applause] [applause] THANK YOU. I ON BEHALF OF THE WHOLE UNIT, we have approximately 70 staff members. I thank the Township, the Mayor and Council, and the citizens of Montclair who through their generosity donations help provide the service every year 5,500 times last year. I'm reminded this week specifically of the nature of our job. We were at Walnut Street Fair all day providing instant support as well as getting me in a dunk tank. And then [laughter]

as soon as we were about to leave and go home to our families at 6:00 at night, four of us wound up in Belleville at the 12-alarm fire and man, helping to manage that incident. So, this is timely and much appreciated. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Council. [applause] Did you have anyone that wanted to take a picture with you? Okay, yeah. And then I'm going to please ask the people that came to get the proclamation for Jewish Heritage Month to please come back to get a picture. I apologize. I didn't know you were trying to

[clears throat] [laughter]

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Come on, um We can scoop this over. Put this down.

[laughter]

Thank you. [applause]

Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely. Whoops. Whoops. Whoops. Watch it. Um watch the cord. I don't want anybody to trip. I've got it. Okay, we're going to move on to the portion of our meeting that's called presentations. And I'm going to um ask if um the director of community services would please join us down at the podium, Mr. Austin Ashley. Mayor, um Austin wasn't available this evening, but we do have Manny Germano and Norman Tassie from uh the parking utility and Department of Administration, respectively. Okay. Thank you both for being with us. Hello and good evening, Councilors. Um Manny I'm sorry. Austin prepared a detailed memo for each of you. And a staff member was supposed to come as well. Did you get the memo or no? I have a copy of the memo here. I could just distribute it.

I'm just going to I'm just going to uh briefly highlight the content of uh the memo and hopefully be able to field questions as they come up as I can. Uh the Township snow removal billing process is a redundant multi-agency multi-agency operation designed to provide absolute physical fiscal transparency. In accordance with New Jersey local contracts law, the Township awarded contracts to Angels Landscaping and Shugart Shugart Property Services via fair by a fair and open process. The current not to exceed of $800,000 is an administrative estimate based on historical averages. Snow removal is one of the most volatile line items in any municipal budget and it's driven by variables outside of our control. When the NTE is reached, the not to exceed, the Township faces a choice of increasing the current ceiling or declaring a formal state of emergency for every subsequent storm. The rigorous bill paying process uh is in the rigorous bill paying process, the invoice must pass through eight distinct professional reviews and a digital firewall that acts within the um software that we have for making payments. You'll see on the second what I believe is the second page, phase A, and that's the departmental field audit and I hope to have had somebody to explain that to you who actually does the field audit. But, in the Department of Community Services, when the exterior when the

vendors show up, they're checked in, they're verified with a member of the staff. So, that's kind of phase one of the check-in and it just makes sure that the people who eventually appear on the bill, we can assure you that they actually came um and did the job. MSI is our um software that we use to pay bills and in it it contains a primary key that mechanically rejects any duplicate invoices. Following the preparation of the invoice, the purchasing department reviews uh the invoices and then the invoice moves to the finance department for a final comprehensive audit involving the controller, the treasurer, and the chief financial off- officer. Uh the Council approves the bills that make it to the bills list through this process only after passing through these layers of departmental oversight. Uh the Council protects the professional integrity of the municipal audit uh trail and it ensures that legislative oversight remains focused on policy. So, that's really how the that's really how the bills are paid. I I did when there was a couple of questions, I did have a look to just just for my own knowledge. I didn't see anything wrong and I could try to answer any questions. I think parking goes through the same type of um process. Um Manny, if you want if there's anything that you want to add, I'll try to answer anything I can on Austin's behalf. Before we leave DCS, Department of Community Services, the last page of the memo is there's a spreadsheet um that basically has a list of all the invoices. This is um I believe for Shugart.

Um it's the date of the storm in the left-hand column, the event, what they were doing in the second column, the time of work in the third column, the invoice number in the fourth column, and the amount paid. So, I think the the question was was um the town paying duplicate invoices. It was more of a question.

So, the the question was was is the town or was the town paying paying duplicate invoices? Um while the amounts um there are several amounts that are the same, uh for instance, on February 6th, February 8th, uh February 9th, uh the amounts paid were 59,000 or the amounts billed were 59,500 uh for those respective invoices, um the dates, the times, um and the places, and the invo- even the invoice numbers were all different. So, um Weston Ashley in the Department of Community Services did I don't have it here now. I'll be happy to share it as soon as I get my hands on it. He did have printed copies of all the invoices for your, you know, consideration, for your review, for your perusal. Uh but, in speaking with uh Director Ashley, um he is 100% confident that we have not paid any duplicate invoice. We haven't paid the same invoice twice. Even though the same number may appear multiple times, it's because they're paying the same drivers, the same rates for the same hours, uh but it's not like they're we're paying for the same work twice. May I? So, thank you uh Mr. Tassie for that comprehensive memo from Mr. Ashley. Um I'm going to repeat this again. There were duplicate invoices with the same invoice numbers, with the same amounts. As I stated at the last meeting, MIS does not allow you to put the same invoice number in twice. Um so, if the total is the total, but there was also a question on some of the invoices where, for example, I'm just throwing a number out, 30 hours of work was 53,000. Okay? 30 hours of work, 53,000. And then we had some invoices that had less hours for more money. And that was part of the questions, too. And we didn't really get an answer on that. I did accept that MIS does not allow duplicate invoices, but no one

could really explain how we can be charged more money for less hours. And other invoices had more hours, but less money. So, there's still some discrepancies to be looked at and perhaps that's something DCS can work on. When three sets of eyes are looking at these invoices, if we're paying 53,000 for 30 hours and we're also paying 59,000 for 28 hours, there's something wrong. And I don't know who that falls on, if it's DCS or if the vendor needs to submit a better invoice to verify the amounts and the hours, because you can't pay more money for less hours and vice versa. Councilor Harrison. Oh, I'm sorry, Councilor Toliver. No, that's I just I'm putting this one record because I understand where this is going, this memo. Um and I just want to make sure that I'm 100% crystal clear and everybody understands what my concerns were. Thank you, Counselor Harrison. Well, if Manny, if you May I on on that

certainly. Counselor Tuller. wasn't Angels, it was just Schauger, not you. Or Angels is Okay, but cuz I was going to I was going to explain Um I just double-checked, triple-checked yours. There's no problems with Angels. It seems to be only with uh Schauger. Okay, the only thing I can comment on what you just said, Counselor, is that uh for example, on with the parking utility, we do have uh different rates for different types of services. So, they may come and do if they're coming to doing the icing at one particular place, but like you said, it states that in the contract in the uh in the invoice, they will charge us a different rate than they're coming to do, you know, shoveling by hand or something like that. So, Correct. It's a different rate and explain everything to you.

I also I also have a spreadsheet that I can spread make sure that everybody gets uh that shows all the uh invoices that we've paid so far and all the uh service dates and everything else in here. So, I will get make sure that everyone gets that as well. Sure. Sorry. Sorry.

Counselor Harrison. Okay. So, I'll do this now rather than the resolution extending the amount. So, for Schauger and you know, the part of the town they do include the part of the town where I live and their plowing was not good this year. They've been good in other years, but there was no 6 8 10 ft away from the curb that resulted in snow having to be removed from the streets and skipping over whether it was necessary in all streets the 3 weeks after the storm when it happened. Um but this is a budget comment. The amount that was paid for Schauger for plowing was $154,795. The amount that was paid to Schauger for removing snow from the streets was $730,167.50. That is an astronomical difference that should not have been necessary if the streets have been plowed correctly. There probably were streets that needed to have snow removed for various reasons, no strip between the sidewalk and the street, other reasons, but there is no reason that $730,000 had to be spent to remove snow to put in parks where too much snow was put, but I think in terms of next year, the key thing and uh Director Ashley has indicated that there would be better supervision to make sure the plowing was done right the first time, which saves a lot lot of money. I to and do that, but I think that's also part of it in looking at where snow should be placed when it does have to be

removed. Goal should be to minimize the amount of snow so we don't have what happened this year and to save the taxpayers an awful lot of money. Anyone else? Yeah, I just wanted to add

Counselor Tuller. even with for example, the duplicate invoice S114125 for 1080, $10,080. If that invoice was submitted twice for turning in for payment, where when and where did we get the actual correct invoice to even pay the bill? That's just the first question, but that's neither here nor there. Um again, invoice 114248 for 30 hours billed at 53,000. There's some other invoices here here billed for 30 hours at 59,500. So, there's still some discrepancy and again, if DCS has decided that they're going to do a more thorough checking when these invoices come in, um then we'll have to wait and see what happens. Again, regarding Angels, um I was able to decipher where the difference was, but there were two duplicate invoices. Um to invoice number 77265 for 3600, invoice 77343 for 2800 and [clears throat] um they did include what the work was for, but those bills have since been paid. The checks have been released to the vendor, but we absolutely need to take a a better look at this. And I do have a question and maybe this is not the time for agenda item number three um where this request of asking for money uh to extend till December of this year. How can we use this money that ends in the the fiscal year? The new fiscal year starts July 1st. So, I'm just trying to understand this resolution. If the fiscal year starts July

We're on a calendar year budget. Um it's agenda item number three that we have in front of us. And we're not there yet. I was going to wait until we got there, but since we're on snow, it's fine. I think he's asking for um some additional money to cover snowing snow plowing to take us up to December 31st, 2026. And I'm just curious how this fiscal year's funds can be extended. When I'm asking, when does the fiscal year start here? Is it in July? No, it's it's a January We we're on a calendar year basis. That's my question. Thank you. Yes, Deputy Mayor. No, um I just wanted to thank you for the memo, um to Mr. Ashley for the two of you for coming. I Yeah, um and uh for clarifying all of the controls that are in place to assure that none of these invoice like nothing was paid twice. I do agree that um that it would be helpful to have more detailed invoices because I do understand that for some of the amounts, even if it was for a lower hours, that it probably was more involved work. Um and I just want to remind everyone that um the council passed a resolution at the last meeting, I think. It was the last meeting. Um to ensure that uh there is advanced planning um uh there's a snow removal and disposal plan that's presented to the council um no later than October 1st of each year and um I'm sure we can, you know, take some lessons learned from the these last storms, the ice, you know, all of these extraordinary circumstances, but it was very clear that there needed to be um some, you know, advanced planning um and I lastly want to really thank everyone, all the staff, the DCS workers, um you know, Manny and your team and all of the the people who um who did this really physical um backbreaking work. So, uh appreciate all

the work that you did. Manny. Ditto. Yes, um Counselor DeMartino. Yeah, I would second all that and also just say that um I agree with the conclusions of this memo about, you know, that we have to look at the division of labor and what we're doing here and while I think we have to look at both policy making and execution to see if the execution, you know, lives up to the standards and obviously those two things are not immediate, you know, totally um separate that um we should be focused on making policy up here and we uh this year will probably spend have spent more time talking about bills about snow removal than we are about our budget, which is a hundred million dollars and you know, and um so, I I I fully think that, you know, we should try to focus on on on the big picture, which is actually kind of more fun to sometimes. So, thanks everybody. Good. Thank you. Um is there any more that you wanted to speak to us about tonight, um Manny, about the um parking? And thank you um for being here and ditto everything that uh Deputy Mayor said.

Well, thank thank you and I'm sure our our staff, both DCS and parking, you know, appreciate the the uh goodwill. Um I just wanted to say that our our process in parking utility is similar to DCS's. Um the only thing we don't do is we don't have a sign-in sheet for the for the vendor when the vendor comes. Uh we communicate everything via text. So, the tag of the vendor will tell us, you know, we're here. I have parking enforcement officers that will verify that that they are here, that they are doing the cleaning. They will also tell me we're done. I will also then have the parking enforcement officers go because we have 24-hour coverage, go and check to make sure that what they said they did, they did. Um that's the only difference in the process. Everything else that um Ms. Ali talked about is exactly with the same same process with MSI and everything else. Okay? Thank you very much. Anyone need further questions? No. Thank you very much for joining us.

Thank you. Director Tassy, thank you very much for coming. Okay, so we're going to move on. Um Wow, I guess we're at public comment now. I'm not sure how we did it today. Did we Did we just sign in? Were there numbers or Two names. Oh, no, no. I'm sorry. I was talking. Oh. Thank you very much. Okay, um the first person for public comment today is Mr. Noah Gale. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Noah Gale and I and I am very happy. I am just thrilled to see um everyone support Jewish Heritage American Month tonight. I mean, it's very important that we keep having these proclamations and recognize this recognitions. So, we finally put our differences aside and and say it's okay to be different. No matter what background or diversity you come from. Also, um, I am wanted to talk about, you know, May and June is a very busy time of the year, especially here in Montclair Township, because it is the end of the school year and I know this that a lot of residents go away during the summer. There are not as many events other than July 4th parade in the summer cuz people like to go away before the new school year starts. As a majority of people who live in this Township have kids in the schools. As children in the school system. So, um, I want to update you with what events are coming up in Montclair and just show up as what my mom always likes to say. Um, Mayfair at Nishuane Elementary School,

their annual spring carnival is this Saturday from 11:00 to 4:00 this Saturday, May 9th from 11:00 to 4:00, Nishuane's annual Mayfair. Uh, this will be my 20th anniversary going to Mayfair. It is a lot of fun. They have free food, corn, they have everything you'll love. So, I suggest you check it out this Saturday from 11:00 to 4:00. Two more three more things actually. Um, and then MFE, I don't know if you're aware, is having their annual spring fundraiser, Minute to Win It, on Thursday, May 28th from 5:30 to 8:00 at Lackawanna Plaza in Montclair, New Jersey, of course. Of and we are proud to have our superintendent, Ruth B. Turner, as as participating in the fundraiser. It's Minute to Win It. So, I suggest you all come out and support that as well. And finally, the the Judy Weston Awards, where all the teachers get recognized, where all the current teachers and the who are employed in the Montclair public schools get recognized. It is June 9th at Montclair Public Library at 5:00 p.m. And we or 5:30, I don't remember which one, but anyway, I suggest you all come out and support the teachers who are getting recognized at the Weston Awards ceremony at Montclair Public Library because we know our school system is currently in a financial crisis. It's had a tough year and it's so nice to see that we're finally having uplifting spirits. So, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Okay, our second guest this evening is Jeffrey Grayson.

Good evening, Mayor Baskerville and council members. Good evening. I'm Jeffrey Robert Grayson and tonight I'd like to discuss what I'm referring to as the sardine effect. Sardines are nutrient dense fish that comes packed tightly in cans or tins. I'm sure everyone has heard the phrase packed like sardine sardines used to describe an overcrowded situation. As I was nearing the end of my nightclubbing phase in the '80s, I used to frequent a club in Manhattan called Nell's. Nell's had a lounge on the main floor and a small dance floor downstairs. Once the party was in full effect, that dance floor became like a can of sardines. You completely surrendered your personal space to the to the degree that you were not only dancing with your partner, you also became part of a unified, pulsating mob of bodies grooving to the beat of Janet Jackson's Janet Jackson's What Have You Done for Me Lately? or Prince's Sign of the Times. The sardine effect is also a sign of the times in present-day Montclair because it has impacted what was once a very special and intimate place to live. The sardine effect leads to strain to strained infrastructure, increased traffic and reduced safety, increased demands on utilities, increased demands on first responders, increased stress and loss of green space. These issues can further exacerbate socioeconomic factors such as loss of community and diversity, increasing just gentrification and segregation. Complete streets was was created as a direct result of the sardine effect. Roads that were designed for light free-flowing traffic are now clogged like a stuffy nose in need of Mucinex. Crossing the street has become a perilous endeavor. Impatient, entitled, and rude drivers are putting pedestrians, cyclists, and

other drivers at risk. The sardine effect has put tremendous strain on on our aging subterranean infrastructure, resulting in more frequent water main breaks and potential sinkholes. Since it appears that most developers receive a pilot or some type of tax abatement, the cost of repairing and upgrading the the utilities falls on the taxpayer. It should be mandatory that developers contribute financially to the expansion of roads, our schools, and the utilities needed to support their projects. Those advocating for more develop and development and more green space are diametrically opposed to one another. Now that we're running out of space to build out, we want to build up. Think of the sardine effect the next time you hear someone talking about up-zoning in a transit hub. Think of the sardine effect the next time you hear someone say that Montclair needs more development for all the people that want to move here. Think of the sardine effect the next time a developer asks for a pilot instead of paying their fair share in taxes.

[music]

Think of the sardine effect the next time you see paramedics tending to someone laid out on the side of the road. The sardine effect creates collateral damage to my community and we'd like to know, what have you done for us lately? Thank you. Thank you very much. Next guest, please. I'll speak later. Okay. Um, is there David? Okay, you'll speak later. Anthony? Is it Saccone? Saccone. Oh, okay. How are you evening? [clears throat] Um, my name is Anthony Saccone. Uh, my partner, Bob, and I uh, own all the properties on Bloomfield Avenue from um, 136, 146, 154 and all the way back on Hartley Street, 7, 9, and 11. Uh, New Street, 8, 10, 12, 9, 11. And then I understand you guys are considering uh, changing the uh, zoning ordinance in there back to a C3 zone and we just were alerted of this last week. We've been accumulating the properties and basically been under the radar. Just have our tenants, everybody does what they're doing. We always planned on doing some kind of a future development where we could bring in um, additional uh, housing units for uh, you get additional possibly 20 low-income housing units on the area. I noticed that one of the one of the tenants of the change proposed came from the fact that there was no activity in that area. There was no there was no uh, development activity and that it wasn't doing what it was supposed to initially supposed to do. And we'd like you to consider that when you make your vote as to make that change in that uh, ordinance at this point.

Okay. Okay. Yes, thank you very much for coming this evening. Next guest, please. That would be Bob White. He's with me. Okay. All right. Thank you, Bob. Pedro Luna? Hey. Good evening. Good evening. Pedro Luna, I have lived on uh, I better read this thing. Lived on Gates Avenue for the last 15 years. And for the last few years I have drop off and pick up my girls on Gates and Harrison. Uh, sometime ago a stop sign went on on that intersection on the Harrison side. I didn't think there was a big need for it. Um, uh, but at least I could see that it was useful because traffic has increased on Gates Avenue over the year. But recently another stop sign went up. This one on Porter Place, which is just two blocks down. There is very little traffic on Porter Place. Not to mention that that intersection is within a stone's throw away from the traffic light on Harrison and Union. If you stand on Harrison and Gates like I do most morning during rush hour and the after and the afternoon as well to pick up, you'll see a line of cars on Harrison and wait and Gates uh, patiently impatiently waiting for their turn to go through Gates. When they come when they when they finally make it to the front line and go through and they speed up away and then they come within sight of the traffic light on Union, they had to stop again because there is now an a stop sign on Porter Place. Now, what happened is that there is no cars to the left or to the right. So, they stop or just slow down and right away try to make the light

that is very visible from there because it's very short block. We don't need an a stop sign there. A pedestrian light would be more useful and it would be less destructive to the to the traffic. Harrison is similar to Grove and M Street. It is one of the very few ways to get from one side of town to the other. We wouldn't put a bunch of stop signs on Grove or M Street because we want those cars to flow. We want traffic to flow on those streets. But that's not happening now. What's happening now is there's a lot of cars idling during rush hour. I feel like I'm on Fifth Avenue in the morning where it's you know, breathing all that pollution because the cars just accumulate. There's no need for that. You wouldn't do that on Grove or M Street again. Traffic needs to flow through those through those roads and those are stop signs really I can see the one on Gates, but the one on Porter Place is just no no justification for it. The place is a small park. It's not like it's you know, Brookdale or Anderson Park. There's no playground or anything like that. I use the park raised my girls on those park on the on the park. But you know, the stop sign is not needed if if if we want to support a pedestrian crossing on the street, let's put a pedestrian light. In any event, I want to also take the last minute and I'm going to thank you for voting no on making Sutherland a one-way. It is it is your courage on voting down that proposal that encouraged me to come here in the hope that with the same courage you can take down that stop sign and put a pedestrian light which would be more beneficial to the to the community. And I thank everyone that have worked have worked on making our streets safer. You guys doing a great job. Thank you. Thank [clears throat] you

very much. Mr. Frank Rubacky. And then David, are you ready after that? I'm guessing I'll talk to you. Okay. Good evening everybody. Good evening. Frank Rubacky, 398 Upper Mountain Avenue. Um I'm sure all you guys remember that scintillating presentation by DCS about who's responsible for sewer line laterals and water lines and service lines [snorts]

out to the street and we had those 1970 graphics showing where one started and where one stopped and what our responsibilities as homeowners was. I'm sure you remember a year ago about this time that we got the ticketing blitz for our sidewalks. And so it's been a long time since then and not much has happened. Um bottom line, I think everybody agrees, certainly my wife was chewing my ear tonight, that it was a mistake. We made a mistake. Just like we made a mistake with the parks, with the snow, and we made some other mistakes, but we fix them. You know, things happen, we fix them. We haven't quite fixed this. We haven't been willing to address this. Um and I'm not sure why. What I am sure of is that um you authorized a half million dollars to improve the sidewalks and put in street furniture and such for Church Street. Um which I thought was kind of weird because that was something the bid always paid for as far as street furniture and those kind of decorations. So now the town's taking that on instead of paying for your sidewalk problem. Um and I think there are some other cases where we're spending money that should be going to a solution for what happened a year ago. And I'd like to see you guys make some progress on that um for all of us particularly in the first ward that we're pretty much the focus of it. Okay, thanks. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. David, is it Corphage?

Corphage, yeah. Corphage. Uh So David Corphage, uh 58 Tuxedo Road. Um I'm back to discuss climate change again. I began to feel a little bit like Cassandra. Um so I just want to start by reminding everyone of the stakes. Just an example, the UN recently came out with a report about extreme heat uh is going to around the world to drive down crop yields and lead potentially to food shortages uh threatening the livelihoods of maybe one over a billion people. Um heat already kills more than half a million people around the world every year and in parts of the world that become could become too hot to work outside for 2/3 of the year. Um all that's far away potentially, but compassion and love for our neighbor demands we make we take action and also simple self-interest. Uh just because we're a richer community doesn't mean we'll escape the effects of climate change as well. So what does this have to do with Montclair and particularly the pending ordinance on the downzoning? As a local government, we are limited in what we could do, but studies I've read make clear that the two major levers that a town like Montclair has to address climate change are first promoting alternatives to cars, especially biking and walking. Um which of course I talked about before. And second, denser housing or to be more precise what the IPCC, which is the town's the UN's committee on climate change, calls compact urban form. Co-located medium medium to high densities of housing and jobs. High street density, small block size, mixed land use, particularly near public transit. Towards that end, I'm speaking in reference to the proposal to the downzoned sections of Bloomfield Avenue. Um if we want to do what we can to avoid the worst of climate change, we shouldn't be downzoning, we should be upzoning. And I'll mention only in passing how building more housing brings down housing prices, a well-documented effect. I'll be happy to provide you with multiple studies and examples. I've heard arguments for downsizing that it's always the fourth ward that gets hit with denser housing, for example, or that it's out of character for Montclair.

As a fourth ward resident myself, I'm actually very sympathetic to the first argument. Uh but the solution is not to downzone along Bloomfield near train station for goodness sake, but instead to upzone other parts of town. I'm looking at you, Upper Montclair. Um there are there upzoned areas that are close to train lines and shopping areas but have been frozen in single-family housing for years if not suggest a general upzoning of the town or a broad elimination of single-family zoning. I actually think the town should work for a gradual evolution of the town as denser housing grows outward naturally from the denser centers. Um to the point about sardine effect, this will require planning, infrastructure for green space, infrastructure for green infrastructure, biking and walking. But there are beautiful dense places and in the in the US around the world, I bike down Montagu all the time. Um my way back and it's it is dense and no one describes Montagu as a hellscape, right? It's a lovely charming old street that happens to be denser than much of the rest of the town. Uh we can change and still keep the character of not Montclair, not just because the character of a town ultimately comes from its people, not from its buildings, but also because there are zoning tools which allow the compact urban form, denser housing, mixed use while keeping our town beautiful. There are form-based codes or even simpler zoning code tweaks that we can do. We deserve a beautiful town, but we also deserve a town that takes climate change seriously and does its part. So do the right thing. Don't downzone along Bloomfield Avenue near Bay Street station. Instead, start planning for denser housing and more mixed use a true 15-minute city in other parts of town. Thank you. Thank you very much. And uh that completes our portion of the public comment for this evening unless I missed anyone. Okay, we're going to move on to the public hearing on the 2026 municipal budget. I um would like to make a motion um to open the public hearing without objection. Second.

Okay. Are there any here who would like to be heard um in relation to the um public hearing on the municipal budget? Yes. Good evening. I'm Laura Arthur. I live on And I'm here to talk about the budget. I feel I think every year you spent the whole year talking a lot about small amounts of money. And then today you're about to approve a budget where I have no idea and I hope you do and I hope you can tell me how many positions you're budgeting for. Among the source of Montclair's lack of fiscal sustainability is personnel costs. In particular, benefit costs, health care and pensions. Every year they grow faster than the budget is allowed to grow. Right? And when that happens, how do you keep up? You keep up by crowding out other investments. So we come here and we ask for investments in pedestrian infrastructure. Well, you can't do it because your health care costs are too high and you have too many police officers. And I don't see in the current budget in 2026 budget when I finally had access to the user-friendly budget, it is someone actually took more time to make it difficult to use. They printed the document and then they scanned it and then they posted. That takes a lot more time and a lot more effort than exporting it and making it machine readable so people can analyze the data, can merge the data

with the user-friendly database where we have already 11 years of days data. Then there is no information on page three on head count and there's missing information on sheet sheet three. There is no head count information there. And then on sheet seven where we have a summary of the head count and total personnel costs other non-union employees is missing. So it's unclear. Are you laying off all your other non-union employees or you're just not telling us how many you are proving? This is the problem. I mean not that it's not in the budget. It's been a really difficult budget since I just I want to appreciate the effort that went into it and the effort that went into providing the user-friendly budget. But you need to talk about how many people you're hiring. That and how that's comparable to other towns, how that is according to what would be expected for a town our size. It's not. It's a lot more. And what it does to long-term sustainability. Because any cost that is growing by more than 3 and 1/2% a year is crowding out everything else. And you just can't keep up, right? So I'm looking at the growth of the rate of growth for our personnel costs [music] 4% total personnel costs. And then 12 12.9% for full-time supervisors. Total pension costs Just sorry. Total pension and health care benefits

and pension 4.36% a year for the last 10 years for health care benefits and 6.48% a a year on average, right? The annual The compound annual growth. Okay. So how do you keep up with that? Please discuss. And I I shouldn't be talking too much. I would like for you to talk and tell us how many and how do you make this acceptable or sustainable? It's not.

Thank you very much. Um so are there others that wish to come and be heard on resolution A um to read the municipal budget for the 2026 year? Again, Frank Wrobacky 398 Upper Mountain Avenue. Um really this is the main reason for my visit tonight. Um sidewalks was just a aside. Um I just wanted to appreciate uh I just want to show my appreciation um to you and the manager and and particularly the department heads, the directors uh for the effort that went into delivering this budget. I think it's a reasonable budget. I know there are hard choices that have been made and will have to be made over the course of the year. Um and this is a process. This is not an end point. It's not a you know, it's not really a starting point. But I just want to let you guys know that um as critical as sometimes I may be um I do appreciate everything um that you guys are doing offline in committees in the offices. And uh thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Anyone else, please? I'm actually the opposite. I actually didn't come here to talk about the budget at all, but but I pulled it out. So um but so I just have all uh three simple questions that I could be totally misinformed. My impression is that the operating expenses and um this is more of a question. I'm not sure you can answer questions now. Operating expenses are down, operating funds are down and taxes are up. My First of all, is that correct? And is that because other non-tax

income is down? Okay. All right. So I'm I'm seeing various nods and head shaking. So I'm not sure that can be addressed, but that was my first question. And the second question was really about the page on pensions where again, I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly, but it looked like the number of This is the on the health benefits, the number of active employees covered is down slightly and the number of retirees uh covered is up quite dramatically and I'm not actually sure how that works and maybe uh that's the other question I had. So um again, I literally just saw this. So hopefully it's very easy or I'm just missing something obvious. Thanks. Thank you. Anyone else wish to come forward at this time um speak about the municipal budget um speak about us reading the municipal budget by title only? No one wishes to come forward? Okay. Council, is it discussion about um reading the budget by title only according to NJSA 40A colon 4- -8? No. Okay. Whereas NJSA 40A colon 4- -8 provides that the budget may be read by the title only at the time of the public hearing if a resolution is passed by not less than a majority of the full governing body providing that at least 1 week prior to the date of the hearing, a complete copy of the approved budget shall be made available for public inspection and shall be made available to each person upon request. And whereas these two conditions have been met. Now therefore be it resolved that the mayor and the council of the Township of Montclair is

hereby declared that the conditions of NJSA 40A colon 4- -8 as amend as amended set forth in subsection one have been met and therefore the municipal budget for the 2026 school year may be read by title only. And I so move. Second. All in favor? Uh you want to do a roll call? Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Councilor Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? Yes. Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Toller? Yes. Councilor Williams?

Yes. Mayor Baskerville? Yes, thank you. Um at this point in time I'm going to ask um Manager Marks if you would please assist us with this. The budget? Would you Would you like me to address the questions that came up or or I'm not sure what you're asking me. not going to go through this at all. We're just going to vote for it and move to the next. go I have 24 notes if you'd like to hear the 24 notes. You've probably heard them before. I could adjust the questions

If the council needs anything else, I have the benefit of working very closely with the manager, with Councilor Williams, with the chair of our finance committee, Councilor Birmingham, our chief financial officer. So I certainly have um become fairly familiar with this, but I'm just asking at this time if anyone else has anything, council members? I um Deputy Mayor? I would like to if if there are uh things that you would like to address, um I think it would be helpful for the benefit of everyone who's watching. Thank you.

If that's okay with you. Yes, that sounds great. Thank you and thank you for the suggestion. Um so uh there are major uh cost drivers to this year's budget uh which number about 13 um starting with employee group health insurance which was up by approximately $2,549,994 which is a 33.36% increase. Um as some of you know or may recall, uh we actually left the state health benefits plan uh last year and went with a a fully insured Aetna plan for cost savings. More future cost savings than this year's cost savings, but uh cost avoidance nonetheless. We budgeted approximately uh $1,250,000 for contractual increases for the collective bargaining units. There are seven uh municipal labor unions. Uh it's not reflected in our budget per se, but it's a it's still a cost driver. Um the public library uh funding in New Jersey is formula driven by the New Jersey state legislature, New Jersey state statute. Um the increase for the Montclair public library as uh prescribed by statute is approximately $382,441.79. We have absolutely no control over it. It's a formula and we have no control over it, but we have to raise the uh funds to fund the library. Uh PSE&G last year raised their electricity rates by 17% which equates to about a $215,050 increase. There are two new departments that did not exist a year ago. Um first was Department of Sustainability that was created about 6 months ago. The second was Department of Complete Streets. The gross uh for both of those departments is about $400,000.

But because two of the employees in in one of the department were already employees before uh the new department existed, it's about a $200,000 net increase. Uh because of all the uncertainty in um the Middle East, um we are budgeting an additional 20% for gasoline and diesel which equates to about $144,000. Um the reserve for uncollected taxes is up by 16.73% which is a $505,907 uh increase and 41 cents. Um last year, actually 2 years ago, we were ordered by the Essex County Board of Taxation to conduct a property revaluation. That is a $2 million effort. Um the effect on this year's budget is about a $400,000 increase to get um that process started. Um our computer and telephone networks uh were antiquated and failing. Um we had to contract uh for a network modernization project. The overall cost for that network modernization project was approximately $2,349,753. Uh it is a capital item that we could spread over 5 years. The impact on this year's budget is approximately $320,000. We had the budget for prior years' bills. These were Verizon bills that had not been previously paid. That was approximately $274,775. Clary Anderson, so the uh arena So last year, last summer, uh the governing body created a utility around the uh ice skating arena. That was only created last summer, say between July and August. Um it only went into operation financially as a utility

as a utility construct um for October. Um everybody knows that the ice skating season spans budget years or calendar years. So it was only in operation for 2 months um and it was it was um it had a it was had a essentially an operating deficit at the end of 2025. Uh by New Jersey state budget law, you have to uh fund or the municipality is ultimately responsible for funding uh its own utility. So we had to put a number in this year's budget of $270,032. The good news is that the Clary Anderson um season, which is wrapping up right now, actually had a profit. So this is only a deficit on paper, the $270,000. We don't plan to use it. We don't plan to spend it. That will lapse into next year's uh surplus for the town. Uh the 12 the uh police department uh vehicle uh lease we signed is approximately $114,658. There were emergency uh building repairs necessary for the police department um last year which uh amounted to approximately $100,000. In 2024 uh we ended the year with a um the the surplus that we ended 2024 with was approximately $17,258,525 which sounds great. That was the at the end of 2024. At the end of 2025, our surplus was $16,239,000. So it was about a million dollars less. So you always use a portion of the previous year's surplus as a revenue item in in your budget. So we had one $1

million less of surplus to use in this year's budget than we had in last year's budget. Um as one of the speakers said, um they saw a we in order to cut costs and and um uh engineer savings, we um created a 5% departmental reduction across across almost all departments. Uh that amounted to $1,933,396. So operations are down. Um I will be working with There's attrition in terms of a head count uh cut. I will be if approved if the budget is approved, I will be working with all the department heads uh to identify positions for elimination um through either attrition where people have either retired or or moved on or left uh or worst case scenario through a reduction in force or a layoff plan. But because it's a dynamic number, I don't have and because different people are paid different salaries. So, you know, a clerk or a laborer may be, you know, paid 30 or 40,000 dollars and somebody more senior may be paid 80 or 90,000 dollars. So in terms of straight head counts um until we have to take a a snapshot point in time uh and we will do that as soon as the I mean, we've been working with the department heads already, but as soon as the budget is uh approved because the budget cuz it could always be amended up or amended down um that number is in flux. Um the budget contains a 2.2 cent tax increase per $100 of assessed value which equates to a 2.55% increase. Uh overall, the budget is um $1,055,000 more than it than last year's budget.

Uh the water, sewer, and parking utilities pay their fair share to it towards employee health benefits um um employee pension costs and liability insurance. So they pay their own way. Um the current fund budget is balanced. Um the township has four utilities, water, sewer, parking, and the ice arena. The water utility budget is approximately $11,516,975. The water capital budget is the fully funded water capital budget is approximately $3 million. So we have $3 million to make in this year's budget to make water capital investments without having to go to market, without having to borrow any money from um banks or issue bonds. The anticipated sewer budget is approximately $10,215,700. The largest increase in spending is $570,000 which is a payment to Passaic Valley Sewage Commission for um sewage treatment. Uh the parking utility budget is approximately $5,882,000 and the capital budget remains at about $250,000. And then the finally, the Clary Anderson arena utility was created by ordinance I mentioned last summer uh and began operations in October. It did even though it ended the year in a it ended 25 in a deficit, it's ending the season in 26 with a surplus. That's all I have to report. Um I'd mentioned head count and taxes are up by 2.55% and operations are down by a little less than 5%. Thank you very much, council members.

Councilor Birmingham. Thank you, Mayor. Um I do have just a few comments just to tag on to what um our manager said. And and for those who want a little more information on how we got here I'll [snorts] just remind everyone that we've had three presentations in addition to what you um described on February 12th with the mayor, myself, and Council Williams Finance Committee and our manager on March 24th with Joe Manzo, our interim CFO and then on April 7th when the manager introduced the budget. So all of those are available online if people would like more more information. Um this is in addition to the public meetings that were held late last year with the department heads. Um and in each of these meetings, there has been a recurring theme. Um because we cannot run from our reality that um we have increased in costs beyond our control combined with the reduction in non-levy revenue it necessitates cuts. And just to give an example and to put it plainly, we are down three and a half million dollars in miscellaneous non-levy revenue and we had a $3 million increase in our health care costs. So that's right there a $6 million gap casual you might say um that needed to be taken care of. That's before we get to contractual salary increases, rising utility costs. Um we have before we even get there, we have a $6.5 million gap. But we discussed this very much that we understand uh we are in a very difficult year here in Montclair. We are already very heavily taxed. And so despite this, you know, gap that we had this year, and in a way it was really unprecedented,

and you will see other towns increasing their taxes this year 20%, you know, very it's been a very rough year. But, um we wanted to stay, and we asked the manager to stay as close to 2% as um he could. And um that was really asking him to do something very difficult. And um we had banked cap, we could have gone over the 2% we we could have done that. Uh we could have gone hundreds of dollars over that cap. Um but legally, because we had it banked, and we had a health care, you know, again this this large health care increase, we did not want to do that. And so the manager has been working as he's described, um you know, with all the department heads, and I want to acknowledge all of them and all of our employees, because this is a really difficult time. Um But just again, I I just want to really um kind of belabor this point of the structural issues that we're up against, but just just an example, and because I think especially for people who have lived here a long time, you of course you you are like, why can't it be like it was, and why you know, but just to give you an example of a data point, in in the year 2000, Montclair received $4.4 million in state aid for its municipal budget. So, and that included energy receipts and other forms of aid. And if you were to, you know, just adjust that for inflation, never mind that a lot of our costs have outpaced inflation, but if you were just to adjust that for inflation, we would be getting $8.5 million from the state. Instead, we get 3 million. So, in actual dollars, we are [snorts] almost a million and a half dollars less than we were 25 years ago

from in terms of state aid. And we get $3 million, and we've been getting that, and it's been stagnant over several years, um despite rising costs in almost all sectors. And [snorts] so if you just adjusted health insurance for the year 2000, we would be paying something like $7 million in health insurance, but instead we're at $11 million. So, right there we have a gap again of $9 million. That is covered by tax our tax levy, unfortunately, a lot. So, I will um not going to go on too much, but we we tried very hard when I say we, it really is the manager and the CFO who did a lot of the work, and again the department heads and and the staff, um the it looks like the average residential taxpayer for the municipal portion of the tax levy the increase is about $14 per month. We [snorts] did this with just a moderate use of fund balance. As you described, we did not have to we did not use a lot of fund balance. We're we're trying to moderate that. Um and like I said, we did not use banked cap that we would have been allowed to take. Um and I just want to say again, this is a very difficult year for Montclair taxpayers. County taxes are rising, school taxes are rising. We have this um a referendum. The the health benefits between the school and the town, we're looking at about for the average residential taxpayer the increase is about $675 towards health benefits when you consider the school and the town. So, this is a very big pressure on both of our budgets, and we will be working as we can. We we we took what we hope is the first step towards something more sustainable, and we will be working

through that this year, um and I do want to say um and again, it's the health benefits are stressful for the employer as well as the employee, so I just want to acknowledge that as well. Um but again, this is the fiscal reality where we are, and it is nothing like the fiscal picture of Montclair 20 or even 10 years ago, and we have no choice but to adapt. And again, I want to just say what you managed to do when you look at these numbers to me is quite remarkable, even if it is very even if it is painful. But we are really trying to reach for a sustainable path, which is difficult, but it is necessary. So, I just want to put that out there. Again, I want to thank all of the the council, the manager, everyone. Um I do want to make one thing clear, cuz I will repeat this again and again, but those eligible for the senior freeze and for the potential tax reimbursement if you are over 65 or if you are disabled, um you should make sure that you if you are eligible, that you fill out the form for this year to establish 2025 as your base year. All the taxes you pay this year, including those um associated with the referendum, the levy referendum, should be reimbursed if again if you're eligible, but I do want to make sure that everyone who is eligible for tax relief, um takes full advantage of it. Um and I will stop talking and yeah, thank you for your time. Well, thank you very very much. You certainly have been very generous thanking everyone else. I agree with you, but certainly um Chair Birmingham, you have been a strong force in helping us to pull this all together and to um help us to articulate it to the public as has um Councillor Williams and the rest of the

council. So, I'm very grateful for everyone, manager. Okay, so I'm going to um at this point in time, I'd like to make a motion to uh close the hearing of the um reading of the municipal budget by title. Is there a second?

Second. All in favor? Aye. And any This is the A. This is A. Did you just read it in the title title? Um no opposed? Okay. We voted to open. We voted There's two A and B, and it's it's a little confusing for me, so if I made you confused, please forgive me. A is reading of the budget by title. Now, B, which I'm going to make a motion to open the public comment on is actually for us to vote on adopting the 2026 municipal budget, and I so move. Yeah. Yes. Mayor, you opened the hearing on the adoption of the municipal budget. I understand that that first resolution, like you said, is to read it by title. That doesn't require the hearing. The hearing part, as I understood it, was for item B, which is the resolution to adopt the municipal budget, and that's what people came up and and spoke about.

Okay, then that that's terrific. Thank you. That that's not the way my notes are written here, but I certainly appreciate that. So, then have we completed the process here of voting on the municipal budget, or we need to do that part? No, ma'am. I need to um Okay, so I'd like to make a motion to um adopt the 2026 municipal budget.

Second. Madam Clerk, please. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Yes. Councilor Birmingham. Yes. Councilor D'Amato. Yes. Councilor Harrison. Yes. I'd like to add my voice to praising the manager and the CFO for producing a budget that minimizes the tax increase in these difficult times. Councilor Toller. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes. Mayor Baskerville. Yes. Thank you. All right, let's give ourselves a hand. This has been Yeah, right? [applause] Right. Yes, Councilor Birmingham.

I'm sorry, just one other thing. The user-friendly budget, which is one of my favorites, um we have been there's been interim CFOs, and we've been in a period of transition. So, now that we have adopted that budget, we will plan to release as you said, a um searchable and one that matches the ones that are there. So, we will do that. We should say hi to our new CFO. What happened? Okay, so we're going to move on to uh pending ordinance C. Pending ordinance C is uh 0-26-12. It's an ordinance of the Township of Montclair, County of Essex, New Jersey rescinding ordinance 07-43 and the Elm, New Street, and Mission Avenue Redevelopment Plan and amending the zoning map in section 347 of the code of the New Jersey of Montclair, New Jersey. And I so move to open the public hearing on this. Do we need a public hearing on this? It says okay, thank you. So, I so move to open the public hearing on this. Any opposed? Yeah. Okay, I'm going to ask, please, for the um members of the public that wish to be heard on this to please come down. This is the ordinance um 0-26-12 pertaining to the Elm, New and Mission Street Redevelopment Plan. Hi. Uh Robert White. Um I'm following up with my partner Anthony Saccone. Yes, thank you.

we own a bunch of properties on Bloomfield Avenue and uh on New Street and Hartley Street. Um [snorts] and part of uh right now uh originally it was in the C1 zone and which was 55 units an acre. And now it's backing down to the C3 zone which is 40 units an acre. Um which kind of in general makes it undevelopable. So in your statement uh you kind of wanted to uh uh seek and encourage redevelop uh reinvestment. Uh that kind of makes it impractical. Uh changing the zoning on us. Um the original uh redevelopment area was 86 units an acre. And at that type of density it actually makes uh doing a development project uh practical. Um at these uh reduced um kind of units per acre really doesn't make it practical. So it's probably uh Anthony and I and probably everybody else on the Bloomfield Ave is not going to be able to redevelop. Um so uh we just don't think it's very wise to kind of go down that avenue if that's what you're looking for. Um and the other the other thing is we didn't receive any notice of this. Um so you would think we The only notice we got was after uh your first meeting to kind of change the zoning on us. Um so um Anthony, I don't know if you have anything further on that, but um Anyone else? Well, one of the one of the things that I was wanted to mention to you before is um we really have never met any of you because we're kind of developers. We're we're uh been buying property quietly

and just having people rent. No problems. No problems with our tenants. Everybody's been good. Um they they've all been tenants for a very long time. And uh it's something where if we were able to do this development, what we've talked to our tenants about was being able to say that they could stay in their spaces with the new development profit prospects because we'd be able to uh produce approximately 20 low-income housing which is low-income uh housing units. Which is going to be the exact opposite of what happens if we can't get the zoning because uh it it doesn't work uh to keep the buildings and to keep the tenant base as it is. You have to increase it. And all that's going to do is is kick people out. So we just wanted that you guys to consider that when you guys are making your vote this evening as to whether or not you want to rescind that zoning. Thank you. Are there others who wish to come and be heard? Members of the uh Township Council. Hm? Okay. Did you Okay. All right. Councilor Harrison. First let me move an ordinance of the Township of Montclair rescinding ordinance 07-43 in the Elm New Mission microphone is off. In an ordinance rescinding ordinance 07-43 in the Elm New Street Mission Area Redevelopment Plan and amending the zoning map in section 347 of the zoning code of the Township of Montclair. I so move. Second. Okay. Let me let me do a bunch of things here. This was a redevelopment plan adopted almost 20 years ago that has apart from the

Bullock School has seen one building built. That building on Hartley Street consistent with the redevelopment plan is a multi-story multi-unit building that is totally out of character with the other development on New Street and it is what the proposed ordinance is trying to avoid happening. The area before the redevelopment plan on the side streets was zoned R2. This is returning those side streets to an R2 zone which is consistent. The the redevelopment plan was somewhat peculiar. It applies to half of one west side of Hartley Street. Does not apply to the rest of the west side of Hartley Street or the east side of Hartley Street which remained in an R2 zone. It applies to the property between New Street and Mission Street goes back halfway on the block to you know the block that's formed by Washington and then returns to the R2 zone. The zoning that's allowed on the Hartley Street portion um allowed buildings 60 7 feet or six stories or 55 units and 55 units per area for the New and Mission property allowed building height of 60 feet or four stories. This Let's start with the side streets. The the side streets are R2. The existing character of development on those streets is R2. We had one person in the public come up about how nice Montclair is to ride on. That's another R2 zone.

Yes, very nice. I don't know why we would want to allow another on on the side streets another building like what was approved on Hartley Street to be built that is totally out of character with the neighborhood. This is a neighborhood that is very dense currently. If you want to talk about transit villages and for three years of my life I spent running around advocating for them. And if you want to have a discussion in town about transit villages, let's talk about the parking lots at Walnut Street, Watchung, and Bellevue Avenue as places that are one heat islands and two the ideal place where development should be occurring. Then we can talk about an already dense neighborhood and whether additional density. In terms of the properties on Bloomfield Avenue I having six-story buildings along that stretch just does not make any sense to me. We are proposing here the same zoning that applies along Glen Glen Ridge Avenue and Church Street. Also part more much more part of the central business district and is very consistent with what I think makes sense for the zoning there. I am I not looking for the area to be redeveloped if you want to know. This is an area that is in the same, you know, Could it be redeveloped in six-story buildings along Bloomfield Avenue? Sure. I do not think that's a desirable result cuz those buildings are going to totally dominate the R2 existing houses that'll be behind them and make it It's it's just not good zoning to have a six-story building against against an R2 zone that has been there for decades and decades. Part of the historic development pattern in the town. Provide and

to have an adverse impact on that I think is inexcusable and I think the proposed ordinance is what makes the most planning sense for the area. Thank you, Councilor Harrison. Um Deputy Mayor. Um I am really not I I I'm I'm I agree with rescinding the redevelopment plan. I think six stories is much too um much too large for this area of town. And um the fact that nothing's been built there for except for the school for almost 20 years gives me pause as to what are some of the reasons might be. Um that being said, um I would not be in favor of um having the buildings that the lots on Bloomfield Avenue um be part revert to a C3. Um I think the planning board originally recommended a new CD um zone where the maximum stories would be four. Um I'm not really sure why um why like why do we want to have those um buildings have a maximum story of three? Um I'm I'm just not super clear on um why why we should have that. And you know, would the original you know, I do have questions. Would having um allowing an original an additional story, would that perhaps um encourage more um better development? So um I I think that I just um while I am in favor um generally of rescinding the redevelopment plan, I'm not in favor of replacing it with what's being proposed here. Okay, anyone else? Sure. Okay, um okay, I'm sorry. Councilor Demauro. Yeah, I just think that as I said at our last meeting which was, you know, videoed, but it was we were upstairs and it wasn't very easy to hear on the tape. Um I just think it's a sad

slapdash um you know, uh remedy for a redevelopment area that was sad and slapdash. And that this ordinance um basically is not a fair representation of what happened. It's not an honest recounting of the history here and like you know, crucially like when you make a mistake, uh uh you kind of should own up and it's in sort of the passive tense. And like I don't like redevelopment areas. I like traditional zoning. I think it's good. You just if you're going to have zoning, you do it right. Don't make special little deals everywhere and do all this and so it failed. That failed and um we should own up to that as a town that we tried this thing and it didn't work and there's been like no real attempt to learn from that. Um the planning board on which I sit as one of the designees of the council um went through a process of trying to come up with a better solution to this. That was a deliberative process of a large body of well-intentioned volunteers did the work and the planning department came up with a proposal that the planning board in in in good cheer and and honestly weighed and then approved and it was just completely ignored and then we were given something sort of handed something and just been and now it's as if that never happened. And I just don't I just don't appreciate that and I finally think that this literally is not in um keeping with the master plan and that's okay. In other words, like if we own up to it. So, the master plan is very clear that you know, you it says four stories in this area which abuts

the key transit node. And now I'm totally sympathetic on on both you know, community grounds and aesthetic grounds with the idea that that should be three stories. I think that that's totally reasonable, especially given, you know, the abutting of the R2 zone and whatnot. But you do have to go through the work of explaining what is going on, what what happened, why we're doing this and it can't just be, you know, flim and then, you know, I I do not know these gentlemen, but um and it is not my job to look out for your bottom line, to be blunt. But I do think it's a little not fair pool that somebody is not even, you know, given adequate notice that that there's a big taking, uh you know, from them. So, it's just I don't like the process here and I know we say that a lot. I genuinely I'm focused on that not not on the outcome. And so, I will vote no knowing that it'll probably pass and I at a minimum I would just hope that it makes us more mindful of basically that the redevelopment process it's just always losing. We've it seems like tonight we're going to deal with three different redevelopment areas, all of which are problematic. That we went in with great hopes and that and that at the end we were kind of left holding the bag. And so, that's what I would just hope that we just we're going to take the we're going to take the loss here and, you know, and just that we not memory hole the whole thing. So, that's where I am. Thank you, Counselor Toler. Sorry.

Oh, I'm sorry. And then Counselor Williams. Counselor Toler followed by Counselor Williams. Um I agree with Counselor DeMaio on one thing. Redevelopment plans are no good. We should probably stop doing them. Um this particular redevelopment agreement that was presented to the EDC um if you said it went to the planning board, that's when Ms. Tally brought it to us. I had some concerns and I discussed it with Counselor Harrison. [clears throat]

That I needed to go through it. Um in regards to the change in the fourth ward where I live and the constituents that I represent development is at an apex. Um I know the word urban transit area has been used a lot. That can you be used to shape a neighborhood uh some pretty noticeable ways. It can be positive and negative. Uh it's not just about transportation. It changes how people live, work, and even who can afford to stay there. Uh urban transit access tends to make a neighborhood more connected uh but it can also make it more expensive and change who lives there. The other thing that I did with this or the reason that I sat down with Ms. Tally and Mr. Harrison um and again for the record, when I tabled this at the last meeting uh to review it, Ms. Tally reached out to Mr. Harrison for a walk-through and then I was invited. So, there was no shade or slight given to the other EDC member cuz technically she should have reached out to both of us instead of Counselor Harrison. Um what I will say is that this particular area is already dense, extremely dense. Um the number of African American families in our township has dramatically decreased over with the loss of over 782 individuals in one decade between 1970 and 1980 to over 1800 individuals in just 4 years between the year 2020 and 2024. That's an increase of over five times the numbers of individuals who disappeared in the previous decades of 2010 through 2020. This represents more than 40% of a specific demographic that has departed over the last 40 years. While I heard the gentleman to use the words accumulating properties, um perhaps doing some affordable housing, there's no guarantee with that. Um the word accumulating properties is actually in my opinion, um

a displacement of people, if you will. Um when I look around the neighborhood and I'm looking at the developments that are going up, we talked about these tax increases that are coming from the county. The fourth ward is going to be hit the hardest because so many homes have flipped and those residents will be paying more taxes than probably the other wards just because of overdevelopment. Um we have to do something to make sure that the neighborhood and the blocks behind Elm and Bloomfield Avenue are protected, that our diversity remains in place. And that's pretty much it. I mean, if we're going to pride ourselves on diversity, then we have to start having these real conversations about numbers and stats. Okay? And what's affecting it? If we go back to the year 2000, African Americans were 39%. You go to the year 2023, we're at 19%. What is that from? What's causing that? I would love to know what's causing it. I can speculate. But, you know, we have to just pump the brakes. The fourth ward has had their fair share of development, overdevelopment. I agree with you. Let's start talking about zoning everywhere. We're going to do urban transit areas. We have seven train stations in this town. We don't have to focus on Bay Street. Those are just my thoughts. Again, this is trying to protect and preserve what's left of a very special area in town. The African American community here in Montclair has been a vibrant component of this township. Diversity's, you know, played a very significant role in shaping Montclair since its inception. And to know that we're on a rapid, steady decline, it has a lot to do with what has happened in our neighborhood. It's just that simple. There's no other word to sugarcoat it. There's no other word to pretty it up. Okay? And if I'm listening to my constituents who said that they've had enough, we're at an apex, if you will, what can we do to protect and preserve and make sure that we don't have another

six-story building in our neighborhood where it's already dense and tight, then this is what I'm here to do. And I'm asking for support because these people you represent as well, not just me. Thank you. Thank you, Counselor Williams. So, I can appreciate the character of a neighborhood. I was recently in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and going down a side street and you look at some of these houses that have been there for like 100 years and the character has been maintained and, you know, it's beautiful. The the only thing my only problem here is as I see these two gentlemen here and I mentioned it when we first had this ordinance here is what is this going to do to the folks that own these properties, right? And Councilman DeMaio pointed out it's not I'm not really interested so much in their bottom line. I have no vested interest in this, but something that they said resonated with me where, "Hey, we didn't even know about this." And to make a big decision like this without, you know, putting this out broad and wide and I I know that we public um we publish that ordinances and public hearings or we have certain sites and and things that we're required to put these up, but this is something that is going to impact a a lot of folks that I think should have really there've been should have maybe been like a special meeting or something like that that really addressed this and I I I think that that for me is, you know, I'm going to abstain from this. I I think the charac- I think everything that's put forward here, I think it's a good idea to maintain the character and stuff like that, but that's not really the issue for me. It's, you know, this

is going to impact a a lot of people and I think additional notice should be uh Does he have a question? Okay. Thank you, Counselor [clears throat] Williams. I'm I'm going to ask planner Tally if you can come forward, please, and maybe help us with this. You've heard the concerns here. And if there's anything that you think, you know, you can say that may be helpful regarding how we advertised for this and anything else that you think might be helpful. And And I'd like to thank you very much for all of your work with this. Well, thank you. First, I want to point out that this should not be a surprise. This has been in our master plan for many, many years to reduce the height of these buildings on Bloomfield Avenue from six stories. Albeit to four stories, and the proposal tonight is for three stories. So, the decreasing of the height of the buildings and and and the development pressure between the redevelopment areas along Bloomfield Avenue has long been part of the planning board's master plan and part of the the discussions at the planning board. We have not been successful in getting the ordinances in place despite the fact that we have tried to get these ordinances passed since 2018 to reduce the height. So, I don't think that there's been a lack of conversation or a lack of awareness prior to tonight's meeting. Because this is going from four stories to three stories, we specifically sent notice to all the property owners because it is different than what was in the master plan. So, we went above and beyond what we had in the past and notified them because it is technically inconsistent with what was in the master plan in terms of the height. So,

that's a little bit of background information on how we got here. And I just want to emphasize again, I don't think it should be any surprise. And that's that's it. I can answer any questions you have. Thank you. Councillor Birmingham and and then Councillor Demato. Thank you. And I I think I'm playing catch up because I'm not on the EDC and so but can you just what did the planning board recommend? They recommended creating a new zone for these properties. Rescinding the Elm New Mission Street Redevelopment Plan, creating a new zone. We called it the CD zone. Um I think it was central business Whatever it is, CD central business. Just to differentiate it from the C1 zone. And came up with standards with a maximum height of four stories as opposed to six stories. So, it wasn't all that different from what's in here right now. It's just that it created additional story and the maximum density in the proposed zoning was 55 dwelling units per acre as opposed to what's proposed, which would be 40 dwelling units per acre. So, that's the difference. Councillor Demato. And why do we Why did the redevelopment area fail? Was it because of the parking minimums, the shapes of the blocks?

I don't think it was It was not a a well-crafted redevelopment plan. I think it created certain um visuals for the Bullock School, which again was helpful, but for the individual properties they're small. You don't have large redevelopment areas like you do in the other redevelopment areas where you can have meaningful change. All of the properties in this are small. And when you have those individual lots that small, there's not a lot of opportunity for large projects, just small changes, which happen anyway under the C1 zone or whatever zone. So, for various reasons, there was there's been very little development in this area. There's no opportunity for centralized parking. Whatever parking would have to be already provided in the area that it relied upon. So, and there are some property owners where development could occur who chose not to develop their It was a a decision. Yes. And so, I'm going to just share share my opinion. I'm I'm very much in favor of this and and I like moving to the the three stories. I have very specifically spent quite a bit of time there. First of all, I grew up there and I've been in this area for more years than I want to talk about, and I'm very familiar with the density and I'm very familiar with the makeup of the people that are in that area. We have two schools. We have a middle school. We have an elementary school, and then we have two pre-K schools that have children from six months up to like four years old or five in one of them, and they're all very densely populated in

that area. And so, my preference is to try to bring this down and to not put more density in there for for many, many reasons. First of all, the parking is a problem. Second of all, the streets that we're trying to move towards and not have shadows on them are actually going in the area of two families, which we have in our master plan, which is what we want to get to. So, the side streets there, we want them to have two family residents for people. We've identified that the missing housing that we need more of in this area for affordability and just because we don't have enough two-family housing in Montclair B2 family. So, in order for us to get there, we have to have a plan that is going to gracefully be consistent with with what's there without having shadows on them so that it's not appealing for the people that are living there. So, I very much encourage people to just envision or go by there on the rush hour when children are being dropped off to school and in the evening, and there is no real parking per se. And now, you visualize the opposite side of the street, and we have possibly a very wonderful plan that will be coming to Lackawanna at some point in time. And you have the Firestone very busy and heavily traversed operation on the corner there. So, I'm very much in favor of trying to bring the density down. Yes, I understand when we um decided to call the area around the Bay Street train station a transit village, I understand what our intention, you know, was. And to some degree, you know, we were able to to accomplish some of

the things that we wanted. But at this point in time, I think that I am more in favor of trying to protect the safety and well-being of all the people who will be in a very small area at one time than I am, you know, whether we're calling this transit village or whether, you know, whatever the terms are we might want to. So, for that reason, I'm very much in favor of bringing it down. Yes, Councillor Toler. Thank you. And I was going to mention that this particular area, this corner, Lackawanna would be right across the street. The density from Lackawanna, we wouldn't see sunlight on those four corners for after this. That's it. You know, if we don't make a drastic change to make sure that we're protecting and preserving some parts of the neighborhood where we can still have some sunlight. That would be nice. As well as our neighbors, you know. Um a lot of change has happened as I stated. You know, I've heard from David Corfman, he said beautiful dense places, but he didn't ask didn't share if there were any diversity numbers and did it keep the character of the neighborhood. So, it has to be a balance. It has to be you know, a level balance, if you will, to make sure that we're addressing some of everything. Most of the conversation that I'm hearing from folks from the public hearing is on one side, and we're not thinking about the other side, which is our long-time residents who actually are trying to still live here. I'm not even going to say they are living here. They're trying to still live here. Um a lot of development. We've we've we've we've met our fair share in the fourth ward. And I'm sure if you talk to any resident, if anybody wants to walk with me and knock on doors at any residents in that area, we can go talk to them face-to-face, and you can hear for your yourself their concerns. Anyone else? Yes, Councillor Harrison. Just I've So, when this ordinance, not this ordinance, the original version of the creating the new

zone was on the council's agenda, I wrote extensive comments to Ms. Tally raising issues, practical zoning as to why the bulk requirements, the parking requirements, the setback requirements, the lot size requirements I didn't think and it's a not a typical when you try and create a new zone that everything doesn't quite mesh, and that led to her contacting me to discuss that. And Ms. Tally, Director Tally, said, "Oh, we have the C3 zone where all these standards are in place. They've been working. And with the reduced height of the buildings made more sense." I said, "Oh, that then let's do that than try to try and create a new zoning ordinance that was going to need a lot of corrections." The other practical real issue here is if this is not adopted, it provides an opportunity for someone to come in with an application under the redevelopment plan and have it deemed complete and then they get to proceed under the redevelopment plan like the existing approval did on Hartley and I don't think that is something we should do. I think the zoning on Bloomfield Avenue from Verona down to Glen Ridge is something that we should be looking at. But I think the master plan currently recommends going to four story the whole route. I'm not sure that's good and part of the master plan re-examination report that should be looked at, but I think to allow the redevelopment plan to remain in effect any longer is creating a risk of having undesirable development having in that area that is counter to the master plan and will be extremely

detrimental to the existing R2 zone that remains and there on the other side of Hartley going back on new Bolton Bolton Road 3 Councilor Birmingham, please. So, I'm I'm just going to apologize to my fellow councilors in that I do not feel like I have enough information right now to to make a vote. But I would like to undo the redevelopment plan. Is that a Is it Is it an option or no? You have to create an a a an alternate an You have to have some underlying zoning once you remove the redevelopment plan, otherwise there's nothing there. Yeah. It Deputy Mayor? Um So I'm just asking here because I think I've already stated my position that I am in favor of recending the redevelopment plan. Um but is there any Could there be any consideration among the other council people to adopt a new the new zoning um with the maximum stories of four stories for this area that we're speaking of? May I

Consistent with the master plan. I'm just wondering because our master plan is under Counselor Tolder. Thank you. Our master plan is under re-examination and when does that expire, this whole period? The master plan does not expire. it expired. We're doing a re-examination and it'll be in place for 10 years. So, when will When should this council or the next council adopt the next master plan? Um I just want to in fact It's a re-examination of the master plan that needs to be completed by November of this year. Oh, okay. There's no expiration of the redevelopment plan.

Perfect. But all and it's a it's a statutory requirement to re-examine re-examine it and really what that does is it preserves the validity of your planning and your zoning. Okay. So And when are the next few public hearings going to be held? This is totally separate

a date. [clears throat] The planning board with the at the at the last meeting, it was not a public hearing, it was a public meeting that we had. Two. Uh the planning board uh directed me to um work with subcommittees and directly reach out to the business districts. So, I have our economic development coordinator working reaching out to all the business districts to get input on the um on the re-ex- on all of our planning documents and our zoning reaching out to um the various advisory boards such as the parks and recreation advisory committee and the historic preservation commission and the environmental commission to provide input. And I think that the way that they want to proceed is if any of you want to have a war They want it to be very specific. So, if you want to have a discussion about the master plan or the zoning ordinance for your specific district we can engage that, but it's so big. When you look at all of the elements in the master plan, it's so big, we can't do that at one meeting. So, we're going to be reaching out to different organizations and groups to get input on what's relevant to them and then put that into uh our global recommendation in the re-examination report.

with ward four, we're ready. We've gone through the 41 pages, so we're ready. Um so, thank you for that. The reason I asked when will this council be adopting the the final because uh Deputy Mayor said she would like to see this be consistent with the master plan. So, if we're talking from now till November The master plan is four stories right now. Yeah. I can't tell you what

is a lot, you know, it's a big push. Again, I don't think my colleagues are really understanding that diversity is slipping through our fingers with every vote and decision that we're making. One additional story is going to actually hurt the neighborhood. And I I don't understand what what what what what you all all don't understand from that. I just I'm trying to understand it. If you can share with me three stories versus four stories and how you think that's going to help the neighborhood, I'm here to listen, but I don't see it helping. I actually see it hurting the neighborhood. But if you have some other ideas and suggestions on how that works can I just Yes, Counselor Birmingham.

Yeah, thank you. Sorry. When you say that, are you are you meaning because of the bulk of the four stories? So, like

Bulk of the four stories, um depending on how it's marketing, are they luxury apartments, are they going to be affordable housing cuz I'm affordable housing has a ripple effect in the neighborhood. You know, development comes in and offers you 20%, 10%, eight units. Most of those apartments are luxury and that ripple effect goes four blocks east, west, east, west, north and south because landlords start understanding that they can get 5,800, 6,300 for a two bedroom and it pushes people out for 10 affordable housing units. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't equal out. So, the more units you get you're going to have more luxury than affordable and those few affordable units that perhaps we get 10 out of a unit development the rest of the neighborhood is gone. Everybody else is going to start advertising for luxury and I've seen it happen. There are apartments around the corner from me for $6,300 for a two bedroom. Yeah. In the face of affordable housing. Or another story. So, I'm trying to really understand why some people are feeling that they need four stories versus three stories and how that's helping and protecting as well as addressing the concerns of the residents in the fourth ward who would like to try to just keep what we have in place so we can continue to live here. I'm trying to understand the difference in one story. But let me follow follow up with answering that. I mean, what originally brought

Councilor Harrison, were were you finished? Counselor Birmingham. I mean, I'm just wondering like again, my like I wanted to just ask Is three stories and the four stories set back? You know, like if there are concerns around There's concerns around flooding. There's concerns around who's going to monitor a catch basin. There's concerns around storm water. There's concerns around heat islands. There's concerns around sunlight. The list is endless. Our concerns in fourth ward match every other ward's concerns, but for some reason this particular ward seems to be get scrutinized and uh people share their opinions and are actually living in this neighborhood and I don't understand that. I just don't. I mean, I'm talking to people every day. It was Every day. But led to my

Okay, at this point in time I I will notice Councilor Harrison. The issue of the way the zoning was set up for the four story proposal wasn't going to work. I There were it just with the small lot sizes, if if you know, you just had a one big lot, yes, it would have worked. I There issues on the height compared to the neighborhood, but it was just putting it all together on the small lot sizes the bulk requirements and the coverage requirements the setback requirements, the parking requirements it was just not going to be workable and I I raised the concerns not aiming at the four stories not being stupid me forgetting we had the C3 district but simply pointing out that it didn't all fit together and then Director Talley said, "Oh, we have this other zone where the standards work." I said, "Oh, well, that that makes sense. That's consistent and will have a less of an impact on the R2 zone that's behind Bloomfield Avenue. And and I like would like to point out that is the zoning on Glen Ridge Avenue and on Church Street. So, it's not like we haven't seen it in our downtown. Also, if I may, it's it's also essentially almost like NC. I mean, this is what we're looking at is that one side of Bloomfield Avenue, the south side of certain portion of it fits more in character with the neighborhood commercial zone, which is the which is the zoning default in most of our of the other, you know, dense commercial districts in town. Not Walnut Street, which weirdly is light industrial, bizarre, weirdly. That's because of its industrial history.

It's It's his It's strange history, but when you look at it, like this is why I'm I'm sympathetic, totally, like it is really just a process thing that that side of the street is totally Yeah, it's true. That side of the street makes sense. I look at it and I see it's like Upper Montclair. It's the same thing. Two, three story buildings. Makes sense. It's not It's not unreasonable. And in fact, I mean, the key thing, this is a good conversation, by the way, is that this is this as you say, Councilwoman like, you know, Fourth Ward is closed for for business for development. That's fine. I don't care. I honestly don't. I think the whole town is basically at this stage. I was here last night for some not all of the planning board meeting. Um there is nobody clamoring for more density overall in town. Really, there are good-hearted, you know, people who are pro, you know, they want housing for people. And that's a positive, you know, that's a positive thing. But on a practical level, the vast majority of people in town just feel, well, there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of congestion and that basically it's probably enough. You know, the water, if it's not too hot, it's it's definitely not too cold. So, I I see it. I still I wish if all this was folded into the resolution, the ordinance, this discussion of where it was coming from, I'd be probably totally okay with it. I would just the last thing I would say is that don't Is that Wait a minute. Is it this important to just get out there? Is that the idea that development that that adding more houses increases housing prices, I'm fine if people believe that. I don't believe it. And I've covered economics professionally for a long time. There is a healthy debate about this. Some people believe that there is some effect and there probably is some effect that if

you, you know, add add a new piece of housing that it will cast a glow on a neighborhood, you know, a development glow and that whatnot and it'll lead to some things. I don't really buy that. I think if you add more housing at a certain point, prices invariably go down just like if you have more hot dog stands on one corner, eventually the hot dogs get cheaper. I just wanted to get that out there. So, but it's no judgment on you if you believe differently. No, no, I I didn't say housing was a problem about the pricing. I'm saying there's a demographic in this town that's on a steady decline because of house flipping, because of luxury rents. Two very different things than what you just said. I didn't say anything about the housing cost making a neighborhood be expensive. That's just going to happen and yes, it could level out. What I'm referring to is that the African-American population here in this town is on a steady decline because of luxury housing, because of luxury apartments. And the data is there. You cannot believe it. The data is there. You can look on the census and see that we're on a steady decline. The two I don't think you can always say are are are No, they are. They absolutely are. Again, I welcome you to walk in the Fourth Ward with me. We can knock on doors and talk to neighbors and you can hear for yourself whatever struggles they're going through or facing and challenges. All right. So, let's I think everyone's had an opportunity to say something. Councilwoman Birmingham, did you have one more thing cuz I know you haven't said a Yeah, yeah, cuz cuz again, like so, from Councilwoman Harrison, what I'm hearing from you is that the what if I think I'm understanding you correctly, that the CD zone, I think it was called the CD zone coming from the planning board, you thought was not workable. Like it didn't fit together. The the requirements. And then

Councilor and Planner Tally, you said, well, something similar to that is the C3 zone. And it would fit. And it would fit there. I'm hearing from you that you think that three stories is entirely reasonable, but because of your your amount of principle, you will not vote for it. To be honest, that plan for the CD zone came from the planning department. It wasn't generated by the planning board. Is that correct? Largely. Yes. It It came from my department and then we met with the planning board. We made a couple of changes. Um but yes. Okay. And do Can I just ask again, not that anyone's bottom line is is relevant, but when you're when we're making these um changes, do you do economic analyses of these Is that something that you do? Cuz I know like when we do the redevelopment plan, there is an analysis. Right. Do Do you do it? No, we don't. For for a small change like this, a zoning change, particularly one that is pretty consistent with the master plan. And honestly, when we came up with the CD zone, those requirements are stated in the master plan. We just pulled it directly from that. So, we don't do an economic analysis, no. And you [snorts] were saying this what we're doing here is consistent with the master plan or

the way the planning board um uh presented it in their resolution. It is not precisely consistent with the master plan because the heights are a little bit lower, the density is a little bit lower, but it is consistent with the intent and the spirit of the master plan, which is to bring the zoning on that stretch of Bloomfield Avenue and behind in the in the residential neighborhoods, bring the zoning more into conformance as to what's there right now. Because six stories doesn't make sense. That came from the planner. Okay. And I also sit on there and it was it was a very interesting conversation and that's why we ended up where Planner Tally is saying we were because they did feel like it was the spirit. And um so okay. So, now that we had that um discussion, I'm going to make a motion to close the discussion on this. Well, I opened it, then he opened something else. So, I don't know now how to get back to closing that because then he called for a vote while I had opened the public hearing. But anyway, we could just jump to the vote if that would be where to go now since since he opened that. Okay. All righty. I'd like to make a motion please that we vote on the um pending ordinance 0-26-12 um ordinance to um for the new New Jersey rescinding the ordinance 07-43, the Elm New Street Mission Area Redevelopment Plan and amending the zoning map in section 347 of the code of the Township of Montclair, New Jersey. Um I so move. Second. Madam Clerk, please. Thank you, Mayor. Deputy Mayor Anderson. No, for the reasons I gave. Councilwoman Birmingham.

Um thank you for your patience in walking me through and answering my questions. I will I'm going to vote yes. Councilor D'Amato. No. Councilor Harrison.

Yes. Councilor Tola. Yes. Councilor Williams. Abstain. Mayor Baskerville. Yes. Okay. I'm sorry. Uh so, Do you want to do the consent agenda? Now we're up to the um consent agenda. And um does anyone have things that they want to remove from here? I know we tabled 4A4 and 5. What did we do with number three? We didn't table five. Okay, thank you. So, we tabled 4A and 4.

And I just want to table one for a question or statement. Okay, so we'll take it out of the consent agenda. And two, please. Number two? Yes, Councilor Tola. I just wanted to say that the bill list, we can't see the numbers. Okay.

It's just printed wrong. I mean, we don't have to table it if everybody's comfortable with what they can read on it. Okay. I think they sent us one. Um Councilor Williams, you want to walk us through this? Well, are we doing the consent agenda first or are we We took out number two, we took out 4A and number four. So, what are we doing? We just vote? We should move on the Now we're just going to let you on the entire consent agenda. That's what I think I understand.

to let him because I know he likes to to move it and I was going to give him that honor to move it for us, but we can yeah. Make a motion to move the consent agenda. Second. All right. Madam Clerk. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Councilwoman Birmingham. Yes. Councilor D'Amato. Yes. Councilor Harrison. Yes. Councilor Tola. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes. Mayor Baskerville. Great. So, Mhm. Yes. Thank you. [laughter]

So, now we can make a motion to go? Yes, we're done. No, you want to go over number two, Mayor. Number two was pulled from consent. Number one, Councilor Tola. But you just said that that was the printing, right?

because it was printed differently. So, we're good with number one. It allowed me to look at it. I don't have any questions. I was just making sure everybody else. Was yours printed like this or differently? Let's go to number two, Councilor D'Amato. They're doing whatever they want anyway. Number two? No, I just think that we should give it a couple of seconds. Okay. Uh so, I can move the resolution authorizing the introduction and approval of the 2026 budget for the Montclair Center Business Improvement District. All right, so moved. Second. Um maybe I can ask interim Director Gleason. Can the president The president, yeah. Bless you. Gentlemen. Hi, good evening. Good evening. So. Hi. Good to see you. Mayor and council. I just had a question as to why one of the things that I would try to worry about or end up worrying about is whether or not our uh hard the things that we spend money on that are hard that are about physical improvements that get done that people can see and touch and feel um whether we are spending the ratio that we spend on that to soft costs or to administrative costs or to people sitting behind screens. And I did see that in the budget for this year it has changed a little bit that um like for example beautification budget went down

and the advertising budget went up and it's more about the latter like why do we feel that we need to be advertising more and beautifying less if if I'm looking at it correctly. So I can actually speak to that if you want as a as a side note. Um so the the advertising budget went up because uh the bid was awarded uh a higher grant award amount from the uh Secretary of State's office Division of Travel and Tourism. That's the DMO grant. So that's why. Um and in terms of the beautification cost um the bid uh planted some evergreen plantings uh in this last year. So uh didn't need to spend money um on doing annual plantings. Um and I believe that's a direct correlation there. And then what is that and the advertising also is paying for a role? Is that correct? Uh yeah.

it's paying for a position. It is. And

Currently that position's being filled uh by a contractor. By contractor. Okay. Who are we explain the advertising a little bit like how does the BID advertise? Sure. Uh you mean like Yeah, like how do we or how are we trying to draw people and like how does that how does that work? Um you mean conceptually or like actual like how like print, digital, like that kind of stuff? However you want to summarize it. Uh sure. It's it's a it's a mixture of uh of of you know uh of different mediums. Um you know, primarily I think digital is is definitely the um the way to go. There's a lot more um tangibles in terms of uh how to track that. Um you know, in terms of like actually looking at the metrics and analytics of it. Um you know, I don't want to say print is a dead medium but print is somewhat of a dead medium these days. It's it's in it's in somewhat of a dead spiral is a good way to put it uh Counselor Birmingham. Um so uh I think um the investments in print are certainly not as heavy uh and and aren't looked at as favorably. Um I think um the BID has invested pretty heavily uh specifically with the DMO grant on doing um I don't know if I'd call it billboard advertising but advertising with um New Jersey Transit. Um so you'd see those billboard advertisements um that are like when you go to stop to stop they do um billboard isn't the right way to put it but um they're pretty significantly large advertisements that are at on each train stop uh and go into New York Penn Station and even further out into New York. Um those are generally specifically uh for the events um that take place into town. Um those seem to have pretty significant return. Um and um So this is this was really probably what

I was curious about is like the ad spend is mostly going to driving people to the events. They're event specific. Is that correct? Um Are they're not Do we I've never seen a generic visit Montclair ad anywhere like There are. There are. Okay. there's a Nashville music one.

one that would come to mind is um one that runs in the fall is there's uh there's a campaign called Fall in Love with Montclair. Um and that is I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, yeah. Um and it uh um you know, it has obviously has a fall motif to it, right? Um and those go up uh that is a partnership with um with transit as well. If you'd like I could send you the um I would love to see it. I could send [laughter]

I could send you the ad. Uh any other changes in the budget that people should should know about or any any changes Nothing real specific. Um I'd sent you all or I guess it's I haven't sent it to the our treasurer it's sent it to you to the manager um that had a very specific uh layout of any changes that were taking place uh a budget allocation memo. There you go. Yep, yep, yep. Um that really laid out any changes uh that were made to the budget um from year over year. Um nothing really significant. Thank you. You're very welcome. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Any other questions? No, thank you for all that you did. Oh, sure. Thank you. Thank you very much. Should we start working on puns for our next advertising campaign? Uh yeah, we're open to all ideas of course, yeah.

[laughter] Thank you. Okay, was that the only other one? Do we have any further discussion on number two? Roll call, please. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Yes. Councilor Birmingham. Yes. Councilor Damiano. Yes. Councilor Harrison.

Yes. Councilor Toler. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes. Mayor Baskerville. Yes, thank you. Okay. So I um asked the um council members earlier today about uh adding on um urgent resolution um that came to us from Dr. Johnson. Resolution authorizing application for Municipal Efficiency Review Program grant. And so um Deputy Mayor is going to um tell us a little bit about that. Did anybody have a chance to to look at it at all and has she spoken to you because it is time sensitive and I think it's very very important that we do this um and it it will really help us in terms of process and procedures and the way we're doing these things. So um I'm recommending that and I know we don't normally put things on like this but because it's a time sensitive thing and because I think that it will definitely overall assist us I'm recommending that we move forward with this and um Deputy Mayor. Yeah, um Yes. I'm sorry. Yes. Just make a motion to amend the agenda to include the resolution.

Okay. All right. Thank you so much. I'd like to make a motion, please, to amend the agenda um to add the resolution resolution authorizing application for a Municipal Efficiency Review Program grant. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? No. Thank you. Okay, yes, Deputy.

Just to add to what the Mayor has said, um this is an opportunity for for to get a state grant um uh to it's called the Management Enhancement Review Program and the um project that um was proposed by the Director of Sustainability is to if if we were selected to get this this money um is to conduct a a 6-month operational review of our shade tree management um and related functions um and uh I think this is this would be an excellent opportunity um to to look at these and figure out how to improve efficiencies, you know, reduce duplication of efforts and you know, um figure out how we can align our resources with with the very big demands that we um and the goals that we have to increase our tree canopy. Uh so And it this it's so timely, right? We're going to review the grant will help us to review all the ordinances we have, procurement practices, and all of those types of things that we've been talking about. And so um in terms of the grant uh probably want to know what financially would be expected of the municipality township. Um $60,000 is what we're requesting from the grant and the municipality would be responsible for $15,000 which um has I it's been identified already though. So it's not like we're out here looking for it. It's been identified through the USDA tree canopy grant. So we're looking good in terms of the resources for it and I just think it's a win-win. So, you move that?

I'm I move. I second. Um yes. I just wanted to know are we able to make any substance changes if I tell you what they are? Do you have a copy? Oh, yes. Here. Do you Did you pass her this if she wants it? Yeah, I know Mayor was supposed to to that pull that back.

You're you're correct. I was I was supposed to What is this? When When are you in? Oh, this is our It's a fun Right. Okay. Thank you very much. Sorry for what? No, I just we I looked at it earlier and um I was would like to include in paragraph four, the fourth whereas, uh where it talks about uh coordination with uh current workflows, permitting processes, etc. After the word departments, if we can add including the parks and rec committee and the MEC commission. This gives us a well-versed um dynamic of all persons. Um in the fifth whereas, uh where it says the study will also assess opportunities, after the word opportunities, only because we're in a process procedure and you know, we're going to adhere to the master plan, we would I would like to include the words within all areas of the township. Without those words, this could very well not hit certain areas of the township. Thank you. Um and so, attorney, how would I how would I get to this the um the amendment? Um from where we are because I know Okay. Thank you. Um Madam Clerk, please. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Yes. Councilwoman Birmingham. Yes. Councilwoman DeMarco.

Yes. Councilwoman Harrison. Yes. Councilwoman Toler. Yes. Councilwoman Williams.

Yes. Mayor Baskerville. Yes, thank you. So, now I'd like to make a motion to amend. Or we just it's already done. She wrote it down. You wrote it down already. You have it down already. I'm going to get it from the attorney. Okay. Okay. All right. Um and so, yeah, I'd like to thank the director of sustainability for all the time that she puts into this and uh all the hard work that she does and she's always helping us to find grants and um we went to to get a grant yesterday for our clean streets and so, I just want to shout out and let everyone know that she's doing a great job. I certainly appreciate it. All right. I'd like to make a motion to adjourn. Second. Oh gosh, that was good. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Great. Okay, thank you. And thank you to the public for coming out. See you soon.