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call this uh regular meeting of the

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whole bar council October 1925 order.

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» Adequate notice of this meeting has been

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provided by notice mail for Valley News

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in the Fman times post on a bullet in

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the bur and follow the bur as required

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by you with license.

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Pledge allegiance to the flag of the

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United States of America to the republic

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for which it stands one nation under God

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indivisible with liberty and ally

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>> here.

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>> Mr. Fuller

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>> here

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>> Miss Steeler

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>> here. Miss Williams

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>> here.

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>> Okay. Um, I'll take a motion for

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resolution 2025106 to retire in

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executive sessions for three possible uh

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legal matters.

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» All right, first.

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>> All in favor?

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>> I

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Okay, thank you. Um, holding second.

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Those watching online, we will return at

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7 p.m. Thank you.

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All right. Uh good evening everyone uh

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on Zoom and here in person. We're going

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to resume our regular uh October meeting

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of the local Burough Council. Uh council

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did uh have executive session at 6:00.

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So we did our uh call to order and uh

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flag salute then and we are starting

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with item five resuming public session.

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Uh next items are we had our packet

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reports of the director of public works

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and water and sewer and when any

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questions uh for administrator now be

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the time.

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Next uh item take us as no. Uh next um

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our standing placeholder uh for updates

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on our water system sales. Want to thank

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everyone uh who worked on attended or

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watched the uh information session in uh

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September.

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Reminder that the video is up online as

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well as video from the other sessions uh

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some other information there. So, please

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visit the water website uh for uh all

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the information that we have uh on the

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sale and a reminder that dates coming up

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um particularly

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October 14th is last day to register to

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vote. So, please check to make sure you

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are registered to vote. Uh early voting

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uh is available for the Saturday through

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the Sunday more than a week uh before uh

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voting. And if you're getting your vote

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by mails in the mail, uh please make

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sure you use it and and vote. Uh with

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that then our next item is we have a

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presentation by a kind of subcommittee

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uh for Halloween. So uh bear with me. I

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will uh try to get that up on screen and

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uh Deb or Sher or Chris whoever's been

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working on it. Please uh

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feel free give me one second to just um

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it's on the screen here but not yet.

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shared on Zoom

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and um I will take credit that I did

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that's my pumpkin that last

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um I uh you know

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>> the cat is one of my kids I can't take

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credit for that level of detail but

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anyway um whoever like to

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start Jerry whoever um the floor is

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yours

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>> okay thank you everyone so uh we're very

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excited this year to announce the

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creation of a Halloween safe zone. Um on

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Friday, October 31st, um our plan is to

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shut down Columbia Avenue to all

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vehicular traffic for that night

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starting at 5:30.

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We're looking forward to having um a

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pedestrian walking zone for the length

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of the street and um we've obviously

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made plans for emergency vehicles to

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have access as needed. Um, Columbia AB,

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as everybody is probably aware, is the

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busiest and most popular section of town

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for trick-or-treaters and their

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families. Um, there's always been at

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least 500 kids that come by. Um, so far

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there's been no um, incidents, but we'd

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like to keep all of our kids safe. Um,

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so the Burough Council, we're partnering

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with the Hope Recreation Committee, the

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Hope Valley Police, the Fire Department

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and EMS services, and the Hope Valley

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Office of Emergency Management. um as

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well as all the residents of Columbia

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Avenue to create a fun pedestrian

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walkway for that night. Um all the

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details about specific cross street

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closures and parking are still being

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finalized in partnership with the police

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and the emergency services teams. Um

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we'll have multiple offices from the

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police will be troll be patrolling that

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night and they'll have some cars on site

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and I believe there's a rumor they're

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going to have some uh trunk retrieving

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going on. It should be fun. Um residents

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will be asked to use alternative parking

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off of Columbia AB as needed and to

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limit street parking and we're going to

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try to make arrangements for alternate

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parking if we can. Um emergency vehicles

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will be have access to make calls using

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Greenwood A and they'll also obviously

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have access to the pedestrian only

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Halloween zone uh throughout the event

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as needed. Um and residents would be

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allowed to exit their driveways um in

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the emergency during the closure.

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Um so for communications um all impacted

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residents will be receiving um a mail

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letter with information on closure and

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process for emergency access for the

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night of Halloween. Um updates and

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reminders will be emailed. Uh Ryan sends

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out the Burough Blast on Sunday nights

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with information and the Burough website

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will also be updated with information on

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plans and procedures for the evening.

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Um we're hoping again that families take

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advantage of this pedestrian zone and

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plan to spend the evening strolling down

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Columbia Avenue. Um the recreation

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department volunteers encourage

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residents of Columbia a to decorate

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their homes to rival Halloween and

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nearby towns. I think we can meet

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Lambertville eventually.

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Let's show them what hopeful is all

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about. Um I think council is planning to

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having a tent um set up along the route

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to give out some candy and we're hoping

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everybody can walk to view the costumes

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and some home uh decorations. So

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hopefully we can have a fun night.

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That's it.

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>> Thank you. Thank the subcommittee and

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administrator current and former uh Opal

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Township Police Department. um R O EM um

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liaison um are the P Valley merch

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there's a lot of people assembled to

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>> make sure this this will make sense uh

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and the specific uh I believe it's both

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it will be both sides Colombia on either

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side of Princeton and specific

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information about which roads will be

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closed when will go out to to residents

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um but just as a kind of a preliminary

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>> yes heads up Okay, excited.

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One second to stop screen share here. Uh

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but our next item will be uh public

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comments. Uh so I will as I fumble to

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get my cursor to the stop share button

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here. Um going to open the floor to um

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the public. Mayor Council will take

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comments first from members of the

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public attending in person, then for

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members of the public attending via

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Zoom. If you're on Zoom, uh push the

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raise hand button. Uh we're going to

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limit people here uh and then for the

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first of our two public comment sessions

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as we usually do to five minutes or at

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least try to and and no immediate action

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be taken on public comment issue. Um and

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uh with that I'll ask you to state your

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name. No need to give you your full

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address and uh feel free to address the

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council.

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>> Hi everyone. David Waldman prospects

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east prospects for um I'm going to read

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from a prepared statement. I intend to

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file an action in lie of prerogative ris

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to block the clerk from counting the

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vote on the referendum as the language

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of the referendum is misleading and does

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not accurately reflect the terms of the

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contract with New Jersey American Water.

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Thank you for that. Um,

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anyone else have any comments or person?

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» Okay. H O EUI.

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So um uh I have a comment just with

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respect to the referendum and first and

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foremost I just want to make sure that

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it's clear. I'm not for or against

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selling the water system. Um, so my

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point is going to be a rather discreet

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one, which is my concern is the contract

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or the draft agreement that is out there

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that the voters would be voting on in

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connection with the referendum.

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So

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I think that

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to the merits of the proposal, right? I

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think there's merit to seeking debt

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relief. I think it was understandable

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and I think there's logical that we're

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trying to address issues regarding the

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costs uh both from a long-term

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standpoint infrastructure as well as

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costs uh currently uh borne by the

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rateayers and the residents within

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burough. Um I know that you've all put a

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tremendous amount of time into it uh

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into this project.

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I think my concern is that as a voter

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when I'm looking at the referendum and

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then what is ultimately as a lawyer

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right who does this for a living what is

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the agreement ultimately going to be

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between the burrow and New Jersey

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American water. So I read, you know,

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it's 117 page document and I reviewed it

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as a lawyer would and I have some

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concerns. The first and foremost concern

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is that it's a draft agreement. Now, if

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I was drafting this, the very simple

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remedy to that is you draft and execute

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a a contract that has a contingency

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clause that says in the event that the

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referendum passes the you know the

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document becomes self-executing and if

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the referendum fails then the contract

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automatically terminates. It's not a

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complicated provision. I'm not entirely

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clear why such a provision wouldn't be

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in it because the concern I then have is

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as a draft agreement. What's not clear

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to me is is the referendum then advisory

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or is it then binding? Right? Because

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the agreement as a draft agreement could

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be modified after the referendum and as

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a voter that's concerning because I

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would want to know ultimately what are

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the final terms of the deal.

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Let's assume presumptively that this is

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the final deal. Well, then there are a

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couple representations that are being

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made that I don't see reflected in the

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agreement. First and foremost, people

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are saying we're going to, you know,

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most people are going to save money.

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I think and I'm not saying that it

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hadn't been attempted but what would be

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better from my perspective is is that I

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don't see a reason why there wouldn't be

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a moratorum on rate increases rather

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than deferring to New Jersey American

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water and the BPU in making

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determinations as to whether or not

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rates would increase. We have the asset

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that they want. So why aren't we

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guaranteeing that everyone in the burrow

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has a moratorum at a minimum or a rate

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reduction for at least a few years?

274
01:06:28,480 --> 01:06:31,359
Because under the contract as drafted,

275
01:06:31,359 --> 01:06:33,440
it is entirely possible that as soon as

276
01:06:33,440 --> 01:06:36,559
the ink is dry

277
01:06:36,559 --> 01:06:38,160
that they're going to the BPU and

278
01:06:38,160 --> 01:06:40,400
seeking rate increases,

279
01:06:40,400 --> 01:06:41,839
there is nothing in the contract that

280
01:06:41,839 --> 01:06:44,400
precludes them from doing that. and is

281
01:06:44,400 --> 01:06:46,079
nothing as a result of the request for

282
01:06:46,079 --> 01:06:48,000
the rate increase. We would be relying

283
01:06:48,000 --> 01:06:51,039
on the BPU in hopes that the BPU

284
01:06:51,039 --> 01:06:53,039
approval of a rate increase isn't in

285
01:06:53,039 --> 01:06:54,720
excess of what people are already

286
01:06:54,720 --> 01:06:58,480
paying. And that even assumes that

287
01:06:58,480 --> 01:07:02,240
everyone under the current recalculation

288
01:07:02,240 --> 01:07:04,240
New Jersey American Water would actually

289
01:07:04,240 --> 01:07:06,400
see their rates go down. And I haven't

290
01:07:06,400 --> 01:07:08,480
seen any assurances that in fact that is

291
01:07:08,480 --> 01:07:12,079
the case across the board for everyone.

292
01:07:12,079 --> 01:07:14,400
The other point I want to raise has to

293
01:07:14,400 --> 01:07:18,240
do with capital improvements.

294
01:07:18,240 --> 01:07:22,000
It is an undefined term in a contract.

295
01:07:22,000 --> 01:07:24,960
So, not only is it an undefined term,

296
01:07:24,960 --> 01:07:27,440
that makes it ambiguous.

297
01:07:27,440 --> 01:07:29,440
And as a taxpayer, my concern is that

298
01:07:29,440 --> 01:07:30,880
when you have an ambiguity in the

299
01:07:30,880 --> 01:07:33,200
contract and there is ultimately a

300
01:07:33,200 --> 01:07:35,760
dispute between the parties, that

301
01:07:35,760 --> 01:07:38,480
requires then litigation. in this case,

302
01:07:38,480 --> 01:07:40,480
arbitration, which can be very expensive

303
01:07:40,480 --> 01:07:42,720
because you're paying the arbitrator as

304
01:07:42,720 --> 01:07:46,000
well as paying your attorney and the

305
01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:47,680
people who pay for those legal fees and

306
01:07:47,680 --> 01:07:49,839
the arbitrator

307
01:07:49,839 --> 01:07:52,480
are the rateayers, i.e. the residents in

308
01:07:52,480 --> 01:07:55,760
this township in this municipality.

309
01:07:55,760 --> 01:08:00,480
So, with that, I guess the the point I

310
01:08:00,480 --> 01:08:03,599
want to make is that if we're asking

311
01:08:03,599 --> 01:08:05,280
them and they're agreeing to make $7

312
01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:07,359
million worth of improvement and they're

313
01:08:07,359 --> 01:08:10,480
willing to do it within five years,

314
01:08:10,480 --> 01:08:12,480
those capital improvements should be

315
01:08:12,480 --> 01:08:15,119
enumerated, right? because I don't want

316
01:08:15,119 --> 01:08:17,839
them repainting a couple sheds and

317
01:08:17,839 --> 01:08:21,040
replacing a couple shingles

318
01:08:21,040 --> 01:08:23,279
after a contract with a friend of theirs

319
01:08:23,279 --> 01:08:24,880
and then turn around calling that $7

320
01:08:24,880 --> 01:08:27,279
million worth of capital improvements

321
01:08:27,279 --> 01:08:28,960
and then washing their hands and saying

322
01:08:28,960 --> 01:08:31,279
that they're done.

323
01:08:31,279 --> 01:08:33,440
So from an enforcability standpoint, it

324
01:08:33,440 --> 01:08:35,679
would be prudent that the capital

325
01:08:35,679 --> 01:08:37,279
improvements

326
01:08:37,279 --> 01:08:40,159
be enumerated in a contract in an

327
01:08:40,159 --> 01:08:42,560
appendix.

328
01:08:42,560 --> 01:08:45,520
Um and then

329
01:08:45,520 --> 01:08:47,759
just want to make sure

330
01:08:47,759 --> 01:08:53,030
one other

331
01:08:53,040 --> 01:08:56,159
not going to stop you

332
01:08:56,159 --> 01:09:00,640
>> and then I think so um as well as the

333
01:09:00,640 --> 01:09:02,159
fact that the other undefined is that

334
01:09:02,159 --> 01:09:03,759
there's there's reference to a

335
01:09:03,759 --> 01:09:06,880
comprehensive analysis of the system and

336
01:09:06,880 --> 01:09:09,120
I think like again that ought to be a

337
01:09:09,120 --> 01:09:11,440
defined term so that the parties know

338
01:09:11,440 --> 01:09:14,159
exactly what we're referring to when

339
01:09:14,159 --> 01:09:16,480
we're talking about capital improvement.

340
01:09:16,480 --> 01:09:20,799
The last is an enforcement mechanism.

341
01:09:20,799 --> 01:09:22,799
Currently, under the contract, the only

342
01:09:22,799 --> 01:09:26,239
remedy would be to go to arbitration.

343
01:09:26,239 --> 01:09:28,640
>> There is no oversight provision, meaning

344
01:09:28,640 --> 01:09:31,120
when the capital improvements are made,

345
01:09:31,120 --> 01:09:33,279
there's no opportunity for an

346
01:09:33,279 --> 01:09:35,520
independent inspection and approval by

347
01:09:35,520 --> 01:09:37,839
the burrow.

348
01:09:37,839 --> 01:09:39,759
Give you an easy example. When I built

349
01:09:39,759 --> 01:09:41,759
my house, I had the contract. The

350
01:09:41,759 --> 01:09:43,440
contractor built it. We had a contract.

351
01:09:43,440 --> 01:09:44,640
There were certain provisions, but I

352
01:09:44,640 --> 01:09:46,719
still had my own independent inspector

353
01:09:46,719 --> 01:09:48,640
going in and inspecting the work to make

354
01:09:48,640 --> 01:09:51,279
sure it was getting done because I don't

355
01:09:51,279 --> 01:09:53,520
have that expertise,

356
01:09:53,520 --> 01:09:56,400
right? So, the contract doesn't allow

357
01:09:56,400 --> 01:09:58,560
for that. And in the event that there is

358
01:09:58,560 --> 01:10:01,280
a breach, either they've got to fix it

359
01:10:01,280 --> 01:10:04,640
or let's say hypothetically rates do go

360
01:10:04,640 --> 01:10:06,960
up astronomically over the next 10

361
01:10:06,960 --> 01:10:10,560
years. you do or you could negotiate

362
01:10:10,560 --> 01:10:12,719
what's called a right of revision,

363
01:10:12,719 --> 01:10:14,800
right? Reversion, which means in

364
01:10:14,800 --> 01:10:18,400
property that you get the asset back and

365
01:10:18,400 --> 01:10:19,520
then there are certain conditions you

366
01:10:19,520 --> 01:10:21,199
have to meet as well. But in the event

367
01:10:21,199 --> 01:10:23,520
that certain events don't happen as

368
01:10:23,520 --> 01:10:26,000
expected. So in other words, let's say

369
01:10:26,000 --> 01:10:29,199
hypothetically in 10 years rates go

370
01:10:29,199 --> 01:10:33,120
through the roof, right? or capital

371
01:10:33,120 --> 01:10:35,120
expenses go through the roof and they're

372
01:10:35,120 --> 01:10:37,120
like economically we can't make these,

373
01:10:37,120 --> 01:10:38,159
you know, we can't make these

374
01:10:38,159 --> 01:10:40,000
improvements. Well, then we would have

375
01:10:40,000 --> 01:10:42,960
the potential if we wanted to then step

376
01:10:42,960 --> 01:10:45,120
back in and say, "Okay, well then we're

377
01:10:45,120 --> 01:10:47,520
going to take the the system back. We'll

378
01:10:47,520 --> 01:10:49,280
treat your capital improvements as a

379
01:10:49,280 --> 01:10:52,239
loan and we'll just repay you at a

380
01:10:52,239 --> 01:10:54,560
reduced rate over time."

381
01:10:54,560 --> 01:10:57,199
What I'm saying is is there are creative

382
01:10:57,199 --> 01:10:59,360
ways in which to make sure the things

383
01:10:59,360 --> 01:11:01,600
that were that are being claimed are

384
01:11:01,600 --> 01:11:04,159
supposed to happen actually happen and

385
01:11:04,159 --> 01:11:06,560
that there are viable remedies.

386
01:11:06,560 --> 01:11:09,199
>> But in short, I think the point is is

387
01:11:09,199 --> 01:11:11,040
>> I think there could ought to be a

388
01:11:11,040 --> 01:11:15,120
moratorum on rate increases. If that's

389
01:11:15,120 --> 01:11:16,560
the promise they're making, they should

390
01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:18,400
be able to stand behind it in a written

391
01:11:18,400 --> 01:11:20,080
agreement that would be enforceable by

392
01:11:20,080 --> 01:11:22,560
law. Capital improvements should be

393
01:11:22,560 --> 01:11:24,800
enumerated and we should have the

394
01:11:24,800 --> 01:11:26,719
ability for an independent inspection to

395
01:11:26,719 --> 01:11:27,600
oversee this.

396
01:11:27,600 --> 01:11:28,320
>> I see.

397
01:11:28,320 --> 01:11:30,239
>> So, thank you very much. I appreciate

398
01:11:30,239 --> 01:11:31,760
the time and the work they put in on the

399
01:11:31,760 --> 01:11:33,360
issue.

400
01:11:33,360 --> 01:11:35,600
>> So, some of those things we can try and

401
01:11:35,600 --> 01:11:37,360
address a little bit. We have one of our

402
01:11:37,360 --> 01:11:38,719
attorneys from the transaction. We don't

403
01:11:38,719 --> 01:11:42,080
have our special outside counsel uh for

404
01:11:42,080 --> 01:11:44,880
this um here tonight. So, some of these

405
01:11:44,880 --> 01:11:48,159
things might be good for a followup. Um

406
01:11:48,159 --> 01:11:51,600
the first one though and Lisa um stop me

407
01:11:51,600 --> 01:11:54,239
when I stray from reality here but uh

408
01:11:54,239 --> 01:11:56,480
just the process under whip for a

409
01:11:56,480 --> 01:11:58,640
contract dictates that we do it this

410
01:11:58,640 --> 01:12:01,360
way. Uh rather than signing it um it

411
01:12:01,360 --> 01:12:03,440
goes as a draft to the board of public

412
01:12:03,440 --> 01:12:06,400
utilities to be approved by them in this

413
01:12:06,400 --> 01:12:08,800
form and under the statute it cannot be

414
01:12:08,800 --> 01:12:12,000
executed or signed until the referendum.

415
01:12:12,000 --> 01:12:16,159
uh was a just a statutory process uh

416
01:12:16,159 --> 01:12:18,560
underwater infrastructure protection act

417
01:12:18,560 --> 01:12:21,600
that dictates it it's done this way. Um

418
01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:24,480
it's not a traditional draft. I guess I

419
01:12:24,480 --> 01:12:25,120
want to add to that.

420
01:12:25,120 --> 01:12:26,560
>> It's not really a draft any longer

421
01:12:26,560 --> 01:12:29,520
because the BPU actually issued an order

422
01:12:29,520 --> 01:12:32,800
approving this form of agreement. So if

423
01:12:32,800 --> 01:12:34,480
the referendum goes through, this

424
01:12:34,480 --> 01:12:37,360
agreement will be signed as it's done

425
01:12:37,360 --> 01:12:38,880
>> without the draft on. So it's it's

426
01:12:38,880 --> 01:12:41,360
different than know while it is unsigned

427
01:12:41,360 --> 01:12:43,520
like a traditional draft would be and I

428
01:12:43,520 --> 01:12:45,600
found this uh honestly as the person who

429
01:12:45,600 --> 01:12:46,800
posts these things to the website

430
01:12:46,800 --> 01:12:48,239
particularly confusing because I wanted

431
01:12:48,239 --> 01:12:51,600
to find the signed one uh to include and

432
01:12:51,600 --> 01:12:54,239
uh um so that that's

433
01:12:54,239 --> 01:12:57,280
>> right but it has it's it is in final

434
01:12:57,280 --> 01:13:01,600
form because the BPU has has essentially

435
01:13:01,600 --> 01:13:07,600
found it to be acceptable to the BPU and we're locked in if if the referendum

436
01:13:07,600 --> 01:13:09,840
goes This is the agreement that would be

437
01:13:09,840 --> 01:13:10,800
signed.

438
01:13:10,800 --> 01:13:13,280
>> So, just to be clear, the reason it's

439
01:13:13,280 --> 01:13:15,760
titled draft is because there's a

440
01:13:15,760 --> 01:13:18,080
referendum

441
01:13:18,080 --> 01:13:20,239
>> and also because of the B. Yes. Right.

442
01:13:20,239 --> 01:13:22,000
Well, it would have been draft even if

443
01:13:22,000 --> 01:13:23,679
it if there was no referendum, it would

444
01:13:23,679 --> 01:13:26,800
have been draft until the BPU approved

445
01:13:26,800 --> 01:13:27,199
it.

446
01:13:27,199 --> 01:13:29,280
>> Yeah. But because there's a referendum

447
01:13:29,280 --> 01:13:32,719
as well, it can't be signed because and

448
01:13:32,719 --> 01:13:34,800
I and I understand the points being

449
01:13:34,800 --> 01:13:36,719
made.

450
01:13:36,719 --> 01:13:38,800
But this is just the process.

451
01:13:38,800 --> 01:13:40,719
>> I just want to be clear that it isn't

452
01:13:40,719 --> 01:13:42,480
drafted in that like it can then change

453
01:13:42,480 --> 01:13:43,120
the

454
01:13:43,120 --> 01:13:46,400
>> right it it it it can't because because

455
01:13:46,400 --> 01:13:48,960
of the VPU. The BPU has said basically

456
01:13:48,960 --> 01:13:51,280
this is ex this is it. This is this is

457
01:13:51,280 --> 01:13:52,960
what they've approved

458
01:13:52,960 --> 01:13:55,920
>> and yeah that's that's it. And that

459
01:13:55,920 --> 01:14:00,159
includes all of the um rate schedules

460
01:14:00,159 --> 01:14:04,480
and tariff references that are in like

461
01:14:04,480 --> 01:14:06,159
the approval was specifically rate

462
01:14:06,159 --> 01:14:07,760
schedules that would apply which are

463
01:14:07,760 --> 01:14:09,679
regional rate schedules not specific.

464
01:14:09,679 --> 01:14:11,520
>> Exactly. Nothing is specific to the

465
01:14:11,520 --> 01:14:13,520
bureau because it can't be

466
01:14:13,520 --> 01:14:14,400
>> right.

467
01:14:14,400 --> 01:14:17,520
>> It it it's the the regional uh

468
01:14:17,520 --> 01:14:19,280
>> the rate action under the contract that

469
01:14:19,280 --> 01:14:22,239
they have to deliver to us is to put us

470
01:14:22,239 --> 01:14:25,280
to charge our residents. be schedule one

471
01:14:25,280 --> 01:14:27,679
a tariff rate that Princeton or

472
01:14:27,679 --> 01:14:29,040
Montgomery or that those other

473
01:14:29,040 --> 01:14:29,760
municipalities

474
01:14:29,760 --> 01:14:30,960
>> and the only schedules that are

475
01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:33,360
referenced. Exactly. And then the only

476
01:14:33,360 --> 01:14:35,199
those rates would change would be by

477
01:14:35,199 --> 01:14:37,600
petitioning BP to change the rates for

478
01:14:37,600 --> 01:14:38,000
the

479
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:39,360
>> the entire region

480
01:14:39,360 --> 01:14:41,040
>> service areas that are served under

481
01:14:41,040 --> 01:14:41,760
those tariffs,

482
01:14:41,760 --> 01:14:44,400
>> right? They can't just say we want to

483
01:14:44,400 --> 01:14:48,640
recoup the money that we are paying

484
01:14:48,640 --> 01:14:50,880
from the burrow specifically and we're

485
01:14:50,880 --> 01:14:52,480
going to raise the burrow's rates.

486
01:14:52,480 --> 01:14:54,400
That's not the way it works. It's just

487
01:14:54,400 --> 01:14:56,800
that's that's not legally the way that

488
01:14:56,800 --> 01:15:00,000
the system works. If it would have to be

489
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:02,880
part of their next rate case and it

490
01:15:02,880 --> 01:15:04,640
would be any increase would be

491
01:15:04,640 --> 01:15:07,199
applicable across the board to the

492
01:15:07,199 --> 01:15:09,679
entire region.

493
01:15:09,679 --> 01:15:14,960
And I guess also um to rates um in many

494
01:15:14,960 --> 01:15:18,000
other sales or municipalities rates were

495
01:15:18,000 --> 01:15:21,679
largely lower than the tariff rates,

496
01:15:21,679 --> 01:15:23,520
lower than the schedule that BPU had

497
01:15:23,520 --> 01:15:25,280
that would be applicable. One of the

498
01:15:25,280 --> 01:15:28,080
things that's negotiated is a phase in

499
01:15:28,080 --> 01:15:31,520
or a moratorum of waiting until they

500
01:15:31,520 --> 01:15:33,600
would catch up essentially to keep the

501
01:15:33,600 --> 01:15:38,239
lower rates. Um here the I guess the

502
01:15:38,239 --> 01:15:41,920
desire was to get to that largely lower

503
01:15:41,920 --> 01:15:44,719
tariff schedule you know immediately

504
01:15:44,719 --> 01:15:47,679
rather than delay and then once that

505
01:15:47,679 --> 01:15:51,679
happens there's not really ability to

506
01:15:51,679 --> 01:15:52,080
>> right

507
01:15:52,080 --> 01:15:53,760
>> be different than the than the tariffs

508
01:15:53,760 --> 01:15:56,880
>> right because you're in a very different

509
01:15:56,880 --> 01:15:58,960
posture than most municipalities or most

510
01:15:58,960 --> 01:16:01,520
municipalities that are selling their

511
01:16:01,520 --> 01:16:03,840
rates are actually lower than the tariff

512
01:16:03,840 --> 01:16:06,080
Right. So they want to maintain that and

513
01:16:06,080 --> 01:16:08,480
there is a I there is a mechanism to do

514
01:16:08,480 --> 01:16:10,159
that.

515
01:16:10,159 --> 01:16:13,199
We know that because it's been done but

516
01:16:13,199 --> 01:16:14,880
you guys are unique because your rates

517
01:16:14,880 --> 01:16:17,920
are so much higher. So you want the the

518
01:16:17,920 --> 01:16:19,360
tariff rates

519
01:16:19,360 --> 01:16:21,280
>> and I don't think there's a mechanism to

520
01:16:21,280 --> 01:16:23,840
go lower in in that instance.

521
01:16:23,840 --> 01:16:26,800
Unfortunately, that's that was never

522
01:16:26,800 --> 01:16:29,920
>> and of the um

523
01:16:29,920 --> 01:16:32,000
I want to prejudge what was discussed or

524
01:16:32,000 --> 01:16:33,920
maybe you know negotiate a bit or what

525
01:16:33,920 --> 01:16:35,760
some of the other biders suggested but

526
01:16:35,760 --> 01:16:38,320
to to Keith's point there are a group of

527
01:16:38,320 --> 01:16:41,920
users um whose the tariff rate is um

528
01:16:41,920 --> 01:16:44,320
high uh you know like the smallest users

529
01:16:44,320 --> 01:16:45,760
in the municipality I think would be

530
01:16:45,760 --> 01:16:47,840
about $11 a month more if they would

531
01:16:47,840 --> 01:16:52,000
pay. um we I guess conceivably could

532
01:16:52,000 --> 01:16:54,239
have negotiated with them or maybe even

533
01:16:54,239 --> 01:16:56,480
did but ended up somewhere else with

534
01:16:56,480 --> 01:16:59,440
maybe a delay in those rates catching

535
01:16:59,440 --> 01:17:02,159
up. But ultimately, I think the position

536
01:17:02,159 --> 01:17:05,440
the bro took was of the $1.2ish twoish

537
01:17:05,440 --> 01:17:08,000
million dollars of savings a year that

538
01:17:08,000 --> 01:17:09,920
the cumulative David is right about

539
01:17:09,920 --> 01:17:11,600
$10,000

540
01:17:11,600 --> 01:17:14,480
um if you added up all of the increases

541
01:17:14,480 --> 01:17:17,199
at the at the lower end um can be made

542
01:17:17,199 --> 01:17:20,640
up by an adjustment to the sewer fee. So

543
01:17:20,640 --> 01:17:22,800
in aggregate

544
01:17:22,800 --> 01:17:26,080
you take people that were at 1,000 2,000

545
01:17:26,080 --> 01:17:28,960
3,000 and 4,000 gallons per quarter

546
01:17:28,960 --> 01:17:31,120
5,000 and up are actually less

547
01:17:31,120 --> 01:17:34,640
expensive. Um, and the largest

548
01:17:34,640 --> 01:17:37,679
difference between what you would pay

549
01:17:37,679 --> 01:17:39,679
under New Jersey American Hobo is for a

550
01:17:39,679 --> 01:17:42,480
user of 2,000 gallons. All the other

551
01:17:42,480 --> 01:17:44,320
users in that lower category, the

552
01:17:44,320 --> 01:17:46,000
difference is less, but the largest is

553
01:17:46,000 --> 01:17:47,920
that roughly $11 a month. But if you add

554
01:17:47,920 --> 01:17:51,040
up the number of users is based on 24

555
01:17:51,040 --> 01:17:53,040
data in each of those categories times

556
01:17:53,040 --> 01:17:55,280
the difference in cost it adds up to

557
01:17:55,280 --> 01:17:58,400
$10,100 for the whole which is easily

558
01:17:58,400 --> 01:18:01,760
absorbed through our so if we want to

559
01:18:01,760 --> 01:18:03,440
for example make an adjustment for sewer

560
01:18:03,440 --> 01:18:05,120
rate

561
01:18:05,120 --> 01:18:07,600
it's it would be something we could use

562
01:18:07,600 --> 01:18:10,080
the and and in the September 11th and

563
01:18:10,080 --> 01:18:11,520
the May presentation there was some

564
01:18:11,520 --> 01:18:13,280
discussion this something that the

565
01:18:13,280 --> 01:18:14,880
bureau could dedicate some of that

566
01:18:14,880 --> 01:18:17,520
million dollars of debt relief savings

567
01:18:17,520 --> 01:18:22,080
boards adjusting it to make sure that doesn't happen for for those few

568
01:18:22,080 --> 01:18:23,600
>> also our understanding that I I don't

569
01:18:23,600 --> 01:18:26,159
think you could I think it was all or

570
01:18:26,159 --> 01:18:28,400
nothing with the rates so you couldn't

571
01:18:28,400 --> 01:18:30,159
>> I don't think you could they could

572
01:18:30,159 --> 01:18:33,440
change the rate for one class

573
01:18:33,440 --> 01:18:37,600
>> right I mean I think because you're working on a regional tariff I

574
01:18:37,600 --> 01:18:39,600
mean the whole idea was to make sure

575
01:18:39,600 --> 01:18:41,120
that you know we're essentially paying

576
01:18:41,120 --> 01:18:43,199
the same rates as Princeton Township and

577
01:18:43,199 --> 01:18:45,600
all the other counties around us

578
01:18:45,600 --> 01:18:48,719
>> which are less for all but a few. And

579
01:18:48,719 --> 01:18:49,920
again, the only reason that we have

580
01:18:49,920 --> 01:18:51,520
anybody that would be paying more is

581
01:18:51,520 --> 01:18:53,360
because we've been subsidizing rates for

582
01:18:53,360 --> 01:18:55,920
low volume users and charging more to

583
01:18:55,920 --> 01:18:59,679
our higher volume users. We have that's

584
01:18:59,679 --> 01:19:02,080
the way we do. But the interesting thing

585
01:19:02,080 --> 01:19:05,760
about it is so this this threshold of 0

586
01:19:05,760 --> 01:19:08,400
to 2,000 gallons

587
01:19:08,400 --> 01:19:11,679
a fixed rate for our sewer rates. The

588
01:19:11,679 --> 01:19:13,840
fixed rate is everything up to 10,000

589
01:19:13,840 --> 01:19:16,560
gallons. So, the thing is, if you're

590
01:19:16,560 --> 01:19:18,400
using 2,000 gallons of water per

591
01:19:18,400 --> 01:19:20,080
quarter, you're paying the same amount

592
01:19:20,080 --> 01:19:23,040
for your sewer. It's about $92 as as

593
01:19:23,040 --> 01:19:25,600
somebody who's using 8,000 or 10,000

594
01:19:25,600 --> 01:19:27,920
gallons. Um, and that's actually

595
01:19:27,920 --> 01:19:31,280
something that we, you know, would have

596
01:19:31,280 --> 01:19:33,040
to change. I mean, if we kept the

597
01:19:33,040 --> 01:19:34,000
system, we would really have to

598
01:19:34,000 --> 01:19:36,320
harmonize that because I think people,

599
01:19:36,320 --> 01:19:39,120
in other words, you can offset, you can

600
01:19:39,120 --> 01:19:40,800
adjust the rate structure within our

601
01:19:40,800 --> 01:19:44,080
super charges and and that $10,000 and

602
01:19:44,080 --> 01:19:46,080
suddenly you have a fairer system. It's

603
01:19:46,080 --> 01:19:48,080
just that honestly the water system

604
01:19:48,080 --> 01:19:49,360
rates have been always the thing that we

605
01:19:49,360 --> 01:19:50,640
were focusing all our attention on

606
01:19:50,640 --> 01:19:52,800
because the sewer collection system and

607
01:19:52,800 --> 01:19:55,120
the economics of it were always strong.

608
01:19:55,120 --> 01:19:57,679
or not, we weren't having trouble

609
01:19:57,679 --> 01:20:01,760
carrying it financially. Um, but so does

610
01:20:01,760 --> 01:20:05,679
flexibility. Um I think keep amongst

611
01:20:05,679 --> 01:20:07,840
many other excellent points that you've

612
01:20:07,840 --> 01:20:10,239
made and often make in the course of

613
01:20:10,239 --> 01:20:14,719
just you being you um the the keell uh

614
01:20:14,719 --> 01:20:19,199
pieces is interesting um and u part of

615
01:20:19,199 --> 01:20:20,400
that you know and again without

616
01:20:20,400 --> 01:20:22,080
prejudicing the discussions that we had

617
01:20:22,080 --> 01:20:24,159
to get to this contract and I think I'd

618
01:20:24,159 --> 01:20:26,159
like to get a little bit more support

619
01:20:26,159 --> 01:20:28,000
maybe with a follow-up answer from the

620
01:20:28,000 --> 01:20:30,880
other attorneys that worked on this. Um

621
01:20:30,880 --> 01:20:35,360
but one was a function of um the type of

622
01:20:35,360 --> 01:20:38,159
work that they would need to do. Um if

623
01:20:38,159 --> 01:20:41,520
uh for example uh us insisting on an

624
01:20:41,520 --> 01:20:43,360
immediate reservoir replacement that may

625
01:20:43,360 --> 01:20:45,360
not be necessary if they are able to

626
01:20:45,360 --> 01:20:47,280
serve the burrow predominantly through

627
01:20:47,280 --> 01:20:49,199
water through their interconnection. And

628
01:20:49,199 --> 01:20:52,000
uh the list that we have of what the

629
01:20:52,000 --> 01:20:54,159
burrow will do if we maintain ownership

630
01:20:54,159 --> 01:20:57,040
is based on how we'll run the the

631
01:20:57,040 --> 01:21:00,880
system. Um and we went back and forth

632
01:21:00,880 --> 01:21:03,360
about you know attempting to you know

633
01:21:03,360 --> 01:21:05,120
impose that on them and ultimately

634
01:21:05,120 --> 01:21:07,360
settle on that mechanism uh where they

635
01:21:07,360 --> 01:21:10,400
would study it interestingly after

636
01:21:10,400 --> 01:21:14,080
closing um and and come up with their

637
01:21:14,080 --> 01:21:18,239
own plan. Um it's also um and again I'll

638
01:21:18,239 --> 01:21:21,280
want some more backup from this from our

639
01:21:21,280 --> 01:21:22,719
professionals because we have you know

640
01:21:22,719 --> 01:21:24,480
it's been a year or so since we looked

641
01:21:24,480 --> 01:21:26,400
at this particular parts of the contract

642
01:21:26,400 --> 01:21:29,120
but um their obligations kind of have to

643
01:21:29,120 --> 01:21:33,280
be looked at in in conjunction with the regulatory scheme that governs them

644
01:21:33,280 --> 01:21:36,640
as a as a public utility and the whip of

645
01:21:36,640 --> 01:21:39,920
process. So some of the items

646
01:21:39,920 --> 01:21:44,159
um that they uh

647
01:21:44,159 --> 01:21:47,440
would consider doing as capital repairs

648
01:21:47,440 --> 01:21:52,080
that might uh not satisfy us locally. um

649
01:21:52,080 --> 01:21:54,639
additionally wouldn't satisfy BPU for

650
01:21:54,639 --> 01:21:56,639
them ever being getting approval for

651
01:21:56,639 --> 01:21:59,440
doing the work or perhaps getting uh um

652
01:21:59,440 --> 01:22:01,520
you know the way that a public utility

653
01:22:01,520 --> 01:22:04,239
makes money is by doing work and uh

654
01:22:04,239 --> 01:22:05,920
frankly getting a rate of return for

655
01:22:05,920 --> 01:22:07,679
that uh that they've spread across the

656
01:22:07,679 --> 01:22:10,719
state of New Jersey. So they wouldn't

657
01:22:10,719 --> 01:22:13,679
economically um be incentivized to do

658
01:22:13,679 --> 01:22:16,960
something that will not count as far as

659
01:22:16,960 --> 01:22:19,840
the state is concerned as a as a capital

660
01:22:19,840 --> 01:22:23,120
repair that you know passes muster. So

661
01:22:23,120 --> 01:22:26,560
that's it's it's a little just but but

662
01:22:26,560 --> 01:22:28,000
what you're saying is is important

663
01:22:28,000 --> 01:22:30,480
because if you look at like a base rate

664
01:22:30,480 --> 01:22:34,080
filing or actually if you look at the um

665
01:22:34,080 --> 01:22:36,960
foundation filings that go with their um

666
01:22:36,960 --> 01:22:38,719
distribution system improvement charge

667
01:22:38,719 --> 01:22:40,320
which is a has to do with capital

668
01:22:40,320 --> 01:22:42,080
investment they actually have to

669
01:22:42,080 --> 01:22:44,719
document and account for all the capital

670
01:22:44,719 --> 01:22:46,560
work that they've done up to that point

671
01:22:46,560 --> 01:22:48,719
and do all the math on how that should

672
01:22:48,719 --> 01:22:51,760
be distributed. Um the other thing is uh

673
01:22:51,760 --> 01:22:54,239
and I'll just mention out of that let's

674
01:22:54,239 --> 01:22:55,920
say $7 million there are certain

675
01:22:55,920 --> 01:22:57,199
elements of it that are really

676
01:22:57,199 --> 01:22:59,280
mandatory. One is the lead service line

677
01:22:59,280 --> 01:23:01,120
replacement. So that has to happen by

678
01:23:01,120 --> 01:23:06,719
July 31st. I'm sorry July 22nd of 2031.

679
01:23:06,719 --> 01:23:08,239
Everybody has to do that. We would have

680
01:23:08,239 --> 01:23:10,159
to do it. They would have to do it. Um

681
01:23:10,159 --> 01:23:12,960
our estimate of the cost to us if you

682
01:23:12,960 --> 01:23:15,120
were just to break that out was about

683
01:23:15,120 --> 01:23:19,679
1.2 million. But um a big part of that

684
01:23:19,679 --> 01:23:22,560
is actually replacing the both the

685
01:23:22,560 --> 01:23:25,840
publicly owned uh lead boost and the

686
01:23:25,840 --> 01:23:27,840
services along Broad Street which are

687
01:23:27,840 --> 01:23:30,000
all connected to the Broad Street main.

688
01:23:30,000 --> 01:23:33,760
And so in our capital uh plan I mean

689
01:23:33,760 --> 01:23:36,080
it's 4.8 million total for Broad Street.

690
01:23:36,080 --> 01:23:37,679
Basically you're not going to replace

691
01:23:37,679 --> 01:23:39,679
the lead service lines without replacing

692
01:23:39,679 --> 01:23:40,960
the main and the valves and everything

693
01:23:40,960 --> 01:23:42,639
else it's attached to because it's all

694
01:23:42,639 --> 01:23:46,239
ancient. And so they would I mean just

695
01:23:46,239 --> 01:23:48,400
out of necessity they would replace

696
01:23:48,400 --> 01:23:50,400
those mains which is one of our top

697
01:23:50,400 --> 01:23:53,760
priority projects. But to Ryan's point

698
01:23:53,760 --> 01:23:56,080
um we would put in an 8 in man which

699
01:23:56,080 --> 01:24:00,320
would be a direct replacement white for what we have. Um if you New

700
01:24:00,320 --> 01:24:02,000
Jersey American were to buy a place they

701
01:24:02,000 --> 01:24:04,159
may have for other reasons having to do

702
01:24:04,159 --> 01:24:06,960
with such a larger diameter man. So the

703
01:24:06,960 --> 01:24:09,120
point is we're not in a position to

704
01:24:09,120 --> 01:24:11,440
mandate the actual specifications for

705
01:24:11,440 --> 01:24:13,840
the things that are done. Um, another

706
01:24:13,840 --> 01:24:17,120
thing is that um, they are perhaps more

707
01:24:17,120 --> 01:24:19,280
strictly held accountable by the D for

708
01:24:19,280 --> 01:24:21,600
other regulatory things than a small

709
01:24:21,600 --> 01:24:23,760
system like bars. So, for example, if

710
01:24:23,760 --> 01:24:25,360
you've had a lot of unaccounted for

711
01:24:25,360 --> 01:24:28,560
water from leakage from ms, um, they

712
01:24:28,560 --> 01:24:30,239
have to address that. It's not something

713
01:24:30,239 --> 01:24:32,000
they can just look the other way. It's

714
01:24:32,000 --> 01:24:33,840
also a source of loss of revenue for

715
01:24:33,840 --> 01:24:35,280
them because water is going into the

716
01:24:35,280 --> 01:24:37,600
ground. So there are things economically

717
01:24:37,600 --> 01:24:41,199
that are drivers toward uh fixing a lot

718
01:24:41,199 --> 01:24:43,280
of the main and and again on our list of

719
01:24:43,280 --> 01:24:45,280
priority projects also replacing for

720
01:24:45,280 --> 01:24:47,120
example valves that we are having

721
01:24:47,120 --> 01:24:48,639
trouble opening and closing whenever we

722
01:24:48,639 --> 01:24:50,560
have to make repair. So in terms of

723
01:24:50,560 --> 01:24:52,800
their daily operations and the practical

724
01:24:52,800 --> 01:24:54,800
aspects of running a system they would

725
01:24:54,800 --> 01:24:56,719
really have to do that stuff. They have

726
01:24:56,719 --> 01:24:58,639
to make sure that the fire hyens are

727
01:24:58,639 --> 01:25:01,280
operational and that any ones that are,

728
01:25:01,280 --> 01:25:03,120
you know, have a potential for freezing

729
01:25:03,120 --> 01:25:05,040
are replaced and and those are

730
01:25:05,040 --> 01:25:06,320
requirements that they have. There's

731
01:25:06,320 --> 01:25:08,560
rules, I'm sure, somewhere in terms of,

732
01:25:08,560 --> 01:25:10,400
you know, at maintaining adequate fire

733
01:25:10,400 --> 01:25:12,080
protection and pressure. So there

734
01:25:12,080 --> 01:25:14,159
there's a lot of stuff that's baked in

735
01:25:14,159 --> 01:25:16,960
there in the regulatory side and I can't

736
01:25:16,960 --> 01:25:18,400
attest to all of it because I'm an

737
01:25:18,400 --> 01:25:19,920
expert on this, but I spent a little

738
01:25:19,920 --> 01:25:21,360
time looking at it that they would have

739
01:25:21,360 --> 01:25:23,040
to do. There things that we have to do.

740
01:25:23,040 --> 01:25:26,560
Um but uh and again the point about the

741
01:25:26,560 --> 01:25:29,440
reservoir I mean if if we were going to

742
01:25:29,440 --> 01:25:30,800
replace a reservoir we'd probably

743
01:25:30,800 --> 01:25:33,760
replace it with a 300,000gallon tank.

744
01:25:33,760 --> 01:25:35,280
They were going to replace the reservoir

745
01:25:35,280 --> 01:25:37,360
it might be a larger tank or they might

746
01:25:37,360 --> 01:25:38,960
decide that in fact they don't really

747
01:25:38,960 --> 01:25:40,239
need it because they have a 1 and a half

748
01:25:40,239 --> 01:25:43,600
million gallon tank in corner. So there

749
01:25:43,600 --> 01:25:46,480
are when they say they're going to do a

750
01:25:46,480 --> 01:25:48,800
comprehensive analysis engineering

751
01:25:48,800 --> 01:25:51,199
analysis of the system

752
01:25:51,199 --> 01:25:53,840
um I think that's that's what that's

753
01:25:53,840 --> 01:25:57,760
about is how does the bureau are

754
01:25:57,760 --> 01:25:59,840
currently our water system fit into

755
01:25:59,840 --> 01:26:02,080
their system and and what are the

756
01:26:02,080 --> 01:26:03,760
investments they would make. So again,

757
01:26:03,760 --> 01:26:04,880
you know, there may be things that

758
01:26:04,880 --> 01:26:06,960
they're going to do differently uh from

759
01:26:06,960 --> 01:26:09,280
what we would do if we were simply

760
01:26:09,280 --> 01:26:11,920
trying to maintain and preserve our

761
01:26:11,920 --> 01:26:13,520
isolated.

762
01:26:13,520 --> 01:26:18,159
Let me just one more thing like you. I'm not a utilities attorney. We do have

763
01:26:18,159 --> 01:26:19,520
one, especially we're in this. So I

764
01:26:19,520 --> 01:26:22,159
think a lot of what you've asked, we

765
01:26:22,159 --> 01:26:24,239
we're here trying to answer it. I think

766
01:26:24,239 --> 01:26:26,560
some of the stuff will connect with our

767
01:26:26,560 --> 01:26:28,239
regular outside counsel and special

768
01:26:28,239 --> 01:26:29,760
outside counsel.

769
01:26:29,760 --> 01:26:32,480
I think some of the things particularly

770
01:26:32,480 --> 01:26:34,400
on the the capital things the

771
01:26:34,400 --> 01:26:36,960
enforcement um how that works with the

772
01:26:36,960 --> 01:26:39,040
regulatory scheme because we really in

773
01:26:39,040 --> 01:26:40,880
my mind can't just look at the contract

774
01:26:40,880 --> 01:26:43,840
in itself outside of of the BPU and

775
01:26:43,840 --> 01:26:46,159
regulation and the the whip stuff but

776
01:26:46,159 --> 01:26:48,960
we'll task our people with you know

777
01:26:48,960 --> 01:26:52,159
getting uh some better understanding uh

778
01:26:52,159 --> 01:26:54,239
for you and we'll get you an answer on

779
01:26:54,239 --> 01:26:55,679
that and perhaps it' be a good thing to

780
01:26:55,679 --> 01:26:57,120
put out as a you know we do get

781
01:26:57,120 --> 01:26:58,320
questions from time to time that make it

782
01:26:58,320 --> 01:27:00,560
into frequently asked questions. I don't

783
01:27:00,560 --> 01:27:01,920
know if this is yet frequently, but it's

784
01:27:01,920 --> 01:27:03,679
a good one to be asked once. So, I think

785
01:27:03,679 --> 01:27:06,080
they can make the list even without

786
01:27:06,080 --> 01:27:08,960
asked a second time. Um, but that might

787
01:27:08,960 --> 01:27:11,520
be the beyond, you know, the ability of

788
01:27:11,520 --> 01:27:13,520
us as lay people to answer the point.

789
01:27:13,520 --> 01:27:15,360
Might be we might be at that. Um, but we

790
01:27:15,360 --> 01:27:18,400
have um you know, special outside

791
01:27:18,400 --> 01:27:20,239
counsel who did this and negotiated for

792
01:27:20,239 --> 01:27:23,120
us and we'll task them with

793
01:27:23,120 --> 01:27:24,239
>> providing more information.

794
01:27:24,239 --> 01:27:24,639
>> Right.

795
01:27:24,639 --> 01:27:26,080
>> Yeah. And this isn't just a simple

796
01:27:26,080 --> 01:27:27,920
contract between two parties. It's a

797
01:27:27,920 --> 01:27:29,760
contract really with

798
01:27:29,760 --> 01:27:30,719
>> three parties

799
01:27:30,719 --> 01:27:32,800
>> or four even. You mean you have the DCA

800
01:27:32,800 --> 01:27:34,560
as well, right? You have the BPU. It's

801
01:27:34,560 --> 01:27:38,400
extremely complicated uh situation where

802
01:27:38,400 --> 01:27:40,719
you're under the jurisdiction of the BPU

803
01:27:40,719 --> 01:27:45,199
and DCA but most of the BPU forever. So,

804
01:27:45,199 --> 01:27:47,520
it's not like the BPU walks away. This

805
01:27:47,520 --> 01:27:50,400
is absolutely under the jurisdiction for

806
01:27:50,400 --> 01:27:53,760
all time. And it's it's not a simple,

807
01:27:53,760 --> 01:27:55,440
you know, we're just selling it to some

808
01:27:55,440 --> 01:28:00,159
private organization. It's it's much heavier than that. Much much more

809
01:28:00,159 --> 01:28:01,040
significant than that.

810
01:28:01,040 --> 01:28:04,400
>> And NJT never walks away either.

811
01:28:04,400 --> 01:28:07,840
>> No, absolutely not. So, but uh yeah, I

812
01:28:07,840 --> 01:28:09,280
mean these issues were all I mean we

813
01:28:09,280 --> 01:28:10,800
don't have to get into all the specifics

814
01:28:10,800 --> 01:28:13,120
now because we can can do it in a in a

815
01:28:13,120 --> 01:28:15,280
way that hopefully

816
01:28:15,280 --> 01:28:18,320
>> answers everybody's questions in a multi

817
01:28:18,320 --> 01:28:20,560
way. Excellent questions and comments

818
01:28:20,560 --> 01:28:23,040
there and um I've got your contact

819
01:28:23,040 --> 01:28:24,560
information I think but we'll as we have

820
01:28:24,560 --> 01:28:26,000
the answer we'll let you know directly

821
01:28:26,000 --> 01:28:27,920
and then get it out because that's I

822
01:28:27,920 --> 01:28:30,480
think of general interest um as well.

823
01:28:30,480 --> 01:28:32,800
Thanks.

824
01:28:32,800 --> 01:28:35,360
>> Um

825
01:28:35,360 --> 01:28:37,040
online please you want to push the

826
01:28:37,040 --> 01:28:38,960
raised hand button that will be the good

827
01:28:38,960 --> 01:28:41,280
time for that.

828
01:28:41,280 --> 01:28:42,880
Um seeing none I'll take a motion to

829
01:28:42,880 --> 01:28:44,480
close the first of our two public

830
01:28:44,480 --> 01:28:51,830
comment. Oh, okay.

831
01:28:51,840 --> 01:28:55,280
» Hi, Tom Man 59 North Greenwood. Um, just

832
01:28:55,280 --> 01:28:57,040
a comment and then a question. I was

833
01:28:57,040 --> 01:28:59,360
actually really disappointed when I got

834
01:28:59,360 --> 01:29:00,880
the mailing from or I don't know if it

835
01:29:00,880 --> 01:29:03,360
was the door hanger or the email from

836
01:29:03,360 --> 01:29:05,840
New J's American Water with the

837
01:29:05,840 --> 01:29:08,239
endorsement of the council members.

838
01:29:08,239 --> 01:29:10,400
>> I think that was I'm not saying it was

839
01:29:10,400 --> 01:29:11,840
illegal, but I think it was really

840
01:29:11,840 --> 01:29:14,480
inappropriate. Um it's a complicated

841
01:29:14,480 --> 01:29:17,360
situation because your um

842
01:29:17,360 --> 01:29:19,760
well-intentioned and good idea about how

843
01:29:19,760 --> 01:29:22,960
to fix the system happens to align with

844
01:29:22,960 --> 01:29:25,600
the large corporations. And so that's a

845
01:29:25,600 --> 01:29:27,679
legitimate position to have. But I think

846
01:29:27,679 --> 01:29:29,679
it's really

847
01:29:29,679 --> 01:29:31,520
would have been a lot better if we

848
01:29:31,520 --> 01:29:33,120
didn't the citizens of this bureau

849
01:29:33,120 --> 01:29:35,520
didn't see you what looks like shilling

850
01:29:35,520 --> 01:29:37,600
for the corporation. So I think on that

851
01:29:37,600 --> 01:29:39,679
level it was inappropriate and again I

852
01:29:39,679 --> 01:29:41,679
wish you hadn't done it. And on another

853
01:29:41,679 --> 01:29:44,480
level, it also seems to be problematic

854
01:29:44,480 --> 01:29:48,239
that as political people with brands in

855
01:29:48,239 --> 01:29:50,480
the community, you were essentially

856
01:29:50,480 --> 01:29:53,920
getting advertising as by New Jersey

857
01:29:53,920 --> 01:29:56,320
American Water, you had they they sent

858
01:29:56,320 --> 01:29:58,719
your name to everybody in the bureau as

859
01:29:58,719 --> 01:30:01,120
people who are, you know, working the

860
01:30:01,120 --> 01:30:02,560
problem. And that's, you know, a good

861
01:30:02,560 --> 01:30:04,080
thing to be working the problem. But I

862
01:30:04,080 --> 01:30:06,800
don't think it's a really good idea to

863
01:30:06,800 --> 01:30:09,679
have a large corporation,

864
01:30:09,679 --> 01:30:13,280
you know, sort of um supporting your

865
01:30:13,280 --> 01:30:15,679
sort of political brand. So I think I

866
01:30:15,679 --> 01:30:19,360
would urge the bur to think really

867
01:30:19,360 --> 01:30:21,679
carefully about doing that sort of

868
01:30:21,679 --> 01:30:27,280
thing. It was a really bad look from my my perspective. And so then the

869
01:30:27,280 --> 01:30:30,880
follow question is when did you those

870
01:30:30,880 --> 01:30:32,960
burough council members that signed on

871
01:30:32,960 --> 01:30:35,199
to this who agree to this? When and

872
01:30:35,199 --> 01:30:37,920
could you sort of just take we take us a

873
01:30:37,920 --> 01:30:39,760
bit behind the scenes how you came to

874
01:30:39,760 --> 01:30:42,080
whatever arrangement you came to with

875
01:30:42,080 --> 01:30:43,840
New Jersey American Water to get your

876
01:30:43,840 --> 01:30:46,639
names on those pieces of paper and when

877
01:30:46,639 --> 01:30:49,840
did that happen and was it their idea or

878
01:30:49,840 --> 01:30:51,600
was it your idea? Did you say to New

879
01:30:51,600 --> 01:30:53,440
Jersey American Water, you know, it

880
01:30:53,440 --> 01:30:55,440
would be a really good idea if we had

881
01:30:55,440 --> 01:30:57,679
our names on this brochure, or did they

882
01:30:57,679 --> 01:31:00,159
come to you and say, you know, it would

883
01:31:00,159 --> 01:31:02,719
be a really good idea if you did this it

884
01:31:02,719 --> 01:31:05,840
just I just have the feeling that this

885
01:31:05,840 --> 01:31:07,760
relationship

886
01:31:07,760 --> 01:31:10,239
has gone from strictly business to one

887
01:31:10,239 --> 01:31:13,120
of sort of partnership and advocacy in a

888
01:31:13,120 --> 01:31:15,600
way that um will be best to sort of at

889
01:31:15,600 --> 01:31:21,920
least keep under keep under wraps. So, I guess I'll just say um

890
01:31:21,920 --> 01:31:25,440
it is the right and duty of everyone in

891
01:31:25,440 --> 01:31:27,520
this community, including and especially

892
01:31:27,520 --> 01:31:30,159
those elected officials to advocate for

893
01:31:30,159 --> 01:31:31,120
what they think is best.

894
01:31:31,120 --> 01:31:33,199
>> Agreed. And I thought your letter today,

895
01:31:33,199 --> 01:31:36,800
the letter that I thought was perfect.

896
01:31:36,800 --> 01:31:37,360
>> And and

897
01:31:37,360 --> 01:31:38,960
>> but there's the other thing that the

898
01:31:38,960 --> 01:31:40,800
other guys paid for that's not your

899
01:31:40,800 --> 01:31:43,760
that's not it's not entirely your

900
01:31:43,760 --> 01:31:46,320
advocacy. It is also New Jersey American

901
01:31:46,320 --> 01:31:47,679
Waters advocacy.

902
01:31:47,679 --> 01:31:50,000
>> You're you're correct. And they they pay

903
01:31:50,000 --> 01:31:52,960
for that and they disclose and who paid

904
01:31:52,960 --> 01:31:54,159
for that and

905
01:31:54,159 --> 01:31:56,080
>> and they well okay

906
01:31:56,080 --> 01:31:58,800
>> and I I'll I'll say anyone who's asked

907
01:31:58,800 --> 01:32:01,120
me if I support this I'll tell them that

908
01:32:01,120 --> 01:32:01,920
I do

909
01:32:01,920 --> 01:32:04,000
>> including them

910
01:32:04,000 --> 01:32:06,639
and um I'm happy to help anyone who

911
01:32:06,639 --> 01:32:09,120
would like to know my position um hear

912
01:32:09,120 --> 01:32:11,040
what it is. I don't let anyone else

913
01:32:11,040 --> 01:32:12,960
speak to that point.

914
01:32:12,960 --> 01:32:16,560
>> I just do briefly Tom. Um so from my

915
01:32:16,560 --> 01:32:20,880
perspective I was careful not to engage

916
01:32:20,880 --> 01:32:22,960
in anything.

917
01:32:22,960 --> 01:32:24,560
Basically that that endorsement was

918
01:32:24,560 --> 01:32:26,000
something that came in very late in the

919
01:32:26,000 --> 01:32:27,280
game and I really wanted to make sure

920
01:32:27,280 --> 01:32:28,639
that we got at least through that

921
01:32:28,639 --> 01:32:31,120
September 11 presentation

922
01:32:31,120 --> 01:32:33,120
uh if I was going to take a public

923
01:32:33,120 --> 01:32:35,360
position on you know yes or no at all. I

924
01:32:35,360 --> 01:32:38,000
mean, I've spent so much time digging

925
01:32:38,000 --> 01:32:39,280
into the facts, trying to do the

926
01:32:39,280 --> 01:32:41,199
analysis, trying to present everything

927
01:32:41,199 --> 01:32:43,920
that we know. I didn't want to even

928
01:32:43,920 --> 01:32:45,520
offer an opinion on I mean, people may

929
01:32:45,520 --> 01:32:49,360
think that I have just because of how

930
01:32:49,360 --> 01:32:51,760
the presentations are, but but I have.

931
01:32:51,760 --> 01:32:55,520
Um, but at some point, I think it is

932
01:32:55,520 --> 01:32:57,120
important,

933
01:32:57,120 --> 01:32:59,360
at least for us on the water committee,

934
01:32:59,360 --> 01:33:02,159
to say this is what we think is best for

935
01:33:02,159 --> 01:33:03,679
the community. And as you say, there are

936
01:33:03,679 --> 01:33:06,159
different ways of doing that. Um, and I

937
01:33:06,159 --> 01:33:09,760
was asked if I would agree to, you know,

938
01:33:09,760 --> 01:33:11,440
an endorsement or, you know,

939
01:33:11,440 --> 01:33:12,639
>> by whom were you asked,

940
01:33:12,639 --> 01:33:13,199
>> pardon?

941
01:33:13,199 --> 01:33:15,520
>> Oh, American. No, they wanted to know if

942
01:33:15,520 --> 01:33:17,280
I would add my name to the list of

943
01:33:17,280 --> 01:33:18,880
people that endorsed it. And I thought

944
01:33:18,880 --> 01:33:22,400
about it very carefully. Um, and I I

945
01:33:22,400 --> 01:33:24,719
said I would only be willing to do that

946
01:33:24,719 --> 01:33:27,679
after the September 11 presentation

947
01:33:27,679 --> 01:33:29,440
because I didn't want anything to, you

948
01:33:29,440 --> 01:33:31,520
know, cloud that. And I and I I kind of

949
01:33:31,520 --> 01:33:36,950
struggle with it because I, you know,

950
01:33:36,960 --> 01:33:39,040
I I like to just speak for myself. I

951
01:33:39,040 --> 01:33:40,800
don't like to have anybody else. As far

952
01:33:40,800 --> 01:33:42,400
as my brand, I don't think of myself as

953
01:33:42,400 --> 01:33:44,159
having a brand. And whatever it is, my

954
01:33:44,159 --> 01:33:46,239
brand's over in two months because I'm

955
01:33:46,239 --> 01:33:48,639
not in office anymore. But I and I

956
01:33:48,639 --> 01:33:50,159
understand your discomfort with it. And

957
01:33:50,159 --> 01:33:52,239
I I thought about it. I struggled with

958
01:33:52,239 --> 01:33:53,840
it a little. And then I just thought,

959
01:33:53,840 --> 01:33:56,320
you know, at some point I have to say,

960
01:33:56,320 --> 01:33:57,600
what do I think is best for the

961
01:33:57,600 --> 01:33:58,960
community? and this was just another

962
01:33:58,960 --> 01:34:00,800
vehicle for doing that. That's the way I

963
01:34:00,800 --> 01:34:04,080
thought about it. Um, and so, uh, I

964
01:34:04,080 --> 01:34:06,239
wrote an endorsement. They the actual

965
01:34:06,239 --> 01:34:07,920
endorsement that they put, I think,

966
01:34:07,920 --> 01:34:10,320
somewhere on their their social media,

967
01:34:10,320 --> 01:34:11,920
which I don't have, was something that I

968
01:34:11,920 --> 01:34:14,159
wrote. It wasn't something that they

969
01:34:14,159 --> 01:34:17,440
told me to say. It's what I believe. Um,

970
01:34:17,440 --> 01:34:20,159
and um, that that was the decision I

971
01:34:20,159 --> 01:34:22,080
made. That's that's that's the best

972
01:34:22,080 --> 01:34:23,840
explanation I can give you. It was very

973
01:34:23,840 --> 01:34:25,840
blatantly gay.

974
01:34:25,840 --> 01:34:27,840
>> All right. Well, I just just expressing

975
01:34:27,840 --> 01:34:29,520
a level of discomfort at it. And again,

976
01:34:29,520 --> 01:34:31,840
I don't you any of the decisions we've

977
01:34:31,840 --> 01:34:33,760
made and really this is really about the

978
01:34:33,760 --> 01:34:36,080
process and about what I feel is the

979
01:34:36,080 --> 01:34:37,840
inappropriate sort of

980
01:34:37,840 --> 01:34:39,760
>> I mean American they're they're a big

981
01:34:39,760 --> 01:34:41,199
company. They're going to do okay. I

982
01:34:41,199 --> 01:34:43,199
don't think they need to help so much.

983
01:34:43,199 --> 01:34:43,920
Okay. Thank you.

984
01:34:43,920 --> 01:34:46,719
>> Can I just say one one thing? It it you

985
01:34:46,719 --> 01:34:48,480
know I understand the concerns raised

986
01:34:48,480 --> 01:34:50,800
but it's very important that it was it

987
01:34:50,800 --> 01:34:52,480
it's not it was not a council

988
01:34:52,480 --> 01:34:53,280
endorsement.

989
01:34:53,280 --> 01:34:53,840
>> That's right.

990
01:34:53,840 --> 01:34:55,920
>> Absolutely not. It was not a necessarily

991
01:34:55,920 --> 01:34:57,520
going to say members of the council that

992
01:34:57,520 --> 01:34:58,320
may be endorsing

993
01:34:58,320 --> 01:35:00,400
>> right and they right but

994
01:35:00,400 --> 01:35:02,000
>> yeah mayor too I endorse them

995
01:35:02,000 --> 01:35:03,360
>> right but it's import I mean all I'm

996
01:35:03,360 --> 01:35:05,280
saying is it's very important that they

997
01:35:05,280 --> 01:35:07,120
don't lose their first amendment rights

998
01:35:07,120 --> 01:35:10,320
either so if if if they want to

999
01:35:10,320 --> 01:35:11,920
>> do they being the council or the

1000
01:35:11,920 --> 01:35:14,000
>> individuals the individual it's it was

1001
01:35:14,000 --> 01:35:16,800
not a council endorsement it's it's the

1002
01:35:16,800 --> 01:35:20,400
individuals that are that made those

1003
01:35:20,400 --> 01:35:22,880
decisions to to be part of that

1004
01:35:22,880 --> 01:35:25,920
endorsement and they spoke as members of

1005
01:35:25,920 --> 01:35:28,639
the community, not on behalf of council.

1006
01:35:28,639 --> 01:35:30,880
>> They were identified as council members

1007
01:35:30,880 --> 01:35:32,480
for what it's worth. And we all knew

1008
01:35:32,480 --> 01:35:32,960
they're council,

1009
01:35:32,960 --> 01:35:34,480
>> right? And that's exactly right. You

1010
01:35:34,480 --> 01:35:36,880
can't and I'm just, you know, it's not

1011
01:35:36,880 --> 01:35:38,320
splitting hairs. It's it's a really

1012
01:35:38,320 --> 01:35:41,679
important um legal distinction. That's

1013
01:35:41,679 --> 01:35:44,880
>> And just to add, I mean, for what I

1014
01:35:44,880 --> 01:35:49,040
mean, we we always sought your counsel.

1015
01:35:49,040 --> 01:35:51,040
>> Yes. That's Yes. And we had a lot of

1016
01:35:51,040 --> 01:35:53,440
discussion with a lot of people, you

1017
01:35:53,440 --> 01:35:55,440
know. What are the guardrails legal and

1018
01:35:55,440 --> 01:35:57,360
otherwise and making sure that we stay

1019
01:35:57,360 --> 01:35:59,040
>> and there are a lot of guards

1020
01:35:59,040 --> 01:36:01,040
>> and there are a lot of guard rails on

1021
01:36:01,040 --> 01:36:03,840
right advocacy you know the council

1022
01:36:03,840 --> 01:36:05,040
cannot

1023
01:36:05,040 --> 01:36:08,000
>> advocate you know as a as a as a body

1024
01:36:08,000 --> 01:36:08,639
>> right

1025
01:36:08,639 --> 01:36:11,280
>> u because it adopted an ordinance

1026
01:36:11,280 --> 01:36:14,000
>> that that has the ballot question it's

1027
01:36:14,000 --> 01:36:17,120
just it it's it's not what council is

1028
01:36:17,120 --> 01:36:19,600
supposed to do. However, and and we

1029
01:36:19,600 --> 01:36:21,120
looked at a lot of other communities and

1030
01:36:21,120 --> 01:36:22,960
talked to a lot of lawyers and and

1031
01:36:22,960 --> 01:36:25,360
really did look at this issue very

1032
01:36:25,360 --> 01:36:29,199
carefully and um you know the council

1033
01:36:29,199 --> 01:36:31,120
members are not just uh sitting there

1034
01:36:31,120 --> 01:36:34,000
saying you have to do this because it's

1035
01:36:34,000 --> 01:36:35,840
they're in they're acting in their

1036
01:36:35,840 --> 01:36:38,800
individual capacities and they're they

1037
01:36:38,800 --> 01:36:41,679
are supporting their positions with with

1038
01:36:41,679 --> 01:36:43,280
factual information. So they're not

1039
01:36:43,280 --> 01:36:45,440
trying to mislead people and I mean you

1040
01:36:45,440 --> 01:36:46,719
may have an opinion about that. People

1041
01:36:46,719 --> 01:36:48,560
may have an opinion about that, but

1042
01:36:48,560 --> 01:36:49,920
they're they're within the confines of

1043
01:36:49,920 --> 01:36:53,199
law. And again, this was vetted by many

1044
01:36:53,199 --> 01:36:55,040
people.

1045
01:36:55,040 --> 01:36:57,679
>> Mayor, if I may, and I'm brand new to

1046
01:36:57,679 --> 01:37:00,400
this, so bear with me, but but having

1047
01:37:00,400 --> 01:37:02,639
been involved in other referendums and

1048
01:37:02,639 --> 01:37:04,400
other

1049
01:37:04,400 --> 01:37:06,480
loces,

1050
01:37:06,480 --> 01:37:09,440
it's absolutely correct in that it was

1051
01:37:09,440 --> 01:37:11,199
not a council endorsement. I mean, I

1052
01:37:11,199 --> 01:37:13,119
haven't seen seen the documents, but

1053
01:37:13,119 --> 01:37:14,880
you'd have to pass a resolution. you'd

1054
01:37:14,880 --> 01:37:16,320
have to go through the whole process.

1055
01:37:16,320 --> 01:37:18,880
So, while I respect the the question and

1056
01:37:18,880 --> 01:37:20,800
I understand the the certainly

1057
01:37:20,800 --> 01:37:23,600
understand his concern, you you have you

1058
01:37:23,600 --> 01:37:26,000
don't vacate your first amendment rights

1059
01:37:26,000 --> 01:37:28,480
by sitting up there.

1060
01:37:28,480 --> 01:37:31,520
Uh, I know there's obviously a different

1061
01:37:31,520 --> 01:37:34,320
maybe a difference of opinion, but I I

1062
01:37:34,320 --> 01:37:37,520
really do agree that that uh the very

1063
01:37:37,520 --> 01:37:39,360
fact that you put your name as a

1064
01:37:39,360 --> 01:37:42,960
councilman or mayor or council person uh

1065
01:37:42,960 --> 01:37:44,239
does does not mean that this is a

1066
01:37:44,239 --> 01:37:46,320
council decision or council endorsement

1067
01:37:46,320 --> 01:37:48,159
in any way. I don't think any court

1068
01:37:48,159 --> 01:37:57,510
would say so.

1069
01:37:57,520 --> 01:38:04,950
Got uh one person online. I will uh

1070
01:38:04,960 --> 01:38:21,030
spawn over

1071
01:38:21,040 --> 01:38:22,719
» unmute and turn your video on and

1072
01:38:22,719 --> 01:38:25,440
identify yourself. I believe we can

1073
01:38:25,440 --> 01:38:29,840
hear you here in the in the courtroom.

1074
01:38:29,840 --> 01:38:36,709
>> You can

1075
01:38:36,719 --> 01:38:39,520
we'll have a second bullet comment if

1076
01:38:39,520 --> 01:38:42,960
you want to try then just uh

1077
01:38:42,960 --> 01:38:44,960
we've

1078
01:38:44,960 --> 01:38:46,159
promoted you.

1079
01:38:46,159 --> 01:38:51,040
>> Shoot. Okay. Sorry. Uh,

1080
01:38:51,040 --> 01:38:54,320
>> oh, sorry. Do you want me to wait? Do

1081
01:38:54,320 --> 01:38:55,840
you want me to wait?

1082
01:38:55,840 --> 01:38:57,679
>> No, no, no. I just we you had to turn

1083
01:38:57,679 --> 01:38:59,280
your camera or unmuted yourself, so

1084
01:38:59,280 --> 01:38:59,840
you're you're

1085
01:38:59,840 --> 01:39:01,280
>> I was trying. I was trying. It just

1086
01:39:01,280 --> 01:39:03,199
didn't for whatever reasons it wasn't

1087
01:39:03,199 --> 01:39:06,480
doing it. Um, I just wanted to I just

1088
01:39:06,480 --> 01:39:10,800
Thank you um for letting me uh join. And

1089
01:39:10,800 --> 01:39:13,679
I just wanted to address the last point

1090
01:39:13,679 --> 01:39:17,840
which was that um I think I think it's

1091
01:39:17,840 --> 01:39:20,320
important to take into account the

1092
01:39:20,320 --> 01:39:22,239
particular

1093
01:39:22,239 --> 01:39:25,119
um community that we live in which is

1094
01:39:25,119 --> 01:39:30,000
quite small as we know. So there in

1095
01:39:30,000 --> 01:39:33,119
terms of

1096
01:39:33,119 --> 01:39:36,800
council members promoting the sale,

1097
01:39:36,800 --> 01:39:40,000
um, borrow residents have seen them

1098
01:39:40,000 --> 01:39:42,800
doing this um, over and over and over

1099
01:39:42,800 --> 01:39:45,600
again. Okay. So I don't think we can

1100
01:39:45,600 --> 01:39:48,960
just dismiss this. I think a credential

1101
01:39:48,960 --> 01:39:52,480
sort of assessment would say that yes,

1102
01:39:52,480 --> 01:39:54,880
our council is absolutely promoting this

1103
01:39:54,880 --> 01:39:57,440
sale and they're doing it in a lot of

1104
01:39:57,440 --> 01:39:59,760
different ways. They're using American

1105
01:39:59,760 --> 01:40:03,920
water um publicity that borrow residents

1106
01:40:03,920 --> 01:40:06,080
are paying for actually because we

1107
01:40:06,080 --> 01:40:07,600
currently get some what some of our

1108
01:40:07,600 --> 01:40:09,840
water from American water. So whether or

1109
01:40:09,840 --> 01:40:12,080
not we want to be paying for these

1110
01:40:12,080 --> 01:40:14,719
advertisements, we are paying for it.

1111
01:40:14,719 --> 01:40:17,360
Which is goes to the point of, you know,

1112
01:40:17,360 --> 01:40:20,320
when we go into this system of American

1113
01:40:20,320 --> 01:40:24,080
water, we pay for their

1114
01:40:24,080 --> 01:40:28,080
um, you know, trying to buy another

1115
01:40:28,080 --> 01:40:31,199
community's water system. So I think we

1116
01:40:31,199 --> 01:40:33,280
need to recognize that that needs to be

1117
01:40:33,280 --> 01:40:35,760
noted that this is not just a simple

1118
01:40:35,760 --> 01:40:39,280
like there are residents here who are

1119
01:40:39,280 --> 01:40:41,840
talking about just being residents. They

1120
01:40:41,840 --> 01:40:44,239
are council members. Everybody in this

1121
01:40:44,239 --> 01:40:49,119
1900 less or more town knows who council

1122
01:40:49,119 --> 01:40:51,679
members are and they see quite clearly

1123
01:40:51,679 --> 01:40:54,719
that they're promoting this sale. So,

1124
01:40:54,719 --> 01:40:56,880
you know, you

1125
01:40:56,880 --> 01:40:59,840
this is this is not something that we

1126
01:40:59,840 --> 01:41:02,000
can just brush over. This is a thing

1127
01:41:02,000 --> 01:41:06,239
that is a problem. And I that's what I

1128
01:41:06,239 --> 01:41:08,239
have to say about that. So, thank you

1129
01:41:08,239 --> 01:41:11,280
for letting me do.

1130
01:41:11,280 --> 01:41:14,000
>> Thank you. Um, one thing I'll just note,

1131
01:41:14,000 --> 01:41:16,080
you know, because we did

1132
01:41:16,080 --> 01:41:18,719
talk to him and check with our uh expert

1133
01:41:18,719 --> 01:41:21,840
on this. Um, hold on. Let me uh figure

1134
01:41:21,840 --> 01:41:24,000
out how to

1135
01:41:24,000 --> 01:41:27,910
bring you back. Um

1136
01:41:27,920 --> 01:41:31,920
sorry, hard to be the mayor and the Zoom

1137
01:41:31,920 --> 01:41:34,400
uh artisan uh at the same time. So,

1138
01:41:34,400 --> 01:41:38,560
apologies. Um one um you know, one note

1139
01:41:38,560 --> 01:41:41,520
um New Jersey American has never and we

1140
01:41:41,520 --> 01:41:45,600
checked um recovered any funds that they

1141
01:41:45,600 --> 01:41:48,560
spent on um advertising for referendum.

1142
01:41:48,560 --> 01:41:50,320
uh they've never asked BPU for it.

1143
01:41:50,320 --> 01:41:52,239
They've never been approved for it. Um

1144
01:41:52,239 --> 01:41:54,639
it is true that their just like with

1145
01:41:54,639 --> 01:41:57,760
capital repairs, their mechanism is to

1146
01:41:57,760 --> 01:42:02,880
um uh seek what they call recovery. Um

1147
01:42:02,880 --> 01:42:05,360
and to have uh the board of public

1148
01:42:05,360 --> 01:42:07,040
utilities allow them to be paid back

1149
01:42:07,040 --> 01:42:09,520
from the rateayers. Um that is one that

1150
01:42:09,520 --> 01:42:12,800
they have never um either through lack

1151
01:42:12,800 --> 01:42:14,480
of being permitted to or never asking.

1152
01:42:14,480 --> 01:42:15,600
Uh I guess I didn't ask them that much,

1153
01:42:15,600 --> 01:42:18,239
but they have never uh so for example,

1154
01:42:18,239 --> 01:42:20,239
South Orange um or these other

1155
01:42:20,239 --> 01:42:22,159
communities where they have spend their

1156
01:42:22,159 --> 01:42:24,800
shareholders money for um advocacy um

1157
01:42:24,800 --> 01:42:28,320
that has never been um returned uh to

1158
01:42:28,320 --> 01:42:31,679
them uh from BPU uh as as rateayers. Uh

1159
01:42:31,679 --> 01:42:35,040
we we we checked into that. Um um and

1160
01:42:35,040 --> 01:42:37,040
again, I I

1161
01:42:37,040 --> 01:42:40,159
may not it's okay to not like what some

1162
01:42:40,159 --> 01:42:41,760
members of council or myself are saying.

1163
01:42:41,760 --> 01:42:43,520
Um, I certainly recognize that.

1164
01:42:43,520 --> 01:42:46,960
>> No, I I I think I I I excuse me. I just

1165
01:42:46,960 --> 01:42:48,560
want to clarify that what I'm what I'm

1166
01:42:48,560 --> 01:42:51,600
what my what my issue is is that in the

1167
01:42:51,600 --> 01:42:53,840
last comment, you know, commentary, it

1168
01:42:53,840 --> 01:42:57,679
was that our council is not as council

1169
01:42:57,679 --> 01:43:00,080
officials promoting the sale and they

1170
01:43:00,080 --> 01:43:02,239
absolutely are. Everybody knows they

1171
01:43:02,239 --> 01:43:06,159
are. So, I mean, can we just not pretend

1172
01:43:06,159 --> 01:43:08,719
that this isn't happening? They they

1173
01:43:08,719 --> 01:43:11,760
are. Our council officials are promoting

1174
01:43:11,760 --> 01:43:14,880
some of them are promoting this sale and

1175
01:43:14,880 --> 01:43:16,719
they're going and talking to to

1176
01:43:16,719 --> 01:43:18,400
businesses. They're going and talking to

1177
01:43:18,400 --> 01:43:20,400
residents. They're going and they're

1178
01:43:20,400 --> 01:43:22,639
going and talking to them to tell them

1179
01:43:22,639 --> 01:43:26,000
to vote yes on this sale. I don't know

1180
01:43:26,000 --> 01:43:28,960
legally what that means, but I don't

1181
01:43:28,960 --> 01:43:31,600
like it. Okay. So, that's all I can tell

1182
01:43:31,600 --> 01:43:32,719
you.

1183
01:43:32,719 --> 01:43:33,760
>> Thank you. I'm going to take the

1184
01:43:33,760 --> 01:43:36,560
opportunity to ask the attorneys that

1185
01:43:36,560 --> 01:43:38,719
have given us advice on that to just

1186
01:43:38,719 --> 01:43:43,440
confirm once again uh that that is uh

1187
01:43:43,440 --> 01:43:47,040
100% u permissible for elected officials

1188
01:43:47,040 --> 01:43:48,880
to do.

1189
01:43:48,880 --> 01:43:51,760
>> Not only do I do I think it's

1190
01:43:51,760 --> 01:43:53,440
permissible, I think there's a certain

1191
01:43:53,440 --> 01:43:57,679
obligation under your positions to voice

1192
01:43:57,679 --> 01:44:01,119
your your position on this. This is

1193
01:44:01,119 --> 01:44:04,560
>> not not to advocate. They can voice

1194
01:44:04,560 --> 01:44:06,480
their position.

1195
01:44:06,480 --> 01:44:08,719
>> They cannot advocate and that is what

1196
01:44:08,719 --> 01:44:10,080
they've been doing.

1197
01:44:10,080 --> 01:44:12,400
>> They have been advocating

1198
01:44:12,400 --> 01:44:14,880
>> publicly and unpublicly. They've been

1199
01:44:14,880 --> 01:44:17,440
doing it and let's just be honest about

1200
01:44:17,440 --> 01:44:18,239
this.

1201
01:44:18,239 --> 01:44:19,280
>> Okay,

1202
01:44:19,280 --> 01:44:22,239
>> let's just be honest about it.

1203
01:44:22,239 --> 01:44:25,760
>> Um, thank you. I've muted you. Um um I

1204
01:44:25,760 --> 01:44:28,800
will be totally honest with it that yes

1205
01:44:28,800 --> 01:44:31,520
I am advocating for the sale. There are

1206
01:44:31,520 --> 01:44:32,960
members that this up to them

1207
01:44:32,960 --> 01:44:35,520
individually whether they are or not. It

1208
01:44:35,520 --> 01:44:40,480
is both under our um requirements

1209
01:44:40,480 --> 01:44:43,760
ethically um and right to do so. And

1210
01:44:43,760 --> 01:44:45,040
I'll be honest with you, you may not

1211
01:44:45,040 --> 01:44:46,239
like it. You don't like what I have to

1212
01:44:46,239 --> 01:44:48,000
say about the sale. I'm going to

1213
01:44:48,000 --> 01:44:50,800
continue to do that. Um that is what I

1214
01:44:50,800 --> 01:44:53,280
feel my job is as the mayor. If there's

1215
01:44:53,280 --> 01:44:55,600
something that I think is the uh best

1216
01:44:55,600 --> 01:44:57,760
thing for the burrow, that is what I'm

1217
01:44:57,760 --> 01:45:00,639
going to do. I will not use burrow funds

1218
01:45:00,639 --> 01:45:03,040
to do so. The case law on it is very

1219
01:45:03,040 --> 01:45:06,480
specific. That is the line. Other towns

1220
01:45:06,480 --> 01:45:08,400
um have done that. If you would have

1221
01:45:08,400 --> 01:45:10,400
gone to a presentation in South Orange,

1222
01:45:10,400 --> 01:45:11,840
it would have ended saying, "Please vote

1223
01:45:11,840 --> 01:45:16,080
yes." We're not doing that here.

1224
01:45:16,080 --> 01:45:18,239
Um again, if there's anything else our

1225
01:45:18,239 --> 01:45:19,600
attorneys like to add, I want to be

1226
01:45:19,600 --> 01:45:21,040
clear. It's I'm not hiding that I'm

1227
01:45:21,040 --> 01:45:23,360
advocating for the sale. I'm just

1228
01:45:23,360 --> 01:45:26,719
>> You are using your role as mayor

1229
01:45:26,719 --> 01:45:30,480
>> to promote this.

1230
01:45:30,480 --> 01:45:32,159
>> I'm advocating for it, too.

1231
01:45:32,159 --> 01:45:36,080
>> Thank you. I'm Again, I I'm No one's No

1232
01:45:36,080 --> 01:45:38,080
one is denying that. I I think you you

1233
01:45:38,080 --> 01:45:39,280
seem to think that that makes it

1234
01:45:39,280 --> 01:45:41,040
unethical or illegal. Uh the advice that

1235
01:45:41,040 --> 01:45:42,800
we're getting it is it does not.

1236
01:45:42,800 --> 01:45:45,600
>> Yeah, I do. I do. And I think all of the

1237
01:45:45,600 --> 01:45:47,679
other I think all of the other council

1238
01:45:47,679 --> 01:45:51,199
members doing this is also unethical.

1239
01:45:51,199 --> 01:45:52,560
>> And

1240
01:45:52,560 --> 01:45:55,119
We need to look at that. You know there

1241
01:45:55,119 --> 01:45:57,360
I don't see why you think you can act in

1242
01:45:57,360 --> 01:45:59,679
an autocratic way. I don't see why you

1243
01:45:59,679 --> 01:46:01,360
think you can do that. Why do you think

1244
01:46:01,360 --> 01:46:03,040
you can do that?

1245
01:46:03,040 --> 01:46:06,639
>> Answer me with that please.

1246
01:46:06,639 --> 01:46:09,440
>> Well let me start and then um I much

1247
01:46:09,440 --> 01:46:12,719
appreciate your time here. um um one um

1248
01:46:12,719 --> 01:46:14,480
the advice we've received from our legal

1249
01:46:14,480 --> 01:46:16,400
professionals um and that's based on a

1250
01:46:16,400 --> 01:46:19,440
Supreme Court case um in New Jersey that

1251
01:46:19,440 --> 01:46:20,880
says it's not just our right but it is

1252
01:46:20,880 --> 01:46:22,800
our duty to advocate for for such a

1253
01:46:22,800 --> 01:46:24,560
thing. So that that is what I base it on

1254
01:46:24,560 --> 01:46:26,320
for me and I I see I'm sorry that the

1255
01:46:26,320 --> 01:46:28,480
room can't see you rolling your eyes but

1256
01:46:28,480 --> 01:46:30,480
that is the advice we receive and uh the

1257
01:46:30,480 --> 01:46:31,520
guidance we've gotten from the New

1258
01:46:31,520 --> 01:46:33,600
Jersey Supreme Court. Um I I would if

1259
01:46:33,600 --> 01:46:37,440
you have something to the contrary um I please um

1260
01:46:37,440 --> 01:46:39,600
>> we didn't elect you we didn't elect you

1261
01:46:39,600 --> 01:46:42,159
to act in an autocratic fashion and

1262
01:46:42,159 --> 01:46:44,080
that's what you've been doing since you

1263
01:46:44,080 --> 01:46:46,159
started the whipa process that's what

1264
01:46:46,159 --> 01:46:48,560
you've been doing you're not listening

1265
01:46:48,560 --> 01:46:51,760
to residents you are not listening you

1266
01:46:51,760 --> 01:46:55,600
are not working with us okay

1267
01:46:55,600 --> 01:46:57,679
>> that's a fact that is a fact

1268
01:46:57,679 --> 01:46:59,679
>> I will thank you and and again encourage

1269
01:46:59,679 --> 01:47:02,080
you and your group to please send me the

1270
01:47:02,080 --> 01:47:03,679
us the slides that we've asked for from

1271
01:47:03,679 --> 01:47:05,520
your presentation and give us some dates

1272
01:47:05,520 --> 01:47:06,000
for the

1273
01:47:06,000 --> 01:47:07,840
>> We had a meeting. We had a meeting. You

1274
01:47:07,840 --> 01:47:10,159
were there.

1275
01:47:10,159 --> 01:47:12,000
>> Thank you.

1276
01:47:12,000 --> 01:47:14,560
>> And I'm also happy to to speak for

1277
01:47:14,560 --> 01:47:18,159
myself as an elected official. I and I'm

1278
01:47:18,159 --> 01:47:20,480
speaking for myself.

1279
01:47:20,480 --> 01:47:25,280
I think it is my obligation. I to to be

1280
01:47:25,280 --> 01:47:27,040
transparent

1281
01:47:27,040 --> 01:47:31,040
with voters of what I think you elected

1282
01:47:31,040 --> 01:47:34,960
me to do this job and it would be I

1283
01:47:34,960 --> 01:47:36,960
think a der election of my duty to say

1284
01:47:36,960 --> 01:47:38,320
I'm just neutral. You guys can do

1285
01:47:38,320 --> 01:47:39,840
whatever you want. It's such a

1286
01:47:39,840 --> 01:47:42,800
complicated situation. I don't expect

1287
01:47:42,800 --> 01:47:44,320
you to sit through the hours of meetings

1288
01:47:44,320 --> 01:47:46,239
that I've sat through to learn

1289
01:47:46,239 --> 01:47:48,159
everything about this. I think it's my

1290
01:47:48,159 --> 01:47:50,400
duty to synthesize that and say to you

1291
01:47:50,400 --> 01:47:54,560
here's what I have decided based on the

1292
01:47:54,560 --> 01:47:56,800
financial situation based on all this

1293
01:47:56,800 --> 01:48:00,320
the the the possible viable scenarios

1294
01:48:00,320 --> 01:48:02,239
and and I'm asked constantly well what

1295
01:48:02,239 --> 01:48:06,000
do you think and so for me to not answer

1296
01:48:06,000 --> 01:48:08,639
that I think is

1297
01:48:08,639 --> 01:48:11,280
an an odd position to take as an elected

1298
01:48:11,280 --> 01:48:13,199
official that that I'm just leaving it

1299
01:48:13,199 --> 01:48:15,440
up to you and as much as I would like to

1300
01:48:15,440 --> 01:48:17,119
follow you all into the voting booth I

1301
01:48:17,119 --> 01:48:19,119
cannot at the end of the day, you get to

1302
01:48:19,119 --> 01:48:20,159
make your own vote,

1303
01:48:20,159 --> 01:48:20,719
>> right?

1304
01:48:20,719 --> 01:48:22,960
>> So, it's it's not an autocratic thing.

1305
01:48:22,960 --> 01:48:26,880
It's it's my my duty as the person you

1306
01:48:26,880 --> 01:48:28,719
elected to represent you to make these

1307
01:48:28,719 --> 01:48:32,719
decisions for myself and to let you know

1308
01:48:32,719 --> 01:48:35,600
how I came to my decision. I mean, Mayor

1309
01:48:35,600 --> 01:48:38,239
Kennedy's administration focused a lot

1310
01:48:38,239 --> 01:48:40,000
on transparency.

1311
01:48:40,000 --> 01:48:42,639
That timer has gone off every public

1312
01:48:42,639 --> 01:48:44,320
session we've ever had, and we've never

1313
01:48:44,320 --> 01:48:45,920
stopped it.

1314
01:48:45,920 --> 01:48:49,360
Not one time. One time. I mean, so so

1315
01:48:49,360 --> 01:48:50,880
for us to say we're not listening to

1316
01:48:50,880 --> 01:48:53,760
people. Uh I I schedule I don't know how

1317
01:48:53,760 --> 01:48:57,679
many coffee talks. No one comes.

1318
01:48:57,679 --> 01:48:59,600
>> No one comes to them. I'm happy to talk

1319
01:48:59,600 --> 01:49:01,440
to everyone. So I'm left to have to post

1320
01:49:01,440 --> 01:49:03,199
on the only place that I think people

1321
01:49:03,199 --> 01:49:05,199
are paying attention, which is Facebook.

1322
01:49:05,199 --> 01:49:05,679
>> Y

1323
01:49:05,679 --> 01:49:07,600
>> we can talk about Facebook, but for

1324
01:49:07,600 --> 01:49:09,440
whatever reason, that is our community

1325
01:49:09,440 --> 01:49:11,119
forum.

1326
01:49:11,119 --> 01:49:14,080
And it has not been a pretty place

1327
01:49:14,080 --> 01:49:16,000
lately, but it's the only place I feel

1328
01:49:16,000 --> 01:49:19,280
like I can get a conver or you know put

1329
01:49:19,280 --> 01:49:21,760
facts out to people who aren't who thank

1330
01:49:21,760 --> 01:49:23,440
you the people who come here to this

1331
01:49:23,440 --> 01:49:25,440
meeting. But unfortunately that's the

1332
01:49:25,440 --> 01:49:28,320
reality. So that that's what we're left

1333
01:49:28,320 --> 01:49:30,239
with and then Facebook becomes a place

1334
01:49:30,239 --> 01:49:33,679
that gets very contentious. So,

1335
01:49:33,679 --> 01:49:38,000
I I I'm I'm feeling frustrated because I feel like we've done everything we can

1336
01:49:38,000 --> 01:49:41,600
to get people's uh attention, to get all

1337
01:49:41,600 --> 01:49:44,560
the information out there. We've asked

1338
01:49:44,560 --> 01:49:46,880
countless times to meet with people of

1339
01:49:46,880 --> 01:49:48,800
every way, shape, and form, and and here

1340
01:49:48,800 --> 01:49:51,840
we are. So, once again, it's up to every

1341
01:49:51,840 --> 01:49:54,159
individual voter. Uh, I just think it's

1342
01:49:54,159 --> 01:49:56,800
my obligation as your council person to

1343
01:49:56,800 --> 01:49:58,800
let you know everything that I know and

1344
01:49:58,800 --> 01:50:03,040
what has uh informed my decision.

1345
01:50:03,040 --> 01:50:05,920
>> I'll just add I think it's curious to

1346
01:50:05,920 --> 01:50:08,080
suggest that we're acting autocratically

1347
01:50:08,080 --> 01:50:11,760
with respect to a referendum.

1348
01:50:11,760 --> 01:50:13,440
That's all I'm going to say.

1349
01:50:13,440 --> 01:50:16,880
>> Um Ethan um you're next. You want to

1350
01:50:16,880 --> 01:50:20,320
unmute yourself and and speak?

1351
01:50:20,320 --> 01:50:22,960
>> Yes, absolutely. I uh can you guys hear

1352
01:50:22,960 --> 01:50:23,679
me?

1353
01:50:23,679 --> 01:50:24,480
>> Yes.

1354
01:50:24,480 --> 01:50:26,400
>> Um I just felt like I had to just give a

1355
01:50:26,400 --> 01:50:28,239
little bit of a a counterbalance to

1356
01:50:28,239 --> 01:50:30,400
whatever this I think

1357
01:50:30,400 --> 01:50:32,639
>> a public well state your full full name.

1358
01:50:32,639 --> 01:50:33,280
We don't

1359
01:50:33,280 --> 01:50:36,639
>> Sure. Sure. Ethan Unic um Rhett Burough

1360
01:50:36,639 --> 01:50:38,960
resident. Um yeah, I just felt like I

1361
01:50:38,960 --> 01:50:40,400
had to just sort of put a little bit of

1362
01:50:40,400 --> 01:50:44,000
a um a balancing perspective on this on

1363
01:50:44,000 --> 01:50:46,239
this kind of line of questioning which

1364
01:50:46,239 --> 01:50:48,320
to me seems pretty absurd. I I don't

1365
01:50:48,320 --> 01:50:49,760
understand at any level of government

1366
01:50:49,760 --> 01:50:51,520
why someone would have the expectation

1367
01:50:51,520 --> 01:50:55,520
that uh a policy maker uh or or elected

1368
01:50:55,520 --> 01:50:57,040
representative, a public servant

1369
01:50:57,040 --> 01:50:58,719
shouldn't have an opinion and voice that

1370
01:50:58,719 --> 01:51:01,119
opinion on on policy. You don't expect

1371
01:51:01,119 --> 01:51:03,280
that at a county level, at a state

1372
01:51:03,280 --> 01:51:05,840
level, at a federal level. And um these

1373
01:51:05,840 --> 01:51:08,400
criticisms don't feel to me constructive

1374
01:51:08,400 --> 01:51:09,920
because what's the alternative? I mean,

1375
01:51:09,920 --> 01:51:11,520
what are you guys supposed to do? Just,

1376
01:51:11,520 --> 01:51:13,199
you know, keep your keep your mouth shut

1377
01:51:13,199 --> 01:51:15,760
and say nothing? I mean, you're you're

1378
01:51:15,760 --> 01:51:17,119
working for free. your elected

1379
01:51:17,119 --> 01:51:20,000
representatives. So, I uh just want to

1380
01:51:20,000 --> 01:51:21,360
voice my my displeasure, my

1381
01:51:21,360 --> 01:51:23,679
disappointment at that at that line of

1382
01:51:23,679 --> 01:51:25,360
criticism because I just don't see it to

1383
01:51:25,360 --> 01:51:28,080
be a constructive one. Uh I see you guys

1384
01:51:28,080 --> 01:51:30,320
working a ton of hours uh volunteering

1385
01:51:30,320 --> 01:51:32,239
your time away from your your families

1386
01:51:32,239 --> 01:51:35,600
and as as Sher said, you know, always

1387
01:51:35,600 --> 01:51:37,840
maintaining decorum in these council

1388
01:51:37,840 --> 01:51:39,679
meetings even when things get heated.

1389
01:51:39,679 --> 01:51:43,119
So, um I I just have to make that public

1390
01:51:43,119 --> 01:51:45,679
comment and voice my approval of what

1391
01:51:45,679 --> 01:51:49,199
you guys do and uh the heavy um burden

1392
01:51:49,199 --> 01:51:51,040
that you have of of weighing these

1393
01:51:51,040 --> 01:51:52,560
decisions and then coming out with

1394
01:51:52,560 --> 01:51:55,119
informed uh public opinions on them. So,

1395
01:51:55,119 --> 01:51:57,840
thank you.

1396
01:51:57,840 --> 01:52:00,719
>> I think next um when we get back in, we

1397
01:52:00,719 --> 01:52:02,320
can we can circle back. Um there's still

1398
01:52:02,320 --> 01:52:06,560
one more person online. Um um EK, I'm

1399
01:52:06,560 --> 01:52:08,960
going to promote you. He'll be next. And

1400
01:52:08,960 --> 01:52:11,599
Ethan, I will try to

1401
01:52:11,599 --> 01:52:15,199
>> demote you back to an attendee.

1402
01:52:15,199 --> 01:52:25,430
>> Thank you.

1403
01:52:25,440 --> 01:52:29,030
» Try that again.

1404
01:52:29,040 --> 01:52:32,320
Um, EK online, you should get a um There

1405
01:52:32,320 --> 01:52:42,229
we go.

1406
01:52:42,239 --> 01:52:44,159
If you want to turn your camera on and

1407
01:52:44,159 --> 01:52:47,280
unmute yourself, you are

1408
01:52:47,280 --> 01:53:03,350
the time to do that.

1409
01:53:03,360 --> 01:53:04,880
» Sorry, EK. We don't know your full name,

1410
01:53:04,880 --> 01:53:07,119
but uh you you're been promoted to a

1411
01:53:07,119 --> 01:53:08,880
panelist. We can at least see that

1412
01:53:08,880 --> 01:53:10,639
you're online and um if you unmute

1413
01:53:10,639 --> 01:53:11,920
yourself and turn your camera on, we

1414
01:53:11,920 --> 01:53:19,750
should be able to hear you. Uh Ed Hall,

1415
01:53:19,760 --> 01:53:20,719
» he's saying, "Sorry, I'm having

1416
01:53:20,719 --> 01:53:21,440
technical issues."

1417
01:53:21,440 --> 01:53:22,159
>> Okay.

1418
01:53:22,159 --> 01:53:25,280
>> All right. Uh no worries. Um we'll we'll

1419
01:53:25,280 --> 01:53:28,000
there's another opportunity. Um we can

1420
01:53:28,000 --> 01:53:30,800
try you again uh later. Um if you'd

1421
01:53:30,800 --> 01:53:34,239
like. Um, I do the chat is way around

1422
01:53:34,239 --> 01:53:36,080
the room. I do see that you're having

1423
01:53:36,080 --> 01:53:38,239
some technical problems. All right. Um,

1424
01:53:38,239 --> 01:53:40,480
thank you. Um, I don't see anyone else

1425
01:53:40,480 --> 01:53:42,880
online. Uh, Keith, if you have a follow,

1426
01:53:42,880 --> 01:53:52,149
you feel free to come up.

1427
01:53:52,159 --> 01:53:55,840
» Still in the same place I did.

1428
01:53:55,840 --> 01:53:59,040
So I think and I'm going to try to

1429
01:53:59,040 --> 01:54:01,199
reframe the first amendment question of

1430
01:54:01,199 --> 01:54:03,679
the issue right is

1431
01:54:03,679 --> 01:54:05,920
um that

1432
01:54:05,920 --> 01:54:08,000
justice Brand I said right in democracy

1433
01:54:08,000 --> 01:54:09,440
the most important job is that of

1434
01:54:09,440 --> 01:54:11,440
citizen I would very much expect and I

1435
01:54:11,440 --> 01:54:13,520
would hope and I could want my council

1436
01:54:13,520 --> 01:54:18,239
to make known their views. I think

1437
01:54:18,239 --> 01:54:20,400
Facebook for all of its limitations has

1438
01:54:20,400 --> 01:54:22,960
been incredibly valuable around this and

1439
01:54:22,960 --> 01:54:25,040
other issues, right? Like I would like

1440
01:54:25,040 --> 01:54:27,599
to know and not everyone can make the

1441
01:54:27,599 --> 01:54:29,280
these meetings. So so knowing your

1442
01:54:29,280 --> 01:54:32,960
positions is incredibly valuable. Um I

1443
01:54:32,960 --> 01:54:35,760
think the as I understood sort of the

1444
01:54:35,760 --> 01:54:40,880
concern which I also shared is that when

1445
01:54:40,880 --> 01:54:44,560
a position is sponsored and the

1446
01:54:44,560 --> 01:54:47,280
advertisement of that position is

1447
01:54:47,280 --> 01:54:52,239
sponsored um in connection with that of

1448
01:54:52,239 --> 01:54:54,960
an elected official as opposed to right

1449
01:54:54,960 --> 01:54:58,880
I'm not saying that anyone of you can go

1450
01:54:58,880 --> 01:55:01,760
on Facebook and state your position

1451
01:55:01,760 --> 01:55:04,080
That's exactly where I would want it. A

1452
01:55:04,080 --> 01:55:07,119
letter to my house like Mayor Kenny did.

1453
01:55:07,119 --> 01:55:09,040
Highly appropriate whether I agree,

1454
01:55:09,040 --> 01:55:10,960
disagree, content neutral comes to my

1455
01:55:10,960 --> 01:55:15,599
house. Perfect. Not an issue. It's when

1456
01:55:15,599 --> 01:55:19,280
a corporation that has a vested interest

1457
01:55:19,280 --> 01:55:25,040
on an issue that is subject to elect

1458
01:55:25,040 --> 01:55:27,520
then has the name of individuals on the

1459
01:55:27,520 --> 01:55:31,920
council some of whom are up for election

1460
01:55:31,920 --> 01:55:34,560
is then sent to my house or hung on my

1461
01:55:34,560 --> 01:55:38,400
door then has a different connotation

1462
01:55:38,400 --> 01:55:41,199
than simply the post on Facebook or the

1463
01:55:41,199 --> 01:55:43,280
letter right because at that point then

1464
01:55:43,280 --> 01:55:46,159
you then that marry the two which are

1465
01:55:46,159 --> 01:55:49,679
otherwise obvious alignment issues. So I

1466
01:55:49,679 --> 01:55:52,719
think the concern is is whether it may

1467
01:55:52,719 --> 01:55:57,440
be legal right is different than the

1468
01:55:57,440 --> 01:56:00,400
impression or the feeling it leaves

1469
01:56:00,400 --> 01:56:03,199
among residents. So as I understood it

1470
01:56:03,199 --> 01:56:05,679
the concern is while maybe technically

1471
01:56:05,679 --> 01:56:09,520
legal as many things are technically

1472
01:56:09,520 --> 01:56:14,320
legal doesn't at the end of the day

1473
01:56:14,320 --> 01:56:16,960
that it leaves the residents feeling

1474
01:56:16,960 --> 01:56:21,360
comfortable. And here in the burrow, I

1475
01:56:21,360 --> 01:56:23,599
think the goal and the hope is that our

1476
01:56:23,599 --> 01:56:26,159
elected officials aren't simply doing

1477
01:56:26,159 --> 01:56:29,040
what is at the bare minimum legal, but

1478
01:56:29,040 --> 01:56:31,280
are actually striving for a higher

1479
01:56:31,280 --> 01:56:35,040
standard. So, I'm not saying I'm not

1480
01:56:35,040 --> 01:56:36,800
speaking to the legality. I'm just

1481
01:56:36,800 --> 01:56:40,000
simply trying to reframe the issue. I'm

1482
01:56:40,000 --> 01:56:42,239
not talking about autocracy. on. I'm

1483
01:56:42,239 --> 01:56:43,840
simply saying is I want to know your

1484
01:56:43,840 --> 01:56:45,840
opinions. I think it's appropriate. I

1485
01:56:45,840 --> 01:56:48,000
think just the issue as I see it here

1486
01:56:48,000 --> 01:56:50,480
was that the attachment between the

1487
01:56:50,480 --> 01:56:52,880
corporation and the individuals

1488
01:56:52,880 --> 01:56:54,159
particularly when they have some of the

1489
01:56:54,159 --> 01:56:55,280
individuals because they're not saying

1490
01:56:55,280 --> 01:56:57,440
Joe Schmo is supporting, right? They're

1491
01:56:57,440 --> 01:56:59,119
not saying, you know, Keith Hubby is

1492
01:56:59,119 --> 01:57:01,599
supporting or not or opposing. What

1493
01:57:01,599 --> 01:57:03,040
they're saying is that the elected

1494
01:57:03,040 --> 01:57:05,280
officials and tying that to the

1495
01:57:05,280 --> 01:57:09,119
corporation that's back in the um

1496
01:57:09,119 --> 01:57:12,480
leafleting and election. So, but again I

1497
01:57:12,480 --> 01:57:16,070
may be mistaken.

1498
01:57:16,080 --> 01:57:19,360
» Thank you very much for that.

1499
01:57:19,360 --> 01:57:20,800
But it's not about the right of the

1500
01:57:20,800 --> 01:57:21,679
council to speak.

1501
01:57:21,679 --> 01:57:25,669
>> Sorry.

1502
01:57:25,679 --> 01:57:27,199
I'm I'm not interrupting you because I

1503
01:57:27,199 --> 01:57:28,560
don't want you to speak and there are

1504
01:57:28,560 --> 01:57:30,000
people watching online that won't be

1505
01:57:30,000 --> 01:57:32,480
able to hear you and and I I want to

1506
01:57:32,480 --> 01:57:34,320
>> maintain some type of organization for

1507
01:57:34,320 --> 01:57:35,280
the meeting in the room.

1508
01:57:35,280 --> 01:57:37,119
>> So anyway, I appreciate your clarity on

1509
01:57:37,119 --> 01:57:38,560
the issues. I appreciate you letting me

1510
01:57:38,560 --> 01:57:40,000
know. I'm just simply how do you need

1511
01:57:40,000 --> 01:57:42,960
New Jersey American water that's helping

1512
01:57:42,960 --> 01:57:48,310
understood

1513
01:57:48,320 --> 01:57:50,639
and uh

1514
01:57:50,639 --> 01:57:53,599
do one last check

1515
01:57:53,599 --> 01:57:56,000
online. I'm

1516
01:57:56,000 --> 01:57:58,159
not

1517
01:57:58,159 --> 01:58:01,679
uh seeing anyone. Okay, EK, your hand is

1518
01:58:01,679 --> 01:58:03,360
still up. If you could lower it and

1519
01:58:03,360 --> 01:58:04,480
raise it again if you'd like to be

1520
01:58:04,480 --> 01:58:05,440
recognized. You want to give this

1521
01:58:05,440 --> 01:58:07,920
another try?

1522
01:58:07,920 --> 01:58:14,550
Okay, we will give it another go.

1523
01:58:14,560 --> 01:58:16,960
» I'm so sorry. Can you hear me now?

1524
01:58:16,960 --> 01:58:18,560
>> We can. Can't see you though. If you

1525
01:58:18,560 --> 01:58:20,000
could try your your camera, that'd be

1526
01:58:20,000 --> 01:58:23,119
>> gonna try it. But I

1527
01:58:23,119 --> 01:58:24,719
Let me see if it if it lets me do this

1528
01:58:24,719 --> 01:58:27,040
here. Oh, okay. Great.

1529
01:58:27,040 --> 01:58:29,840
>> Just your name and uh please uh make

1530
01:58:29,840 --> 01:58:31,199
your question.

1531
01:58:31,199 --> 01:58:34,400
>> Um my name is Alyssa Cap. Um I'm I'm

1532
01:58:34,400 --> 01:58:36,159
just with a quick clarification

1533
01:58:36,159 --> 01:58:38,000
question. Um I appreciate the

1534
01:58:38,000 --> 01:58:40,639
clarification earlier that the um any

1535
01:58:40,639 --> 01:58:44,080
arrays of rates would require the uh BPU

1536
01:58:44,080 --> 01:58:47,440
to um to approve that. Um but does that

1537
01:58:47,440 --> 01:58:50,080
include things like fees, delivery fees,

1538
01:58:50,080 --> 01:58:52,080
service fees, things like that? Is that

1539
01:58:52,080 --> 01:58:54,000
something that the BPU would still have

1540
01:58:54,000 --> 01:58:56,080
full jurisdiction over or is this

1541
01:58:56,080 --> 01:58:58,239
something that the uh private company

1542
01:58:58,239 --> 01:59:00,400
could decide to change or add new fees

1543
01:59:00,400 --> 01:59:04,719
or anything like that? I understand that it we have to be kind of discreet

1544
01:59:04,719 --> 01:59:06,800
about the um the language that we're

1545
01:59:06,800 --> 01:59:08,639
using and I know that rates has been

1546
01:59:08,639 --> 01:59:10,400
used specifically here and I'm curious

1547
01:59:10,400 --> 01:59:12,480
as to why that is. Uh thank you very

1548
01:59:12,480 --> 01:59:13,760
much.

1549
01:59:13,760 --> 01:59:15,440
>> That's a that's an excellent question.

1550
01:59:15,440 --> 01:59:19,360
Um I'll do my best uh to start and let

1551
01:59:19,360 --> 01:59:21,119
as I always do other people correct me

1552
01:59:21,119 --> 01:59:24,400
when I stumble um or or pick up. So, we

1553
01:59:24,400 --> 01:59:25,840
use the word rate usually pretty

1554
01:59:25,840 --> 01:59:29,520
generically uh to mean everything that

1555
01:59:29,520 --> 01:59:33,840
someone would pay to a regulated um uh

1556
01:59:33,840 --> 01:59:35,840
entity like New Jersey American. So, in

1557
01:59:35,840 --> 01:59:36,400
this case

1558
01:59:36,400 --> 01:59:39,360
>> or us Yes. Uh it has multiple

1559
01:59:39,360 --> 01:59:41,679
components. Our rate is not simple

1560
01:59:41,679 --> 01:59:43,360
because it's tiered, but it's really

1561
01:59:43,360 --> 01:59:46,800
just a a base fee and um amount of

1562
01:59:46,800 --> 01:59:49,440
water. Uh regulated public utilities do

1563
01:59:49,440 --> 01:59:51,040
it differently where there are lots of

1564
01:59:51,040 --> 01:59:53,119
things that all add up to a number. So,

1565
01:59:53,119 --> 01:59:56,000
example, um the example I use, I guess

1566
01:59:56,000 --> 01:59:57,920
just myself personally, you know, I use

1567
01:59:57,920 --> 02:00:01,840
12,000 gallons of water. um based if you

1568
02:00:01,840 --> 02:00:04,480
add up all of those fees which when I

1569
02:00:04,480 --> 02:00:06,159
say rate that's what I mean which is a

1570
02:00:06,159 --> 02:00:09,280
base rate plus the lead service fee plus

1571
02:00:09,280 --> 02:00:12,239
um several other fees whether those are

1572
02:00:12,239 --> 02:00:14,400
also rates but they make up one thing

1573
02:00:14,400 --> 02:00:17,679
that I refer to as as a rate that would

1574
02:00:17,679 --> 02:00:20,480
come out to $781

1575
02:00:20,480 --> 02:00:24,239
I believe for um as if you go to the

1576
02:00:24,239 --> 02:00:26,639
schedule with the or tariff which is

1577
02:00:26,639 --> 02:00:29,119
where these rates are filed and after

1578
02:00:29,119 --> 02:00:30,000
that they're approved by the board of

1579
02:00:30,000 --> 02:00:32,159
public utilities. It is a document that

1580
02:00:32,159 --> 02:00:35,840
lists these things. Um what they all are

1581
02:00:35,840 --> 02:00:39,920
um and uh my understanding is that no um

1582
02:00:39,920 --> 02:00:42,960
uh the company can't just change them.

1583
02:00:42,960 --> 02:00:45,040
They have to go through a process with

1584
02:00:45,040 --> 02:00:46,560
the state and the board of public

1585
02:00:46,560 --> 02:00:48,560
utilities to if they are going to change

1586
02:00:48,560 --> 02:00:50,960
to request them um and have them then

1587
02:00:50,960 --> 02:00:52,880
published in this document called a

1588
02:00:52,880 --> 02:00:56,159
tariff and then that becomes the rate

1589
02:00:56,159 --> 02:00:59,280
that is is paid. So the the the numbers

1590
02:00:59,280 --> 02:01:03,360
that I use um or when I say rate I I

1591
02:01:03,360 --> 02:01:06,080
mean all of those things added together

1592
02:01:06,080 --> 02:01:07,840
some of them are big like the thing for

1593
02:01:07,840 --> 02:01:09,920
the water component and some of them are

1594
02:01:09,920 --> 02:01:11,920
really kind of small like lead service I

1595
02:01:11,920 --> 02:01:13,679
think for that person it's like $40 a

1596
02:01:13,679 --> 02:01:16,480
year or something like that. Um and uh

1597
02:01:16,480 --> 02:01:18,800
but they all go into what I consider a

1598
02:01:18,800 --> 02:01:20,719
rate and what I refer to it and I think

1599
02:01:20,719 --> 02:01:22,719
what the burrow does it includes all of

1600
02:01:22,719 --> 02:01:23,760
those things. Right.

1601
02:01:23,760 --> 02:01:25,199
>> Can I just say thank you for paying the

1602
02:01:25,199 --> 02:01:26,159
cat tax?

1603
02:01:26,159 --> 02:01:27,599
>> Yeah I

1604
02:01:27,599 --> 02:01:30,000
very cute Chinese

1605
02:01:30,000 --> 02:01:32,480
adorable. Um, and just I'm sort of

1606
02:01:32,480 --> 02:01:33,840
saying the same thing, but in other

1607
02:01:33,840 --> 02:01:35,599
words, so if you look at that the

1608
02:01:35,599 --> 02:01:37,440
tariff, which is the big document that

1609
02:01:37,440 --> 02:01:39,760
has all of the rates in it. So there's a

1610
02:01:39,760 --> 02:01:42,560
whole series of rate schedules, right?

1611
02:01:42,560 --> 02:01:44,960
And as as Ryan said, so that the rates

1612
02:01:44,960 --> 02:01:46,639
are kind of broken up into two car

1613
02:01:46,639 --> 02:01:48,320
categories. There are fixed fees or

1614
02:01:48,320 --> 02:01:51,599
rates that you pay per month, for

1615
02:01:51,599 --> 02:01:53,199
example, in New Jersey American or per

1616
02:01:53,199 --> 02:01:54,960
quarter in the bureau. And then you have

1617
02:01:54,960 --> 02:01:56,560
what we call volumetric rates are the

1618
02:01:56,560 --> 02:01:58,000
ones that actually based on how much

1619
02:01:58,000 --> 02:01:59,920
water you use. So those things together

1620
02:01:59,920 --> 02:02:02,080
determine your bill. So each one of

1621
02:02:02,080 --> 02:02:04,320
those components for example with New

1622
02:02:04,320 --> 02:02:07,119
Jersey American is on a separate rate

1623
02:02:07,119 --> 02:02:09,760
schedule in the tariff. Um and they're

1624
02:02:09,760 --> 02:02:11,280
all called out for example in the

1625
02:02:11,280 --> 02:02:12,960
contract. So lead service line

1626
02:02:12,960 --> 02:02:15,840
replacement charge is on its own rate

1627
02:02:15,840 --> 02:02:18,560
schedule. Um the distribution system

1628
02:02:18,560 --> 02:02:20,080
improvement charge is on its own rate

1629
02:02:20,080 --> 02:02:23,040
schedule. So each time um New Jersey

1630
02:02:23,040 --> 02:02:25,280
America or any other utility wants to

1631
02:02:25,280 --> 02:02:28,080
change those rates, they have to file uh

1632
02:02:28,080 --> 02:02:30,639
they they file a BPU and they specify,

1633
02:02:30,639 --> 02:02:32,960
you know, these particular rate

1634
02:02:32,960 --> 02:02:34,159
schedules are going to be changed by

1635
02:02:34,159 --> 02:02:35,679
this much. They literally give them what

1636
02:02:35,679 --> 02:02:38,560
the numbers would be for each case. Um

1637
02:02:38,560 --> 02:02:39,920
and some of those things that the

1638
02:02:39,920 --> 02:02:41,599
fundamental ones change about every two

1639
02:02:41,599 --> 02:02:42,960
years and what's called a base rate

1640
02:02:42,960 --> 02:02:45,040
filing which consider rate. There are

1641
02:02:45,040 --> 02:02:47,520
other rates that are sometimes revised

1642
02:02:47,520 --> 02:02:49,599
uh as much as every six months like the

1643
02:02:49,599 --> 02:02:52,239
lead service line one, excuse me, but

1644
02:02:52,239 --> 02:02:54,320
you can actually go up or down because

1645
02:02:54,320 --> 02:02:55,920
it's literally based on how much money

1646
02:02:55,920 --> 02:02:57,520
they spent in the last six months on

1647
02:02:57,520 --> 02:02:59,040
replacing land service lines. And so

1648
02:02:59,040 --> 02:03:00,960
they do this cold file and says this is

1649
02:03:00,960 --> 02:03:02,239
what we spent. This is how many

1650
02:03:02,239 --> 02:03:03,760
customers we have and this is how we're

1651
02:03:03,760 --> 02:03:07,280
charging to. So um but all those things

1652
02:03:07,280 --> 02:03:08,960
individually have to be approved by the

1653
02:03:08,960 --> 02:03:10,960
BPU and they're all called out in rate

1654
02:03:10,960 --> 02:03:13,599
schedules. The ter is great fun to read.

1655
02:03:13,599 --> 02:03:16,560
It's about 125 page long. Um, but it's

1656
02:03:16,560 --> 02:03:18,239
all there. Um, but that's that's the

1657
02:03:18,239 --> 02:03:20,159
question. So, and and every single one

1658
02:03:20,159 --> 02:03:22,800
of them is regulated by the BPU and it

1659
02:03:22,800 --> 02:03:27,199
has to be approved. Um, yeah. One, just

1660
02:03:27,199 --> 02:03:28,960
for those who do go digging into that

1661
02:03:28,960 --> 02:03:30,800
tariff, one thing that confused many of

1662
02:03:30,800 --> 02:03:32,880
us early on and and we thought almost

1663
02:03:32,880 --> 02:03:35,040
was a mistake is that for the most

1664
02:03:35,040 --> 02:03:36,880
almost entirely I want to say it's it's

1665
02:03:36,880 --> 02:03:39,920
1A which is the the the rates that will

1666
02:03:39,920 --> 02:03:42,560
be charged to the burrow with the

1667
02:03:42,560 --> 02:03:46,480
exception of um fire hydrant fees. Um

1668
02:03:46,480 --> 02:03:48,000
what we will be paying for fire hydrants

1669
02:03:48,000 --> 02:03:49,440
is on a different schedule and it's much

1670
02:03:49,440 --> 02:03:53,199
lower than that schedule suggests. Um,

1671
02:03:53,199 --> 02:03:54,880
we have a we're on a different schedule

1672
02:03:54,880 --> 02:03:57,280
that's that's that's lower for that.

1673
02:03:57,280 --> 02:03:59,520
>> Basically, we would be paying the same

1674
02:03:59,520 --> 02:04:03,119
rates for most things that in

1675
02:04:03,119 --> 02:04:06,080
whole township and would pay, but they

1676
02:04:06,080 --> 02:04:08,239
actually put us on a different rate

1677
02:04:08,239 --> 02:04:10,000
schedule, but the fire monthly fire

1678
02:04:10,000 --> 02:04:11,520
hydrant fees, which is way lower, which

1679
02:04:11,520 --> 02:04:13,440
is actually the same one for and Carver

1680
02:04:13,440 --> 02:04:16,000
City. I get it confused, but we're on

1681
02:04:16,000 --> 02:04:17,280
that same one. So, that's basically

1682
02:04:17,280 --> 02:04:19,199
baked into the contract, and that's it's

1683
02:04:19,199 --> 02:04:21,599
a it's I think $15 a month instead of

1684
02:04:21,599 --> 02:04:24,560
60. So it's a big difference. Um but

1685
02:04:24,560 --> 02:04:27,520
again that's what's called out of the

1686
02:04:27,520 --> 02:04:29,280
contract is these are the rate schedules

1687
02:04:29,280 --> 02:04:32,080
that apply. So in the future any changes

1688
02:04:32,080 --> 02:04:35,199
are applied to those rate schedules. Um

1689
02:04:35,199 --> 02:04:37,840
that's what BPU one of the things that

1690
02:04:37,840 --> 02:04:39,760
BPU reviewed in the contract when they

1691
02:04:39,760 --> 02:04:41,280
looked at all the rate schedules that

1692
02:04:41,280 --> 02:04:42,960
were applied to us and made a

1693
02:04:42,960 --> 02:04:44,800
determination as to whether that was

1694
02:04:44,800 --> 02:04:47,830
movement.

1695
02:04:47,840 --> 02:04:49,199
» Thank you. Thank you.

1696
02:04:49,199 --> 02:04:50,159
>> Thank you. I appreciate the

1697
02:04:50,159 --> 02:04:55,589
clarification.

1698
02:04:55,599 --> 02:04:57,920
Please come.

1699
02:04:57,920 --> 02:05:00,239
>> My name

1700
02:05:00,239 --> 02:05:02,560
Kishman. I live at 59 North Cleveland

1701
02:05:02,560 --> 02:05:04,639
Avenue.

1702
02:05:04,639 --> 02:05:07,920
And I want to make a comment about how

1703
02:05:07,920 --> 02:05:12,480
everybody has um worked on this issue. I

1704
02:05:12,480 --> 02:05:14,320
feel like

1705
02:05:14,320 --> 02:05:16,000
there's been a whole lot of work done on

1706
02:05:16,000 --> 02:05:19,520
this issue. One thing that I was very

1707
02:05:19,520 --> 02:05:22,400
cognizant of was how when David Waldman

1708
02:05:22,400 --> 02:05:29,760
came up to speak on Sunday, he was very appreciative of all the work that

1709
02:05:29,760 --> 02:05:33,599
the council has done. I nearly went over

1710
02:05:33,599 --> 02:05:36,719
those to give great respect and thanks

1711
02:05:36,719 --> 02:05:39,119
for what you've done.

1712
02:05:39,119 --> 02:05:42,960
And I feel that David and Han and the

1713
02:05:42,960 --> 02:05:46,880
water committee have done a ton of work

1714
02:05:46,880 --> 02:05:48,800
and they've done it because they care

1715
02:05:48,800 --> 02:05:51,040
about this town.

1716
02:05:51,040 --> 02:05:53,280
There was not one word of thanks that

1717
02:05:53,280 --> 02:05:55,679
will come has come from you or the

1718
02:05:55,679 --> 02:05:59,360
council in recognizing that they are

1719
02:05:59,360 --> 02:06:02,320
working as you are for the love of this

1720
02:06:02,320 --> 02:06:05,840
town. There's been no thanks. So, I want

1721
02:06:05,840 --> 02:06:09,119
to say thank you very, very much. And

1722
02:06:09,119 --> 02:06:12,880
I'm sorry that when we all come and try

1723
02:06:12,880 --> 02:06:15,440
to contribute to the council, we're all

1724
02:06:15,440 --> 02:06:18,560
treated as if we're sort of interfering

1725
02:06:18,560 --> 02:06:20,560
and making a little bit of trouble for

1726
02:06:20,560 --> 02:06:22,880
you. You do you do you do look as if you

1727
02:06:22,880 --> 02:06:25,520
care, but it I feel like we all feel

1728
02:06:25,520 --> 02:06:29,440
like we're mostly in your way. Um, but I

1729
02:06:29,440 --> 02:06:33,360
thank you for the work you do.

1730
02:06:33,360 --> 02:06:35,520
>> Thank you.

1731
02:06:35,520 --> 02:06:37,920
address that.

1732
02:06:37,920 --> 02:06:43,440
Okay. Um, anyone else in person or

1733
02:06:43,440 --> 02:06:46,079
seeing none, happy to uh seek a motion

1734
02:06:46,079 --> 02:06:47,920
to close the first of two public comment

1735
02:06:47,920 --> 02:06:48,400
sections.

1736
02:06:48,400 --> 02:06:50,000
>> I'll motion.

1737
02:06:50,000 --> 02:06:53,119
>> All in favor? I

1738
02:06:53,119 --> 02:06:56,880
>> uh next item on our agenda is minutes

1739
02:06:56,880 --> 02:06:59,599
from our September 4th meeting. Uh both

1740
02:06:59,599 --> 02:07:03,669
regular and executive session.

1741
02:07:03,679 --> 02:07:08,239
I'll take a motion for for both if I

1742
02:07:08,239 --> 02:07:08,719
move.

1743
02:07:08,719 --> 02:07:09,840
>> Will I have a second?

1744
02:07:09,840 --> 02:07:11,280
>> I'll second.

1745
02:07:11,280 --> 02:07:15,589
>> All in favor?

1746
02:07:15,599 --> 02:07:18,480
» Uh next I've got our consent agenda.

1747
02:07:18,480 --> 02:07:22,000
Item 11, resolutions 2025

1748
02:07:22,000 --> 02:07:26,480
107 to 110. Um,

1749
02:07:26,480 --> 02:07:29,840
couple of uh quick items here. Um, and

1750
02:07:29,840 --> 02:07:31,360
then we'll just wait till everyone uh

1751
02:07:31,360 --> 02:07:33,840
files out and then we'll uh continue our

1752
02:07:33,840 --> 02:07:40,310
business once it's uh fin to here. Um,

1753
02:07:40,320 --> 02:07:42,079
we've got a appointment of our new

1754
02:07:42,079 --> 02:07:44,719
attorney, Mr. side here. Um uh a

1755
02:07:44,719 --> 02:07:49,199
settlement of a peculiar um small piece

1756
02:07:49,199 --> 02:07:51,920
of litigation uh that we dealt with uh

1757
02:07:51,920 --> 02:07:54,560
in executive session. Um final payment

1758
02:07:54,560 --> 02:07:56,239
to close out a road project on Park

1759
02:07:56,239 --> 02:07:58,800
Avenue uh and the hiring of public works

1760
02:07:58,800 --> 02:08:00,880
uh personnel. Um Jared, anything you

1761
02:08:00,880 --> 02:08:02,239
want to add to those or does anyone have

1762
02:08:02,239 --> 02:08:04,239
a question, comment or something like

1763
02:08:04,239 --> 02:08:07,750
pulled out?

1764
02:08:07,760 --> 02:08:09,599
» Seeing

1765
02:08:09,599 --> 02:08:11,199
I'll motion to move all board forward.

1766
02:08:11,199 --> 02:08:12,400
Do I have a second?

1767
02:08:12,400 --> 02:08:13,840
>> Second.

1768
02:08:13,840 --> 02:08:15,599
>> I will receive roll call.

1769
02:08:15,599 --> 02:08:16,239
>> Mr. Fuller.

1770
02:08:16,239 --> 02:08:16,480
>> Yes.

1771
02:08:16,480 --> 02:08:17,199
>> Miss F?

1772
02:08:17,199 --> 02:08:17,520
>> Yes.

1773
02:08:17,520 --> 02:08:18,320
>> Mr. Matthew?

1774
02:08:18,320 --> 02:08:18,719
>> Yes.

1775
02:08:18,719 --> 02:08:19,199
>> Steeler?

1776
02:08:19,199 --> 02:08:19,520
>> Yes.

1777
02:08:19,520 --> 02:08:21,119
>> Miss Weaver's joining us.

1778
02:08:21,119 --> 02:08:22,480
>> Yes.

1779
02:08:22,480 --> 02:08:23,199
>> Welcome.

1780
02:08:23,199 --> 02:08:25,040
>> Thank you.

1781
02:08:25,040 --> 02:08:29,510
>> Congratulations.

1782
02:08:29,520 --> 02:08:32,800
» Next, I will take a motion to approve

1783
02:08:32,800 --> 02:08:36,320
our uh bill list and plans for payment.

1784
02:08:36,320 --> 02:08:36,960
>> I'll move.

1785
02:08:36,960 --> 02:08:38,239
>> Oh, sorry.

1786
02:08:38,239 --> 02:08:39,920
>> All right. That was Deb first, Chris

1787
02:08:39,920 --> 02:08:44,390
second.

1788
02:08:44,400 --> 02:08:46,320
Mr. Culler. Yes. Miss Hook. Yeah. Mr.

1789
02:08:46,320 --> 02:08:46,960
Mackey.

1790
02:08:46,960 --> 02:08:47,440
>> Yes.

1791
02:08:47,440 --> 02:08:48,159
>> Miss Steeler.

1792
02:08:48,159 --> 02:08:48,400
>> Yes.

1793
02:08:48,400 --> 02:08:49,199
>> Miss Weaver. Yes.

1794
02:08:49,199 --> 02:08:50,000
>> Miss Millennials.

1795
02:08:50,000 --> 02:08:51,119
>> Yes.

1796
02:08:51,119 --> 02:08:53,199
>> Uh next we've got a proclamation. I

1797
02:08:53,199 --> 02:08:56,480
believe it was in our packet. Um uh

1798
02:08:56,480 --> 02:08:58,000
rather than read it though, if you could

1799
02:08:58,000 --> 02:08:59,599
I have the invitation we could just give

1800
02:08:59,599 --> 02:09:01,599
everyone the run gown. This is our

1801
02:09:01,599 --> 02:09:03,520
formal thanking the volunteers and

1802
02:09:03,520 --> 02:09:05,360
organization and and for the event

1803
02:09:05,360 --> 02:09:06,880
that's coming up. But since you have the

1804
02:09:06,880 --> 02:09:08,880
details, maybe we could just quickly

1805
02:09:08,880 --> 02:09:12,159
>> Yes. Yes. I had quick. Um, so the unity

1806
02:09:12,159 --> 02:09:13,840
comm community unity is was formerly

1807
02:09:13,840 --> 02:09:16,000
known as women's space communities of

1808
02:09:16,000 --> 02:09:18,480
blight has been moved to October 27th.

1809
02:09:18,480 --> 02:09:20,400
It used to be held in December. It's

1810
02:09:20,400 --> 02:09:22,320
moved to October to coincide with

1811
02:09:22,320 --> 02:09:24,560
domestic violence awareness month. It

1812
02:09:24,560 --> 02:09:31,119
will be Monday, October 27th. Um, and I put one of these flyers in the back so

1813
02:09:31,119 --> 02:09:32,480
folks can take a picture with their

1814
02:09:32,480 --> 02:09:34,079
phone. And we will also be sharing the

1815
02:09:34,079 --> 02:09:36,960
information out via the burough email

1816
02:09:36,960 --> 02:09:39,520
um, and on social media. Um, the

1817
02:09:39,520 --> 02:09:42,239
official burrow lighting will be at 6:15

1818
02:09:42,239 --> 02:09:44,159
p.m., which is about an hour later than

1819
02:09:44,159 --> 02:09:46,320
usual because it will be lighter and so

1820
02:09:46,320 --> 02:09:48,320
we need to wait until laterers and it

1821
02:09:48,320 --> 02:09:50,079
will be dark enough for us to light

1822
02:09:50,079 --> 02:09:54,639
candles. Um, and um there are if if you

1823
02:09:54,639 --> 02:09:56,480
would like to light um in front of your

1824
02:09:56,480 --> 02:09:58,320
home, which would be absolutely

1825
02:09:58,320 --> 02:10:00,800
wonderful. Um the kits are now 12. It's

1826
02:10:00,800 --> 02:10:04,159
a $12 donation to Unity. Um they can be

1827
02:10:04,159 --> 02:10:06,639
picked up at Dandelion Wishes on West

1828
02:10:06,639 --> 02:10:08,480
Broad and Hopewood or at Pennington

1829
02:10:08,480 --> 02:10:10,480
Quality Market as well as many other

1830
02:10:10,480 --> 02:10:12,880
locations throughout Mercer County. And

1831
02:10:12,880 --> 02:10:14,079
um

1832
02:10:14,079 --> 02:10:17,199
>> thank you. Um next we'll do our council

1833
02:10:17,199 --> 02:10:20,480
liaison reports. Um got to get better at

1834
02:10:20,480 --> 02:10:22,159
not surprising people and that that

1835
02:10:22,159 --> 02:10:23,679
seems to be punishing Anthony with going

1836
02:10:23,679 --> 02:10:29,589
first time. So apologies. I will

1837
02:10:29,599 --> 02:10:33,840
» the late of my audience out on

1838
02:10:33,840 --> 02:10:35,440
always do it during

1839
02:10:35,440 --> 02:10:38,480
>> they do it every time.

1840
02:10:38,480 --> 02:10:40,400
>> Yeah. So the the health update for this

1841
02:10:40,400 --> 02:10:42,800
month so on 10th of September we had the

1842
02:10:42,800 --> 02:10:44,400
annual joint meeting for the local

1843
02:10:44,400 --> 02:10:46,560
boards of health right here in Bar Hall.

1844
02:10:46,560 --> 02:10:48,320
um hosted by Gary Dorsy our health

1845
02:10:48,320 --> 02:10:50,320
officer and the two presenters were

1846
02:10:50,320 --> 02:10:51,840
Mackenzie Cobalt who's the executive

1847
02:10:51,840 --> 02:10:53,599
director for public health in Merca

1848
02:10:53,599 --> 02:10:56,239
County and our old friend Sean Jackson

1849
02:10:56,239 --> 02:11:00,159
talking about and work on lead which is

1850
02:11:00,159 --> 02:11:01,440
still a major issue in homes

1851
02:11:01,440 --> 02:11:03,920
particularly in Trenton.

1852
02:11:03,920 --> 02:11:06,320
Um the actual board of health itself

1853
02:11:06,320 --> 02:11:09,440
last met in July. The next and final

1854
02:11:09,440 --> 02:11:12,239
meeting of the year is October 29th. So

1855
02:11:12,239 --> 02:11:14,239
no major updates right now to share with

1856
02:11:14,239 --> 02:11:15,840
everyone

1857
02:11:15,840 --> 02:11:20,400
except for these three things. So um the

1858
02:11:20,400 --> 02:11:22,079
memorandum of understanding with capital

1859
02:11:22,079 --> 02:11:23,679
health for health education services

1860
02:11:23,679 --> 02:11:25,119
have been finalized and that was

1861
02:11:25,119 --> 02:11:26,719
discussed today in terms of what that

1862
02:11:26,719 --> 02:11:30,480
will look like. Um,

1863
02:11:30,480 --> 02:11:31,679
I'm not even sure whether to mention

1864
02:11:31,679 --> 02:11:33,760
this one about planning, but uh I've

1865
02:11:33,760 --> 02:11:36,000
been made aware of a potential

1866
02:11:36,000 --> 02:11:38,880
opportunity for us which is from the New

1867
02:11:38,880 --> 02:11:40,480
Jersey chapter of the American Planning

1868
02:11:40,480 --> 02:11:43,040
Association. They have some funding to

1869
02:11:43,040 --> 02:11:46,079
help make public health a major part of

1870
02:11:46,079 --> 02:11:49,199
the uh the master plan. So they are

1871
02:11:49,199 --> 02:11:51,040
putting together a model master plan of

1872
02:11:51,040 --> 02:11:53,119
public health element that we can use

1873
02:11:53,119 --> 02:11:56,320
and next year uh up to six communities

1874
02:11:56,320 --> 02:11:58,800
will be selected for a grant between 50

1875
02:11:58,800 --> 02:12:01,360
and $100,000 to adopt public health

1876
02:12:01,360 --> 02:12:03,119
master plan. So that may be an

1877
02:12:03,119 --> 02:12:06,239
opportunity for us to look at. Um, and

1878
02:12:06,239 --> 02:12:09,440
then finally on health matters, there

1879
02:12:09,440 --> 02:12:11,679
will be a vote and vax vaccination

1880
02:12:11,679 --> 02:12:13,679
clinic right here in Burough Hall on

1881
02:12:13,679 --> 02:12:16,400
election day 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. This

1882
02:12:16,400 --> 02:12:18,480
year is for the flu vaccine only, not

1883
02:12:18,480 --> 02:12:21,440
for co and uh anybody who wants to take

1884
02:12:21,440 --> 02:12:22,960
advantage, you can bring their insurance

1885
02:12:22,960 --> 02:12:26,480
card or not residency.

1886
02:12:26,480 --> 02:12:26,960
>> That's it.

1887
02:12:26,960 --> 02:12:30,159
>> Thank you. I think

1888
02:12:30,159 --> 02:12:36,239
>> um the green team we are upholding our you know we have it uh three times a

1889
02:12:36,239 --> 02:12:38,880
year. The potluck the next um zero waste

1890
02:12:38,880 --> 02:12:41,280
potluck will be Sunday October 19th from

1891
02:12:41,280 --> 02:12:44,800
5 to 7 and um all are welcome. Um there

1892
02:12:44,800 --> 02:12:47,199
will be an RSVP link that goes out in

1893
02:12:47,199 --> 02:12:49,360
the burrow email and is also on the

1894
02:12:49,360 --> 02:12:51,760
green team website. We're encouraging

1895
02:12:51,760 --> 02:12:54,320
people to use that RSVP link um because

1896
02:12:54,320 --> 02:12:56,320
there is a prize drawing again at this

1897
02:12:56,320 --> 02:12:58,719
that is um funded by the sustainable

1898
02:12:58,719 --> 02:13:02,079
Jersey grant. Again, um our sustainable

1899
02:13:02,079 --> 02:13:04,079
Jersey grant by the way is almost

1900
02:13:04,079 --> 02:13:06,000
complete. Um we're going to be printing

1901
02:13:06,000 --> 02:13:08,320
some educational compost brochures which

1902
02:13:08,320 --> 02:13:10,400
Mercer County Master Gardeners have have

1903
02:13:10,400 --> 02:13:12,400
put together. Um, and we're going to use

1904
02:13:12,400 --> 02:13:14,320
the balance of our funding to purchase

1905
02:13:14,320 --> 02:13:16,159
native plants that will be planted in

1906
02:13:16,159 --> 02:13:18,560
Burough Park by green team volunteers.

1907
02:13:18,560 --> 02:13:20,960
Um, working with Marian Labos who's, you

1908
02:13:20,960 --> 02:13:22,880
know, got a good command of what's going

1909
02:13:22,880 --> 02:13:24,239
on in the park there in terms of

1910
02:13:24,239 --> 02:13:28,719
planting. Um, on Thursday, October 23rd

1911
02:13:28,719 --> 02:13:30,960
at 6:00 p.m. at the train station will

1912
02:13:30,960 --> 02:13:32,880
be the Hopewell Valley Green Team's

1913
02:13:32,880 --> 02:13:35,440
annual green gathering. Um, that is for

1914
02:13:35,440 --> 02:13:38,079
local environmental activists as well as

1915
02:13:38,079 --> 02:13:40,239
local community leaders. Um, everyone up

1916
02:13:40,239 --> 02:13:42,560
here should have gotten an invitation.

1917
02:13:42,560 --> 02:13:46,400
Um, and um, so the RSVPs are to Joanne

1918
02:13:46,400 --> 02:13:48,719
Held and the two topics are energy

1919
02:13:48,719 --> 02:13:51,520
planning and also recycling the next big

1920
02:13:51,520 --> 02:13:54,159
steps. Um, the green team will be at the

1921
02:13:54,159 --> 02:13:56,239
farmers market this Sunday from 9 to 1,

1922
02:13:56,239 --> 02:13:58,320
collecting hard to recycle items. And

1923
02:13:58,320 --> 02:14:00,239
next month, November 9th, will be our

1924
02:14:00,239 --> 02:14:02,480
last um appearance at the farmers market

1925
02:14:02,480 --> 02:14:05,280
for the season. And our next meeting

1926
02:14:05,280 --> 02:14:07,280
will be Wednesday, November 5th at 700

1927
02:14:07,280 --> 02:14:09,360
p.m. at the Hope Public Library. and we

1928
02:14:09,360 --> 02:14:11,920
always welcome his volunteers

1929
02:14:11,920 --> 02:14:14,480
and open space did not be good. Thank

1930
02:14:14,480 --> 02:14:16,239
you.

1931
02:14:16,239 --> 02:14:19,280
>> Hi. Okay. Um so Jerry probably has to

1932
02:14:19,280 --> 02:14:20,960
say in his notes as well, but the

1933
02:14:20,960 --> 02:14:22,880
building committee is excited to

1934
02:14:22,880 --> 02:14:25,119
announce that the uh burough hall has

1935
02:14:25,119 --> 02:14:28,560
started to get little facelift. Um Alan

1936
02:14:28,560 --> 02:14:30,639
and his team were able to do some um

1937
02:14:30,639 --> 02:14:33,520
power washing and get the uh rear area

1938
02:14:33,520 --> 02:14:36,480
of the uni painted. So, it's looking

1939
02:14:36,480 --> 02:14:38,639
really good along with the flowers that

1940
02:14:38,639 --> 02:14:42,239
were planted. Um, personnel was

1941
02:14:42,239 --> 02:14:44,639
mentioned that uh we have the laborer

1942
02:14:44,639 --> 02:14:47,119
that's going to start on the 27th. I'm

1943
02:14:47,119 --> 02:14:49,199
very happy to get more help out for Alan

1944
02:14:49,199 --> 02:14:52,639
and his team. Um, the library has a lot

1945
02:14:52,639 --> 02:14:55,679
going on as always. Um, their survey is

1946
02:14:55,679 --> 02:14:57,760
out and there are it's broken up into

1947
02:14:57,760 --> 02:14:59,280
different age groups. So, we encourage

1948
02:14:59,280 --> 02:15:01,920
you to go to the library website um or

1949
02:15:01,920 --> 02:15:05,199
send your kids or your neighbors to um

1950
02:15:05,199 --> 02:15:07,040
let them provide feedback as to what

1951
02:15:07,040 --> 02:15:09,599
they uh envision the library to be in

1952
02:15:09,599 --> 02:15:11,040
the future. They want to hear from

1953
02:15:11,040 --> 02:15:13,040
everyone. So, we urge as many people to

1954
02:15:13,040 --> 02:15:15,760
go as possible. Um they also have really

1955
02:15:15,760 --> 02:15:17,440
cool event coming up called the Colonial

1956
02:15:17,440 --> 02:15:20,560
Taverns Libation and Liberty event. It's

1957
02:15:20,560 --> 02:15:22,800
going to be held at the Hope Theater on

1958
02:15:22,800 --> 02:15:26,480
October 22nd. Um it's free as is

1959
02:15:26,480 --> 02:15:28,800
everything that the library does. Um

1960
02:15:28,800 --> 02:15:31,199
we're going to be serving um some drinks

1961
02:15:31,199 --> 02:15:33,920
and food that are typical of colonial

1962
02:15:33,920 --> 02:15:37,360
times. Um that's all I have should be

1963
02:15:37,360 --> 02:15:39,440
done

1964
02:15:39,440 --> 02:15:52,149
like

1965
02:15:52,159 --> 02:15:55,510
» I know.

1966
02:15:55,520 --> 02:15:58,719
fire department made 38 calls last

1967
02:15:58,719 --> 02:16:03,040
month. EMS made 58 calls and Jerry, just

1968
02:16:03,040 --> 02:16:06,960
a heads up, the old topic of getting our

1969
02:16:06,960 --> 02:16:09,440
DPW guys certified as firefighters came

1970
02:16:09,440 --> 02:16:11,280
up again. I thought we'd forgotten about

1971
02:16:11,280 --> 02:16:14,400
that, but um I think the new young guy

1972
02:16:14,400 --> 02:16:16,079
now, they're they're really interested

1973
02:16:16,079 --> 02:16:18,560
in that. So I'm just Anybody have a

1974
02:16:18,560 --> 02:16:21,360
heads up if they're interested in that?

1975
02:16:21,360 --> 02:16:22,000
Um

1976
02:16:22,000 --> 02:16:24,239
>> the DPW guys are interested or

1977
02:16:24,239 --> 02:16:26,400
>> No,

1978
02:16:26,400 --> 02:16:28,800
activating. It's a thing.

1979
02:16:28,800 --> 02:16:31,520
>> It's a challenging time management

1980
02:16:31,520 --> 02:16:32,399
challenge.

1981
02:16:32,399 --> 02:16:35,920
>> Yeah. But I'm just like, you know, um

1982
02:16:35,920 --> 02:16:38,160
EDC couldn't make quorum, so they didn't

1983
02:16:38,160 --> 02:16:43,120
meet, but I went to uh Princeton

1984
02:16:43,120 --> 02:16:45,920
Chamber of Commerce kickoff event for

1985
02:16:45,920 --> 02:16:48,479
the Independent Business Association

1986
02:16:48,479 --> 02:16:52,160
meeting and it was a networking event

1987
02:16:52,160 --> 02:16:54,240
for small businesses, but I got to talk

1988
02:16:54,240 --> 02:16:57,599
to Anthony Caribelli Jr. who's the

1989
02:16:57,599 --> 02:17:00,080
director of Mercer County Economic

1990
02:17:00,080 --> 02:17:04,399
Development Department. Um and really

1991
02:17:04,399 --> 02:17:07,920
nice guy uh basically said that he has

1992
02:17:07,920 --> 02:17:10,240
out of all the municipalities in Mercer

1993
02:17:10,240 --> 02:17:11,599
County has spent the least amount of

1994
02:17:11,599 --> 02:17:14,880
time here. So was really open to us

1995
02:17:14,880 --> 02:17:19,760
doing some um events and it it

1996
02:17:19,760 --> 02:17:22,000
corresponds nicely with this survey that

1997
02:17:22,000 --> 02:17:23,359
we're doing with businesses to figure

1998
02:17:23,359 --> 02:17:26,479
out how we can help them bring some free

1999
02:17:26,479 --> 02:17:28,399
programming to them. So

2000
02:17:28,399 --> 02:17:30,319
>> try to move that forward. It's hard when

2001
02:17:30,319 --> 02:17:32,319
there's no meeting, but I might have a

2002
02:17:32,319 --> 02:17:35,359
little subcommittee. So,

2003
02:17:35,359 --> 02:17:38,080
>> um, senior advisory

2004
02:17:38,080 --> 02:17:40,719
board, they had their annual picnic last

2005
02:17:40,719 --> 02:17:43,120
month. Did you go to that, Brian?

2006
02:17:43,120 --> 02:17:47,359
>> Thank you for highlighting my

2007
02:17:47,359 --> 02:17:52,479
>> So, unfortunately, the burrow had it was on September 11th, which was like

2008
02:17:52,479 --> 02:17:56,319
>> Yeah. Um, but the AAP safe drivers class

2009
02:17:56,319 --> 02:18:01,040
is um October 28th. I don't know what

2010
02:18:01,040 --> 02:18:02,800
qualify for that, but it might be might

2011
02:18:02,800 --> 02:18:04,880
be my turn to go to that. Uh, and

2012
02:18:04,880 --> 02:18:07,280
lastly, Shade Tree Committee, the

2013
02:18:07,280 --> 02:18:10,160
celebration tree program is up and

2014
02:18:10,160 --> 02:18:11,280
running. We're going to have a big

2015
02:18:11,280 --> 02:18:14,639
launch, I think, in the spring. And,

2016
02:18:14,639 --> 02:18:17,519
um, I'm going to I'm hesitated saying

2017
02:18:17,519 --> 02:18:19,120
this, but it's such a cool idea that I'm

2018
02:18:19,120 --> 02:18:20,639
going to say it anyways. You know that

2019
02:18:20,639 --> 02:18:22,719
huge asht tree on Broad Street right

2020
02:18:22,719 --> 02:18:25,120
across from Mercer unfortunately died

2021
02:18:25,120 --> 02:18:26,559
which is a huge bummer.

2022
02:18:26,559 --> 02:18:27,840
>> I mean it looked

2023
02:18:27,840 --> 02:18:29,840
>> I know I know but they did all that

2024
02:18:29,840 --> 02:18:31,120
work.

2025
02:18:31,120 --> 02:18:32,800
>> Well no one knows why. Um

2026
02:18:32,800 --> 02:18:34,719
>> but it seemed to happen abruptly.

2027
02:18:34,719 --> 02:18:35,519
>> Yeah I I

2028
02:18:35,519 --> 02:18:37,599
>> and I couldn't imagine it still you know

2029
02:18:37,599 --> 02:18:39,519
>> I know

2030
02:18:39,519 --> 02:18:41,040
>> but that's got to come down because it's

2031
02:18:41,040 --> 02:18:44,319
actually very dangerous now. But my idea

2032
02:18:44,319 --> 02:18:46,639
was and I talked to Bill Glemer who said

2033
02:18:46,639 --> 02:18:48,240
it was possible. Whoever cuts it down,

2034
02:18:48,240 --> 02:18:49,519
which is we haven't figured this out

2035
02:18:49,519 --> 02:18:52,960
yet, to save a huge crosssection cuz I

2036
02:18:52,960 --> 02:18:54,960
think it's like the oldest tree in the

2037
02:18:54,960 --> 02:18:56,719
burrow.

2038
02:18:56,719 --> 02:18:57,200
>> What?

2039
02:18:57,200 --> 02:18:57,840
>> Make a

2040
02:18:57,840 --> 02:19:00,559
>> No, no, not

2041
02:19:00,559 --> 02:19:02,880
to the school and they can actually like

2042
02:19:02,880 --> 02:19:05,679
mark the history of hope on the rings or

2043
02:19:05,679 --> 02:19:06,080
something.

2044
02:19:06,080 --> 02:19:07,040
>> No, you can do you go to

2045
02:19:07,040 --> 02:19:08,800
dendocronologist and they'll figure all

2046
02:19:08,800 --> 02:19:10,399
that out.

2047
02:19:10,399 --> 02:19:11,840
>> Dendocrinologist.

2048
02:19:11,840 --> 02:19:14,399
>> See, this is why do we even give that

2049
02:19:14,399 --> 02:19:16,240
word? No, it's a great

2050
02:19:16,240 --> 02:19:19,120
>> All right, I'm following up with and and

2051
02:19:19,120 --> 02:19:21,040
furthermore, we talked about what else

2052
02:19:21,040 --> 02:19:22,800
to do with that wood, and it turns out

2053
02:19:22,800 --> 02:19:24,960
that our newest member of the Jade

2054
02:19:24,960 --> 02:19:28,240
community, so Sonia Cotton's husband,

2055
02:19:28,240 --> 02:19:31,280
has been studying natural playground

2056
02:19:31,280 --> 02:19:33,439
design.

2057
02:19:33,439 --> 02:19:35,359
>> So, he got really excited that we could

2058
02:19:35,359 --> 02:19:37,200
use this

2059
02:19:37,200 --> 02:19:39,120
immense amount of wood to build some

2060
02:19:39,120 --> 02:19:40,639
kind of natural playground somewhere.

2061
02:19:40,639 --> 02:19:41,920
So, anyway, so stay tuned.

2062
02:19:41,920 --> 02:19:43,760
>> A lot of things to think about. That ash

2063
02:19:43,760 --> 02:19:53,190
is it's it's ours to we

2064
02:19:53,200 --> 02:19:55,040
» know it's on there on their property.

2065
02:19:55,040 --> 02:19:56,000
>> Beautiful,

2066
02:19:56,000 --> 02:19:56,880
>> right? It's on there.

2067
02:19:56,880 --> 02:19:58,880
>> It's not a shade tree. It's just a tree.

2068
02:19:58,880 --> 02:20:00,000
It's just it's

2069
02:20:00,000 --> 02:20:02,560
>> it really it really and I kept kept

2070
02:20:02,560 --> 02:20:04,720
wondering why it was still alive if it

2071
02:20:04,720 --> 02:20:06,160
was an ashy unless they were treating

2072
02:20:06,160 --> 02:20:06,720
it,

2073
02:20:06,720 --> 02:20:08,319
>> right?

2074
02:20:08,319 --> 02:20:10,160
We have one about that diameter. Not

2075
02:20:10,160 --> 02:20:11,439
beautiful, but um

2076
02:20:11,439 --> 02:20:13,200
>> yeah. Oh,

2077
02:20:13,200 --> 02:20:14,560
>> so Jerry, that thing's going to be hard

2078
02:20:14,560 --> 02:20:15,680
to take down. So, we're gonna have to

2079
02:20:15,680 --> 02:20:18,080
>> clo.

2080
02:20:18,080 --> 02:20:20,720
So, Sonia's gonna talk to the woman

2081
02:20:20,720 --> 02:20:23,200
because I guess that's a rental house.

2082
02:20:23,200 --> 02:20:25,200
>> So, what do you think we're This is an

2083
02:20:25,200 --> 02:20:30,790
interesting time.

2084
02:20:30,800 --> 02:20:34,560
» No one's bad at trees or

2085
02:20:34,560 --> 02:20:37,040
>> Okay, I'm done.

2086
02:20:37,040 --> 02:20:40,000
Uh David

2087
02:20:40,000 --> 02:20:46,160
um water. So um my thanks to

2088
02:20:46,160 --> 02:20:48,800
committee members, our professionals,

2089
02:20:48,800 --> 02:20:51,680
Richie, Christine, everyone who helped

2090
02:20:51,680 --> 02:20:54,319
with the FAQ,

2091
02:20:54,319 --> 02:20:58,240
not only preparing it, distributing it,

2092
02:20:58,240 --> 02:21:00,640
stuffing envelopes. I did some but only

2093
02:21:00,640 --> 02:21:03,840
a fraction. Um but we wanted

2094
02:21:03,840 --> 02:21:06,000
>> 120. Pardon? We did 120

2095
02:21:06,000 --> 02:21:07,840
>> ideally

2096
02:21:07,840 --> 02:21:09,200
blocked me in the building. She left at

2097
02:21:09,200 --> 02:21:10,399
the other day and said, "All right, I'm

2098
02:21:10,399 --> 02:21:11,600
going to find you here in the morning or

2099
02:21:11,600 --> 02:21:13,280
what?" I said, "No, but I heard for a

2100
02:21:13,280 --> 02:21:15,280
couple hours and now I know when we do

2101
02:21:15,280 --> 02:21:17,359
those public notifications how much of a

2102
02:21:17,359 --> 02:21:21,200
bear it really is that stuff under the

2103
02:21:21,200 --> 02:21:24,080
arc." But anyway, thank you so much. Um,

2104
02:21:24,080 --> 02:21:25,680
I'll just say it's a living document.

2105
02:21:25,680 --> 02:21:29,120
We're already um working on additions to

2106
02:21:29,120 --> 02:21:31,439
it. Had some more questions come up. So,

2107
02:21:31,439 --> 02:21:32,720
the online version, I don't think we're

2108
02:21:32,720 --> 02:21:35,040
going to keep mailing them, but I think

2109
02:21:35,040 --> 02:21:36,720
to get them out there, let everybody

2110
02:21:36,720 --> 02:21:38,880
know that there are updates available uh

2111
02:21:38,880 --> 02:21:44,399
as they come available. Um, and uh well,

2112
02:21:44,399 --> 02:21:46,800
I guess we had our September 11th

2113
02:21:46,800 --> 02:21:48,560
presentation, right, which was uh and

2114
02:21:48,560 --> 02:21:50,880
again, thanks to everyone who helped and

2115
02:21:50,880 --> 02:21:53,439
thanks to everyone who attended um you

2116
02:21:53,439 --> 02:21:54,960
know, to take the time together. It was

2117
02:21:54,960 --> 02:21:57,600
long with both, you know, four hours.

2118
02:21:57,600 --> 02:21:58,960
So, not everybody sat through the whole

2119
02:21:58,960 --> 02:22:01,920
thing, but um we didn't have to. Um

2120
02:22:01,920 --> 02:22:07,200
anyway, very appreciative. Um it's it's good to be in a community where

2121
02:22:07,200 --> 02:22:08,720
people are paying attention and are

2122
02:22:08,720 --> 02:22:11,920
willing to invest that kind of time. So,

2123
02:22:11,920 --> 02:22:15,760
thank you. um and

2124
02:22:15,760 --> 02:22:17,760
planning for it. I'm going to let you

2125
02:22:17,760 --> 02:22:19,520
talk about it if you want. Sure. Okay.

2126
02:22:19,520 --> 02:22:30,070
But I'll but other than that on water um

2127
02:22:30,080 --> 02:22:32,880
» um so today we they did the cops and

2128
02:22:32,880 --> 02:22:36,479
cross dogs thing today. Correct. Um I

2129
02:22:36,479 --> 02:22:38,960
was unable to attend unfortunately but

2130
02:22:38,960 --> 02:22:41,840
I'm happy to um work with the Humble

2131
02:22:41,840 --> 02:22:43,200
Township Police Department to make it

2132
02:22:43,200 --> 02:22:45,120
happen. And this is essentially when a

2133
02:22:45,120 --> 02:22:46,960
plane closed officer goes out and

2134
02:22:46,960 --> 02:22:49,040
attempts to cross the street. There's

2135
02:22:49,040 --> 02:22:50,880
other officers waiting around. So if

2136
02:22:50,880 --> 02:22:52,880
there's any sort of violation, the other

2137
02:22:52,880 --> 02:22:54,560
officers will pull over the driver and

2138
02:22:54,560 --> 02:22:56,560
either give them a warning or a ticket.

2139
02:22:56,560 --> 02:22:58,880
Um so I'm excited to hear the results of

2140
02:22:58,880 --> 02:23:00,560
that. I know they had aimed to be there

2141
02:23:00,560 --> 02:23:03,600
at rush hour in the morning but had some

2142
02:23:03,600 --> 02:23:05,439
staffing interest and got there a little

2143
02:23:05,439 --> 02:23:07,600
bit later. Um, and this will be an

2144
02:23:07,600 --> 02:23:09,760
ongoing thing. So, we will probably do

2145
02:23:09,760 --> 02:23:11,280
some announcement like, hey, this week

2146
02:23:11,280 --> 02:23:14,479
it's happening, but you know, it's it's

2147
02:23:14,479 --> 02:23:17,920
not we're never trying to get obviously

2148
02:23:17,920 --> 02:23:19,359
um we want it to be an education

2149
02:23:19,359 --> 02:23:21,840
experience to learn. There's some laws

2150
02:23:21,840 --> 02:23:23,680
that maybe we don't even know or we

2151
02:23:23,680 --> 02:23:26,560
forget, but it is just being mindful of

2152
02:23:26,560 --> 02:23:28,800
the pedestrians. roads have many users

2153
02:23:28,800 --> 02:23:30,560
and everyone has a right to use the

2154
02:23:30,560 --> 02:23:34,319
road. Um we are having our kickoff

2155
02:23:34,319 --> 02:23:37,120
meeting with the with um WSP the

2156
02:23:37,120 --> 02:23:39,280
engineers that we selected the design

2157
02:23:39,280 --> 02:23:40,960
assistance portion of our safe routes to

2158
02:23:40,960 --> 02:23:42,319
school grant in a couple of weeks.

2159
02:23:42,319 --> 02:23:44,640
Actually ran into one of their members

2160
02:23:44,640 --> 02:23:46,399
just out and about and they are very

2161
02:23:46,399 --> 02:23:48,080
excited to work with us. So I'm looking

2162
02:23:48,080 --> 02:23:51,040
forward to that. Um, we Jerry and I met

2163
02:23:51,040 --> 02:23:52,479
with the Delaware Valley Regional

2164
02:23:52,479 --> 02:23:54,720
Planning Commission to talk about

2165
02:23:54,720 --> 02:23:56,240
implementing our complete and green

2166
02:23:56,240 --> 02:23:57,920
streets policy, which is a bit of a

2167
02:23:57,920 --> 02:23:59,520
heavy lift for smaller municipalities

2168
02:23:59,520 --> 02:24:02,720
like ourselves. And uh, the DBRPC sort

2169
02:24:02,720 --> 02:24:05,280
of floated the idea of potentially

2170
02:24:05,280 --> 02:24:06,880
helping us with that. We don't know the

2171
02:24:06,880 --> 02:24:09,520
details of that yet, but we're not the

2172
02:24:09,520 --> 02:24:11,359
only municipality struggling with this.

2173
02:24:11,359 --> 02:24:12,720
So, they're kind of thinking that, you

2174
02:24:12,720 --> 02:24:14,000
know, this is a good idea to reach out

2175
02:24:14,000 --> 02:24:16,319
to us and we might even be like a sort

2176
02:24:16,319 --> 02:24:19,359
of pilot for this project. So, um, Yeah,

2177
02:24:19,359 --> 02:24:20,319
looking forward to getting more

2178
02:24:20,319 --> 02:24:23,439
information about that as well. And I

2179
02:24:23,439 --> 02:24:24,560
think that's it.

2180
02:24:24,560 --> 02:24:26,319
>> Always the child that brings the apple

2181
02:24:26,319 --> 02:24:29,040
to class.

2182
02:24:29,040 --> 02:24:32,319
>> Yeah, I mean projects are wonderful and

2183
02:24:32,319 --> 02:24:34,479
stepping up to be part of one is a good

2184
02:24:34,479 --> 02:24:34,720
thing.

2185
02:24:34,720 --> 02:24:36,080
>> Well, I think it's it's a lot of

2186
02:24:36,080 --> 02:24:37,920
municipalities have engineering and

2187
02:24:37,920 --> 02:24:40,080
planning in house. Obviously, we don't

2188
02:24:40,080 --> 02:24:41,520
have that. We don't have that many

2189
02:24:41,520 --> 02:24:43,600
full-time employees. So, if we can get

2190
02:24:43,600 --> 02:24:45,520
assistance from our metropolitan

2191
02:24:45,520 --> 02:24:47,359
planning organization, that would be

2192
02:24:47,359 --> 02:24:48,720
hugely helpful. And it might also be

2193
02:24:48,720 --> 02:24:50,000
helpful for others.

2194
02:24:50,000 --> 02:24:51,359
>> Well, exactly. It helps. It's helpful to

2195
02:24:51,359 --> 02:24:52,960
others to go through the motions and

2196
02:24:52,960 --> 02:24:55,760
show how it's done.

2197
02:24:55,760 --> 02:24:58,240
>> Okay. Um

2198
02:24:58,240 --> 02:25:01,439
updates for me. Uh earlier last month,

2199
02:25:01,439 --> 02:25:05,040
um uh the Needle Creek Township hosted a

2200
02:25:05,040 --> 02:25:07,600
agricultural breakfast um about some of

2201
02:25:07,600 --> 02:25:09,840
the challenges to farming in our

2202
02:25:09,840 --> 02:25:11,920
community. appreciate the the egg

2203
02:25:11,920 --> 02:25:16,080
commissioner um and uh uh Jeff Bird who

2204
02:25:16,080 --> 02:25:17,760
was the assessor of Union Township but

2205
02:25:17,760 --> 02:25:19,520
uh I believe leads the egg efforts in

2206
02:25:19,520 --> 02:25:22,080
Mercer County for organizing that. I

2207
02:25:22,080 --> 02:25:24,319
really want to thank everyone who came

2208
02:25:24,319 --> 02:25:26,640
um and participated and especially the

2209
02:25:26,640 --> 02:25:28,479
first responders who helped um put

2210
02:25:28,479 --> 02:25:32,479
together um the special event that we

2211
02:25:32,479 --> 02:25:34,960
had here on September 11th. I encourage

2212
02:25:34,960 --> 02:25:38,080
everyone who has a chance to um maybe

2213
02:25:38,080 --> 02:25:39,280
not this evening after this meeting

2214
02:25:39,280 --> 02:25:41,840
because it's late but um in Burough Hall

2215
02:25:41,840 --> 02:25:44,000
uh for the next almost a year we will be

2216
02:25:44,000 --> 02:25:46,880
hosting a um section of the World Trade

2217
02:25:46,880 --> 02:25:50,880
Center um uh and I really want to thank

2218
02:25:50,880 --> 02:25:53,760
uh there our first responder community

2219
02:25:53,760 --> 02:25:55,520
uh particularly valley emergency

2220
02:25:55,520 --> 02:25:59,520
services um uh for organizing and and

2221
02:25:59,520 --> 02:26:02,960
honoring us with uh having the the um

2222
02:26:02,960 --> 02:26:04,160
display

2223
02:26:04,160 --> 02:26:07,840
here uh this year um

2224
02:26:07,840 --> 02:26:09,680
uh meetings. Uh Jared and I met with

2225
02:26:09,680 --> 02:26:13,840
several potential business um owners or

2226
02:26:13,840 --> 02:26:17,120
sug um uh for town. Um again, if you're

2227
02:26:17,120 --> 02:26:18,560
thinking about opening a business,

2228
02:26:18,560 --> 02:26:20,319
there's lots of resources. I heard some

2229
02:26:20,319 --> 02:26:21,680
things tonight, including the Mercer

2230
02:26:21,680 --> 02:26:24,240
County Economic Development Center led

2231
02:26:24,240 --> 02:26:28,080
by Anthony Cari Jr. uh downtown Hopewell

2232
02:26:28,080 --> 02:26:29,600
um would be a great place to connect

2233
02:26:29,600 --> 02:26:31,359
with or reach out to your administrator

2234
02:26:31,359 --> 02:26:33,840
who need help with uh you know a zoning

2235
02:26:33,840 --> 02:26:35,520
or sort of question like that. I'm happy

2236
02:26:35,520 --> 02:26:38,319
to try to to meet and and see to get you

2237
02:26:38,319 --> 02:26:40,640
in the right direction um to to help

2238
02:26:40,640 --> 02:26:43,439
choose hope for your business. Uh last

2239
02:26:43,439 --> 02:26:46,160
month's uh coffee uh with the mayor was

2240
02:26:46,160 --> 02:26:47,520
outside for the first time right on

2241
02:26:47,520 --> 02:26:49,600
Broad Street. Thought that was was neat.

2242
02:26:49,600 --> 02:26:51,600
Um this month it's actually getting

2243
02:26:51,600 --> 02:26:54,319
moved from the 2nd to 3rd um Saturday.

2244
02:26:54,319 --> 02:26:56,399
So, it's going to be on the 18th,

2245
02:26:56,399 --> 02:26:58,720
weather permitting, likely outside uh at

2246
02:26:58,720 --> 02:27:00,720
Burough Park, but check the website for

2247
02:27:00,720 --> 02:27:02,720
that where that will be. Uh have a cup

2248
02:27:02,720 --> 02:27:04,479
of coffee and and you know, state of

2249
02:27:04,479 --> 02:27:06,640
mind. Um I want to thank downtown

2250
02:27:06,640 --> 02:27:08,720
Hopewell and all our businesses who were

2251
02:27:08,720 --> 02:27:11,680
responsible for the beautiful uh

2252
02:27:11,680 --> 02:27:14,720
newformational and art display uh that

2253
02:27:14,720 --> 02:27:17,840
is adjacent to or posually thanks to the

2254
02:27:17,840 --> 02:27:20,560
Copel pharmacy. Uh it is a beautiful use

2255
02:27:20,560 --> 02:27:23,439
of uh that storefront um and a great way

2256
02:27:23,439 --> 02:27:26,160
to see what businesses um are in Hope

2257
02:27:26,160 --> 02:27:28,160
for Burough. Just adjacent to that, I

2258
02:27:28,160 --> 02:27:29,920
want to thank the Arts Council again for

2259
02:27:29,920 --> 02:27:32,000
their kind of art in the windows project

2260
02:27:32,000 --> 02:27:33,920
at the former Brothers Mill there. So

2261
02:27:33,920 --> 02:27:35,840
just really neat um artistic

2262
02:27:35,840 --> 02:27:37,520
presentations there. Also again want to

2263
02:27:37,520 --> 02:27:39,680
thank the Arts Council for their work.

2264
02:27:39,680 --> 02:27:42,160
Uh time seems to go very quickly and

2265
02:27:42,160 --> 02:27:44,319
slowly, but if it was last week or two

2266
02:27:44,319 --> 02:27:46,160
weeks ago, I don't even remember now for

2267
02:27:46,160 --> 02:27:50,800
our um tour to art um in uh hope in and

2268
02:27:50,800 --> 02:27:52,319
around Hope. I just want to thank the

2269
02:27:52,319 --> 02:27:53,920
arts council and give a shout out to

2270
02:27:53,920 --> 02:27:56,240
their upcoming pumpkin carve at Wolsey

2271
02:27:56,240 --> 02:27:57,600
Park. Check them out. They do a lot of

2272
02:27:57,600 --> 02:28:02,479
great things for our community uh and the area. Uh mentioned coffee will

2273
02:28:02,479 --> 02:28:05,680
be on the 18th uh and not this Saturday.

2274
02:28:05,680 --> 02:28:07,439
I'll again thank our water committee and

2275
02:28:07,439 --> 02:28:08,880
professionals and everyone who attended

2276
02:28:08,880 --> 02:28:11,120
the September 11th water meeting.

2277
02:28:11,120 --> 02:28:12,560
Reminder that the video from that

2278
02:28:12,560 --> 02:28:15,120
meeting, the May meeting, the other

2279
02:28:15,120 --> 02:28:16,960
public meetings, it's about 14 hours of

2280
02:28:16,960 --> 02:28:19,680
video content up on the website as long

2281
02:28:19,680 --> 02:28:21,760
as well as the contract information on

2282
02:28:21,760 --> 02:28:25,760
the possible water sale. Um again, next

2283
02:28:25,760 --> 02:28:28,319
week, the 14th, that's Tuesday, that is

2284
02:28:28,319 --> 02:28:29,920
the last day to register vote. Please

2285
02:28:29,920 --> 02:28:31,200
check to see that you're registered. If

2286
02:28:31,200 --> 02:28:33,040
you haven't voted in a while, you may

2287
02:28:33,040 --> 02:28:34,800
have been purged. So, please double

2288
02:28:34,800 --> 02:28:36,560
check and make sure you're registered.

2289
02:28:36,560 --> 02:28:38,800
Um,

2290
02:28:38,800 --> 02:28:40,720
continue to work possibly on a joint

2291
02:28:40,720 --> 02:28:42,640
project for flooding and storm water for

2292
02:28:42,640 --> 02:28:44,399
the lower Milstone watershed working

2293
02:28:44,399 --> 02:28:46,000
group. They're meeting next week. This

2294
02:28:46,000 --> 02:28:48,800
is the hope to get a grant fund to look

2295
02:28:48,800 --> 02:28:51,040
at the entire watershed region of this

2296
02:28:51,040 --> 02:28:52,319
particular water. We're kind of at the

2297
02:28:52,319 --> 02:28:54,640
end um but the joint project of the

2298
02:28:54,640 --> 02:28:56,720
municipalities in our area to try to do

2299
02:28:56,720 --> 02:28:58,960
regional a regional approach to to storm

2300
02:28:58,960 --> 02:29:02,240
water and flooding. Um

2301
02:29:02,240 --> 02:29:04,479
uh the water committee has a a meeting

2302
02:29:04,479 --> 02:29:07,280
not this week but the week after uh with

2303
02:29:07,280 --> 02:29:09,200
representatives from IBank. Uh that's

2304
02:29:09,200 --> 02:29:11,520
the one of the groups that has funding

2305
02:29:11,520 --> 02:29:14,080
uh and loans for for water and sewer

2306
02:29:14,080 --> 02:29:16,479
infrastructure. Uh it's not really

2307
02:29:16,479 --> 02:29:17,600
anything that seems to have changed, but

2308
02:29:17,600 --> 02:29:19,359
we do meet with them regularly to see

2309
02:29:19,359 --> 02:29:21,680
what's available and see what we can get

2310
02:29:21,680 --> 02:29:24,080
for for water um and sewer. And our next

2311
02:29:24,080 --> 02:29:28,319
meeting with them, I believe, is on the 27th. Uh there is a Veterans Day

2312
02:29:28,319 --> 02:29:31,760
ceremony on the 8th at Wy Park. Um I

2313
02:29:31,760 --> 02:29:33,359
think we sent the information out. If if

2314
02:29:33,359 --> 02:29:35,280
you didn't get it, members council, let

2315
02:29:35,280 --> 02:29:36,960
me know and I'll make sure you get it.

2316
02:29:36,960 --> 02:29:39,200
Uh it's a great event.

2317
02:29:39,200 --> 02:29:40,479
>> I think so.

2318
02:29:40,479 --> 02:29:42,640
>> Was it an actual fly?

2319
02:29:42,640 --> 02:29:45,280
>> Handout.

2320
02:29:45,280 --> 02:29:47,280
>> Thank you. I was uh I only saw it

2321
02:29:47,280 --> 02:29:48,720
electronically so I wasn't even seeing

2322
02:29:48,720 --> 02:29:49,920
it. That's that's way better than I

2323
02:29:49,920 --> 02:29:51,520
could have imagined. So thank you uh

2324
02:29:51,520 --> 02:29:52,960
Reggie for for doing that. But it's a

2325
02:29:52,960 --> 02:29:54,080
great event and actually I will not be

2326
02:29:54,080 --> 02:29:55,760
able to be there this year. So much

2327
02:29:55,760 --> 02:29:58,160
appreciated if um any of you would be

2328
02:29:58,160 --> 02:30:01,439
able to attend. Um uh if you do if you

2329
02:30:01,439 --> 02:30:02,640
are planning to attend, let me know and

2330
02:30:02,640 --> 02:30:05,600
I'll make sure that um you're let me say

2331
02:30:05,600 --> 02:30:06,640
giving a seat is not the right word, but

2332
02:30:06,640 --> 02:30:08,080
they usually do a ceremony and if

2333
02:30:08,080 --> 02:30:08,960
there's someone from the burrow there,

2334
02:30:08,960 --> 02:30:10,960
they like to have you participate um in

2335
02:30:10,960 --> 02:30:12,560
the the wreath ceremony.

2336
02:30:12,560 --> 02:30:14,479
>> Um uh as Christa did, I want to thank

2337
02:30:14,479 --> 02:30:16,319
Coco County Police Department for the

2338
02:30:16,319 --> 02:30:17,920
extra enforcement in that special event

2339
02:30:17,920 --> 02:30:20,160
today, the cops from the crosswalk. um

2340
02:30:20,160 --> 02:30:22,080
and particular for some continued

2341
02:30:22,080 --> 02:30:24,319
efforts on an event that might be coming

2342
02:30:24,319 --> 02:30:26,560
to town. Uh and uh there's a particular

2343
02:30:26,560 --> 02:30:28,800
neighborhood in town that has uh um made

2344
02:30:28,800 --> 02:30:30,640
some requests about a quality of life

2345
02:30:30,640 --> 02:30:32,479
issue. Um and I don't have resolution

2346
02:30:32,479 --> 02:30:33,760
for it, but I do want to thank our

2347
02:30:33,760 --> 02:30:36,000
police chief at Hope Township Police

2348
02:30:36,000 --> 02:30:38,240
Department for being attentive to them

2349
02:30:38,240 --> 02:30:40,479
and to us when things like that come up.

2350
02:30:40,479 --> 02:30:44,160
Um quite again uh Dev said personnel and

2351
02:30:44,160 --> 02:30:45,439
the buildings committee were very busy

2352
02:30:45,439 --> 02:30:46,640
this month. Uh they're thinking about

2353
02:30:46,640 --> 02:30:49,520
the update. Um and there was a at least

2354
02:30:49,520 --> 02:30:51,760
one uh valley municipal alliance meeting

2355
02:30:51,760 --> 02:30:54,960
this month. Finally uh next Friday is

2356
02:30:54,960 --> 02:30:57,120
the annual mayor's breakfast from the

2357
02:30:57,120 --> 02:30:59,359
municipal alliance. Um the honores this

2358
02:30:59,359 --> 02:31:03,840
year is the thrive uh PTO which is a um

2359
02:31:03,840 --> 02:31:05,439
one of the parents groups just is a

2360
02:31:05,439 --> 02:31:07,120
district-wide parent group for for

2361
02:31:07,120 --> 02:31:09,840
special needs families. Welldeserved and

2362
02:31:09,840 --> 02:31:11,760
phenomenal work that those folks do.

2363
02:31:11,760 --> 02:31:13,520
Excited that they're being honored. Uh

2364
02:31:13,520 --> 02:31:15,600
but the three mayors uh will be at the

2365
02:31:15,600 --> 02:31:18,319
Hopewell Golf Course. It's not uh I

2366
02:31:18,319 --> 02:31:19,520
think it's a free event. So, if you go

2367
02:31:19,520 --> 02:31:21,040
to the Musical Alliance website, you can

2368
02:31:21,040 --> 02:31:24,800
uh sign up for tickets and have a

2369
02:31:24,800 --> 02:31:27,760
usually long uh but lovely breakfast and

2370
02:31:27,760 --> 02:31:30,479
find out what's happening uh in in our

2371
02:31:30,479 --> 02:31:32,880
so thanks everyone for your updates. Uh

2372
02:31:32,880 --> 02:31:35,600
what's that? Okay, Kristen. Yeah, go for

2373
02:31:35,600 --> 02:31:35,840
it.

2374
02:31:35,840 --> 02:31:38,880
>> Real quick, um this is still TBD, but

2375
02:31:38,880 --> 02:31:40,080
North Greenwood is not going to be

2376
02:31:40,080 --> 02:31:42,560
repaved until the spring. So, we will be

2377
02:31:42,560 --> 02:31:44,080
moving forward with the traffic coming

2378
02:31:44,080 --> 02:31:46,560
project before repaving. We just don't

2379
02:31:46,560 --> 02:31:48,800
have an exact timeline yet because we

2380
02:31:48,800 --> 02:31:50,800
need to organize that. That's

2381
02:31:50,800 --> 02:31:54,319
>> okay. Um Sherry, if we've got um

2382
02:31:54,319 --> 02:31:55,920
anything you want to highlight from your

2383
02:31:55,920 --> 02:31:58,800
report or um add for the good of Sure.

2384
02:31:58,800 --> 02:32:02,560
floor is yours. Thank you, Mayor. Um

2385
02:32:02,560 --> 02:32:04,399
now, you all have my detailed written

2386
02:32:04,399 --> 02:32:06,240
report which provides updates on

2387
02:32:06,240 --> 02:32:08,240
approximately 20 items. I obviously

2388
02:32:08,240 --> 02:32:10,240
won't go through all of them, but for

2389
02:32:10,240 --> 02:32:11,840
the sake of the public, I'll touch on a

2390
02:32:11,840 --> 02:32:14,000
few of the key ones. Also, I'll touch on

2391
02:32:14,000 --> 02:32:15,359
a few of them that have had updates

2392
02:32:15,359 --> 02:32:17,520
since I submitted this to you all on

2393
02:32:17,520 --> 02:32:19,840
Friday. First, with respect to the

2394
02:32:19,840 --> 02:32:22,640
railroad station. The final payment was

2395
02:32:22,640 --> 02:32:24,880
on the bill list for tonight, but I have

2396
02:32:24,880 --> 02:32:26,560
been holding that check because there

2397
02:32:26,560 --> 02:32:28,479
have been some outstanding issues. I

2398
02:32:28,479 --> 02:32:30,000
wanted it to be on the bill list in the

2399
02:32:30,000 --> 02:32:31,680
event those issues were completed in a

2400
02:32:31,680 --> 02:32:33,280
week or two, so we didn't have to wait

2401
02:32:33,280 --> 02:32:35,520
another two or three weeks to process

2402
02:32:35,520 --> 02:32:38,160
the check. That being said, um, a couple

2403
02:32:38,160 --> 02:32:40,240
days ago I received final approval from

2404
02:32:40,240 --> 02:32:42,240
the architect that that project is

2405
02:32:42,240 --> 02:32:43,920
complete and all the punch list items

2406
02:32:43,920 --> 02:32:45,600
have been completed. So, I'll be

2407
02:32:45,600 --> 02:32:47,439
releasing that check and that project is

2408
02:32:47,439 --> 02:32:51,910
now finished.

2409
02:32:51,920 --> 02:32:54,399
» Next, gutter repairs on the library.

2410
02:32:54,399 --> 02:32:56,000
Since writing the report that I

2411
02:32:56,000 --> 02:32:58,000
submitted to you, I received a quote

2412
02:32:58,000 --> 02:33:00,319
from a gutter repair company. I spoke

2413
02:33:00,319 --> 02:33:02,080
with the CFO prior to our meeting

2414
02:33:02,080 --> 02:33:03,920
tonight and there may be funds available

2415
02:33:03,920 --> 02:33:06,240
to move forward with this um by the end

2416
02:33:06,240 --> 02:33:08,640
of this calendar year. I know this had

2417
02:33:08,640 --> 02:33:12,160
been initially a planned item for 2026,

2418
02:33:12,160 --> 02:33:13,840
but based on the quote what needs to be

2419
02:33:13,840 --> 02:33:15,680
done and potential for transfers and

2420
02:33:15,680 --> 02:33:17,760
monies in various parts of the budget,

2421
02:33:17,760 --> 02:33:19,600
there's an opportunity to get this

2422
02:33:19,600 --> 02:33:21,680
complete and get this moving. I'll

2423
02:33:21,680 --> 02:33:24,160
confirm that with DPW in the next day or

2424
02:33:24,160 --> 02:33:25,520
so. I want to make sure they don't have

2425
02:33:25,520 --> 02:33:27,600
any pending projects that I'm not aware

2426
02:33:27,600 --> 02:33:29,280
of that will take up some of the funds

2427
02:33:29,280 --> 02:33:31,200
that I might be thinking of. So, there's

2428
02:33:31,200 --> 02:33:32,880
an opportunity and I'll confirm that in

2429
02:33:32,880 --> 02:33:35,120
the next couple of days. On the grease

2430
02:33:35,120 --> 02:33:37,359
trap inspections, they have begun. It's

2431
02:33:37,359 --> 02:33:40,000
been a mix of education and enforcement.

2432
02:33:40,000 --> 02:33:42,080
Um, so far it's going well. Business

2433
02:33:42,080 --> 02:33:43,840
owners have been receptive to our

2434
02:33:43,840 --> 02:33:45,760
inspector that's been going out there.

2435
02:33:45,760 --> 02:33:47,439
Uh, the site visits have been going well

2436
02:33:47,439 --> 02:33:49,359
and there's been some compliance and of

2437
02:33:49,359 --> 02:33:51,359
course some enforcement when necessary.

2438
02:33:51,359 --> 02:33:53,680
But I don't know if you've heard any. I

2439
02:33:53,680 --> 02:33:54,960
have not heard any complaints yet from

2440
02:33:54,960 --> 02:33:56,880
anybody who's been visited by the

2441
02:33:56,880 --> 02:33:59,760
inspector who knows a lot about police

2442
02:33:59,760 --> 02:34:02,399
traps.

2443
02:34:02,399 --> 02:34:04,319
Um, safe routes to school, the council

2444
02:34:04,319 --> 02:34:06,080
woman mentioned that's moving forward.

2445
02:34:06,080 --> 02:34:07,920
The state has scheduled our kickoff

2446
02:34:07,920 --> 02:34:10,080
meeting in the next week or two. We're

2447
02:34:10,080 --> 02:34:11,760
going to be having that here in the

2448
02:34:11,760 --> 02:34:12,880
municipal building. So, the

2449
02:34:12,880 --> 02:34:13,840
representatives from the state

2450
02:34:13,840 --> 02:34:15,600
government will be coming here with the

2451
02:34:15,600 --> 02:34:18,000
consultant that we chose to help move

2452
02:34:18,000 --> 02:34:20,720
this project forward. And then um

2453
02:34:20,720 --> 02:34:22,640
finally, well actually not finally, let

2454
02:34:22,640 --> 02:34:24,640
me take that back. Uh councilwoman

2455
02:34:24,640 --> 02:34:26,399
mentioned the pillars and the facelift

2456
02:34:26,399 --> 02:34:28,640
out front. I did get confirmation that

2457
02:34:28,640 --> 02:34:31,200
work on repairing the pillars will begin

2458
02:34:31,200 --> 02:34:34,560
on the 15th of this month, which is

2459
02:34:34,560 --> 02:34:37,600
>> two days. So, you know, that's moving

2460
02:34:37,600 --> 02:34:39,680
forward. I'm pretty excited about that.

2461
02:34:39,680 --> 02:34:41,920
And then finally, um, I mentioned in my

2462
02:34:41,920 --> 02:34:43,600
report, there was a motor vehicle

2463
02:34:43,600 --> 02:34:46,319
accident, a pedestrian versus vehicle

2464
02:34:46,319 --> 02:34:48,800
that occurred over on Greenwood and

2465
02:34:48,800 --> 02:34:52,000
Broad as a result of what the police

2466
02:34:52,000 --> 02:34:53,520
department mentioned to me. They

2467
02:34:53,520 --> 02:34:54,960
thought, although not the cause of the

2468
02:34:54,960 --> 02:34:56,960
accident, they did make a note that the

2469
02:34:56,960 --> 02:34:58,399
lights over there were a little lighter

2470
02:34:58,399 --> 02:34:59,280
than they would have liked. They're

2471
02:34:59,280 --> 02:35:01,920
rooted at BSCG. Um, have the contract

2472
02:35:01,920 --> 02:35:03,200
ready to go and they're going to move

2473
02:35:03,200 --> 02:35:05,520
forward placing those lights um, based

2474
02:35:05,520 --> 02:35:06,800
on the police department's

2475
02:35:06,800 --> 02:35:08,319
recommendation.

2476
02:35:08,319 --> 02:35:09,840
with that I

2477
02:35:09,840 --> 02:35:12,399
>> Oh, the pedestrian did not have serious

2478
02:35:12,399 --> 02:35:16,479
injuries. That's correct. Yeah, sorry

2479
02:35:16,479 --> 02:35:18,880
in my notes

2480
02:35:18,880 --> 02:35:19,920
thankfully.

2481
02:35:19,920 --> 02:35:21,920
>> Yeah.

2482
02:35:21,920 --> 02:35:24,800
>> And that is all I was going to touch on

2483
02:35:24,800 --> 02:35:26,479
that changed since I submitted their

2484
02:35:26,479 --> 02:35:28,399
report. As always, if you have any

2485
02:35:28,399 --> 02:35:30,640
questions, I'm open to answering them

2486
02:35:30,640 --> 02:35:32,160
now or in the future.

2487
02:35:32,160 --> 02:35:36,720
>> Thank you. Um next um you know we have

2488
02:35:36,720 --> 02:35:38,560
our second uh public comment session

2489
02:35:38,560 --> 02:35:40,080
that

2490
02:35:40,080 --> 02:35:42,000
the reports triggers some uh some

2491
02:35:42,000 --> 02:35:44,000
thoughts for folks. So uh you're here in

2492
02:35:44,000 --> 02:35:45,920
person please come up to the front. If

2493
02:35:45,920 --> 02:35:48,000
you're on the online push the raise hand

2494
02:35:48,000 --> 02:35:50,880
button happy to recognize you and ask

2495
02:35:50,880 --> 02:35:53,600
questions or or uh make a comment for

2496
02:35:53,600 --> 02:35:55,359
the second time we try to limit it

2497
02:35:55,359 --> 02:35:56,960
though I don't think we've ever actually

2498
02:35:56,960 --> 02:36:04,560
limited uh to to three minutes. Um seeing none uh in person or online, I

2499
02:36:04,560 --> 02:36:06,800
will take a motion to close the second

2500
02:36:06,800 --> 02:36:09,359
public um comment section.

2501
02:36:09,359 --> 02:36:10,720
>> Moved. I'll second.

2502
02:36:10,720 --> 02:36:13,200
>> All in favor.

2503
02:36:13,200 --> 02:36:17,439
Now I will hold on. Just I think our

2504
02:36:17,439 --> 02:36:20,640
Zoom camera thought that we wanted to uh

2505
02:36:20,640 --> 02:36:22,319
end this as well. So that just shut

2506
02:36:22,319 --> 02:36:24,080
itself off prematurely. But you'll uh

2507
02:36:24,080 --> 02:36:26,960
hopefully hear um our uh motion to

2508
02:36:26,960 --> 02:36:29,040
adjurnn, which I will entertain now. Um

2509
02:36:29,040 --> 02:36:32,240
uh do I have uh Heidi then Deb for a

2510
02:36:32,240 --> 02:36:34,720
second? All in favor? All right. Thank

2511
02:36:34,720 --> 02:36:37,040
you again. Uh and our next meeting is in

2512
02:36:37,040 --> 02:36:40,040
November.